Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Wood's edition of the songs of Scotland

52
THE HONGS OF SCOTLAND.
SWEET ARE THY BANKS, BONNIE TWEED!
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ha - zel nut ripe ; She's grace - fu' as young birk - en tree ; Her
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smile's like the glint o' spring dawn, 'Boon
she is dear - est to
I woo'd her when pnii-tith's cauld hand
Lay sair on hersel' an' her kin ;
But though I had plenty o' gear,
She ay said, " My tocher's to win !"
sweet are thy banks, bonnie Tweed !
And sweeter the mays wha there bide ;
But sweetest of a' is the lass
Wha hauds fast my heart on Tweedside !
1 Miiids.
" Twef.d?ide." The composer of this old and beautiful Scottish melody is unknown. Some persons, upon no founda-
tion of evidence, have given to David Rizzio the credit of its composition. In the last century, James Oswald, a very
unscrupulous man, ascribed several of our Scottish melodies to Rizzio, for the purpose of enhancing the value of his
collections of Scottish airs in the eyes of the public. That Oswald frequently passed oif his own tunes in private as
the compositions of Rizzio, we learn from the following lines of a poem already alluded to in Note, p. 8 : —
" When wilt thou teach our soft iEidian [Edinian ?] fair
To languish at. a false Sicilian air ;
Or when some tender tune compose again,
And cheat the town wi' David Kizo's name 1"
In some of his publications, however, Oswald did not scruple to claim these airs as his own. In consequence of
this double mystification, old airs with the name of Rizzio attached to them came also to be considered as composi-
tions of Oswald ; and we are even told by his deceived relatives, (Museum Introduction, p. li.) that " The airs in this
volume (second Collection) with the name of David Rizo affixed, are all Oswald's ; I state this on the authority of Mrs.
Alexander Cumming and my mother — his daughter and sister." Signed, " H. 0. Weatherly." That most of these
airs were in existence before Oswald was born, can be proved from MSS. and printed works. Besides, Oswald's own
compositions want the simplicity of the old airs, and do not rise above mediocrity. Consequently, not even one of
them has taken its place among the popular melodies of Scotland.
In Dr. Leyden's MS. Lyra- Viol Book, referred to before in Note, p. 12 of this work, we find (No. 75) a set of " Twide
Syde," differing in some respects from the more modern sets, especially in the close. That close, which seems to us
more truly Scottish in character, we have given in the present edition. A set of " Tweedside," differing little from
the modern sets of the air, appears in a work of the famous Florentine violinist, F. M. Veracini, pp. 67-69, with
variations. This is the first instance we have seen of a Scottish air introduced in the violin solos of any old Italian
violinist. The air is not named in Veracini's work, but is merely indicated as " Scozzese," i.e., Scottish. This work
of Veracini, which is now very rare, is entitled " Sonate Accademiche a violino solo e basso," &c, and is dedicated
to the King of Poland. The verses here given were written for this work by a friend of the publishers.