We present the old air with a little modification to improve the flow of the melody. c'e. Blythe Davie's blinks her heart did move Το speak her mind thus free:-Gang doun the Burn, dear Da vie, love, And I shall fol - low • 2 thee. Gang doun the Burn, dear Da vie, love, And I shall follow thee. Now Davie did each lad surpass that dwelt on yon burnside, At gloamin-tide their hearts were glad, as Mary sang wi' glee :- As doun the Burn they took their way, and thro' the flowery dale, THOU HAST LEFT ME EVER, JAMIE. Tune-" Fee him, father, fee him." (GEO. THOMSON'S COLL., 1799.) THOU hast left me ever, Jamie, Thou hast left me ever; Aften hast thou vow'd that Death Now thou'st left thy lass for ay I maun see thee never, Jamie, Thou hast me forsaken, Jamie, While my heart is breaking; Soon my weary e'en I'll close, sweetheart [This song was forwarded to Thomson in September 1793, with these observations:-"I enclose you Fraser's set of this tune. When he plays it slow, in fact he makes it the language of despair.* I shall here give you two stanzas in that style, merely to try if it will be any improvement. Were it possible, in singing, to give it half the pathos which Fraser gives it in playing, it would make an admirably pathetic song. I do not give these verses for any merit they have. I composed them at the time in which 'Patie Allan's mother died-that was about the back o' midnight,' and by the lee-side of a bowl of punch, which had overset every mortal in company except the hautbois and the Muse." Chambers has rather a strange note to this song. He says "It is surprising that Burns should have thought it necessary to substitute new verses for the old song to this air, which is one of the most exquisite effusions of genuine natural sentiment in the whole range of Scottish lyrical poetry. Its merit is now fully appreciated, while Burns's substitute song is scarcely ever sung." We fully admit the merits of "Fee him, father, fee him," with its strange mixture of the comic and the pathetic; but we appreciate Burns's tender lines, as more fully expressing the despairing wail of the melody * "I well recollect, about the year 1824, hearing Fraser play the air on his benefit night, in the Edinburgh Theatre, 'in the manner in which he had played it to Burns.' It was listened to with breathless attention, as if the house had felt it to be a medium of communion with the spirit of the departed bard." -Chambers, 1852. when played as Burns describes. John Wilson used to sing Burns's words with the most thrilling effect. Another example of the perversity of George Thomson's nature is displayed in connection with this song. He discarded the melody attached to it by Burns, and adopted instead of it a mongrel air known as "My boy, Tammy;" but in order to achieve this, he had to alter the words of the text thus:— "Thou hast left me ever, Tam, Thou hast me forsaken, Tam, Never mair to waken, Tam," &c.] WHERE ARE THE JOYS I HAE MET? Tune-"Saw ye my father." (CURRIE, 1800.) Where are the joys I hae met in the morning, Nae mair a winding the course o' yon river, Nae mair I trace the light footsteps o' Pleasure, Is it that Summer's forsaken our vallies, No, no, the bees humming round the gay roses Fain wad I hide what I fear to discover, Time cannot aid me, my griefs are immortal, Not Hope dare a comfort bestow : Come then, enamor'd and fond of my anguish, [The "Jenny " of this song is simply the artist's favorite model, placed with her face in shadow. The words of the old ballad, Saw ye my father," are very poetical, although the subject is somewhat objectionable; and accordingly these verses of Burns have not had the effect of banishing from "Love's shining circle," the "Bonie Grey Cock "-another title by which the ballad is known. The melody is very exquisite.] DELUDED SWAIN, THE PLEASURE. Tune-"The Collier's Dochter." (CURRIE, 1800.) DELUDED Swain, the pleasure Is but a fairy treasure, Thy hopes will soon deceive thee: The breezes idly roaming, The cloud's uncertain motion, O art thou not asham'd To doat upon a feature? If Man thou wouldst be nam'd, Go, find an honest fellow, Good claret set before thee, And then to bed in glory! [This clever Bacchanal, furnished to Thomson in September 1793, is merely an improvement on an old English song. Burns seems to have had an extensive library of old-fashioned collections of songs; from which he supplied or suggested to Thomson English words to fit his Scots melodies.] THINE AM I, MY FAITHFUL FAIR. Tune-"The Quaker's Wife." (GEO. THOMSON'S COLL., 1799.) THINE am I, my faithful Fair, To thy bosom lay my heart, Take away those rosy lips, Rich with balmy treasure; Turn away thine eyes of love, [There is not the slightest evidence that this very successful lovesong was composed prior to October 1793, when the poet sent it to Thomson as English words, to follow his other song to the same air, "Blythe hae I been on yon hill." The name 'Nancy " suggests that recollections of "Clarinda" may have prompted the song. We incline to believe with Mr. M'Lchose, grandson of Clarinda, and author of the Clarinda correspondence, and with Robert Chambers, that Clarinda was in the poet's mind when he composed the above song. In August 1795, Burns proposed to |
