The Scots Musical Museum, Volume I, front

The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk

music of Scotland Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. In spite of emigration and a well-developed con ...

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 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. John ...

, 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 Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

who was visiting

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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'', ''Lord Ronald, my Son'' (better known as ''

Lord Randal "Lord Randall", or "Lord Randal", () is an Anglo- Scottish border ballad consisting of dialogue between a young Lord and his mother. Similar ballads can be found across Europe in many languages, including Danish, German, Magyar, Irish, Swe ...

'') and '' My love is like a Red, Red Rose''. 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 "Scots Wha Hae" (English: ''Scots Who Have''; gd, Brosnachadh Bhruis) is a patriotic song of Scotland written using both words of the Scots language and English, which served for centuries as an unofficial national anthem of the country, but h ...

'', '' Green Grow the Rashes'', '' Flow Gently Sweet Afton'', '' Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon'', ''

Ae Fond Kiss The Scots song "Ae fond kiss and then we sever" by the Scottish poet Robert Burns is more commonly known as "Ae fond kiss". It is Burns' most recorded love song. History After the publication of his collected poems, the Kilmarnock volume, Bur ...

'', '' The Winter it is Past'', '' Comin' Thro the Rye'', '' There Grows a Bonnie Brier Bush'', and '' John Anderson, My Jo''. The collection became popular internationally, and songs and tunes were arranged by composers such as Joseph Haydn and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

. 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 the songs and tunes continued in the folk tradition, both in Scotland and America. The American collector

John Gribbel John Gribbel (March 29, 1858 – August 25, 1936) was an American businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. He is best remembered for his donation of the Glenriddell Manuscripts to the National Library of Scotland.''American Biography'' (191 ...

was at one time in possession of

Robert Burns's Interleaved Scots Musical Museum 'Robert Burns's Interleaved Scots Musical Museum' or the 'Interleaved Glenriddell Manuscript' is a set of four octavo volumes of James Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum in which Robert Burns provided additional material to the original publica ...

, 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
/ref>

References

External links

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

, printed between 1787 and 1803, from National Library of Scotland. 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