Volume VI, song 572, page 591 - 'Little wat ye wha's coming' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Chorus: 'Little wat ye wha's coming little wat ye wha's coming little wat ye wha's coming.' Verse 1: 'Jock and Tam and a's coming. Duncan's coming Donald is coming Colin's coming Ronald's coming Dougald's coming Lachlan's coming Alister and a's coming.' 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. The lyrics to this song were written about 1715, inspired by the first Jacobite Rebellion. It originally went by the title of 'The Chevaliers Muster-Roll' and due to the nature of the cause, the author is unknown. The resurgence of Jacobite feeling in the late eighteenth century would still have been a feature of Burns's early life. The melody to this piece is called 'Fiddle Strings are dear Laddie' or alternatively 'Fiddle Faddle'. It was first recorded in Margaret Sinkler's 'Musick Book' of 1710 and so predates this set of lyrics.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503767

Title

Volume VI, song 572, page 591 - 'Little wat ye wha's coming' - 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