Volume VI, song 548 pages 566 and 567 - 'The blue bells of Scotland' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'O where and O where does your highland laddie dwell; O where and O where does your highland laddie dwell; He dwells in merry Scotland where the blue bells sweetly smell, and all in my heart I love my laddie well He dwells in merry Scotland where the blue bells sweetly smell and all in my heart I love my laddie well.' 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. According to John Glen (1900), this song is rumoured to be a parody of a song that shares the same title. The subject for the parody was a ballad sung - and perhaps also composed - by the Drury Lane and Irish actress, Mrs Dorothea Jordan (1762-1816). John Glen (1900) is quite scathing towards both songs, but says that at least Mrs Jordan's song possesses the saving grace of a good melody. Glen concludes that the tunes for both songs originate from England, and date back to the end of the eighteenth century. It is not known for certain who wrote these songs and their airs.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503743

Title

Volume VI, song 548 pages 566 and 567 - 'The blue bells of Scotland' - 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