Volume V, song 498, page 514 - 'The Highland widow's lament' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Oh I am come to the low countrie Ochon, ochon, Ochrie! Without a penny in my purse to buy a meal to me.' 'Ochon' and 'ochrie' are cries of sorrow or anguish. The 'Scots Musical Museum' is the most important of the numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections of Scottish song. When the engraver James Johnson started work on the second volume of his collection in 1787, he enlisted Robert Burns as contributor and editor. Burns enthusiastically collected songs from various sources, often expanding or revising them, whilst including much of his own work. The resulting combination of innovation and antiquarianism gives the work a feel of living tradition. This beautiful lamentation tells the tragic tale of a widow's loss. As the song unfolds it becomes apparent that the widow of the title has lost her love, Donald, on the fields of Culloden (1746). Not only does she feel her loss of Donald deeply, 'Nae woman in the warld wide, / Sae wretched now as me', she also mourns the Jacobite defeat at Culloden. This is an interesting song, particularly for being one woman's reaction to these events and how they have impacted on her personally. At the start of the song she is a penniless widow travelling to the low countries, forced to leave behind her beloved Highlands. 'Ochon, ochon, ochrie' is a fitting refrain for this woman's wretched existence.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503692

Title

Volume V, song 498, page 514 - 'The Highland widow's lament' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Object Type

PhysicalObject

Measurements

- 129 x 211 mm