No. 130. Lady Bothwell's lament. Balow, my boy, lie still and sleep, &c. No. 154. Thro' the wood, laddie. O Sandy, why leaves thou thy Nelly to mourn, &c. No. 202. No. 223. No. 224. As over Gladsmuir's bloodstain'd field, &c. *On a bank of flowers, &c. *The day returns, my bosom burns, &c. Tune: Seventh of November. 'I composed this song out of compliment to one of the happiest and worthiest married couples in the world, Robert Riddel, Esq. of Glenriddel, and his lady. At their fire-side I have enjoyed more pleasant evenings than at all the houses of fashionable people in this country put together; and to their kindness and hospitality I am indebted for many of the happiest hours of my life' (Reliques, p. 269). No. 279. *My Mary dear, departed shade. Thou ling'ring star, &c. No. 280. Hardy Knute; or, The Battle of Largs. No. 281. *Eppie Adair. An O, my Eppie, my jewel, my Eppie, &c. No. 282. The battle of Sherra-moor. No. 283. *Sandy and Jockie. Twa bony lads were Sandy and Jockie, &c. No. 284. *The bonie banks of Ayr. The gloomy night is gath'ring fast, &c. 'I composed this Song as I convoyed my chest so far on the road to Greenock, where I was to embark in a few days for Jamaica.—I meant it as my farewell Dirge to my native land' (Reliques, p. 279). No. 294. *The blue-eyed lassie. I gaed a waefu gate, yestreen, &c. The Thames flows proudly to the sea, &c. No. 298. On the restoration of the forfeited estates, 1784. No. 299. No. 304. My goddess Woman. O mighty Nature's handy warks, &c. *John come kiss me now, &c. No. 305. No. 306. I've been courting at a lass, &c. No. 307. Peas Strae. The country swain that haunts the plain, &c. No. 317. The bonie lad that's far awa'. O how can I be blythe and glad, &c. No. 318. The auld goodman. Late in an evening forth I went, &c. No. 357. No. 358. Logie o' Buchan, &c. IV. SPURIOUS NOTES. NOTES printed in Cromek's Reliques, 1808, which are not in the Interleaved Museum. The Nos. are the songs in the Scots Musical Museum to which the notes refer. The three songs without Nos. are not in the printed Collection at all, and that of No. 448 is in the fifth volume of the Museum. [No. 23.] 'Clout the Caldron. A tradition is mentioned in the Bee, that the second Bishop Chisholm, of Dunblane, used to say, that if he were going to be hanged, nothing would soothe his mind so much by the way, as to hear Clout the caldron played.' 'I have met with another tradition, that the old song to this tune:-"Hae ye ony pots or pans, Or onie broken chanlers" was composed on one of the Kenmure family, in the Cavalier times; and alluded to an amour he had, while under hiding, in the disguise of an itinerant tinker. The air is also known by the name of "The blacksmith and his apron," which from the rhythm seems to have been a line of some old song to the tune' (Rel. p. 199). [No. 17.] 'The lass o' Liviston. The old song, in three eight line stanzas, is well known, and has merit as to wit and humour; but it is rather unfit for insertion. It begins : The bonie lass o' Liviston, Her name ye ken, her name ye ken, And she has written in her contract, To lie her lane, to lie her lane, &c., &c.' - (Rel. p. 204.) [No. 27.] 'Jockie's gray breeks. Though this has certainly every evidence of being a Scottish air, yet there is a wellknown tune and song in the North of Ireland, called The Weaver and his shuttle O, which though sung much quicker, is every note the very tune' (Rel. p. 205). [No. 21.] 'Highland laddie. As this was a favorite theme with our later Scottish muses, there are several airs and songs of that name. That which I take to be the oldest, is to be found in the Musical Museum beginning, “I hae been at Crookieden." One reason for my thinking so is, that Oswald has it in his collection by the name of, The auld Highland laddie. It is also known by the name of Jinglan Johnie, which is a well-known song of four or five stanzas, and seems to be an earlier song than Jacobite times. As a proof of this, it is little known to the peasantry by the name of Highland Laddie; while every body knows Jinglan Johnie. The song begins: Jinglan John, the meickle man He met wi' a lass was blythe and bonie. Another Highland Laddie is also in the Museum, Vol. V, which I take to be Ramsay's original, as he has borrowed the chorus "O my bonie Highland lad, &c." It consists of three stanzas, besides the chorus; and has humor in its composition-it is an excellent but somewhat licentious song. It begins: As I cam o'er Cairney-Mount, And down amang the blooming heather, &c. This air, and the common Highland Laddie, seem only to be different sets. Another Highland Laddie, also in the Museum, Vol. V, is the tune of several Jacobite fragments. One of these old songs to it, only exists, as far as I know, in these four lines: Whare hae ye been a' day, Bonie laddie, Highland laddie? Courtin Maggie, courtin Maggie. Another of this name is Dr. Arne's beautiful air, called the New Highland Laddie'1 (Rel. p. 207). [No. 373.] 'The Posie. It appears evident to me that Oswald composed his Roslin Castle on the modulation of this air. In the second part of Oswald's, in the three first bars, he has either hit on a wonderful similarity to, or else he has entirely borrowed the three first bars of the old air; and the close of both tunes is almost exactly the same. The old verses to which it was sung, when I took down the notes from a country girl's voice, had no great merit. The following is a specimen : There was a pretty may and a milkin she went; Wi' her red rosy cheeks, and her coal-black hair: 'The following observation was found in a memorandum book belonging to the poet : The Highlanders' Prayer, at Sheriff-Muir. 'O L-d, be thou with us; but, if thou be not with us, be not against us; but leave it between the red coats and us!'—(Cromek's footnote.) And she has met a young man a-comin o'er the bent, With a double and adieu to thee fair may. O where are ye goin, my ain pretty may, Wi' thy red rosy cheeks, and thy coal-black hair? What if I gang alang wi' thee, my ain pretty may, [No. 87.] 'Waukin o' the Fauld. There are two stanzas still sung to this tune, which I take to be the original song whence Ramsay composed his beautiful song of that name in the Gentle Shepherd. It begins : O will ye speak at our town, As ye come frae the fauld; &c. I regret that, as in many of our old songs, the delicacy of this old fragment is not equal to its wit and humor' (Rel. p. 232). [No. 183.] 'Polwarth on the Green. The author of Polwarth on the Green, is Capt. John Drummond M'Grigor, of the family of Bochaldie' (Rel. p. 234). 'The Shepherd's Complaint. The words by a Mr. R. Scott, from the town or neighbourhood of Biggar' (Rel. p. 236). 6 [No. 242.] Mill, Mill O. The original, or at song evidently prior to Ramsay's, is still extant. thus: Chorus. The mill, mill O, and the kill, kill O, And the coggin o' Peggy's wheel O, least a It runs The sack and the sieve, and a' she did leave, |