Volume VI, song 594, page 614 - 'O gin my love were yon red rose' - 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 gin my love were yon red rose, That grows upon the castle wa! And I mysell a drap of dew, In her bonny breast to fa'. Oh! there beyond expression blest I'd feast on beauty a' the night; Seal'd on her silk-saft falds to rest, Till flyed awa' by Phoebus light.' 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. Phoebus is the name given to the Greek god Apollo when he is associated with the sun. Reference to classical mythology had become fashionable again after the Renaissance, with the Grand Tour and neo-Palladian architecture rising in popularity. The melody to this piece goes by a range of titles, including 'Lord Balgonie's Favourite', ' Mr Nairne's Strathspey' and 'Gloomy Winter's now awa''. There was some controversy over the authorship of the tune, as both Mr Gow and Alexander Campbell claimed the history of it. The question has never been fully resolved.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503789

Title

Volume VI, song 594, page 614 - 'O gin my love were yon red rose' - 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