Volume VI, song 515, pages 530 and 531 - 'When the days they are lang' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'When the days they are lang an' the fields they grow green, Fal lal lal lal la fa la ra at Lammington ev'ry year may be seen, Fal lal lal lal la fa la ra a fouth o' lairds an' ladies too Wi' lads an' lasses nae that few, An' O! the sport is rare to view, Fal lal lal lal la fa la ra.' 'Fouth' means an abundance. 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. Following his researches for 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), John Glen came to the conclusion that this melody was a modern composition 'written about the time of, and probably for the verses'. Whilst the composer responsible for the melody is not known, Glen attributes the song to an acquaintance of Johnson's known as Mr Macaulay.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503709

Title

Volume VI, song 515, pages 530 and 531 - 'When the days they are lang' - 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

- 258 x 211 mm