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Description: | Verse 1 (A Galick Air): 'How long and dreary is the Night, When I am frae my dearie! I sleepless lye frae e'en to morn, Tho' I were ne'er so weary. I sleepless lye frae e'en to morn, Thou I were ne'er so weary.'
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.
Although Burns left no comment on this song in his personal notes, he is believed to have collected it while he was travelling in the north of Scotland. In a separate letter to George Thomson, dated 19 October 1794, Burns reveals that he altered the original words and then enlarged upon the verses. He also comments that this melody is known by the alternative title of 'Cauld Kail in Aberdeen' and was one of Thomson's favourite airs. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 | Publisher: | National Library of Scotland | Temporal: | 1787-01-01 - 1803-12-31 | Source: | Burns Scotland | Identifier: | Volume II, song 175, page 183 - 'How lon | Go to resource |
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