Volume VI, song 536, pages 554 and 555 - 'William and Margaret' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: ''Twas at the silent solemn hour when night and morning meet; In glided Marg'ret's grimly ghost and stood at William's feet Her face was like an April morn clad in a wintry cloud and clay cold was her lily hand That held her fable shroud.' 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. John Glen (1900) says that this song was written by David Mallet or Malloch in 1723, and appears in William Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius' (1725). There is some confusion regarding the origins of the tune that Mallet adapted his lyrics to. According to William Stenhouse (1853), it is the famous tune, 'Chevy Chase', though Glen says that there does not appear to be any printed evidence to support this claim. Although two tunes called 'William and Margaret' and 'The old tune of William and Margaret' appear in James Oswald's 'Collection of Curious Scots Tunes' (1742), Glen writes that neither of these tunes match up with the melody as it appears in Thomson's collection. Glen concludes that the tune for the song in 'The Scots Musical Museum' is one arranged by the museum's musical editor, Stephen Clarke.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503731

Title

Volume VI, song 536, pages 554 and 555 - 'William and Margaret' - 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