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 songs 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 repertoire.
15-487: The project started with James Johnson , 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
30-473: 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 , Burns' 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 , Lord Ronald, my Son (better known as Lord Randal ) and My love
45-436: A thistle design is present at the top and bottom. The collection became popular internationally, and songs and tunes were arranged by composers such as Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven . Burns collaborated with George Thomson 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
60-585: Is like a Red, Red Rose . Burns' songs include The Battle of Sherramuir , Scots Wha Hae , Green Grow the Rashes , Flow Gently Sweet Afton , Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon , Ae Fond Kiss , The Winter it is Past , Comin' Thro the Rye , There Grows a Bonnie Brier Bush , and John Anderson, My Jo . The earliest issues of the ‘Museum’ did not identify the songs that were by Burns as in 1787 his fame had yet to imbed itself, however in later issues his name
75-670: The Gaelic name of 'Domhnull'. Dow was born 1732 in Kirkmichael , Perthshire , Scotland and became a music teacher in Edinburgh where he taught, among other instruments, the guitar . In December 1774 at Kirmichael, Perthshire he married Susanna Small of Dirnanean . The couple had four children. Dow died of a fever on 20 January 1783 and is buried in Canongate Church , Edinburgh , Scotland. A concert to benefit his widow and children
90-594: The Late Mr Chs McLean and other Eminent Masters (c1772) and Twenty Minuets (1773) by Daniel Dow . In 1786 he became burgess of Edinburgh. On 2 July 1791 he married Charlotte Grant, daughter of the writer Lauchlan Grant. They had a son, James, baptised on 13 September 1792, who appears not to have survived to his majority. He opened a music shop, Johnson & Co., in 1790 in the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh which
105-461: The first publications to include music specifically for the bagpipes . It is one of the important sources of traditional Scottish music. Also in 1776, Dow published Thirty Seven New Reels & Strathspeys for the Violin , Harpsichord , Piano Forte or German Flute. This is the first collection of music to include the word " Strathspey " in its title. Dow's most famous composition is Monymusk ,
120-415: The number of volumes rose to six, produced from 1787 to 1803. The success of the conception was not matched by financial security for Johnson. Burns contributed 184 pieces; some were original, including many of his best-known lyrics, and others were alterations of or derived from old ballads. Prefaces to some of the volumes were by Burns, who in effect edited the work. Johnson tried pewter plates to cut down
135-517: 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. James Johnson (musicologist) James Johnson (1753? – 26 February 1811) was a Scottish engraver, publisher and music seller known for his connection with the songbook The Scots Musical Museum and the poet Robert Burns . Johnson
150-469: The production costs. Burns produced an interleaved version of the Museum of the first four volumes for Robert Riddell. Attribution: Daniel Dow Daniel Dow (1732 – 1783) was a traditional Scottish fiddler , composer , teacher and concert organizer and one of the first musicians to publish music specifically for bagpipes. He is credited as both Daniel and Donald, both acceptable translations for
165-453: 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
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#1732851203681180-409: Was appended to his contributions in the index and the text often had the declaration " Written for this Work by Robert Burns. " Therefore the fewer songs ascribed to Burns in an issue, the earlier the issue. The 'Museum' was issued totally uncut, in plain boards and without any lettering. The earliest version of the title-page does not have a border around the vignette. Later versions have a border and
195-500: Was born in the Ettrick Valley , the third of four children to Bessie Bleck and James Johnstan, a herdsman. He may have been trained to become an engraver under James Reed of Edinburgh. He was a prolific engraver of music and made the plates for over half the music printed in Scotland from 1772 to 1790. His early engravings were done on copper and included Six Canzones for Two Voices (1772), A Collection of Favourite Scots Tunes … by
210-465: Was continued after his death until 1815 as Johnson & Anderson by his apprentice John Anderson. He died in Edinburgh on 26 February 1811 and a public appeal was made for support for his widow in March 1819. Johnson had a plan for a two-volume collection of Scottish, Irish and English songs, when he met Robert Burns . The nature of the project then changed: its scope was restricted to Scottish songs, and
225-602: Was given shortly after his death in St. Mary's Hall, Niddry's Wynd, where Dow had often given his own concerts over the years. His son John also became a fiddler. About 1775 he issued a collection of "Twenty Minuets and Sixteen Reels". In 1776 in Edinburgh, Dow published "Daniel Dow, A Collection of Ancient Scots Music", a collection of 16 songs for the violin , harpsichord or German Flute . This collection included never before printed historical compositions consisting of ports, salutations, marches or piobrachs , making it one of
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