Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed music > Songs of Scotland adapted to their appropriate melodies > Volume 1
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alas! that i cam' o'er THE MUIR.
89
fe^
nten.
fes^s
S3
a
S^^
2£
a=p
sought a rich - er dear - ie, Wha's fause to me, an'
now, a - las! I'm
Oh warldly gear ! 2 how mony vows,
How mony hearts ye've broken !
The want o' you, the wish to liae,
Leave room for nae love-token !
Yon blythesome lark that 'boon 3 his nest
His hymn o' love is singin',
Nae warldly thocht has he ; the lift 4
Is but wi' true love ringin'.
had I but my true love taen,
My bonnie love, tho' puir ;
This day I wadna sae lament
That I cam' o'er the jnuir !
1 now maun dree 6 the fate o' them
Wha'd sell their love for gain ;
Maun tine" true love for dreams o' gowd,
An' live an' dee alane !
i Timorous, affrighted.
2 Wealth.
3 Above.
* Atmosphere, firmament.
5 Suffer, endure.
! Lose.
"Alas! that I cam' o'er the muir." ,; This air is of undoubted antiquity. Burns says, 'Ramsay found
the first line, of this song, which had been preserved as the title of the charming air, and then composed the rest
of the verses to suit that line. .This has always a finer effect than composing English words, or words with an
idea foreign to the spirit of the old title. When old titles convey any idea at all, they will generally be found
to be quite in the spirit of the air,' — Burns' Reliqucs. This conjecture of Burns turns out to be amazingly cor-
rect." See Museum Illustrations, vol. i. pp. 18, 19. " It appears, however, that Ramsay was scarcely so for-
tunate [as to recover the first line of the old song.] What he found was something much less poetical — ' The last
time I came o'er the muir' — but a poor substitute for the impassioned ejaculation, ' Alas ! that I cam' o'er the
muir ;' and therefore not very inspiring to the genius of the poet, who has certainly not educed from it any thing
more than a very namby-pamby sort of ditty." — Dauney's " Ancient Scottish Melodies," p. 253. Referring to
the Skene MSS., Mr. Stenhouse says, " In these collections, the identical tune of ' The last time I cam' o'er the
muir,' occurs no less than twice, and one of the sets commences with the two first lines of the old song,
' Alace ! that I came o'er the moor,
And left my love behind me.' " — ibid. pp. 18, 19.
Here there are two mistakes. We have found the air in this MS. only once, and very far from being " identical"
with the tune in Johnson's Museum, upon which Mr. Stenhouse's Note was written. This, with several other
references which Mr. Stenhouse makes to tunes in the Skene MS., proves that he could not translate any of these
tunes in Tablature, although he writes as if he had read and understood them.
Mr. Dauney's judicious remark on Allan Ramsay's song has induced the Publishers to give to the air new
verses, which have been written for this work by a friend.
89
fe^
nten.
fes^s
S3
a
S^^
2£
a=p
sought a rich - er dear - ie, Wha's fause to me, an'
now, a - las! I'm
Oh warldly gear ! 2 how mony vows,
How mony hearts ye've broken !
The want o' you, the wish to liae,
Leave room for nae love-token !
Yon blythesome lark that 'boon 3 his nest
His hymn o' love is singin',
Nae warldly thocht has he ; the lift 4
Is but wi' true love ringin'.
had I but my true love taen,
My bonnie love, tho' puir ;
This day I wadna sae lament
That I cam' o'er the jnuir !
1 now maun dree 6 the fate o' them
Wha'd sell their love for gain ;
Maun tine" true love for dreams o' gowd,
An' live an' dee alane !
i Timorous, affrighted.
2 Wealth.
3 Above.
* Atmosphere, firmament.
5 Suffer, endure.
! Lose.
"Alas! that I cam' o'er the muir." ,; This air is of undoubted antiquity. Burns says, 'Ramsay found
the first line, of this song, which had been preserved as the title of the charming air, and then composed the rest
of the verses to suit that line. .This has always a finer effect than composing English words, or words with an
idea foreign to the spirit of the old title. When old titles convey any idea at all, they will generally be found
to be quite in the spirit of the air,' — Burns' Reliqucs. This conjecture of Burns turns out to be amazingly cor-
rect." See Museum Illustrations, vol. i. pp. 18, 19. " It appears, however, that Ramsay was scarcely so for-
tunate [as to recover the first line of the old song.] What he found was something much less poetical — ' The last
time I came o'er the muir' — but a poor substitute for the impassioned ejaculation, ' Alas ! that I cam' o'er the
muir ;' and therefore not very inspiring to the genius of the poet, who has certainly not educed from it any thing
more than a very namby-pamby sort of ditty." — Dauney's " Ancient Scottish Melodies," p. 253. Referring to
the Skene MSS., Mr. Stenhouse says, " In these collections, the identical tune of ' The last time I cam' o'er the
muir,' occurs no less than twice, and one of the sets commences with the two first lines of the old song,
' Alace ! that I came o'er the moor,
And left my love behind me.' " — ibid. pp. 18, 19.
Here there are two mistakes. We have found the air in this MS. only once, and very far from being " identical"
with the tune in Johnson's Museum, upon which Mr. Stenhouse's Note was written. This, with several other
references which Mr. Stenhouse makes to tunes in the Skene MS., proves that he could not translate any of these
tunes in Tablature, although he writes as if he had read and understood them.
Mr. Dauney's judicious remark on Allan Ramsay's song has induced the Publishers to give to the air new
verses, which have been written for this work by a friend.
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Special collections of printed music > Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed music > Songs of Scotland adapted to their appropriate melodies > Volume 1 > (105) Page 89 |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/94708232 |
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Shelfmark | Ing.127 |
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Description | Scottish and English songs, military music and keyboard music of the 18th and 19th centuries. These items are from the collection of Alexander Wood Inglis of Glencorse (1854 to 1929). Also includes a few manuscripts, some treatises and other books on the subject. |
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Description | The Glen Collection and the Inglis Collection represent mainly 18th and 19th century Scottish music, including Scottish songs. The collections of Berlioz and Verdi collected by bibliographer Cecil Hopkinson contain contemporary and later editions of the works of the two composers Berlioz and Verdi. |
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