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Description: | Verse 1 (sung by 'Jenny'): 'Were I assur'd you'd constant prove, You should nae mair complain; The easy maid beset wi' love, Few words will quickly gain: For I must own, now since you're free This too fond heart of mine Has lang, a blacksole true to thee, Wish'd to be pair'd with thine.'
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 melody for this piece also goes by the name of 'Hap me wi' thy Petticoat'. The whole song was first published in Ramsay's 'Tea-Table Miscellany' (1724-7). At the time, the melody was older, although it had been slightly altered for publication and Ramsay had written a new set of words for his 'Gentle Shepherd'. The words published by Ramsay are very similar to those quoted here. | 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 III, song 248, page 257 - 'Leith | Go to resource |
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