The Scots Musical Museum, Volume I, front

The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk music of Scotland published from 1787 to 1803. While it was not the first collection of Scottish

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s and music, the six volumes with 100 songs in each collected many pieces, introduced new songs, and brought many of them into the

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

repertoire. The project started with

James Johnson James Johnson may refer to: Artists, actors, authors, and musicians *James Austin Johnson (born 1989), American comedian & actor, ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member * James B. Johnson (born 1944), author of science nonfiction novels *James P. Joh ...

, a struggling music engraver / music seller, with a love of old Scots songs and a determination to preserve them. In the winter of 1786 he met Robert Burns who was visiting Edinburgh for the first time, and found that Burns shared this interest and would become an enthusiastic contributor. The first volume was published in 1787 and included three songs by Burns. He contributed 40 songs to volume 2, and would end up responsible for about a third of the 600 songs in the whole collection as well as making a considerable editorial contribution. The final volume was published in 1803 and contained the first printing of

Handsome Nell ''Handsome Nell'' was the first song written by Robert Burns, often treated as a poem, that was first published in the last volume of James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum in 1803 (No.551) with an untitled tune. Burns recorded in holograph on pa ...

, Burn's very first song. As well as collecting old songs, Burns wrote new words to old tunes, and many of the songs now attributed to Burns have older roots. Songs in the collection include ''

Auld Lang Syne "Auld Lang Syne" (: note "s" rather than "z") is a popular song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. By extension, it is also often ...

'', ''Lord Ronald, my Son'' (better known as '' Lord Randal'') and ''

My love is like a Red, Red Rose "A Red, Red Rose" is a 1794 in music, 1794 song in Scots language, Scots by Robert Burns based on traditional sources. The song is also referred to by the title "(Oh) My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose" and is often published as a poem. Many compos ...

''. Burns' songs include ''

The Battle of Sherramuir "The Battle of Sherramuir" is a song written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) about the Battle of Sheriffmuir which occurred in Scotland in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rising in England and Scotland. I ...

'', '' Scots Wha Hae'', ''

Green Grow the Rashes Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

'', ''

Flow Gently Sweet Afton "Sweet Afton" is a lyrical poem describing the River Afton, Afton Water in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was written by Robert Burns in 1791 and set to music by Jonathan E. Spilman in 1837, under the title ''Flow gently, sweet Afton''. This poem was ori ...

'', '' Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon'', '' Ae Fond Kiss'', '' The Winter it is Past'', ''

Comin' Thro the Rye "Comin' Thro' the Rye" is a poem written in 1782 by Robert Burns (1759–1796). The words are put to the melody of the Scottish Minstrel "Common' Frae The Town". This is a variant of the tune to which "Auld Lang Syne" is usually sung—the melodic ...

'', ''

There Grows a Bonnie Brier Bush ''There Grows a Bonnie Brier Bush'', originally ''The Bonnie Brier Bush'', is a traditional Scottish music folk song. It was included with expanded lyrics in Burns' Scots Musical Museum in 1797. Ian Maclaren included part of the song lyrics in the ...

'', and '' John Anderson, My Jo''. The collection became popular internationally, and songs and tunes were arranged by composers such as

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

and Ludwig van Beethoven. Burns collaborated with

George Thomson George Thomson may refer to: Government and politics * George Thomson (MP for Southwark) (c. 1607–1691), English merchant and Parliamentarian soldier, official and politician * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008), Scottish p ...

in ''A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs'', published from 1793 to 1818, which adapted Scottish folk-songs with "classical" arrangements. While this brought songs to new audiences, many of the songs and tunes continued in the folk tradition, both in Scotland and America. The American collector John Gribbel was at one time in possession of Robert Burns's Interleaved Scots Musical Museum, the first four volumes of Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum" interleaved with some 140 pages of Robert Burns's explanatory notes on the 184 songs that he contributed. These volumes had long been in the possession of the Riddell family of Friars Carse in Nithsdale. These notes have provided many insights into the authorship and editing of the songs he contributed.Burns Chronicle XXIII January 1914
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References

External links

* *Digitised copy o
Scots Musical Museum
in six volumes by

, printed between 1787 and 1803, from

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

. JPEG, PDF, XML versions.
Island 7: Burns and Scottish Song

{{Authority control 1787 books 1787 in Scotland Book series introduced in 1787 Scottish books Scottish folk music Robert Burns Ludwig van Beethoven Scots-language works Folk music publications Music books