THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GIFT OF
THE LIBRARY
English Reading Room
^
ANCIENT SCOTISH MELODIES,
FROM
A MANUSCRIPT OF THE REIGN OF KING JAMES VI.
WITH
AN INTRODUCTORY ENQUIRY
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE
HISTORY OF THE MUSIC OF SCOTLAND.
BY
WILLIAM ^DAUNEY, ESQ. F.S.A. SCOT.
EDINBURGH :
TIIK KDINliUHGH PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY
SMITH, ELDER, & CO., CORNHILL, LONDON.
M.DCCC.XXXVIII.
EDISBURCH PRINTISO COMPANY.
Ml
3(^55
TO THE
PRESIDENTS AND MEMBERS
OF THE
iSannatgne antr iWaitlanxr d^lni)^,
THIS WORK
(UNDERTAKEN THROUGH THEIR ENCOURAGEMENT)
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY
INSCRIBED.
sc:
CONTENTS.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
PARE
1
Jntboductory Remarks, . ......
Description of the Skene MS. and its Contents, .... 5
Enquiry into the probable datf and history of the MS., ... 10
How far this is the earliest Collection of Scotish Airs which has been published —
Orpheus Caledonius — D'Urfey's Pills, ..... 15
Introduction of Scotish Music into England — Dr Blow — Dryden — Mary, Queen
of William III. — Charles II. — Extract from " Shadwell's Scowrers," . 17
Scotish musical publications of the Seventeenth Century — Forbes's Cantus — City
of Aberdeen — Louis de France, pupil of M. Lambert — Revival of a taste for
Music in Scotland — Forbes's Cantus contains the songs which were taught
at the music schools, ..... . . . 2U
History of the Music Schools in Scotland, ..... 24
Remarks on the Cantus, ....... 23
History of the " Godly and Spiritual Songs," " Compendium," and " Saint's Re-
creation," .......■• 30
The ancient Scotish Lyrical poetry and musical instruments, two collateral en-
quiries necessary, in order to arrive at a just conception of the ancient Music of
Scotland, • ■ 39
vi CONTENTS.
PAGt
I Ancient Scotish Lyrical Poetry.
Introtluctory obsprvations — Ancient rhymes and songs from " Wyntoun's Chro-
nicle" — Harleian MS Fabian — Notices of ancient songs from the poems of
James I. — Cockelbio Sow — Two original songs of 1507 never before published
— Douglas and Dunbar — Sir David Lyudsay — Complaynt of Scotland — Com-
pendium of godly ballads — Verstegan's " Restitution of decayed Intelli-
gence" — Constable's MS. Cantus, ...... 40
II Ancient Scotish Musical Instruments, &c.
Many musical instruments anciently cultivated in Scotland, ... 58
Tiie harp known to the ancient Gauls and Britons, though most probably of Gothic
or Asiatic invention, ....... 59
Whetlier known to tiie Greeks and Romans uncertain, but used by the Britons
before tiie arrival of tlie Saxons and Danes, .... 61
Early notices of the harp, of use in illustrating the history of ancient nations —
Bruce's Theban liurp, ....... 62
The Druids, their functions and history, and their successors the Bards, . 63
The Irish eminent for their early proficiency in music — no reason to suppose
that they were the sole introducers of the harp and crwth into Britain, . 65
Many of tlie early inliabitants of Scotland may have acquired a knowledge of timt
instrument from tlieir northern ancestors — The Scalds eminent performers
upon it, ........ . 67
Description of the ancient population of Scotland — Little difference between the
Anglo and Scoto-Saxons before the English conquest — Partiality of the Anglo-
Saxons and Danes for the harp — Cedmon — Alfred — AnlafF, . . 69
Anglo and Scoto-Saxons — Troubadours and French minstrels, . . 71
The harper, an officer of the household, had lands assigned to him — Instances of
this, ......... 72
Musicians of the royal liousehold of the Scotish sovereigns, their description,
names of some of them, and appointments from the Treasurer's Accounts and
Privy Seal Register, ....... 74
CONTENTS. vii
P/GE
Escheats and fines appointed to be given to the minstrels along with the heralds —
Heralds and minstrels, their respective functions described, . . 7(3
Decline of minstrelsy — Penal statutes — Sir George Mackenzie's opinion of these, 78
Vagrants of former times — Ritson's erroneous views of the ancient minstrels —
Their gradual extinction and that of the bards and harpers, . . 80
The use of tlie harp not confined to the Highlands — Its estimation in England
and the Lowlands, ....... 86
Harpers and Clairschochars — Caledonian harps — Ancient and modern compass,
and mechanism of harps, ...... 83
The use of the harp anciently among the Welsh, the Highlanders, and the ecclesi-
astics of Ireland, . . . . . . . 'J 1
Tiie French troubadours and minstrels — Connection between Scotland and France,
and introduction into Scotland of the instruments of the latter country, . 92
The viol — The Vielle — The rote — Rebecs — Instruments played by James I.,
and others in use in Scotland explained, ..... 'J3
" Monicordis" or " Monochord" — the origin of the harpsichord and piano-forte, 98
The organ, in Scotland, . . . . . . . 105
The favourite instruments of James V., Queen Mary of Scotland, and Quern
Elizabeth, . . . . . . . . 107
The Royal Family of Scotland — Their taste in music — James VI. also a lover and
patron of music, contrary to the assertions of Burney and Hawkins, . lOS
Different species of lutes, &c.^The music adopted on festal occasions — Used at
the French Court during the reign of James V. — Hautbois, cornets, schawmes,
bombardts, clarions, whistles, &c., &c., explained, . . . . Ill
The horn, ......... 113
The bagpipe — Whether anciently used as a militarj' instrument — Mentioned by
Giraldus Carabrensis, under the name of " chorus," . . . 119
Discussion as to the meaning of the word "chorus," . . . . 121
The instrument of the English, who were formerly more eminent than the Scots
ID their performance on it, . . . . . . 126
Not popular in some parts of the Lowlands during the 17th century — Whether
that used by the English was the Highland or Lowland bagpipe, . . 127
Vlll
CONTENTS.
TAOt
Description of the pastoral instruments, . • • • • 129
Ancient MSS. of Scotish Music, with an Enquiry into its Antiuuitv
AND THE Formation of its Peculiar Genus and Character.
Extreme scarcity of documents illustrative of ancient popular music — The manner
in which this is accounted for in Scotland — Want of information with respect
to the early history of Scotish music — Mr Ritson's doubts, . . 1 32
Kecoverv of ancient MSS. since his time — Account of these — Rowallan MS.,
(1620,) 136
Mr Laing'sMS.,(l670,) 139
Mr Illaikie'sMS., (1692,) 143
These and the Skene MS. older and more authentic evidence of the popular
music of Scotland than can be produced of that of Wales or Ireland, . 147
Tlieir utility in illustrating the history of Scotish music, &c., . . . 148
The direct proof which the Skene MS. affords with respect to the antiquity of
this style of music, and of several celebrated airs, . . . 150
Presumptive do. — Account of the Chapel-Royal of Scotland from original MS.
and records, . . . . . . . . 154
Announcement regarding the old Scotish music in Information touching Cliapel-
Rnyal in 1631, . . • . . . . . 158
Other testimonies in favour of its antiquity — That of Tassoni — Erroneous opinions
regarding this entertained by Mr Tytler and others, . . . 160
James the First's composition and improvement of Scotish music considered, . 165
Arrival of Sir William Rogers, an era in the history of the art in Scotland, . 167
Old airs probably collected, and others composed in imitation of them, during the
l6th century, . . . . . . . . 170
Rizzio's connection with the music of Scotland considered, . . . 171
Are there any certain means of testing the age and authenticity of the Scotish
Melodies? . , . . . . . . 173
Mr Tytler's opinions, and those of the author of Dissertation prefixed to Thom-
son'* Select Melodies, considered, together with the peculiar system upon
which the Scotish music is composed, ..... j/j.
CONTENTS. ix
PAGE
Remarks on the analogy between the Scotish music and the Canto fermo of the
Roman Catholic Church, ....... 178
Denied by Ritson and others that any of the Scotish airs originated in the Church
service, ......... 179
Songs in ridicule of the Papists composed to be sung to the music of the Ritual, 180
The popular music of the Middle Ages, in general, differed little from that of the
Church — Opinions of Hawkins, Burney, Berardi — Influence of Canto fermo
on the national music of Europe, . . . . . I SI
In England, ... ..... 183
In Scotland, . . . . . . . . . 184
National music coeval with the origin of nations — The basis of the ideal system of
modern music, . . . ■ . . . .186
Omission of the 4th and 7th of the scale incidental to imperfection of wind
instruments, but neither that nor the influence of the Canto fermo sufficient al-
together to account for the partiality which the Scots have shown for this par-
ticular style of melody — The national music of many other countries chromatic, 189
The existence of a primitive national scale denied — The chromatic series most
common to savage nations — The Chinese not ignorant of semitones, . \'J2
The superior animation and variety of the vocal music of Ireland and Scotland
partly attributable to skill in instrumental music — The music of these countries
described by Giraldus Carabrensis in the 12th century, . . . 194
The vocal music of the English essentially different from the above, . . 197
Scotish music when and where composed — Lowland and Highland melodies —
Welsh music — Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian airs, . . 200
The most animated melodies probably the oldest — Many of the slow airs not
characteristic, ......
Concluding remarks on the Skene MS.,
Fac-simile of the Skene MS., ....
Explanation ok the Tablatuiie and MODt of Intekpretation empi
The Skene MS., ......
Notes and Illustrations, .....
.
204
•
206
•
212
ployed,
21.1
•
217
,
2J3
#
CONTENTS.
PACK
APPENDIX.
No. I Analysis of the Scotish Music, by Mb Finlay Dun, . . 31S
Preliminary Ueaiurks, ... . . ib.
The modulation of the Scotish airs, . . . . 317
Their melodic forms, . . . . . 321
Their cadences or closes, ...... 322
Their riiythm, ....... 323
Analogy between them and the Canto fermo, . . . 324
Explanation of the modes of the Church and the tonal laws, . 325
Examples of Canto fermo compared with the Scotish music, . 327
Peculiarities of the latter referable to the ancient tonality, . 330
This tonality should, as much as possible, be preserved, . . 334
Mode of liaraionic treatment to be adopted with respect to the I'cotish
airs, ........ 338
No. II Music, ........ 341
No. Ill Elxtracts relative to Music from the Accounts of the Lords High Trea-
surers of Scotland, &c., ...... 355
Uo. relative to Music-Scliools from Burgii Accounts, . . 362
No. IV Information touching the Chapel-Royal of Scotland, . . 365
No. V — Postscript, ........ 368
Gkneral Imdex, ........ 375
Index OF A IBs, . . . . . . . . 386
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
While the translation into modern musical characters of this curious
Manuscript is the work of a gentleman whose long experience, and well-
known scientific and practical attainments, form a sufficient guarantee
for the lidelity, tlie judgment, and the accuracy, with which that duty has
been performed, a few words of explanation may be necessary on behalf of
the EtUtor, by whom the preparation of the following Dissertation and Notes
has been undertaken. Could he have formed any previous idea of the la-
bour and research which it rocpiircd, he would at once have deferred to some
individual better (junlificd than himself to do it justice ; and, liad it not been
that his deficiencies were, in some degree, supplied by the liberal assist-
ance which he has been so fortunate as to receive from many who have dis-
tinguished themselves in the field of archaeological research, and the free
and unreserved access which he has been permitted to many interesting ori-
ginal documents, both printed and manuscript, he woidd scarcelv have
ventured to give publicity to the result of iiis labours; the more esj)eciallv,
as other avocations of a graver sort have greatly circumscribed the leisure
which he has had it in his power to devote to the subject. At the same
time, it is his belief, that had that leisure been extended to as many years
A
2 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
as it lias been months, the work could not fail to have been chargeable
with errors and imperfections. Nor is it any affectation of modesty, on his
part, to make this avowal — not only from the difficulty of obtaining
authentic information in regard to topics where history and tradition are
too frequently silent, or, what is worse, furnish ddtti upon which no re-
liance can be placed, but because the complete illustration of these re-
lics would have demanded a combination of acquirements which are
rarely, if ever, united in one and the same individual. To accomplish
that object satisfactorilv, little less would have been requisite than the
musical learning and critical skill of a Burney, the minute and accurate
antiquarian knowledge of a Ritson, and that thorough acquaintance with
the ancient manners and customs of Scotland, and particularly what may
be termed the unwritten history of its inhabitants, with which tlie mind
of Scott was so deeply imbued. The Skene Manuscript has indeed
revealed itself at an unhappy moment. Had it been made known during
the lifetime of these distinguished writers, the world would doubtless
have been enabled to reap the full benefit of the discovery. There was
even a period anterior to that of Scott and Ritson, when its ap-
pearance would have been hailed with greater enthusiasm, and would
most probably have given occasion to greater discussion than is likely
now to arise. Scotish music was a subject which much more frequently-
engaged the attention of the learned and the ingenious during the last
centurv' than at present; much was written upon its character, construction,
and history, by Mr Tytler, the grandfather of our historian, Dr Beattie,
Dr Gregory, Dr Campbell, Lord Karnes, Dr Franklin, and others ; and not
a little is it to be regretted that the enquiries of these gentlemen into this
branch of our national antiquities had not taken the same happy turn with
those of their illustrious contemporary Lord Ilailes. Had they been as
diligent investigators of facts, and as cautious commentators upon them,
as his Lordship, there can be little doubt that we should, ere now, have
been in possession of information, touching this topic, infinitely more dis-
tinct and authentic than any thing that can be gathered from their
writings. Neither is it likely that it would have been left to the present
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 3
generation to have awakened from its slumbers a Manuscript, which,
per se, and without comment, throws more light upon the history of Scotish
melody, than all the disquisitions of those learned and accomplished men.
It is now nearly si.xty years since Mr Tytler's Dissertation on Scotisli Music
was published," and, in the natural course of things, it may be presumed,
that, at that time, more documents of the nature of the Skene Manuscript
might have been elicited, had the attention of the public been sufficientlv
roused to the importance of these relics; yet, strange to say, although a
great deal of historical research was bestowed by Mr Tytler on his Essav,
which reflects the highest honour on his talents, as a scholar and a man
of taste, he makes no allusion whatever, either to the existence or to the
supposed non-existence of any ancient collections of Scotish music, nor
does he say one word as to musical MSS., or even the oldest printed
versions of the Scotish melodies ; a circumstance the more luiaccountable,
as his Dissertation consists chiefly of an attempt to ascertain their indi-
vidual anti(juity by an analysis of their leading features, and the changes
which have been wrought upon them in the course of time. In this way,
the very line of investigation, which, if steadily followed out, would have
conducted Mr Tytler's labours to a safe and satisfactory conclusion, was
entirely overlooked.
If we except Mr Ritson, whose writings contain many general re-
commendations to that eftect, there appears to have been only one in-
dividual in the last century, who, in turning his attention to this subject,
felt the necessity of commencing by a well-founded and rational sys-
* It first appeared in 1779, in the appendix to Aniots History of Edinbiirgli; and it is tlie more
singular that the importance of these manuscripts should have entirely escaped Mr Tytler, as, in
1775, on the cover of the Scots Magazine, we find the following advertisement : — "This day is pub-
lished, to be had at the shop of John ('lark, engraver, first fore stair before the head of l-'oresler's
Wynd, the First Number of Fhres Musicie, or the Scots Musician, being a general collection of the
most celebrated Scots tunes, reels, minuets, and marches, adapted for the violin, hautboy, or
German flute, with a bass for the viollncello or harpsichord, collected Jrom a variety uf old Jlf.S'S.,
U'lterein the errors that have crept into the former editions of the Scott tunes are /racerf, and ne«
variations added to many of them," &c. From the above announcement, we presume that this first
number of the work was actually published, but what was its nature, or whether it ever reached
a second number, the Editor has never heard, nor has he ever seen this Collection mentioned b\
any one who has written on this subject.
4 PRELLMINARY DISSERTATION.
tern of analysis. This was Ramsay of Ochtertyro, who concludes a paper
on 01(1 Scotish Songs (pnblislioil in I)r Anderson's periodical, The Bee,
in 17!) I") with the following judicious and sensible queries: — "What is
the ohiest book of Lowland vocal airs in Scots, either in public or private
collections ? What is the most ancient MS. or printed book in which
the songs that carry intrinsic marks of antiquity are inserted?" And
yet, at that time, so hopeless was the prospect of recovering any of our
ancient melodies, that we find Mr Ritson, in a letter to our Scotish anti-
quary Mr George Paton, dated I9th May 17i)5, rejoicing, with no ordi-
nary feeling of triumph, at the recovery of a solitary tune, which, however
interesting from its frequent association with the songs and poems of the
olden time, possesses little intrinsic excellence. " I have at last (says
he) recovered the tune, to which ' The Banks of Helicon,' and ' The
Cherry and the Slae,' were originally sung. Though lost in Scotland, and
never perhaps known in England, it has been preserved in Wales by
the name of ' Glyn Helicon.' Lord Hailes and Mr Tytler would
have been glad of this discovery."'' Well may the Editor in his turn
exclaim, how would Mr Ritson and his collaborateurs have rejoiced in
the recovery of so rich and varied a collection of ancient Scotish and
English melodies as that which is now submitted to the public !
The Editor naturally felt that so valuable and interesting a produc-
tion as this might almost be left to speak for itself; so that, when the al-
ternative offered of giving immediate publicity to the collection, accom-
panied only with such observations and notes as might occur upon a brief
though attentive examination of the subject, or of withholding, probably
for years, a document essentially the property of the public, and which, as
vindicating the antiquity, and perhaps it is not too much to say, elevating
the character, of the justly celebrated melodies of Scotland, may be re-
garded as little short of a national boon, — he admits that he did not hesi-
tate long as to the course which it would be most proper for him to pur-
sue ; and in adopting the former of these alternatives, and leaving it to
the public to deduce for themselves the more remote and consequential
• Vol. ii. p. 209.
' Correspondence of G. Paton, p. 21.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 5
results, which cannot fail to arise from a careful and deliberate analysis
of the MS., he willingly resigns all higher ambition than that of render-
ing himself in some degree useful, by opening up the way, and excavating
a few of the principal materials out of which others may be enabled, at
M future period, to erect (it is to be hoped) a complete and well-digested
history of Scotish Music.
The Collection of Ancient Music, now submitted to the public, is the
property of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh. It was bequeathed
to that learned body, about twentv years ago, by the late Miss Elizabeth
Skene, the last surviving member, in a direct line, of the family of Skene
of Curriehill and Hallyards in Mid-Lothian, along with a charter-chest
containing a variety of documents relating to that family, of whicli tlial
lady had become the depository, as their representative, and great-great-
grand-daughter of John Skene of Hallyards, who was the son of Sir John
Skene, the author of the treatise ' De Verborum Significatione,'' and
Clerk Register during great part of the reign of King James VI.*
When the MS. came into the possession of the Faculty, it consisted
of seven detached portions or fasciculi ; which, as they obviously be-
longed to the same set, were, by order of the Curators, bound up to-
gether so as to form one volume. Their contents in the order in which
they stand are as follows: —
Part I.
1. Male Simme.
2. Doun in yon banke.
3. O sillie soul alace.
4. Long er onie old man.
* .Memoir and Genealogy of the Skene TamWy, penei James Skene, Esq. ofRubislaw.
1 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
5. The Spanislio Ladio.
6. My dearest sueate is fardest tVa me.
•r • • •
8. Hutchesoun's Gal.^iard.
9. • • •
10. A Frencli Volt.
11. Ladye Elizabeth's Maske.
12. Kette Bairdie.
13. Trumpeter's Currand.
14. Joy to the persono.
15. Comedians Maske.
16. Aderneis Lilt.
17. Sommersets Maske.
18. Johne Devisonns pint of wine.
19. Horreis Gal5iard.
20. Froggis Galjiard.
21.1 cannot Hue and want thee.
22. I mett her in the medowe.
23. Prettie weil begann man.
24. Prince Henreis Maske.
Part II.
25. Lady, wilt thou love me.
26. The Lass o Glasgowe.
27. Shoe looks as shoe wold lett me.
28. Alace yat I came owr the moor and left my love behind me.
29- Bonnie Jean makis meikle of me.
30. My love shoe winns not her away.
31. Jennet drinks no water.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Part III.
32. A Frenche « » »
33. Scerdustis.
34. My Ladie Rothemavis Lilt.
35. Blew Breiks.
36. Abeideiiis Ciirrand.
37. Scullione.
38. My Ladie Laiidiaiis Lilt.
39. Lesleis Lilt.
40. The Keeking Glasse.
41. To dance about the Bail3ei's Dubb.
42. I l(>ft my love behind me.
43. Alace this night yat we suld sinder.
44. Pitt on yoiH- shirt on Monday.
45. Horreis Galjiard.
46. I dowe not gunne cold.
47. My mistres blush is bonie.
48. * • •
49. A Saraband.
50. (Another copy of Trumpeters Cmrant.)
Part IV.
.")l . What if a day.
52. Floodis of Teares
53. Nightingale.
54. The Willow Tree.
55. Marie me marie me qiiotii the bonnie lass.
56. My Lord Hayis Currand.
8 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
57- Jean is best of onie.
58. What hifjli offences lies my fair love taken.
59. Alman Nicholas.
60. Currand Royal, (Sir John Hope's Currand.)
61. Hunters Carrier.
G2. Blew ribbenn at the bound rod.
63. I serue a worthie ladie.
Part V.
64. Canareis.
65. Pitt on your shirt on Monday.
66. Scerdustis.
67- Shoe mowpit it coming o'er the lie.
68. Adew Dundie.
69. Thrie Sheips Skinns.
70. Clirichton's gud nicht.
71. Alace I lie my alon I'm lik to die awld.
72. I loue for loue again.
73. Sincopas.
74. Almane Delorne.
75. Who learned you to dance and a tovvdle,
76. Remember me at eveninge.
77. Love is a labour in vaine.
78. I dare not vowc I love thee.
79- My Lord Dingwalls Currand.
80. Brangill of Poictu.
81. Pantalone.
82. Ane Alman Moreiss.
83. Scullione.
84. My Ladie Laudians Lilt.
85. Queins Currand.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Part VI.
86. Then wilt thou goe and leave me her.
87. I will not goe to my bed till I siild die.
88. The Flowres of the Forrest.
89. The Fourth Measur of the Buffins.
90. Shackle of Hay.
91. Com love lett us walk into the Springe.
92. Sa mirrie as we have bein.
93. Kilt thy coat Magge kilt thy coatti
94. Shipeherd saw tliou not.
95. Peggie is ouer ye see with the souldier.
96. Ladye Rothemayis Lilt.
97- Omnia vincit amor.
98. I love my love for love again.
99. Ostend.
100. Sir John Moresons Currant.
lOL Praeludium.
Part VII.
102. Exercises.
103. Gilcreich's Lilt.
104. Blew Cappe.
105. Lady Cassilis Lilt.
106. Blew Breiks.
107. Port Ballangowne.
108. Johne Andersonne my Jo.
109. Good night and God be with yow.
1 10. A Sarabande.
111. Lik as the dum Solsequium.
112. Come sueat love lett sorrow cease.
113. Ve/e Setta.
1 14. A Sarabande.
10 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
The MS. is without date, and there is great difliculty in spealving as to
the precise time when it was written. Indeed, upon this point we cannot
venture upon a nearer approximation than twenty or thirty years. From
the appearance of the paper, the handwriting, and the fact that some of
the tunes arc here and there repeated, with very Httle alteration, as re-
gards the music, it is extremely probable, that they had been taken
down at different times, during a period of about that duration. Farther
than this, the most careful examination will only permit us to add, that
one part of the MS. was written between the years 1615 and 1620, and
that while none of it is likely to have been much more recent than the
last mentioned era, some of the collection may have been formed as
early as the commencement of the seventeenth century.
Among the tunes contained in Part I. there is one entitled " Prince
Henrei's Maske." Prince Henry, the eldest son of James VI., was born
in 1593, and died in 1612. He was created Prince of Wales in 1610,
and upon this occasion the Masque here referred to was performed. It
will be found in Ben Jonson's works," under the title of " Oberon, or
Prince Henry's Masque." Another of these tunes, " Sommerset's Maske,"
would bring down the date of this part of the MS. to 1615. Robert
Carr, Viscount Rochester, the favourite of James VI., was created Earl
of Somerset in 1613, and in 1614 was married to Lady Frances Howard,
the divorced Countess of Essex. The Masque in question, the words of
which were written by Dr Campion, and the music by John Cooper or
Coperario, (as he preferred to style himself,) Lanicre, and others, was
performed at the Banqueting-room at Whitehall, on St Stephen's night,
(Dec. 26, 1614.)''
Other circumstances of a like nature would indicate that this part of the
volume had been written sometime between the years 1615 and 1620.
" The Ladie Elizabeth's Maske" obviously refers to the daughter of
James VI., who was married to the Prince Palatine of the Rhine, in
' Vol. V. p. 368, Edit. 1750.
' Hawkins' Hist, of Music, vol. iii. p. 372.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 11
1613.* After her marriage she would most naturally have been designated
the Princess Palatine ; and as her husband was elected King of Bohemia,
ill IGI9, if the tune had been inserted at any period subsequent to that,
the name would most probably have been adapted to her new and more
exalted title of " Queen of Bohemia."'' Another tune, the " Queen's
Currant," in Part V., must have referred to Anne of Denmark, the Queen
of James VI., who died in Kil'J- In like manner, in the same Part, we
have Lord Dingwall's Currant. This was Sir Richard Preston, who was
created Lord Dingwall in 1609, and in 1622 we find him advanced to be
Earl of Desmond. There seems, therefore, to be something like a series
of contemporaneous historical evidence, tending to shew that great part
of the collection had been written out about this time, — a conclusion
which is, in some degree, corroborated by the consideration, that the ephe-
meral character of several of the tunes renders it very unlikely that thev
would have outlived the immediate and fleeting interest attached to the
personages or events which they were intended to celebrate.
There is just one portion of the MS. which appears to be rather newer
than the rest ; this is Part IV. There is here a tune called " Sir
John Hope's Currant." Now, if this related to Sir John Hope, the
eldest son of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall, Lord Advocate to James
VI. and Charles I. (and the Editor is not aware of any previous Sir John
Hope,) he was knighted aufl appointed a Lord of Session in 1632. It si>
happens, however, that there has been an obliteration in this place. The
name first given to this tune in the MS. was " Currant Royal." This ap-
pears to have been deleted, and " Sir John Hope's Currant" afterwards
interpolated, though evidentlyin thesamehand. Thesuperinduction, there-
fore, of Sir John Hope's name may have taken place a long while after
the airs hatl been written out, so that, as an e.v poxt facto operation, it
cannot aff'ect the strong presumptions above alluded to, which point to an
* This lady forms tlic branch by whicli her present Majesty is connected wiili the Stuarts.
'' See in " Wit's Recreation?," (reprint 1817. vol. ii. p. '26,) tlie sonnet by Sir Henry Wotton, ail-
dressed to "the Queen of Buhemia," beginning " You meaner beauties of the night. "'
12 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
oarlier date; and, in any event, its eflect will bo limited to the contents of
the /bscicii/iis to which it belongs.
On the other hand, Part VI , which contains some of the most
valuable of our national airs, is evidently the oldest of all. We draw this
inference partly from the appearance of the paper, besides which, it looks
as if it had been jjenned by a dillerent and an older hand. The notes,
in particular, are of a more anticpie form, which is also the case in Part
v.; and there is an orthographical alteration in the word "Currant,"
which is elsewhere spelt " Currand." It should be added, that the alpha-
betical characters, though generally resembling those of the rest of the
volume, are not precisely the same. The probability, therefore, is, that
this part of the MS. was written prior to 1615, though how long prior
to that period it is impossible to say.
Since this volume has attracted the attention of the antiquary, it has
o-enerally been considered to have been written by Sir John Skene him-
self, — an idea which, until its hi.-tory came to be more minutely inquired
into, derived some degree of support from the decided resemblance
which the handwriting bore to tliat of Sir John. But although music
was in these days an accomplishment infinitely more common (among
gentlemen at least) than at present, there is no information on record,
(and the Editor has perused several sufficiently circumstantial memoirs
of Sir John Skene, in the hands of various individuals,) that he was either
a proficient in, or a patron of, the art of music." It would seem
also, that his declining years had been greatly embittered in conse-
quence of several unhappy family difTorenccs;'' and the circumstance
of his having lost his office of Clerk Register, without compensation,
in a way, too, not a little provoking to a man of his shrewdness and
sagacity."^ Had it not been, therefore, for the general rumour, which
* Gcncalogic.lI Account of the F.iniily of Skene above mentioned; Memoir by Lord Auchinleck,
prefixed to copy of " Regiam Majestatem," penes James Maconochie, Esq. ; Messrs Haig and
Brunton's Account of the Senators of the College of Justice.
* See Melros Papers, p. 128.
' The following are the particulars of this affair, as related by Spottiswoode, (History, p. 517.)
" Sir John Skene had enjoyed the place (of Lord Register) a good many years, and being growu
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 13
has hitherto erroneouslv ascribed the authorship of this collertion to
this eminent lawyer, the Echtor would have deemed even the above ob-
servations superfluous, especially as Sir John Skene's death took place on
the 16th March 1617."
The Clerk Register had a son John, who was admitted a Principal
Clerk of Session in 1614,'' and afterwards purchased the estate of Hall-
yards. This is the person who has already been alluded to, as the
great-great-grandfather of the testatrix, by whom the papers of the fami-
ly were bequeathed to the Faculty. The precise time of his birth is not
known, and no nearer conjecture can be formed than what may arise from
the circumstances that his father's marriage took place in 1574, and that
he was his second son. John Skene died in 1644, and if the MS. had
been written by any member of the Skene family, he was most likely to
have been the person."^ One thing rather favours this supposition. At
the end of the 1st part, there are the words, " Finis quod Skinc," written
in a hand which bears a strong resemblance to some specimens of his writ-
ing, which are to be found among the Skene Papers, but the hand in which
the music is written is different, and there is no reason to suppose that this
in age, and infirm, thinliiiig tocpt liis son provided to liis office, had sent him to court with a di-
mission of tlic place, but with a charge not to use it unless he (bund the King willing to admit
him ; yet he, abused by some politick wits, made a resignation of the office, accepting an ordinary
place among the Lords of Session. The office, upon liis resignation, was presently disponed to
the Advocate; which grieved the father beyond all measure. And the c;ise, indeed, was pitiful,
and much rcgrated by all honest men ; for he had been a man much employed and honoured
with divers legations, which he discharged with good credit, and now in age to be circumvented, in
this sort, by the simplicity or folly of his son, it was held lamentable. The King- being informed
cfthe abuse by the old man's complaint, was very careful to satisfie him, and to have the son
reconciled to his father, which, after some travel, was brought to pass : yet so exceeding was the
old man's discontent, as within a few days he deceased." This, however, was not the case, as
the transaction in question took place in 1612, and Sir John did not die till 1617.
* See Sir John Skene's testament. General Register House, recorded in the testamentary register
of the commissariat of Kdinburgh, Hih July 1017.
"■ For the information of our Knglish readers, we may remark, that this is the same office which
was held by the late Sir Walter Scott.
' This John Skene had a son Joht), who succeeded him in 1644 ; but this person was either uii-
born, or an infant, when, as above shewn, the greater pajtof the MS. wiis written.
14 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
John Skene was tlie writer of the MS. There can be Ultlo tluubt, liow-
ever, that it was his property, not only from the inscription above noticed,
but several others in diilorent parts of the book, which appear to be in
his handwriting. We find also the name, " Magister Johannis Skine," in
one place, and in another, "Magister Johannes Skcine, his book," inscrib-
ed upon the fly-leaves. As the family name was most commonly spelt
" Skene," this deviation from the usual orthography might at first sight ap-
pear somewhat startling; but all who are accustomed to observe the singu-
lar want of uniforniitv wliich prevailed even in the spelling of family names,
at that early period, will lay no stress whatever upon such a circumstance.
Even among the Skene Papers we notice one deed where the name of
Sir John Skene is spelt " Skeine," and another where the name is actually
spelt in two different ways, " Skene" and " Skeine."
From these circumstances, there can be no doubt that this John Skene
of Hallvards was the original owner of the MS., and mo;.t probably the
person under whose auspices the collection was formed.
Although the authenticity of this document has never been called in
question, and docs not admit of the shadow of a suspicion, the Editor
has felt it due to himself and the public, before saying any thing as to
its merits, to enter into the above investigation of its history; at the same
time, while he has here only adduced the general results of very minute
and anxious inquiries, he feels that lie has inflicted upon the reader
details which, in the opinion of many, might perhaps have been spared.
He trusts, however, it will be taken into view, that the peculiar nature
of such a volume as the present rendered it a matter of more than ordi-
nary importance that it should be known to have emanated from a source
such as the one above described, rather than that it should have sprung
from some unknown or obscure quarter. The grade in societv to
which Mr Skene belonged would at least have led to the selection
of the best versions of the melodies, in point of style and character,
wliich could be procured at the time when the collection was formed;
and, making allowance for that want of careful revision which is to
be looked for in a manuscript written entirely for private use, and the
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 15
circumstance of the airs liaviiig been adapted, and, consequently, in
many instances, altered in order to draw out to the resources of a particular
instrument, the work bears internal evidence of its having been got
up by a person of taste and judgment, exhibiting, occasionally, a sim-
plicity, a beauty, and even a degree of elegance, which, from any thing
we have seen of the productions of that age, we could scarcely have
expected.
The next point to which the Editor would solicit the attention of the
public is, how far this collection of Scotish airs precedes in date those
that have hitherto appeared. And here it may occasion some surprise
when it is asserted, that it is at least one hundred years older than tJie ear-
liest couipilation of the kind irhich has ever issued from the press. This
was Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, the first volume of whicli appeared
in 1 72.5, and the second in 1 733.* In the former of these years, Allan Ram-
say had published about seventy Scotish melodies with basses, as a sort of
musical appendix to his " Tea Table Miscellany," which, in like man-
ner, with respect to the poetry, formed the first complete collection of
Scotish songs. It is not meant that our Scotish melodies had not, prior
to this, found their way into other printed collections. In Tom D'Urfey's
" Pills to purge Melancholy,"'' originally published at the end of the se-
venteenth, and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, and of which an
' Dr Burncy (Hist. vol. iv. p. 647) says, " In February (1722) there was a benefit concert
for Mr Thonnson, the first editor of a collection of Scots tunes in England. To this collection, for
which there was a very large subscription, may be a.scribcd the subsequent favour of tlie.se national
melodies south of the Tweed. After this concert, at the desire of several persons of quality, was
performed a Scottish song."
'' Ha|ipily for the good taste, and, we may add, the morality of the present age, Tom D'Urfey
and his I'ills have lung since sunk into oblivion. His verses, and those of his (irub Street friends,
would now be considered little better than doggerel, while, in point of licentiousness, ti.ey have per-
haps never been exceeded. They are of the school of Charles II., with whom D'Urfey seems to
have been quite " Hail, fellow! well met," and it is not a little amusing to observe the self-compla-
cency with which he announces one of his songs — " .Advice to the City" — as " a famous song, set to
a tune of Signor Opdar, so remarkable, that I had the honour to sing it with King Charles at
Windsor, he holding one part of the paper with me." We may observe, en pauant, that this per-
fectly accords with what is stated by Hawkins, (vol. iv. p. 359,) as to the musical proficiency of
IG PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
enlarged edition appeared in 1719, there are some Scotish airs, and
among these we recognise " Dainty Davie,"" — " The Lea Rig,""" — " My
mother's aye glowrin o'er me,"" — " Over the hills and far away,""' — " Bonny
Dundee,"" &c. Along with them, we have such precious morgeaux ?s
this monarch. " The king," says he, " understood music sufficiently to sing the tenor part of an
easy song. He would sometimes sing with Mr Gosthng, one of tlie gentlemen of his chapel, who
was master of a fine voice, the Duke of York accompanying them on the guitar." Besides the
patron.Tgc of " the Right Honourable the Lords and Ladies" who subscribed to his volumes of
songs, D'Urfey seems to have been at all times a favourite with the reigning powers during an un-
usually lengthened career, having died, at an advanced age, in 1723. Addison says of him: —
" Many an honest gentleman has got a reputation in his country by pretending to have been in
company with Tom D'Urfey." And in D'Urfey 's Preface to his Songs, he talks of having had the
satisfaction of diverting Royalty " with his lyrical performances." — " And when" (says he) " I
have performed some of my own things before their Majesties, King Charles U., King James, King
William, Queen Mary, Queen Anne, and Prince George, I never went off without happy and com-
mendable approbation." While the vicious tendency of D'Urfey 's productions must be fully admitted,
in forming a fair estimate of his character, something should be allowed to the force of bad example,
the profligacy of the age, and, it may he added, the necessities of the man. That these were con-
siderable, is apparent from a paper of Addison in the Guardian, No. 67, (28th May 1713,) prepa-
ratory to a public benefit obtained for him at the theatre, in which he says, " Tom observed to me,
that after having written more odes than Horace, and about four times as many comedies as Ter-
ence, he was reduced to great diflSculties by the importunities of a set of men who, of late years,
had furnished him with the accommodations of life, and would not, as we say, be paid with a song."
The whole of this article is exceedingly humorous, nor can we suppose that the chaste Addison
would have espoused the cause of his " old friend and contemporary," as he familiarly calls him,
with so much earnestness, had his character not possessed many redeeming points. Indeed, he
represents him as being not only " a diverting companion, but a cheerful, honest, and good-na-
tured man."
• Vol. i. p. 43. " Vol. i. p. 316. ° Vol. ii. p. 110. •■ Vol. v. p. 316.
° We find also (vol. i. p. 294) the song " Deil tak the Wars ;" but whether this very beautiful
air is of Scotish or English extraction, it is difficult to say. It is mentioned by Leyden (Introduc-
tion to Complaynt of Scotland, p. 285) as appearing in a MS. of the end of the seventeenth
century, under the title of " Foul tak the Wars," and we ourselves have seen it, j. e. the melody,
under the same name, in a MS. volume about the same date, so that it had plainly, even at that
early period, been adopted as a Scotish air, and it has ever since been generally regarded as such.
On the other hand, it appears in " A Collection of the Choicest Songs and Dialogues composed
by the most eminent Masters of the age," published by J. Walsh, London, where it is called,
" Song in ' a Wife for any Man ;' the words by Mr Thomas D'Urfey ; sel to music by Mr Charles
Powell ; sung by Mrs Cross." This might have been one of the Powells, the celebrated Welsh
harp-players, of whom some notice will be found in Jones's Welsh Bards, pp. 50, 52 ; at the same
time, we admit our inability to reconcile these discrepancies, and leave the question to the deter-
mination of others.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 17
the following : — " A Scotch Song, by Mr Robert Brown" — " A Scotch
Song, the words by Mr John Hallam, set to music by Mr John Cottrell" —
" Bonny Scotch Lads that kens nie weel, the words by Mr Peter Noble,
set by Mr John Wilford," &c. These are, no doubt, ludicrous caricatures
both of the Scotish music and phraseology, and are merely referred to
in order to show that, about this time, the Scotish style of melody had
begun to be very generally appreciated by the English public.
The celebrated Dr Blow, who flourished from 1648 to 1/08, is men-
tioned by Dr Burney" as the first English composer who united the
Scotish with the English style of melody, and of this, many illustrations
will be found in his " Amphion Anglicus," published in 1700; so that
its character, at this time, must have been very generally understood.
Indeed, we find Dryden, in the following passage of his preface to his
modernized version of Chaucer's Poems, also published in 1700, referring
to it as a familiar topic of illustration : — " The verse of Chaucer, I confess,
is not harmonious to us ; but it is like the eloquence of one whom Taci-
tus commends — it was ' aurihits isthis temporis accomodata.' They who
lived with him, and some time after him, thought it musical ; and it con-
tinues so even in our judgment, if compared with the numbers of Lyd-
gate and Gower, his contemporaries ; — tliere is tiie rude sweetness of a
Scotch tune in it, which is natural and pleasing, though not perfect."
It was in the year 1G80 when the Scotish air, " Katherine Ogie," was
sung by Mr Abell, a gentleman of the Chapel-Royal, at his concert in
Stationers' Hall. But, in reality, little is to bo gleaned as to the publi-
cation and performance of these airs in England, before the appearance
of D'Urfey's Miscellany. We believe that several of them were published
in Playford's " Dancing Master," about the middle of the seventeenth
century, but we have had no opportunity of examining that work. One
Scotish air, however, we have seen in a collection entitled, " Catch that
Catch can," published by John Hilton in 1()52, and afterwards by Plav-
ford in his " Musical Companion" in l()(i7. This is the well-known tune,
" Cold and raw the wind does blow, up in the morning early." It ap-
pears here in the shape of a catch, adapted to words which commence
* Hist. vol. iii. p. 4.:>3.
18 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
" I'se gae with thee, my Peggy," and the very same tune is introduced
in the second part of Purcell's " Orpheus Britannicus," in the form of a
bass to an ode in honour of Queen Mary, the consort of William III. ;
though how far this had proceeded from an intention on the part of this
illustrious composer to do homage to our national melodies, may be
judged of from the following statement of the circumstances which gave
rise to its introduction into that work, and which we shall give in the
words of Sir .lohn Hawkins,' by whom the story is told : — " The Queen
having a mind, one afternoon, to be entertained with music, sent to Mr
Gostling, then one of the chapel, and afterwards Sub-dean of St Paul's,
to Henry Purcell, and Mrs Arabella Hunt, who had a very fine voice,
and an admirable hand on the lute, with a request to attend her. They
obeyed her commands. Mr Gostling and Mrs Hunt sung several com-
positions of Purcell, who accompanied them on the harpsichord. At
length, the Queen beginning to grow tired, asked Mrs Hunt if she could
not sing the old Scotch ballad, ' Cold and raw.' Mrs Hunt answered,
' Yes ;' and sung it to her lute. Purcell was all the while sitting at the
harpsichord unemployed, and not a little nettled at the Queen's preference
of a vulgar ballad to his music. But seeing her Majesty delighted with
this tune, he determined that she should hear it upon another occasion.
And, accordingly, in the next birth-day song, that for the year 1692, he
composed an air to the words, ' May her bright example chace vice, in
troops, out of the land,' the bass whereof is the tune to ' Cold and raw.' "
The predilection which Queen Mary, on this occasion, evinced for the
music of her ancestors, seems to have been common to the illustrious
race from which she was descended, and the anecdote reminds us of a
story told somewhere or other, but where we cannot remember, which
shews that her uncle, Charles II., possessed a heart capable of being
warmed by similar associations. It relates to a Scotish laird who had
been introduced to King Charles, with whom he had afterwards had
many merry meetings, while in Scotland, enlivened by the song and the
dance of his country. Having become unfortunate in his affairs, he is
■ ' Hist. vol. iv. p. 6.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 19
said to have found his way to London with the view of making an appeal
to the royal favour, and for a lonfr while to have been unable to obtain
access, until one day, when he bethought himself of the expedient of
slipping into the seat of the organist, at the conclusion of the service,
in the Chapel Royal, and of arresting his Majesty's attention as he de-
parted, with the homely and unexpected strain of " Brose and butter" —
a tune which very naturally awakened the recollection of their former
friendship, and in a few minutes brought about the recognition whicli
it was so much his desire to efi'ect.
The known taste and partialities of the Sovereign will at all times do
much to influence those of the public, and it is not improbable that they
may have had the eftect of first introducing Scotish music to the favourable
notice of the people of England. We were not aware, till lately, that
young ladies, during the reign of Charles II., were taught to sing
Scotish songs, as one of the fashionable accomplishments of the day ;
but we fear that the authority on which we make this statement will not
warrant the su])position tliat the era of their popularity had at that time
commenced. The following dialogue occurs in one of Shadwell's Flays,
" The Scowrers," written about the year I67O. The dramatis personce
in the scene are two ladies, Clara and Eugenia, and Priscilla, a sort of
privileged waiting-woman, with whom they are familiarly chatting over the
manner in which they have been brought up : —
" Priscilla. but you had music and dancing?
" Eugenia. Yes; — an ignorant, illiterate, hopping puppy, that rides
his dancing circuit thirty miles about, lights off his tired steed, draws his
kit at a poor country creature, and gives her a hitch in her pace that she
shall never recover.
" Clara. And for music, an old hoarse singing man, riiiing ten
miles from his cathedral to quaver out ' The glories of her birth and
state;' or, it may be, a Scotch sovg, more liideous and barbarous than
an Irish cronan.
" EiKJENiA. And another music-master from the next town, to leach
one to twinkle out Lillibtirlero upon an old pair of virginals, that sound
worse than a tinker's kettle that he cries his work upon."
20 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
In Scotland, we know of no more than one publication of secular
music which appeared throughout the whole of the seventeenth century.
This was a work entitled " Cantus, Songs, and Fancies, to several musi-
call parts, both apt for voices and viols; with a brief Introduction to
Musick, as is taught by Thomas Davidson, in the Musick School of
Aberdeen ; together also with severall of the Choicest Italian Songs,
and New English Ayres, all in tliree parts, (viz.) two trebles and a bass ;
most pleasant and delightfull for all humours." Of this book, editions
appeared in 1()G2, 1666, and 1682, printed by John Forbes, in Aberdeen.
How the city of Aberdeen, or, as Forbes more appropriately (for our
present purpose) styles it, " the ancient city of Bon Accord," sliould have
distinguished itself above its compeers, and even the metropolis of Scot-
land, by giving birth to this unique musical production, it is not easy to
explain; and we certainly can place no great reliance on the panegyrics
bestowed by the publisher on this " famous place" in his dedication, in
which, not satisfied with describing his patrons their " honourable wis-
doms the Lord Provost, Bailies, and Town Council," as being " a har-
monious heavenly consort of as many musicians as magistrates,"^ he re-
presents the city itself, as no less than "the sanctuary of the sciences, the
manse of the muses, and nurserie of all arts," &c.; yea, (he adds,) "the
fame of this city, for its admirable knowledge in this divine science, and
many other fine enduements, liath almost overspread whole Europe; wit-
ness the great confluence of all sorts of persons from each part of the
same, who of design have come (much like that of the Queen of Sheba)
to hear the sweet chearful psalms, and heavenly melody of famous Bon
Accord."'' And yet, absurd as these bombastic encomiums are, they
' It appears to have been a common practice of the magistrates and citizens of Aberdeen, during
the seventeentli century, to parade the streets, singing psalms, on all occasions of public rejoicing.
In an act of council of 4th June 1630, for regulating " the solemnitie to be usit for the Queenis
delyverie of a young sone," it is ordered that " all the youthes of the tonne take thair muskattis,
and accompany thair niogistratis throw the streitis of the town, in singing psalmes and praising
God." Council Register, vol. li. p. 542.
'' We arc so fortunate as to possess a descri])ticn of this " heavenly melody" from another pen
than that of Forbes. Mr Richard Franck, Philanthropus, in his " Northern Memoirs, calcu-
lated for the meridian of Scotland," originally published in 1G58, and reprinted at Edinburgh, in
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 21
appear at least to have had this foundation, that the art was in reality
cultivated with somo degree of success in this place, one reason for
which had, no doubt, been the comparative freedom from civil disunion
which the inhabitants of this part of the kingdom enjoyed. The Edi-
tor has lately been shown a manuscript music-book of the reign of
Charles 11.," which appears to have belonged to some member of the
Keith-Marischal familv, wherein, as the title bears, are " airs to three,
four, and five parts, by M. Clandam, and other fyne pieces in French,
Italian, and Spanish, composed by the best maisters of France; as also,
other fine Scotish and Inglish aires, old and new, taught by Louis de
France, now music-master of Aberdeen, having been the schoUer of the
famous musician, M. Lambert, being the King of France's cheife musician,
for the method and maimer to conduct the voyces." The book contains an
excellent system of exercises in solmization, as taught by this Louis de
France, who had no doubt been an able and eminent instructor, as he
appears shortly afterwards to have been removed to what was probably
a more lucrative employment at Edinburgh. In Mr Maidment's
" Analccta Scotica,"** there will be found an application from him
to the magistrates of Edinburgh as Governors of Heriot's Hospital,
(dated 8th September 1684,) to "allow such of the boys as have ane
disposition for the said art to come to the petitioner's school, that he may
instruct fhcm in the grounds of musick and the four parts of the psalmes."
This seems to have been a gratuitous proposal of M. Louis, proceeding,
as he expresses it, from a desire, not "to be idle or wanting in his dutie,
whereby he can be serviceable to tlieir honours and the good town," they
having appointed him to profess and teach music within the city, with a
yearly salary. It seems also, from an old account-book of the Facultv
1821, (p. 229,) speaking of the same music wliicli lie heard wliilc at .Vbcrdeen, observes — " Here
you shall have such order and decorum of song devotion in the church, as you will admire to
hear, though not regulated hy a cantor or quirister, but only by an insipid paiochial clerk, that
never attempts further in the mntheinalics of musick, llian to conipleat the parishioners to sing a
psalm in tunc."
• /'<•;«■« David Laiiig, Esquire.
" Vol. ii. p 263.
•22 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
of Advocates, that that loarned bodv had at one time made him a
douceur, and although a quid pro quo must in these cases be presumed,
it is not easy to conjecture what the consideration was which had
led to this act of liberality towards the musical professor, unless we are
to suppose that it was intended as a public testimony of the estimation
in which his talents and services were held; and that they had tended, not
inconsiderably, towards the improvement of the public taste in music, may
be presumed from the high character of his master, whose system he intro-
duced into Scotland. Sir John Hawkins says of M. Lambert, who was born
in IGIO, and died at Paris in 1690, — " He had an exquisite hand on the
lute, and sung to it with peculiar grace and elegance : his merit alone
preferred him to the office of Master of the King's (Louis XIV.)
Chamber-music, upon which he became so eminent, that persons of the
highest rank became his pupils, and resorted to his house, in which
he held a sort of musical academy. Lambert is reckoned the first
who gave his countrymen a just notion of the graces of vocal music;"
or rather, in the words of La Borde," he was the first to give ex-
pression and elegance to the French style of singing, which, before
his time, was little better than plain chant or canto fermo, which is
precisely the sort of music to which the songs in Forbes's Cantus
are adapted; and, if M. Lambert was the first person who in France
appears to have successfully laboured to supersede that system by some-
thing approaching to the modern school of vocal melody, it is not likely
that it had ever been imported into Scotland before the arrival of M.
Louis, his pupil ; so that, by securing the services of this gentleman, the
city of Bon Accord would seem to have rendered even a more important
service to the interests of music, than by the publication of their Cantus.
From about tliis era, we may perceive something like the dawn, we
should rather say, the revival, of a taste for popular and national music
in Scotland, to which the plays, balls, and other gaieties at Holyrood-
house, in 1682, during the short period when the Duke of York (after-
wards James II.) and his Duchess held their court there,''no doubt gave
* Essai sur la Musiqiie, vol. iii. p. 441.
"" Arcliieologia Scolica, vol. i. p. 499.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 23
a secret impulse ; not that any great progress could be expected, scarcely
two years after the battle of Bothwell Bridge, in what was denounced
by the puritanical spirit of the times, as part and parcel of the for-
bidden articles of our creed f but the seeds were probably at this time
sown, which were destined in a succeeding age to spring up and ripen
into maturity.
It may at first sight appear strange that this work, Forbes's Cuntus,
should not contain a single Scotish melody. In the edition of 1666,
there are three pieces, not in the other impressions, and of these,
two are sufficiently national in the subject, the one being " the Pleugh
Song," in which all the " hynds" are summoned by name, and the
various appurtenances of the plough are enumerated ; the other a
Medley, consisting of scraps of old songs, to many of which, no doubt,
favourite Scotish airs had once been attached. But even here, the
music, instead of being of a national character, consists of a mere
church chant, and (he songs themselves, along with another conimenc-
* Our readers may be amused with the following catalogue of " abominations," wiiicli we
extract from tlie manifesto of four unfortunate Corenanters, who were seized in tlie neigh-
bourhood of Edinburgh, and incarcerated in the Canongate Tolbootli. We shoukl premise,
however, that the body of tlie party were but slightly tinctured with the extreme fanaticism
of the opinions which are here set forth. " We renounce the names of months, as January,
February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, De-
cember ; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday ; Martimas,
Holydays, for there is none holy but ttie Sabbath day ; Lambas day, Whitsunday, Candlemas,
Beltan, Cross stones, and Images, Fairs named by Saints, and all the remnants of Popery ; Yool or
Christmas, Old Wives' Fables and By- words, as Palmsund.iy, Carlincsunday, the 2nth ofMav,
being dedicat by this generation to prophanity, Peacesunday, Ilallowcven, llogmynae night, Valen-
tin's even; no marrying in tlie month tlicy call May, the innumerable relicts of Popery, Atheism, and
Sorcery, and New Year's day, and Handsell Monday, Drcdgies and Likewakes : Valentciu's Fnir,
Chappels and Chaplains ; likewise Sabbath days Feastings, Blytlimeats, Bantjuctings, Revelling,
Pipins^i, Sporlhif'ii, IJancingt, Ijauglihigs, Shiging prnfaiie and lustfull songs and ballads ; Table-
Lawings, Monklands, Frierlands, Hlackfriar-lands, Kirk and Kirkyards, and Mcrcat Crosses,
Fountstoncs, Images, Registers of Lands and Houses, Register Bonds, Discharges, and all their
Law-works, Inhibitions, Homings, Letters of Adjudications, Ships-passes, Proplianily, and all un-
chast thoughts, words, and actions, formality and indifferency. Story-books and Ballads, Romances
and Pamphlets, Comedy-books, Cards and Dice, and all such like, we disown all of them, and
burns them the Gth day of the week, being the 27lh day of the Stii month, 1081, at the Cannon-
gate Tolbuith Iron-house."
24 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
iiig, " All Sones of Adam," are, with some reason, conjectured to have
boon a sort of Christmas carols, sung by peasants before the Refor-
mation. But wo should recollect, that the songs and melodies, of which
wo arc in search, did not suit the austere sontimonts and doportmont of
the Puritans, and wore perhaps no great favourites with the aristocratic
faction, so that, between the two, it is not to be wondered at, if Mr
Forbes, in his courtierlike anxiety to render his work " most pleasant and
delightful for all humours," had been induced to omit them.
The Cantus, however, is higlily characteristic of the music then in
vogue throughout Scotland, and which was publicly taught at the differ-
ent music-schools.
Although the custom has been for many years in disuse, insomuch as
scarcely to have left a vestige of its former existence, Music, both secular
and sacred, unquestionably formed a branch of ordinary education in
Scotland, upon the same footing as it now does in Germany and other
parts of the Continent, not only during the sway of the Roman Catholic
Church, l)ut for many years after the Reformation. While, in Eng-
land, the change of religion did not produce any great immediate
alteration on the music of the church — in this country, there can be
no doubt, that the annihilation of the great choral establishments,
the exclusion of organs and other instruments from the service, and
the severe simplicity of the style of psalmody introduced by the rigid
disciples of Calvin and Knox, had a considerable effect in checking
the progress of the art. This, — James, or rather, his advisers, saw
with regret; and they, not improbably, thought, that there was some
danger lest the same fierce and intolerant spirit, which, in destroy-
ing the images and idols of Popery, had, along with them, swept
away many of the richest and most costly monuments of art, would
shortlv carry its indiscriminate zeal so far as to attack the whole system
of Musical instruction, as one of the remaining symbols of Antichrist.
Hence the following statute, passed on the 11th November 1579 —
" For instruction of the youth in the art of musik and singing, quhilk is
almaist decayit, and sail schortly decay, without tymous remeid be pro-
vidit, oure Soverane Lord, with aviso of his thrie estatis of this present
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 25
parliament, requeistis the provest, baillies, coiinsale, and communitie of
the maist speciall burrowis of this realrae, and of the patronis and pro-
vestis of the collegis, quhair sang scuiHs are foundat, to erect and sett up
ane sang scuill, with ane maister sufficient and able for instructioun of
the yowth in the said science of musik, as they will ansuer to his hienes
upoun the perrell of their fundationis, and in performing of his hienes
requeist do unto his Majestie acceptable and gude plesure."
This Act must have had the effect not only of keeping up sucii music
schools as had been previously established, but of causing the erec-
tion of others. We have documents before us, showing that in Aber-
deen, Ayr, Cupar, Dunbar, Dundee, Elgin, Irvine, Lanark, St Andrews,
&c., for many years after, and in some instances before, the passing of the
act 1579, besides the teacher of the grammar school, an individual
held the appointment of master of the music or song school. These
consist of extracts from the accounts of the common good of certain
Scotish burghs preserved in the General Register House,*" relative to
schools, and specifying the amount of salary paid to the different teachers.
It would appear that the charge of the master of the music school was
usually extended to the departments of reading, writing, and arithmetic ;•=
and that the teachers were, originally at least, respectable members of the
ecclesiastical body. Indeed, we find several instances of clergymen being
advanced from this situation to wealthy benefices, and even bishoprics. Thus,
William Hay, master of the music school at Old Aberdeen, in 1G58, was
• Acta Pari. iii. 174. In the wording of this Act, which does not command, but simply requeih
the different functionaries therein specified to erect song-schools, &c., coupled with the sanction
that they shall answer therefor, on the peril of their foundations, and followed up by the assur-
ance that, " in performing of his hienes requeist, (they will) do unto his Majestie acceptable and
gude plesure," there is something so anomalous and absurd, so exceedingly like the strange and
not very consistent deportment of the sapient, lialf-witted Monarch, from whose counsels it
sprung, that it is most likely that the statute had been dictated by himself, and if so, we may re-
gard it as one of his earliest efforts at legislation. He always took a great interest in musical
matters, and although he most probably thought with his preceptor, Buchanan, that it was neither
becoming nor expedient for a king to possess much skill in that art, he appears about this time to
have been ambitious of acquiring proficiency as a performer on the virginals. See infra, p. 111.
'■ See Appendix.
• See Extract Accounts above mentioned, and Orem's Description of Old Aberdeen, p. 211.
U
26 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
appointed minister of Perth, and subsequently Bishop of Murray; and
about the middle of the sixteenth century, we find officiating in the same
capacity in New Aberdeen, John Lesly, afterwards better known as Bishop
of Ross, the historian, one of the most conspicuous agents of the Catholic
cause during the reign of Queen Mary, and the associate and instigator
of the Duke of Norfolk in the conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth,
which, in 1572, cost that nobleman his life/
Kennedy mentions,"" that Mr Davidson, whose system of musical
tuition is given in Forbes's Cantus, had teachers under him, and taught
both vocal and instrumental music, particularly the virginal and the lute;
and Orem not only describes the music in Old Aberdeen as being taught
by the same master, who gave instructions in reading, writing, and arith-
metic, but under the same roof with these branches of education ; its
connexion with which may be still farther traced in the following entry in
the Town Council Register of New Aberdeen, (vol. xlv. p. 858,) though
the circumstance there recorded would seem to show that the system, at
this period at least, was not very conducive to harmony: — " 1612,
1 Dec. — On this day, the scholars of the grammar, sang, and writing
schools, rose against their masters, seized the sang school, and held it
by force of arms for three days." From a list of the ringleaders, it appears
that they were for the most part the sons of the landed gentlemen and
• It is right, liowever, to mention, that we state this fact solely on the authority of Mr Kennedy,
the author of the Annals of Aberdeen, and that it is very possible that the annalist may have
drawn his inference from the mere name without farther evidence. If true, it is a circumstance in
the hfe of this eminent person, which his biographers have hitherto omitted to notice. The fol-
lowing is a copy of the minute of appointment, as it appears in the town council register of Aber-
deen, and from the date, it would seem that at this time he could not have been more than
eighteen years of age. As he is styled " Sir John Lessly," it may be proper to state, for the in-
formation of those who are not versed in these matters, that this was a title formerly given to
ecclesiastics, like the " Reverend" of modern times. — " 1544, 18th September. The said day, the
hale consale being convenit togidder, hes ordanit and elect Sir Jhon Lessly to be ane of the Pre-
bendaris of the queir, and to haif the organis and Sang-schole for instructioun of the minds of gudis
bairns, and I^epiiig of thame in gude ordour ; and he to mak continual residence in the said queir.
For the quhilk thai haif gifen him xx lib. yeirlie of fee, thankfullie payit to him yeirUe salary, as he
remanis and niakis gude service to the towne."
^ Annals of Aberdeen, vol. ii. p. 135.
' History of Old Aberdeen, p. 191.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 27
barons of Abprdeeiishire. This music school in Aberdeen existed so
lately as 175B, when the house was sold."
By comparing what has been above stated with the subjoined notices
from Dr Burney's Tour, published in 1773, our readers cannot fail to
be struck with the perfect parallel which exists between the system
here described, and that which prevailed in Germany at the period of his
visit to that country, and which is there continued on the same footing
to the present day. We may add, that while it has completely gone out
of use with us, it has in the meantime extended itself to many other
countries, especially to France and the United States.
" At Koningstein and Pima there are schools for music
At Pirna there is one for the children of olficers, and one for those of
the poorer sort, where they learn, as elsewhere, music, with reading and
writing.''
" I crossed the whole kingdom of Bohemia from south to north ; and
being very assiduous in my inquiries how the common people learned
music, I found out at length that not only in everv large town, but in all
villages where there is a reading and writing school, children of both
sexes are taught music. At Tcuchenbrod, Janich, Czaslau, Bomiscli-
brod, and other places, I visited these schools; and at Czaslau, in parti-
cular, within a post of Colin, I caught them in the fact." (One would
think, from this expression of the learned Doctor, that he had found them
any thing but well employed.) " The organist and cantor, M. Johann
Dulsick, and the first violin of the parish church, M. Martin Kruch, who
are likewise the two schoolmasters, gave me all the satisfaction I re-
■ Kennedy's Annals, vol. ii. p. 135. The folloHiny oxiract from an Aberdeen newspaper, the
Journal, (.\ii(;iist '23, 17-18,) shews that music still continucil at that time to be taught at the pub-
lic schools throughout Scotland. •' Injustice to the merits of the teachers of the nritin!; and
music schools of this city, we have the pleasure to inform the publick, that last Thursday the
Honourable Magistrates and Council paid tlieni a vi&it, when the scholars in both performed
their parts to the entire satisfaction of the visitors. But particularly the scholars in the musick
school performed several parts of vocal and instrumental musick in presence of a polite ,nnd numerous
auditory, and some persons of distinction, who were pleased to say, they were the betl performers of
any llicy ever heard in a pubiick tchoul in Scollaiid."
^ Burney's Tour, vol. ii. p. 23.
28 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
quired. I wont into the school, which was full of little children of both
sexes, from six to ten or eleven years old, who were reading, writing,
playing on violins, hautbois, bassoons, and other instrnments. The or-
ganist had in a small room of his house four clavichords, with little boys
practising on them all ; his son, of nine years old, was a very good per-
former."*
Originally the clergy would naturally have been selected to officiate as
masters of the music school, from their being the only persons qualified
to give instructions in that science ; afterwards the office fell into the
hands of the schoolmaster;'' and latterly, before its final extinction, it seems
to have been united with the less literate functions of reader, precentor,
and session-clerk.'^
Forbes' Collection, therefore, is shaped precisely according to what
might be expected from the source from which it emanated, and the pre-
vailing taste of the day. If we find its contents somewhat heavy and
monotonous, we must recollect that it is the production of a period when
even the little dramatic music which was beginning to spring up in
Italy and France, and which, however it might have startled the ears
of our Presbyterian ancestors, would sound dull enough in these " most
brisk and giddy paced times," was wholly unknown, and when our aii-
* Burney's Tour, vol. ii. p. 4. For farther information on this point, see Mr Edward Taylor's
" Airs en the Rhine," and Mr Planche's " Descent of the Danube."
^ From the following extract from Lament's Diary, (p. 20,) it would seem that this functionary
was sometimes called upon for an exhibition of his vocal powers : — " 1G50, June 23 The King's
Maiestie (Charles the Second) came from Hollaride to this kingdome. The 6 of July, leaning
St Androis, he came to Cowper, where he gatt some desert to his foure-houres ; the place where he
satte doune to eate was the Tulboothe. The towne had apointed Mr .\ndro Andcrsone, schole-
lueaster ther for the tyme, to giue hiin a musicke songe or two whille he was at tabell."
' From the tale of the Prioress in Chaucer, it would appear, that in England, many hundred
years ago, " to singen" was as much an established branch of the education of " small children"
as " to rede;" and Hawkins, (vol. ii. p. 260,) speaking of the religious houses, says, that besides
being schools of learning and education, " all the neighbours that desired it might have their
children instructed in grammar and church music without any expense to them," — a custom
which was probably introduced soon after the establishment of the Gregorian chant, in the sixth
century, when John the Arch-chantor and Abbot of St Martin's was sent from Rome to teach the
monks of Wcremouth the Service. BedjE Ecclesiae Historia, lib. iv. c. 18.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 20
cient Scotish melodies, with their wild, varied, and original modulation,
were but little relished. From beginning to end there is scarcely any
composition which has the least pretension to life or gaiety, if we except
Morley's still favourite glee, " Now is the month of Maying." The
melodies, if melodies they can be called, are uniformly of a grave and
sombre cast, and nothing can be less expressive, or, generally speaking,
more at variance with the sentiment which they are intended to convey.
Even where there is an attempt at sprightliness in the words, they are
almost invariably set in the minor key, which, of course, hangs like a
dead weight upon them, and makes most " tragical mirth." The
verses are for the most part from the pens of our Scotish lyrical poets
of the preceding century, especially Scott and Montgomery ; and the
music to which they are adapted consists in general of the productions of
English composers. As the stock of melody was at that time extremely
limited, it is not surprising to find several different sonnets adapted to
the same tune. The air, " If floods of tears," which we have in the
.Skene MS., is here associated with two different sets of words; but the
most interesting coincidence we observe is a sonnet of Montgomery,
" Away, vain world, bewitcher of my heart," the air of which is that of
" Farewell, dear heart, since thou must needs be gone :
My eyes do show my life is almost done,"
with which all our readers are familiar, being the sonnet which Shak-
speare puts into the mouths of Sir Toby Belch and the Clown, in
the scene where their midnight orgies are interrupted by the unwel-
come presence of Malvolio. In Montgomery's Poems,* the song,
" Away, vain world," is mentioned as having been composed to the
" toon" of " Sal I let her go," part of the burden of " Farewell,
dear heart ;" and if any doubt might at first have existed as to their
identity, the fact is now satisfactorily established, the Editor having re-
cently discovered the sonnet itself in a MS. of the year 1G39, belonging to
the Advocates' Library, set to the very tune which appears in Forbes'
Cantus. Dr Percy has given the words of this song ; but it has not
* Published in 1821, under the joint editorship of Dr Irving and David Laing, Esquire.
30 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
hitherto been known that the air to which it was sung was lurking unob-
served in this curious volume.* We have the farther satisfaction of in-
troducing a still older version of this air than that contained in Forbes
or the above mentioned MS. in the Skene Collection, under a dilTerent
name from any of the preceding — " O sillie soul alace."
Another feature of the Cantus must not be omitted. It contains a
good many of the Godly and Spiritual Songs of the period. This
was a style of composition introduced soon after the Reformation by
certain of the clergy, in order, if possible, to unite religious edification
with tlieir musical recreations. Passages of scripture were paraphrased
and set to music, but, as may be supposed, not in a way much cal-
culated to uphold the dignity of the original, or to heighten the subli-
mity of the truths which they enforced. Of these some were adapted
to the more fashionable compositions of the day, others to characteris-
tic national melodies. A large collection of tliese appeared in the year
1590, and were reprinted by Andro Hart in IG'21, under the title of " Ane
compendious Booke of Godly and Spirituall Songs, collectit out of sundrie
parts of the Scripture, with sundrie of other Ballates changed out of pro-
phaine songes, for avoyding of sinne and harlotrie, with augmentation of
sundrie gude and godly ballates not contained in the first edition."''
Some of the contents of this singular performance consist of songs
of a sacred character, perfectly fit for church service; but the ballads
changed out of profane songs, are either religious parodies of popu-
lar songs, or satirical invectives against the Catholic clergy, couched
under that form. Wherever the great mass of a community require to
be operated upon, ballads arc a species of missives which have not
unfrequently proved serviceable; and in the great contest between the
° Our National Antbem is said to make its appearance in Forbes" Cantiis. This is not the case.
" Remember, O thou man," (which will also be found in Ravenscroft's Melismata, among what he
calls bis country pastimes, under the name of" A Christmas Caroll,") bears a strong resemblance
to it; but the coincidence is not such (especially as the former is in the major, and the other in the
minor series) as to establish their identity, or even to warrant a charge of plagiarism against any of its
reputed authors.
'' Specimens of this work were published by Lord Hailes in 1764, and an entire reprint edited
by Sir John Graliam Dalyell in 1801.
PRELIMLNARY DISSERTATION. 31
Papal Clergy and the founders of the Reformed religion, they seem to
have been made use of with considerable effect. It should be remem-
bered that a feud had subsisted between the ballad-mongers and the
Catholic clergy, even from very remote times. Mr Tytler" observes, " The
clergy were tlie bitter enemies of the minstrels, whom they considered
as satirical rivals or intruders, who carried off from the church the money
which might have been devoted to more pious and worthy uses. They
talk of them as profligate, low bred butToons, who blow up their cheeks,
and contort their persons, and play on horns, harps, trumpets, pipes, and
moorish flutes, for the pleasure of their lords, and who, moreover, flatter
them by songs and tales, and adulatory ballads, for which their masters
are not ashamed to repay these ministers of the prince of darkness with
larse sums of sold and silver, and with rich embroidered robes."
Neither did the party here assailed spare their ecclesiastical antagonists;
and few as are the fragments which remain of their fleeting productions,
(which is the less to be wondered at, as their enemies, the churclimen,
were the only persons by whom any thing was committed to writing,) we
see enough to convince us, that they rarely omitted an opportunity of
exposing their hypocritical demeanour, their luxurious habits, and the
corruption and profligacy of their lives. Our readers may take as an
example, " The friar had on a coul of red," a distich of which is given
in the medley at the end of Forbes' Cantu.s, (Edition lG(i(J,) but
which we shall not here repeat. We may, however, transfer to our pages,
from the Compendium, the following satirical effusion, from which some
iiloa may be formed of the general style of these compositions : —
With hunts up, with huntis up,*"
It is now perfite day ;
Jesus our King is gane in hunting;
Quha likes to speed they may.
* History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 373.
"" According to Puttcnham, one Gray acquired the favour of Iloury VIll., and uflt-rwords that
of the Duke of Sohicrset, for making "certain merry hallads," whereof one chiefly was " The
huntc is up, the huntc is up." This, therefore, wils an English song, though one of the many
which were at that time popular in both countries. The tune is preserved in Lady Nevdl's music
book Burney, vol. iil. p. 115.
32 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Ane cursit fox lay hid in rox
This hmg and mony ane day,
Devouring sheep, whilk he might creep ;
Nane might him shape away.
It did him gude to laip the bhide
Of 3oung and tender lammis:
Nane could him mis, for all was his,
The young anis with their dammes.
The hunter is Christ, that hunts in haist;
The hunds are Peter and Paul ;
The Paip is the fox; Rome is the rox,
That rubbis us on the gall.
That cruel beist, he never ceist,
By his usurpit power,
Under dispence, to get our pence,
Our saullis to devoure.
Quha could devise sic merchandise
As he had there to sell,
Unless it were proud Lucifer,
The great master of hell ?
He had to sell the Tantonie bell,
And pardons therein was.
Remission of sins in auld sheep-skinis,
Our sauls to bring from grace.
With buls of lead, white wax and reid.
And uther whiles with green,
Closit in ane box, this usit the fox;
Sic peltrie was never seene.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 33
So numerous and so cutting had these and similar pasquinades become,
— not to mention the more oU'ective because more talented and inee-
nious productions of Sir David Lyndsay, which must always be classed
among the leading, if not the most powerful, agents of the Reformation"
in Scotland, that at a provincial council of the Roman Catholic clergy,
held at Linlithgow, in 1549, it was thought necessary to enter a special
denunciation against all who should be found in the possession of " aliquos
libros RYTHMORUM si:u cantilknarum vllgarium scundalosa ecclesiasti-
corum, aut quucunque hceresin in se continentia ;" and in 1551, an Act
of Parliament'' was passed, prohibiting the publication of " onie buikes,
ballates, sanges, blasphemations, rimes or tragedies, either in Latin or
in English," without royal licence obtained " fra our Soveraine Ladie and
the Lord Governour." Nay, the Catholics were not satisfied with these
denunciations and legal prohibitions ; they appear at last to have found
it expedient to resort to the lex talionis in self-defence. Some of their
clergy are said to have been the authors of a satirical ballad, in very
general circulation, against the Protestant faith, and the English for em-
bracing it; and John Knox, in his History, (p. 3G,) tells us that " ane
Wilsoun, servant to the bischope of Dunkeld, quha (the said bischope)
neither knew the New Testament nor the Auld, made a despyteful railing
ballat against the preichours, and against the Governor, for the quhilk
he narrowly eschapit hanging." Knox also mentions a " sang of
triumphe" which the Catholic clergy composed, when Norman Leslie and
his associates in the assassination of Cardinal Beatoun were taken from
the castle of St Andrews, and consigned to the galleys: —
" Priestis, content you now,
Priestis, content you now;
For Normond and his companie
Hes filled the gallays fow."
The policy of the satirical ballads is sufficiently intelligible; that of
' Sot- Sir John (Graham DalycH'* Scolisli I'ocms of the Sixtreiith Century, vol. i. p. 30.
•■ Queen Mary. I'ur. 5, c. 27.
K
34 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
popularising, as it were, the doctrines of religion, by associating them
with common secular songs and rustic and street tunes and dances,
was an experiment of a much more doubtful character ; and yet it
was plainly entered upon under the lionest and earnest conviction, that a
trreater service could not have been rendered to the cause of religion and
morality. " In Princes' courts," says Hume of Logic, in the preface to his
" Hymnes or Sacred Songs," (printed in 1599,) " in the houssis of great
menu, and at the assembleis of yong gentlemen and yong damesels, the
chief pastime is to sing prophaine sonnets and vain ballattis of love, or to re-
hers some fabulos faites of Palmcriue, Amadis, or uther such like reveries,
and suche as either have the airte or vaine poeticke, of force they must
shew themselves vane followeris of the dissolute ethnike poets, both in
phraze and substaunce, or else they salbe had in no reputaunce. Alas !
for pittie, is this the richte use of a Christianes talent ?" Many of the songs
were unquestionably of a licentious description ; and it seemed to occur to
these well-meaning zealots, that if they could only succeed in divorcing
the innocent and artless tunes from their libertine associates, and in wed-
ding them to verses of a divine character and import, the stream of pol-
lution would gradually work itself clear, and the much lamented inunda-
tion of looseness and immorality be speedily dammed up. This idea,
though it argued very little knowledge of human nature, was not alto-
gether new. Thomas Sternhold, in the reign of Edward VI., tried some-
thing of the same kind, and with as little success. It is related of him,
that being a " most zealous Protestant, and strict liver," the amorous and
obscene songs used in the court of this Prince gave him such scandal,
that he turned into English metre fifty-one of David's Psalms, and caus-
ed musical notes to be set to them, thinking thereby that the courtiers
would sing them instead of their sonnets ; but, says Wood, who mentions
the circumstance, this they " did not, only some few excepted."^ It must
be allowed, however, that there was something much more reasonable in
this project of Sternhold than in that of our Scotish Puritans, although they
were both based upon the erroneous, impracticable, and we may add, un-
■ Allienae Oxoniensis, vol. i. p. 76.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 35
scriptural principle, (which we see acted upon by fanatics in all ages,) that
the exercises of devotion ought to be made to take the place of our amuse-
ments and recreations, and that the comnuinit)-, as a point of reli-
gious duty, ought to substitute divine songs for those of a secular
nature. Still the former was not liable to the objection of irreverence,
which applies so strongly to the other, and which, from the unhallowed al-
lusions which it suggested — the indecency with whicli if jumbled together
images the most sacred and profane — and the familiarity which it intro-
duced in addressing the Deity — was calculated to do more real harm to the
cause of religion, than the evil which it was intended to put down, and more
than all the pious eft'orts of their authors could ever repair. The monstrous
effect of the seria mista jocis, in matters of a religious nature, has seldom
been so glaringly exemplified as in some of the " godly and spiritual
songs," as they were strangely miscalled, to be found in this Compen-
dium. " John, come kiss me now," as Mr Tytler well observes, " makes his
appearance, stripped, indeed, of his profane dress, which had promoted
"sin and harlotrie," but in exchange, so strangely equipped in his i)eniten-
tial habit, as to make a more ludicrous figure than his brother Jack in the
" Tale of a Tub."
Johne, cum kis me now,
Johne, cum kis me now ;
Johne, cum kis me by and by,
And make no more adow.
The Lord thy God I am,
That John dois thee call ;
John rej)resents man,
By grace celesliall.
My prophites call, my preachers cry,
Johne, cum kis me now;
Johne, cum kis me by and by.
And mak no more adow.
36 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Till our gudeman, till our gudeman,
Keep faith and love till our gudeman :
For our gudeman in heaven does reign.
In glore, and blisse, without ending,
Where angels singes ever, Osan I
In laud and praise of our gudeman,
Adam our forefather that was,
Hes lost us all for his trespasse ;
Whais bruckle banes wee may sair ban.
That gart us lost our owne gudeman.
Quho is at my windo, who, who ?'
Goe from my windo, goe, goe.
Quha calles there, so like ane strangere ?
Goe from my windo, goe, goe.
Lord, I am here, ane wrached mortall,
That for thv mercie dois crie and call
Unto thee, my Lord celcstiall ;
See who is at my windo, who ?
O gracious Lord celestiall.
As thou art Lord and King eternal ;
Grant us grace that we may enter all,
And in at thy doore let me goe.
■ The proloivpe of tliis song, " Goe from my window, goe," is one of the shreds and patches
introduced by " Old Merry Thought," in Beaumont and Fletcher's " Knight of the Burning Pestle."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 37
Qhuo is at my windo, qiiho ?
Go from my windo, go ;
Cry no more there, like ane stranger,
But in at my doore thou go !
Hay, now the day dallis,
Now Christ on us callis ;
Now welth on our wallis
Appeiris anone :
Now the word of God rings,
Whilk is King of all Kings :
Now Christis flock sings,
The night is neere gone.
This was called moralizing popular ballads ! It is alluded to by
Shakspeare in the Winter's Tale,* where he speaks of a Puritan who sings
psalms to hornpipes ; and — what we could scarcely have looked for — it has
been carried down so near our own times as till within these sixty or seventy
years ; a religious sect, denominated the Bereans, having signalized them-
selves by the production of a volume similar to that from which the above
extracts are made, and of which the following are specimens : —
" Wat ye what I met yestreen
Lying in my bed, mama?
An angel bright," &c.
" Haud awa, bide awa,
Haud awa frae me, Deilie."
The only other Scotish volume of the same nature with the Compen-
dium of Godly and Spiritual Songs, is one which appeared iu 1683,
» Act iv. Scene 2.
38 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
under the title of " The Saint's Recreation, Third Part, upon the Estate
of Grace ; containing, and methodically delineating, a Christian's pro-
gress, privileges, comforts, and duties, beginning at conversion ; de-
scribing also the blessed Rodeonior, Jesus, both absolutely and compara-
tively ; and all these in spiritual hymns and songs suited to graue, sweet,
melodious tunes : together with a plain paraphraze upon the margin,
confirming all by Scriptures, explaining difficulties, and methodizing the
songs. Compiled by Mr William Geddes, Minister of the Gospel, first
at Wick in Caithness, and afterwards at Urquhart in Murray." This
work is chiefly remarkable for the ingenious apology wliich the author
offers for having presumed to blend the sacred with the profane. He
says in his preface — " I cannot omit here to obviate an objection which
may be raised by some inconsiderate persons, which is this : O! say they,
we remember some of these ayres or tunes were sung heretofore with
amorous sonnets, wherein were (may be) some bawdy-like or obscene-
like expressions. To this I answer, first, That in this practice I have the
precedent of some of the most pious, graue, and zealous divines in the
kingdom, who to very good purpose have composed godly songs to the
tunes of such old songs as these — ' The bonny broom;' ' I'll never leave
thee ;' ' We'll all go pull the hadder,' (heather,) and such like, and yet
without any challenge or disparagement. Secondly, It is alleged by
some, and that not without some colour of reason, that many of our
ayres or tunes are made by good angels, but the letters or lines of our
songs bv devils. We choose the part angelical, and leave the diabolical.
Thirdly, It is as possible and probable that these vain profane men, who
composed those amorous naughty sonnets, have surreptitiously borrowed
those graue sweet tunes from former spiritual hymns and songs ; and
why may not we again challenge our own, plead for restitution, and bring
back to the right owner ; applying those graue ayres again to a divine and
spiritual subject ? Lastly, We find Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles,
sanctified some sentences and verses of Greek poets, converting them
into scriptural maxims, such as that — ' Cretenses omnes sunt mendaces —
the Cretans are always liars,' Tit. i, 12 ; and that in Acts xvii. 28, ' For
in him we live, and move, and have our being,' &c. ; and why may not we
(finding the measures of a melodious tune or ayre indifferent in them-
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 39
selves) consecrate and apply tliem to a sacred poem ?"" Mr Alexander
Campbell remarks, in regard to the latter part of the above extract, that
it contains the fanciful notion that our Scotish melodies had been origi-
nally sacred music, and that this idea was too ludicrous to merit serious
refutation, Mr Ritson,'' too, has observed, that the Scotish music owes
nothing to the church-music of the cathedrals and abbeys before the
Reformation ; and these opinions, taken up upon such liigh grounds,
have since passed current for somelliing little short of authority upon the
subject. It is somewhat dangerous, however, (as our readers will shortly
see, when they look more particularly into the present collection,) for
authors to denounce as absurd and groundless, opinions, merely because
they happen to run counter to their own favourite theory. There are a
few of the airs themselves, now that we have a clearer insight into
them, which seem to tell a different tale; and we are rather inclined to
think that the reverend gentleman, however slightly he miglit have been
acquainted with the history of Scotish melody — in stating it not only as
possible, but probable, that " the graue and sweet tunes" to which he
refers had been derived from an ecclesiastical source, might have pro-
ceeded uj)oii some credible and authentic tradition generally current at
the time when he made the observation ; but of this more hereafter.
As Forbes' book is the oi.Iy [Uiblication of the seventeenth century to
which we could have looked for the preservation of our native Scotish
Melodies, we should have rejoiced even to have discovered a few of their
" old familiar faces" peeping out from under the |)uritanical garb in
which so many of the artificial productions of the " Caiitus" are in-
vested ; but we have not been so fortunate, and we are forced to admit
the utter absence of all printed evidence as to their nature and character,
of an older date than that which has been above noticed.
In this dearth of all direct information, there are two collateral in-
quiries which ought not to be overlooked; the one relates to the lyrical
associates of (he tuue< — the otlier to tlie musical instruments bv which
' liitrodiiclioii lo History of Scotisli I'ot'lry. p. 3G4.
** Ilistoricul Essay an Scutisli Song, p. 102.
40 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
they were performed and occasionally accompanied. To both of these
subjects we sliall now direct the attention of our readers, though not
to a greater extent than we feel to be indispensable in the illustration of
the particular topic which we are at present engaged in bringing under
their notice.
I. ANCIENT SCOTISH LYRICAL POETRY.
It is obviously impossible to arrive at a just conception or appre-
ciation of the character of the ancient vocal music of Scotland, without
taking into view the songs and rhymes to which it was adapted, and of
which it may be said to have formed a part. Music and poetry were
much more intimately connected during the middle ages than they are
at present ; and whether the ancient melodies of Scotland were chiefly
the invention of an order of men who, according to the impo,?ing de-
scription of Percy, conjoined these two sister arts, and " sung verses to
the harp of their own composing," who graced all scenes of festivity with
the exercise of their talents, and were welcome guests in the halls of the
great, and the humble cabins of the poor : or whether they might have
emanated from a class of persons who, in the more sober language of
Ritson, were little better than what he is pleased to call " mere instru-
mental performers, fiddlers, or such base-like musicians, who made it their
business to wander up and down the country, chanting romances, singing
songs and ballads to the harp, fiddle, &c. ;" or whether they took their rise
among sliophords tending ihoir flocks, or maids milking their ewes, who
actually felt the sentiments and aflections of wliich they are so very expres-
sive, — all must be agreed that a congeniality, — *a reciprocity, more or less
perfect, must have {originally, at least, we will not say nhcays) existed
between the melody and the words, and that the genius of the one must
have alternately inspired and awakened that of the other. The very
rythm and measure of a verse, together with the sentiment, often seems
to carry a certain intonation or air along with it, and Mr Allan Cun-
' See Percy, Ritson, Bcatlie, Ptnkerton, passim.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 4l
ningham* has gone so far as to say, that when he was a boy, and com-
mitted to memory many ancient and modern songs, he never learned
any of them without making him.^elf master of some kind of melody which
re-echoed the words, and that mosi of the airs which the words suggested
corresponded, in a great measure, with the proper tune, the nature of the
song, and its emphatic words, suggesting flie general spirit and character
of the air. Upon this somewhat remarkable declaration, we shall morelv
observe, that without meaning to call in question Mr Cunningham's
veracity, and supposing it to be quite possible that a few casual coinci-
dences of this nature might have occurred, — the slightest consideration of
the almost endless variety of musical adaptations of which any given
metrical arrangement of words is susceptible,'' must at once lead to the
rejection of all such ideas as hypothetical and unfounded. We need hardly
say, therefore, that we do not participate in any such theory ; we shall
not even attempt to point out the affinities and resemblances which e.xist
between the two ; all we shall do will be to collect a few of the scattered
notices which are here and there to be met with ; and if they should
serve to convey a tolerably correct idea of the favourite themes to which
the ancient muse of Caledonia was wont to tune her lays, and the pre-
vailing tone and character of her vocal compositions, it is all the informa-
tion which we think can be expected, and, considering the few wrecks
which the ravages of time have left, quite as much as the data before us
are capable of supplying.
It is believed that until within the last three hundred years, our Scotish
songs were but seldom committed to paper, and when left to the care of
memory and tradition alone, they were perhaps not often destined to
outlive their authors, or the events which they were intended to coin-
uiemorate. In these cases, they probably evaporated in a few years,
• Cunningliam's Songs of Scotlniid, vol. i. p. 26.
' Merscnnc has calculated that the iiuinbcr of tunes or CantilentB which it is possible to extract
from twenty-two notes (a compass of three diatonic octaves) is precisely 30j53j075.1492C 12960484.
Harnionicoruni, l,ili. vii. Prop. ix. It has also been computed, that to ring all the possible
changes on tv^'elve bells wonld occupy scvonty-five years, ten months, one week, und three days.
Hawkins' Hist. vol. iv. p. 108.
P
42 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
without leavins any trace behind them, and in others, wliere tlioy were
reduced to writing, no care seems to have been taken of them. We
need not wonder, therefore, when we set out in a pursuit of this na-
ture, at the unsatisfactory and barren prospect that awaits us, and that,
instead of apprehendinfr the bodily substance of what we aim at, we feel
ourselves, like beings wandering among the tombs, surrounded by the
crumbled relics of former ages, with nothing to guide us to the objects of
our search beyond a few casual inscriptions designative of the names by
which they were known in their generation, and which now, that they have
passed away, like epitaphs, serve merely to mark the period of their ex-
istence, or the spot where their ashes are laid.
The most ancient specimen of Scotish song, believed to be extant, is
that which is given in Andrew Wyntoun's Rhyming Chronicle of Scot-
ish History, written about the year 1420, where, speaking of the disastrous
effects which residted from the death of Alexander III., who was kilkHJ
by a fall from his horse, in 128G, he says —
" This falyhyd fra he deyed suddanly,
This sang was made of him for thi.
Quhen Alysander, oure kynge, wes dede,
That Scotland led in luwe and le,
Away wes sons off ale and brede,
Off wyne and wax, gamyn and gle ;
Ovvre gold wes changyd into lede ;
Cryst, borne into vergyynyte.
Succour Scotland and remede
That stad is in perplexitie."
Another rhyme of the same period, and only a few years later, (1296,)
is quoted by Mr Rilson from an old Harleian MS., and was made by the
Scots at the siege of Berwick, the garrison and inhabitants of which,
though ultimately overcome, and massacred by the victorious Edward,
had at the commencement been successful. It runs as follows : —
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 43
" Wend Kyng Edcwarde with his lange shankes,
To have gete Berwyke al our unthankes,
Gas pikes hym, and after gas dikes him."
We may ne.xt refer to the well known lines on the memorable battle
of Bannockburn in 1314 : —
" Maydens of Englande, sore may ye morne,
For your lemmans ye have lost at Bannockvsborne,
With heve alowe.
What ! weneth the King of England
So soon to have wone Scotlande ?
Wyth rumbelowe."''
" This songc," says Fabian, by whom (as well as by Caxton, and
also in a Harloian MS.) it is preserved, " was, after many daies, song
in daunces in the carols of the maidens and mynstrclles of Scotland, to
the reprofe and disdayno of Englyshemen, with dyvers others, whych I
overpasse." Afterwards, in 1328, when Edward the Second's daughter
Jane was given in marriage to David, the son of Robert the Bruce,
and a treaty of peace entered into at York between the two nations,
upon terms somewhat humiliating to the (at that time) crest-fallen martial
spirit of England, we are informed by the same historian, Fabian, that
the contempt of the Scots broke out in " diverse truffes, rounds, and
songes, of the whiche one is specially remembred, as foloweth : —
* " Ilcve a towe rumbelow" a said to be a sort of ancient chorus, but most commonly used by
mariners. It is not unlike the mcidern " i/o-hcavc-o." On this account, in the old song on Bannock-
burn, It is supposed to carry with it on allusion to King Edward's having cscopcd in a small skifl'
from Dunbar ; or, as the loyal Ciixton discreetly insinuates, " forosmoche as he loved to gone by
water." Wo should like nuich to know in what this " heve a lowe ruiubelowc" originated. The
•■ Hie down, down, derry down," is said to he a modern version of " llai down, ir derry danno '
— the burden of an old song of the Druids, signifying, " Come let us hasten to the oaken grove :"
which was chanted by the bards and vades to call the people to their religious assendilies in the
groves, — a curious proof how vestiges of ancient customs and maimers are every now and then
III be found lurking beneath (onvenlional expressions, the most frivolous and apparentlv the most
unmeaning. Sn' Joni-,' W'eKh Hards, p. IdH
44 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
" Long boirilis liartlis,
Payiited hoodes wytles,
Gay cottes graceless,
Maketh Englande tliryfteless."
" Which ryme, as saioth Guydo, was made by the Scottes princypally for
the deformyte of clothying that at tliose dayes was used by Englishe-
menne." We quote these lines, as they have been usually referred to in
illustration of the Lyrical poetry of this remote age. W^e can scarcely
conceive, however, that they had ever been intended for a rounde or
songe. They are obviously much more of the nature of an epigram or
jeu d'esprit, and that they were regarded as such, is apparent from the cir-
cumstance mentioned by Caxton, (hat they were inscribed on a placard,
and fastened upon the church-doors of St Peter, towards Stangate.*
We find no traces of Scolish Song throughout the whole of the inter-
vening period between the fragments above quoted and the Poems of
James I., which we may suppose to have been written about the year
1430, and these only furnish us with the names of two compositions of
this nature — " There fure ane man to the holt ;" i.e. There went a man
to the wood ; and, " There shall be mirth at our meeting." The first
is alluded to in the Glh Stanza of Poblis to the Play : —
" Ane 30ung man stert into that steid
Als cant as ony colt ;
Ane birken hat upon his heid,
With ane bow and ane bolt :
Said, mirrie madinis think nocht lang.
The wedder is fair and smolt ;
He cleikit up ane hie ruf sang,
* The attachiog of placards to church-doors is a practice which has descended to tlie present
day. It was the principal method of publication at this time, and for many years afterwards. See
Hume's History of tlie Reign of James I., where, after mentioning tliat on the union of tlio Crowns,
in six weeks time his Majesty conferred the honour of knighthood on not fewer than 237 persons,
he says, " a pasquinade ivas affixed to St Paul's, in wliicli an art was promised to be tauglit, very
necessary to assist frail memories in retaining the names of the new nobility."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 45
Thairfure ane man to the holt.
Quod he,
Of Peblis to the Play."
The other in the 25th Stanza : —
" He fippilHt lyk ane faderles fole,
And [said,] be still my swoit thing :
Be the haly rud of Peblis,
I may nocht rest for greting.
He quhissilit and he pypit bayth,
To mak hir blyth that meiting ;
My hony hart, how sayis the sang,
Thair sail be mirth at our meeting,
3't.
Of Peblis to the Play."
Another tune is spoken of in the course of this piece, " The Schamon's
Dance."
The ludicrous vernacular poem, called " Cockelbie Sow," written
rather before the middle of the fifteenth century, in the following
passage contains several allusions to the ballads, songs, and dances, that
were popular at that time : —
And his cousin Copyn Cull,
Foul of bellis ful ful,"
Led the dance and began.
Play us " Jolij Lcminuney^
Sum irottet " Tras and lyenass,"'
Sum balterit " The Bass;"
Sum, " Perdolli/," sum, " Trollj/ lollj/,"'
• " Full of bellis, ful ful," that is to soy, all hung round with bolls. In the Lord High Tro«-
surtT's accounts for 1513, wc obsiTve the following entry : " Item, to thirty dozen of bellis, for d.in.
saris, di'lyvcrit to Tlioinas lioswell, iiijlb. I2>."
' " Jolly Lcniniaiu'," and " Tras and Trenas," must have been dances.
° " IVrdolly, " and " Trolly lolly," were probably the chorus or burden of popular songs. See
Ritsoo's Ancient Songs, p. 92. " Trolly Lolly Lcmmon dou," in Complaynt of Scotland.
46 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Sum, " Cok craw thou q" day ;"'
" Ticj/sbank" and Terivai/,"
Sum, " Lincolne," sum, ^^ Lindsay,'"^
Sum, " Jolly Lemman dawis it not day ;"
Sum, " Be yone iroodsyd" singis,
Sum, " LaJt lait in evinnyngis T
Sum, " Joly Martene with a mok,"'
Sum, " Lulalow lute cok.""
Sum bakkit, sum bingit.
Sum crakkit, sum cringit ;
Sum movit most mak revell.
Sum, " Symon Sonis of Quhynfell T
Sum, " Maister Peir de Cuugate"
And uyir sum " in Cottsate,"
At leser drest to dance.
Sum, " Oiirjiite,'' sum, " Orliance"'^
Sum, " Rusty Bully with a bek,
" And every note in vyeris neky
Sum usit the dancis to dance
Of Cipres and Boheme :
* " Twysbank" Leyden considers to be the same with
" When Tayis bank wes blumyt brycht,"
in tlie Baiinatyne MS. p. 229.
'' It is probable that the names here given referred to productions popular in England. In
Ritson's Ancient Songs, p. 30, there is " a song on his mistress, whom he admires as the fiiirest
maid between Li/ncolnc and Lyndseye, Norhampton and Lounde, (i. e. London.) It is copied
from a MS. of the reign of Edward II.
' Mentioned in Constable's Cantus.
'' " Oiiirfute and Orliance" are also mentioned in a poem in the Bannatyne MS. on " the laying of
a Ghaist," which begins —
" I.istis, Lordis, I sail you tell."
And similar to these, in all probability, are Platfute and Backfute, dances still known in some parts
of the country. They take their names from the particular motion of the feet by which thev are
distinguished. In " Christ Kirk on the Green" Platfute is referred to.
" Platfute he bobbit up with bends."
Also in Sir David Lyndsay's " Complaynte of the Papingo," along with another, called /u/c bcfurc.
" To learn her language artificial!.
To play platfute and quhisselyirfe befo-e."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 47
Sum the faitis full yarne
Of Portugal and Navcrne ;
Sum counterfutit the gyis of Spayne,
Sum Italy, sum Almaine ;
Sum noisit Napillis anone.
And uyir sum of Arragone ;
Sum, " The Cane of Tartary,''
Sum, " The Soldane of Surry. "'^
Than all arrayit in a ring,
DaDsit " Mtf deir derling."^
No more vestiges of this branch of our literature are traceable till the
commencement of the sixteenth century, when we turn to the poems of
Douglas and Dunbar, for an addition to our catalogue of empty names.
But amidst these shadows of the departed, we are happy to have it in
our power to present our readers with something more substantial, which
never before reached publicity. These are two metrical performances,
at least so they may be termed, although one of them is a mere frag-
ment, and it may occasion some surprise when we mention the place
where they have been discovered, viz. the Minute-book of Burgh Sa-
sines of the city of Aberdeen l" To what they owe their insertion in
this inauspicious volume, whether to the truant propensities of some incor-
rigil)le youth, whose poetical aspirations were not to be restrained by the
dull routine of legal drudgery, or whether they had been entered, along
with other public documents, for better preservation, (as it is technically
called,) we know not ; but certain it is, that they appear there " dulv
recorded" (1503-7) along with some verses by Dunbar.
* This must be intended for " Syria."
"" Supposed to be the same witli " My dayis darling," mentioned in Constable's Cantus.
• This and an uDlooked-for discovery of music, which we shall afterwards have occasion to
mention, may serve as examples of a trutli well known to !knli(|uaries, \iz. that rarities of this de-
scription are often to be fonnd wlieie they are least of all to be expected. Sir John (iraliam Dal-
ycll (Scotish Poems of the Sixteenth t'entury, p. S) mentions a poem as having been found at the
end of a manuscript of the Kegiam Majestatem in the Advocates' Library, with two blank stave-;
for music subjoined.
48 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
ADOWE DEIE HART OF ABERDENE.
" done deir hart
off Abirdene
leman will depart, me fro
will breke for duyl and wo
quair iver graven gren
Adowe deir hart of Aberdene.
I sail ger fasone weile a flane
And schut it fra my hart
The schaft sal be of soroweful mein
The hede of paines Strang [smart ?]
Weile fedderit with the tyme has bene
Adoue deir hart of Aberdene.
hoivlr passis ower the see
weile say fair leman myne
yon Inglis Kyng
or of the yong Dawphine
Mary Hewinis Quene
Adoue deir hart of Aberdene.
Send joy in their jurning
O sende my leman weile to me
Ye burche of Aberdene
. . . have hard say ande that with rycht
That thar may nane rest with resone
. . . Squiar, Clark nor Knycht
Or honorit M. A. Persone
Be this my exemple ye may weil sene
Adoue deir hart of Aberdene."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 49
QUHT SO STRAT STRANG GO WE BY YOUE ?
" Erie at the day doue,
Betuix the aid wark and the nowe,
I met ane wenkollet clede in ploue.
I said my fair and fresche of houe,
A bide lat nit our by youe,
Quhy so strat Strang go we by youe ?
Than scho wald nocht lene to me,
For luve the taile ende of hir E,
Bot saide away uncoucht man lat be,
And ye foUowe I wele fflee
Be gode man I defy youe.
Quhy so strat Strang go wee by youe ?
I saide ray suet hart be the hicht,
Your dignitie may not decht nar decht,
Bot wile ye bide quhile it be neycht.
Under neicht ther bowes brecht,
Sum wncouclit spret wile spy youe.
Quhy so strat Strang go we by youe ?
Scho unbechot hir at the last,
And traistit that scho has traispast.
Sho saide suet hart ye ryve our fast.
It sennks me ye ar a gast.
Quhy so strat Strang go we by youe ?"
These rude specimens of Scotish song may be justly accounted among
the very dregs and " sweepings of Parnassus," but they are, nevertheless,
50 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
curious, as illustrative of the language, the style and structure of this class
of composition, and, in some degree, of the manners of the time. Mr
Chalmers" observes, that the one half of the conversation of that age,
both in England and Scotland, was made up by swearing; and if the reader
will turn to certain contemporaneous productions in Ritson's Ancient
Songs, pp. 98 and 101, he will observe the very same mode of address
adopted on the part of the lady, and no inconsiderable resemblance in
the general character of the phraseology.
From Gawin Douglas's Prologues to his translation of Virgil (1513)
we only draw the following notices ; —
12th Prologue.
" Some sang ring-sangs, dancis,^ ledis and roundis.
With vocis schil, quhil all the dale resoundis ;
Quhareto thay walk into thare karoling,
For amourus layis dois all the rochis ring ;
Ane sang, ' The schip salts over the salt fame.
Will bring thir merchandis and my lemane hame. '
Some other sings, ' / will be blyith and licht,
My hert is lent apoun sae gudly wicht.' "
Do.
our awin native bird, gentil dow,
Singand on hir kynde ' I came Kidder to wow.' "
■ Works of Sir David Lyndsay, vol. i. p. 360.
' Leyden (Introduction to Complaynt, p. 130) says that " the ring dance, in which every aged
shepherd leads his wife by the hand, and every young shepherd the maid whom he loves, was for-
merly a favourite in the south of Scotland, though it has now gone into desuetude." It was danced
at the kirn, or feast of cutting down the grain, and with peculiar glee by the reapers, by whom the
harvest was first dispatched, to the music of the Lowland bagpipe. They began with three loud
shouts of triumph, thrice waving their hooks in the air, and they generally contrived that the dance
should take place on an eminence, in the view of the reapers in the vicinity. Leyden adds, that
" the dance is still retained by the Scottish Highlanders, who frequently dance the ring in the open
fields, when they visit the south of Scotland, as reapers, during the autumnal months."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 51
I3th Prologue.
" Thareto thir birdis singis in thare schawls,
As menstralis playis ' The joly day now dawi.s.'"
The last mentioned tune, along with another, is alluded to bv the Poet
Uunbar, who flourished about thirty years after Douglas, in a satirical
address to the merchants of Edinburgh.
" Your commone menstralis hes no tone,
But ' jVow the day dawis,''^ and ' Into Joun.'"
Although there are various musical allusions in Sir David Lyndsay's
poetical writings, we only observe the name of one Scotish tune. This
is in his " Complaynt,"add ressed to his royal patron, James V., in 1529,
in which he recapitulates, in familiar terms, the services which he was wont
to render him, in early life, when he acted in the capacity of his page
and pliiyfellow.
* " Hey the day now dawnes" is mentioned in tlie Muses Thrcnodic, a local poero, written at
Perth in the reign of James VI., and Montgomery h:is a set of verses on the same theme, com-
mencing —
" Hay! now the day dawis.
The jolie cok crawis."
In the Life and Death of the Piper of Kilbarciian, or the Epitaph of Habbie Simson, (Watson's
Scott Poems, 1706,) there is the following line —
" Now who shall play, the day it dawes?"
from which, together with the citation from Dunbar, Mr Chambers {Introduction to Scottish Songs,
p. 18) plausibly suggests, that the tune was probably the Itcviillcc, commonly played by the pipers or
town's-minstrels throughout Scotland, to rouse the iuliubitaiits to their daily labour; and this tune
is believed to be the same with that to which " Scots wlia hae wi' Wallace bled" is now sung.
An absurd popular notion is attached to it, for which there is no foundation, viz. that it was
Bruce's march at the battle of liannockburn. All we can say is, that it is probably the same with
the tune to which " The day dawes" wjuf formerly sutig, and this would appear, from the above
notice, to have been a popular song, at least three hundred years ago ; though, as we have not
met with any written or printed copy of it earlier than those of the lost century, even that
opinion is liable to all the uncertainty of its being founded upon no better evidence than tradition,
and the analogous structure and quantity of the verse.
52 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
" Than playit I twenty springs perqueir,
Quliilk was great pleasure for to heir,
Fra play thou let me never rest,
Bot ' Gynkertoun'^ thow luffit best."
It is in another production under a similar title, Wedderburn's " Com-
playnt of Scotland" originally published in 1548, that we find the
most copious enumeration of the songs of that period. After having de-
scribed his Dramatis PersoncB, the shepherds and their wives, as having
♦' tauld all thyr pleysand storeis," he tells us that they proceeded to sing
" sueit melodius sangis of natural music of the antiquite," and among these,
" Pastance vitht gude companye'' — The breir byndis me soir — Stil
under the ley vis grene'' — Cou thou me the raschis grene'' — Allace I vyit
30ur tua far ene — Gode 30U gude day vil boy — Lady help 30ur prisoneir"" —
King Villsamis note*^ — The lang noune nou^ — The cheapel walk — Faytht
' A verse of this song, or ratlier an allusion to tlie tune, occurs in Constable's MS. Chntut —
" I would go twentie mile, 1 would go twentie mile,
I would go twentie mile, on my bairfoot ;
Ginkertoune, Ginkertoune, till hear him, Ginkertoune
Play on a lute."
' A song beginning —
■' Passetyme with good companye,
I love, and shall, unto 1 dye,"
is mentioned by Ritson, as being still extant, both words and music, in a MS. in his possession. It is
supposed to have been written by Henry VIII., who, according to Hall, " was accustomed to
amuse himself with playing at the recorders, flute, virginalls, and in setting of songes, or making of
balattes."
' This song is in the Maitland MS. See Mr Laing's " Early Metrical Tales," p. 249.
•■ i.e. " Cull to me the rushes green," the burden of an old English song, of which Ritson
{Ancient Songs, p. 54) has given both music and words.
• " Sen that I am a prisoneir" ? Bannatyne MS., p. 215.
' Supposed, but improbably, to be the " Kingis Note" sung by Nicholas in Chaucer's Miller's
Tate:
" And after that he song the Kingis Note,
Ful often blessed was his mery throte."
' " The lang noune Nou" — " Skald abellis Nou" — and " The Aberdenis Nou," arc not easily
explained ; but the " Nou" was a common chorus in these days. See Ritson's Ancient Songs,
pp. 64 and 270 — " O Anthony, now, now, now"
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 53
is there none — Skald abellis nou — The Abirdonls nou — Brume brume
on hil" — Allone I veip in grit distres — Trolee lolee lemmen dou'' — Bille
vil thou cum by a lute and belt thee in sanct Francis Cord*^ — The Frog
cam to the myl dur** — The sang of Gilquhiskar" — Rycht sairlie musing
in my myndo — God sen the Due bed byddin in France, and de la
Baute had nevyr cum hame*^ — Al musing of mcrvellis amys hef I gone^
— Mastres fayr ye vil forfayr — O lusty maye vitht Flora Queue'' — O
myne hart hay this is my sang — The battle of the Hayrlau' — The huntis
of Chevet'' — Sal I go uitht you to rumbelo fayr — Greuit is my sorrou'
— Turne the svveit Ville to me — My lufe is lyand seik, send hym joy,
send hym joy — Fayr luf lent thou me thy mantil joy — The Perssee and
the Mongumrye met, that day, that gentil day"" — My luf is laid upon ane
* This is one of the songs mentioned in Lanehame's letter from Killingworth, 1575, as contained
in a " bunch of ballets and songs, all ancient, fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whip
cord," which belonged to Captain Cox, the literary mason of Coventry.
^ " Trolee Lolee," an old chorus.
' In Constable's Cantus the following lines are introduced into a Medley —
" Billic, will ye com by a lute,"
" And trick it with your pin trow low."
* Probably the same with " A most strange weddingc of the frogge and the mouse," a ballad
mentioned by Warton, in his llislori/ of Kiij^tish Pnctry, as licensed by the Stationers in 1580.
Mr Kirlipatiick Sharpe has published a version of it (taken down from recitation) in his " Ballad
Book," 1824- Many nursery rhymes on the same subject are still current. Pinkerton (Select
Ballads, vol. ii. p. 33) says, that " The froggie came to the mill door," was sung on the Edinburgh
Stage shortly prior to 17S4- •' The frog he would a wooing go" is still a favourite with children.
The " Froggies Gagliard" in the Skene JMS. is the oldest copy of the tune which exists ; but it is
to be regretted, that in this instance it has been so much altered and mutilated, in order to shew
off the execution of the performer, that it is scarcely possible to reduce it to its original elements.
* Thought to be an historical ballad, but not extant.
' This was the Chevalier de la Beaute who was murdered by the Homes of VVedderburn in 1517.
while Regent of the kingdom, in the absence of John Uuke of Albany.
' A verse of this song occurs in Constable's Cantus.
' Printed by Chepman and Myllar in 1588, also with the music in Forbes's Cantus.
' A ballad still extant. See Mr Laing's " Early Metrical Tales."
' See Percy's Jielit/ues, vol. i. p. 2.
' See Ritson's AncienI Songs, p. 93.
"" Supposed to have been a Scotish copy of the common historical ballad of the Battle of Otter-
bourne.
54 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
knycht — Allace that sarnyn sueit face — In ane myrthtful morou — My hart
is Iciiiit on the land."
Seven of these ditties appear among the ballads changed out of profane
songs in the Compendium of Godly Ballads, a work which supplies us
wilh the first lines and general structure of a good many other popular
songs, from whicii we may select the following, besides those which have
already been cited : —
" Be blyth all Cristin men and sing."
" Richt sorely musing in my minde.'"
" For love of one I make my mone,
Right secretlie."*
" My loue murnis for me for me.
My loue that murnis for me,
I am not kinde, he's not in minde.
My loue that murnis for me."
" Tell me now, and in quhat wise,
How that I suld my lufe forga."
" O man rise up and be not sweir."
" Downe by yond river I ran."
" The wind blawis cauld furous and bauld,
This lang and mony a day."
" Hay trix trim goe trix, under the green-wood-tree."
" The wowing of Jock and Jenny,"— The ballat of Evil Wyffis, the bal-
lat of Guid Fallowis, and several of the shorter pieces, which appear in the
" This is probably the original of " I love my love in secret."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 55
Bannafyne MS. (1.5G8,) maybe considered as lyrical productions of this
era, though most likely much older than the date of that collection. To
these we may add the two songs, " Cummer goe ye before," and " The
silly bit chicken," mentioned in the narrative of the congress of witches
who met the Devil at North Berwick kirk." We may farther recall to the
recollection of our readers the favourite song of " Tak your auld cloak
about ye," a stanza of which is put into the mouth of lago, in Shak-
speare's Othello,'' and, " O Bothwell Bank thou blumest fair," of which
the following anecdote is related in Verstegan's Restitution of decayed
Intelligence, a work printed originally at Antwerp, in 1605. " So fell
it out of late years, that an English gentleman travelling in Palestine,
not far from Jerusalem, as he passed thorow a country town, he heard,
by chance, a woman sitting at her door, dandling her child, to sing,
Bothwell bank thou blumest fayre : the gentleman hereat exceedingly
wondered, and forthwith in English saluted the woman, who jovfullv
answered him, and said, she was right glad there to see a gentleman of
our isle, and told him that she was a Scottisli woman, and came first from
Scotland to Venice, and from Venice thither, where licr fortune was to be
the wife of an officer under the Turk, who being at that instant absent, and
very soon to return, entreated the gentleman to stay there until his return ;
the which he did, and she, for country sake, to shew herself the more kind
and bountiful unto him, told her husband at his home-coming, that the
gentleman was her kinsman; whereupon her husband entertained liim very
friendly, and at his departure gave him divers things of good value."
We have now advanced to about the date of the Skene MS., but we
are unwilling to close our extracts, where such scanty information is all
that can be gleaned, without adding the series of fragments, however
slight, which oiler themselves in a curious medley, contained in a MS.
Cantus, formerly the properly of tlie late Archibald Constable of Edin-
burgh ; because, althougii the date of that MS. is not older than 1(570
or IGSO, there are few of the songs to which they belonged likely to have
been written in the course of that century, an age which, in Scot land,
' Xe lies from Scotland, I.')!)!.
** This drunia is said ti> liiivc been writtoii in lUI I.
66 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
appears to have been the least fertile of any, in productions of this na-
ture.
" The nock is out of Johne's bow."
" First, when Robin, gude bow bare,
Wes never bairne so bold."
" Sing soft-a, sing soft-a ;
Of our pins
Ye know the gins.
Ye tirled on them full oft-a."
" Methinks thy banks bloome best. '
" Haill, gouke, how manie years."
* • •
*' The mavis, on a tree she sat,
Singing with notes clear."
" Joly Robin,
Gee to the greenwood, to thy lemman."
" Titbore, tatbore, what come maw ye ?
" Aiken brake at barnes door.
What horse in the towne
Shall I ride on ?"
• • • •
" Come all your old malt to me,
Come all your old malt to me ;
And ye sail have the draffe again,
Though all our dukes should die."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 57
" Thv love leggs sore bunden-a !"
'• The reill, the reill of Aves,
The joliest reill that ever wes."
" Whaten a seapin carlo art thou !"
" All of silver is my bow."
" Johne Robison, Johiio Robison,
That fair young man, Johne Robison."
" Goe to the greenwood,
Mv good love, goe with me."
" I bio-sit a bouir to mv lemnian,
In land is none so fair."
• • • •
" The humlock is the best-a seed,
That anie man may sow ;
When bairnes greets after breid.
Give them a home to blow."
• ■ ■ *
" The ring of the rash, of the gowan,
In the cool of the night came my lemman,
And yellow haire above her brow."
'' Silver wood an ihow wer myne."
• • • •
" Come reike me the rowan tree."
" Come row to mc round about, bony dowie."
58 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
" So sweetly sings the nightingale,
For love trulie, loly, lola."
" All the moane that I make, says the giuleman,
Who's to have my wife, dcid when I am,
Care for thy wynding-sheet, false liirdan.
For I shall gett ane uther, when thou art gone."
" My gudame for ever and ay-a,
Was never widow so gay-a."
" The beggar sett his daughter well."
" The fryare had on a coule of redd ;
He spied a pretty wench kaming her head."
" Be soft and sober, I you pray."
" I and my cummer, my cummer and I,
Shall never part with our mouth so dry."
II. ANCIENT SCOTISH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
As a great many musical instnmients were anciently made use of in
Scotland, especially in the Lowlands, much of the Scotish music must
have been adapted to suit their particular genius, structure, and compass.
We feel it to be necessary, therefore, to enter shortly upon the considera-
tion of their nature and history, as one of the most important elements
in the present encjuiry.
Giraldus Cambrensis, who wrote in the reign of Henry II. of England,
and William the Lion of Scotland, (towards the end of the twelfth cen-
tury,) in his Topographia Hiberniae,* observes, that " the Irish use only
two musical instruments, the harp and the tabour ; — the Scots use
• Book III. c. ii. p. 739.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 59
three, the harp, the tabour, and the bagpipe; — the Welsh also use
three, the harp, the pipe, and the bagpipe." Whetlier, within the
purely Celtic and Highland districts, the people at this time actually
confined tliemselves to the use of the three instruments here specified —
the har|), the tabour, and the bagpipe — we know not : Giraldus had
never been in Scotland, and possessed no personal knowledge of the
fact. But to the Scandinavian and Scoto-Saxon part of the nation we
cannot conceive how this observation could be applied. The Nor-
wegians, Danes, Saxons, and Normans, of whom it was composed, had
each, in their several countries, cultivated many musical instruments ;
and these, along with their national music, they must of course be pre-
sumed to have carried into Scotland along with them. In the orna-
mental bas-relief still to be seen at Melrose Abbey, (founded by David I.
in ili5G,) there are representations of various instruments, among which
are a flute with si.\ holes, a bagpipe, a violin with four strings, and an-
other of a form somewhat similar, supposed by Mr Barrington to have
been a crirt/t." Not that these remains, of themselves, would entitle us to
conclude that such instruments prevailed in Scotland at that time, espe-
cially as the Abbey itself was the work of a Parisian architect, who was
more likelv to have borrowed the instruments of his own count rv for anv
|)urpose of mere ornament, than to have seized that opportunity of per-
petuating those of a people so rude and uncivilized as the Scots then were.
But the intercourse between this country and France, which afterwards
became so frequent and intimate, had already commenced in the reign of
William the Lion, while the importation and adoption of foreign manners
and customs had begun a full century prior to that, under Malcolm
Canmore, — there can be no groiuid of rational doubt, therefore, that at
ihe lime when Giraldus wrote, ( 1 187,) most, if not all, of the instruments re-
presented in the Gothic tracery of Melrose Abbey, and many others, were
kiuiwii ami cnliivatcd in Scotland — on the south of the Grampians at least.
Of these instruments, by far the most important, both in itself, and
with a view to our present encjuiry, was the harp. It is suj)posed, with
• Arcliiculogia, vol. v. [>. 3.
60 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
some appearance of truth, that it was known to the ancient Gauls and
Britons, — that it was the instrument with which they accompanied the
hymns which they addressed to their pagan deities, — with which, at their
nuptials and funeral obsequies, their games and other public solemnities,
they celebrated the praises of those who had signalized themselves by
virtuous and heroic deeds, — and with which, at the head of armies pre-
pared for battle, they at one time excited the ardour, and at another
repressed the fury, of the combatants. But whether this was the identical
instrument which has since been recognized under the appellation of
harp, it is impossible to say. There is so much uncertainty in pro-
nouncing any opinion as to the identity of the ancient lyres and Cij-
tharce with those of modern times, that Montfaucon, who examined six
hundred of them, could not venture to affix particular names to any of
them, or to ascertain their specific differences.* We cannot, therefore,
be too cautious in points of this nature, but more especially in this in-
stance, as our sole authority is Diodorus Siculus, who flourished in the
time of Julius Caesar and Augustus, and who says, " The Gauls have
amongst them composers of melodies, whom they call Bards ; these sing
to Instruments like It/res, songs of praise and satire."'' Ammianus Mar-
cellinus, a writer of the fourth century, also relates that "the Bards of
the Celts celebrated the actions of illustrious men in heroic poems, which
they sung to the sweet sounds of the lyre."" And yet, vague as is the
expression " instruments like lyres," when, in conjunction with it, a few
hundred years afterwards, we find the harp in the hands of their Celtic
successors, the bards of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, we see what we
should conceive to be enough to satisfy any reasonable mind, that the
harp, though probably of a ruder construction, and with fewer strings,
was the instrument spoken of by Diodorus.
But holding that the harp was truly the instrument of the Druidical
bards, we are not to assume that tlie Celtic race to which they belonged
* Antiq. Expl. torn. iii. lib. v. c. 3.
'' Tall >.voiti; ofioiu-j, lib. v. pag. 308. See also Vossius de Poem. Cantu et Viribus Rythmi,
p. 18.
' L. XV. chap. ix.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 61
were the original inventors of that instrument. If Mr Pinkerton's views
are well founded, that Druidism had not existed long before the Chris-
tian era, and if certainly did not continue for many years after that
period ; and if the Celts, whom that writer admits to have been the
aborigines of Britain, and of the greater part of Europe, were, as he re-
presents, in a state of absolute barbarism, until the arrival amongst them of
the Scythians or Goths, an event which he supposes to have taken place
about three hundred years before the birth of our Saviour, — we should
rather conclude that the Celts must have derived their knowledge of
that instrument from them, to whom, according to Mr Pinkerton's
theory, they were indebted for all the arts of civilized life. This
is also the opinion of that writer,* who expressly says that the " harp
was a Gothic instrument, first invented in Asia, and passing with the
Goths to the extremities of Europe, and into the Celtic countries. The
ancient Irish harp was small like the Gothic." Mr Gunn,'' the author
of a Dissertation on the Harp, intimates the same opinion, that it was of
Asiatic extraction ; and it is mentioned by Martianus Capella'^ as having
been in use among the Gothic nations who overran Italy during the fifth
century.
Whether the harp was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, is
a question which we shall not pretend to determine; probably it was, —
but no exact delineation of it, that we are aware of, has ever been found
on any of their coins, scidpture, or paintings, nor any description of it in
their writings. Venantius Fortiuiatus, Bishop of Poictiers, who wrote in
the sixth century, is the first author by whom the harp under its modern
name is mentioned, and he pointedly distinguishes it from the Greek and
Roman lyres, and assigns it (o the Goths or Barlntii in the following
passage : —
Romanuscpie Lyra, plaudet tibi, Bdrltun/s Harpd,
Graecus Achilliaca, Crotta Britanna Canat.
Lib. vii. Carm. 8.
• Pinkerton's Eniiuiry, vol. i. p. 390.
" See Prospectus ut tbc end of Mr Gunn's lllbturicul Enipiiry into tlie I'erfornuuice on tlie
Harp.
' Sec Dii Cangc, v. Harp.
62 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
It is siipposod by I)r Lfdwicli,'' that the crotfa, or crwth, was the
primitive national instriunent of the ancient Britons, and that they
and the Irish were first made acquainted witli the harp by their con-
querors, the Saxons and the Danes, whose Princes and Scalds were
eminent performers npon it, and by whom it was highly esteemed
and cultivated. But this opinion, which seems to have been mainly
founded upon the passage which we have above cited from Venantius,
is one, in which we feel it to be altogether impossible to concur. To
suppose, as the learned antiquary does, (and he lias not scrupled to ex-
press himself to that effect,) that the Celts either of Britain or of Ireland
had allowed to be actually obtruded upon them, by their bitterest foes, a mu-
sical instrument which they have always cherished with a peculiarly warm
feeling of patriotic regard, as one of the proudest symbols of their national
independence, is an idea which can never be seriously entertained — and
altliough we have no data to conclude as to the specific form of " the
instruments like lyres," mentioned by Diodorus, and which Marcellinus,
who follows after him, does not distinguish from lyres, we may at least
be assured of this, that the Crwth (an instrument played with a bow, and
supposed to be the parent of the fidicinal tribe) could not have been the
instrument there referred to, bearing but a very slight resemblance to the
lyre; while there is not a vestige, either in tradition or record, of any
instrument possessed by the ancient inhabitants of Britain, which at all
corresponds w-ith that description, except the harp. Tiiis instrument,
therefore, was either indigenous to the Celts, — or of Asiatic original, and
communicated to them by the first Gothic colonists by whom they were
visited, manv years before the Christian era.
We should not have diverged into the regions of conjecture, so far as
to make the above remarks as to a matter, in regard to which it must be
admitted that we have no very authentic information to guide us ; but it
is by enquiries such as these, that the origin of the different nations of
the ancient world is occasionally illustrated ; and in that view, the early
notices which exist of the harp are not the least important. It is to be
hoped that much light will still be thrown upon this obscure subject.
* Antiquities of Ireland, p. 230.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 63
Most of our readers are acquainted with the story of the Tlieban harp, —
that ill-fated communication of the enlightened and enterprising Bruce of
Abyssinian fame, to Dr Burney, which, from its extraordinary nature, was
universally disbelieved, and drew down upon its author tlie uinnerited
sobriquet of the Theban lyre, (liar,) until very recently, when his me-
mory has been rescued from this lumierited obloquy, by the researches
of subsequent travellers. This was the delineation and description of
a harp, from a painting contained in a sepulchre at the Egvptian
Thebes. The instrument, as hastily drawn by Bruce, is represented
with thirteen strings, and except that it wants the pillar or cross-bar,
it is similar in construction to the harp with which we are familiar,
while the general form and workmanship appear to have been superior in
elegance to those of modern times. Mr Bruce remarked, that it over-
turned all the accounts of the earliest state of ancient music and instru-
ments in Egypt ; and in its form, ornaments, and compass, furnislieil
an incontestable proof, that geometry, drawing, mechanics, and music,
were at their greatest perfection when this harp was constructed. Dr
Burney ' observes — " The mind is wholly lost in the immense antiquity
of the painting in which it is represented." And the subject was one
which altogether would have excited much curious and useful specula-
tion, had it not been that it was never broached, without being met wiili
the answer, that it was a mere phantom of the traveller's imagination.''
Now, however, that its authenticity has been established, we trust it will
not be overlooked. To trace the harp, which so clearly appears to have
been an instrument of the Scythians throughout their various migrations
and jirogress, back to their first connection with Egvpt, and the establish-
ment of the first Scythic Empire — the very dawn of history itself — would
form an investigation equally interesting and instructive.
We believe the Druidical hierarchy to have been but of very short
duration. That it existed in Britain, there can be no doubt, as C;rsar
himself" expressly says, that the Druids of Gaul derived their first insl ruc-
tions from those of Britain ; but bevond that, — whether, as asserted bv
• Vol. i. p. i-ir,.
' See Walker's Irish Bards, .Vppcmlix, p. lU; .luiii's' Welsh Bards, p. 11-1.
• Osar, De Bell. Gall., lil>. vi. c. 13.
(j4 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Mr Pinkcrton," it was contiiied to Anglesey, the Isle of Man, and the
Garonne, or the Southern bounds of Celtica in Gaul, and never found
its wav either into Ireland or Caledonia, is a question into which we
shall not here enter. Divines — philosophers — legislators — physicians —
poets — seers and musicians — the most extraordinary part of their history
seems to have heen the multiplicity of functions which their ollice em-
braced ; and when the harp, as we have above noticed, fell from their
hands into those of the bards, it would appear to have descended to an
order of men little less distinguished for the variety of their attainments :
" Musician, Herald, Bard, thrice may'st thou be renowned,
And with three several wreaths immortally be crowned."
With such superhuman versatility as was here called into requisition,
it is not surprising to learn, that the office should afterwards be subdi-
vided and parcelled out into the separate vocations of poets, heralds, and
musicians, and that these again should latterly subside into a series of
different gradations, from the Invested Bard, down to the juggler, the
crowder, and the tabourer. This branching out of the original profes-
sion of the bards, no doubt, foretells of the period of their decay, — and
while in Wales the ruthless policy of Edward I., and the stern edicts of
several of his successors, precipitated their downfall — in Ireland and
Scotland the decline of the feudal system equally served to annihilate
their independence, and to determine their fate.
We shall say nothing in detail as to the Cambro-British race of
bards, some of whom, such as Aneurin and Llywarch-Hcn, appear to
have been warriors as well as poets and niusicians, and to have borne
a prominent part in their country's sanguinary struggles with the Saxons
during the fifth and sixth centuries.*" The accounts which have been
* Pinkerton's Enquiry, vol. i. p. 17.
^ Amongst these was the celebrated Myrddin ap Morvyrn, or Merlin of Caledonia, a disciple
of Taliesen, who was born about the beginning of the sixth century near Dunkeld in Scotland.
Whether Aneurin, the author of the Gododin, was also a native of tliis country, we are not aware;
but he lived under tlie patronage of one of the northern princes, Mynyddawg, of Edinburgh. Jones'
Welsh Bards, pp. 16, 23.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 65
handed down to us regarding thoso personages, and their own poetical
remains, are so intermingled with the fahulous feats and gestea of their
romantic contemporaries, Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table,
equally famed in song, and celebrated for their skill on the harp, that
they can scarcely be considered as falling within the pale of authentic
history. " The poets," (says HoUingshed,") " used for invention sake to
faine such dreaming fables for exercise of their stiles and wits : after-
wards, through error and lacke of knowledge, they haue been taken with
the ignorant for verie true and most assured histories."
In like manner, Ireland may, for several centuries during the middle
ages, have been (compared with many other nations) the seat of learning
and civilization — we cannot vouch for the truth of what has never yet
been satisfactorilv established — but we believe that it must have been
■J
eminent for its proficiency in the art of music, far beyond either Wales
or Scotland. The fact is certain, that about the year 1100, one of the
Welsh princes (GrufTiidd ab Cynan) invited to Wales a number of Irish
bards to assist in framing a new code of musical regulations for his
Cambrian subjects, and Caradoc their historian has acknowledged the
obligation which his countrymen owed to Ireland on this occasion.''
Giraldus Cambrensis, another of their compatriots, towards the end of
the twelfth century, writes of the Irish, that they were incomparablv better
instructed in music than any other nation whicli he had seen,*" and he had
travelled over great part of Europe ; although, he adds, that their at-
tainments seemed to him to be confined entirely to their skill in instru-
mental music' Another testimony of their excellence in this department
is to be found in Galileo's'' Dialogues on Ancient and Modern Music,
first printed in 1582, (p. 143,) where, speaking of the harp as among
• Cliroii.
' row.lls History of Wales, pp. 115, 191.
' Topog. Hib. c. 1 1, p. 739. " Pra; omni nationc quam vidimus incumparabiliter est iiistructa."
' " In musicis tolum JDStrumcnlis comniendabilcm iiivcnio gentis istius diligcntiam." — Ibid.
' This was tlie fattier of Galileo tlie fiuiiuiis astronomer. Even llio great Lord IWon, in his
Sylva Sylvaruin, pays tlie Irish the compliment of s.iying that " no liarpe hath tlie sound so
melting and so prolonged as the Irish harpe."
I
66 I'RELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the instrmiKMits which were at that time in use in Italy, he says — " This
very ancient instrument was brought to us from Irehind, as Dante lias
recorded, (this must have been about the year 1300,) where they are
excellently made, and in great numbers, and the inhabitants of which
island have practised on it for very many centuries; it being also the
particular badge of the kingdom, and as such frequently painted and
sculptured on their public edifices and coins. "^
With these unexceptionable and thoroughly accredited proofs of their
ancient superiority, the Irish, we think, ought to rest satisfied, and not to
advance claims for which they can produce no proper authority. That
the harp was known to the ancient Britons we have already seen ; and yet
the Irish historians'' insist that they were the first to make the Welsh
acquainted with the instrument ; and in support of this notion, they
found upon what may at once be seen to be a palpable, though no
doubt an unintentional, misinterpretation, by Wynne,*" of a passage
in which Dr Powell, in his notes on Caradoc's history, speaks of the
introduction into Wales of tlic Irish music and musicians by Prince
Gruffudd, to which we have just now referred, and where, by con-
founding the expression "instrumental music" with "musical instruments,"
it has been made to appear as if Powell had asserted that the harp was
upon that occasion imported into Wales from Ireland. They also say
that the word " Telyn" (the Welsh name for harp) is derived from the
Irish " Teadhloin," and has no radical etymon to which it can be traced
in the Welsh ; an argument at no time very conclusive, but least of all
in the case of cognate tongues so nearly allied as those of Ireland and
W'ales.'' Upon no better grounds than the above, the Welsh are like-
wise accused of having borrowed or stolen from the Irish their old favour-
' The figures on the Irish coins are said, by the best informed antiquaries, to have been
triangles, not harps. Dr Ledwich says, that they were introduced simply to express the attach-
ment of their monarchs to the Church, and its reciprocal support of them. It was Henry VIII.
wlio first gave the Irish the Harp for tlioi' armorial bearing, to perpetuate, it is said, tlie celebrity
of their performance on it in former times.
^ Walker's Memoirs, pp. 70, 74.
' Wynne's History of Wales, (Edit. 1774.) p. 159.
^ The Welsh, again, derive the word " Tcli/n" from a Cambro-British root " Til," signifying
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 67
itc instriimoiit the Crirth ;* and it is evon said, that the Scots (we quote
Mr Walker's own words) " are in all probability under the same obliga-
tion (to the Irish) as to the last mentioned instrument, though not a
trace of it can be found in any of their historians T' — a remark con-
ceived in so truly Hibernian a spirit, that it carries its own refutation
alonrr with it, and renders any farther comment superfluous.
Tliat tlie Irish, however, introduced their national harp or Clairseach
into this country, is more probable. Indeed, considering the extent of
their early settlements in Argyleshire and Galloway, it is scarcely possible
that it could have been otherwise. But there was a large portion of
what is now comprehended within the territories of Scotland which was
never occupied by the Scoto-Irish ; and here it is equally probable that
the early inhabitants possessed an instrument of this nature to which the
Irish ciHild lay no claim. Even tiie Picts were likely to have been ac-
(juainted with the harp, — and this, too, whatever theory we adopt in regard
to their origin — whether we consider them to have been aboriginal Britons,
or settlers of Gothic extraction. If the former, we have already seen
that the harp was the favourite instrument of their bards, from whom it
would no doubt have been transmitted to their descendants : — if the latter,
(now the more generally received, and, as we are inclined to think, the
sounder opinion,) thev must have derived it from their Scalds, a race of
men who appear to have stood in the same relation to the Scandinavians,
as the Bards, to the British and other Celtic nations. The Laureate
Bard among the latter is said to have been the eighth officer of the
King's household — to have occasionally sat at his table, and to have been
otherwise honourably distinguished. In the same wav, we are told that
the Scalds were ranked among the sovereign's chief otKcers, and always
of his council;'' and the functions which they performed seemed to have
been precisely of the same nature with those of the Bards. They were the
historians and genealogists, as well as the poets and musicians, of the Court
" stretched, nr drawn tight ;" and argue, that it must consequently have been coeval with \.\\efirtt
ttringed inslruiiient will) which their ancestors had over been made acquainted.
' Walker's Irish Bards, p 74.
' Pinkerton's Enquiry, vol. i. |i[). '272, "J'S — 389. Also Percy's Rcliques, Introduction, pp. 20, C3.
68 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
— their verses, also, were sung with the accompaniment of the harp. It is rea-
sonable, therefore, to suppose, that within the Pictish kingdom, and where-
ever Gothic population and influence extended, they, and not tlie Celts, were
the introducers of that instrument. The learned Dr Percy, whose opinions
on these matters have stood the test of time, as well as the pointless and
misdirected shafts of Mr Ritson's ridicule, in speaking of the origin of
the French and English Minstrels," observes — " Though the Bards of
the ancient Gauls and Britons might seem to have? a claim of being con-
sidered as their more immediate predecessors and instructors, yet these,
who were Celtic nations, were ah origine, so different a race of men
from the others, who w'ere all of Gothic origin, that I think one cannot
in any degree argue from the manners of the one to those of the other ;
and the conquering Franks, Saxons, and Danes, were much less likely to
take up any custom from tlioir enemies the Gauls and Britons, whom
they every where expelled, extirpated, or enslaved, than to have re-
ceived and transmitted them from their own Teutonic ancestors in the
North, among whom such customs were known to have prevailed from
the earliest ages." All who are versed in the history of our literature
are aware that the earliest Scotish, wo may add, the earliest English,
poetry which, it is well known, was first cultivated in the north of Eng-
land, — furnishes strong hereditary proofs of its Scandinavian parentage ; —
nay, some authors have considered these northern nations to have been
the originators of all European poetry whatever ;'' it might well be asked,
therefore, to whom should we ascribe the first introduction of this instrument
amongst us, but to those from whom the most ancient relics of our
minstrelsy appear to have emanated?"
• Percy's Reliques, Introduction, p 07-
" Ibid. p. 27.
c The most ancient Scotish representation of the harp is that which is delineated in the carved
work of the monument near the church of Nieg in Ross-shire. An engraving of it will be found
in " Cordincr"s Remarkable Ruins." The figure of the harp is perfect, except that it wants the
strings, probably from their having been effaced in the original. Mr Cordincr considered this
monument to be nearly as old as the 1 Ith century, and it is no slight confirmation of the foregoing
views, to find it situated in a part of the country so essentially and indisputably Gothic in its ori-
gin, as the East Coast of Ross-shire. See also Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, p. 230.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 69
In considering the origin of our musical instruments, and the circum-
stances which attended the formation of our national music, we must not
only take into view the ancient Scandinavian part of our history, however
obscure, and the extensive kingdom of the Picts, but the large and fertile
tracts of country from an early period in the possession of a people, verv
slightly, if at all, differing from their Southern neighbours on the other side
of the Tweed — and this, too, long before the junction of the Pictish and
Scotish crowns in 813. It was in the fifth century that the Anglo-Saxons
first of all made a descent upon Scotland, and in the course of the cen-
tury following, they established the kingdom of Northumbria, which, besides
the English provinces connected with it, embraced most of the Border
district, Berwickshire, and the Lothians as far as the Firth of Forth ;
and this country liid not fall under Scotish dominion until it was ceded
to Malcolm II. at the beginning of the eleventh century. During this
dark period of our annals, the inhabitants of this part of Scotland con-
sisted of Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Normans, and Ottadini or ancient
North-Britons, a colony of which last occupied Clydesdale, with Peebles-
shire, Selkirkshire, and the upper parts of Roxburghshire, which were
long maintained by them as a separate kingdom under the name of
Strath-Clyde ; besides which, independently of the Scoto-Irish part of the
nation, the islands and several of the northern counties were in the pos-
session of Scandinavians and Norwegians. A considerable number of
Danes, also, the natural result of their occasional invasions between the
ninth and eleventh centuries, had become intermingled with the inhabit-
ants of the North-East Coast.
Such being the general description of the population, it is clear that —
abstracting from the Celtic districts — there must, at this time, have been
but a slight difference between the people of Scotland and the Englisii
nation. Before the great change which took place in the latter after
the Norman conquest, it is believetl that the language spoken by the
,Scoto-Saxons and the Anglo-Saxons was the same; and it would even
appear, that there was no essential distinction between that spoken by
lliein and the natives of Denmark and Norway." The maimers and customs
* See Paper by Dr Jamipsoii, Arclia:ologia Scotica, vol. ii. p. 27!>.
70 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
of the Lowlands of Scotland, during these agCs, could not, therefore, have
been materially different from those of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes.
And scanty and defective as are the early chronicles of that period, there
is no feature connected with their character, which is more prominently
brought forward, than their passionate attachment to the arts of poetry
and music. To them the harp owes its modern name, (the Anglo-
Saxon being l^^carpC, and the Icelandic ^jai'pa ;") and so invariably
does that instrument appear to have been employed by them as an ac-
companiment for the voicej that in their translations from the Latin into
Anglo-Saxon, it has been observed, that the word ''■ psalinus' is sometimes
rendered " harp-song," and " cantare,'' " to sing to the harp" — an ac-
complishment whicli must have been nearly universal, as it appears to
have been customary to hand round a harp at their entertainments,
when each of the guests was expected to perform by turns. This is well
illustrated by the story of Cedmon. their earliest poet whose remains
have come down to us, and who died in 680 Not being able to sing, it
is said that when he was present on these occasions, and saw the harp
on its way towards him, he generally contrived to effect his retreat, rather
than expose his ignorance. As Cedmon was a Northumbrian, this may
be taken as a proof of the cultivation of music in that part of our territories,
which, as we have above described, was annexed to the Scotish crown in the
eleventh century .'' The high estimation, again, in which the character of
the minstrel was held both by the Saxons and the Danes — the readiness with
which he was at all times listened to — and his perfect freedom of access to
the presence of persons of the highest distinction at all times, are amply tes-
tified in a variety of instances ; but in none are they placed in a more
conspicuous light than in the incidents known to every schoolboy, where
Alfred, the King of the Saxons, — and at a subsequent period, Anlaff, the
King of the Danes, availed themselves of their skill on the harp to per-
sonate minstrels, and in that character succeeded, it is said, in penetrating
into the enemy's camp, and even in gaining admission into the royal.
• Percy's Reliques, vol. i. Introduction, pp. 50, 51.
•■ See Rede's Ecclesiastical History, b. IV. c. xxiv. See also a Life of Cedmon, iii Young's
History of Whitby, vol. i. p. 182.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 71
pavilion, where they acquired a perfect knowledge of the position and
resources of the party with whom thev were conteiuling. The date of
the first of these occurrences is 878 — that of the latter 938 ; and they are
both recorded by William of Malmesbury, who died in 1142; while that
which relates to Anlaff is also mentioned by an historian of a somewhat
earlierdate, — Ingulphus, who was born in 1030, and died in 1091.* There
is some reason, therefore, to believe that the narratives are well founded;
and whether true or false, they may at least be presumed to contain
faithful representations of the manners of the age.
There can be no doubt that, at this time, the Minstrels were a numer-
ous body. Du Cange says, that the courts of Princes, during the middle
ages, swarmed with them ; and that the royal treasuries were frequently
drained by the large sums which were lavished upon them. Indeed, this
sort of extravagance seems to have continued to much later times. The
Minstrels of the Anglo — we would add the Scoto — Saxons are said to
have retained nianv of the honours of their predecessors, the ancient
Bards and Scalds ; but they were obviously persons, in point of station and
acquirements, very inferior to the latter. This is evident from the fact,
(if Dr Percy's statement be correct,) that the name of Scald comprised
both poet and musician, and that the Danes had no separate and peculiar
name for either of these professions taken singly ; but among the Anglo-
Saxons, although manv of the minstrels " composed songs, and all of
them could probably invent a few stanzas on occasion," the poet and the
minstrel were early distinguished as separate persons. They also appear
"to have accompanied their songs with mimicry and action, and to have
practised such various means of diverting as were much admired in those
rude times, and supplied the want of more refined eutertainineiits."'' The
Troubadour or Provencal bards were doubtless of a higher grade; but
the French minstrels are described by Mr Ritson in similar terms to the
above,*' " They sung either their own compositions, or the compositions of
• These anecdotes are related l)y otiier writers of good credit, besides the above ; and among
these, by Henry of Huntingdon, Speed, Sir Henry Spelman, and Milton.
' Percy's Reliciues, Int. p. 1.
' Uitson's Essay on Nutional Song, vol. i. p. 26.
72 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
others, to the harp, the vielle, viol, cymbal, and other instruments, danced
to the taboiir, played tricks of legerdemain and buffoonery ; and, in short,
accommodated themselves to every mode of inspiring festivity and mirth,
so that they were everywhere welcome, and everywhere rewarded. The
courts of France abounded with them ; and during the reign of our
Norman princes, they seem to have been no less numerous in England."
Mr Ritson, however, was in error in denying, as he unscrupulously did,
the existence of anv class of men to whom the term " English minstrel"
was applicable. Although the French minstrels largely intermingled
with the latter, as long as the English monarchs retained any portion of
their possessions in France, and with the Scotish minstrels to a much
greater extent, in consequence of our long continued and intimate con-
nexion with that country, — the profession was too lucrative, and too well
patronized, not to be extensively practised at home. Mr Tvtlor" says,
" there can be little doubt that in Scotland, as in France and England,
the profession of a minstrel combined the arts of music and recitation,
with a proficiency in the lower accomplishments of dancing and tum-
bling;" and that " in the reign of David I. at the Battle of the Standard,
which was fought in 1 138, minstrels, posture-makers, and female dancers,
accompanied the army." Farther, he relates, that during the royal pro-
gresses through the kingdom, it was customary for minstrels and singers
to receive the sovereign at his entrance into the different towns, and
to accompany him when he took his departure. The country, he says,
from a very early period, " maintained a privileged race of wandering
minstrels, who eagerly seized on the prevailing superstitions and romantic
legends, and wove them in rude but sometimes very expressive versifi-
cation into their stories and ballads — who were welcome guests at the
gate of every feudal castle, and fondly beloved by the great body of the
people."
MrTy tier also observes, that the harper was to be found amongst the officers
who composed the personal state of the sovereign. This is strictly true.
• History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 368, et seq.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 73
Dr Percy* gives an extract from Domesday Book, showing that the Jocu-
lator Regis, or King's Minstrel, who he says was a reguhir and stated ollicer
of the court of the Anglo-Saxon kings, had lands assigned to him for his
maintenance. On turning to Rohertson's Index of the Record of Charters,
we find several royal grants in favour of harpers or Citharistce. One in
the reign of Robert II. to " Thomas Citharist of the forfalture of Gilloc
de Camera — the lands of Gilloc within the burgh of Haddington."
Another by David II. to "Patrick Citharist de Carrick, of lands in the
county of Carrick." Another to " Ade Chichariste, (for Citharist,) of
lands in Forfar." Another by David II. to "Nicholas Chicharist of the
forfaultrie of Alexander Cruiks in Constabulario de Linlithgow." As
several of these were forfeitures, they may be regarded as substantial
proofs of the royal munilicence to this class of persons.'' Grants of lands
in behalf of bards and minstrels were common also on the part of our
feudal nobility. Jones, in his Welsli Bards, has instanced the lands of
Tulli-bardon, from which the Marquis of Tullibardine derives his title;
and mentions that the Earl of Eglintoun had informed him that he had
a portion of land near Eglintoun Castle, called the Ilarpersland, which
used to be allotted by his ancestors to the bard of the family. Could this
be the lands described in the Index of Charters as follows? — " A charter
of the lands of Ilarperland, in the barony of Kyle, in favour of Sir John
Foulerton, son and heir of Ade de Foulerton in Ayrshire, 5 March,
2nd year of the reign of Robert II." ( 137 1.)'
From the Lord High Treasurer's accounts, extracts of which we have
furnished in the Appendix, some idea may be formed of the band of instru-
mental performers kept by the Scotish sovereign for about fifty years,
from th(> beginning of the IGth century." Besides those in regular and
* Vol. i. Inlroiliiction, p. 64.
' It is riglit to slato, however, that the word " Cilliarist," like " ll.irper," mai/ liere have heeii
employed as a proper name, though originally used as designative of the profession, and although
this is precisely tlie manner in which, as a musician, the individual wotild have been ilesigned.
see infra, p. 89. The particular sense in which it was here used wc have no means of deter-
mining with certainty.
° Several of these allotments of land hy Highland nobles ami chieflains are specified by Mr
Gunn in his Encpiiry into the Performance of the Harp in the Highlands, pp. 45, et seq.
■^ An eminent antiquary has politely handed us two extracts from the Exchequer Rolls relative
K
74 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
stated attendance, musicians seem to liave been collected, upon particular
occas.ions, from the private establishments of the nobility, and all quarters
whence they could be procured. In 1507» on the first day of the new
year, payments were made to " divers menstrales, schawmeris, trumpets,
taubroneris, fithelaris, lutaris, harparis, clarscharis, piparis," — in all, to
the number of sixty-nine persons ; and among the performers, we see
mention of Italians, French, English, Irish, as well as Scots. There is
also a Moorish musician, called " The More taubroner." Another of
these " taubroners," of whom there is a notice in the accounts for 1548,
under the name of " Stewyn tabronar," was probably the person to
whom the following anecdote in John Knox's History relates. We should
premise that all " tabourers" went under the denomination of " minstrels,"
a word which, at this period, seems to have been used in the same
sense with the generic term " musician," at the present day. " Dur-
ing the Queenis absence, the Papists of Edinburgh went down to
the chapell to heir mess ; and seeing thare was no punischment, they
waxit more bold : some of thanie, thinking thareby to pleise the Queue,
upoun a certane Sunday, in February, [1565,] they maid an Even-song
of thair awin, setting two priests on the one syde of the quire, and one or
two on the uther syde, with Sand>/ Stevir:, mcnsfruU, (baptizing thair
children and making marriages,) who, within eight dayes eftcr, was con-
vinced of blasphemy, alledging, That he wald give no moir credit to the
New Testament, then to a tale of Robin Hood, except it wer confirmed
by the doctours of the church."
From the entries of ordinary fees and yearly pensions of 1538 and 1542,
although we scarcely think that the enumeration here had included the
whole, — there seem, about this time, to have been fifteen musicians
more immediately connected with the Royal household — viz. five Italian
to "minstrels." One, dated '2d May 1398, is a payment entered as follow? :_'■ Et duobus mcn-
strallis de gratia aiiditonim ad pra;sens, xx*. ;" another, Sd July 1402, a similar payment to •' Fu-
lope menstrallo tempore Scaccarii ex gratia aiiditonim ad prsesens." As Balfour, in his Practics,
p. 136, mentions, that the Auditors of Exchequer, and none others, were "judges competent
in all actions and controversies anent allowances and accounts concerning the King's houschuld "
the above had most probably been sums awarded to these minstrels by the Auditors in their judi-
cial capacity.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 75
minstrels, four violists, two performers on the " swesch talbiirn,""
(probably the ketlle-drums,) and four players on military trumpets or
trumpets of war, as they are there called. The particular instruments,
played by the Italians, are not mentioned ; they were perhaps accom-
plished musicians, whose skill was not confined to any single instrument,
and who were capable of taking a general direction of the whole. They
formed a regular part of the establishment for many years, and in one of
the entries, — that for 30th December 151.'), their names are given as fol-
lows : " Vincent Auld, Juliane Younger, Juliane, Anthone, and Bes-
tiane (i.e. Sebastian) Drummonth."''
Upon the decease of one of these Julians, about the year 1.524, we ob-
serve that his place was filled up by one Henry Rudeman, whose ap-
pointment is entered in the Privy Seal Register' in the following terms : —
" Preceptum iitere Henrici Rudeman tubicinis, dando et assignaudo ei-
dem, Henrico locum quondam Juliani Richert, Italiani tubicinis, et ordi-
nando eundem Henriciun adjungendum fore reliquis Italianis histrioni-
bus et tubicinibus, et regi cum eisdem servire in loco quondam Juliani,
durante tempore vite ipsius Henrici ; pro quo servitio, domiiuis rex dat
sibi durante vita sua, omnia feoda, stipendia, et dcvoria solita et consueta,
etc. Apud Edinburghe x° Septembris anno etc. V" xxiiii"." (1.524.)
On the margin is written in an old hand, opposite to " tubicinis," 7nu-
sician, as if to indicate that " tubicen" was not here meant to imply
" trumpeter," its primitive and more limited signification, but " min-
• " Ane thousand hagbutlis gar scluitc al at anis,
With tweiche-lalbumu and trumpettis awfulhe."
Sir David Lyndsay's Tcstamciit of Sijuut Mi'ldnim.
Chalmers, in his edition of Lyndsay's Work>^, translates tuctclic " roar, or ratlior clatter."
Jamieson, in his Dictionary, defines it, " a trumpet.' Mr Piti-aim, however, in his Criminal
Trials, vol ii. p. 30, by a variety of entries from the Treasurer's hooks, has satisfactorily sliown,
that " swesch" means " drum," and nothing hut " drum." One of these, in 1576, is a payment
of sixpence for " tua stickis to the swasche."
' There seem to have been a similar sot of Italians among the musicians of the household of
Edward VI. They ore called " the four brethren Venetians, viz. John, Antonye, Jasper, and
Baptiste." Burney's Hist., vol. iii. p. 5.
" Vol. vii. p. 95.
76 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
strel." Another expression, in tliis document, it may be still more neces-
sary to explain. This Henry Rudemaii is conjoined with the Italian
" Histriones ;" from which it might be supposed that these gentlemen had
figured in a dramatic capacity, but for this idea there is no foundation.
" It is observable," says Dr Percy," " that our old monkish historians sel-
dom use the words cantator, citharo'dus, musicus, or the like, to express a
minstrel in Latin, but either mimus uistrio joculator, or some other word
that implies gesture." In another place, ^ he says, '■'■ Histrionia in middle
Latinity only signifies the minstrel art." There is also a charter to appoint
a king of the minstrels, a copy of which will be found in Blount's Law
Dictionary, v. King, where the French word " ministraulx" is expressed
by the Latin " histriones."
The words " feoda, stipendia, et devoria," may be translated " fees, sa-
laries, and dues," although, at first sight, it might appear as if the word
" feoda" was meant to signify heritable property. But, although the
musicians of the chapel royal, (founded by James III. and extended by
James IV.) as members of an ecclesiastical institution, were amply pro-
vided in benefices, annualrents, and teinds, we arc not aware of any
public endowments which were ever granted in l)ehalf of the secu-
lar musicians of the royal household. The charters above specified
would seem to show that their services were sometimes repaid by
grants of land from the sovereign, with whom, particularly with the
Jameses, whose love of music was not one of the least remarkable fea-
tures in their character, they had the best opportunities of ingratiating
themselves. James III., in particular, was notoriously lavish in his at-
tentions to minstrels and artists of every kind, and it may be to this that
we are to ascribe an enactment by which certain escheats and fines are
appointed to be given to the minstrels along with the heralds. This is
contained in a statute which was passed during the reign of the last men-
tioned prince, in 1471." It is one of the sumptuary laws of which there
• Percy's Reliques, vol. i. Introduction, p. 42 ; also pp. 70, '
" Ibid. p. 54.
' 147!,cli. 46.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 77
are a good many in our Statute Book, and commences by deploring the
great poverty of tiie realm, and the expense attending the importation of
silks; it then appoints that " na man sail wear siikes, in time coming,
in doublet, gowne, or cloakes, except knichtes,.minstrelles, and heraulds,
without that the wearer of the samin may spend ane hundred pundes
woorth of landrent, under the paine of amerciament to the King of tweii-
tie pound, als oft as thev are foundin wearand siikes, and escheiling
the samin, to be given to the heruulds and ininstretles" &c.
Here, we have heralds and minstrels placed precisely on the same foot-
ing ; but this is by no means unusual. If we look back to the early part
of their history, we see one and the same person at one time olTiciating
in both capacities. Taillefer, the Norman knighf, at the battle of Hast-
ings, is described as performing the part of Ilerald-iNlinstrel; and being
permitted to commence the attack, it is said that he advanced, singing the
song of Roland, and was among the first that were slain. Carpentier"
says that the French Hiruu.v were actually minstrels, and sung metrical
tales at festivals. They might have been selected for this double capa-
city, as among the Greeks,'' on account of the strength and clearness of
their voices,'' which equally qualified them for animating the soldiers in
battle, and for making proclamations at tournaments and public cere-
monies. Though afterwards disjoined, — as long as the " pomp and cir-
cumstance" of the feudal system lasted, the herald and the minstrel
were never far removed from each other. The former was the oHicial
bearer of all despatches and messages of truce : in the discharge of these
duties, he was invariably accompanied by his minstrels ; and the persons
of both, in time of war, were held inviolate.'' They were a necessary
part of the retinue of the feudal baron ; and Froissart, in describing a
Christmas entertainment, given by the Comte do Foix, in tlie 1 1th cen-
tury, furnishes us with a specimen of the munificent reception which oc-
casionally awaited them. " There were many raynstralls, as well of hys
* Du Catigc. Sii|)[)l. torn. ii. p. 750.
>• Iliad, b. V.
• Burner's History, vol. ii. p. 275.
'' I'roissart, c. NO.
78 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
own as of straungers, and oclic of tlieni dyd their dovoyro in llicir fa-
culties. The same day the Erie of Foix gave to heraulds and ininstrelles
the sum of fyve hundred frankes, and gave to the Duke of Tourayn's
mynsfreies gownes of cloth of gold furred with ermyne, valued at two
hundred frankes.""
According to the very correct and comprehensive description which
Bishop Percy*" has given of the minstrels, they were " protected and
caressed" only " as long as the spirit of chivalry subsisted ; because,"
during that period, " their songs tended to do honour to the ruling pas-
sion of the times, and to encourage and foment a martial spirit." What-
ever, therefore, miglit have been their pristine status, its lustre liad been
considerably diminished long before the passing of the statute to which
we have above referred, and the privilege there reserved to them of wearing
silks in doublet, gown, and cloak, with the share allotted to them along
with the heralds, in the tines thereby imposed, were probably the last
complimentswhich the Legislature ever thought of bestowing upon them.*"
To judge from the Statute Book, it must be confessed, that their re-
spectability from the first was not a little equivocal ; and it is prettv
clear, that they could never boast of being, what is technicallv termed,
" favourites of the law;" on the contrary, the body to which they be-
longed was the object of many severe penal enactments. Much as
they were encouraged and admired, there seems to have been always an
idea on the part of the legislature, that the members of this profession
might be more creditably and usefully employed in some other sphere ;
* Froissart, B. iii- c. 31, English Translation, London, 1525.
' The work of Percy, the father of this department of our literature, still furnishes the best
account which has hitherto been given of this order of men ; and although Mr Ritson has written
a great deal on the same subject, and with a degree of acrimony towards tlie Right Reverend
author which, we believe, he afterwards regretted, we cannot perceive that lie has either inva-
lidated his statements, nor, with all his antiquarian research, has he succeeded in adding a single
new fact of any importance.
■= In proof of this, see another Act of theScotish Parliament, 1581, c. 113, against " theexcesse
of coasthe cleithing," in which minstrels arc not ercejited, though there is a general reservation nf
the oflBcers and servants of the King's household.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 79
and the solicitude of some of our oldest laws upon this head is not
a little amusing. We have an ancient ordinance of Eu<renius which
requires, that " all idle pepill, sic as juglaris, minstralles, bardis, and
scaffaris, either pass out of the realm, or find some craft to win
their living;" and another of Macbeth, which contains an injunction
to the same effect, with the addition, that — " gif they refuse, they sal
be drawin like horse in the plough or harrovvis." No doubt, we disclaim
the genuineness of these anti(]uated statutes; but unfortunately, there are
some of a more recent date, and of an authenticity not to be (piestioned,
which are not only conceived in the same spirit, but which even exceed
them in point of severity. Honoured and revered during a barbarous age,
it was the singular fate of this class of men, at a period when the world
became more enlightened, and the arts which they professed better known
and more highly cultivated, to be thrust into juxta-position with the very
dregs and refuse of society, and stigmatized as rogues, vagabonds, and
sturdy beggars. By 1449, c. 21, it is ordained, " Gif there be onie that
makis them fuiles,-'' and ar bairdes, or uthers sik like rinnares about, and
gif onie sik be fundin, that they be put in the king's waird, or in his
irons'' for their trespasses, als lang as they haue any gudes of their awin to
Hue upon— that their eares be nailed to the trone,"' or till ane uther tree,
and their eare cutted off, and banished the cuntrie — and gif thereafter thev
be funden againc, that they be hanged." Afterwards, bv an Act of James
VI., (1579, c. 75,) the persons above described are included in the de-
scription of " maisterful, Strang, and idle l)eggars," and adjudged, upon
conviction, to be " scourged and burnt throw the eare with an bote iron."
Under the same statute are comprehended " all idle persons ganging
about in any countrie of this realme, using subtil, craftie, and unlauchfiil
playes, asjuglarie, fast and lous, and sik uthers, &c.; and all minstrelles,
sangsters, and taletellers,'' not avowed in speciall service be some of tiie
' Jesters, or Gcslours.
'' Slocks, or Jongs.
' The Pillory.
'' Tlie different dep.irtments of " iniiistrrlles, sangsters, and taletellers," cniunernled in the
above statute) arc so distinctly described liy a French anthor, in defining the " (Jay Science," as In
80 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Lords of Parlinmont, or (jroat burrowes, or be tlio hoad biirrowcs and
cities for their c-ominon iiiiiistrelles."
At the present day, there can only be one opinion as to the inhuman
nature of such regulations. About a hundred years, however, after
the passing of this statute, their severity, particuhirly the enactment of
death for the second offence, seemed to afford much satisfaction to an
arbitrary King's Advocate during an arbitrary period of our annals. We
allude to the "bluidy M'Kenzie," the name by which Sir George M'Kenzie
was commonly known to his contemporaries, and which he justly owed to
the sanguinary persecutions that took place under his official direction.
Instead of being repealed, these laws were ratified by Act iGth, 3d Ses-
sion, 1st Pari. Charles II., upon which occasion, in his Observations on
the Statutes, we find the following undisguised and characteristic expres-
sion of opinion :" — " In this Act, excellent overtures are set down
for punishment of vagabonds, &c., who by this Act are appointed to be
burnt in the ear and scourged for the first offence, and to suffer death
for the second : so far can the repeating of a crime heighten its pun-
ishment even in mean crimes. Analogical to this Act is the title in
th(> Digest de Fugitivis, where likewise manv excellent overtures are
proposed." This reminds us of the story of the boys and the frogs.
The poor bards and minstrels might well say, what was only an excel-
lent overture to Sir George, was death to them !
At the same time, it must be acknowledged, that the gangs of vaga-
bonds who for ages infested the country, required the most determined
and rigorous coercive measures for their repression. Even so late as
leave little doubt that tlie Scotish school of minstrelsy was foundod upon that of France. The
only department that seems to have been awanting with ns was that of the Troubadours ; unless
we are to liold that their places were in some degree supplied by our old romancers, such as
•' Thomas the Rhymer" and " Hucheon of the Awle Ryall. " Le corps de la Jonglerie etoit forme
des Trouvcrcs ou Troubadours qui composoient les chansons, ct parmi lesquels il y avoit des Im-
provisalcurs comme on en trouve en Italic : des Chantcours ou Ckaiitcres qui executoient ou chan-
teoient ces compositions; des Conleurs qui faisoient en vers ou en prose les contes, les recits, Ics
histoires : des Jongleurs ou Menestrels qui accompagnoient de leur instrumens." Pref. Anthologie
Franc. 1705, 8vo. p. 17.
' M'Kenzie's Observations, p. 190.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 81
1698, our Scotish patriot, Fletcher of Saltoun," computes the number
of those loose and disorderly characters throu<Thout Scotland at not
fewer than 100,000 ; and these were persons who, without being robbers
by profession, wandered incessantly from place to place, extorting, by
force and insult, food and alms wherever they went. Fletcher describes
them as an unspeakable oppression to the country, especially to the poor
tenantry ; and yet, what were they but a class of society common to all
the feudal nations, — the wretched offspring of a political system which
provided for the interest of certain privileged orders, to the entire neglect
of the great mass of the community, and reared up the pride and the
personal aggrandisement of the one upon the misery and degradation of
the other !
We shall only here attempt to glance at some of the circumstances
which appear to us to have had the effect of bringing the bards and
minstrels into the disreputable predicament which we have above no-
ticed. Mr Ritson has merely looked at the predicament itself, proceed-
ing upon which, he treats the whole body with the most sovereign con-
tempt. It is not easy to conceive any thing more inconclusive or slu)rt-
sighted than such a mode of reasoning. If these people were haughty,
insolent, overbearing, and even formidable,'' — if they had increased so as to
become an intolerable multitude, and to require the intervention of the law
for their coercion — it is plain that they could not have been the contempt-
ible, the dishonoured, or the ill-remunerated class which he describes.
The inference we would draw is directly the reverse. Their arrogance
could only have been engendered by the attentions and adulation so
prodigallv lavished upon them ; the extent of their numbers could only
have been occasioned by the success of their professional exertions, — the
honours, the wealtli, the power, and the privileges which attended them.
* Second Discourse on tlic Affairs of Scotland, p. 145.
" Walker ( Irish Bards, p. 53) says, that at one time (towards the end of the sixth century) the
number of the hards in Ireland was equal to one third of the male population of the island, and
that they had become so arrogant that they would demand the gulden buckle and pin which
fastened the royal robes upon the monarch's breast- In regard to the Welsh bards, it became
necessary, by a law. to restrain them from asking for the prince's horse, hawk, or greyhound.
Jones' Welsh liards, p. 28.
L
82 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
The obvious occasion, therefore, of the passing of such statutes as those
we have mentioned, both in Enghuid and in Scotland, was the favour
with which these persons were received, — a favour so great, that vagrants
of every description were at all times ready to assume the character of
the minstrel as a passport to the hospitality and attention which the lat-
ter never failed to receive. Thus, an Act of Edward I.* (1315,) sets out
with this preamble — " Forasmuch as ... . many idle persons, under colour
ofmynstrelsie, and going in messages, and other faigned business, have
ben, and yet be ■ receaved in other men's houses to meate and drynke,
and be not therwith contented yf they be not largely consydered with
gyftes of the lordes of the houses." It then goes on to restrain more
than three or four minstrels in one day from resorting (uninvited) to
the houses of prelates, earls, and barons, — and that none come to the
houses of " meaner men" unless desired. A letter of Edward IV.*"
(1489) also complains that a number of persons falsely assuming the
privileges of minstrels, had, in that capacity, levied heavy pecuniary ex-
actions in different parts of the kingdom. This was exactly the situation
of matters in Scotland. The same liberties were here taken on the same
pretext ; so that, instead of being derogatory to the profession, the sta-
tutes which we have cited were plainly intended to put an end to such
abuses, and thereby to protect from encroachment the privileges and re-
spectability of the higher class of artists ; for which reason the individuals
denounced are merely minstrels, songsters, and taletellers, " not avowed
in speciall service be some of the lords of parliament, or great burrowes,
or be the head burrowes, for their common minstralles."
We believe, therefore, that it was more on account of the irregulari-
ties and abuses which we have endeavoured to point out, than the mis-
conduct of the general body, that " unlicenced minstrels" (for the de-
gradation seems to have extended no farther) fell under the ban of those
penal enactments. •= By a British statute, passed in the course of the
' Percy's Reliques, vol. i. Introduction, pp. 69, 70.
■• Percy, ibid.
' See contemporary English statutes of Queen Elizabeth, st. 39, c. 4, § 2 ; st. 4.3, c. 16.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 83
last century, strolling players are classed under the same odious deno-
minafion, and the old bards and minstrels have even the advantage of
them, in being associated, under the Act of James VI., with a respectable
literary class of culprits, viz, " all vagabound schollers of the Universities
of St Andrewes, Glasgow, and Aberdene, not licenced by the Rector and
Deane of Facultie of the Universitie to ask almes !"
It is not improbable, however, that these marks of public opprobrium
had had a baneful effect on the character of the profession in both
countries. Percy, their great advocate, seems to have considered the
Acts which were passed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth as a death-
blow to the art, and says, that, towards the end of the sixteenth cen-
tury, they had lost all credit, and were sinking into contempt and ne-
glect. It has been remarked, that Blind Harry the minstrel, the au-
thor of " The actes and deides of the illuster and vail3eand Campion,
Schir William Wallace," came nearer to the character of an ancient
minstrel than any one in the age in which ho lived. He chanted his heroic
strains before the princes and nobles of the land, and is described by
Major" as one " qui historiarum recitatione coram principibus, victum et
vestitum, quo dignus erat, nactus est." The period during which he
flourished (especially the reigns of James III. and IV ) was one which
afforded all the encouragement to minstrels and artists which could be
derived from royal munificence and example. In the Lord High Trea-
surer's accounts, during the early part of this last mentioned prince's
reign, there are payments occasionally set down to " Blind Harrv," who
must at this thne have been a very old man. Another entry, a few years
afterwards, offers additional proof of James IV. 's partiality for this species
of entertainment — " April U)th, 1 lUti — Item, to the tua fithelaris'' that
sang ' Gray Steil' to the king, ix'."''
• Lib. iv. c. 15.
' M. Kaiiclict (lie I'Originc dc la Laiiguc Fruncaise, p. 72) iic6nvsjonglcurtoujugleurs, c'cst a
dire vieneslriirt chantant arec la viole.
° This " Gray SH'il" was a highly |)n|iiihir romance. Mr Laiiig, in whose " Early Mt-trical
Talfs" it has been pubhslu-d, says, that it '• would seem, along with the poems of Sir David
84 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Wc find the bards alluded to, in no very respectful terms, in the
*' Cockelbie Sow," the " Ilonlate," (a production of the reign of
James II.,) Dunbar's " Fly ting," the works of Sir David Lyndsay, and
other poems of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ; and the last occa-
sions in which they appear to have figured in their ancient capacity at
the courts of our nionarchs, were not nearer our own times than the
reigns of Malcolm III. and Alexander III. At the coronation of
each of these sovereigns, a bard or sennachie stepped forward and
chanted a Gaelic poem containing a recital of the king's ancestors
from the reign of Fergus I. After this, they were chiefly, if not al-
together, confined to the establishments of our Celtic chiefs. Rho-
derick Morison or Dall, a blind man, was perhaps the last of any note or
respectability. He was bard and harper to the Laird of Macleod at
Dunvegan Castle about the middle and towards the end of the seventeenth
century," and Mr Macdonald observes, that he was born a gentleman,
and lived on that footing in the family. Mr Gunn says, that some of
his compositions are still extant. After this, we hear of another of the
name of Murdoch Macdonald, a pupil of this Rhoderick or Rory Dall,
who was bard or harper in the family of Maclean of Coll, where be re-
mained till 1734. The author whom we have last quoted rather thinks
that there were no professional harpers bred in the Highlands, except in
connexion with such establishments as these, and that if there were any,
thev had probably gone to the Lowlands to exercise their profession
there. We have no doubt, that before the beginning of the last cen-
tury there were many of these wandering bards and minstrels ; and the
Lyndsay, and the histories of Robert the Bruce and of Sir William Wallace, to have formed the
standard production of the vernacular literature of the country." It is noticed also by the same
gentleman, that " in a curious manuscript volume formerly in the possession of Dr Burney, en-
titled, " An Playing Booke for the Lute — noted and collected" at Aberdeen by Robert Gordon, in
the year 1027, is the air of " Gray Steel ;" and there is a satirical poem on the Marquis of Ar-
gylc, printed in I68G, which is said " to be composed in Scotish rhyme," and " is appointed to be
sung according to (lie tune of ' Old Gray Steel.'" See also Ellis' Metrical Romances, vol. iii. p.
308.
* Macdonald's Essay on the Ilighlaud Music, p. 11. Gunn's Enquiry, pp. 95, 97.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 85
closing scene of their career is well depicted by Marline, (who is
supposed to have been secretary to Archbishop Sharpe,) in his Re-
liquice Divi Andrea'." — " The bards (says he) at length degenerated
by degrees into common ballad makers; for they gave themselves up to
the making of mystical rhymes, and to magic and necromancy. To our
father's time and ours something remained, and still does, of this ancient
order; and they are called by others and by themselves, Jockies, who go
about betrging, and use still to recite tlie slugfjornes of most of the true
ancient surnames of Scotland from old experience and observation.
Some of them I have discoursed, and found to have reason and discre-
tion. One of them told me that there were not now twelve of them in
the whole of the isle; but he remembered the time when they abounded,
so as, at one time, he was one of five that usuallie met at St Andrews."^
In the course of our examination of the musical instruments anciently
in use in this country, we have been led into an apparent digression re-
specting the personal history of those for whose taste and genius it was
reserved, to evolve their hidden harmonies, and to elicit from them those
" sounds and sweet airs" in which our ancestors took delight, — we say
apparent, because, in reality, the two subjects are necessarily and insepar-
• p. 3.
' In " Bishop Percy's Letters to George Paton" llie antiquary, we observe llie following
memorandum of the hitter, written about the year 177C: — " A set of bemars travelled up and
down the south and western parts of Scotland, and were never denied alms by any one: they
always carried alougst with them a horn, and were styled Jmki/ with the Horn, or Jocky who
travels broad Scotland. The rhyme used by them to be enquired after." The rhyme was of
some consequence : but we fear it has perished along with its reciters. Being perfectly free,
therefore, to form all manner of conjectures, the answer which we would propound to Mr Paton 's
conundrum is, that these beings in " (juestionable shape," whose mysterious appearance seems to
have so startled the iniai^inalion of the venerable gentleman, were no other than the lattof the
bardtl Their description completely corresponds with Marline's "Jockies who went about begging."
Jockie, it may be observed, is most likely a corruption of " Joculalor." They appear also to have
been rhymers. The horn, though not so easily explained, is still another link of connexion with the
olden time; and wi- can scarcely look upon the circumstance of their never being denied alms any
wherci in any other light than as the last lingering remnant of that hospitality which our ancestor!
never withheld from those whose exertions contributed so much to their enjoyment ; and, as
Percy says, " supplied the wont of more refined entertainment-"
86 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
ably connected witli each other ; and it would be as vain to attempt to
furnish a complete account of the history of our music without reviewing
that of our bards and minstrels, as it would be to trace the rise and pro-
gress of our poetry — our romances — our popular songs. It is very
doubtful whether materials are extant sufficient to render such an object
at all attainable ; but if they were, we need hardly say, that they would
demand a degree of analysis and research far beyond our present limits.
We shall be satisfied, therefore, should the few hints which we have
thrown out conduce, however slightly, to advance the main object of our
inquiries.
As the harp was so favourite an instrument of the Scoto-Saxon
minstrels during the middle ages, its use in Scotland could never
have been confined to the Highlands, as Mr Ritson supposes,* al-
though it certainly continued to subsist there for a much greater length
of time than in the Lowland part of the country. In England, it was a
common instrument in the time of Chaucer, that is to say, during the
fourteenth century, and Mr Ritson says,'' " it continued in use till after
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, possibly till the civil wars, but was long
held in the lowest estimation ; since that time it has been entirely laid
aside, or at least very rarely used as an English instrument." As to its
having been held in the lowest estimation, we would caution our readers
against too hastily adopting this notion. It might have been, as the
learned author observes, " an ordinary retainer in taverns and such like
places" — so is the violin, one of the most eminent of modern instruments.
It was also frequently professed by the blind, because it off'ered perhaps
the only means of support to persons who laboured under that misfortune ;
" blind harper," accordingly, might have become a term of ridicule — so is
" blind fiddler" in the present day ; nay, the harp might have been a less
courtly or fashionable instrument than the lute or the virginals, — the se-
cret of this, however, may have lain in the circumstance that a compe-
tent knowledge of the latter was more easily acquired by those who pos-
* Bitson's Ancient Songs, p. 41-
' Ibid.
PREMMINARY DISSERTATION. 87
sessed only a slight acquaintance with the art. An instrument so noble,
so susceptible of expression, and variety of eflect, as the harp, could never
have sunk into the lowest estimation ; and at the very time to which Mr
Ritson points, as the period of its degradation, — the fourteenth century, —
we find a French poet, (Machau,)" in a poem entitled " Le Diet de la
Harpe," praising it, as an instrument too good " to be profaned in taverns
or places of debauchery;" (and) saying that "it should be used by
knights, esquires, clerkes, persons of rank, and ladies with plump and
beautiful hands; and that its courteous and gentle sounds should be
heard only by the elegant and the good."
In Scotland, during the first part of the fifteenth century, if mo-
narchical example could have contributed to render this instrument
fashionable, something might have been expected from our James I.,
who, although he played upon many other instruments, is reported to
have chiefly excelled on this. Fordun'' says he touched it like another
Orpheus ; and Major'' describes his performance on it as surpassing that
of the most skilful Irish and Highland liarpors of his day. In this re-
mark, it is implied, that the latter were at this time the most successful
cultivators of the harp, a fact of which we have no doubt ; not so much
from what we gather from Major, as from other historical testimonies ;
for the truth is, that this author is somewhat loose in his assertions on
this bead ;'' butgreatlv as these Highland harpers excelled their Lowland
brethren, the harp might still have continued in use among the latter for
nearly as long as it did on the other side of the Tweed.
Sir Walter Scott in his Border Minstrelsy*' tells us that the ballad of
the Loclunaben harper is " the most modern ballad in which the harp as
a Border justrument of music is fountl tu occur;" but not having any clue
• Burncy's History of Music, vol. ii. p. 2C3.
' B. xvi. c. 28.
• B. vi. c. 14.
'' As an i'xuni|)lf, he writes, " In former times, the li.irp, covered with leather, and strung with
wire, was the favourite inslrumi-iit, (in the Highlands ;) hut at present it it ijuilc lott" — a stnd -
mcnt which, at the time to which it refcis — the beginning of the sixteenth century — we know to
have hecn inconsistent with the fact.
• Vol. i. p. 70.
88 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
to the age of the ballad, we can gather nothing more from this statement
than what may be collected from other productions of the same kind,
such as " Thomas the Rhymer and the Queen of Elfland," and " Bin-
norie, or the Cruel Sister," viz. that the harp at one time was a common
instrument in this part of the country; and many passages in our Low-
land poetry might be cited to the same effect. Douglas, for example, in
his " Palice of Honour," alludes to it. —
" In modulation hard I play and sing,
Taburdoun, pricksang discant, countering;
Cant organe figuration and geramell,
On croud, hite, harpe, with monie gudlie spring."
The harp, also, figures among the instruments with which Queen Anne
was greeted on her public entry into Edinburgh in 15<J0, celebrated by
Burel. —
" Organs and regals thair did carpe,
With their gay golden glittring strings;
Thair wes tlie hautbois aiul tlie harpe,
Playing most sweit and pleasant springs."
We likewise see from the Lord High Treasurer's accounts,* that be-
sides the occasional engagement of eminent harp performers from a dis-
tance,*" harpers were constantly retained as part of the royal household.
Leyden'^ thought it probable that the Irish harp or clnrxearh, strung
with wire, (and generally covered with leather,) rather than the Welsh
harp strung with hair, (or gut,) was that with which the Scotish Low-
landers were acquainted. For this opinion no authority is given; and
• See Appendix.
" " July nth, 1512, Item, to Odonelis Ireland man liarpar, quhilk past away with him at the
king's command, vii. lib." Lord High Treasurer's accounts.
° Introduction to Complaynt, p. 152.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 89
we confess that the result of our own inquiries into this matter would tend
to an opposite conclusion. There is an old MS. romance quoted by this
author," " Clariodus and Meliades," where, in enumerating the instru-
ments of a concert, it is mentioned that
" Out of Irland there was ane clersche."
We should think, therefore, that the clersche, clarseach or clarscha,
imported into this country by the Scoto-Irish ancestors of our Highland
countrymen, had formed their proper national instrument; indeed, the word
"clair-schochar" seems always to have been used to signify either an Irish
or a Highland harper. Thus, in the treasurer's accounts lor 3d January
1533-34, there is entered a payment as follows : — " Item, deliverit to the
kingis grace, quhilk his hienes gaue to ane Ireland clairschochar, x lb."
We observe, also, that there is a distinction sometimes drawn between
the harpers and the clarschochars. In the above accounts for 14th
April l.OOS, there is a payment to " Alexander harper, Pate harper
clarscha, his son the Ersch clarscha, &c. ilk man, ix. s. iii. lb.
xii. s. ;" and in the enumeration of performers, on 1st January 1507,
" clarscharis," as well as " harpers," are particularised. From these
data we should infer, that the instrument chiefly employed in the Low-
lands was the harp strung with horse hair or gut, and that the Irish
and the Highlanders had been nearly the exclusive cultivators of the
clarsach. It is clear, however, that both of these instruments were made
use of by the latter. In "certeyne matters concerning the realnie of
Scotland," &c., "as they were anno Domini 1597," (London, l(i()3,)itis
said — " They (meaning the Highlanders) delight nnich in musicke, but
chielly in harps and dairschoes of their own fashion. The strings of the
clairschoos are made of brasse wire, and the strings of the harps of
.sinews, which strings they strike, either with their nayles growing long,
or else witii an instrument appointed for that use." We may observe
in passing, that what we have here quoted is merely a new version bv
* Introduction to Complaynl, p. Io7.
M
90 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
this author of what Buchanan has stated on the same subject in his His-
tory of Scotland, Book I.
As to the ancient compass of the harp, Jones' would represent it as
having possessed a scale of twenty-six diatonic notes, even as far back
as the sixth century. This he deduces from certain Welsh melodies still
extant, and whicli he says were played in the year .520, although upon
this statement we can place no great reliance. Mr Gunn's observations
on this head are worthy of more attention. This eminent professional gen-
tleman, in the year 1805, at the request of the Highland Society of Scot-
land, examined two old Caledonian harps belonging to the family of
Robertson of Lude, one of wliich had been presented by Queen Mary to
a lady who had married into that family; and the other, an instrument of
great antiquity,'' quite as old, " if not older," than the celebrated harp of
Brian Boiromh, the monarch of Ireland, who was slain in 1014,"= and
which is preserved in the Museum of the University of Dublin. The
Caledonian harp is very similar to the latter, although its proportions are
somewhat larger, being thirty-eight and a half inches in height, with
thirty string holes, while the Irish harp is thirty-two inches high, and
seems to have carried twenty-eight strings. In describing the Caledonian
harp, Mr Gunn'' mentions that the front arm is not perpendicular to the
sounding board, but that its upper part, together with the top arm, is
turned considerably towards the left, in order to leave a greater opening
for the voice of the performer. This peculiarity, and a fact which is well
known, viz. that the Caledonian, Irish, and Welsh harpers held their harps
at the left side, and struck the upper strings with their left hand, render
it probable that the accompaniment of the voice formed the chief province
of the instrument. Mr Gunn" remarks, that there is no reason to suppose
that the old harpers did not tune their harps to the diatonic scale, "as
all the music still extant in Ireland and the Highlands (he might have
• Welsh Bards, p. 103.
' Gunn's Enquiry, p. 12.
« See Walker's Memoirs of the Irish Bards, p. 60.
* Gunn's Enquirj', p. 8.
' Ibid. p. 2-2.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 91
added Wales) is reducible to that scale." O'Kane, the last Irish harper of
any great eminence heard in Scotland, (about 1770,) tuned his harp on
that system ; and from Mr Bunting's account of the meeting of Irish
harpers at Belfast, in 1792,* it appears that all the harpers who attended
upon that occasion, though from parts of the country distant from each
other, and taught by different masters, tuned their instruments upon the
same principle. As the diatonic scale only gives two intervals of a semi-
tone within the compass of each octave, some contrivance, of course, was
necessary, in order to produce such accidental sharps and flats as might
occasionally occur.'' This was, first of all, effected by the performer
running his hand up close to the comb, and dexterously stopping the
note with the thumb, while he played it with the finger ; and afterwards,
by the invention of double and triple harps, by which the number of
strings were multiplied, so as to embrace the whole series of the chromatic,
as well as the diatonic system. But these improvements are not supposed
to have been introduced earlier than the fourteenth or fifteenth century;
and it was only about a hundred years ago that M. Simon of Brussels
superseded their necessity by inventing the method, which has since been
practised, of producing the half tones by pedals, and thus brought back
the instrument to nearly its ancient simplicity of construction and num-
ber of strings."^
If we have dwelt at ureal lt'n<rth on the historv of this instrument, it
is because it formed the leading feature of the minstrelsy of the middle
ages — not only diffusing its charms at the courts of princes, and in the
houses of the nobility upon all festive occasions, but constituting a
source of delightful and innocent recreation to all classes of the people,
in the trancjuillity of domestic life. Giraldus pictures such a scene,
when speaking of the primitive manners of the Welsh, about the year
1188, and their hospitality to strangers, he tells us, that " those who ar-
• Hunting's " Anciciil Irish Music." Introduclion.
•■ Jones's Wi'lsli HarJs, p. 103, et icij.
' Burney's Present State of Music in Germany, Nrtlierlancls, and Unitfd Provinces, vol. i.
p. 59.
92 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
rive at an early hour arc entertained with the conversation of yoiuig
women, and the music of the harp till evening ; for here every family has
its damsels, and harps provided for this very purpose. Every family
too is here well skilled in the knowledge of that instrument."* And
Major, in speaking of our Highlanders, says, that one of their amuse-
ments at their firesides consisted in the telling of tales, the wildest
and most extravagant imaginable, and that the music of the harp was
another. Giraldus describes the bishops, abbots, and " holy men" of
his time, as so partial to this instrument, that they actually used to
carry it about with them, and piously delight themselves with its strains.''
We observe that he confines this remark to Ireland, the hierarchy
of which had not at that time been completely brought under sub-
jection to the see of Rome."" It was ordained by a canon of Edgar, the
Saxon monarch, in 960, and there was passed a similar decreet of the
Roman Council in 679, " that no priest be a common rhymer, or play on
any musical instrument by himself, or with any other men, but be wise
and reverend as became his order." These ordinances, however, even
in England, had not been much attended to — not that we ever heard of
the English (and far less of the Scotish) Catholic clergy having been
classed among the number of " those who handled the harp ;" but they
must have paid but little regard to the former of these regulations, if
Hawkins** is correct in considering them as, " for the most part, the au-
thors and composers of those songs and ballads, with the tunes adapted to
them, which were the ordinary amusement of the common people."
From the eleventh to the beginning of the fourteenth century, the
troubadours and minstrels of France exercised the chief influence over
the music as well as the literature of Europe. Dr Burney*' says, that it
was about the twelfth century when Provencal poetry, having arrived at
* Cambria' Dcscriptio, c. x.
* " Cytharas circumferre et in eis modulando pie delectari consuevciint."
' Dr Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, p. 243.
" Vol. ii. p. 88.
' Vol. ii. p. 233.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 93
its greatest point of perfection, was begun to be sung to the sound of
instruments; and that " at this period, violars, or performers on the
vielle and viol ; juglars, or flute-players ; musars, or players on other
instruments ; and comics, or comedians, abounded all over Europe."
This swarm of poet-musicians, who were formerly comprehended in
France under the general title of jongleurs, travelled from province to
province, singing their verses at the courts of kings, princes, and other
great personages, who rewarded them with clothes, horses, arms, and
money, which, though sometimes given unwillingly, served to augment
the number of these strolling bards. If these minstrels had extended
their excursions in the manner above described, a fact which we see no
reason to doubt, they must have frequently visited Scotland, and dis-
seminated, throughout that country, a knowledge both of their music and
their musical instruments. During the reigns of Edgar, Alexander I.,
and David I., that is to say, from 1097 to 1153, particularly during the
reign of the last mentioned monarch, who was considered by his sub-
jects as almost a Frenchman, great elTorts were used to engraft the more
polished manners and customs of the Normans upon the rude parent-
stock of the Scotish people ; and from the reign of William the Lion,
with whom, as we have previously had occasion to remark, our first
direct national negotiation was opened with France — towards the end of
the twelfth century — down to the reign of our unfortunate Queen Marv,
the two countries continued the almost uninterrupted political friends and
allies of each other. It is to the French, therefore, that we must ascribe
the importation of most of the musical instruments with which our an-
cestors were acquainted.
The " viol" is described as having been so favourite an instrument wiili
the minstrels of France, as to have disputed pre-eminence with the
harp, to which it was frequently used as an accompaniment. Though,
to all appearance, wholly unknown to the ancients, its existence in that
coinitrv has been traced as far back as the eighth centurv." It seems,
during the earlier periods of its history, to have dilVered considerably in
* ISiirney, vol. ii. p. 'JG4.
94 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
form from the modern violin, and to have had no fixed number of strings
as at present ; at least we see it in old delineations from the twelfth till
the sixteenth century, represented with three, four, five, and even a
greater number of strings.
It is important to remark, that in the Fabliaux, the instrument which is
designated by the word " vielle," is that which has been above describ-
ed, the "viol" or "violin," and not, as has been sometimes imagined, the
more modern French vielle, or hurdy-gurdy — altliough, from an engraving
of the latter, which we observe in La Borde,^ taken from a MS. of the
fourteenth century, it would also seem to be of some antiquity. The
strings of this instrument, as most of our readers know, are kept in vibra-
tion by the friction of a wheel, which acts the part of a plectrum or bow.
Hence it was called rote or riote, and, as such, we find it alluded to by
English as well as French poets.'" Gower, in his Confessio Amantis —
Harpe, citole, and riote,
With many a tewne and many a note."
Chaucer also says of his mendicant friar —
" Wei coude he singe and plaien on the rote^
It is in this capacity, as the Lyra Mendicorum, that it still con-
tinues to figure at the present day, though seldom, if ever, in the hands
of the natives of Britain. Perhaps this might have been its principal use
in former times with us ; although, from our closer habits of intimacy with
our Gallic friends and allies, we should have expected it to have been
more common in this country than in England. We certainly observe
several tunes in the Skene MS. which, from their construction and com-
pass, bear all the traces of their having been composed for this instru-
• Essai siir la Musique, vol. i. p. 303.
'" Burney, vol. ii. p. 2/0.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 95
menf ; but it seems to have been very seldom noticed by any of our
writers, and at the present moment, the only mention we recollect of it is
in the following line of the Houlate, (1450,)
" The rote and the recordour, the ribus, the rift."
The notice which wo selected from the treasurer's accounts of the
payment in the reign of James IV. to the " tua fithelaris that sang
' Gray SteiT to the king," shows that our Scotish minstrels had imitated
those of France by making use of the viol as an accompaniment to the
voice. The instruments were most probably " rebecs" or violins, with
three strings ; at least La Borde says,* that those were most anciently in
use, and that this was the description of violin alluded to by the French
romancers and troubadours.'' That these " rebecs" were verv common
in Scotland during the sixteenth century, would appear from the following
passage in Brantome's " Dames I/hislrfs," where he describes Queen
Mary's reception by her Scotish subjects at Holyroodhouse on her arrival
from France. Brantome accompanied her, and was no doubt an eye-
witness of the scene. — " Estant logee en has en TAbbaye de I'lslebourg,
vindrent sous la fenestre cinq ou six cents marauts de la ville, luy donner
aubade de meschants violons et petiis rebecs, doni il n'y en a faute en
ce pays Id ; et se mirent a chanter pseaumes, tant mal chante3 et si mal
accorde3, que rien plus. He ! quelle musique et quel repos pour sa
nuit." John Knox's description of these " marauts" or " ragganiullins,"
as Brantome styles them, is somewhat different. He calls them " a cum-
panic of most honest men who," he says, " with instruments of musick,
and with musicians, gave thair salutatiouns at hir chalmer windo. The
melodic, (he adds,) as sche alledged, Ivked hir weill, and sche willed the
sam to be continewed sum nychts efter wilh grit diligence." We should
rather think, however, that this must have been a considerable stretch of
com[)laisance on the part of her majesty. Her taste had been fashioned in
* Essai sur la Musi(|iic, vol. i. p. 367.
* " A tat)orot, n luytc, and a rebecc," constituted the musical establisliment of tlio Earl nl
Northumberland in the reign of Henry VIII. ; and in the list of the household bands of Edward
VI. and Elizalieth, provision is made for a " rehecke," one and two in luiniher, distinct from the
" vyulls," who were a more numerous body, consisting of eight performers.
96 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the court of France, not after the Scotish, but the French and Italian
models; and we have no reason to believe that our Scotish violars were
at this time very distinguished either in point of musical skill or taste ;
although it is evident that the violin, or, to speak more correctly, the
" viol," had been much cultivated in Scotland for many years prior to
this.* Our readers will observe from the treasurer's accounts, that our
sovereigns were seldom without " fithelaris" at their musical perform-
ances. On " Pasch Tiss-day," i.e. the Tuesday of Easter week, of the
year 1505, we see five of them engaged. They are also included among
the performers in 1507» on New-year's-day; and from the entries in 1538
and 1542, it would seem, that at least four players on the " veolis" were
retained among the musicians of the royal household. Those who are
curious in these matters, will also have the satisfaction of finding that the
names of some of them are commemorated in the same record. In
1530 and 1533, " Cabroch the fidlar" appears to have taken the lead ;
and afterwards, in 1538, we find " Jakkis," i.e. " Jacques Collumbell,"
(whom, from his name, we take to have been a Frenchman,) singled out
as the most distinguished of our artists in this department.''
On the night of the 20th February 143(), when our talented monarch,
James I., fell by the ruthless hands of assassins, he is described in the
contemporaneous narrative to have passed his tyme " yn redyng of
romans, yn syngyng and pypynge, in harpyng, and yn other honest
* The " Violis" spoken of in tlie text were in several respects different from the modern violin.
Their form was not precisely the same. They had six strings, whicli were tuned chiefly by fourths,
and the finger board was fretted like that of the guitar. Buruey says, that even so late as the
year 1600, instruments of the violin kind were but little used in concert, or very ill plaved ; and
that Mersenne, in his " Harmonie Universelle," published in 1636, was the first writer on music
who seemed to appreciate their excellence, and ventured to proclaim his opinion of their superioritv
over all other instruments. Violins, tenors and basses, are supposed to be of Italian origin, and
never to have been known in this country until Charles II. introduced them into his band " in-
stead of the viols, lute, and cornets, of which the court band used to consist." Burney, vol. iii.
p. 174, 584. Hawkins, vol. iv. p. 116.
^ In 1335, our great viol-maker seems to have been an Englishman, and from the price paid
for his materials, as stated in the following entry, one would think that his wood must have been
imported from abroad — " Item, to the kingis grace to Richard Hume, Inglismanne, quhilk suld
mak violis to the kingis grace, to by stuffe for the samin, xx lib."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 97
solaces of grote pleasance and disport." This prince must liave been an
extraordinary proficient in music ; and Bower, in liis continuation of
Fordun," enumerates the followiiiir instruments upon which he could
perform, — the labour, the bagpipe, the psaltery, the organ, the flute, the
harp, the trumpet, and the sheplierd's reed ;'' in addition to which, Boethius
mentions the lute — " He was richt crafty (says Bellenden his transla-
tor) in playing baith of the lute and harp," &c.
These instruments, along with others, are particularized in the Hou-
late, (1450,) in a stanza from which we have already made a citation. —
" All thus our ladye thai lofe, with lylting and lift,
Menstralis and musicians, mo than I mene may :
The psa/trj/," the cithoUs,'^ the soft atliarijl.
The rroude" and the monycordis, the gijthormV gay ;
The rote and the recordour,'^ the ribus, the rij't,
The trump and tlie tabur/i,^ the fi/mpane,' but tray ;
• B. xvi. c. 28.
' Tliecxprtssions in the original are, " in tympano et choro, in psalterlo et oxgano, tibia et lyra,
tubu et fistula."
* The psaltery is frequently mentioned by Chaucer and the old French and English romancers.
It was also an instrument known to the ancients ; but so much difference of opinion prevails as to
in antlipic form, that we shall not venture to say what it resembled. The modern instrument of
that name was in the form of a flat une(iu.il. sided ti^urc, like a triangle, witli tlie top cut off" it. It
had three rows of strings, and was played either with the fingers or with plectra. La Horde's
Essai, vol. i. p. 303.
'' Probably the " citole," or " cistole," a sort of " dulcimer," from " cistclla," a little box.
' We need hardly observe, that the " crowdo" was the viol or violin — the name, as well as the
instrument, being obviously derived from the ancient British •• crwtli."
' Gythornis, i.f. "guitars." Chaucer generally spells this word " giternes," and " gt'trons."
The " citlcrne," or " cistrum," a similar, but inferior in.strument, is often confoutided with the
guitar. See Hawkins, vol. iv. p. 112.
' A species of flageolet, the tone of which was particularly soft and sweet. Milton speaks of
" Flutes and toji recorders."
' The labour, a small drum beaten with a drumslirk, in which respect, and in its being covereii
with parchment at biitli ends, it differed from the tambour de Hati/tu', with which it is oIUmi con-
founded.
' Tympane, i.e. thedium.
N
<)8 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
The lilt-pype" and the lute, the cii/iilP' and fi/f,
The dulsate and the dulsacordis, the schalm" of affray ;
The amyable organic usit full oft ;
Clarions loud kneliis,
Portatibis'^ and belli.s ;
Cymhaellonis in the eel lis,
That soundis so soft."
The reader will find some of these instruments explained in the foot-
notes ; others, such as the " atharift," the " ribus," and the " rift," we
admit our inability to define. But we must say a few words in regard to
the " monycordis," a name liable to some ambiguity, and which has never
hitherto been explained or illustrated.
There are various interesting notices relative to this instrument, some
of which we shall shortly bring under the reader's attention. We may
mention, in the meantime, that the following, which we lately obtained
from the General Register House, is among the latest, while it is cer-
tainly not one of the least curious.
' " Lilt-pype" certainly did not signify " bagpipe," as Ritson supposes. It was, more probably,
tlie sbcpherd"s pipe, or other instrument on which were performed the tunes called " lilts." These,
it will be observed, bear no resemblance whatever to bagpipe tunes ; neither do they correspond
with the description which Dr Jamieson, in his Dictionary, gives of the " lilt." Instead of
being a " cheerful air," as defined by him, judging from the specimens which the Skene MS. has
brought to light, the " lilt" would rather seem to have been an air of a plaintive character, and from
the peculiar vein of melody which runs through such of them as we have seen, we should think
tluit they must have sprung from the pastoral districts of the Lowlands of Scotland.
'' The " cythill" may be here used as a quaint term to denote cythara, or harp : if not, we must
suppose that all mention of the last instrument was here omitted — an idea of which Ritson has
availed himself to argue that the harp was not in general use in the Lowlands at this time.
' Schalms and clarions are fully explained infra, p. 114, 115, 1 10.
'' Portatibus, i.e. portativi, or regals, were a kind of diminutive portable organ, formerly much used
in public processions. Hawkins speaks of it as being not uncommon in Germany even in his day
The regal was borne through the streets on a man's shoulders ; when the procession stopped, it
was set down upon a stool ; the performer then stepped forward — played upon it ; and the man
that carried it blew the bellows. Hawkins, vol ii. p. 449.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. flO
Extract from the Testament of Edward Henrysoun, " Maifter of
the Sang Scole of Edinburgh, and Prebendare of St Gelis Queir,
quha deceist 15 Aug. 157'J. [Recorded (i Nov. 1579]."
" Item, thair vves awin to the said umquhile Edward Henrysoun, be
the gude toun of Edinburgh, for bigging of the Sang Scole, xlj lib.
" Item, I leif to my sone, James Henrysouh, my gown, my coitt, my
bumbasie dowblet, and the bodie of poldavio, my kist, my bybill, ane
PAIR OF MONvcoRDis, my hat, thre of the best sarkis, ane pair of round
scheittis, foure scrviottis," &c.
The cause of the ambiguity of this word " monycordis" is, that it is some-
times spelt, as in the above extract, and at other times " monochord," —
modes of orthography which suggest very difierent ideas, — the last being
descriptive of an instrument of one string, and the other of — the very re-
verse — a " polychord," or instrument of many strings. What renders
it the more necessary that we should here enter into some explanation is,
that, although the " monochord," or " monycordis," appears to have
been much employed during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, we
have no where seen any attempt to define its nature ; and we believe that
for these many years no very definite ideas have been attached to its
name.
There are no fewer than three instruments to which the name of
•' monochord" has been applied. The first and oldest is the harmonic
Canon of Pythagoras, which was latterly much used by the Greeks. It
consisted literally of a single string; and the instrument or frame to
which it was attached was marked oft' by sections and subdivisions, cor-
responding with the intervals of the scale. There were three bridges,
two stationary, one of which stood at each end ; the other, which was
placed between the two, was moveable, and, by being applied to the dif-
ferent divisions of the scale, showed the relation which the sounds bore to
the length of the string, and, in this way, familiarised the student with the
series of intervals which it embraced. This instrument was not employed
100 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
in the performance of music. But there was a one-stringed instrument
called a " monochord," or " unichord," used for that purpose, not by the
ancients, but by the moderns of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
of which Mersenne and other authors have given a description.* Another
appellation by which it was known was the Marine Trumpet, though the
reason why it was so called does not very distinctly appear; unless, as is
supposed by some, it had been invented by a person of the name of Marini.
It seems to have been about five feet long, of a pyramidal shape, fitted up
with a finger board and bridge, and played upon like a double-bass, with
a bow, except that the performer, as is sometimes done in the execution
of concertos on the last mentioned instrument at the present day, con-
fined himself to the extracting of the harmonic sounds; by which means,
effects were produced similar to the notes of the trumpet.'' We mention
this strange instrument, because it bears the same name with that under
consideration. As for the thing itself, there is no evidence, and no pro-
bability, that it was ever used in Scotland, or that it ever became much
known in France or in any other country.
The "monicordis," or "monochord," used by our ancestors, was cer-
tainly not an instrument of a single string ; but, on the contrary, one of
the class of instruments most remarkable for the multiplicity of their
strinsfs. It seems to have been the same with the " clavichord," or
" clarichord," and as such to have been one of the precursors of the
spinet, the virginals, the harpsichord, and the piano-forte of modern
times.
Michael Praetorius, who lived in the latter part of the sixteenth and
beginning of the seventeenth centuries, in the second volume of his work,
" Syntagma Musicum," &c., under the head of '■ Organographia," p. 60,
expressly says, that '' the clavicord was invented and disposed after the
model of the mo?iochord." This mai/ be correct ; but we find the for-
mer designation, '•' clavichord," used at a very remote period. Mr
* Mersennus de Instr. Harm., lib. i. prop. S', 38. See also La Borde's F.ssai, vol. i. p. 279.
' See a Paper on tlie Trumpet and Trumpet- Marine, b_v the Hon. Francis Roberts, in the
Philosophical Transactions for 1692. See also Hawkins' Hist, of Music, vol. iv. p. 121.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 101
Strutt, in his " Manners and Customs of tlio English,"* makes the fol-
lowing extract from an old MS. book of instructions for music, as old
as the reign of Henry IV.
" Who pleythe on the harp, he should pley trew ;
Who syngythe a song, let his voyce be tunable ;
Who wrestythe the clavj/corde, mystunyng eschew ;
Who blowthe a trompet, let hys wynd be mesurabyle ;
For instruments in themself be firm and stable,
And of trowthe, would trouthe to every man's song.
Tune them then trewly, for in them is no wrong."
Unless, therefore, Mr Strutt has been in some mistake as to the age
of this MS., the " clavycorde" must have been in existence some time be-
tween the years 1399 and 1413 ; and, if so, as our James I. was educated
at the court of Henry IV., it is rather extraordinary that the " clavycorde"
or the " monocord" should not have been one of the many instruments
upon which he performed. A century posterior, it seems to have been
a favourite with his descendant, James IV. On the lOth April 1497, in
his treasurer's accounts, we read of a payment of 9s. to " John Hert,
for bering a pare o/monicordis of the kings fva. Aberdene to Strivelin."
On the 15th October 1504, there is a payment of 18s. "that samyn
nycht in Dunnottir to the chield playit on the monocordis bo the kingis
command ;" and in the circumstantial account which John Young,
Somerset herald, gives of James IV. 's nuptials, he is described as having
enterliiined his royal bride, first of all by his performance on the " darv-
chordes," and afterwards on the lute.'' From these and other notices, we
should think it probable, that at this time " clavichord" and " mono-
chord" had been used synonymously.
• Vol. iii. p. 1 16.
•• I.elaml's (\illcclanca, vol. iv. pp. 284, 285. Wc arc surprised to find a writer so well in-
formed OS Mr Gunn representing the word " clarychordes," in the passage to which we have above
referred, as probably a typographical error, or alteration of " clarsho," (Enquiry, p. 72.) It is
possible, however, that the word " riarichord," the etyinologj' of which is not so evident, mav
have arisen from error or indistinctness in the spelling of the word "clavichord."
102 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Julius Caesar Scaligor, who died in 1558, in the first Book of his
" Poetices," chapter 48, says, that the original of the " Monochord" was
the simmicvm, an instrument of thirty-five strings, supposed to have been
invented bv Simmicus, (the ancient Greek musician ;) and in the same
passage, which, as it docs not appear to have been noticed by Burney,
Hawkins, Martini, or any of our common authorities, we here subjoin,
the connexion between this instrument and the "clavicymbalum," " harp-
sichord," and " spinet," is distinctly traced. " Fuit et simi" commentum
illud, quod ab eo simicum appellatum, quincjue et triginta constabat
chordis, a quibus eorum origo, quos nunc monochordos vulgus vocat. In
quibus, ordine digesta, plectra subsilientia reddunt sonos. Additse dein
plectris corvinarum pennarum cuspides ex a^reis fills expressiorem eliciunt
harmoniam, me puero, clavicymbalum ct harpichordum, nunc ab illis
mucronibus, spinetam nominant."
It is to be observed, that Du Cange, in his Glossary, confounds the
" monochord" with the " manichordion" — an instrument of more recent
invention, and very little different in construction from the harpsichord.'*
Farther, he describes both of them as being instruments of " one string;"
and Carpentier, although, in his Supplement, he notices the former error,
seems to have no idea of the distinction between the monochord of the
ancients, and that of the fifteenth century.
From what has been already observed, it is obvious that " monycordis"
was a corruption of " monochord." It is certainly very extraordinary
that the latter term (like Incus a non Ivcendo) should come to signify
something so very opposite from what is implied in the word itself, but
there can be no doubt of the fact. The idea of Scaliger that the shnmi-
cum, a species of lyre, was the prototype of these keyed instruments,
may probably have had no other foundation than the circumstance of
its having been furnished with a greater number of strings than any other
instrument of anti(iuitv ; we should rather look for the history of this and
* Tliis word seems to be a mistake for " simmici."
'' Mersennus, dc Instr. Harm. lib. i. prop. 42.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 103
our other keyed instruments, in that of the instrument to which the name
of " nionochord" was formerly appHed.
It may perhaps be doubled whether the instrument of this name, the
study of which was recommended by Guido in the eleventh century,*
as the best method of teaching beginners their musical intervals, and which
probably remained in use for many years after his time, was the identical
Pyfhatxorean monochord which we have described. We find it impossi-
ble to procure any distinct information upon this point. If it were the
same, Dr Burney^ thinks that "it probably" had " a neck, and was fretted ;
as bridges like those on a common monochord could not without much
practice have been moved quickly enough" to answer the purposes of
the teacher. Whether this may not have gradually led to the introduc-
tion of a " polychord," is a question well worthy of the consideration of the
musical antiquary. For ourselves, we are by no means satisfied that it
did ; for, admitting that the inconvenience alluded to had been the occa-
sion of furnishing this instrument with a neck and frets, and that it may
have extended to a "polychord," there would still have been a wide step
between this and the mechanical adjustments of a keyed instrument ; nor
does it appear very obvious that the one would have suggested the other.
Notwithstanding the fact, therefore, which is certainly a very remarkable
one, that the most ancient form of construction of these keyed instru-
ments went under the name of " monochords;" the commonly received
n(jtion appears to us to be still the most plausible, that tliev originated
simply in the idea of subjecting the harp, or some such instrument, to
the sort of mechanical process by which they are regulated.'^
There is just one circumstance which we would suggest as explana-
tory of the reason why these " polychord" instruments were called
• Ilnwkiiis, vol. i. p. 44!>.
' Vol. ii. |i. 7H, iiolc.
' " As llif Imrp came from the ciUiara, so the harpsichord hail its orighi from the harp, being
nothing more than u liori/ontul liurp. ns every one who examines its figure with that idea must
sec." Uurney's Hist. vol. iii. p. 173.
104 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
" monochords." From being an instrument employed to represent the
scale, and the succession of intervals used in music, the name of " mono-
chord" naturally came to signify the scale or system of sounds itself.
We see it expressly used in this sense in the following passage of Joannes
de Muris' Tractatus de Musica, written in 1323: — " Guido monachus
qui compositor erat gammatis qui monochordum dicitur, vocas, lineis et
spaciis dividebat." We observe that Dr Burney, in his history," applies
this word in the very same way ; and La Borde'' says, after describing
the monochord, " ce qu'on appele systeme, est la monochorde divise ; et
comme il est possible de le diviser de plusieurs manieres, c'est ce qui fait la
multiplicite des systemes." It is unnecessary to go farther. What could be
more natural than that an instrument, the strings and keys of which were
arranged according to the series of intervals into which the gamut or
monochord was divided, should be called a " monochord ?"° Indeed, we
rather think, with reference to the passage which we have above cited
from " Pragtorius," where he observes that " the clavichord was invented
and disposed after the model of the monochord," that this must have been
his real meaning, and not that the clavichord which, from all that we have
had occasion to observe, appears to have been the same instrument with
the monochord, ever since the invention of the former, had been con-
structed after the pattern of another and a difli'erent instrument under
the name of the latter.
We trust that we need no farther apology for dwelling at some length
on the history of the " monochord," than its importance as the parent of
that instrument, which, in modern times, is not only the delight of every
fashionable circle, but extends its influence throughout many of the
humbler grades of society ; and this, too, not in our country alone, but over
• Vol. ii. p. 86.
"> Vol. i. p. 244.
' This sort of metonymy is very common in the history of our language, and in music more
particularly. The dance or tune " hornpipe" is so called from the instrument upon which it was
played. " Jigg" is another example, being a sprightly tune well adapted to the violin. It received
its name from "geig," the German name of that instrument.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 105
the whole face of the civilized globe. We shoiiUl add the fact, that it has
somehow or other been mistaken, or overlooked, by all the musical histo-
rians to whose works we have had it in our power to obtain access. We shall
endeavour, however, to make amends for our proli.xity in this instance, by
touching more briefly on what farther remains of this subject; — and we have
the less hesitation in so doing, as we have reason to believe, that by the
time these pages meet the eye of the public, our deficiencies will be much
more than supplied from the pen of a distinguished antiquary, to whom his
country is largely indebted for the accuracy, the usefulness, and the extent
of his historical researches. The brief Tract which Sir John Graham Dal-
yell proposes to devote to the illustration of the ancient musical instruments
of Scotland, will, we understand, be accompanied with engraved delinea-
tions of most of them ; — not only a valuable addition to the interest of
every work of this nature, but one which is perhaps indis])ensable to their
proper elucidation, as no written description can furnish more than a
vague and imperfect idea of their form and construction.
There is one description of keyed instrument, of great antiijuity, not
embraced within the class to which we have alluded, and in regard to
which we have hitherto said nothing ; — this is the organ. This instru-
ment, (by which we mean the pneumatic organ, not the htjdraulicon of
the ancients,) as it was known in Italy in the seventh, — in France in the
ciglitli, — and in England (during the time of St Swithin and St Dunstan)
in the tenth century, was probably introduced into Scotland 150 or *200
years after the last mentioned era ; at least, it is not easy to imagine that
a monarch like David I., who did so much towards the erection of
churches and monasteries, siiould have omitted to furnish some of the
former with what must have been, at the time, accounted the most im-
portant adjunct to the solemn magniticence of the Catholic ritual.
So far as we are aware, the earliest mention of the orjfan in anv of our
historians is by Fordun, who, upon the occasion of the removal of the
body of Queen Margaret from the outer church at Dunfermline for re-
interment beside the high altar, in 1250, descriiies the procession of
priests and abbots, by whom the ceremony was conducted, as accom-
panied by the sounds of the organ, as well as the chanting of the
o
106 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
choir." And we may suppose, that from about that time, — Scotland,
which is described by Dempster as, (under the able superintendence of
Simon Taylor, a Dominican monk,) in 1230, emulating the splendour
of Rome herself in the excellence of her ecclesiastical music, — which,
from the constant intercourse of her clergy with those of the Continent,
must have always kept pace with the improvements of tlie age, and which
unquestionably adopted the same style of sacred music with that which
prevailed in Italy, France, and England, — was not likely to have been much
behind the last mentioned country, in this particular department. Mr P. F.
Tytler, to whose observations we refer our readers,'' has pointed out the
error into wliich his relative, Mr Tytler, the author of the Dissertation on
Scotish Music, fell, in representing James I. (of Scotland) as the first in-
troducer of the organ into this country ; when all that he actually did,
was to introduce organs of an improved construction. Our principal
churches and abbeys had most probably been furnished with tlioni more
or less from about the era to which we have above referred. Tiie Chapel-
Royal at Stirling, founded by James III., to all appearance upon the
model of that of Edward IV., was a very complete and richly endowed
ecclesiastical establishment for the cultivation of church music ; and
several entries of sums, laid out by our sovereigns in the upholding of the
organs at Stirling and Edinburgh, are to be found in the Treasurer's
Books, of which our readers will find some specimens in the extracts printed
in the Appendix."' There is also a very curious inventory of the " Buikis"
of the " Qulier" of the Colleges of St Andrews, as old as the middle of
the fifteenth century, with a copy of which we at one time intended to
have furnished our readers, together with other information of a like
nature, of which a great deal may still be recovered from our char-
* Fordun, a Goodall, vol. ii. p. 83.
' History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 374.
' Mr P. F. Tytler, in his History, vol. ii. p. 378, has remarked, that the churchmen were " the
great masters in the necessary and ornamental arts ; not only the historians and the poets, but the
painters, the sculptors, the mechanics, and even the jewellers, goldsmiths, and lapidaiies of the
times." Thus, one of the entries above alluded to, on 12 Jan. 1507, is as follows : — " Item, To
the chanoun of Halyrudhiius iltat mendit the organis in Strivelin and Edinburgh, vij lb."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 107
tularios, and other ancient documents. But we have forborne to do
so, or to enter into any investigation of this subject, — partly from
the accumulation of materials which we have been enabled to collect
for our more immediate purpose — the illustration of the Skene MS.,
and with it the secular music of Scotland ; and partly, because the
effect of that information (although it would no doubt constitute an
accession to our stock of Scotish history) would be little more than
to show that, for the ages preceding the Reformation, — in our monastic
institutions, our cathedrals, and our collegiate and parochial churches,
the same regulations prevailed as to the chants, offices, and service of the
church, as in other Catholic countries.
The accounts of the Lords Treasurers are a never failin<r source of
interesting and authentic information with respect to the private lives
of our sovereigns, and from the very unreserved nature of the expla-
nations with which they are generally accompanied, they exhibit their
habits, occupations, and amusements, in all their variety. Besides
other entries to the same effect, in 1533, we observe the following:
— " Oct. 19. — Item, For ane dozen luyt stringis send to the kingis
grace in Glasgow, vi*. Nov. 2. — Item, For iiij dosane luyt stringis send
to the kingis grace in Falkland, xxiiij'." Thus it appears that the lute
was the favourite instrument of James V. It was also that of his
daughter. Queen Mary. — " Elle avoit (says Brantome) la voix tres douce
et tres bonne ; car elle chantoit tres bien, accordant sa voix avec Ic luth,
(ju'elle touchoit bien solidement de cette belle main blanche et de ces
beaux doigts si bien fa^onnes, qui ne devoient a ceux de IWurore."
Besides the lute, Mary, as Sir James Melville told Queen Elizabeth at
the celebrated interview when his courtesv was so severelv put to the
test, " occasionally recreated herself with playing on the virginals;"*
upon which, the latter also, as Sir James relates, played " cxcellentlv
well ;" and if, as Dr Burney'' remarks, " her majesty was ever able to
* Sir Juiiu'9 Mclvillu's Memuirs, pp. M, 61.
' Vol. iii. p. 13.
108 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
execute anv of the pieces (hat are preserved in her virginal book," which
is still extant, " she must have been a very great player, as some of these
pieces are so difficult, that it would be hardly possible to find
a master in Europe who would undertake to play one of them, at the end
of a month's practice."
At a time when music, instrumental as well as vocal, was taught at the
public schools as an ordinary branch of education, — when to sing one's
part at sight, and to play on some instrument, was a common accom-
plishment in every one, and considered almost indispensable in persons
of high rank, we need not wonder at the number of crowned heads who
excelled in music, and that we should scarcely be able to find any, called
to that high station, who were not more or less possessed of these quali-
fications. In the history of the House of Stuart, we scarcely know a
single instance to the contrary. With the exception, perhaps, of James
II., (of Scotland,) whose time and attention were entirely absorbed in
the art military, the monarchs of this family were all either promoters
or cultivators of music ; nor have the passion and taste which prompted
them to patronise, and enabled them to excel in, that accomplishment,
abated in the latest of their successors; and during the brief duration,
hitherto, of a reign which we fondly hope may continue among the long-
est in history, no member of that august family has ever done more to
honour the efi'orts of artists, or, by her own genius and example, to exalt
and adorn the art, than the talented and amiable Personage who now fills
the throne of these realms.
No doubt, Dr Burney* has hazarded the assertion in regard to one of
her Majesty's illustrious predecessors, James I., (of England,) that it
did not appear that " either from nature or education he was enabled to
receive any pleasure from music." But, allowing that his natural capa-
city did not qualify him to acquire distinction in any branch of the fine
arts, (although specimens of his " vein" still extant, not to mention his
" Cauteles" for the guidance of professors, sufficiently evince his fond-
ness for poetry,) we doubt very much whether he was incapable, either
• Vol. iii. p. 323.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 109
by nature or education, of receiving pleasure from music ; and from any
facts which have oomo within the range of our observation, wo think that
in this respect Ur Burney has taken a very erroneous, and, we are con-
strained to add, what appears to us to be, a very prejudiced, view of his
character. Even Sir John Hawkins* bears testimony to the same effect,
that " he did not understand or love music ;" but, with great deference
to both of these learned authors, whose opinions, accompanied as they
generally are by extensive research, are entitled to respectful consi-
deration, we hold these statements to be neither well founded in them-
selves, nor very gracious (if they are to be considered as expressive
of the sentiments of the musical profession) towards the memory of one
whi) appears, from the first, to have been both a sincere and an active
patron of the art ; and if the mind of Burney had not, in this matter,
from some cause or other which we cannot explain, been unfavourablv
biassed, the very circumstances which he himself had occasion to record
would have at once brought him to an opposite conclusion. It is re-
markable (hat (he Doctor follows out the very same sentence, in which
lie gives ut(erance to the observations we have cited, in the following
words — " Iloirever, early in his reign, the gentlemen of his chapel, as-
sisted by the influence and solicitation of several powerful noblemen who
|)leaded their cause, severally obtained an increase of ten pounds to their
annual stii)LMui." In the preceding paragraph, we are told, that
Elizabeth, though extremely fond of splendour and show, was so par-
simonious in rewarding talent, " that she suffered these gentlemen of
her chapel, till the time of her death, to solicit in vain'' for (his aug-
mentation of salary ; . . . . and that the celebrated Dr Bull, and
Dowlnnd, (he friend of Shakspeare, had been actually obliged to quit the
kingdom in search of better patronage elsewhere !
After this we see this very Dr Bull, who is described by Burnev
(whether correctly or nut we >hall not here stop to enquire) as having
been obliged to tind employment abroad, retained in the establishment
' Hisl. vul. iii. [>■ :V2I.
110 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
of Prince Henry, the son of James I., along with sonic of the first musi-
cians of tlie age.* In a subsequent part of his work, the author, in a
paragraph in which he says something about his own "historical integrity,"
— a profession which does not appear to have always accorded with his
practice, — observes — " It may perhaps be necessary for me to mention, that
James I., upon what beneficial principle it is now difficult to dis-
cover, incorporated the musicians of the city of London into a company "
with all the privileges of such, &c. The " historical integrity" of the
Doctor's views, in this particular instance, is farther exemplified in another
passage,** where, in speaking of " the periods of our own history, in which
music has been the most favoured by royalty," while Queen Elizabeth,
Charles I., and Charles II., are respectively lauded for their exertions,
all mention of the reign of James I. is purposely avoided; — so that, in
spite of his liberality, his absolute zeal in the promotion of this branch of
the fine arts, and the solid and substantial benefits which he conferred
upon its professors, his name has been handed down to posterity as
that of one who, having no "music in his soul," was the adversary, rather
than the friend, of their interests !
Under these circumstances, had it not been that the facts which Dr
Burnev himself has brought under the attention of his readers, seemed
to furnish a sufficient refutation of his aspersions, we should have felt it
right to say a few words, in order to rescue the memory of an inconsistent,
but well-meaning monarch, from the unhappy predicament in which these
musical historians have left it. We may recall to recollection that it
was in his reign, and (although he was only in his 14th year) not im-
probably at his suggestion, that the institution of music-schools in the
principal cities throughout Scotland became part of the law of the land.
It may be added, that Dr Burney was in a complete mistake as to the
musical part of his education. In the treasurer's accounts for 1580,
there is the following article of charge : — " September, Item, be the kingis
* Burney's History, vol. iii. p. 326.
' Vol. iii. p. 483.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. Hi
majestcis precept, to his servitour James Lawder ij" merkis, as for the
(lew price of tica pair of mrginelUs coft be the said James in London,
be Ilia hienea dircctioun and command, a?id de/iverif to his maiestie, &c.
ij'. li." Kinj; James was at this time in his fifteenth year.
We observe another entry a few years after this ; but wliether we
should quote it as an additional ilhistration of King James' munificence to
Eiighsh professor>, we know not. We are not informed as to the extent of
their services on this occasion, and therefore can form no estimate of the
comparative rate of their remuneration ; but we subjoin the extract, as it
may possibly amuse our readers, from the very circumstantial manner in
which the mode of payment is set forth. — " March 151)G, Item, be his
mnjesfies spociall directioun, out of his awin mouth, to four Inglis
violaris in Hu/iruidhous, 32 lib."
Dr Burney informs us," tliat, during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, tlic into was the favourite chamber instrument of every nation
in Europe; and that about the end of the former of these eras, James
and Cliarlcs Iledington, two natives of Scotland, were eminent performers
upon it, and much in favour at the court of Ifenri Quatre. There seem
to have been a great many varieties of the lute species, the theorbo, the
arch-lute, the guitar, the ci/strum or citterne, the pandora,** the mandora,
and others of different names, at least, if not of different kinds; but into
I heir specific distinctions it is not our intention, in this place, to enter.
Thoy are fully described by Mersenne'' and other authors, with all the
advantage of delineations, without which it would be quite needless to
attempt any explanation of their peculiar forms, and the details of their
construction.
It may Ix- mentioned, however, that the mandora, mandour, or lesser
lute of four strings, was the instriunent to which the airs in the Skene
MS. arc adapted ; and the lute tablature, or notation in which they are
• Buriicy's llisl. vol. iii. p. 274.
' " Two I'aiiilores" are iiieiitionod oniong llic iiistrumcnls provided for tlic musicians of (lie
Chapel- Koyul at llolyroodliousc in 1633. See inform.uiun touching the Cliapel-Koyal in the
Appenilix.
' De ln>tr. Ilurmuniciii, lib. I.
112 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
written, is flic same with that in which the numerous collections of French
court airs, which were printed about the beginning of the seventeenth
century, were noted by the composers of that period." We are also in-
formed that, at this time, " the lute and the virginals were the onlv
instruments for which any tolerable music was expressly composed."
Another kind of " chamber music," common in these days, was of a
very opposite description, and gives us a far less favourable idea of the
good taste of the people of the sixteenth century. From the accounts
in Hall's and Hollinshed's Chronicles, we learn that, in 1530, Cardinal
Wolsey, at a masque at his palace, Whitehall, entertained his patron,
Henry VIII., with "a concert of drums and fifes." But this (says Dr
Burney'') " was soft music compared with that of his heroic daughter,
Elizabeth, who, according to Henxner," used to be regaled during dinner
with twelve trumpets and two kettle-drums, which, together with fifes,
cornets, and side-drums, made the hall ring for half an hour together."
At this time, the dinner hour seems to have been reckoned the most
propitious moment for entertaining the company with music ; of which,
if necessary, many more instances might be given, in some of which vocal
as well as instrumental music was introduced.** In these points, and in
many others, our Scotish monarchs and nobles took their cue from
the courts of England and France, and as parallel examples to the
above, we may cite the following entries from the treasurer's books :
— " Dec. 1596 Item, to the violaris, taburris, and sueschearis at the
prince's baptisme, couforme to the Lordis of Chekkaris warrand, xxx''.
Item, couforme to the Lordis Ordinance, for sueschearis, and ane pephe-
rare that playit at Barganei's mariage, x"."
Another entry in these books gives us an opportunity of comparing
the instruments used upon such occasions, and the performers in ordinary
attendance on the royal family of Scotland, during the reign of James
v., with those of the court of France at the same period.
* Burney's Hist. vol. iii. p. 58'2. Ibid. p. 143.
*■ Vol. iii. p. 143.
' Itinerarium, p. 53.
* See Burney's Hist. vol. iii- pp. 6, 7.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 113
The mipf inls of this prince with Magdalen, eldest daughter of Francis
I., were celebrated at Paris on 1st January 1537, with a degree of splen-
dour, which, says Pitscottie, who gives a very graphic description of the
proceedings, "was never seen in France since the time of Charles the
Main." The festivities seem to have lasted for (he better part of five
months. In the month of May, a fleet left Scotland for France, in order to
bring James and his Queen to their kingdom, and the whole party arrived
on the 2yth of that month, along with a magnificent convoy, consisting of
about fifty vessels, the greater part of which the French king sent to accom-
pany them ; or, in the words of the last mentioned historian, " to squyer the
King of Scotland and his Queen through the sea." Relative to this occa-
sion, we observe, among others, the following entries in the interesting re-
cord to which we have so often referred. — " 1.537. — In primis, to iiij. trum-
petouris, iiij. tabernaris, and iij. quhislaris, quhilkis passit in the scliippis to
I'Vance, the vij. day of May, xxxiij. elnis, reid, birge, satyne, andyallow,
equalv to be thame dowblatis, xvj. li. xij. s. vj. d.
" Item, gevin to the King of Francis trumpettis for thair
new 5eir giftis, - - - - crounis.
" Item, gevin to his howboyis, - - xxij. . .
" Item, gevin to his siflers, - - * - ^j-
" Item, gevin to the cornatis, - - xvj. . .
" Item, gevin to the Queue of Navernis howboyis, - x.
" Item, gevin to the (^ueue of Scotland's tabirnar, xij. . . "
As this formed part of tlie expenditure of the year 1537» the New-year's
gifts, above mentioned, must have been presented to those French musi-
cians, either on the occasion of the marriage, when the King of Scotland
and his nobles were in Paris, or, it is possible that they might have formed
part of the escort, and received the money upon tiieir arrival in this
c.ounlry, where it is likely that they had remained, along with many
others of their countrymen," until after Queen Magdalen's decease,
* Sfc cxiracts from Lord Iligli Treasurer's accounU, in Pitcairn's Criminul Trials, Appendix,
p. 292.
P
114 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
which unliappily took place only forty days after she had reached Scot-
land.
Amons the instruments of the French band, we should think that the
hautboys and cornets must, about this time, have been regarded as novel-
ties in Scotland. We notice, in 1.550, a payment to " certane Franche-
men that playit on the cornettis;" and it is probable that, at this period,
they and the natives of Italy were the principal performers on that instru-
ment. The " cornet" was a sort of horn, but made of wood, and perfor-
ated like a flute for the modulation of the sound ; and we are told by
Mersenne,* that, (hough naturally very loud and powerful, its tones, in the
hands of a master, were capable of being graduated, so as to produce
effects the sweetest and softest imaginable. Anton Francisco Doiii, in his
Dialoghe della Musica, published in 1544, speaks of it, or rather of the
performance of certain celebrated cornetists, in the most rapturous terms.
" II divino Antonio da cornetto perfettissimo e M. Battista dal Fon-
daro con il suo cornetto ancora ; che lo suona miracolosamente.""' Dr
Burney remarks, that the cornet has been supplanted in the favour of
the public by the hautboy. The former, no doubt, is no longer in use;
but the latter is an instrument of a totally difi'erent structure and
quality, being straight, and blown through a reed, while the cornet was
curvular, with an open mouth-piece like a trumpet or French horn. It
seems rather to have been the schawme, shalmele, or chalumeau, to
which the hautboy succeeded. Sir John Hawkins, in his analysis of
Luscinius' work, describing the schawme, along with another instrument,
called the bomhardt, expressly says, " the second of the two instruments,
above delineated, is the schalmey, so called from calamus, a reed, which
is a part of it, the other, called bombardt, is the bass to the former ; these
instruments have been improved by the French into the hautboy and
bassoon." The " schawmes" and the " bombardt" are frequently men-
tioned by our older historians and poets, though the nature of them, in
modern times, seems to have been very ill understood.
* De Inst. Harm. lib. ii. prop. 15.
'' Burney 's Hist. vol. iii. p. 174.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 115
" In such accordo, and such a sowne,
Of bombarde and of clariovvne ;
With cornemuse and shahnele.
That it was halfo a mannos hole,
So glad a noyse for to liere.""
" On crowd, lute, harpe, with nionie gudlie spring,
Schahiies, clariouns, portativis, hard I ring."''
" With rote, ribible, and clokarde.
With pypps, organ, and bumhard.''"
" Trumpetlis and schalmis with a schout,
Played or the rink began."''
In quoting some of these passages, Dr Leyden® commits the error of
confounding the " schawme" with the cornet or cruni horn of the Ger-
mans. He says, " the stock horn, in the strict sense, is the cornet or
crum horn of the Germans, the shalmey, or chalumeau, used with the
trumpet at tilts and tournaments." This learned writer may possibly
have been induced to form this opinion from a casual expression of Sir
John Hawkins,*^ where, in speaking of the crum horn, or crooked horn
of the Germans, he says, that " it signifies a cornet or small shawm ;"
and to add to the confusion, Luscinius has given some representations of
an artificial form of crum horn, constructed with the addition of a reed
— an instrument which, in consocpience, might, without impropriety, be
termed a "shawm." But taking the cornet (or crum lu)rn) represented
by Mersenne, our best authority, as the genuine instrument of that name,
* Gower.
* Douglas.
' All old Metrical Romance, entitled " The Squire of Low Degree."
'' Evergreen, vol. ii. p. 177.
* Introduction to Coniplaynt, p. 155.
' Hist. vol. ii. p. 452.
IIG PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the reed forms no part of its construction, and without that, it could never
be denominated a " shawm." The very derivation of the word from chalu-
meau, and that again from the Latin calamus, leaves no room for ques-
tion upon tiiat point.
The " cornet," then, may be regarded as an instrument of a different
generic character, from any with which we are acquainted, at the present
day. The " shawm" appears to have been a rude and warlike species
of hautboy, and the " bombardt" of the same general construction with
the " shawm," but larger, and of a much deeper quality of tone."
The " trumpet" and the " clarion" would seem to have stood in the same
relation towards each other as the two last mentioned instruments. La
Borde*" describes the clarion as " an instrument of the trumpet kind, used
in former times, of which the tube was narrower, and the sound more
acute, so that the trumpet formed the bass of the clarion." It is sup-
posed to [lave been of Moorish origin, and was one of the principal mili-
tary instruments during the feudal ages. Sir David Lyndsay makes the
following heraldic allusion to it, as such, in his " Testament of Squyer
Meldrum."
" Amang that band, my baner sal be borne
Of silver schene, thrie otteris into sabill :
With tabroun, trumpet, clarioun, and home.
For men of armes very convenabill."
The " siflers," or " sifleurs," whom we see mentioned among the
French musicians, correspond with the Scotish " quhislaris," or " whist-
lers," and as the whistle is the popular appellation in Scotland for every
species of flute, fife, or flageolet, these " sifleurs," or whistlers, may be
considered as synonymous with flute-players. It is most likely that their
instrument was the flute d-bec, or beaked flute, blown from the end,
and held perpendicularly, and not transversely, like the Jlauto-traversiere,
' There were six different sizes of these " bomhardes," all of them reed instruments. The
largest was about ten feet in length — a deep and powerful bass instrument.
' Essai, vol. i. p. 249.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 117
German, or Helvetian flute, now in use; — and yet, altiiough the latter car-
ries the name of these nations along with it, the probability is, that it only
owes to them its modern introduction, as the statue of the piping faun,
and other antiques, have placed the fact beyond doubt, that the ancient
Greeks and Romans were acquainted with it. Even in Germany, early
in the sixteenth century, we doubt very much whether it had come into
general use. Luscinius's Musurgia, a German work, published at
Stuttgard in l.")3(j, only gives one specimen of a flute of this kind;
and this, too, diflers in some respects from the modern German flute,
being much slenderer, and having fewer holes. In a paper on the
fashion.ible amusements in Edinburgh during the seventeenth century,*
Mr Tytler has stated, that " the flute d-bcc was the only flute used
at that time, (that is to say, in 1695.) The German, or traverse,
of modern invention, was not then known in Britain. I have heard, that
Sir Gilbert Elliot, afterwards Lord Justice Clerk, who had been taught
the German flute in France, and was a fine performer, first introduced
that instrument into Scotland about the year 17'2o." In this statement,
Mr Tytler has gone a great deal too far. In Strutt's " Manners and
Customs of the English,"'' there is a curious representation of a masque
in the time of James I. of England ; where, among a party of si.\ musi-
cians, the only wind instrument is a German Jliite. Farther, we have
reason to believe, that this instrument was played in Scotland by the
common minstrels of the city of Aberdeen, at least, if not of other royal
burghs, so long ago as the year 1574. This fact we gather from the
Town Council Register of that city, a record to which we have pre-
viously had occasion to refer, and which, both for its antiquity and its co-
piousness, is one of the most valuable we possess. On the 2 1th Novem-
ber 157-1 — " The said day, the haill counsale being warnit to this day,
ordanit Johnne Cowpar to pas everie day in the morning at four houris,
and everie nycht at eight houris at ewyne, throu all the rewis of the
loune, playand u|)on the Ai.manv ql'IIIssei., with ane servante with hnn
• Arcliirol. Scolica. p. 509.
' Vol. iii. plate xi.
118 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
playand upon the taborine, quhairby the craftismen, their servandis, and
all utheris laborious folkis, being warnit and excitat, may pas to their
labouris in dew and convenient tynie."'
" Almany whistle" in Scotish is synonymous with " German flute ;"
but from its having been here accompanied with the tabour or tambou-
rine, it is more likely that the term was intended to denote the smaller
instrument of that species — the minor fistula Helvetica^ or fife, which is
usually associated with instruments of a pulsatile nature, assimilating
better with the latter, and being less liable to be overpowered by them
than the common flute.
With the ancient inhabitants of Scotland, whether Picts or Celts,
Saxons or Scandinavians, we believe that the horn was perhaps the
oldest military instrument. — " In battle (says Pinkerton,"= speaking of the
Scandinavian nations) the horn was chiefly used down to the fourteenth
century." Many delineations of this instrument are to be found among
Strutt's Illustrations of the Ancient Anglo-Saxon Manners and Customs,
and many of the horns themselves are still extant. They generally
united the purposes of a drinking cup with those of an instrument
for the emission of sound. With our Scotish troops, in former times,''
it was customary for every man in the host to carry a horn " slung
round his neck, in the manner of hunters," the blasts of which, to-
gether with the furious yells with which they were accompanied, not
only served to drown the cries of the wounded and dying, but some-
times struck terror into the enemy.* That the Scots were more than
* See Analecta Scotica.
" Mersenne de Instr. Harm. lib. ii. prop. 6.
' Enquiry, vol. i. p. 390.
* Froissart's Chronicles, vol. iv. ch. 7.
* Such, also, were their use and effects among the Gauls, as described by Polybius, in the
account which he gives of the battle between them and the Romans, on the coast of Tyrrhenia,
or Tuscany. B. ii. c. 2. (Vk'e quote from Hampton's Translation, p. 185, Edin. 1766.) — " The
Komans were elated with no small joy when they saw that they had thus inclosed the enemy as in
a snare ; but, on the other hand, the appearance of the Gallic forces, and the unusual noise with
which they advanced to action, struck them with great amazement ; for, besides their horns and
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. ll'j
usually expert at these practices, we have the testimony of Froissart in
several of his descriptions. One occasion of their employing tliese horns
was within their encampments at night ; as the same historian tells us,
in detailing the particulars of Edward III.'s first expedition against the
Scots' — " They made immense fires, and about midnight, such a blast-
ing and noise with their horns, that it seemed as if all the devils from hell
had been there." This was a night in August 1337; and the following
evening it appears that the performance was repeated. Barbour, in his
" Bruce," alludes to the same custom : —
" For me to morne her, all the day
Sail niak as mcry as we may :
And mak us boun agayn the nycht.
And than ger mak our J)/rs It/cht ;
And blaw our hornijs, and mak far,
As all the warld our awne war."''
To any one accustomed to consider the bagpipe, the inspiring effects
of which upon our Scotish troops is well known, as our leading national
instrument, it must appear strange, that in the very circumstantial ac-
counts which have come down to us of the many sanguinary conflicts in
which our ancestors were engaged, there should be no allusion to its
spirit-stirring sounds, — and, so far as we have observed, no mention even
of its name, in the early part of our history. Although its use unques-
tionably prevaili'ii in the Lowlands, we see no proof oi its ever having
been assumed by the inhabitants of that part of the realm, as a warlike
tnimprtt, the number nf which iras almost infinite, tlie wliolc army l.roke out togt'lhcr into sucli louii
and continiicd crirs, tliut the nrighhouriiig places every where resounded, and seemed to join their
voices with the shouts and clamour oftlic instruments and soldiers."
* Froissart's Chronicles, h. i. c. 18.
*> A similar custom seems to have prevailed among the Jews. " IMow the trumpet in Tckoah,
and set up a sign of fire in Beth-huccerem, Tor evil appcareth out of the north." Jeremiah, ch. vi.
verse 1.
120 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
instrument ; and in so far as regards the Highland portion of the
population, the earliest notice which we can remember of it in that
character is in the narrative of the Battle of Balrinnes,^ in 1594,
in which many of the Highland clans were engaged, and where it is
spoken of, as " the principal military instrument of the Scotish moun-
taineers." We should have thought, that the bagpipe must have been
• in requisition at the Battle of Ilarlaw, in 1411 ; but in the ballad, in
which the details are very minutely commemorated, it is not mentioned,
although " trumpets" and " drums" are particularised. This is the
more extraordinary, as a " pibroch," called " The Battle of Harlaw,"
appears, from Drummond's " Polemo-Middinia," to have been popular
in Scotland during the early part of the seventeenth century;'' and the
probability after all is, that the tune, like the ballad, was coeval with the
event ; although it must be confessed, that the absence of all mention of
an instrument, which in modern times has had such an effect in inciting
the valour of the native Highlander, would lead us to infer, either that it
had not been used on that occasion, or that its martial character had not
at that time been fully established. "=
* DalycU's Scotisli Poems of f lie Sixtecntli Century, vol. i. p. 151.
' The following are the hnes in which it is alluded to : —
" Interea ante alios dux Piper Laius heros,
Precedens magnanique gcrcns cum burdine pypam,
Incipit Ilarlaii cunctis sonare balleltum."
Through the medium of one of Mr Blaikie's MSS., precisely contemporaneous with Drum-
mond's poem, this tune, hitherto supposed to he lost, has been recovered, and is now presented to
the public in the Appendix of this work.
' We mean among our Gaelic countrymen. Tlie bagpipe is said to have been a martial instru-
ment of the Irhh kerns or infantry, as far back as the reign of Edward III., and to have continued
as such down to the sixteenth century. In the sixth century, we find it mentioned by Procopius,
(lib. ii. c. 22.) as the instrument of war of the Roman infantry, wliile the trumpet was that of the
cavalry; and Piukertou (Enquiry, vol. i. p. 391) observes, that from this circumstance, commenced
its warlike use in Britain and the other countries subject to the Romans. It may be so; but we
cannot sav that we have seen anyevidence of its having been employed in that manner so near the
tiino of tl.e Romans as to countenance that supposition.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 121
Dr Leyden has gone even fartlier than this, and maintained tliat there
is no direct evidence that the bagpipe was known to the Highhinders at a
very early period. But although its adoption as an instrument of war
may have been an event of more recent occurrence, as almost every nation
in Europe appears, from the earliest ages, to have been acquainted with
it, we have no doubt, that, long prior to this, it contributed to their
amusement in their hours of relaxation. Dr Solander told Mr Pennant,*
that in tlie oldest northern songs in the Hebrides, the bagpipe was men-
tioned under the name of the soeck-pipe ; and we have already seen, that
Giraldus Cambrensis, towards the end of the twelfth century, speaks of
it as one of the instruments in use both in Scotland and in Wales. His
words are as follows : — " Hibernia quidem duobus tantum utitur et
delectatur instrumentis — cythara scilicet et tympano : Scotia tribus, cy-
thara, tympano, etchoro: Gwallia vero cythara, tibiis et choro.''^'
It will be remembered, that the same word "chorus" is used by
Bower, in his enumeration of the musical accomplishments of James I.,
(of Scotland,) and in rendering that word by bagpipe, we are quite
aware that we have entered upon dcbateable ground. Mr P. F. Tytler,
in his History," has faltered as to its meaning, and substituted for it (as
he himself admits, somewhat rashly) the word " cornu." That he
should have hesitated as to the proper signification of the word " chorus,"
is not to be wondered at. Pinkerlon did not comprehend it ; Lovden,
Ritson, and Jones, misinterpreted it ; and the Reverend Mr Macdonald,"*
who was one of our best informed writers on Scotish music, proposed it
as a sort of enigma for the solution of the Scotish antiquary. Under
these circumstances, it would ill become any one to obtrude his own par-
ticular opinion with a feeling of confidence; but after having given the
nuitter all the attention in our power, we see as little reason, on tiie other
hand, to vacillate as to the interpretation which we have given.
» Poiinanl's Tour to the Hebrides, p. 302.
" Topog. llib. lib. ii. c. 2.
' Vol. ii. p. 370.
' Essay on tbc Iiifluuncu of Music on the Scotish Highhindcrs.
122 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
In Mr Striitt's " Manners and Customs of the English,"* there are
certain drawings of old instruments, " so very imperfect, (as Mr Strutt
observes,) that he fears their use will not be very readily discovered."
Fortunately, however, as in the case of sign-painters, who feel the inade-
quacy of their daubs to represent the intended objects, they are accom-
panied with written explanations or definitions. Underneath two of these
we find the following words, " Corns est pellis simplex cum duabus cicutis."
This inscription serves to give a certain degree of distinctness to images
otherwise too vague to be at all intelligible ; and the result is, that we see
before us the outlines of two figures which appear to correspond with
this description ; one of which has, to all appearance, two, and the other
three, tubes or pipes attached to it. The definition given, and the de-
lineation, appear to indicate the simplest form of bagpipe.'' In the next
place, we turn to the Epistle to Dardanus, attributed to St Jerome,
where he says — " Synagogee antiquis temporibus, fcit chorus quoque
simplex, pellis cum duobus cicutis aeriis, et per primam inspiratur, se-
cunda vocem emittit ;" that is to say, " At the synagogue, in ancient
times, there was also a simple species of bagpipe, being a skin, (or
leather bag,) with two pipes, through one of which the bag was inflated,
the other emitted the sound." We can see room for no other interpre-
tation of words which, in themselves, give rise to no ambiguity ; and if
any doubt could be started, we should at once consider it as set at rest
by the passage in the MS. which we have above cited, which embodies
all the material part of the description given in the Epistle, — and that,
too, in the shape of an express definition of the word " chorus." Singu-
larly enough, however, it has so happened, that a learned Italian, Signor
Maccari, the author of a celebrated Dissertation on the ancient " tibia
utricolaris" or bagpipe," has attempted to extract another meaning from
• Vol. i. plate 21, pp. 50,109.
' We should mention tliat these drawings and descriptions are in Mr Strutl's oldest series of
Saxon Antiquities, taken, as he informs us, from a MS. in the British Museum marked Tiber,
c. vi.
' Saggi di Dissertazion iaccademichc pubblicamente lette nella nohile accademia Etrusca dell
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 123
it, not only diffciont from, but totally at variance with, the plain and obvious
signifKaUon of the words, as they stand in the original. According to
fus translation, these words import, that in the synagogue, in former
times, there was a " chorus," meaning thereby " a chorus of singers," and
also a single skin, with two bra.ss pipes, &€." But assuming the words
" chorus" and " pellis" to have been two separate nominatives, an<l not
one conjunct nominative, as they distinctly appear to be, Signor Maccari
does not think it necessary to explain how the verb should happen to be
in the singular number; he seems altogether to forget that he cuts
rather than unties the Gordian knot, and that he endeavours to obtrude
upon his readers a version of his own, in direct opposition to the gram-
matical construction of the passage.
The cause of this attempt to contort, what must appear to all to be
a very simple proposition, was not the difficulty of establishing the fact
that " chorus" was occasionally used as synonymous with " tibia utricu-
laris," — but an ardent desire, on the part of the writer, to secure an addi-
tional illustration in behalf of another and a different argument, and one
which being well supported in many other ways, required no such aid.
The subject of the dissertation is a Grecian or Roman antique, repre-
senting a shepherd holding one of these instruments on his left arm,
and great part of it is occupied in proving that the Greek " Pvthaules,"
who performed at the public games, were " Otricolarii," an opinion main-
tained by Vossius, Du Cange, and Bianchini, and which the dissertation
of Signor Maccari tends strongly to confirm. In the course of this elu-
cidation, although the use of the word " chorus," in the sense of " tibia
antichissima citta di (,'ortona, vol. vii. Sw Walker's Memoirs of tin- Irish fiurds. Appendix,
p. 41.
• Merscnne (dc Instr. llurin. lib. ii. prop, xi.) speaks of the bagpipe iis having been sometimes
employed by the French peasantry, at mass and vespers, in the chapels and churches of villages,
in order to sii|)ply the want of oryans. He adds, that he Ihus no doubt that tlie Jews made the
same use of it at their marriage feasts; — but says ndthiiig as to its having been ininuhiet'd into the
synagogue — a fact, which, notwithstanding the statement contained in the supposititious letter of
St Jerome, would appear from a subsequent authority (see p. Vlb, Note) to be somewhat question-
able.
124 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
iitricularis," seems never to have entered the mind of the author, so much
hght is casually reflected upon that point, that we must be pardoned for
shortly alluding to it. The principal authority quoted by Maccari is In-
ginus, in his 2.53d fable, in which he says, " Pythaules qui Pythia canta-
verat septem habuit palliatos, unde postoa appellatus est Choraules."
The words " qui Pythia cantaverat" have been rejected as an interpola-
tion of an ignorant transcriber, and they are clearly out of place, for two
reasons ; — Ist, Inginus is here speaking not of the Pythian, but of the
Nemean Games, at which the " Pythia," or Hymn to Apollo, was not
introduced. 2dly, The word " Pythaules" has no connexion whatever
with " Pythia," but is compounded of n!6os, " dolium," and ai/AoV, " tibia."
It is certain, therefore, as Maccari remarks, that the " Choraules" and the
" Pythaules" were identical ; and that the " otricolarii" had, each of them, a
chorus of seven men, habited in " pallia," or cloaks. We may observe, in
passing, that it is at this stage of the discussion that Maccari has thought
proper to refer to the passage in the Epistle attributed to St Jerome;
from which he endeavours to make it appear, that the " chorus," and the
" tibia utricularis," had been employed in the same manner in the Jewish
Synagogue as at the Grecian Games.
We have shortly recapitulated a part of this discussion, because
the error into which Signor Maccari has fallen as to the meaning of
the word " chorus" in this passage, has contributed much to unsettle
the opinions of those who have written on this subject. The circum-
stances also which he has advanced in order to prove the identity of the
" pithaules" with the " otricolarii," afford us more insight into the origi-
nal cause of the employment of the word " chorus" in the signification in
which we have applied it, than anything we have elsewhere seen. The term
" choraules" being derived from xoe«f. chorus, and «i/>.o,', a pipe, was a name
strictly designative of his office of " piper to the chorus ;" after which,
the word " chorus" may have come to signify " bagpipe" itself, by an
easy and natural transition. There is still another derivation which may
be noticed. The Greek word Sofof signifies a leather bag; for which
reason, it has been suggested by Salmasius, in his notes on Flavins Vol-
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 125
piscti?, flint tlio word " chorus," in the passage in question, should be
converted into " dorus." With two terms which are mutually converti-
ble by a mere shade of difference in the pronunciation, one could scarcely
desire a nearer approach to the radical etymology of the word."
Thus, it appears that the Scots cultivated the bagpipe in the twelfth
century, and the representation in the carved work of Melrose Abbev,
erected about that time, is confirmatory of the fact. How long prior to
this they possessed that instrument, we know not ; neither can we say
from what source they received the invention. There is a tradition in
the Highlands, that it was derived from the Danes and Norwegians ;**
others, again, think that it might have been communicated to the Scots bv
the Britons or Welsh, who probably acquired it from the Romans. With
• The learned and accomplished gentleman by whom the Skene MS. has been translated, and
whose contributions and counsel have been of the greatest importance in the preparation of this
Dissertation, after perusing the Editor's remarks upon this subject, has kindly subjoined the fol-
lowing additional authorities, which ought to have the effect of setting this qucstio vezata at rest
for crer : —
'• Walafiidus Strabo, a Benedictine monk, (who wrote, in the ninth century, a Latin Commentary
on the Scriptures, and other works, which were published at Paris in 1624,) describes 'the
chorus' as ' a single skin with two pipes.' See his Comm. in cap. 15. Exod.
" Farther, regarding the 'chorus,' I find reference made to a book printed at Lyons in 1672, and
called ' Traite de la musette avec une nouvelle methode,' &c. from which it would seem that the
' bagpipe' and the ' chorus' were then considered the same instrument.
"J. Bartoloccius, a Cistertian monk of the 17tb century, in his ' Bibliotheca Magna Kabbinica,'
&c. does not admit the ' chorus' anmng the sacred imtnimcnts used in the sanctuary. V. i. p. 19vJ.
" Nicholas de Lyranus, a Franciscan monk, who died in 1340, in his Commentaries on the Bible,
published at Rome in 147'2, (in 7 vols, folio,) referring to Psalm 150, v. 4, observes, ' Dicunt
aliqui, ipiod chorus est instrumentum de corio factum ; et habet duas fistulas de ligno, unam per
quam inflatur et aliam per (piam emittit sonum, et vocatur (iallice chcurcile,' &c. ' Credo tamen
magis quod, hie accipiatur chorus, pro laudaniium societale.' Thus, .although this writer does not
think that a bagpipe was meant in the scriptural passage in question, but a chorus of singers, his al-
lusion to the word 'chorus,' as the name of a 'bagi>ipe,' is, along with the other authorities, perfectly
conclusive as to its having been occasionally used in that acceptation. The barbarous corruptions
of Latin, too, were so frequent, that there is no saying but somebody may have distorted even
coriuiii (a skin) into cfiorut ; and this is the more likely, as it is occasionally spelt ' corut ;' see
Oerberlus de Musica Sacra, plate 34; Strult's Manners and Customs, vol. i. pp. 50, 109. The
French word ' chcvrrlle' means the doe of the roe-deer. Was its skin used in making the bag
of the bagpipe ? "
' Macdonald's Essa\,p. 12
126 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the latter, and the Greeks, it appears at one time to have held a higher
rank than with any other nation ; though, during the later periods of their
history, we see it, as in modern times, almost entirely in the hands of
the peasantry.
In Scotland, the use of the bagpipe seems to have gradually super-
seded that of the harp ;^ but this process, we should think, must have
taken place chiefly within the last two hundred years, — previous to which,
we doubt very much whether the natives of North Britaui were more dis-
tinguished for their partiality for the bagpipe than their southern neigh-
bours. Even Shakspeare, although he talks of the "drone of a Lincoln-
shire bagpipe," and of " a Yorkshire bagpiper," has no where associated
that instrument with the Scots : and when we go back several centuries
anterior to this, we find it used in both countries by the same class of
persons, Chaucer's Miller played upon it. —
" A bagpipe well couth he blowe and sowne;"
and " Will Swane," " the meikle miller man," in our " Peblis to the
Play," calls for it to assist in the festivities of the day.
" Giff I sail dance, have doune, lat se
Blaw up the bagpyp than."
Indeed, although we are justly proud of our ancient proficiency on the
harp, and adhere unhesitatingly to our claims to supremacy on that head,
we are much disposed, upon a candid consideration of the facts, to re-
sign to the English the palm of superiority in this less refined descrip-
tion of music, about the time to which we refer. The pipers who are
• The Highland Society of Scotland has been much and justly applauded for liaving, by annual
premiums, kept up the great milHary instrument of the Highlanders ; but why should they have allow-
ed to sink into oblivion their great musical instrument — that for which all their oldest and most
exquisite airs were composed? Why has there been no attempt to revive these, and along with
them the recollection of the time when " the shell went round, the bards sung, and the soft hand
of the virgins trembled on the strings of the harp ?"
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 127
mpntioncd in the Lord High Treasurer's accounts seem almost uniformly
to have been natives of England. Thus, 10th July 148!), there is a pay-
ment of eight pounds eiglit shilhngs " to Inglis pyparis that com to the
castel yet and playit to the king." Again, in 150.5, there is another pay-
ment to " the Inglis pipar with the drone." It should be added, that,
while the " bagpiper" formed part of the musical establishment of the
English sovereigns and noblemen, during the sixteenth century," we find
no such musician retained at the Scotish court. Our monarchs had pro-
bably not much relish for this sort of pipe music, and although the result
of our investigation of the word " chorus" has had the effect of clearly
convicting our first James of being a performer upon that most unprince-
ly instrument, (for which, the only precedent we can find in history is that
of the Emperor Nero,'') we should remember that he had most probably
acquired that, as well as his other accomplishments, in England, where he
received the rest of his education. We do not conceive, upon the whole,
that the bagpipe has ever been a very popular instrument in Scotland, ex-
cept in the Highland districts; and we may state this with some confidence,
as to one part of the country, — a royal burgh, which we have already had
occasion to name, and where the magistrates actually prohibited the com-
mon piper from going his rounds, in terms by no means complimentary
of the instrument. Our readers will be the less surprised at the superior re-
finement here exhibited, when they are informed that these were the
" musical magistrates" of the city of Aberdeen, whose praises have been
so loudly trumpeted by Forbes, the publisher of the " Cantus," in his de-
dication of that work. " 26lh May 1G30. The magistrates discharge
the common piper of all going through the toun at nycht, or in the morn-
ing, in fyme coming, with his pvpe, — ifhp'mg an inci rill forme to he ni^it
irithiri sir ii famous burglie, and lieing ojlen fvnd fault uith, als Weill be
sundric niehthouris of the toune as be strangeris.""
* Hiirney"s Hist. vol. iii. pp. 4, 16, also Rilsons Scotish Songs, p. 114.
* It is niontioiR-d by Suetonius, that when the ICmperor Ncro heard of the revolt liy which he
lost his empire and his life, he made a solemn vow, that if it should please the gods to extricate him
from his dithcullics, he would perrorm in public on tlie biigpipe.
' Aberdeen Town Council Register. See Analectu Scotica, vol. ii. p. 322.
128 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
This instrument must have been the great Highland l)agpipe, blown
with the mouth ; and all who have experienced its deafening effects will
concur in the wisdom and good taste of the above regulation. Critically
speaking, and holding it in the highest possible estimation for its utility in
rousing the energies of the Highland soldiery — the sounds which it emits
are certainly of a nature much better calculated to excite alarm and con-
sternation, than to diffuse pleasure — and they are perhaps better illustrated
by the following anecdote than any thing else that we could mention : —
" As a Scotch bagpiper was traversing the mountains of Ulster, he was,
one evening, encountered by a hungry starved Irish wolf. In this dis-
tress, the poor man could think of nothing better than to open his wal-
let, and try the effects of his hospitality. He did so, and the savage
swallowed all that was thrown him with so improving a voracity, as if his
appetite was but just coming to him. The whole stock of provisions,
you may be sure, was soon spent : and now his only recourse was to the
virtue of the bagpipe, which the monster no sooner heard than he took to
the mountains with the same precipitation that he had come down. The
poor piper could not so perfectly enjoy his deliverance, but that with an
angry look at parting, he shook his head, and said, ' Ay ! are these your
tricks ? Had I knoivn your humour, you should have had your music
before supper.' "*
Whether this was the instrument upon which the English were such
eminent performers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, — or whether
their bagpipe had been inflated by a bellows, similar to the Yorkshire,
the Northumberland, the Irish, and the Lowland Scotish pipes, we have
no data to enable us to decide. It has generally been supposed, that
these were of somewhat more recent introduction, and the pilgrim miller
of Chaucer, in one of the rude cuts of Caxton's edition, is represented as
blowing the pipe with his mouth. Farther, we find it stated by Mr Beau-
ford,'' that it was at " the close of the siateenth century, when consider-
able improvements were made by taking the pipe from the mouth, and
* Remarks on several occasions. See Walker's Irish Bards.
'' Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, p. 249.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 129
causing the bag to be filled by a small pair of bellows on compres-
sion by the elbow." Leyden,* however, speaks of the instrument of
John Hastie, the hereditary town piper of Jedburgh, as being decided-
ly the Lowland bagpipe ; and after mentioning that he himself had
seen the original bagpipe in the possession of Hastie's descendant, he
adds — " The tradition of the family, of the town of Jedburgh, and of the
country in its vicinity, strongly avers this to have been the identical bag-
pipe which his ancestor bore to animate the Borderers at the battle of
Flodden." For such an instrument as this, the tune of " The Souters
of Selkirk," said to be coeval with this event, seems to be naturally
adapted. In the " Skene MS." there are some of a similar character,
and among these, " Pitt on your Shirt {i. e. coat of mail) on Monday,"
which has much the appearance of having been a Border " gather-
ing," or muster-tune. The tradition, therefore, of which Dr Leyden
speaks, is not without foundation. Ritson'' says, that this sort of bagpipe
was probably " introduced (into Scotland) out of England, where it is a
very ancient, as it was once, a very common instrument." If there were
any proof of this assertion as to the antiquity of the instrument in Eng-
land, we should be inclined to concur in the observation that the Scots
might have borrowed it from that country, since it has been principally used
in the vicinity of the Borders ; but, failing this, the principles of its
construction being the same with those of the French musette and the
Irish pipes, there are still two other alternatives, and it is quite possible
that we may have derived it from one or other of the last mentioned
nations.
Before concluding our remarks on the musical instruments, a few
words are still necessary as to those which prevailed among the Scotish
peasantry ; though less will require to be said on this subject, after the
full consideration which we have given to the more ingenious and arti-
ficial description of instruments which were used by the higher classes,
and the inhabitants of the towns. In fact, when we come to speak of
the former, it is like resolving the latter into their primitive elements.
• Introduction to Complaj-nt of Scotland, p. 14'2.
<■ RiLson's Scotish Songs, p. 114.
130 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Pastoral life is necessarily much the same in all ages and in all countries.
The {ai7«T>i or xa)^a/*i; of the Greeks — the calamus, stipida, or tenuis
avena of the Latins — the zampogna of the modern Italians — the chalu-
meau of the French — the pipes " maid of grene come" of Chaucer's
shepherd boys— and the " corne-pipe," mentioned in the " Complaynt of
Scotland," are all one and the same instrumenrt — the first untaught effort
of pastoral invention. The "quhissel," or whistle, "formed of different
substances, from the perforated elder, (or borit bour-tree,^) to the green
Avillow bough, part of the bark of which is skilfully taken off, and afterwards
superinduced, when the ligneous part of the instrument is prepared,"*" and
the goat's or cow's horn, are others of equal simplicity.
The genius of the rustic now goes a degree farther, and endeavours
to improve the tone and effect of these rude instruments by combination.
He discovers that a fuller and mellower expression of sound is produced
by inserting the reed or pipe into a horn, and by this means he creates
what is called the " stock and horn," or " buck-home," the instrument
alluded to by Ramsay in the Gentle Shepherd.
" When I begin to tune my stock and Iiorn,
With a' her face she shaws a cauldrife scorn."
And this is, probably, the same with the "pipe maid of ane gait
home," mentioned in the " Complaynt." The " horn-pipe," called by the
Welsh the " pib-corn," and said to be played by the shepherds of Angle-
sey, "= is a degree more complicated. It has a horn at both extremities,
and a concealed reed in that into which the air is blown.
Another of these combinations is that of the reed and the bladder, a
process so simple that it admits of being accomplished by the shepherd
boys themselves, without even the aid of the village artizan. From this
springs the bagpipe with its chord of drones, and all those other appur-
* See Cockelbie Sow.
' Lejden's Complaynt of Scotland, Introduction, p. 169.
• Jones' Webh Bards, p. 116.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 131
tenances which demand the skill and the turning-loom of the finished
mechanic.
What we have stated in this place, and in the preceding pages, may
serve to render intelligible the following description, with which, as it
contains in itself a tolerably correct enumeration of the pastoral instru-
ments in use in this country, we shall conclude what we have felt it
necessary to submit to our readers on this branch of our subject. Of
the eight shepherds mentioned in the work last referred to, (the learned
and curious illustrations of which, by the late Dr Leyden, have been of
much advantage to us in the conduct of this enquiry,) " the fyrst hed ane
drone bag-pipe, the nyxt hed ane pipe maid of ane bleddir and of ane
reidf the thrid playit on ane trump, the feyrd on ane come pipe, the fyft
playit on ane pipe maid of ane gait hoi-ne, the sext playt on ane recor-
dar, the sevint plait on ane Jiddil, and the last plait on ane quhissel."
One word as to the *' trump," i.e. the Jew's harp. This is said to have
been the only musical instrument of the inhabitants of St Kilda, and to
be still used by the peasantry in some parts of Scotland, though, we fear,
with a success very inferior to that of the celebrated " Eulenstein," whose
triumph over its imperfections shews what may be done by the hand of
genius, even when destitute of those "means and appliances" which only
exist in an age of mechanical invention and a highly improved state of
the art.* And ought not the same consideration to lead us to pause,
before we condemn, by wholesale, the wild and undisciplined efforts of
our ancestors ? Though art, which is confined to certain periods and
* Having mentioned the name of " Eulenstein," it is riglit tliat we should not altogether pass
over that of " Gcilles Duncane," the only noted performer on the Jew's hnrp who figures in Scotish
story, and whose performance seems not only to have met the approval of a numerous audience
of witches, but to have been repeated in the august presence of royalty, by command of his most
gracious Majesty King James VI. — Agnes Sampson being brought before the King's Majpstv
and his council, confessed " that upon the night nf All-Holloweven last, slice was accom-
panied as well with the persons aforesaide, as also with a great many other witches, to the number
of two hundreth ; and that all they together went to sea, each one in a riddle or cive, and went
into the same very substantially, with flaggons of wine, making nierrie, and drinking by the way, in
the same riddles or cives to the kirke of North Barrick, in LowUiian ; and that after they had
132 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
places, is ours — " creation's heirs," (as Goldsmith says,) — nature and
genius, which are universal, were theirs. Genius, and particularly that
of music, as has been proved in a variety of instances, is ever ready
to burst the fetters that bind it. Let the instrument, therefore, be what
it may, where a soul for music exists, there will always be a way of pro-
ducing pleasing effects ; nay, what is more extraordinary, it has been so
ordained, that, even without the aid and beyond the influence of art
itself, man should give expression to his feelings and sentiments in
music, and sometimes in poetry, not only gratifying in the highest degree
to the most cultivated taste, but which school-taught skill has vainly
endeavoured to equal. Hence the origin of many of our finest Scotish
airs. But this is a subject reserved for a future part of the discussion,
and into which we here forbear to enter.
It is time now to put the question, if such are the wrecks of our
ancient lyrical poetry, and such were the instruments which our ancestors
were in the custom of using — " What was the particular style and cha-
racter of the music performed by these instruments, and the songs which
they accompanied ?" " This," says our latest historian," " it is now im-
possible to determine ; and in the total want of authentic documents, it
would be idle to hazard a conjecture upon the airs or melodies of Scot-
land, at the remote period of which we now write." Such also was the
landed, tooke handes on the lande, and daunced this reill or short daunce, singiog all with one
voice,
Commer goe ye before, commer goe ye,
Gif ye will not goe before, commer let me.
At which time, shee confessed that this Geillis Duncan (a servant girl) did goe before them,
playing this reitl or daunce uppon a small trumpe, called a Jewes trump, untill they entred into the
kirk of North Barrick. These confessions made the King in a wonderful! admiratioD, and sent
for the saide Geillis Duncane, who upon the like trump did play the saide daunce before the
Kinges Maiestie ; who, in respect of the strangenes of these matters, tooke great delight to be
present at their examinations.'' — Newes from Scotland, &c. 1591.
■ Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 375.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 133
language of our historians of the last century. Dr Henry* expresses him-
self to the same effect, — that although the words of the poems, songs, and
ballads, are, some of them, preserved, " the tunes to which many of them
were originally sung are now unknown ; and the most diligent enquirers
have been able to discover only a very few specimnse of the popular music
of this period." Nor is the want of documents, illustrative of ancient po-
pular music, confined to Scotland. Dr Burney'' confesses that he had
never " been so fortunate as to meet with a single tune to an English
song or dance, in all the libraries and manuscripts which he had consulted,
so ancient as the fourteenth century;" and Mr Ritson,"" in commenting upon
this observation, says, that " it is perhaps impossible to produce even the
bare name of a song or dance tune in use before the year 1500;" and
that the oldest known is Sellinger's,'' (St Legers,) which may be traced
back to nearly the time of Henry VIII.
It is certainly not a little extraordinary, that songs and melodies, which
for ages had been universally sung and. played throughout the land,
forming the occasional recreation of all classes from the prince to the
peasant, should thus have been allowed to die away, and " leave no sign."
There is reason to believe that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, if
not before, the best of them had been committed to notation, and the
ravages of time, alone, are scarcely sufficient to account for their disap-
pearance. We must add to these, the temper, manners, and circum-
stances of the times. In Scotland, about the year 1550,* the active
measures which were resorted to by the ecclesiastical and civil power for
putting down all rhymes and ballads reflecting upon the Roman Catholic
hierarchy and its members, and by which every Ordinary was empowered
to search his diocese for all books and papers of that nature, must, in
their operation, have occasioned the destruction of many valuable collec-
tions and pieces of popular music with which the offensive productions
' History of Britain, vol. v. p. 492.
' Hist. vol. ii. p. 381.
' Rit3on's Ancient Songs, Introduction, p. 37.
'' Hawkins's Hist. vol. ii. p. 92.
* Stat. Cone. 1649, c. 43, 48. AcU Pari. 1551, c. 35.
134 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
had been, either casually or intentionally, associated. And in the era
immediately succeeding the Reformation, some idea may be formed of
the extent to which this species of composition was discountenanced by
the dominant Church party, from the " Compendium of Godly and Spi-
ritual Songs," of which we have treated in another place.* The next
century exhibits the spectacle of an almost universal severity of manners,
the consequence of these austere and fanatical notions ; — music, along
with dancing and every innocent amusement, prohibited as dangerous and
sinful, and indiscriminately thrust into the same category with vices and
profligacy of the worst description .** When we look back to the cha-
racter and habits of the people during this part of our history ; farther,
when we take into view the great questions which successively agitated
the public mind during the period to which we refer, — Popery and Pro-
testantism — Prelacy and Presbytery — King and Commonwealth — and,
finally, the establishment of our constitutional rights and privileges; — we
need not wonder, that there should have been little leisure and less in-
clination to record or preserve the light and fleeting efl'usions of musical
genius, and that it should have been reserved for an age of greater
freedom from austerity and intolerance, to revive and awaken the culti-
vation of this art, and with it, the almost forgotten strains of former ages.
For these reasons, when, about fifty or sixty years ago, the melodies
of Scotland, from their increasing celebrity, came to be a topic of anti-
a Supra, p. 30.
*• The records of our church judicatories (a branch of our antiquities which has been too much
neglected) are capable of tlirowing much light upon matters of this nature; take as examples the
following excerpts from the Minutes of the Presbytery of St Andrews, (presented to the Abbots-
ford Clubby Geo. R. Kinloch, Esq. 1837 0—
Kovember 19, (16S6.) — Mure, Pyper. — The quhilk day compeired John Mure, quho was re-
buiked for being the author of much dissorder by his pypeing ; and warned, that if he sail be found
afterward making dissorder in any congregation within these bounds, recourse will be had to the
cirile magistrate, for taking order with him P. 72.
{Sept. 1, 1658.)— il/arc, Pyper The quhilk day, diverse brethren complained that John Mure,
pyper, is occasion of much dissorder in ther congregations, by his pt/peing at bryihells and vnseason-
able drinkings. The said John compeiring, the Presbi/lerie discharged him to play at any brythells,
or at drunker, lawings ; with certification, if he be found to contra veene, he will be proceided against
with the highest censures of the kirk.— P. 74.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 135
quarian discussion, it is not too much to say, that their history was found
to be nearly as mysterious as that of the music of the Greeks ; with this
advantage, however, on its side, that, as we still possessed a good many
specimens of what might be, reasonably enough, presumed to be the
musical progeny of our ancestors, though removed, by a good many de-
grees, from the parent stock, — we had some idea of its essence or sub-
stratum — of the elements of which it was composed ; — we knew, in short,
rather more than that " it was something with which mankind was ex-
tremely delighted."" And yet, from the multiplicity of treatises which
have been from time to time published on the music of the ancients, one
would suppose that it had been considered a simpler task to expound and
illustrate this portion of the history of a people, who had lived upwards of
two thousand years ago, and of whose compositions not one well authen-
ticated remnant had survived to the present times, than to give a tolera-
bly plausible account of a set of national airs, as they existed two or
three centuries back, the successors or remote descendants of which were
still floating around us. Thus, Dr Burney, after devoting a whole quarto
volume, the preparation of which cost him several years of his life, to the
investigation of the former of these topics,'' sums up his observations on
the music of Scotland by remarking, that it would hereafter be proved to
be of a much higher antiquity than has generally been imagined.'' But,
unfortunately for his readers and the world, this able writer either forgot,
or felt himself unable to redeem his pledge, as he never afterwards makes
any allusion to the subject. Let us presume the latter, and that he had
not data to bear out his conclusion.
Mr Tytler's Dissertation, as we have already noticed, appeared in
1779; and in 179-4, the history of Scotish music was so fortunate as to
* This is Dr Buroey's definition of ancient music : — " What the ancient music really was, it
is not now easy to determine ; but of this we are certain, tliat it was something with which man-
kind was extremely delighted," &c
' Aitliuugh ciuite as successful us any other writer on this very obscure subject, Dr Burney has
candidly confessed that tiie greater jiortion of his labours in tliis field of enquiry appeared to him
to resemble those of " a wretch in the street rakiug the kciinels for on old rusty nail 1"
<: Burney 's History, vol. i. p. 38.
136 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
engage the attention of the late Mr Ritson, the most sceptical and scru-
pulously exact of antiquaries, who, in the Essay prefixed to his Collection
of Scotish Songs, did much to disentangle it from the extraneous and
apocryphal matter with which it had become involved, and to furnish an
analysis of all the authentic particulars which, at that time, could be col-
lected in regard to it. The result of his enquiries as to the antiquity of
our national music is given in the following words : — "'• No direct
evidence, it is believed, can be produced of the existence of any Scotish
tune, now known, prior to the year 1660, exclusive of such as are already
mentioned ;" (almost all of these have been named in the course of the
preceding pages ;) " nor is any one even of these to be found noted,
either in print or manuscript, before that periods We have no doubt
that this observation, at the time it was made, was substantially correct ;
nay, it was even within the truth as to Scotish printed music ;'' and if
Mr Ritson had not been misled by the publication of Forbes's Cantus,
which he supposed to contain tunes peculiar to this country, he would
probably have said that none of them had appeared in a printed form till
about the end of the seventeenth century. In regard to MSS. we may
congratulate ourselves that our optical powers, in the present age, are so
much more apt in discerning these things than those of our ancestors ;
and since the time when Mr Ritson made this remark, and his visual
orbs expanded over the supposed resuscitation (for it was nothing more)
» Essay, p. 105.
^ We had made the above rematk before we discovered the following notice in Dr Burney's
History, (vol. iii. p. 262,) from which it appears that some of the Scotish dance tunes had actually
been published in Paris, in the year 1564. " John D'Etree, a performer on the hautbois, in the
service of Charles IX., published four books of Danseriet, first, writing down the common lively
tunes which, till then, had been probably learned by the ear, and played by memory, about the
several countries specified in the title-" In a note to the above, the Doctor adds — " The editor
of these books tells us that they contained ' Les chant (chants) des branles communs, gais, de
Champagne, de Bourgogne, de Poitou, d'Ecosse, de Malte, des Sabots, de la Guerre, et autres
gaiUardes, ballets, voltes, basses dances, hauberrois, allemandes.' Printed at Paris, 1564. From
the manner in which the work is here referred to, there can be httle doubt that Dr Burney had seen it ;
but whether it will ever be recovered seems now to be somewhat uncertain, as it has hitherto
eluded the most diUgent search in the public libraries of France and Britain.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 137
of " The Banks of Helicon,"* we have not only been so fortunate as to
recover the valuable collection which forms the subject of the present
publication, but several others of considerable interest and antiquity.
They are written in the same kind of literal notation or tablature with
the Skene MS., — a circumstance which, as it most probably has had the
effect of withholding them from general use, and from being introduced
into other collections of a modern date, at this distant period serves
greatly to enhance their value. When fully revealed, they cannot fail to
put the public in possession of a large fund of ancient popular melody,
which has long been considered as lost, and which, but for them, would
have been irretrievable. The manner in which some of these MSB.
have emerged has strongly impressed the Editor with the conviction,
that, notwithstanding the acknowledged scarcity of such documents, if
the archives of some of our ancient families were well and diligentlij
sified, other original MSS. of a similar kind might still be brought to
light. And it is not one of the least pleasing anticipations of those who
have interested themselves in the present work, that, besides the fine old
airs which the Skene MS. has been the means of reviving, and the in-
formation which it affords as to the style of music which prevailed in
Scotland during the sixteenth century, it will, in all probability, lead to
a future series of accessions to our stock of Scotish melody from other
quarters ; while, along with these accessions, it cannot fail to shed a few
glimmering lights over the early history of our literature, the manners and
customs of our forefathers, and many features in their private lives and
characters which, though not delineated in the pages of the historian,
are not the less interesting to us who live at a time so remote, and in a
state of society so different, from theirs.
■ Supra, p. 4. The genuine copy of tliis tune is in a MS. formerly belonging to the late Mr
Alexander Campbell, (the author of Albyn's Anthology, &c.) afterwards to Mr Hober, and now to
the Advocates' Library, bearing date 1639. That of which Mr Kitson spoke was given to him by
one Edward Williams, a Welshman, and had probably been noted by the latter from memory, as
in a letter to Mr Campbell, 1st March 1801, Mr Kitson allows that the two were essentially
dilferent, and that the former, " if noted in an ancient MS. promised to be the genuine air." It
will be found in Dr Irving and Mr Laing's edition of Alexander Montgomery's Poems, p. 308.
Gdiuburgh, 1821.
S
138 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
We can only spare room for a brief account of some of these MSS.
and their leading contents. The earliest is certainly not more recent
than the Skene Collection. It belonged to Sir William Mure of Row-
allan, the author of " The True Crucifixe for True Catholickes," (Edin.
1029, 12mo,) and of several minor poems; and is partly, if not wholly,
written bv him, in lute tablature, upon a stave of six lines. Sir William
Mure was born in 1594, and died in 1657; and from various circum-
stances with which we need not detain our readers, this small volume,
which only extends to fifty pages, was most probably noted some time be-
tween the years 1612 and 1628. Its contents are too briefly told. — " For
kissing, for clapping, for loving, for proving, set to the lute by me, W.
Mure"—" Mary Beatoun's Row""—" Corn yards" — " Battel of Harlaw""*
» " Row" is not a term known in music. Perhaps it may be a literal mistake for ' Roun,"
which signified a song ; (seeRitson's Ancient Songs, pp. 26,31.) — and Knox, in his History, (p. 374,)
says, " It was well known that shame hasted marriage betwixt John Sempill, called the Dancer,
and Mary Livingston, sirnamed the Lusty ; what bruit the Maries and the rest of the dancers of
tlie Court had, the ballads of that age did witnessc, whicli we for modestie's sake omit." Mary
Beatoun is well known to have been one of the Queen's Maries, and this may be the tune of
one of the ballads above spoken of by Knox, the words of which have been lost. There is a full-
length portrait of this Mary Beatoun at Balfour House in Fifeshire, and several of Buchanan's
Epigrams are addressed to her ; (see Monteith's Translation of these, p. 65.) She is mentioned
as one of the four young ladies of noble families who accompanied Queen Mary to France, and
afterwards returned to Scotland in her train. Their surnames were Livingston, Fleming, Seton,
and Beatoun ; but, as Sir Walter Scott (Border Minstrelsy, vol. iii. p. 302, ed. 1833) has remarked,
from the accounts given by Knox, " they formed a corps which could hardly have subsisted with-
out occasional recruits ;" and in the ballad of " Marie Hamilton," although " Marie Beatoun" is
introduced, the names of Livingston and Fleming are superseded by those of Hamilton and Car-
michacl.
" Yestreen the Queen had four Maries,
The nicht she has but three :
There was Marie Seton, and Marie Beatoun,
And Marie Carmichael, and me."
'' This verj- sanguinary conflict was fought betwixt the Highland forces under Donald of the Isles
ind the Lowland toops under the Earl of Mar, on the 24th July 141 1, at the village of Harlaw
near Inverury, in Aberdcensliire, with all the old and deep-rooted hostility of the Celtic and Saxon
race. '• It fixed itself," says Mr Tytler, in his History, (vol. ii. p. 177,) " in the music and tlie
poetry of Scotland ; a march, called the Battle of Harlaw, continued to be a popular air down to
the time of Drummond of Hawthornden ; and a spirited baUad, on the same event, is still re-
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 139
— " Magge Ramsay""— " Cummer tried"''—" Ouir the dek (dyke?)
Davy"^— " Katherine Bairdie"''— " Ane Scottish Dance"— several
Volts, Currants, Gavots,— a " Spynelet"" — another called " Spynelet re-
forme"—" La Voici"— « Sibit Sant Nikla,""" &c. and a few airs with no
name attached to them.
A considerable interval occurs between this and the next MS. which
we proceed to notice ; and to which, from its wanting a nominal, we are
obliged, as in regard to some of the rest, to assign a conjectural date, —
not earlier, we should say, than 1G70, or later than 16/5 or 1680. It is
only within these few months, and since these enquiries were instituted,
peated in our own age, describing the meeting of the aimies, and tlie deaths of the chiefs,"
&c. Motherwell, in his " Minstrelsy," (Introduction, p. 62,) having seen the Rowallan MS.,
speaks of the tune there given as that of the ballad. This is a mistake. It is the march, or ra-
ther pibroch, alluded to in the above passage in Mr Tytler's History, and wliicli Drummond intro-
duces among the " notes of preparation" to iiis " Polemo-Middinia," in a passage which has been
already quoted, (supra, p. 120.) As one of those fast and furious movements descriptive of the
onslaught of a battle such as that of Harlaw, it is well calculated to heighten the " hurly-burly"
of the scene which the poet so amusingly describes. The air of the ballad will be found in
Johnson's Museum, (vol. vi. p. 528,) though what may be its pretensions to antiquity, it is diffi-
cult to tell ; especially, as it has been doubted whetlier the ballad itself, that is to say, the copy
"of it which we possess, though decidedly old, was coeval with the event.
» We suppose that this must be a Scotish version of the " Pcg-a-Ramsey," alluded to in Sir Toby
Belch's drunken ejaculation, — " My lady's a Catayan, we are politicians, Malvolio's a ' Peg-a-
Ramsey,'" and " Three merry men we be" — (Twelfth Night, act 2d, scene 3d.) " Little Pegge
of Rumsie" is one of the tunes contained in the MSB. of Dr Bull, which formed a part of Dr
Pepusch's Library. See Ward's Lives of the Professors of Gresham College, (1740.) In
" D'Urfey's Pills," (vol. v. p. 139,) there is a song of this name beginning
" Bonny Peggj' Ramsey, that any nian may sec.
And bonny was her face, with a fair freckled eye."
The tune there given is the same with that of " Our Polly is a sad slut," in the Beggar's Opera ;
but that given in the Rowallan MS. is different.
b i. e. " Tried friend."
c This tune bears a striking resemblance to " Tullochgorum.'
<• See " Kette Bairdie" in Skene MS.
• Probably a piece for tlie spinet.
' Probably misspelt for " Sibyl St Nicholas." " Sibyl" is the name of a tune. See Jones'i
Welsh Bards, p. 158. See also a tunc called " The Old Cebell, " in Hawkins, Hist. vol. v. p.
482. In Skene MS. there is un alleniande called " Aluian Nicholas."
140 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
that this collection accidentally presented itself to the attention of one
whose perspicacity it was not very likely to have escaped, David Laing,
Esquire, the Secretary of the Bannatyne Club — we say accidentally —
because it would have required something very little short of the second-
sight for which some of our bardic ancestors have been so celebrated, to
discover it in the corner where it had nestled — viz. in the midst of a little
volume of very closely written notes of sermons preached by the well-
known James Guthrie, the Covenanting minister, who was executed in
1661 for declining the jurisdiction of the king and council — " a true
copie of his last words on the scaffold at the Cross of Edinburgh" — a
series of texts from Scripture, and notes and memoranda, " ex thesibus
theologicis a Doctoribus et Professoribus in Academia Leidensi Con-
scriptis,"* &c. In this singular juxta-position we find nearly fifty of the
* The only copy of verses in this MS. is the following, which we here insert, not only as be-
ing a curiosity in its way, but that our Presbyterian neighbours may compare the anti-prelatical
spirit here displayed with the very different feeling manifested in our times, when the most elo-
quent of Scotish Divines prefaces his lectures on church establishments by reading the collect of
the day I
" Great newes we lately heard from Court,
A ruler great was turned out ;
Draw billets.
Another did succeed his place.
He lost his lordship and got grace ;
Take time o'd.
The ladies that the Court resort.
Ye know for what they seek the sport ;
Whip towdies.
The black coats they are sitting high,
The Crown itself they sit it nigh ;
Sit sicker.
There is a coath that rides full sharp,
I heard a fidler play on harp.
Trot cozie.
There was a pyper could not play,
It is not half an hour to-day,
Its coming.
Sunday will be another day ;
This week's near spent, and we'l away ;
Provide yow.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 141
popular melodies of Scotland, noted in tablature like the foregoing, of
which we have spoken. Had they been of the " grave and sweet order"
described by Mr Geddes, the author of " The Saints' Recreation," we
should have supposed that the individual who inserted them had been
like that reverend gentleman, an author or amateur of sacred parodies ;
but they are rather of too miscellaneous a character to have been in-
tended for any such purpose, and it is extremely doubtful whether the
A man on wadger lost a groat,
Alledging some had turned their coat,
Per inde.
Good morrow, Covenant, adieu !
The Covenant is both false and true ;
Subscribers.
If Presbyters, they had no greid,
Mixt with the pride, they had no neid
Of Deacons.
I saw a priest carry a bend
Episcopall, it had an end
Papisticall.
Look to our churches the debate.
And to our Court its staggering state ;
Wine glasses.
When fools do wake, and wise men sleep,
And wolves do get the lambs to keep ;
Sad tidings.
Ah, behold our paroch priest.
With not a button on his briest ;
New fashion ;
Nixt the pedant he must say
Amen, stand up and give a cry ;
Brave doings.
He is most cal'ed up that playes the knave.
Advanced a step above the lave ;
The gallows.
In every state some looks for gain.
StoUen dewgs make Tulyors vain ;
III conquest.
Others know what I do mean.
I may speak what I have seen ;
Save treason.
Finis corohat orus."
142 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
music was written by the same individual by whom the sacred contents of
the volume were penned. We have here, among others, — " Green
grows the rashes'* — Owr late among the broom — Bonny Jean"' — The Gee
Wife"^ — Corn Bunting** — Get ye gone from me — Ski[) Jon Waker wan-
tonlie — The malt grinds well — Ostend"^ — God be with my bonnie love —
Fain would I be married — Long a-growing*^ — Hold her goings — Ketron
Ogie** — Bonnie Maidlen Wedderburn — My Ladie Binnies Lilt or
Urania' — Bessy Bell — Ranting Ladie — It's brave sailing here'' — Clout
the Cauldron' — I love my love in secret — The Shoemakor™ — Jon Robi-
son's Park — If the Kirk would let me be" — The Blench of Midlbie° —
The Bonnie Broom'' — The Windie Writer*! — The High Court of Justice
* To this day a favourite and well-known air.
** Query — of Aberdeen ?
"^ " The gee wife," i.e. The pettish wife. The Scotish song, " My wife has taen the gee,"
though evidently derived from this, would seem to be more modern. (See Ritson's Scotish Songs,
vol. i. p. 90.)
* The Emberiza Miliaria is in Mearns and Aberdeenshire called the " corn-buntlin." Dr Jamie- '
son's Supplement, voce Buntlin. The tune is now better known as Tullochgorum.
^ In the Skene MS.
f " Long a-growing." See a ballad in the " North Country Garland," entitled, " My bonny
love is long of growing."
K " Haud her gaun." Still well known in modern collections, under the name of " Steer her
up, and haud her gaun."
'■ See supra, p. 1 7.
' Most probably Lady Binnie of that Ilk.
'The title of this song reminds us of the one mentioned in Gawin Douglas's Prologue to Book
xii. of Virgil.
" The schip sails over the salt fame,
Will bring thir merchandis and my lemane hame ;"
but we do not pretend to trace any connection between the two.
' See Chambers's Scotish Songs, vol. ii. p. 542.
" We find a copy of this tune in a MS. belonging to Mr Waterston, of 1715- Whether the
words are extant, we are not aware. " The gallant shoemaker" is one of the songs mentioned in Mr
Ritson's list of those which, in his time, had not been recovered. (Ritson's Letters to Paton, p. 24.)
° See Chambers's Scotish Songs, vol. i. p. 134.
° See " Weel bobbit blench of Middlebie," in Riddell of Glenriddell's Collection.
' " The bonny broom." This, if not the same with " The broom of the Cowdenknows,"
which is certainly one of the finest of our pastorals, most probably suggested the idea. Cham-
bers's Scotish Songs, vol. i. p. 247.
■" The windie (i. e. swaggering or blustering) writer. A friend has kindly furnished us with the
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 143
— Sweet Willie* — If thou wert my own thing — Mv love hath left me
sick, sick, sick — Stollen away when I was sleeping — Kety thinks not
long to play with Peter at Evin — The gown made — Yonder grows the
tanzie — Jockie drunken bable — Bonny Christian — Levin's Rant — Joy to
the personne of my love — Good night, and God be with you."
Mr Andrew Blaikie, engraver, Paisley, who has, for many years,
taken great pains to collect and preserve all the specimens, traditionary
as well as recorded, which he could find, of our genuine Scotish melodies,
is in possession of a volume, bearing date 1G92, which contains a great
number of tunes written in tablature for the Viol da Gamba, most, if not
all, of which he has himself reduced to modern notation. This is the
volume mentioned by Mr Robert Chambers'' and Mr R. A. Smith,"" along
with another dated 1G83. The last, however, Mr Blaikie some vears
ago had the misfortune to lose, but not until he had nearly rendered
himself independent of any such casualty by a translation of the principal
airs. Another circumstance lessened the importance of this loss : the
tunes, with a very few exceptions, were the same with those contained in
the volume which is preserved. It may be mentioned, also, that, al-
though Mr Blaikie procured these MSS. at different limes, and from
different individuals, they were both written in the same hand, and their
respective contents arranged nearly in the same order. Great part of
the collection consists of popular English songs and dances, which we
need not enumerate.'' The following are among those of which Scot-
land may claim the parentage : —
words of this song, as taken down ("roni tlie recitation of a lady in Edinburgh: but they are little
worthy of preservation. Ex uno duce omnci.
" There lives a lass just ut the Cross,
Her face is like the puper,
And she's forsaken luirds and lords,
And ta'cn a windy writer."
• Probably the tune of the pretty old ballad, " Sweet Willie and fair Annie."
•> Introduction to Scotish Songs, p. 44.
' Preface to Scotish Minstrel.
d It would be somewhat singular if this collection and that of 1670, belonging to Mr Laing, b.-id
144 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
" A health to Betty* — Down Tweedside'' — Honest Luckie'^ — King
James's march to Ireland"* — Meggie, I must love (thee)" — Where Helen
lies^ — Tow to spin« — Sweet Willie — Robin and Jonnet"" — Highland
Laddie — Franklin is fled far away — For lake of gold she left me — Ab-
bayhill's Rant' — Bonny roaring Willie'' — O'er the muir to Maggy — My
dearie, if thou dye — When the King enjoys his own again — The last
time I came over the moor — The new way of owing (wooing)' — The Bed
to me — The ladd's gane — Binny's Jig" — Sheugare-Candie — Phillporter's
Lament — Do Rant — New Cornriggs — Montrose's Lynes — Maclean's
Scots Measure — Lord Aboyne's Air — Lady Binny's Lilt — John, come kiss
been written by Englishmen ; but from the anglicised phraseology and othography adopted in both,
there can be little doubt either that this was the case, or that they « ere written by natives of this
country, who preferred the English mode of diction and spelling to that of their vernacular tongue,
a The air, " My mother's ae glowerin o'er nw."
" " Tweedside." It is worthy of remark, that this air was introduced with variations by the
famous Italian violinist, Veracini, in his solos for the violin, printed in 1744.
' This is in some respects a memorable tune. Mr Blaikie, the owner of tlie musical MS., re-
lates, that some time before the appearance of Redgauntlet, he liappened to make Sir Walter
Scott a present of a MS. (not musical) of the 1 7th century, written by a person who had been re-
sident in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and containing some curious details relative to his re-
conversion to the Roman Catholic faith, in consequence of a vision he had on a mountain in Spain.
Among other matters of reproach to the Presbyterians, from whom he had separated, he mentions
that one of their preachers said one day in the pulpit, " I hear you have a tune among you called
' Weel hoddled Luckie,' if I hear ony mair of this, I'll hoddle the best of you." " Soon after this,"
(says Mr Blaikie,) " I began deciphering my musical MS., and sent Sir Walter some of the tunes,
and among the rest, ' Honest Luckie,' which I said was probably the tune that had offended the
Presbyterian minister, with a more passable name." It is therefore not one of the least cliaractcr-
istic passages in " Wandering Willie's Tale," when Sir Robert Redgauntlet, at his " appointed
place," in the lower regions, says to Willie's grandfather, in answer to his demand for the receipt,
" ye shall hae that for a tune on the pipes, Steenie. Play us up, ' Weel hoddled Luckie.' "
d " Lochaber no more."
* " Peggy, I must love thee."
' Chambers's Songs, vol. i. p. 144.
K " Nancy's to the greenwood g&ne."
•> " My jo Janet."
' " O this is no ray ain house."
'' Rattlin roarin Willie ? Chambers's Songs, vol. ii. p. 605.
' " Carle now the king's come."
^ " The Dusty ftLller."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 145
me now— Jockie went to the wood* — Joy to the person— Allan Water— Bal-
low— Bonie Nanie— Bonie Lassie— Jock, the laird's brother**— Hold
away from me, Donald— Hey how, Robin, quoth she_Bonny Christon—
Drumlanrick's Ayr_Duke of Lennox Port— Gerard's Mistress— I pray
your love turn to rae'= — In January last — Jockie wod a owing (wooing) go
— My Ladie Monteith's Lament''— Jockie drunken bable Mackbeth—
My Lady Errol's Lament*^ — The bonny brow — The Nightingale." Among
• Tliis tune, a copy of which will be found in the Musical Appendix of this work, is not what we
would have expected from the name, — of a Scotish cast, but decidedly Welsh in its structure,
obviously a harp tune, and substantially identical with a Welsli air called " Reged," p. 150, Jones's
Welsh Bards. As " Jockie' is but a familiar impersonation of the male sex, the name " Jockie
went to the wood," precisely corresponds with the " Hie ruff sang" — " Ane man fur to the holt,"
in " Peblis to the Play ;" — (supra, p. 45;) and if the two airs could be identified, it would lead to
the singular result, that harp songs like this were in vogue among the populace, in Scotland, dur-
ing the 15th century. We know that the harp was the most popular instrument in Britain at this
time. It was the one on which James I. chiefly excelled, and " at the coronation of Henry V.,
in 1413, we hear of no other instruments than harps, and one of that Prince's historians (Thomas
de Elmham) tells us that their number in the hall was prodigious." (Burney's Hist. vol. ii. p-
382.) In Scotland, however, we consider tliat at this time the popular style of melody was some-
thing very diff"erent from that which prevailed in Wales or England; and we cannot conceive that
an air so refined and regular as " Jockie went to the wood" could ever have been described as u
rough song. At the same time, if the enquiry were instituted, as to whether or not the tunes of the
Welsh or early Britons had formed the basis of tonie of our popular airs, we should be inclined to
say, that there could be no doubt of the fact, however distinct and different the melodies uf the
two countries in reality are. Let any one, for example, compare the Welsh air " Pen Rhaw"
with " John, come kiss me now," and the latter with the lively air, " There's nae luck about the
house," and he will see that they all spring from the same parent source. But we here only pre-
sent our readers with the germ of an enquiry, which we leave to others to bring to maturity.
'' " There's auld Rob Morris."
« " Turn thee, sweet Will, to me ?" Compbynt of Scotland, see mpra, p. 53.
•■ " Whistle o'er the lave o'L"
" The incident to which this tune related was an action of divorce, brought, in I658~59, by
Lady ErroU, a daughter of the Earl of Southcsk, against her husband, upon a similar ground to
that which first proclaimed the infamy of the Countess of Essex, in the reign of James VI. If,
however, any rehance can be placed on the ballads and traditions of the country, the plea was not
here urged with the same success as in the case of the English countess. Our judicial records, so
far as they have been investigated, ;u-esaid to Ix; silent on the subject ; but a lettir from Keith of
Barholm to Captain Brown at Paris, dated 'J'Jd February 1G59, which Mr Sharpo quotes in his
Ballad Book, goes far to corroborate the general trutli of the story, and the tune, •• Lady ErroU's
T
146 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the dances there are—" The Canaries"—" The Seamen's dance,"
&c.
Dr Leyden, in his Introduction to the Complaynt, (p. 285,) refers to
a MS. collection of airs written soon after the Revolution, and adapted to
the Lyra-viol. Whether this volume is still extant, the Editor is not
aware, but from the names mentioned by Leyden, it must have contained
many of those to be found in Mr Blaikie's collection of 1692, and, besides
them, the following : — " The Lady's Gounef — Strick upon a Strogin —
Hallowevin — The new kirk gavell — When she cam ben (she bobit) — Full
fa my eyes — When the bryd cam ben she becked — The Colleyrs Daughter
—Foull take the wars'" — The bonie brookit lassie, blew beneath the eyes'' —
The milkein pell."
We find, also, in a very small MS. belonging to Mr Laing, probably
not older than the early part of the eighteenth century, and written
partly in common notation, and partly in a species of notation,
for the flute or flageolet, consisting of dots, the following among
others : — " The wind has blown my plaid away'' — Willie Winkle's dead
away® — Gilliecrankie — Robin laddie — Foull fa' the wars — Widow, art
thou wakin — Findlay came to my bed-stock'^—King James's March to
Lament," in this MS. of Mr Blaikje, may be deemed an additional confirmation. See Mr Maid-
ment's " North Country Garland," Mr Kinloch's " Ballad Book," and " Lament's Diary ;" entry,
January 7. 1658.
* Although it might puzzle many a Scotch lawyer of the present day to explain the legal significa-
tion of" The Lady's Gown," the term appears formerly to have been applied to a certain gratuity
or pecuniary gratification, which was paid to a wife when she gave her consent to the alienation of
her husband's lands over which her Hferent extended. Fountainhall's Decisions, vol. ii. p. 519.
' " Deil tak the wars."
' Chambers's Songs, vol. ii. p. 544.
■^ " Over the hills and far away."
^ Probably " Willie Winkle's Testament :" but these words do not occur in the verses which
Herd has furnished in his Collection in 1776.
' Burns has a song founded on this. It begins —
" Wha is that at my bower's door ?
Wha is it but Finlay."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 147
Dublin— Jamaica^ — Galloway's Lament," &c. We may add, that there
are at present lying before us, in common notation, a MS. belonging to
the Advocates' Library, dated 1704 ; another to Mr Laing, 1706; and a
third of 1715 to Mr Waterston, stationer in Edinburgh.
With these documents, besides that of which we here furnish a transla-
tion, we are now amply fortified against the attacks of Mr Ritson's
scepticism; and our readers will recollect that these MSS. are merely
such as have fallen within the scope of our personal observation.''
In a letter which Mr Ritson addressed to Mr Walker, the author of
the Memoirs of the Irish Bards, in 1791? several years before the publi-
cation of the Essay on Scotish Song," after noticing the apparent want of
all direct evidence of the e.xistence of our favourite airs, prior to the Re-
storation, he puts the question — " Upon what foundation, then, do we talk
of the antiquity of Scotish music ?" Indeed, we have been taunted on
this subject in more than one quarter. Jones tells us that we have " no
such thing as an ancient and authentic MS. like what the Irish or the
Welsh have."** Now, although wo have no inclination whatever to pro-
voke a national contest upon this or any other point, or to challenge the
antiquity of many celebrated Welsh and Irish airs ; yet, believing, as we
do, the real state of the fact to be this, that neither the Welsh nor the
Irish can produce any authentic collections of their national music of so
old a date, and containing so many popular melodies, as the MSS. of
Scotish airs which we have above described, we cannot allow the obser-
vation to pass unnoticed. We are not aware that Mr Morris's MSS., —
said to be of the eleventh century, but which Dr Burney^' thought much
more recent — though filled with harp music, arranged in harmony or coun-
* As Jamaica was taken by the English from the Spaniards, in 1G55, this may he assigned as
the date of the tune. Many of tlic above songs will be found in Hogg's Jacobite Relics.
>> That more of the same sort are still extant, we have little doubt. Gordon's Lute Book,
noted at Aberdeen in 1027, which contiiins, among other things, the air of " Grey!>teil,"is mentioned
OS having been the property of Dr Barney, (see iupra, p. 8-1,) who probably may have collected
other MSS. of Scotish music, especially from his having undertaken to prove that it was of higher
antiquity than generally supposed.
f Letters of Ritson, vol. i. p. 190.
■> Welsh Bards, p. 99.
« Hist. vol. ii. p. 110.
148 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
terpoint, contain any Welsh air known at the present day. In Jones's
Collection, two or three airs are copied from MSS.; but of these
the age is not mentioned ; and the Editor expressly styles his work*
a Collection of Welsh National Melodies, which "have been handed
down by tradition," and which he collected " from hearing the old musi-
cians or minstrels play them on their instruments, and from their being
chanted by the peasantry."
In the same way, the first collection of ancient Irish airs was formed
by Mr Bunting, being noted at the meeting of harpers in 1792 at Belfast,
and afterwards taken down from their performance, and from the singing
of the people in different parts of the country.
In short, the authentication of these airs by MSS. is a thing which
appears never to have been dreamt of either in Wales or in Ireland, and
the best evidence which Mr Bunting obtained on the point of antiquity
will appear from the following extract from his preface : — " Most of the
performers convened at the meeting above mentioned were men advanced
in life, and they all concurred in one opinion respecting the reputed an-
tiquity of those airs which they called ancient. They smiled, on being
interrogated concerning the era of such compositions, saying, ' They
were more ancient than any to which our popular traditions extended.' "''
So much for the assertion that, in Scotland, we have no such thing as an
ancient and authentic MS. such as the Irish and Welsh have !
But, besides their rarity, we can scarcely regard these MSS. with ludif-
ference, even in an historical and literary point of view. No doubt, so
far as relates to the poetry — the titles, and sometimes the first lines of
the songs, are all that are there preserved ; and, we may add, all that, in
most cases, are known to be extant ; but these are not only interesting
from personal and local associations, and as illustrations, however slight,
of the manners of a bygone age, but they denote the former existence,
and, to a certain extent, mark out the individual character, of a great
» V^elsh Bards, p. 122.
** It seems to be admitted on all hands, that the old music of the Irish bards and minstrels is
purely traditionary. " Though musical notation (says Mr Walker, Irish Bards, p. 66) was not
known amongst the aborigines of this island, remains of their music have been handed down to us
iy tradition, in its original simplicity."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 149
many songs and ballads, some of which (if written copies of them are no
longer to be found) may still survive in the memories of the present ge-
neration. It is not unlikely, therefore, that the bare mention of their
names may lead to their discovery. Of their restoration by the hands of
any of our " North-countrie" minstrels of the nineteenth century, we are
not so sanguine ; — a task which so perfectly fitted the genius of Burns
does not so readily adapt itself to the capacity of ordinary men. There
are relics, however, particularly in the Skene MS. which, together with
the music, — from the images and associations they suggest, — are well cal-
culated, we should think, to awaken the pathos, the simplicity, and the
humour of the Scotish muse.
The interest attached to their musical contents can best be appreciated
by those who, like ourselves, have taken pains to enquire into the history
of Scotish music, and who, not being able to go farther back than the
beginning of the last century, have been tempted, in their unavailing
search after the strains of preceding ages, to exclaim —
" Where should this music be ? — i' the air or the earth ?"
Has it altogether ceased to exist ? Has it quitted this terrestrial sphere,
or does it still continue to hover around us, in some of those gentle, breath-
ing forms which the creative genius of man has, from time to time, im-
parted to it ? If so, what are the forms in which we are most likely to
recognise it ? Were those ancient songs which have reached us, along
with their reputed melodies, originally chanted to the same tunes with
which we now find them associated ? What has been the nature of the
changes which they have undergone in passing through the trying ordeal
of oral communication ? Have they been improved or deteriorated in
consequence ? Have they been casually altered by the ignorance of the
multitude, or wilfully changed and perverted by the crude attempts of
inexperienced amateurs, or the injudicious efforts of tasteless and pedantic
composers, to polish and improve them ? For these, and other such
questions, an answer is now provided, which, so far as it goes, may be
relied on as authentic and indisputable.
Witli all these documents at our disposal, and the most unreserved
150 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
privilege of publication liberally conceded to us by their respective own-
ers, we confess that we, at one time, felt much inclined to include in the
present volume copious extracts from the music, and a complete com-
mentary upon the whole of these MSB. Upon consideration, however,
it was found that the execution of such a project would have increased
the letter-press and engraving to a degree not only beyond the limits,
but incompatible with the plan, of a dissertation which professed to treat
simply of the Skene MS. — a subject which, when combined with those
general views of the history of Scotish music which naturally spring out
of it, is, of itself, sufficiently voluminous. We resolved, therefore, to
content ourselves with introducing these ancient collections to the notice
of our readers in the cursory manner we have here done, and, in the course
of our observations, to avail ourselves of their materials, at all times when
they were likely to prove serviceable for the purpose of illustration.
In what farther remains, we confine our remarks to the more immediate
object of the present enquiry.
The most gratifying result which arises from the discovery of the Skene
MS. is the proof which it affords of the antiquity of some of our most cele-
brated Scotish airs, and of those striking national peculiarities by which the
music of this country has been so long distinguished. In the same spirit
with the observations of Ritson, Mr Pinkerton,^ in 1783, referring to the
names of the songs given in the Complaynt of Scotland, observes —
" This list, which is of exceeding curiosity, may teach us that not one of
our Scotish popular airs is so ancient as 1548." But, although the
Skene MS. is upwards of half a century more recent than the Complaynt
of Scotland, it contains sufficient internal evidence to refute this opinion, —
if, indeed, (resting upon so weak a foundation,) it may be thought tore-
quire any refutation. In a rhapsody such as the Complaynt, where
" ane rustic pastour, distitut of urbanite and of speculatione of natural
* Select Songs, vol. ii. p. 32.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 151
philosophe, indoctrynes his nychtbours as he hed stiideit Ptholome, Avc-
rois, Aristotel, Galen, Ypocrites or Cicero, quhilk var expert practicians
in metharaatic art," — we are not to look for historical evidence as to
the music which was popular in Scotland at the epoch of its publication.
In fact, " the sweit melodious sangis of the natural music of the an-
liquitie" there named, appear, most of them, to have been, like the phi-
losophy which the shepherd inculcated, of the scholastic order; and
they are described in the narrative as having been sung in parts, — " in
gude accordis and reportis of dyapason, prolations, and diatesseron," —
so that the music attached to them had been, most probably, the works of
English composers, and served up in this Scotish pasticcio with the same
regard to consistency, with wliich the author has introduced the nightin-
gale, singing her sweet notes all the night long, although it is well known
that she was never a native of these less favoured climes.
We have now before us direct and incontrovertible proof that many
melodies which have come down to the present day are two hundred,
and, in some instances, upwards of two hundred, years old ; and, farther
than this, we are enabled to ascend many years beyond the commence-
ment of the seventeenth century, upon grounds which, though circum-
stantial and presumptive, are, in some respects, not the less satisfactory
and convincing.
As may be expected in all such collections, none of the tunes in the
Skene MS. bear either a date or the name of their author. Nay,
we have not even the satisfaction of an observation of the copyist, very
common in our day, (though often misapplied,) that this or that was " a
very ancient melody." Neitlier do any of the titles of the tunes corre-
spond with the names or description of the ancient lyrics alluded to in
the chronicles and poems which we have above particularized. In
regard to some of these, had they appeared in this collection, the
known dates of the works in which they were mentioned would have car-
ried back their antiquity for centuries beyond the time when the MS.
was written; others, such aa^ — "God sen the Due had bidden in France, and
de la Beautc had neuer come harae," by being interwoven with historical
152 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
events, would have at once fixed their own era, — that is to say, the most
recent term of their existence, — though the custom, which has at all times
prevailed, of adapting new songs to old, favourite airs, would have left,
still undetermined, their age prior to that period. It is to be regretted,
therefore, that none of these recorded historical songs appear in the MS.
There is one, however, which, though handed down to us by tradi-
tion alone, till within a comparatively short period, commemorates an
event in our history too disastrous — too deeply engraven on the hearts
of Scotsmen — ever to be forgotten, — " The Flowers of the Forest;" and
it is no small satisfaction to be able, at last, to point to the original strain
which deplored the desolating effects of the Battle of Flodden, — the very
accents in which the simple inhabitants of Etterick Forest so patheti-
cally bewailed their griefs. Sir Walter Scotf* has told us that the words
of this song, — with the exception of the first and last line of the first
stanza,*" together with another brief fragment, — were written by a lady of
Roxburghshire, about the middle of last century, (Mrs Elliott,) and that
these were the only genuine remains of the ancient ditty ; for which rea-
son, some of our hypercritical antiquaries (who err, perhaps, nearly as
much on the side of scepticism as our too credulous ancestors did in the
opposite extreme) have thrown out doubts as to whether those remains
actually related to the event in question. For ourselves, we could never
see any reason for withholding our assent from an universally accredited
local tradition, associated with words which, though figurative and poeti-
cal, confessedly admitted of no other application than that which had been
popularly assigned to them ; and if any additional ray of light could
render still more palpable the link of connection between the two, it
a Border Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 156.
k These are,
I've heard them lilting at the ewes milking.
The flowers of the forest are a' wede away.
I ride single on my saddle.
The flowers of the forest are a' wede awav.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 153
would be the mournful, touching flow of the original air, which adapts it-
self, in so perfect a manner, to the fragments that remain :
" And chaunts, in solemn strain, the dirge of Flodden-field."
It is curious to note the coincidence of two historical documents of an
ancient date, where one is brought to light two or three centuries pos-
terior to the other ; but where the ever-varying, and often, it must be con-
fessed, the delusive voice of tradition is re-echoed by an unlooked-for
discovery, such as the MS. before us, we bail their mutual recognition
with a double feeling of satisfaction and pleasure.'' It was with no slight
curiosity, therefore, that we scanned the pages of this collection for many
an air rumoured to have sprung up in the olden time ; and, in some
cases, our researches were attended with success, while, in others, (as
might be expected,) we have been disappointed. We have not been so
fortunate as to meet with " The Souters of Selkirk," a tune supposed
to be coeval with " The Flowers of the Forest," nor " Gilderoy," of the
a The most singular instance of any coincidence of tliis kind which has, perhaps, ever occurred,
relates to the Irish air, " The summer is coming," better known by Moore's words, " Ricli and
rare." When this was taken down hy Mr Bunting, in 1/92, from the performance of the Irish
harpers, at the meeting at Belfast, it was discovered to be the same with the vocal composition
in score for six voices, beginning —
" Sumer is i cumin
Lhude sing cuccu,"
preserved in a Harleian MS. and inserted by Hawkins and Burney, in their respective works, as
tlie oldest Englith song extant, (in [larts.) It is referred hy them to the middle of the 15th century ;
but Ritson says, " there cannot be a doubt that it is two hundred years older, i.e. of the latter p.irt
of the reign of Henry III." (1260 to 1270.) In this case the MS. copy will be upwards of 50(>
years older than the traditional version. Thoy still, however, resemble each other in all material re-
spects, while the name being the same, leaves no doubt of their original identity ; and as little
can there he any question as to the purely traditional character of the Irish melody. It is said
that " to those who have resided among the peasantry uf the southern and western parts of
Ireland, where the national manners are most unadulterated, it is at this day perfectly familiar, and
that it has been sung hy the people of that nation, from time immemorial, at the approach of spring.
(Should this not be summer?) Hardimoii's Irish Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 354, (edit. 1831.)
U
154 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
age of James V. " The Jolly Beggar" and " The Gaberlunzie Man,"
also of the same age, and reported, but without any evidence of the fact,
to have been the productions of that monarch, do not appear among the
number neither by name nor according to the airs to which they are now
sung. They remain as apocryphal as ever both as regards the author
and the date. " The Bonny Earl of Murray," whose assassination took
place in 1592, is similarly situated. Neither are there any vestiges of
" O Bothwell Bank, thou blooraest fair." To make amends, however,
for these and other disappointments, we have our old favourite, " John
Anderson," of whose antiquity there was no written testimony; and,
among those which have carried down their original appellatives, with
slight modifications, to the present day, we find " The last time I came
o'er the moor," under the more emphatic name of " Alas ! that I came
o'er the moor." — " Bonny Dundee," also under the preferable cognomen
of " Adieu, Dundee."—" Johny Faa," under the title of " Lady Cassilis
Lilt."—" My Jo, Janet," under that of " Long er onie old man,"—
" Good night, and joy be wi' you a'," (Good night, and God be with
you.)—" Janet drinks na water." — " Sa merry as we ha' been," and
others. Besides these, several airs with which we have been long fami-
liar will be found figuring in their old, though possibly not their most
ancient characters, to say nothing of occasional resemblances, which, in
some cases, are so decided as to moot a question as to the originality
of compositions which were never previously suspected.
It is not to be presumed of any collection of national airs that they are
coeval with the period when the collection was formed. An individual
who sits down to a task of this nature, has no inducement to give the
preference to such as have been most recently composed. On the con-
trary, he rather looks back to former ages. It is — " the voice of years
that are gone that roll before him with their deeds," — the airs which are
endeared to him by national and family association, and embalmed in his
memory by the consecrating power of time, in which he chiefly delights,
and which he is most anxious to secure from oblivion. To suppose,
therefore, that the greater part of the Scotish melodies contained in this
MS. are not of a much earlier date than the reign of James VI., would
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 155
be, to say the least of it, a gross violation of probability. Farther, a do-
cument has transpired, in the course of our researches, from which it dis-
tinctly appears that the Scotish music most highly appreciated at that
time was not the composition of that age, but of a period long anterior
to it. This is a paper styled " Information touching the Chappcll-Royall
of Scotland," the original of which is deposited in the General Register
House. It is dated at Whitehall, 24th January 1G31, and bears to be
signed by Edward Kellie, who, as appears from a writ under the Priw
Seal, was appointed " Receiver of the fees" of the said chapel, 26th
November 1629. But, before introducing it to our readers, we shall
take the liberty of digressing so far as to notice some particulars in the
history of the Scotish Chapel-royal, concerning which very little has been
said by any of our historians.
This institution was originally founded at Stirling by James III. The
building formed one of the most conspicuous ornaments of its romantic
castle rock, and is commemorated by Sir David Lyndsay, in the well
known lines in which he makes his Papingo c.Kclaim,
" Adew, fair Snawdoun, with thy towris hie.
Thy chapell-royall, park, and tabill round ;
May, June, and July wald I dwell in thee.
War I ane man, to heir the birdis sound,
Quhilk doth again thy royall rocke rebound."
The foundation was enlarged by James IV. in 1501, at which time
the establishment consisted of sixteen canons, nine prebendaries, and six
boys." This was exclusive of the dean, an oHice which was originally
vested in the Bishop of Galloway, the Queen's confessor.'' Among the
» See an original MS. lic-idc'd " Information anont the first and present estait of tlic King's
Majestic's Cliapel- Royal," in a volume entitled " Cliurcli Aditirs from the zeire of God lOlO to
the zcir 1G45." Uulfour MSS.. Advocates' Library.
I* See Spottiswood's Iteligious Houses, p. .')27. Keith's Scotish Bishops, p. 298- There is,
or was, a painting at Kensington Palace, supposed to have been executed from 1482 to U*-* ;
and to have been Intended for an altar-piece to the Chapel-Royal of Scoiiaod. It extendi lo tlirce
156 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
sixteen canons there were various functionaries, viz. the sub-dean, the
sacristour, the chanter, the thesaurer, the maister of the bairnis, and the
chancellor. These were called the " sax dignities." There were also
musical retainers of an inferior grade. In the MS. from which we have
obtained the above information, we see mention of a " trumpeter ;" and
in the Privy Seal Register (May 14, 160P) Mr William Chalmer is ad-
mitted to the office of " Iwter" of the chapel-royal. For the sustentation
of this establishment, revenues were provided from various priories, pre-
bendaries, kirks, and lands, and confirmed to it by Papal bulls. These
(we quote from the MS. of 1610) were reckoned " to have payit to the
ehapell then, in the 1501 3eir, 2000 lib. seirly, which is more than ten
thousand lib. now."
A curious feature of the old institution, mentioned by Pitscottie,
should not be omitted.'' He says that the original founder doubled the
number of the musicians, " for that effect, that the one half should ever
be ready to sing and play with him, and hold him merrie ; the other half
to remain at home, to sing and pray for him and his successioun."'^
This was independent of the ordinary musicians of the royal household,
some account of whom has already been given.
When the rites of the Catholic Church were abolished at the Reforma-
tion, this splendid establishment was, as a matter of course, allowed to
sink into dilapidation and ruin. Its rents were either withheld or con-
compartments, and represents James III. and his son ; besides other figures and members of the
royal family, including his queen and an ecclesiastic in an act of devotion. Pinkerton gives an en-
graving of this picture in his "Iconographia Scotica," and supposes the latter personage to have been
intended for the Dean of the Cliapel-Royal, the Bishop of Galloway, or " Sir William Rogers,
the great English musician, (the Sir being often applied to ecclesiastics,) or some other eminent
foreigner." Sir William Rogers, however, was not an ecclesiastic, he was a layman ; and Ferrerius,
Drummond, and other authorities, concur in stating, that he was promoted by the king to the
honour of knighthood.
" Fol. Ixxiii. 232.
b Vol. i. p. 210, Dalyell's edit.
e A similar regulation prevailed in the Chapel-Royal of Edward IV., a part of the musicians
belonging to it being, in like manner, retained for the king's private amusement, as well as the re-
ligious service of the chapel ; from which, and other circumstances we have already hinted, {supra,
p. 106,) that James III. had probably borrowed the idea of the Scotish establishment from his
brother of England. See Hawkins's History, vol. ii. p. 290.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 157
veyed away in grants of titiilarity to laymen ; and individuals were ap-
pointed to the different offices who were non-resident, and incapable of
serving, — a circumstance of less moment, as the choral service, and all
instrumental music, having been forbidden, their occupation was, in fact,
at an end, and no farther duty remained. In this state of things, we ob-
serve,^ that in 158G, " Thomas Hudson, musician, maister of his Majes-
tie's chaipell-royall," was " appointed, with power to him to searche and
try the auld foundatioun of the said chaipell-royall ; and all superstitioun
and idolatrie being abolist, to follow and embrace the form, so far as it
aggreis with Goddes worde, and religioun presentlie profest within the
realme." Wo find, accordingly, that in IGIO the service was reduced to
the simple and naked psalmody of the Presbyterian Church ; and its situ-
ation at this period, in this and other respects, is described in the " In-
formation" already referred to, as follows : — " The sax boys had 90 merkis
among them, whareof there is none this day, and of all the sixteen cha-
nonis and nyn prebendis, only seviu attondis and hes no means, so that
only they sing the common tune of a psalme, and being so few as skarse
knowen."
After the accession of James VI. to the throne of the three kingdoms, the
restoration of the chapel-royal was one of the steps in the progress of this
monarch's ill-advised and disastrous undertaking to bring the religious in-
stitutions of Scotland into a state of conformity with those of England —
an undertaking, the obstinate and reckless prosecution of which was at-
tended with such fatal results to his son and successor. In 160G, the
foundation revenues and privileges of the chapel-royal were ratified by
Act of Parliament:^ and, in lGl'2,'^ Maister William Rirnic (minister)
was appointed its dean, " with special! power to the said Mr Williame,
to chuse anc sufiicient number of prebendares, skeilful in musick, being
apt and qualifiet for uthir divine service," and to confer upon the bene-
fices belonging to them " according to the first institution ;" — the place
of residence to be " at Halyrudhous, the palice of the samyn, and the
» Privy Seal Register, 5th June 1586.
»> Acta Pari. p. 299.
■= Privy SciJ Register, 20th Sept. 1012, Present, to Boneficei, fol. 8.
158 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
chappell not to be called the chappell-royall of Striveling, as heretofore,
but ' his majesties chapell-royall of Scotland;' and the members to attend
his majesty in whatever part of Scotland he may happen to be." In
pursuance of these objects, in 1629 an annual pension of L.2000 was
granted by Charles I. to the musicians of the chapel ;» and for several
years previous to his coronation in Scotland, in 1G33, exertions appear
to have been made by remodelling its arrangements, and appointing ef-
ficient persons for the discharge of its various duties, in order that, upon
this occasion, and the contemplated introduction of Episcopacy by the
authority of the legislature, which took place immediately afterwards, the
religious service should be there celebrated according to the form of the
Church of England.'' The nature of these arrangements is circumstan-
tially set forth in the " Information" by Kellie, which has given rise to
this digression, and from which, in this place, we subjoin the following
extract, as more particularly relating to the object for which we have had
occasion to refer to it S —
" Therafter your majestie was gratiously pleased, by your letters under
your highnes privie seall, with consent of the dean of your said chappel-
royall, to constitute mee collector and distributer of the rents pertayning
to your said chappell, and to see such good orders established in the
same, as the service therein might be well and faithfully done, and that
none but persons sufficiently qualified should have any place there, and
that they should be all keept at daily practise ; and, for that effect, your
majestie appointed mee ane chamber within your pallace of Halyrude-
house, wherein I have provided and sett upp an organe, two flutes, two
pandores, with vioUs and other instruments, with all sorts of English,
French, Dutch, Spaynish, Latine,"^ Italian, and Old Scotch Musick,
a Privy Seal Register, Feb. 18, 1629.
•> Besides these preparations from some documents that have come under our notice, particu-
larly " the accompt of James Murray of Kilbabertoun, Master of Wark to our Sovereign Lord,
1628," (General Register House,) and MS. notes to Sibbald's History of Fife, Advocates'
Library, — it would appear that about this time, considerable sums were laid out in repairing the
Royal Chapels at Stirling and Falkland.
<= The reader will find the whole of this " Information" printed entire in the Appendix.
" We suppose that the " Latine" music here mentioned consisted either of masses or church
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 159
vocall and instrumentall. In the said chamber the said organist and the
boyes doe remain, and the remanent musicians and under officers doe meet
therein twice a week to practice and to receive directions for the next
service," &c.
From this, it appears that the musicians of the chapel-royal were " kept
at daily practice" in all sorts of vocal and instrumental music, including
English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Latin, Italian, and Old Scotish
Music. There can be no doubt that this last expression referred to the
popular national music of Scotland. That sacred rausicwas here not meant
is sufficiently obvious ; the metrical psalmody of the Reformed Scotish
Church was not old, and the music of the church in Scotland before the
Reformation was identical with that of Rome, and therefore not Scotish.
Again, we are told that the music provided by Kellie was of " all sorts" —
secular, of course, as well as sacred ; nor is there any thing very extra-
ordinary in this, when we see that from its outset — from the time that the
original founder of this institution required that a portion of the " musi-
cians of the chapel" should ever be ready to " sing and play with him,
and hold him merrie," they had been in the custom of extending their
cultivation of music to all its different departments. Charles I., who (as
Playford remarks in his Introduction) was " not behind any of his pre-
decessors in his love and promotion of this science," and who was him-
self a tolerable performer on the viol da gamba,a in seeking to revive the
ancient usages of the institution, was not likely to have omitted one which
was calculated to contribute so much to his own personal gratification.
Farther, the mention of old Scotish music is not a little interesting
from the particular manner in which it is here introduced. The music
of other countries is simply designated as Englisii, French, tVc. ; that of
Scotland (j)ar excellence) old Scotish music— a circumstance quite de-
cisive as to the description of national melody which was then most in
repute, that it was not of a contemporaneous, but of an ancient date.
Allan Ramsay, in his preface to his " Tea Table Miscellany," (17^4,)
services, motets, hymns, or songs of a sacred or serious character, of whicli there were many
with Latin words.
» Burneys History, vol. iii. p. 361. Hawkins's do. vol. iv. p. 14.
160 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
observes " What further adds to the esteem we have for them (the
Scotish airs) is their antiquity, and their being universally known ;" and
this Mr Ritson" notices as " the earliest testimony hitherto met with of
the excellence and antiquity of Scotish music." Here, therefore, we
have a testimony one hundred years older than that of Ramsay. But
the truth is, that this observation of Mr Ritson was not made with that
scrupulous attention to accuracy, so common with this author ; other
authorities on this point can be appealed to, and, among them, the well-
known dictum of the Italian poet, Tassoni, who, in the Tenth Book of
his " Pensieri Diversi," (a portion of that work which first appeared in
1620,) observes — " We, again, may reckon among us moderns, James
King of Scotland, who not only composed many sacred pieces of vocal
music, but also, of himself, invented a new kind of music, plaintive and
melancholy, different from all other, in which he has been imitated by
Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, who, in our age, has improved music
with new and admirable inventions."'' Ever since this passage was, first
of all, publicly noticed by Lord Kaimes, in his Sketches, in 1774, and
commented upon by Mr Tytler, in his Dissertation, in 1779, it has been
hailed as the most unanswerable proof which could be adduced of the
ancient celebrity of our Scotish airs, and it has ever and anon given rise
to the most triumphant ebullitions of national congratulation. We are
sorry, however, to be constrained to take a different view of it from that
which our countrymen have hitherto done. We confess, that its sole im-
portance appears to us to lie in this, — that, in the words, " a new kind of
music, plaintive and melancholy, different from all other music," the
peculiar expression and style of the Scotish melody, as known at the
present day, are so distinctly marked, as to lead to the inference that it
was, at this time, prized and celebrated in the more distant parts of Eu-
rope for the same national characteristics which it still continues to pos-
» Historical Essay on Scotish Song, p. 105.
'' " Noi ancora possiamo connumerar tra nostri Jacopo re di Scozia che non pur cose sacre
compose in canto, ma trovo, da se stesso, una nuova miisica lamcntevole e mesta, differente da tuttc
I'altre. Nel che poi e stato imitato da Carlo Gesualdo, principe de Venosa, che, in questa nostra
eta, b.4 illustrata anch'egli la musica con nuove mirabili invcnzioni." P. 436.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. IGI
sess. Mr Tytler, however, the author of the Dissertation on Scotish
Music, taking it for granted that it was meant to imply that the Scotish
music had been imitated in the compositions of the Prince of Venosa,
exclaims, in a burst of enthusiasm, " What an illustrious testimony to their
excellency ! Some of the dilettanti in the Italian music of the present
times may perhaps sneer at being told that the Italians, the restorers of
music, owe the improvement of their music to the early introduction of
Scotish melody info it ; yet nothing is more certain, not only from the
candid acknowledgment of Tassoni, but from the testimony of the
Italian music itself, before the Prince of Venosa's time, as I shall at-
tempt to illustrate." And forthwith he proceeds to show us that the
Italian music of the sixteenth century, even that of the sublime Palestrina
liimself, however admirable for its harmonv and the contexture of its
parts, being deficient in melody, this deficiency had happily been supplied
by an infusion of the music of Scotland. " In the above state of music
in Italy," says this author, " we may suppose the Scotish melodies of
King James I. had found their wav into that countrv. Is it then to be
wondered at that such a genius as the Prince of Venosa should be struck
with the genuine simplicity of strains which spake directly to the heart,
and that he should imitate and adopt such new and affecting melodies,
which he found wanting in the music of his own country ?" That the
melodies of Scotland should have performed such a distinguished service
to the general interests of music, was an announcement not a little grati-
fying to all Scotsmen, and, since Mr Tyller's time, few of our country-
men have shown any disposition to disclaim the very high honour here
conferred upon them. But, although we may, in consequence, draw-
down the disapproval of such (if such there be) who, in the words of
Johnson, " love Scotland belter than truth," we must endeavour to put
an end to this delusion. Had the melody of Italy been in the least de-
gree tinctured with the national peculiarities for which that of Scotland
is so remarkable, their effect would have been very distinctly discernible
in the music of the former country. But every one at all ac(|uainted
with the subject knows, that that is not the case. The groundwork of
those exquisite .strains which sprung up in Italy in the seventeenth
X
162 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
century, in consequence of the establishment of the lyrical drama,'
and which have, since that time, diffused themselves over the whole
of the civilized world, was, and still is, essentially and purely Italian.
And with a people so finely organized for music, and a climate so
well suited for its indulgence, what part of the world is so rich in po-
pular native melody as Italy ?*" Along with it, no doubt, were blended
the congenial airs of Sicily ; and Delia Valle, the celebrated traveller,
who, in his account of the state of music in Italy at this epoch,'^ has some
observations upon this very point — the introduction into that country of
foreign national airs — although he speaks of the dance tunes of Spain
and Portugal as having already (in 1611) found their way into the popular
music of Italy, and adds, that he himself had made a collection of Persian,
Turkish, Arabian, and Indian tunes, says nothing whatever as to those
* We have said " in consequence" of the establishment of the Lyrical drama. So incredibly
slow, however, was the progress of Song even upon the Italian stage, that Burney, (vol
iv. p. 60,) after having carefully examined all the published Italian operas from " Euridice,"
which originally appeared in 1600, downwards, remarks that for the first fifty years they proceeded
with mere recitative, and afterwards for fifty years more " with little assistance from measured air
or melody."
' In an interesting essay by M. Mainzer, which appeared some years ago in the Revue de Deux
Mondes, entitled " Les Chants Populaires de I'ltalie," the districts of that country where the national
music is principally located are said to be " Venice, the Tiburtine, Sabine, and Albanese Moun-
tains, the coasts of Salerno and Sorrento, the neighbouring islands, and the country which extends
to Terracina by Benevento, and the Mountains of Apulia to the coasts of the Adriatic." To
prevent ambiguity we may here state, that by " national music" we, in Britain, mean what the
French call exclusively " chants populzures." With them " national music" has a more limited
signification, and is confined entirely to that which refers to the historical and political events of a
people, which is also sometimes (though not usually) the case with us, as when we speak of our
" national anthem."
• This was published in the second volume of the works of Giovanni Battista Doni at Florence
in 1763. See Burney's Hist. vol. iv. p. 35. In addition to what is here stated, it may be men-
tioned, that G. B. Doni, in his Trattato della Musica Scenica, p. 131, a work originally published in
1631, and which contains some observations on national melody, while he recommends to composers
the study of Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Sicilian, English, and German airs, makes no
mention of those of Scotland ; and as he holds out the English and German airs as worthy of imi-
tation, merely on account of their " bold and military conceptions," one would scarcely suppose
that he meant to comprehend under such a description the Scotish or the Irish, or that, from his
total silence in regard to them, he had been aware of their excellence. See Essay on the Theory
and Practice of Musical Composition, by George Farquhar Graham, Esq., p. 16.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 163
of Scotland. The Prince of Venosa, therefore, if he had ever, in his
compositions, imitated the modulation of our fine plaintive melodies, may
have done no more than other Italian composers since his time, — written
an occasional " aria alia Scozzese ;" although we are inclined to think
that there is no proper basis even for such an idea. Dr Burney examined
a portion of the works of this eminent dilettante ; viz. six books of
madrigals, and after a very attentive perusal of them he says,'* " I was
utterly unable to discover the least similitude or imitation of Caledonian
airs in any one of them ; which, so far from Scots melodies, seem to con-
tain no melodies at all ; nor, when scored, can we discover the least re-
gularity of design, phraseology, system, or, indeed, any thing remarkable
in these madrigals except unprincipled modulation, and the perpetual
erabarra.'^sments and inexperience of an amateur in the arrangement and
filling up of the parts." But, besides these six books of madrigals,
Serassi, in his Life of Tasso,*" remarks that there were twenty-five others
preserved in MS. in one of the principal libraries in Naples; so that
the Prince's imitations of the Scotish music may possibly be contained
in these ; and the doctor's reasoning upon that point, which proceeded
on the assumption that Gesualdo had produced no more than the printed
works whirh had fallen under his observation, is altogether inconclusive,
and must fall to the ground. We are disposed, however, to agree with
the learned historian, in an interpretation which he puts on the passage
in Tassoni, and which, if adopted, must have the effect of entirely remov-
ing the point at issue. Tassoni's real meaning may have been entirely
misapprehended. He may never have meant it to be understood that
Gesualdo had imitated the melodies of King James, but onlv (to use
Burney's words) " that these princely dilettanti were equally cultivators
and inventors of music." Tassoni, it will be observed, is not here expati-
ating upon the history and progress of the art ; he is enumerating, in a
chapter of his work, entitled " Musici Antichi e Modern!,"'^ the illustrious
• Bumry'j Hist- »ol. iii. p. 219.
' Viu del Tasso. p. ■187.
* " Connumerore" is the word uted by Tttsooi.
164 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
persons in ancient and modom times by whom it has been cultivated and
adorned. And it is in this way that he alludes to the Prince of Venosa,
who, contrary to the views of Burney, has been described by his own
countrymen, and after them by Sir John Hawkins, as an author " ad-
mirable for fine contrivance, original harmony, and the sweetest modula-
tion conceivable,"* — as a fit parallel to James I. of Scotland, whom he
considered to have invented the music of that country. This topic is
touched upon by the late Mr Joseph Cooper Walker, in his Memoirs of
Tassoni ; and we are surprised that this view of the true meaning of the
passage seems never to have struck him. On the contrary, he says,''
" Unless we impeach the veracity of Tassoni, whose fidelity as an histo-
rian has not, except in the present instance, been questioned, we must
admit that ' the music invented by James King of Scotland has been
imitated by Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa,' a fact which has not been
denied by any Italian writer of respectability." The same opinion has
been occasionally expressed by others, and thus the Italians have been
held to have tacitly admitted the truth of the remark. But did it never
occur to Mr Walker, or to those who have adopted this somewhat narrow
view of the question, that if the musical historians of Italy had quietly per-
mitted a statement so material as affecting the very history of the art
itself, to pass without comment or explanation, this could only have pro-
ceeded from their apprehending it in a totally different sense from that
in which it had been understood by them ? — And, in this sense, the one
which we have above pointed out, we actually find it embodied in one of
their treatises — in how many more we know not. This is the " Mis-
cellanea Musicale" of Berardi, published at Bologna in 1689, in a
chapter " Delle lode e Nobilta della Musica." It is there given literatim
in the words of Tassoni, though without acknowledgment, in a paragraph
which commences, " In ogni tempo, fra Prencipi e Cavalieri, si sono
trovati bellissimi ingegni," and ends, " D. Pompeo Colonna ancor lui fu
versatissimo nella professione armonica."
* Hawkins's Hist. vol. iii. p. 212.
' Memoir of Alessandro Tassoni, p. 103.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 1G5
If we are right in holding that " the plaintive and melancholy kind of
music, different from all other," which is here spoken of, was a description
which could only have been meant to apply to the national music of Scot-
land, James I." is pronounced by Tassoni to have been its inventor ; and
this idea seems to have prevailed, even till within a recent period. "^ But
whatever obligations we owe to this most talented and patriotic monarch,
we should just as soon think of ascribing to him the invention of our
language as of our music ; and, considering that he was only thirteen
years of age when he was taken prisoner on his voyage to France, his
subsequent absence of eighteen years, and his English education, — we
should regard it as much more probable that he had learned the better part
of both from his Scotish subjects, after his return to his native kingdom.
In reality, the question is not who were the inventors, but who were the
improvers, of the music of Scotland ? Mr Tytler has not hesitated to
affirm that James I. was one of these. In his Life of that monarch,*^
he says, that he is justly reckoned the first reformer, if not the inventor,
of the Scotish vocal music ; and, in his Dissertation, he holds it as
" scarce to be doubted," that his original Scotish melodies " are still re-
maining," and form a part of our finest airs, " though they, probably,
pass undistinguished under other names, and are adapted to modern
words." And yet, where is there any authority for holding that he ever
composed a single Scotish tune, or at all directed his attention to the
» James the First's |)ri'-cniirience as a musician would scorn to us to place it beyond (|uestioD,
tliat he was the monurcli here alluded to, and this is also the opinion of Lord Kaimes. (Sketches,
vol. I. p. 166.) Nevertheless, Pinkerton has supposed it to have been James V., for which no
valid reason can be assigned ; and Ritson ( Historical Essay on Scotish Song, pp. 94, 06) has endea-
voured to make it appear that it was James VI. who, he says, wils a writer of m.idrigals, (i. e. of
the words. I We should really have liked to put the question to tlie last of these learned antiquaries,
when he penned these comiucnts, whether he was serious in supposing that Tussoni who wrote,
or for the first time printed these remarks in 1620, was very likely to have referred to the sovereign
of Englati'l under the name of James, King of Siutlanil i
' In the exhibition at Somerset House, 179.">, there was a portrait of James playing on the
harp, and in the moulding of the frame, the inscription, " King James I. The oripioal inv(>n">r
of Scotch music." Eastcott on Music, p. 44.
" Tyller's Life and Remains of James I., p. t>.
166 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
improvement of the national music of his country ?* The nearest ap-
proach to any thing of the kind is Tassoni's remark as to his having in-
vented the plaintive style of melody which has already been referred to.
But whatever this may mean, and its real import has never yet been ex-
plained, it is not borne out by the evidence of any historian. Neither
Bower, who was James's contemporary, nor Boethius, nor Major, both
of whom wrote nearly a hundred years after his death, and who succes-
sively treat of his musical skill and accomplishments, say one word which
would lead us to suppose that he cultivated or composed Scotish music.
Boethius'' says, that he instituted regular choirs in the churches, and intro-
duced, into the cathedrals and abbeys, organs of an improved construction;
and Major's observations, which our readers will find at the bottom of the
page,<= and which have been sometimes misapprehended, and supposed to
relate to the composition of music, obviously point to his literary, and
not to his musical works. King James's composition of Scotish tunes,
therefore, and his reformation of the Scotish music, are purely conjectural.
Having said thus much to distinguish between historical fact and
* The same author tells us that " Fordun has a whole chapter, the 29th of his History, on
King James's learning and knowledge in the ancient Greek, as well as in the modem, scales of
music, which, for its curiosity, is worthy to be read by the modern theorists in music," — a circum-
stance which, if true, (as the scale upon which the Scotish music is composed is said to re-
semble that of the Greeks,) would go very far to fortify the remarkable assertion of Tassoni, as to
his having been its inventor. As Fordun is supposed to have concluded his history about twenty
years before James was bom, the work referred to here is, of course, the continuation of Fordun
by Bower, who was a contemporary of that prince; but our modern theorists, if they expect to be
illuminated in regard to his knowledge of the Greek and modern scales of music by any thing which
they may find in this or in any other part of this historian's works, will be wofully disappointed.
There is not a word about the Greek scales within the four corners of this 29th chapter ; nor any
thing there stated, from which we should be warranted to infer that James was in the most remote
degree acquainted with them. It consists almost entirely of a transcript of the well-known pass-
age in Giraldus Cambrensis's Topographia Hibernite, in praise of the Irish and Scotish music of
the twelfth century !
•> Hist. Lib. xvii.
° '* In vernacula lingua artificiosissimus compositor, cujus codices plurimi et cantilense memoriter
adhuc apud Scotos inter primos habentur. Artificiosam cantilenam (composuitj Vat Sen., &c.
et jucuiidun artificiosumque ilium cantum at Beltayn quern alii de Dalketh et Gargeil mutare
studuerunt. qu't in arce aut camera clausus servabatur, in qua mulier cum matre habitabat."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 167
hypothesis, we would add, that, as an hypothesis or conjecture, the idea
that this monarch had composed Scotish airs, and improved the music of
his kingdom, would appear to be by no means ill-founded. Consider-
ing his extraordinary musical taste and acquirements, if our national
music had been ameliorated in his time, no one was, perhaps, so well
qualified for the task ;^ and who was more likely to have felt and ap-
preciated the high-toned expression of feeling which pervades the more
pathetic of our airs, or to have entered with greater keenness and zest
into their more animated strains, than the elegant author of " The
Queen's Quhair," or the graphic and truly characteristic delineator of
those humorous scenes of rustic festivity and merriment, which were never,
perhaps, exhibited in greater perfection than in his " Christ Kirk on the
Green," and his " Peblis to the Play ?"
In all our enquiries regarding the history of Scotish music, we have to
encounter this difficulty, that none of our historians ever distinguish be-
tween the music of the nation, whicli, from the first, mu>;t have possessed
certain peculiar traits, and that which was cultivated by those who de-
voted themselves to the practice of the art, and which may be said to
have comprised the regular, artificial music in use throughout the greater
part of Europe. Our historians seem to be always discovering some
" illustrious testimony of the excellency" of the Scotish music ; and, were
we to trust to what Dr Henry'' has stated, it must have found admirers in
Italy, even in the early part of the sixteenth century. " James III.
(says the reverend historian) being no less fond of music than the other
fine arts, invited the most famous musicians to his court, and loaded
them with favours. Sir William Rogers, a musician, was one of his
six unhappy favourites, who were put to death at Lauder, 1482.
Ferrerius, an Italian, who wrote the history of the Prince, acquaints
us that he had conversed with several celebrated musicians in Italy,
who spoke in high terms of Scotch music, and the munificence of
James III. These musicians, probably, had belonged to that numerous
* Boethius says of him, " Musicam exartc trnebot ac quicquid illi arti offiaebatur peritiiiiine," —
Buchanan, " In musicis curiosius ijuam rogem vcl dcceat vel expediat."
*' History of Great Britain, vol. v. p. 496.
168 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
choir wiiich King James established in tlie chapel of his palace in the
Castle of Stilling, and had returned into their own country after the
death of their royal patron, and carried with them the knowledge of the
Scotch music." But what says Ferrerius, from whose history Dr Henry
has felt himself authorised to deduce the above statement ? He says,
that William Rogers, a famous musician of that age, whom Edward IV.
had sent into Scotland, along with some others, upon an embassy, in
order to negotiate a truce with that country of twenty years' duration,
had, by his exquisite singing, and performance on various instruments, so
captivated James III., that, at the close of the embassy, the latter re-
tained Rogers, nothing loath, (non invitum,) and, shortly afterwards,
promoted him to the honour of knighthood. Farther, he mentions, that,
under this individual, so celebrated in his art, many persons at the Scot-
ish court became such proficients in music, that, a few years before
Ferrerius wrote his history, several distinguished characters were still
living who, in his hearing, had boasted of their having been benefited by
the instructions or schola of Rogers, and that the time here alluded to
was the year 1529.^
From this it does not appear cither that these musicians who lauded
the instructions of Rogers were Italians, or that the conversation spoken
of took place in Italy. On the contrary, while Ferrerius does not speak of
his informants as being his own countrymen, the circumstance to which he
alludes could only have taken place in Scotland, where, and not in Italy,
Ferrerius was resident in the year 1529.'' There were, however, as we
have formerly had occasion to notice, several Italian musicians retained
* Gulielmum quoque Roger, Anglum, insignem ea etate musicuni quern Edwardus ejus nominis
quartus, Anglorum rex, una cum aliquot aliis viris, legatuin, ut supra docuimus, pro induciis viginti
annorum impetrandis, in Scotiam miserat, ubi modulantem concione et variis instrumentis musicis
dexterrime personantem, vidisset, ita dilexit, ut, absoluta ea legatione, non invitum, apud se reti-
nuerit, quem, paulo post, locupletatum, valde ad equestris ordinis honorem, evexit. Sub hoc autem
viro, in arte sua percelebri, adeo multi in aula Scotiae perfect! musici evasere, ut proximis annis
nonnuUi viri insignes adhuc extiterint qui de illius scliola, se prodiisse, nobis audientibus, gloriarentur
scilicet anno Domini 1529. Ferrerius' Continuation of Boetliius's History, (Edit. 1574,) pp. 391-2.
b See a Sketch of his Life in Pinketton's History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 422. Ferrerius's His-
tory was written in Italy in 1564.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 169
by the Scotish sovereign at this time,:' one of whom, " Bestiane Drum-
month," is entered in the Treasurer's Books in lolo, as havin<' received
ten pounds " to help his expens by his wages abuffwritten, because he
past with hcence to visy his frendes in Itale." There might also have
been a music school connected with the royal household for traininar the
king's musicians, and this, very probably, had been instituted by Sir
VV illiara Rogers, and may have been the " schola" referred to by Ferre-
rius in the passage above quoted, as we observe another entry in the
Treasurer's Accounts for 1512, " to foure scolaris menstralis, be the
kingis command, to by tharae instrumentis in Flandris, vij ti. gret, an-
swerand in Scottis money to xxiti., and help thair expensis and fraucht,
Ivj s. ; and, therefter, becaus thai plenyeit thai gat our litill expens and
fraucht, deliverit uther Ivj, . . . xxxvj ti. xij s."
Ill the next place, it will be remarked that the observations of Fer-
rerius say literally nothing with respect to the national music of Scot-
land, whatever liglit they may throw upon the history of the art of music
in this country, during the reign of James III., and for some time after-
wards. The arrival of Rogers had, no doubt, been an era in its pro-
gress similar to the return of James I. Ferrerius** styles him " rarissi7nui>
musicus ex Anglia;" and we may naturally suppose that he would have
imparted to the Scots a knowledge of all the leading improvements of his
country, which, according to Erasmus, about that time challenged the
prerogative of being the most accomplished of any in the art of music.*^
Hamboys was one of the most eminent musicians during the reign of
Edward IV.'' He was the author of a musical work entitled " Can-
• Supra, p. 75.
1> I'. 395.
' Tlicy nts<) laid claim to two other ({istinctions, which, though not relating to music, should
not Ih." omitted, viz. timt tliey possessed the handsomest women, uikI kept the best tables. " Na-
tura ut singulis niortulibus suam, ita singulis nationibus, ac pcne civitotibus conamuncm quondam
insevi.sse Philimiium ; atque huic fieri Itrilanni pra'ter alia, furmom, musicum ct lautos meusas
proprie sibi vindiccnt." F.rnsmi Morio: Encomium. Sec also Holinshcd, vol. ii. p. 1355, and
Morley's Introduction, p. 151.
'' Hawkins's History, vul. ii. p. 345.
T
170 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
tiomitn Artificialiimi Diversi Generis," and is supposed to have been tlie
first person upon whom the degree of Doctor of Music was conferred.
He flourished about 1470, the very time when Rogers had been imbibing
the elements of his musical education. We may presume, therefore, as
no particulars regarding the latter have reached us, beyond what have
been above mentioned, that he was a musician of this class, though, most
probably, more distinguished for his practical than his theoretical attain-
ments.
In another view, these circumstances lend a few scattered rays to illu-
minate the " darkness visible" in which the history of the Scotish airs is
enveloped. We are not here speaking of their origin ; that is a question
upon which we shall afterwards enter ; but of their improvement by the
hands of composers ; and that most of them had been subjected to a pro-
cess of this kind at a very early period, there can be no doubt. Many
tunes, also, may have been composed in imitation of the artless primitive
airs of the country. In speaking of the Neapolitan rustic and street
tunes, Dr Burney observes," " The first secular music in parts, after the
invention of counterpoint, that I have been able to discover on the Conti-
nent, is the harmony that was set to the rustic and street tunes of the
kingdom of Naples ; and these under the several denominations of arie,
canzonette, villotte and villanelle, alia Napolitana, were as much in
fashion all over Europe during the sixteenth century, as Provencal songs
were in preceding times,^and Venetian ballads have been since. Besides
the old tunes which were collected, and published in four parts, others
were composed not only by the natives, but in imitation of these short
familiar airs, by almost all the principal composers of other places, of
which innumerable volumes were printed at Venice, Antwerp, and else-
where, under the same titles." We have never heard of any publication
of Scotish airs during the sixteenth century, in the shape here mentioned ;
but with so many accomplished musicians as we appear then to have
possessed, — to say nothing of harpers, Inters, violars, pipers, flute and
cornet players, &c., it is impossible but that a large proportion of the
» Burney's Histor}', vol. iii. p. 214.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 17I
music which was then composed and performod had been of a national
kind, or, as the Infurmation touchintr the chapel-royal (which of itself,
from the regulation there specified, furnishes indubitable proof of its
early popularity and excellence) expresses it, " Old Scotish Music."
With so many individuals who could not fail to have been attracted by
its many pleasing traits, and whose professional talents would naturally
have been exercised in exhibiting it to the best advantage, what are we
to think of the absurd conjectures which, without a particle of evidence,
would ascribe the composition of our finest airs, nay, the very invention
of the Scotish melody itself, to James I. and David Rizzio ? The former
of these we have already considered ; and with respect to the latter
very little will require to be said. It seems, indeed, to have been little
better than one of those foolish popular traditions, wliich would have
died a natural death had it not been brought forward on all occasions,
less for the purpose of being entertained than of being confuted. Even
Burney intended to have added himself to the list of combatants in this
field of contention, although he deferred doing so till the Greek ka-
lends.-'' " The controverted point (says the learned historian) of Rizzio
having been the author of the Scots tunes which go under his name,
will be discussed hereafter, when national music comes to be con-
sidered." The real cause of this questio ve.vata seems to have been,
that Thomson, the editor of the " Orpheus Caledonius," and Oswald, in
order tliat they might give additional celebrity to certain tunes in their
respective collections, had pointed them out as having been composed by
Rizzio.'' As for the fact itself, no well-informed writer ever averred him to
have been the author of a single Scotish tune ; and history is wholly silent,
both as to this, and as to his having been the reformer or polisher of our
' Bumey's History, vol. ii. p. 576.
b It has often been thought tliat Oswald himself was the author of several of the tunes said to
have been coni|)oscd by Kizzio, but we have never till now scon any thing approaching to evi-
dence of the fact. Appended to one of liis collections, in the possession of David Laing, Esq.,
there is the following; momorandum : — " The airs in this volume, with the name of David Kizo
oflu'd, arc all (hwatJ't. I state this on the authority of Mrs .Mexamler Cuniininp and my mother,
— hit daughter ami $uler. (Signed) '• II. O. Wkatmeklit."
172 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
melody. It is even doubtful how far he was qualified for such a task ;
and the subordinate capacity in which he was originally introduced into
the queen's service would not lead us to form a very lofty estimate of his
musical acquirements. " Queen Mary (says Sir James Melville)" had
three valets, who sang three parts, and she wanted a person to sing a
bass, or fovirth part. David Rizzio, who had come to France with the
Ambassador of Savoy, was recommended as one fit to make the fourth
in concert, and thus he was drawn in to sing sometimes with the rest ;
and afterwards, when her French Secretary retired himself to France,
this David obtained the said office."
It was this sudden elevation to the dangerous post of secretary and con-
fidential adviser of the queen, (which, considering his ignoble birth and
station, must be allowed to have been an act of no ordinary indiscretion,)
and its consequences, especially the tragical and barbarous manner of his
death, which, as Dr Robertson gravely remarks — " obliges history to
descend from its dignity, and to record his adventures." Had he con-
tinued merely to exercise the calling which formed his passport to the
notice of his royal mistress, we may reasonably conjecture that the name
of David Rizzio — an obscure musician — would no more have been known
to posterity than those of the three valets, his associates, who were very
probably quite his equals in musical skill.'' It should be remembered,
also, that the period of his sojourn in this country did not altogether ex-
tend to three years, the one half of which was occupied in the anxious
» Memoirs, p. 54.
'' We may here have underrated the musical capabilities of Rizzio. Regard, perhaps, ought
to be had to one so nearly a contemporary as Birrel, who, in his Diary, describes him as a man
well skilled in poetry and music j and Irvin, in his Nomenclatura, which was written towards the
middle of the seventeenth century, calls him " a Savoyard, well acquainted with state policy, and
a great musician ;" adding, however, that when murdered, he was in the 71st year of his age,
whereas there can be no doubt that he was a much younger man. It appears, also, that he was
educated in France, and that the French ascribe to him the composition of several of their popu-
lar airs of uncertain parentage, — with what truth we know not. " Rizzo est I'auteur d'un grand
nombre d'airs que tout le monde cliante, sans qu'on sache de qui ils sont, comme ' M. le Pre\oi
des marcliands,' Notre cur^ ne veut done pas," &c. Laborde's Essai sur la Musique. Tom. iii.
p. 530.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 173
and harassing cares of office. If, therefore, we are to conclude that
Scotish music owes any thing to Itahan art, it would be more rational
to refer our obligations to the Italian musicians mentioned in the Trea-
surer's Accounts, who, for at least fifty years previous to the time of
Rizzio, were regular and constant retainers of the royal household.
But have we any means of distinguishing between such airs as arc
of indigenous growth, and such as are of foreign and artificial pro-
duction ? Referring to the sister arts of poetry and painting, where
the best judges arc at all times apt to be deceived by well executed
copies and imitations, we should conceive that the erection of any thing
like a standard or test by which the genuine could be discriminated from
the counterfeit — the modern from the ocritcdhe anticjue — in national music
— a department where the spirit and character are so easily caught — was,
a priori, altogether hopeless. And yet, the attempt has been made, and
certain rules have been laid down, by which we are to be enabled to dis-
cover, with unerring certainty, not only the authenticity of our most
favourite melodies, but the particular epoch in our history when they
were composed. In this branch of enquiry Mr Tytler has rendered
himself particularly prominent, although we will do him the justice to
say, that he has not urged his opinions in the spirit of a dogmatist, but
as mere matter of probability, and in order, as he states, to " lead
others to a more direct road." The general rule which he adopted was
" to select a few of the most undoubted ancient melodies, such as may
be supposed to be the production of the simplest instrument, of the most
limited scale, as the shepherd's reed ; and thence to trace them gradually
downward to more varied, artful, and regular modulations, the composi-
tions (if more polished limes, and suitable to instruments of a more ex-
tended .<ale." And tiiere may be some trutii in the general proposi-
tion, that the most ancient songs are expressed in a simpler and more
artless form than those of modern times; but that simplicity, and even
the rudeness and imperfection of instruments, are the concomitants of
the coiiditio/i of a peo[)le as well as of the age ; and in a countrv so
thinly [leopled, and so uncultivatetl, as Scotland, there are, both in the
174 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
Highlands and Lowlands, districts where the sounds of artificial music
have, till within these few years, but rarely penetrated, — where the simple
inhabitants still continue to lighten their toil, and to beguile their leisure,
with the same lilts and dances which have been in use amongst them
for centuries ; and where, it is possible, that an original, artless air,
may still spring up spontaneously, as it did of old. It is needless to add,
that no faith can be attached to any such criterion ; and the result of its
application has, accordingly, been a series of conjectures which have
not even the merit of plausibility to recommend them, and which are liable
to be overturned by the first original document which presents itself.
In the Skene MS., for example, we find " The last time I came o'er the
moor," and " Sa merry as we ha' been" — tunes which are classed by Mr
Tytler as among those which, " from their more regular measure, and
more modern air, we may almost with certainty pronounce" to have been
composed " between the Restoration and the Union !" It were idle to
go into an examination of theories such as these ; and we shall only no-
tice another of this author's postulates which the same MS. affords us
the means of refuting.'' He says, that the old airs " consist of one mea-
sure only, and have no second part, as the later and more modern airs
have." As " rhymes the rudders are of verses," so are they, occasion-
ally, of melodies ; and those, of course, which are adapted to words,
partake of their irregularities. The rythmus or structure of the verse
may, therefore, sometimes render the continuation of the air to a second
measure unnecessary. But these cases are rare ; and, so far is Mr Tyt-
ler's notion from deriving the least support from the Skene MS., that,
from beginnning to end of it, there are scarcely any instances where
tunes are wanting in a second part, and none whatever where it merely
consists, as he says, of a repetition of the first an octave above.
The peculiar scale upon which the Scotish music is constructed has
also been founded on as a means of separating the old from the new, and of
» Logan, in his " Scotisli Gael," (vol. ii. p. 257,) makes the same remark, that the most an-
cient vocal airs had only one measure.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 175
ascertaining wiiat may have been the primarv form of the original airs.
This has been made the groundwork of much ingenious speculation in a
Dissertation prefixed to Thomson's Select Melodies of Scotland," in
which the structure of the tunes is very ably analyzed and illustrated,
although we cannot concur in many of the opinions there expressed, or
the conclusions to which the learned author has arrivi-d. The old music
of Scotland belongs to a different scale from the regular music of modern
times, which is founded either upon the diatonic or chromatic series ;
whereas that upon which most — some authors will have it all — of our na-
tional music is written, has been described to be the same with the mo-
dern <liatonic, with two exceptions, — viz. that it wants the fourth and the
seventh in such keys as resemble our major modes, and the second and
sixth in those which we would characterize as minor. We express our-
selves thus guardedly, because the two great arrangements of tones and
semi-tones, which we denominate major and minor, are of modern inven-
tion, and having been introduced not earlier than the sixteenth century,
do not admit of being applied to compositions anterior to that period,
with the same critical precision as to those of the present day. But it
has been observed, in the quarter to which we have just now referred,
that, although the melodies are often equivocal in regard to kev, making
rapid transitions from one to another, they are, in reality, constructed
upon one scale or series of sounds; and that the reason why thoy have the
appearance of being composed in different keys, and in different modes,
and of the singular wildness and variety of their effect, is the freedom
with which they wander up and down the scale, and every now and then
rest upon certain parts of it, which, for the time, become principal or lead-
ing notes. The following, for example, is the diatonic scale divested of
the fourth and seventh ; and to this series of notes, but extending their
range, when necessary, beyond the octave here given, all the ancient
Scotish melodies are referred, whatever Q ■ I I
may be the varieties of their mode and (^j i j== J w =
character : — *^
» Quarto edition, 1 62 J.
176 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
As tho first note is here followed by two full tones, an air beginning
and ending upon the above series would have the appearance of having
been written on the key of c major ; and this, accordingly, has been con-
sidered as the Scotish major mode. But, if the composition began and
ended on a, although it ran through the same series with the key of c,
the flat third would give it all the effect of a minor, and the key would
possess the characteristics ascribed to
m
the Scotish minor, viz. the want of (4) i J J
the second and the sixth. Thus, — "^ -•-
The same series will give rise to other varieties of key, simply by
adopting a different final note, without deviating from the original scale ;
and these, though they are not supposed to occur with us so frequently
as the former, savour strongly of the Scotish character, — a consequence
which has been remarked as attendant on the habitual omission of
particular notes of the scale, especially those which produce skips of
thirds.*
U=^ , M J J ^ II ,1 f4^
i
=?:=«:
*—*
This has been regarded as the general system of tones upon which the
Scotish melody is framed, and so rigidly has it been adhered to by some
critics that no air has been admitted as genuine, which does not come
within its scope, with one exception, and that is where the flat seventh is
introduced.'' This is described as being done in two ways, either " as a
note of great emphasis and expression," as in " VValy, waly»" — " The
Flowers of the Forest," — " Lochaber," &c. ; or " as the primary note
of a new series of sounds, or, in modern language, the fundamental of
a new key" — (to which might have been added, its frequent employment
in rising to the final-note at a close.) But of this it is said that very few
instances occur. It is even hinted, that in one of these tunes, " Locha-
» Barney's Hist. vol. i. p. 41.
•> Dissertation prefixed to Thomson'sCoUection, p. 7.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 177
ber," the use of the flat seventh may be a modern innovation, as it is not
to bo found in the copy of that air given in the " Orpheus Caledonius ;"
but the anti(juity of the practice is now fully established by the original
version of the " Flowers of the Forest," as it stands in the Skene MS.
And in regard to the use of the flat seventh, as a direct and unprepared
transition from the tonic, we would observe in passing, that, so far from
being of rare occurrence, it constitutes one of the most striking features
of Scotish melody. We do not merely refer to its introduction in a
minor key, as in " Adieu, Dundee," where its effect is exceedingly
pleasing, but to its use, as a transition from the major series, instances
of which are so abundant that we shall not stop to refer to them. In fact,
nothing connected with Scotish music is better understood; and we may
appeal to the well-known fact, that our reels and strathspeys seldom
receive any other accompaniment than the tonic and the full tone im-
mediately under it.
With these excej)tions, it has been represented that all our ancient
airs are constructed according to the scale which has been above de-
scribed, that " they do not contain a single note wiiich is foreign to it."
In particular, it has been repeatedly asserted that " they contain no semi-
tones whatever ;" that our primitive musicians " could no more intro-
duce minuter divisions of the scale, or sounds not com|)rehended in it,
than a musician of the present day could introduce sounds not to be
found in the scale to which his ear had been accustomed."" Afterwards
we find this proposition restricted to airs purely vocal, (those for the bag-
pipe and harp being usually in the full diatonic scale,) and from anv
thing Uiat we have seen to the contrary, we sus|)ect that it will recjuire to
be yet still farther restricted, as it cannot be said but that semitones are
of very fretpient occurrence throughout the vocal melodies here present-
ed to the public, — a fact which we leave to the adherents of this theory
to explain as they best can.
For ourselves, although we disclaim all intention of theorising, (however
desirous we niav be to furnish materials for the theories of others,) we con-
■ Dis«cr(utioD prefixed to Tliomsoo's Collectiou, p. 4.
Z
178 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
fess that we have been induced to adopt views in some degree at
variance with the above, and with other opinions which have been very
generally circulated with respect to the formation of our national music ;
and these views, involving many points of a technical nature upon
which we should have adventured with no slight diffidence, we felt it to
be our duty to bring forward — embracing, as they did, some of the most
prominent topics which had occurred in the course of the present en-
(]uiry. But from this part of our undertaking we have fortunately been
relieved in a way which, we have no doubt, will prove quite as satisfactory
to our readers as it has been gratifying to ourselves. Before closing the
Dissertation, we became aware of the fact, that many of our opinions were
shared, and had been much more than anticipated, by a musical professor of
eminence, a native of Scotland, who had, for several years, greatly distin-
guished himself by his admirable arrangements of our national melodies,
and who, in a spirit of the most ardent enthusiasm, had applied himself to
the investigation of their structure, during the short intervals of leisure
which the duties of a laborious profession had left him. Many of this gen-
tleman's notions had been matured before he had had an opportunity of
seeing the Skene MS., but this document having been submitted to
him, he at once did us the honour to agree to our proposal of making
the present work their vehicle of publicity, and of availing himself of
such illustrations as the contents of that MS. are calculated to afford. To
his observations* we here gladly refer our readers; nor is it too much
to say, that they contain the most able and complete analysis, scientific
and critical, of the Scotish music which has hitherto appeared.
Perhaps its most novel feature is the singular analogy which it exhibits
between the Scotish music and the Canto fermo, or plain chant of the
Romish Church. Not that the Canto fermo is to be considered as con-
sisting of melody, — being destitute of time, measure, and rythm. It is
in the succession of its intervals, and the medial and final closes found in
it on sounds other than the tonic, that the resemblance is chiefly to be
traced. Why this should have been the case, we cannot tell. Why a peo-
* Appendix, No. I.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 179
pie, never much distinguished for a scrupulous adherence to the forms
and discipHne of the Roman Cathohc Church, and, far less, for any bhnd
subserviency to its power, and wlio, at the Reformation, Hung from them,
with a degree of rage approaching to frenzy, its doctrines, rites, and
usages,
its eremites and friars.
White, black, and grey, with all their trumpery,
should have been, perhaps, the only nation in the world which adhered
to the strict rules of the Gregorian chant in the modulation of their popu-
lar airs, and why they should have clung to these vestiges of their ancient
faith with a zeal and a pertinacity which neither the subversion of the
Romish hierarchy, nor all the rancour of the most deadly hatred, could
mitigate or extinguish — is a problem which we leave to the solution of
others. We profess to do no more than to bring the fact under the
reader's attention.*
The resemblance between the church chants and the Scotish melodies
is casually noticed by Ritson. A friend of his observes'' — " When I was
in Italy, it struck me very forcibly that the plain chants which are sung
by the friars or priests bore a great resemblance to some of the oldest of
the Scotish melodies. If a number of bass voices were to sine the air
of ' Barbara Allan' in the ecclesiastical manner, the likeness would appear
* The lue of the flat, instead of the sharp, seventh for the penultimate note, i'i an ancient eccle-
siaittical. practice of long stanilin-;, the n-jnaiiis of which still suhsist in the psalm — and even in (he
ballad — singing of the uneducated, in all parts of the country ; and in some cases in Scotland,
where anti-catholic prejudices run high, it almost provokes a smile to sec people, who so thoroughly
detest Popish forms and usages, continuing (thouf;li unknown to themselves) to put in practice so
undouhted and venerable a portion of the Romish Uitu.il. Ur Burnev (voi. iii. p. 273) has a
similar observation in speaking of the compositions of CInudin le Jeune, one of the authors of the
reformed I'rotestant psalmody, — " Though the melody manifestly begins and ends in the chord
of G, yet by keeping F constantly natural, there is a stronger impression throughout of the key of
C than of any other. This was still adhering to the ancient modes of the church, and may be called
a rag of Popery, for. however reformed the author may have thought himself in religion, his music
was still I'apistical."
*> Historical Essay on Scotish Song, p. 102.
180 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
so great to a person who is not accustomed to hear the former fre-
quently, that he would imagine the one to be a slight variation on the
other." But Ritson, Campbell, and Tytler, all concur in deprecating
the idea of our popular airs having sprung from the music of the church.
The former expresses himself to the following effect : — " No vestige of
any Scotish melody ever was, or ever will be, found in the old Scotish
church service, which did not, (for one of their service books is pre-
served,*) and could not, possibly differ from that of other Catholic coun-
tries, and must, therefore, have consisted entirely of chant and counter-
point. We may, therefore, safely conclude, that the Scotish Song owes
nothing to the church music of the cathedrals and abbevs before the Re-
formation ; and that nothing can be more opposite than such harmonic
compositions to the genius of song, which consists in the simple melody
of one single part." — " It is a received tradition in Scotland," says Dr
Percy, " that, at the time of the Reformation, ridiculous and obscene
songs were composed, to be sung by the rabble, to the tunes of the most
favourite hymns in the Latin service. ' Green sleeves and pudding pies,'
(designed to ridicule the Popish clergy,) is said to be one of those meta-
morphosed hymns; ' Maggy Lauder' was another; 'John Anderson,
my jo,' was a third. The original music of all these burlesque sonnets
was very fine." Mr Tytler adds to these, the tunes of " John, come kiss
me now," and " Kind Robin lo'es me." We know not what credit is
attachable to these traditions ; but there are many circumstances which
would lead us to believe, that, at the Reformation, and for many years
before it, the adaptation to secular purposes of the hymns and Canto
fermo of the Romish Church was no novelty in Scotland.*" As Mr Ged-
» This is the " Antiphonarium" of the Abbey of Scone, which belongs to the Advocates' Li-
brary. In the College at Edinburgh there is another of these ancient service books, viz. a Collection
of Roman Catholic Hymns, supposed to have belonged to the church of Dunkeld before the
Reformation.
i" A friend of ours mentions the following fragment of a song which used to be sung to a veiy
aged relative of his when a child : —
" I have a true love beyond the sea.
Para mee dicksa do mee nee ;
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 181
des, the editor of " The Saints' Recreation," observes* — " It is possible
and probable" that our " graue sweet tunes" liad been «' surreptitiously
borrowed from spiritual hymns and songs;" and we have often thought
that the solemnity of the ecclesiastical tones, every now and then pealing
upon the ear, powerfully contributes to the production of those wild, plain-
tive, and pathetic effects, for which our slow airs are so celebrated.
A little examination will serve to explain why the ecclesiastical modes
should have intermingled so largely with our ancient popular music.
Whatever might have been the national melodies of our Celtic and Gothic
ancestors, and of the ancient nations of Europe, they seem gradually to
have receded before the all-powerful influence of the church ; and although
they are said to have taken refuge with the humble and ignorant, it is a re-
markable fact, that the music popular among the lower, as well as the
higher ranks, during the middle ages, is invariably described by our
musical historians, as differing very little from that which was dedi-
cated to the service of religion. Numerous testimonies may be ap-
pealed to in corroboration of this remark, a few of which we shall
here take the liberty of quoting. " We may fairly conclude," says
Hawkins,"' " that the knowledge of music was then (during the middle
ages) in great measure confined to the clergy ; and that they, for the
most part, were the authors and composers of those songs and ballads,
with the tunes adapted to them, which were the ordinary amusement
of the common people." And in casually alluding to the same to-
pic, Dr Burneyc assures us, that the melodies not only of England, but
of all the rest of Europe, " had no other model than the chants of the
church till the cultivation of the musical drama ; whence, all the lythm,
accent, and grace of modern music have manifestly been derived." In
And mony a love-token he sends to mo,
Witli a rattum, pattum,
PttTu met: dlcksa do mce nee."
The " pnrn me, dixi, Doniine," is an obvious adaptatioD of a part of the service ; and we have no
doubt that other relics of the same sort could be pointed out.
• Supra, p. 38.
'' History, vol. ii. p. 88.
« Vol. ili. p. 88.
182 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
another place" ho assures us, that during " the thirteenth century, the
songs in vogue were of various kinds, moral, merry, and amorous ; and at
that time melody seems to have been little more than plain song or chanting."
Even the far-famed songs of the Troubadours, although they appear to us
to have been of a lighter and more airy character, are stated by M. Perne to
have been cast in the same mould. " Toute composition musicale depuis
les has siecles avoit pour base et type do melodic les tons ou modes
du chant Gregorien, vulgairement appele plain-chant, modes d'origine
Grecque, d'apres lesquels les modernes ont forme leurs modes majeurs et
leurs mineurs," &C.'' In addition to what has been here stated, and in
order to show the extent to which the ecclesiastical tones found their
way into popular music, and how long it was doomed to wander within
the stationary and limited routine of keys and scales laid down for the
guidance of composers in those days, we shall here cite a passage from
Berardi's Miscellanea Musicale, published in 1689, its details on this
point being more copious and satisfactory than any that we have else-
where seen.*^ — " Musicians have begun to separate their style as much
as possible from that of the ancients, in order to give such expression to
the words as was best calculated to move the passions, which our an-
cestors did not attempt, as they only made use of one style and one
common system in their consonances and dissonances, which may be
proved from their different publications. If we take Palestrina, the chief
and father of music, as an author not very ancient, we shall find that there
is little difference between his madrigals and his motets, in so far as re-
gards their respective styles. If we look at the popular French and
Dutch works, such as the Twenty-six ' Chansons Musicales,' also the
Thirteenth Book, containing twenty-two new songs for six and eight
parts, printed in the years 1.545, 46, and 49, 1550 and 1552, the com-
positions of different authors, such as Crequilon, Janluys,'' Petit, Jaude-
* Vol. ii. p. 262.
•• Cliausoiis du Chatelein de Coucy, par Messieurs Micli^l et Perne. Paris, 1830, p. 146.
' P. 40.
"^ We transcribe these names as they stand in the original, the Bologna edition of 1689, though
they are evidently misprinted.
PRELIMII^AKY^ DISSERTATION. 183
latere, Jaques Vaet, Vulnerant, Baston, Clomenz Morel, Clemens non
Papa, (this is to contradistinffiiish him from Pope Clement,) Jusquin, Jan
Gerard, Simon Cardon, Ricourt, Adriano, Noel Baldwin, Jan Ocken-
heim, Verdelot, and many others of different nations whom we omit to
mention ; with respect to their compositions there is no difference be-
tween the ecclesiastical and the popular melody, if we except some, the
modulation of which is somewhat more sprightly, such as ' La Bella
Margarita' — ' La Girometta' — ' La Battaglia de Clem. Jan,' and that of
Verdelot ; and this occurs where the words are humorous and gay, but
where they are serious there is little or no difference between the motets,
masses, and madrigals, in the style and arrangement of the consonances
and dissonances. So that we plainly see that our ancestors had only one
style and rule of composition."
Every where, in short, do we find the ecclesiastical chant and style
of composition usurping the place of the old national music. The
songs of the Gondolieri, at Venice, are described by Burnev" as little
better than a species of Canto fermo ; and Eximeno'' speaks of the tunes
of the Spanish romances as " monotonous and tiresome," and believes
them to be remnants of Moorish melody, or else sprouts of Canto fermo.
As for England, so eagerly were the modes of the church followed up in
that country in the time of the Anglo-Saxons, that, as far back as au-
thentic historv extends, they appear to have swept away the last vestiges
of their national music, so as to leave it a matter of (pieslion whether or
not that nation ever possessed any — of a marked and peculiar character.
The manner in which this was effected is thus described by Dr Ledwich:'
— " It was the policy of the Church of Rome, from the first entrance of
her mis>-ionaries into Britain, to decry and depreciate the ancient rites
and ceremonies of the natives, and to exalt the ellicacy and perfection of
her own. Arguments, however, were in vain ; power soon decided the
controversy in favour of the latter. We are informed by Bede, that
• Vol. ii. p. 32.
>• TrBltatu do rorigiiie della Musica, 1774.
' Apptmdix to Walkot'!> Irish Bards, p. 26.
184 • PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
James the deacon instructed the clergy of York in singing after the
Romish manner, as Stephen did the northern ecclesiastics. Pope
Agatho thought the establishment of the Gregorian chant so important
an affair, that he sent John his precentor hither for that purpose.
These efforts of the Papal See, seconded by the favour of the British
princes, soon extinguished every spark of our (the English) ancient
music, and confirmed the slow, spacious, and unisonous melody of plain
song. The perpetual use of it to both clergy and laity was secured by
canons, and when it became a commutation for sins and fasting, the
practice of it must have been universal. 'Tis then no wonder that the
taste of the nation accommodated itself to this chant ; — a dull and heavy
modulation succeeded, well fitted to a state of spiritual thraldom, and to
express the dismal tales of minstrelsy."*''
In Scotland, where the same ecclesiastical institutions and regulations
prevailed as in other Catholic countries, the original vocal music of
the people must have been overlaid by that of the church in the same man-
ner, though not, perhaps, to the same extent. In one shape or other, it must
all, more or less, have passed through the hands of ecclesiastics themselves,
or of their pupils; that is to say, of persons who had been trained up in
the ecclesiastical tones ; for, from the time that the Gregorian chant first
found its way into Great Britain in the seventh century, it was taught
(as has been noticed in an early part of this Dissertation)'' gratuitously
to the poor, in connection with our collegiate churches, monasteries, and
other religious houses.*^ The music of the common people, therefore,
* Such was also the fate of the Anglo-Saxon literature — " It is not unreasonable," says Rit-
son, " to attribute the suppression of the romantic poems and popular songs of the Saxons to the
monks, vvlio seem not only to have refused to commit them to writing, which few others were capable
of doing, but to have given no quarter to any thing of the kind which fell into their hands. Hence
it is, that except the Saxon chronicle, and a few other traditional fragments, together with many
of their laws and a number of charters, deeds, &c. all which are, to be sure, of some consequence,
we have little or nothing original in the language, but Ijing legends, glosses, homilies, charms,
and such like things, which evidently show the people, from their conversion, at least, to have
been gloomy, superstitious, and priest-ridden." Ritson's Essay on National Song, p. 45.
' Supra, p. 28, note.
" The trainingof our youth in the Gregorian Chant continued till the Reformation. " It was
PRELIMLNARY DISSERTATION. 185
would naturally resemble that with which they had been familiar from
their infancy, and which they had been instructed to consider as the only
legitimate and regular style of melody."
It is impossible not to feel that the very general adoption of the plain
chant in the singing of popular songs and ballads, and the use of the ec-
clesiastical formula; in the composition of many of our favourite airs, (of
which the airs themselves all'ord undoubted internal evidence,) are circum-
stances which tend to impinge a little upon the originality of our ancient
vocal music, insomuch as almost to raise a question as to the antiquity of
required (says Dr M'Crie, in liis Life of Andrew Melville, vol. i. p. 221) of those who were ad-
mitted to St Leonard's College, that hcsidcs being of good character, acquainted with grammar, and
skilled in writing, they should be sufficiently instructed in the Gregorian Song. (Cantuque Grego-
riano sutticicnter instructum.) Papers of University. The religious of the Priory of St Andrews
were always celebrated for their skill in music, and singing formed one of the regular exercises of the
students." Boetii .\berdon. Episcop. Vita;, F. xxvi. In another place, {jtupra, p. 27,) it has
been shown that the music schools «ere continued in Scotland after the Reformation, even
till the middle of the last century. In England, this does not seem to have been the case,
as we find old Thomas Mace, in his work entitled " Musick's Monument," published in I(i76,
recommending to the adoption of his countrymen the very method which was at that time in full
operation in Scotland. (See Hawkins's Hist. vol. iv. p. 45.J.) This occurs in the course of cer-
tain remarks, in which he proposes to point out how psalms may be performed in churches without
the organ. Probably the want of these instruments to guide the voices of our congrcsations in
Scotland, rendered it inexpedient to dispense with the training and tuition which the music
schools atforded, and thus led to their continuation here longer than in the sister country ; but
as that plain and obvious ralio of utility still subsists in full force, why have they ceased to exist?
* Such are the charms of novelty in music, as well as in other things, that the conventional,
wherever it enters, is sure to succeed in displacing the natural ; a truth which shnuUl never be
lost sight of, in reasoning upon national music. If in Italy, at the present day, the |>riinitivc airs
of the people are dispelled at the presence of the more artful and luxuriant, but scarcelv more ele-
gant and tiisteful, strains of the musical drama, we may imagine how difficult it must have been at a
time when no ri'gular system of music existed, except the dull, hea\y, monotonous modes of the
church, for the natural melody of a nation to extricate itself from the pressure of the superincum-
bent mass. Upon this point, M. Muinzer, in his ingenious Essay on the Chants Populaires de
ritalie, ha* the following observations — " In propoition as the primitive character of a people
is effaced and disappears, when brought into daily contact with the stranger, are cffiiced and dis-
appear also their gynuine popular songs, soon supplanted by foreign melodies, and the songs which,
till then, confined within the precinris of halls and theatres, at List reach the streets
An opera was established at Sorrento, and in this country so abundantlv supplied
with popular songs, I searched long before finding any; because, wherever the doois of the
theatre are opened, the natural i.s sacrificed to the conventional — the music of the {leopleis dumb
liefore that of the scientific world."
2 A
186 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
a style of modulntioii which has generally been considered as separate
and distinct from the music of other nations. The same author," who
discards as utterly preposterous and incredible the tradition that two or
three of our popular tunes were derived from the Catholic ritual, has
ventured (in spite of the monstrous inconsistency which the proposition
involves) to throw out a doubt whether the music to which our secular
songs had been anciently sung consisted of uni/ thing hut the music of
the church. " As we have seen, the Scots had songs in the fourteenth
century, so no doubt had they tunes or music to them ; but of what na-
ture, and how far, if at all, resembling their now celebrated melodies, or
if, indeed, oni/ thing more than the plain church chant, is at present
almost beyond the reach of conjecture." But, although time and other
causes mav have conspired to rob us of any thing like written evidence
as to the actual state of our melody at this period, we see no reason why a
few conjectures may not be hazarded on the subject. Since the time of Mr
Ritson, — the Skene MS., the Information touching the chapel-royal, and
other documents, have furnished us with data which may assist in enabling
us to gratify our curiosity in points of this nature. From what has been
stated,*" the regulation requiring the musicians of the chapel-royal to ex-
ercise themselves in " old Scotish music," has very much the appearance
of having been a restoration of a m.uch more ancient usage ; and the
very expression old which is here used, (in the year 1631,) may, of itself,
be a sufficient answer to those who would argue that our melody was of
modern invention. But, what particular revolution in the manners,
taste, and habits of the people, would sanction the idea that our national
style of melody had sprung up posterior to the fourteenth century ? We
know of none ; — nor can we very readily conceive any change which was
likely to be attended with such an effect. Wherever national music
exists, we should consider it to be indigenous — based in the natural
constitution and temperament of a nation — " growing with its growth,
and strengthening with its strength" — liable to be modified by circum-
stances, but so deeply rooted and intertwined in its very essence, as to be
» Mr Ritson, — Historical Essay on Scotish Song, p. 91.
•> Supra, p. 156.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 187
nearly indelible by any revolution of time, government, or education. It
is bequeathed by fathers to their children, and passes with llie iniieritance
of the family. And why? Because it sinks deep into the heart, en-
deared to us by associations of home and kindred, and consecrated by
many of the warmest, the kindliest, and the most virtuous feelings of our
nature. " The peasant (says Leyden") has not learned his favourite airs
from a music-master or in a scientific manner; but he hasac(juired them
in his infancy, in the bosom of his family ; and in their tones he hears
the voice of his mother, of his sister, of his youthful love. There is no
fibre of his heart which does not vibrate to some of his well-known strains ;
— you cannot improve them to him ; you cannot restore him the tones of
affection which he loses by any alteration. Even if he has heard those
martial airs which celebrated the deeds of his ancestors, sung by their
descendants, his own relations, who are now no more, — would he change
those rude barbarous strains for the most delectable harmony which ever
flowed to the enraptured ear of mortals? No! The peasant will not
change or modify his ancient musical airs, till you drive him into civi-
lized life, and obliterate the vestiges of ancient tradition." If we look
for the origin of these airs, we need not expect to find it in *' nook mo-
nastic," or in " cloisters' pale," — neither in courts nor in camps, — but
apart from the haunts of learning and the busy hum of men, in trie re-
cesses, and amidst the beauties and sublimities of nature, in the valleys,
in the woods, and on the mountain tops. These are the airs which Bur-
ncy'' has correctly stated to be " as natural to the common people as
warbling is to birds in a state of nature :" always e.xpressive, and often
beautiful without art, they are the .songs of which the people were ori-
ginally the poets as well as the musicians ; and, as such, they have an
origin coeval with that of our history, — far higher in point of antiipiitv
than the music of the Christian Church. To use the words of Mason,
in his Caractacus, they are
" the ancientest of all our rhymes.
Whose birtii tradition notes not, nor wiio framed
Their lofty strains."
* Complaynt of Scotland, p. 276.
" History, vol. ii. p. 230.
188 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
This species of melody, possessed more or less by almost every nation, and
varying in each, according to their particular genius, taste, and character,''
together with such airs as were composed for the regulation of the
movement of the dance,*" we are to regard as the primary source of
the " rythm, accent, and grace of modern music," which Dr Burney,
in a passage above quoted, has more immediately ascribed to the
progress of the musical drama.'' And to the same cause, and the use
which modern composers have so frequently made of the chants po-
pulaires of different countries, in every department except that of the
church, we are chiefly to refer what has been called the ideal system of
modern music, — a system at once scientific and pleasing, and which we
find carried to its highest pitch in some of the symphonial compositions
of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, which not only delight us with
the richness and the brilliancy of their harmony and instrumentation, but
transport us into regions of enchantment by the variety of characteristic
associations to which they give rise, and by awakening our imaginative
faculties, conjoin with what may be termed the organic pleasures of the
art, all the higher enjoyment of which the poetical part of our nature
has rendered us capable.'^
a " Every nation," says M. Choron, " has its own peculiar style of music. Italy has the can-
zonelte, the villanelle, tlie estrambotte, Sfc. ; Spain, the bolero, SiC ; France, the romance, the vaude-
ville, ^-c. The history of this branch, though apparently of slight importance, is, however, as re-
spects the art in general, of much greater interest than would be at first imagined. First, because
the musical character of every nation is expressed in its songs ; and, secondly, because it is in this
kind of music that is to be found, as we have already noticed, the foundation of the ideal style,
and the elements of tlie modern system." Summary of the History of Music, by Alexander
Choron.
*• For the proper adjustment of measure, rythm, and the more minute subdivisions of time, ac-
cent, &c. we are mostly indebted to the " airs de danse," where these points were sooner perfected
than in any other branch of the musical art. There was a book of dance tunes published in Ve-
nice, in 1581, (II Ballerino di M. Fabritio Caroso da Sermoneta,) where the tunes were " well ac-
cented, phrazed, and divided into an equjd number of bars, with as much symmetry as those of
the present times," a circumstance which Burney says he had not remarked with any music of the
16th century, that he had seen. Hist. vol. iii. p. 297.
= Supra, p. 181.
'' In the opera, there is a peculiar appropriateness in the introduction of national melodies, ac-
cording to the scene where the action is laid ; indeed, we see uo reason why the same rule should
not hold here as in regard to costume. They have both, however, been singularly neglected, es-
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 189
It has been thought that the whole body of modern music may be
traced to the musical ideas of the ancient nations of Europe, and the re-
mains of the music of the Greeks, which are supposed to have been em-
bodied in the early psalms and hymns of the Christian Church, and par-
ticularly in the Ambrosian and Gregorian chants, the former of which
was instituted about the end of the fourth, and the latter at the end of
the sixth century." What was the character, and what the peculiar
tonality of the ancient Celtic music, we have no means of ascertaining.
We cannot even form an idea as to whether it was the same with, or dif-
ferent from, the music of the church, and it may be wrong to hazard even
a conjecture upon a matter so uncertain and so obscure. But we cannot
refrain from noticing a fact, from which it may be inferred, with some
degree of plausibility, that the style of the two, respectively, resembled
each other. The leading peculiarity, the omission of the fourth and
seventh, was most probably common to both. Wind instruments, as they
have been found much more frequently among savage nations than those
of the stringed sort, are supposed to have been of earlier introduction.''
On these instruments tliere is a ditficulty in the intonation of the fourth
and the seventh. On the chanter of the bagpipe and the flute a bee, the
fourth, which is made by keeping up the second, third, and fourth
fingers of the lower hand, is too sharp ; — (he seventh, again, which is
produced by keeping up the whole of the fingers except the upper one
and the thumb, is too fiat. W^e have here, therefore, a circumstance
(independently of the plain chant, where the omission of these notes
is so frequently observable) to which we may ascribe the origin of this
pecially on tlic Italinn stage. Witli all the exuberance of fancy which Rossini has lavislied on his
" Donna del Logo," we could never reconcile our minds to the un-Scotisli st\le and cliaracler of
the music. Rossini, himself, must have been conscious that he had here committed an error, a» lie
has not repeated the otfcncc in " Guillaume Tell," a more perfect production iu many wa)S, but
in which nothing has been more admired than the characteristic vein of Swiss melody which per-
vades it.
» See Choron's Sommaire, p. 21. Also Paper by M. Ketis Revue Musicole, v"". aniire.
No. 18.
'' Wind instruments seem also to be among the last which are destined to arrive at perfection,
as, notwithstanding the improvements of modern times, they arc still defective in their intonation.
190 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
peculiarity in our music f and, as its effect is not unpleasing to the ear,
when once it becomes blended with family and national recollections, it
is not difficult to imagine a people contracting a partiality for such a
succession of intervals.'' At the same time, we do not pretend to offer
any explanation of the causes which may determine a nation in the
choice of its musical intervals. " One may be prejudiced by long habit
to a major scale, another to a minor ; as well as to certain skips in their
melody, like the Scots ; and to a certain measure, like the Poles."'' Na-
tions, as well as individuals, have their peculiar habits and idiosyncrasies,
originating in circumstances incident to their temperament and history,
of which it often happens that they themselves possess no knowledge or
recollection, and which no investigation, however minute and curious, can
elicit. Although, therefore, we have alluded to the imperfection of wind
instruments, as one of the causes to which the omission of the fourth
and seventh mav be attributed, and although we have noticed the resem-
blance between the chief characteristics of the Scotish melodies and the
chants of the Romish Church, and have suggested some reasons to ex-
plain the intimate connection which formerly subsisted between the two,
and the manner in which they may have come to be assimilated, we are
far from supposing that any of these causes is sufficient to account for the
preference which the Scots have given to music of this particular style
and character. The use of the Catholic ritual in Scotland was no reason
why the popular music of the Scots should have been more deeply tinc-
tured with its essential qualities than that of other countries, where the
* It also serves to account for tliis peculiariry tliat the fourth and seventh are comparatively
difficult of intonation in singing. But when we see nations, the most barbarous, giving utterance
to successions of notes so chromatic, that, to execute them with precision, (a thing, however, of
which they have seldom any idea,) would demand the skill of a finished vocalist; this is a cir-
cumstance on which wo are not disposed to lay much stress, in determining the causes which
led to tlie avoidance of these sounds.
•> Plutarch, in his Dialogue on Music, in explaining the old enhctfrnonic of the Greeks, which
has been supposed to liave been the same with what has been called tlie Scotish scale, describes
its inventor, Olympus, as having formed it from choice, in consequence of having observed the
agreeable effect produced by his missing the third of every tctrachord in ascending. Burney's
Hist. vol. i. p. 21.
' Burney's Hist. vol. i. p. 57.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. IfU
same institutions and usages were equally, if not still more prevalent. In
like manner, if we arc to suppose that the occasional omission of certain
notes of the scale arose from the imperfection of the ancient wind instru-
ments, we refer to a cause which, though of almost universal application,
has only in a few instances been attended with the same effect. The
specimens of Norwegian melodies, given by La Borde in his Essai, in-
stead of being defective in the fourth and seventh, are singularly chro-
matic in the succession of their intervals. A collection of the airs of
Sweden," which we have lately examined, appear, with respect to the
scale on which they are composed, to be precisely the same with the re-
gular music of the present day ; and the same observation holds with
regard to a publication of Danish songs and ballads, which appeared at
Copenhagen in 1814.'' We may also refer to the music of Russia and
of Turkey. The last is said to possess not only all the sounds of ours
but the quarter tones. The music of the Egyptians is full of semitones,
and the Arabians " in sinking are accustomed to ascend or to descend
from one determinate sound to anotlier chromatically, or by still smaller
intervals than semitonic ones."c The music of the Persians and the
Hindoos, also, is said to owe much of its effect to the skilful manage-
ment of the chromatic and enharmonic tones both in singing and playing.
» Svcnska Folk-Visor Fran Forntiden, Samlade ocli Utgifne af Fr Gfijer ocli Arv. Aug. .\(-
zelius. Stockholm, 1814.
** Udvnigic Daiiskc Visor fra Middelaldercn, Copenhagen, 1814 In the preface to this work,
it is stated that the tunes there given are genuine relics of antiquity, noted by a native of the Faroe
Islands, n-lierc, and nut in Norway and Denmark, it is said, that the ancient airs of these coun-
tries are now to be found. The editor observes, " In Norway, as well as in Denmark, the
modern songs have superseded so completely those venerable simple airs, that afier having de-
scended from the palaces and castles to the cottages of the Danish peas.intry, they have been at
last expelled even from these asylums, and forced to fly to a part of the world so remote as the
Fariie Islands." Mr Jamiesou, in his " Northern Antiquities," (p. 370,) notices the existence of
such a belief, although he is not disposed to put much faith in it ; and yet, considering the quarter
from which it comes, it is unquestionably worthy of credence. " According to the best infor-
mation received in Copenhagen, from men ecgually distinguished for their extensive learning and
deep research in northern antiquities, there now exist no ancient popular ballads or national airs,
among the people either in Denmark or in Norway."
' New Edinburgh Review, vol. ii. p. 158.
192
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
From an idea that the notes most difficult to execute with the voice
are those which involve semitones, it has been assumed that the scale
most natural to nations, in a rude and primitive state of society, is one
similar to the so-called Scotish scale." But, although we are not much
versed in the music of savage nations, we must say that, in any speci-
mens of ihcir melody, if melody it can be called, which have fallen under
our attention, we have seen no evidence of the truth of this assertion ;
but, on the contrary, a great deal to bring our minds to an opposite
conclusion, — viz. that the chromatic series is the succession of intervals
which appears to be most agreeable to the taste of an uncivilized
people. We cannot here spare room for illustration, but our readers
will find one memorable example in Mr Graham's Essay on the Theory
and Practice of Musical Composition,'' — viz. a song and chorus of Canni-
bals, consisting almost entirely in a passage which slides through very
small intervals from E to G. The following, which we extract from one
of our last books of travels, Captain Alexander's " Voyage of Obser-
vation among the Colonies of Western Africa in 1835,"" published in
1837, will serve for another. It consists of a Fingo War-Song.
ti^'f .pir n
^
IE
^
^^
m
17
-d-9^
With these facts before our eyes, we feel it to be utterly impossible
to concur in the generally received opinion as to the existence of " a
* Speaking of the ecclesiastical chants, Burney says, (vol. i. p. 21,) •■ For want of semitones,
cadences are made from the flat seventh, rising a whole tone, in the same manner as among the
Canadians and other savage people ." Upon what authority did Dr Burney make this statement, and
in what quarter was he informed that the Canadians and other savage nations made their cadences
from the flat seventh ?
" Plate 384, No. 18.
' Vol. ii. p. 1 12.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 193
primitive national scale," consisting of certain " elementary tones prompt-
ed by nature,"'' and from which the fourth and the seventh of the key
are excluded ; which is not only said to be " the same in the most re-
mote and unconnected parts of the world,"'' and " natural to the lumian
voice in an uncultivated state,"" but to furnish us with such an infallible
test of antiquity, that, " in proportion as a melody approaches (to it) it
is to be reckoned genuine and ancient."''
Dr Burney originated this error, for error it unquestionably seems to
be. He was naturally much struck with the coincidence between the
tonality of the Scotish tunes and a Chinese scale of six notes mentioned
by Rameau, with a specimen of Chinese music in Rousseau's Dictionary,
both of which wanted the fourth and the seventh of the key ; and finding
a resemblance between this scale and the description given of the old
Enharmonic of Olympus, he was led to conclude, ^^ not that the Scots
borrowed their music from the Chinese, or that either of these nations
was indebted to ancient Greece for its melody, but that, as the Chinese
were extremely tenacious of old customs, and equally enemies to innova-
tion with the ancient Egyptians, there was a presumption in favour of the
high antiquity of tliis kind of music, and that it was natural to a people
of simple manners during the infancy of civilization and art. Burnev
had also seen one of the Chinese musical instruments, which wanted the
means of producing semitones. But the Chinese, according to Staunton,
possess " a vast variety of musical instruments formed upon the same
principles, and with a view to produce the same etlect with those of Eu-
rope.""^ — " The scale Mtiravi of Soma," (says a learned Reviewer,s) " as
well as a certain Chinese scale, shows that the Indians knew, like tiic an-
cient Greeks, how to give a peculiar character to a mode by diminishing
the number of its primitive sounds. But fhev were not, on tiiat account,
* Dissertation prefixed to Thomson's Melodies, p. 10.
' Ibid. p. 1.
• Ibid. p. 17.
■* Campbell's Introduction to History of Scotisli Poetry, p. 6.
' Burney 's History, vol. i. p. 41.
' Sec New Edinburgh Review, vol. ii. p. 620.
I Ibid. p. 523.
2b
194 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
ignorant of semitones, and of even smaller intervals, as has been stated
by modern musical historians. Need we mention that the very same
artifice (if it be one) of omitting certain sounds in the diapason of a par-
ticular mode, in order to produce a peculiar character of melody, occurs
in numberless passages of the best modern composers ?" To this cita-
tion, we cannot refrain from adding a few more observations from the
pen of the same author, Mr George Farquhar Graham, as they place
this matter of the scales in what we conceive to be their only legi-
timate point of view. We transcribe them from his recently published
" Essay on the Theory and Practice of Musical Composition,"'* a work
of which it may be said, that, within the same space, a larger body
of sound, varied, and practical information, was never condensed by a
more masterly hand. " We must not mistake (these) fragmentary for-
mulae for entire and peculiar scales independent of the general system
of sounds
Some peculiarities that have been observed in certain national tunes, as
the omission, in some instances, of the fourth and seventh of the key,
have been referred to scales of a particular kind, while it seems more
reasonable to refer them merely to the imperfections of some of the mu-
sical instruments employed ; for instance, the ancient flageolet, and the
chalumeau, &c. Scales, seemingly anomalous, may arise from such
causes, or from caprice, or conventional usage ; but all such scales are only
fragments of that general system of sounds which comprehends all man-
ner of appreciable intervals, many of which last are much smaller than
is commonly believed. It has been denied that the ancient Scotish
music contained any semitones ; but that this is an error is proved by the
Skene MS., in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh."
If any thing could be named as likely to have had the effect of render-
ing the Scotish and Irish music more light, airy, and animated, than
that of England, and of rescuing it, in a great degree, from the drawling
monotony of plain chant, we think it must have been the superior atten-
tion which was bestowed, in these countries, on the cultivation of instru-
mental music. The instrumental and the vocal music of a nation are
a P. 9. Messrs Black. Edinburgh, 1838. 4to.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 195
sure to react upon each other. The singer (as we know, from experience,
in our own times, where the practice is often carried to a baneful excess)
delights in imitating the effects and aping the fantastic tricks of the in-
strumental performer ; and as human nature is the same in all ages, we
are not to suppose that our progenitors were altogether free from that
fault. With them, however, it could not fail to have been attended with
the advantage of enlivening their melody, and of adding to a somewhat
limited stock of musical ideas. The early proficiency of the Scots and
Irish on the harp has been already noticed; and it is impossible (especially
as that instrument is supposed to have been chiefly used as an accompani-
ment to the voice*) altogether to separate any description which has
come down to us of the style of their instrumental from that of their
vocal music. The two, in fact, were too nearly allied to have been
otherwise than homogeneous in their principal qualities. That we have
such a description in the works of Giraldus Cambrensis is well known; and,
what is even more to our present purpose, it contains a comparison be-
tween the music of Ireland and Scotland and that of England, of so
distinct and explicit a nature, as, in our estimation, to go far to settle the
question as to the existence of our national style of melody, not merely
in the fourteenth, but as far back as the twelfth century. This musica
criticism, quite as eloquent as any that, ever and anon, fall from the
pens of our periodical writers when they wax warm in their panegyrics
on Paganini or Thalberg, and not unlike the whole style and tenor of
their phraseology, forms a part of a work which was read by the venerable
Archdeacon himself in the year 1187, before the University of Oxford,
in full convocation, at the most magnificent festival which had ever been
given at that renowned seminary of learning, " rivalling (as he expresses
it) the times of the ancient classic poetry, and wholly unknown in Eng-
land either in the past or present age." It should be premised, that
Giraldus was not only an excellent musician, but, having travelled a good
deal abroad, his opinion on such matters must have been the result of
extensive observation. Speaking of the Irish nation, he says'* — " It is in
» Sujira, p. 90.
' Topograpliia HiberniiE, lib. iii. cap. 2, p. 739.
196 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the cultivation of instrumental music alone that I consider the proficiency
of this people to be worthy of commendation ; and, in this, their skill is .
beyond all comparison superior to that of any nation I have ever seen ;
for theirs is not a slow and heavy style of melody, like that of the instru-
mental music of Britain, to which we are accustomed, but rapid and
abrupt, yet, at the same time, sweet and pleasing in its effects.^ It is
wonderful how, in such precipitate rapidity of the fingers, the musical
proportions are preserved, and, by their art, faultless throughout, in the
midst of the most complicated modulation, and most intricate arrange-
ment of notes; by a velocity so pleasing, a regularity so diversified, a con-
cord so discordant, the harmony is expressed, and the melody is per-
fected ; and whether a passage or transition is performed in a sequence of
fourths or of fifths, (by diatesseron or by diapente,) it is always begun
in a soft and delicate manner, and ended in the same, so that all may be
perfected in the sweetness of delicious sounds. They enter on and again
leave their modulations with so much subtlety, and the vibrations of the
smaller strings of the treble sport with so much articulation and brilliancy
along with the deep notes of the bass ; they delight with so much deli-
cacy, and soothe so charmingly, that the greatest excellency of their art
appears to lie in the perfect concealment of the art by which it is accom-
plished.
" It is to be observed, however, that both Scotland and Wales, the
former from intercourse and affinity of blood, the latter from instruction
derived from the Irish, exert themselves with the greatest emulation to
rival Ireland in musical excellence. In the opinion of many, however,
Scotland has not only attained to the excellence of Ireland, but has even,
in musical science and ability, far surpassed it, insomuch that it is to that
country they now resort as to the genuine source of the art."
» " Non enim iu his, sicut in Britanicis (quibus assueti sumus) instrumentis, tarda ct morosa
est modulalio, verum velox et preceps, suavis tamen et jucunda souoritas." This slow and slug-
gish style seems to have pervaded all the music of England, even to the very beat of their drum ;
altliDUgh upon this point it must' be allowed that the reply of the Welsh officer. Sir Roger Williams,
in the reign of Queen Klizabeth, to Marshal Biron, the Frencli General, when he spoke disparag-
ingly of the slow movement of the English march, was " a hit — a very palpable hit." — " True,"
said the Briton, " bu' slow as it it, il has traversed your master's country from one end to the
other."
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 197
Fohified by the authority of Giraldiis, whom the late Sir Richard Colt
Hoare, his biographer, has described as " one of the brightest luminaries
of the twelfth century," we may say, without fear of contradiction, that,
at this time, the Scots and Irish possessed a species of melody very dif-
ferent from the plain chant, to which most of the songs and carols through-
out Europe were then sung. But if the question were put, whether, at
this time, or for several centuries posterior to this, the English possessed a
species of vocal melody of a characteristic or national kind, distinct from
that of the church, we should be much disposed to answer it in the negative.
The same author whom we have just now quoted furnishes us with
some of the earliest information as to the practice of the English nation
of singing in harmony, in which they seem to have been quite as eminent
as the Scots and Irish were in music of an instrumental kind. And this
very practice, while the Scots probably confined themselves more to
single voice parts in their vocal pieces, would have naiurally tended
to round off their melody, to divest it of any abrupt and startling changes
of key, and thus gradually to accommodate it to those improvements in
the use of the scales and keys which were, from time to time, takiu"-
place, and which ultimately led to the formation of the modern system.
" They (the Welsh) sing not uniformly," as elsewhere, but in various
ways, and in many keys and tones ; so that in a crowd of singers, which
is their custom, you hear as many parts and different voices as you
see heads, all closing with e.vquisite softness, and blended together in
one rich harmonious strain. In the northern parts, also, of Great
Britain, beyond the Humber, and on the confines of Yorkshire, the
English who inhabit those parts, in singing, adopt a similar sympho-
niac kind of harmony, but only in two different tones and voices, — the one
murmuring the lower, and the other, in an equally soft and pleasing
manner, warbling the higher part. Nor is it by art only, but by an-
cient use, and as if now converted into nature by constant habit, that the
people of either of these countries have actjuired this peculiar faculty ;
for, so far has it extended, and such deep root has it taken in each, that
no melody is wont to be sung singly, but either in many parts, as among
■ We suppose that by this Giraldu<i meant that they did not sin^ in tlic ecclesiastical tones.
198 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the former, or in, at least, two parts, as among the latter. And what is
still more extraordinary, — the boys, and even those who are little more than
infants, (when they first begin to break out from cries into songs,) adopt the
same manner of singing.''^ We must admit, that so obvious an exaggera-
tion as this last mentioned circumstance casts a shade of suspicion over
the venerable author's testimony, and that, like many musical critics of
our own day, his language is too often vague and inflated. But we see
no reason to doubt the general truth of his statement as to the ancient
superiority of the English in vocal harmony. This is evinced by many
early specimens of their composition, the oldest of which is the song for
six voices already referred to,'' " Sumer is icumen," which shows that in
the latter part of the reign of Henry III. (1270) they wrote vocal music
according to the strict rules of counterpoint. J. Stafford Smith's Collec-
tion of Songs in Score, before the year 1500, furnish many other speci-
mens, the general character of which leaves no doubt that these cantiones
artijiciales, as Hamboys calls them, had got into common use among the
people, and that they preferred the pleasure of singing roundelays and
canons in the unison, and of " rouzing the night-owl in a catch," to the
charms of simple melody. Indeed, if we except dance tunes, one would
suppose that such a thing as simple melody was scarcely known to form
a part of the ancient music of England. Alluding to the " songs and
ballads, with easy tunes adapted to them," Hawkins^ says, " hardly any of
these, with the music of them, are at this day to be met with, and those
few that are yet extant are only to be found in odd-part books," &c. Rit-
son'' cannot conceive " what common popular tunes had to do in odd-part
books ;" but if he had been at all acquainted with music, of which he can-
didly confessed himself to be wholly ignorant, he would have seen that
Hawkins here meant it to be implied that the common popular tunes of
the English were all composed to be sung in parts ; and in his own " An-
cient Songs," we see none which do not answer that description, — with
one exception, and that consists of a class of songs without harmony,
» Cambriae Descriptio, c. IS.
b Supra, p. 153.
c Hist. vol. iii. p. 2.
■' Ancient Songs, Introduction, p. 37.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
199
and, we may add, at the same time, without grace, animation, accent, or
rhythm. Such, for example, as the following : —
( 1 )
^j „ W ,, J ^> o J ^^ J o u J-^^^J-
I7\
-O-
=cc
I have lo» - ei so mmy a day, light - ly ipod - do but bet - ter I may.
( 2)
/^ I I . . .11. /0»
mi^ j u.x^j .^^^^
31
i
Colle to me the ry3sh-es grene, CoUe to me.
0>
l.J'js", J.J .u.^^ ^
/^
«! — ^ d Q^
Colle to me the ryssh-es grene.
I— L
( 3)
Mu. ,..l
^
/T\
/^
O " ■
-o-
-&
\Vc'=t-run wyiule, when wyll thou ^ blow the smalle rayne douno can rayne ;
f7\
zle:
1 J - .1 J .1
o ■ v i
Oyst, )f my lovo were in my wniy-^t ^nii I in niy bed agayne.
^^
/T\
3SC
These we extract from the last mentioned work, as being about the
oldest extant.* The first, says Ritson, was taken from a MS. written,
" partly at least," in the times of Richard II. and Henry IV. (1377
to 1433.) The second and third are copied from a MS. of the reign
of Henry VIII.,'' and all of thoni, together with other ancient songs con-
tained in Ritson's and other collections, are of the heavy, drawling char-
> RitsoD, ibid.
* " CoUtf to me" is supposed to be the same with " Cou thou me," meatioiied in the Com-
plnynt of Scotland, tujira, pp. 64, 55.
200 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
acter ascribed to the English music by Giraldus in the remarks above
quoted, where he pointedly contrasts it witli the more enlivening strains —
the " modulatio velox et praeceps, suavis tamen et jucunda sonoritas" of
the Irish and Scots. The dissimilarity between it, and what we know of
the ancient Irish and Scotish music, will be at once acknowledged. The
one seems to have been not only much more limited in compass, but
dull, tame, and tedious, without variety or expression ; the other — wild,
irregular, and impassioned, varying in the length of the note according
to the word, and in the time, measure, rhythm, and accent, according
to the sentiment to be expressed. And yet, with all this dissimilarity,
there can be no doubt that the plain chant was common to both : we have
seen that, at this time, the music of all Europe was more or less regulated
by the tonal laws. The difference, therefore, striking as it is, must have
lain almost entirely in the particulars to which we have alluded, — the
superior freedom and range of the melody, the time, measure, rhythm,
and accent — elements to which we are to look, quite as much as to the
particular scale or system of sounds, in discriminating the points of char-
acter by which different melodies are distinguished. With respect to any
national peculiarities which might have attached to the music of South or
North Britain prior to the introduction of that of the Roman Catholic
Church, we have no historical evidence ; but such as they were, or might
have been, we believe them to have subsisted much longer in Scotland
than in England, because, notwithstanding the innovations of modern
improvers, as they would style themselves, many of our airs still retain
their ancient form and tonality ; — while those of England seem no longer
to carry with them any traits of melody which can strictly be denominated
either national or ancient ; so that, at the present day, it becomes difficult,
if not impossible, to point out the peculiar characteristics in which they
differ from the regular music of modern Europe.
The preservation of our national music may perhaps, in some degree, be
attributed to the comparatively tardy progress of civilization in Scotland.
The love of music and poetry is often the concomitant of barbarism.
" Where" (says Sir Walter Scott') " the feelings are frequently
stretched to the highest tone by the vicissitudes of a life of danger and
» Border Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 9!.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 201
military adventure, the predisposition of a savage people to admire their
own rude poetry and music is heightened, and its tone becomes peculiarly
determined." And, again, in speaking of the Borderers, from whom,
perhaps, the largest portion of our melodies has emanated, he says" —
" The tales of tradition, the song, with the pipe or harp of the minstrel,
were probably the sole resources against ennui during the short inter-
vals of repose from military adventure." The season when (to use
the words of Shakspearo, for where can we find words so expressive ?)
"grim-visaged war has closed his wrinkled front," — when "stern alarums
are changed to merry meetings," and " dreadful marches to delighted
measures," — is not the least propitious for the full and perfect enjoyment
of music and the dance; and it is probable that some of our best airs
have been composed during the short intervals of repose of a hardy
and warlike people, who were almost incessantly agitated by fierce and
bitter contentions. Much of it also may have sprung from districts,
where rumour " of unsuccessful or successful war" seldom, if ever, pene-
trated ; indeed, so many of our fine national melodies carry with them
the verv echo of our mountains and waterfalls, our "lens and our loan-
ings, — and the wild and artless notes of the shepherd's pipe are so often
discernible in the sweet and plaintive succession of their sounds, as, of
themselves, to demonstrate that much of our music must have been the
produce of those extensive tracts of pastoral country which, even yet,
cover so large an extent of Scotish ground. In the southern parts of
Scotland, in particular, says Dr Beattie, in his Essay on Poetry and
Music'' — "Smooth and lofty hills covered with verdure; clear streams
winding through long and beautiful valleys; trees produced without cul-
ture, here straggling or single, and there crowding into little groves and
bowers; with other circumstances peculiar to the districts I allude to,
render them fit for pasturage, nnd favourable to romantic leisure and
tender passions. Several of the old Scotish songs take their names from
» Border Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 8«.
•• P. 173.
2c
202 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
the rivulets, villages, and hills adjoining to the Tweed near Melrose;" a
region distinguished by many charming varieties of rural scenery, and
which, whether we consider the face of the country, or the genius of the
people, may, properly enough, be termed the Arcadia of Scotland. And
all these songs are sweetly and powerfully expressive of love and tender-
ness, and other emotions suited to the tranquillity of pastoral life." 'Hie
Hio-hlands, again, "^ " are a picturcs(jue, but in general a melancholy
country. Long tracts of mountainous desert, covered with dark heath,
and often obscured by misty weather ; narrow valleys, thinly inhabited,
and bounded by precipices resounding with the fall of torrents ; a soil so
rugged, and a climate so dreary, as in many parts to admit neither the
amusements of pasturage, nor the labours of agriculture ; the mournful
dashing of waves along the friths and lakes that intersect the country ;
the portentous noises which every change of the wind, and every increase
or diminution of the waters, is apt to raise, in a lonely region, full of
echoes, and rocks, and caverns ; the grotesque and ghastly appearance of
such a landscape by the light of the moon ; — objects like these diffuse a
gloom over the fancy, which may be compatible enough with occasional
and social merriment, but cannot fail to tincture the thoughts of a native
in the hour of silence and solitude."
" What, then, would it be reasonable to expect from the fanciful tribe,
from the musicians and poets, of such a region ? Strains expressive of
joy, tranquillity, or the softer passions ? No : their style must have been
better suited to their circumstances ; and so we find, in fact, that their
music is. The wildest irregularity appears in its composition ; the ex-
pression is warlike and melancholy, and approaches even to the terrible. '^
a Cowdenknows, Galashiels, Gala Water, Ettrick Banks, Braes of Yarrow, Bush above Tra-
quair, &c.
•> Essay on Poetry and Music, pp. 169, 173.
<= The very titles of the Highland airs are sufficient to evince the truth of this remark. Take
some of those in Macdonald's Collection, for example, " Wet is the night and cold" — " Many
are the cries and slirieks of woe" — " My cheeks are furrowed" — " This casts a gloom upon my
soul" — " The death of Dermid" — " The vale of Keppoch is become desolate" — " Sad and cold
are my people," &c.
PRELLMINAIIY DISSERTATION. 203
There is, no doubt, a considerable difference between the Higlilaiid
iuid the Lowland melody, although we think that Dr Beattie has overrated
it, when he says that it is as great as that which exists " between the
Irish or the Erse language, and the English or Scotch." The dilVerence,
in reality, is one of style and expression, rather than of genus, both being
composed according to the same scale. The old Irish vocal airs are also
characterized by a similar succession of intervals to the Scotish, but
those of a more modern date are chieily of a diatonic or fhroniatic struc-
ture, arising, it is supposed, from the harp having continued in use in
that country to a greater extent, and for a longer period, than with us.
Chalmers has said, that " the Welsh, the Scots, and the Irish, have all
melodies of a simple sort, whicii, as they are connected together by cog-
nate marks, evince, at once, their relationship and antiquity."'' Such,
however, is the regularity of the Welsh airs, and their conformity to
modern scales and keys, that we search in vain for any internal evidence
of the affinity here spoken of. Their more modern character has been
sometimes ascribed to the exclusive preference which the Welsh have al-
ways shown for music of an instrumental kind, and a still more plausible ex-
position may be arrived at wlien the regulations of the Eistedvodd come
to be more fully investigated, and better understood. But into these mat-
ters it is no part of our present purpose to enter ; the unexpected length
to which our observations have iiin, renders it imperative in us to avoid all
topics except those which are immediately and necessarily connected with
that under consideration. And yet we are conscious that the full and
[)erfect develo[)ement of this subject depends upon the carrying out of a
i^reat variety of collateral enijuiries, which, of themselves, would demand
no ordinary labour and thought. Much still requires to be done before the
historv and progress of Scotish music can be elucidated witli certaintv and
|)recision; and in one department, in particular, it has been a matter of re-
gret, that we have had no opportimity of adding to the stock of informa-
tion which we already possess. That the northern nations bv whom this
country was invaded and peopled during the earlier periods of our his-
» Cnlodoniu, vol. i. p. 476.
•204 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
tory, had, along with their manners, customs, and language, imported into
Scotland their music, both vocal and instrumental, we have no reason to
doubt; and to trace the coincidence of their national airs with ours, is a
task wiiich could scarcely fail to be attended with success. But the dif-
ficulty which we have experienced in obtaining access to authentic col-
lections of Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian airs, must prevent us from
expressing a positive opinion upon this point. We were certainly much
struck with the circumstance, that the second section of the very first
Swedish air which presented itself in the collection which we have above
named, and the corresponding part of " John Anderson, my Jo," should
appear to be almost identical. a But we find few other features of resem-
blance to the Scotish music in the rest of the volume, or among the
Danish airs which we have examined. On the other hand, we know
nothing for certain as to the genuineness and antiquity of these collec-
tions ; and we may mention, that when the celebrated Norwegian violinist,
Ole Bull, visited Edinburgh, in Spring 1837, upon being shown some of
the Scotish airs, he at once recognised them as of the same character
with those of his own country ; and we, ourselves, heard him perform
several of them in public, with a spirit and an expression which might
almost be termed instinctive.
Before closing our notice of the ancient Scotish music, perhaps it is
not too much to deduce another observation from the memorable critique,
by Giraldus Cambrensis, on the Irish and Scotish music of the twelfth
century. He has represented its style as lively and rapid, and contrasted
it with the dull heavy spirit of the English airs. Is it not probable,
therefore, that our oldest tunes were of the lively sort, and our slow airs
(and these possess the most decided ecclesiastical peculiarities) of more
recent origin ? We merely start the conjecture, and yet it is one which
we have sometimes thought strengthened by other considerations. We
have the evidence of Tassoni that, at the beginning of the seventeenth
century, Scotland was distinguished for its plaintive melodies ; but, at
this time, or anterior to this, we scarcely find any other instance where
* See Appendix.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 205
this part of our music is mentioned with approbation, or commented
upon in any kind of way, while the dance tunes appear to liave been
very much in vogue. The only reference to Scotish music in Mor-
ley's Introduction is where he says — " I dare boldly affirmc that, looke
which is lice who thinketh himself the best doscanter of all his neigh-
bours, enjoyne him to make but a Scotish ji/gge, he will grossly erre
in the true nature and qualitie of it. "a In like manner, the only notice
with which Shakspeare has honoured the music of Scotland, relates to
the same kind of tune. It is in "Much Ado about Nothing,"'' where
Beatrice says, " Wooing, wedding, and repenting, is as a Scotch jig,
a measure and a cinque pace ; the first suit is hot and hasty, like a
Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly modest, as a
measure full of state and ancientry ; and then comes repentance, and,
with his bad legs, falls into the cinque pace faster and faster, till he sink
into his grave." Then, we have the " chants des branles communs gais,"
published in Paris in 15C4 — the cliefs iVofuvre probably of " Cabrach,"
and the other violars or " fithelaris" of the court of the Jameses — the
Gows and Marshalls of the sixteenth century, and no less eminent, we dare
say, for the spirit and vivacity with which they gave effect to the move-
ment of tlie dance, at times, when the joyous character of the Scots was
wont to break forth with equal, if not greater, hilarity than in the present
day.
The slow, drawling, and monotonous style of many of the Scotish
melodies which were popular during the last century, is certainlv something
very difl'erent from the description given by the Cambrian churthman of our
ancient airs, and not a little at variance, we should say, with the spirit
and character of the nation,*^ — the perfervidum ingenium — the efferves-
cent enthusiasm of our countrymen. Some of these airs were composed,
and most of those which had been handed down from anti(|uity were
• P. 182, edit. 1597.
'' Act ii. scene 1.
° Speaking of our pronunciation, wliich lie contrasts with the " too slow and grave style" of the
English, Sir George Muoki-nzie says that that of the Scots is " like themselves, fiery, abrupt,
sprightly, und hold." Essay on the Elotiucnce uf the Uar. Mackenzie's Pleadings, p. 17.
206 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
essentially altered, by Oswald and others, especially by the former, a
person, whose taste in music, although he unquestionably possessed some
invcntivctalent, (would that he had possessed less!) was too much perverted
by the age in which he lived, for him to relish the simple notes of our
primitive melodies; and who, accordingly, so far from taking any pains
to preserve them in their original form, generally contrived to adapt them
to a formula of his own, in which phrases, the sole merit of which lay
in their being unaffected and pleasing, were exchanged for passages of
embellishment invented, in order to display the skill of the singer or the
performer, and artificial closes or shakes, substituted for the natural,
broken^ and often touching cadences of the original. ^
Of this, we are enabled to speak the more confidently, with the
Skene MS. before us. The favourable contrast which many of the
Scotish airs, therein contained, present to the dull, tiresome, and mere-
tricious productions, which, from time to time, have been palmed o(V
upon the public, under that name, and the vitiated copies of the same
tunes which have been handed down by tradition alone, are among the
most gratifying results of its discovery. We are now no longer at a loss
for a standard by which we can test the genuineness of our national music,
distinguish the true from the false, and separate the pure ore from all
admixture of baser metal. Whether or not they come from " the well
of (Scotish) genius undefiled" — we cannot say ; but they are a distance
of one hundred years nearer the fountainhead than any with which the pub-
lic have previously been acquainted. And it is also worthy of remark,
(we speak here of the principal Scotish airs,) that they are not cast in
the formal and elaborate mould which characterizes the artificial compo-
sitions of the age when the collection was formed. They are animated,
chaste and simple in their style and expression, and though " old and
plain," and more remarkable for spirit and originality than for elegance,
* In ceitain practical remarks as to tlie manner in which Scotish airs ouglit to be sung, Mr Tyt-
ler, in his Dissertation, recommends singers, by all means, to acquire the embellishment of a shake
by which they are to wind up the melody. Tempora muianiur, et nos muiamur in illii. Were a
young lady, now-a-days, to conclude a Scotish air in the way here proposed, it would occasion
nearly as much surprise as if she were to enter the room in her grandmother's hoop and high-
heeled shoes.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 207
it may be said of them, as of the poetical relics of ancient minstrelsy,
" With rough majestic force they move the heart.
And strength and nature make amends for art."
At the same time, we will not do them the injustice to say that they are
less smooth and flowing than the Scotish airs of a more recent date.
On the contrary, tliere are perhaps fewer of those sudden and unexpected
leaps in the melody which we find in the latter," and of this any one
may satisfy himself who will take the trouble of comparing the original
copies here given of " The Flowers of the Forest" — " Alas ! that I
came o'er the Moor" — and " Adieu, Dundee," with the modern ver-
sions of the same tunes. They will also see that tradition, and still
more, the unscrupulous treatment which they have received at the hands
of composers, have tended to injure, and not by any means to improve,
the originals, frittering away their simplicity by notes of rempUssage
and variations, and, in some instances, divesting them of the leading
points and characteristics upon which their effect and expression de-
pended But tliis is a subject on which it is not our intention to ex-
patiate. It is not for us to presume to arbitrate in matters of taste,
or to prejudge the public, to whom this Collection is now submitted, and
who will form their own opinion of its excellencies and its defects.
Whatever these may be, it will be remembered that it possesses more
than one recommendation, altogether independent of its musical merits.
It comes fresh from the hands of our forefathers of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, with all the features of their musical genius, style,
taste, and ideas, such as they were, fully impressed upon it. Fartlier, it
is well known, and has been pointed out in the course of the present en-
(|uiry, that the original versions of our ancient and most celebrated
Scotish airs were lost, and that they have for many years been given up
• It niuy bo aJilod, tlial tlic '• catcli," as Burncy calls it, (vol. iv. p. 457,) or ciistoni of " cut-
tiog short tile first of two notes in a melody," which certainly forms one of the most uhrupt fea-
tures of Scotish music, — so far as we can judpe from the Skene MS., where its existence can
scarcely be traced, is not chargeable against the ancient music of Scotland.
208 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
as irrecoverable.'' Contrary to all expectation, however, several of thorn
have been preserved by the Skene MS. ; and it ought, we think, to
afford satisfaction to every lover of Scotish melody and of Scotland,
that relics so precious should at last have been saved from destruction,
and thrown into a form which may go far to prevent the occurrence of
such casualties in future. Besides the airs that are known to us, the col-
lection contains others of great beauty wliich have not been heard for
many years, and which are now awakened into new life, to run, it is to be
hoped, a new career of existence. To this extent, the bounds of Scotish
melody have been enlarged — in the only way in which, as appears to us,
any legitimate enlargement is practicable — and, through the other mu-
sical MSS. which wo have enumerated, and such as may hereafter offer
themselves, now that we have been led into a track hitherto unexplored,
more contributions of this nature may not unreasonably be expected.
Traditional sources, though secondary to these, should also be kept in
view ; and we are assured by Mr Blaikie, who has most laudably and
successfully exerted himself in tliis department, as well as by others, that
many fine original airs still admit of being recovered in the more secluded
districts of the country. But the selection here is a matter which re-
quires more than ordinary discrimination and judgment. There is much
truth in the following observation of an author whom we have frequentlv
had occasion to quote,'' and who, whatever may have been the infirmities
of his temper, was seldom wanting in acuteness and sagacity. " The
era of Scotish music and Scotish song is now passed. The pastoral sim-
plicity and natural genius of former ages no longer exist : a total change
" Sir John Hawkins, (vol. iv. p. 6,) after stating that the ancient Scotish melodies had been
committed to writing at the time when they were originally composed, observes, that " there are
no genuine copies of any of the Scotish tunes now remaining, they having for a series of years been
propagated by tradition, and till lately subsisted in the memory of the inhabitants of that king-
dom ;" and Mr George Thomson, a gentleman to whom the music and lyrical poetry of Scotland
are largely indebted, has remarked in the preface to his Scotish Melodies, •' What their precise
original form might have been cannot now be ascertained. Although wego back to the earliest printed
collection, it is far from certain that the melodies aie there presented to us as they come from
the composers ; for tliey had been preserved, we know not how long, by oral tradition, and thus
were liable to changes before being collected."
*> Mr Ritson — Essay on Scotish Song, pp. 110, 111.
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 209
of manners has taken place in all parts of the country, and servile imi-
tation (has) usurped the place of original invention. All, therefore,
which now remains to be wished is, that industry should exert itself to
retrieve and illustrate the rehques of departed genius."
The Editor has hitherto deferred to notice the obligations which he owes to those
gentlemen, through whose assistance he has been enabled to accomplish tiie task
which he has here undertaken ; and, were it a mere matter of private consideration,
he might have reserved the expression of his acknowledgments to the intercourse
of private friendship, the chief source from which their communications have ema-
nated. But, as they have contributed to render a service to the public, this is
scarcely enough ; and although he trusts that he may, without impropriety, avoid
particularizing, in this conspicuous manner, the aid which he has derived from some
of the individuals by whom his enquiries have been occasionally promoted, there are
others, in regard to whom he cannot do less than take this opportunity of briefly
recording the grateful sense which he entertains of their kindness, and the zeal
which they have manifested in the prosecution of the work. Without the co-opera-
tion of one gentleman of distinguished literary and musical attainments, it would have
been abandoned as hopeless. The Editor refers to Mr George Farquhar Graham,
the author of an Essay on the Theory and Practice of Musical Composition, and
other works, — by whom the MS. has been reduced to modern notation, and who
has, from time to time, given him the benefit not only of his suggestions, but of
his information, scientific as well as historical, which, in all matters of this nature, is
known to be as accurate and extensive as it is varied and minute. The Essay on the
structure of the Scotish Airs, so creditable to the talents of the writer, sj)caks for
itself, as to the extent of the Editor's obligations to Mr Finlay Dun. He has
also to acknowledge the assistance of two gentlemen, whose intimate acquaintance
with all that relates to our national antiquities has been of the highest utilitv
Mr David Laing, Librarian to the Society of Writers to the Signet, and Secretary
to the Bannatyne Club, and Mr .Alexander M 'Donald, Keeper of the Register
of Deeds and Protests in the General Kigistor House, and Curator of the Mu-
seum of the Society of Antiquaries. By the former, he has been shown a great
many scarce and curious documents, and had his attention directed to many
2 D
210 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.
channels of intelligence which would otherwise have escaped him ; while it has
not been one of the least of his privileges that he has had it in his power to con-
sult Mr Laing at all times, when necessary, in the course of his researches. To
I\Ir M'Donald he has been indebted for the " Information touching the Chapel-
Royal," the extracts from the treasurer's accounts, and other papers belonging
to the public records, which were suggested and rendered accessible through
his friendly zeal and attention. Several of the ancient musical MSS. referred to
in the course of this Dissertation, have been obtained through the kindness of Mr
Blaikie of Paisley, who had exercised his ingenuity in deciphering the tablature
long before it ever came under the attention of the Editor, and who, in the most
liberal manner, not only conceded to him the unrestricted use of the original docu-
ments, but, of his own accord, put the Editor into entire possession of the result of
his labours — a favour much greater than any that he ever could have looked for, far
less solicited ; and which, together with Mr Blaikie's personal communications, has
done much to enhance the value of this publication. Other MSS. have been
obligingly communicated by Mr Thomas Lyle, Surgeon at Airth, the author of
several pleasing and popular lyrical pieces, and editor of a volume of " Ancient
Ballads and Songs;"* and by Mr Waterston, Stationer in Edinburgh.
In conclusion, the Editor has great pleasure in stating how much this undertak-
ing has owed to Mr John Bayne, W.S., Lecturer on Law to the Juridical Society,
whose professional avocations have not extinguished his love of the arts. Had it
not been for the ardour which this gentleman evinced for unravelling the contents
of the Skene MS., it is more than probable that it would still have continued to
slumber, along with many of its unedited contemporaries, in the silent depository
to which it had been consigned.
a London, 1837.
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EXPLANATION OF THE TABLATURE AND MODE OF
INTERPRETATION EMPLOYED.
The tablature or literal form of notation in which the Skene MS. is
written, although it has been in disuse for many years, was formerly the
customary and established method of noting music for instruments of the
Lute species, besides being sometimes adapted for the Viol.
The notes are expressed by the letters a, b, c, &c. Those letters, how-
ever, are not used like ordinary musical characters to denote the intervals
of the diatonic scale or gamut, but the semitones of the chromatic scale,
ascending in regular progression from each of the open strings of the in-
strument. The strings are indicated by the different lines of the stave,
and above each of the lines is placed the alphabetical character by which
the particular note is represented. A, is always used to signify the open
string; b, the semitone above that; c, the semitone above that again,
and so on. Indeed, as the necks of these instruments were Jretted by
small strings tied round them at distances denoting a semitonic interval,
and the frets were marked b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, &c., these characters were
just the representatives of the frets. The duration of the sounds is ex-
pressed by minims, crotchets, quavers, &c., placed above the stave, and
immediately over the letter or letters which they are intended to affect ;
and each of the musical notes is held to apply to the letters immediately
following, making them of the same length with the first, until some new
note occurs.
It will be observed, that, although the stave of the Skene MS. has
only four lines, the mandora or mandour, a kind of small lute, for whicfi
it was written, must have had at least five strings. This appears from the
•212 EXPLANATION OF THE TABLATURE, &c.
circumstance that the letters occasionally go tinder the fourth line, in all
which cases they refer to a string of the instrument lower than the fourth.
See Hawkins's Hist. vol. iii. p. 1G3.
A necessary consequence of writing music in tablature is, that the re-
lations of the sounds expressed by the letters must vary according to the
accordatuTa or tuning of the instrument, which was not always the same ;
and in the Skene MS. two different adjustments of this nature appear to
have been employed, jj -g- .
One of these adjustments was equivalent to the following, — ^''^ ,,
and the expression of its scale in letters would be as below : —
The other was what was called in the MS. the " Old Tune'"
(accordatura) of the Lute, — in common notation as follows, — ^
and in tablature thus : —
^m., I , , . t'^'^-^*^*^''^
In these diagrams the modern notes above, on the stave of five lines,
represent the equivalents of the letters written below on the stave of four
lines, as in the Skene IMS. The o marks the position of the open strings.
Speaking of the specimens of French airs of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, which La Borde has given in his " Essai," Dr Burncv
observes* — " When we see how they are tricked up by the Editor with
Hi=t. vol. iii. p. 595.
EXPLANATION OF THE TABLATURE, &c. 213
all the chromatic learning of modern times in the accompaniment and
taste, in the appogf^iaturas and embellishments, it destroys all the re-
verence and respect which, in their native simple garb, they would have
inspired. This want of fidelity in copying throws a doubt upon all the
manuscripts and representations of ancient things that come from
France." In the history of an art, nothing can ascertain its state and
progress at different periods of its cultivation, or satisfy a careful en-
quirer, but the most genuine fac-similes."
Impressed with the justness of this principle, and the correctness of the
views here expressed, although it would have been an easy task to have
furnished the airs of the Skene MS. with piano-forte accompaniments, and
even some of them with words, and thus to have adapted them to popular
use, it was felt that this could not be done without encroaching upon that
authenticity and fidelity of translation which the public were entitled to
expect in a work of this nature, and which would alone enable them to
point to these airs as the ancient music of Scotland without any intermix-
ture of modern ideas. For this reason, it was deemed advisable to adopt
as strict a mode of interpretation as practicable ; representing the notes
in modern characters, exactly as they appear on the face of the MS.
Nor is it any e.xception from this rule, that the semibreves and minims
should be exchanged for crotchets and quavers, the same proportion
being preserved throughout, and the last mentioned symbols in modern
notation being equivalent to the two former in that of an older date. It
should be mentioned, however, that the ignorance of rhythm which pre-
vailed at the time when the MS. was written having occasioned some
irregularities in that part of the transcription, the translator has some-
» We are afraid that even M. Michel's ch-pant work, tlie " Chansons du Cliatolain de Coucv,"
iiowever satisfying in a hterary point of virw, will scarcely, in so far as the music is concerned, re-
deem his countrymen from the slur which Dr Uurney has here cast upon them, (somewhat more
sweepingly, perhaps, than was fully warranted.) Hut the late M. Perno, hy whom the airs were
deciphered, and who was a composer of preat Karning, from certain admissions which he has
made, (p. 148,) leads us to infer that he had adjusted the melody to the modern scale ; while his
accompaniments ate not only modern in their style, but artificial, chromatic, and not accommodated
so much to the character of the melodies as to the (oste of the preaent d.ty.
214 EXPLANATION OF THE TABLATURE, &c.
times required to exercise his judgment with respect to the duration
of the particular sounds ; as well as the division of the series of these by
means of bars, so as to distinguish the different phrases of the melody."
It was also thought right to prefix to the different airs the measure of
the time, and the signature of the apparent key, neither of which has
been done in the original. To give the precise pitch upon which the
melodies are set has not been attempted, as we have no certain know-
ledge of the diapason or concert-pitch of the age when the MS. was
written. And this can be of little consequence, as the process of transpo-
sition would still have been necessary with most of the airs, from their
having been removed from their original keys, on being transferred to
the MS., in order to accommodate them to the instrument for which they
are there arranged.
» No liberty has ever been taken in substituting one note for another, except in a few cases
where a clerical error in the MS. has been corrected; and when these occur, the nature of the
mistake has been explained at the foot of the page.
THE SKENE MANUSCRIPT.
,• The whole of Ihe Airs contained in this Collection, as deciphered from the Skene MS., and now
published, for the first time, by the special permission of the Faculty of Advocates, are Copyright.
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NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. I._" ALACE YAT I CAME OWR THE MOOR, AND LEFT MY LOVE
BEHIND ME."
" Ramsai," says Burns, *'■ found the first line of this song, which had been pre-
served 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. Where old titles of songs
convey any idea at all, it will generally be found to be quite in the spirit of the air."*
It appears, however, that Ramsay was scarcely so fortunate. What he found was
something much less poetical — " The last time I came o'er the moor" — but a poor
substitute for the empassioned ejaculation — " Alas ! that I came o'er the moor ;"
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 ditly.
The subject was one which would have better suited the ardent temperament of
Burns; and had he known the original title, and the expressive melody with
which it was associated, they would, doubtless, have elicited one of his most spirited
and pathetic effusions.*"
It will be at once perceived that the same deteriorating influence which has de-
faced the title has extended itself to the air ; and if tradition has been truly repre-
sented to be a species of alchemy, which converts gold into metal of an inferior qua-
lity, the proposition could hardly be better illustrated than by comparing llie ge-
nuine copy of this beautiful and characteristic melody with the niixlem version.'
• Cromek's Select Song». vol. i. p. 22.
^ Even before Ramsay's limr, " The last time I came o'er the moor" oppean to have super-
scJed the old title, as we find the air under the former name in Mr Blnikie's MS. of 1692.
' The reader will find a copy of the modem air in the Appendix.
2 E
254 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
In the latter, while the p^eneral outlines are retained, all the finer traits of the modula-
tion have disappeared. Our musical readers will at once perceive to what we allude.
In the ancient melody, which appears to consist of the first sixteen bars, (the rest be-
ing a sort of symphony,) the first measure, from the outset, may be considered to be
in the relative minor of the key to which the air properly be longs — a strain admi-
rably expressive of the sentiment of the song — it then rises into the dominant,
at the commencement of the second part, and concludes in the tonic ; while, in
the modern version, the empassioned tones with which the original song com-
mences are exchanged for a few unmeaning notes, and, throughout, little more is
perceptible than the ordinary modulation between the dominant and the tonic. The
flow of the ancient melody is also more smooth and equable, and perfectly free from
the formality of the modern, which looks as if it had been got up by some song-
wright of the last century, who, being totally insensible to its natural beauties, had
reconstructed it upon a plan of his own, concluding, in the artificial manner of the
day, by a regular cadence and sliake, — a style of embellishment now happily dis-
pensed with in these artless compositions, and reserved for music of a scientific
character.
No. II.—" PEGGIE IS OVER YE SIE WITH THE SOULDIER."
The modulation of this air is perfectly national, and in the second part it bears a
resemblance to the lively Scotish tune, " Hey Jenny come down to Jock." The
words, if it ever had any, are no longer extant.
No. III.—" TO DANCE ABOUT THE BAILZEIS DUBB."
Contrary to what might be expected from the name, this does not seem to have
been a dance-tune, but a slow air, and one which, strangely enough, re-appears in
the collections of the last century under the name of " Wae's my heart that we
should sunder ;" though, according to custom, protracted to double its original length.
Still more singularly, the air in the Skene MS. (No. XII.) called, " Alas this
night that we should sinder," though it corresponds in name with that now men-
tioned, is essentially different, and, like many others in this collection, perfectly
new to the present age. From this we may learn how unsafe it is, in enquiries of
this sort, to infer the antiquity of a tune from that of the words.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 255
No. IV._" LADYE ROTHEMAYIS LILT."
We believe this to be the air of one of the most poetical and interesting of our
ballads, — that upon the burning of the castle of Frendraught. It was first printed
in a complete form in " The North Country Garland," in 1824, a small volume,
which was only intended for private distribution ; so that we should have been in-
clined to have inserted it entire, had it not been that, since that time, it has ap-
peared in two different collections, illustrated with very full historical notes, to which
we refer our readers for the details of the story. These are Motherwell's Minstrelsy,
(1827,) pp. 161, &c. and Chambers's Scottish Ballads, (1829,) pp. 85, &c. It com-
mences —
" The cighteentli of October
A dismal tale to hear,
How good Lord John and Rotliiemay
Was both burnt in tlie fire.
" When steeds was saddled and well bridled,
And ready for to ride,
Then out came her and false Frendraught,
Inviting them to bide."
Being in the common ballad metre, the perfect correspondence of these verses
with tlie first and second measure of the tune, to which tliey adapt themselves with
peculiar felicity, is a circumstance which goes but a short way to establish their
mutual connection. The manner in which they become more particularly asso-
ciated is, that the mother of .lohn Gordon of Kothiemay, a youth, who, upon
this occasion, perished in the flames, along with the young X'iscount of .\boyne,
was the Lady llothiemay — tlic wife of William Gordon of llotiiioniay, who was
slain in a fray with Frendraught, on 1st January 1630. The fire of Frendraught,
a mysterious and Iiorrible transaction, which was never fully explained, took place
in October of that year.
From the presumed date of the Skene MS., this tune must have received the
name of " Lady Rothiemay's Lilt," several years previous to 1630, probably on
256 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
the occasion of her marriage ;' for in the state of affliction into which that family
were thrown, by the catastrophe of Frenclraught, we cannot suppose it to have
sprung up after that event.
Another air in the Sivene MS. is similarly situated, " Lady Cassilles' Lilt," which
turns out to be the identical tune to which the ballatl of " Johny Faa, or the
Gipsy Laddie," founded upon the supposed elopement of that celebrated personage
with this lady, has, from time immemorial, been actually sung.** We have here
direct evidence of the fact, the popularity of the tune and the ballad having both
been continued to the present day. In the one now under consideration, we are
left to infer their mutual connection from the circumstances which we have above
pointed out; and one of these embraces a fact which, so far as we know, has never
hitherto been noticed, — viz. that the ballad-mongers of these days were in the cus-
tom of adapting their verses, when they related to the members of a particular fa-
mily, to any popular lilt or tune which might happen to bear their name.
No. V.—" I LOVE MY LOVE FOR LOVE AGAIN."
This is the prototype of the tune of " Jenny Nettles," though somewhat wilder
and more chromatic in its modulation. When played fast, the latter makes an ex-
cellent reel, and it is our belief that to this it owes its celebrity. The words of the
song, " O, saw ye Jenny Nettles," have no merit, poetical or otherwise, to recom-
mend them. It must, therefore, have been the music which cast its magic spell
over the memory of this person ; for Jenny was not formed of " the stuflF that
dreams are made of," but a real character of flesh and blood, a native of Falk-
land in Fife, and flourished in the early part of the last century ; and her fate,
though sufficiently melancholy, was, in reality, no more than what has happened to
many a hapless maiden before and since her time, whom the genius of song has passed
over in silence. She was betrayed by a gay deceiver who figures under (what we
* There is a fine strain of pastoral siinplicit}r in the air itself, which would lead us to suppose
it to be of considerable antiquity.
i> See No. XXX.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 257
presume to have been) the fictitious name of " Robin Rattles," and committed a cer-
tain rash act very common in these cases. The scene of tiie catastrophe was about a
mile from Falkland, on the side of the road leading to Strathmiglo, and the tree
upon which she was found suspended — one of the last survivors of the king's
forest — was in existence, and continued to be pointed out by the neighbours, till
within these few years. They also tell a story of two farmers who got a sad fright
on the occasion of Jenny's suicide. It was a fine moonlight evening, and as they
were returning from the market to their homes in the neighbourhood of Strath-
miglo, the clearness of their vision somewhat dimmed by the manner in which they
had concluded the transactions of the day, they descried their old acquaintance on
the side of the road, but in such a position that they were not at all aware of what
had happened. The weight of her body had bent down the branch of the tree
from which she was dangling, so that her feet rested upon the ground, and she had
all the appearance of being in a half-sitting posture. One of the men gave her a
push with the butt-end of his whip, and called out, " Stand up, Jenny Nettles,"
when the body swung back in a manner so awful, as at once to convince them of
the horrible truth, and to throw them into such a state of consternation, that they
both galloped oflF, never daring to look back until they reached their own fire-
sides, and, as the people in that quarter say, had " got into their beds between
their wives and the wall."
The body of Jenny was carried off to the grave exactly in the state in
which it was found, and buried about two miles from the spot where her death
had taken place. Like those of other memorable characters, her remains have
since been disinterred ; and although they were for the most part decayed, some of
the ornaments of her person, and several coins which were supposed to have
been left in her pockets, were found in the grave. The former consisted of
twenty-six beads wliich had once encircled her fair neck, and two gold ear-rings,
each about an inch and a half in diameter, and apparently of French manufacture,
the gifts, no doubt, of the faithless " Robin Rattles, " who i.^ said to have been one
of a party of soldiers who were stationed for some time at Falkland Palace, and who,
after ruining, had deserted her. The ear-rings and one of the beads m^y be seen
in the possession of Mr Frascr, Lapidary, South St Andrew Street, Edinburgh,
whose museum contains many curious anliquariaii relics, and objects of natural his-
tory.
•258 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. VI.—" BLEW RIBBENN AT THE BOUND ROD."
We find this tune in Gow's Complete Repository (Part II. p. 4) under the
name of " The Blue Ribbon, Scotish measure," and that our readers may compare
it with the old version now produced, we have inserted a copy of the former in
the Appendix. Upon the whole, considering the great interval of time which has
elapsed since the air was played in the form in which it appears in the MS., it is
surprising that the difference between the two should be so slight. The Gows
have certainly been reflected upon with no ordinary injustice for not having given
our Scotish airs in their characteristic manner, (see Logan's Scotish Gael, vol. ii.
p. 259.) So far as we have observed, there is not only much fidelity, but there are
very strong traits of nationality, in the airs which have been preserved and composed
by the late Neil and Nathaniel Gow, Marshall, and others of that class.
As to the meaning of the term " Blue ribbon at the bound rod," we have no dif-
ficulty in recognising " blue ribbon" as the national cognisance. " Blue" is said to
have been the favourite colour of the Britons from the earliest times, and the Low-
land Scots, as their " blue bonnets" to this day testify, have always shown a more
than common partiality for it. " Blue" was the livery of the Covenanters, and, to
go farther back, in the Chartulary of the City of Edinburgh, (vol. i. p. 33,) there
is particular mention of a " l)anner" called the " Blue Blanket," which was em-
ployed about the end of the fifteenth century in calling out the train bands of the
metropolis."
In regard to the expression " Bound Rod," we have a choice of conjectures. It
was certainly a term used to signify a place of rendezvous for the military, — and it is
not improbable, that the " blue ribbon at the bound rod" might have consisted of a
rod or pole, with blue streamers attached to it, forming a banner or flag-staff, to
indicate the place of muster, — in other words, the place where soldiers were re-
quired to make themselves " boun ;" i. e. " prepared," or, in modern phraseology,
to hold themselves in readiness, — an instance of which we notice in Kennedy's
Annals of Aberdeen, (vol. i. p. 209,) where it is stated that on the 1st May 1639,
the magistrates were ordered to furnish every fourth man completely armed to the
" bound rod" at Edinburgh. It is most likely, therefore, that this air was a Scotish
national gathering or muster-tune.
a See Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 280.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 259
" Bound Rod," or " road," has also a more limited signification. It is tlie
boundary road or line of demarcation which separates the independent burgh of
Berwick-upon-Tweed from the territories of Scotland, forming the base of the
triangle which circumscribes the confines of that burgh, and of which the German
Ocean and the Uiver Tweed compose tho other two sides. In the charter by
James VI., (30th April 1604,) by which that monarch established the neutrality
of Berwick, and its independence of both realms, we see the " Bound road" referred
to as one of its ancient and accustomed limits. Previous to this, the town of Ber-
wick had been the subject of many fierce conflicts between the English and Scots,
although it had remained in the exclusive possession of the former from the year
1482, when it was taken by the Duke of Gloster, afterwards Richard III. If,
therefore, we are to presume this to have been a tune which bore relation to any
military triumph of the Scots at the " Bound rod" at Berwick, we throw back its
antiquity to a very remote period.
No. VII— " JOHNE ANDERSONNE, MY JO."
Although this celebrated air has often been talked of as ancient, its discovery in
this MS. is the first evidence whicl\ has transpired of its antiquity. Tradition has
in this instance been more than usually faithful, and there is scarcely any essential
point of difference between the old and the iieiv, e.vccpt in the introduction into the
former of the sharp third towards the close of the air. This manner of concluding
minor movements in the major is called the '* Tierce de Picardie," — owing, as Bur-
ney says," to the number of cathedrals in that province, where the practice, as lie
states, continued even at the time he wrote. It is still occasionally had recourse to ;
and ill the grave and severe style it is not objectionable. But although Padre
Martini'' recommends it for general adoption, his views have not met with the appro-
bation of modern composers, and its effect has been confined to music of an ecclesiasti-
cal order, except in a few rare instances, some of which we have casually noticed in
the secular compositions of Beethoven, Weber, Neukomm, and others, but whore
the object seems to have been rather to produce a pujuaiite effect, and to surprise,
tiian to gratify the ear. As long as the secular mu-ic continued to be governed by
the ecclesiastical, it was of course very common. Thus it makes its apjH-araniv in
Vol. iii. p. 114
• Vol. iii. p. 114.
'' Saggio di Cuntrappunto. Prima parte, 23.
260 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
the '•■ Alman" of old Robert Jhonson, (quoted by Burney, vol. iii. p. 118.) The
favourite glee, " We be soldiers three," as given by Hawkins, vol. iv. p. 22, con-
cludes in the same way ; and in the Skene MS. there are other instances where it
is introduced, besides the subject of the present note ; we would particularise " I
love my love for love again," No. V. ; and " Shipeherd, saw thou not," No. LXXV.
" John Anderson" has been already refened to (Dissertation, p. 181) as one of the
songs which were composed in order to ridicule the Popish clergy at the Reformation ;
and Dr Percy, by whom that circumstance is mentioned, gives the following as
the words of the original ballad : —
WOMAN.
" John Anderson, my jo, cum in as je gae bye,
And ge sail get a slieip's heid weel haken in a pye,
Weel baken in a pye, and the haggis in a pat :
John Anderson, my jo, cum in and 5e's get that."
MAN.
" And how do ^e, cummer? And how hae je threven ?
And how mony bairns hae 36? Wom. Cummer, I hae seven.
Man. Are they to 3our awin guidman ? Wom. Na, cummer, na ;
For five of them were gotten quhan he was awa."»
One of the most characteristic features of the air appears in the Swedish ballad
tune which we have given in the Appendix. It is also curious to observe the same
air, " John Anderson, my Jo," lurking among some ancient English popular dances
under the title of " Paul's Steeple," in Hawkins's Hist. vol. v. p. 469 -^ and from
a musical MS. belonging to the Advocates' Library, (dated 1704,) we learn that in
Scotland it was formerly used as a country dance. It is here expressly arranged as
such, and after an explanation of the figure, we have the following note, which
throws a new light on the manners of the day : — " The tune is to be played even
through once over every time : so thejirst couple has time to take their drink. To
be danced with as many pairs as you please."
» The point here is said to be that the " seven bairns" are intended to represent the seven sa-
craments, five of which are the illegitimate offspring of Mother Church.
■" We reckon the old favourite countrj' dance, " Roger de Coverly," which Hawkins gives in
the page immediately following tliat now referred to, (p. 470,) another Scotish tune with an Eng-
lish name. It has been long known in this country under the title of " The Maltman comes on
Monday;" and, as such, now lies before us in a MS. collection belonging to Mr Laing, dated
1706. The date of Sir John Hawkins's copy is not given.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 261
No. VIII._" MY DEAREST SUEATE IS FARDEST FRA ME."
It is much to be wished that collectors would keep in view the ancient titles of
these popular songs, as they form a clue which may sometimes lead to the recovery
of the songs themselves.
No. IX._" PRETTIE WEIL BEGANN, MAN."
This is a very pure specimen of Scotish pastoral melody, bearing a resemblance to
some of the beautiful Swiss and Tyrolese airs.
No. X.— « LONG ER ONIE OLD MAN."
This tune is the same with that known to us under the name of " My Jo, Janet,"
the words of which first appeared in Ramsay's Tea- Table Miscellany in 1724, and
do not seem, from their style and phraseology, to have been much older. Of the ori-
ginal song, " Long er onie old man," we have no trace ; but as " The Bridegroom
greets when the Sun gaes down," was the ancient name of the air of " Auld Robin
Gray," and no doubt suggested the modern ballad, it is not improbable that the
very humorous song of " My Jo, Janet," and " Long er onie old man," were allied
by some such significant bond of connection. See Cromek's Select Songs, vol. ii.
p. 2G ; also Chambers's Scottish Songs, vol. ii. p. 392.
No. Xl._" KILT THY COAT, MAGGIE."
In speaking of the song of " Saw ye nae my Peggy," Burns* says — " There is
another set of the words, mucii older still, and which I take to be the original one ;
■ Cromek's Select Songs, vol. i. p. 12.
2 F
262 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
but though it has a very great deal of merit, it is not quite lady's reading." The
verses here referred to commence " Saw ye my Maggie;" but we suspect the true
version to have begun as in the Skene MS.—" Kilt thy coat, Maggie"— to which
the music there given (which is quite different from the modern air of " Saw ye
nae my Peggy") perfectly corresponds. It is also mentioned in the trial of John
Douglas and eight women (belonging to Tranent) for witchcraft, on 3d May 1659,"
where the pannels confessed, among other things, that they had had certain merry
meetings with the devil, at which they were entertained with music, John Douglas
being their piper ; and that two of the tunes to which they danced were " Kilt thy
coat, Maggie," and " Come this way with me," &c.
No. XII._" ALACE, THIS NIGHT YAT WE SULD SINDER."
See No. III.
No. XIII.—" THE FLOWRES OF THE FORREST."
We have here the ancient air in its original purity, and any thing more solemn or
pathetic is not to be found in the whole range of Scotish melody. Adapted to Miss
Elliott's words, the effect is perfect ; so much better than when sung with the
vitiated modem version, that we almost think they had been composed for the
air in its genuine form.*" Mr Allan Cunningham very justly applauds these verses
of Miss Elliott, as an astonishing restoration of the antique " The most acute
poetic antiquary (he observes) could not, I think, single out, except by chance, the
ancient lines which are woven into the song — the simulation is so perfect. The
line with which it commences — ' I've heard a lilting at our ewes milking' — is old;
and so is the often recurring line which presses on our hearts the desolation of the
forest. Now, admitting these lines to be old, can we say that the remainder of the
song has not, in every line, in language and image, and sentiment, the same antique
hue, spirit, and sound ? The whole comes with a cry on our ears, as from the sur-
vivors of Flodden Field; and when it is sung, we owe little to imagination
* Abstract Records of Justiciary, (Advocates' Library,) p. 4fi6.
' We have inserted in the Appendix a copy of the modern version, that the two may be com-
pared.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 2(J3
when we associate it with the desolation of the forest, and hear the ancient wail of
the maids and matrons."*
The other words — " I've seen the smiling of fortune beguiling," &c. — have en-
joyed an extended popularity. They are tender and highly poetical, though not
for a moment to be compared to those of Miss Elliott. " Although they were
both," says Cunningham, " imagined for a while to be old compositions, there was
no need to call antiquity to the aid of two such touching songs ; and I have not
heard that even an antiquary withdrew his admiration on discovering them to be
modern."''
No. XIV._'« OSTEND."
This tune points to an event nearly contemporary with the MS. — the Siege of
Ostend, which, after a contest of three years and three months, during which it is
said that upwards of 70,000 men fell on each side, was taken from the United
Provinces by the Marquis Spinola, Commander-in-chief to Philip III. of Spain, in
1G04. The obstinate resistance of the Dutch, on this occasion, was the cause of
much disappointment to the aSSailants, and to none more than to Isabella Eugenia,
Govemante of the Netherlands, with respect to whom, it is related, that having
taken upon herself a vow that she would not change her under-garments until the
town had surrendered, the ladies of the court were latterly obliged to dye theirs, in
order to keep their vice-regal mistress in countenance.
By his success in the capture of Ostend and other feats, the name of Spinola
became so formidable, that apprehensions of an invasion, to be conducted by him
on the part of Spain and France, were afterwards entertained, in England at least.
— See Howell's Letters, vol. i. § 5, Lett. 13 ; also Ben Jonson's " Staple of News,"
iii. 2. That Scotland looked on with considerable interest during this sanguinary
and long protracted siege is evinced by the tune. Drummond, also, in his Polemo-
Middinia, makes an allusion to Spinola in the following passage : —
" ft sic turba liorrida mustrat.
Haud alitcr (jiiani si cum multis, Spinola, troupis
Proiidus ad Ostondani marchusset fortiter iirbeni."
The Songs of Scotland, vol. i. p. 209.
See Dissertation, pp. 152, 153.
264 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. XV._" MY LADIE LAUDIAN'S LILT."
This was probably Lady Lothian, spouse of Mark Kerr, Commendator of New-
bottle, who was created Earl of Lothian in 1606, and died in 1609. There was
also a Lady Loudon at this time, (daughter of the Master of Loudon,) who was
married to Sir John Campbell of Sawers, one of the Glenurchy family, in 1620.
But as the name " Laudian" — the common way at that time of spelling Lothian —
is very distinctly written in the MS., the former was most likely to have been the
person to whom the air related-
No. XVL— <■ GOOD NIGHT, AND GOD BE WITH YOW."
To this tune, which has been long popular in Scotland, there are attached the fol-
lowing verses, under the name of " Armstrong's Good night," said by Sir Walter
Scott to have been composed by one of that predatory clan of Borderers who was
executed for the murder of Sir John Carmichael of Edrom, Warden of the Middle
Marches, on 14th November 1600." —
" This night is my departing night,
For here na langer must I stay ;
There's neither friend nor foe o' mine
But wishes me away.
" What I have done througli lack of wit,
I never, never, can recall ;
I hope ye' re a' my friends as yet,
Good night, and joy be witli you all !"
Sir Walter, however, does not vouch for the originality of the words, and they are
obviously too general to have a definite application to any one. Farther, if the
tune had been publicly known as that to which " Armstrong's Good night" was
sung about the year 1615, when the Skene MS. is supposed to have been written, it
» Border Minstrelsy, vol. i. pp. 183 and 105.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 265
would most probably have been entered in the collection under that name; instead of
which, it is styled simply " Good night, and God be with you ;" which, in
modern usage, has been converted into " Good night, and joy be with you."
No. XVII.—" MY LOVE SHOE WINNS NOT HER AWAY."
Anglice — " My love she dwells not hereabouts." All that we need say of this airis,
that it is new to us ; and that, although it possesses various antique characteristics,
yet, contrary to the nonsemitonic theory, it is not marked by any avoidance of half
notes — an observation, however, which applies to so many of the tunes, that we need
not repeat it.
No. XVIII.—" JENNET DRINKS NA WATER."
We think that we can perceive more spirit and originality in this tune in its pristine
than in its modern form, and we have accordingly given the latter in the Appendi.x ;
though the slight change which it has undergone, during so long an interval, is the
circumstance most worthy of notice. The second part seems to have been a sort
of popular Scotish ritornello, as we find the same passage attached to several other
tunes in the MS.
No. XL\.— " REMEMBER ME AT EVENINGE."
The nearest approach to the title of this air that we observe upon ancient record
is " Lait, lait in evinnynges," mentioned among the tunes in Cockelbie Sow,
(1450,) Dissertation, p. 46. The character and leading ideas of the air resemble
the well-known tunc of " Dainty Davie" more than any with which we are ac-
quainted, and this last appears in Durfey's Collection, (1700.)
266 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. XX.—" I METT HER IN THE MEDOWE."
There is an old tune — " Down in yon meadow" — which Gay introduces into his
Opera of Polly ; but it is not the same.
No. XXI.—" BLEW BREIKS."
A dance tune.
No. XXII.—" I CANNOT LIVE AND WANT THEE."
A wild and curious melody in the true Scotish style.
No. XXIII.—" I DOWE NOT QUNNE (i. e. when) COLD. -
No. XXIV._" ADEW, DUNDIE."
A comparison between the ancient and modern version of this tune is certainly
much to the advantage of the former." The name itself — " Adieu, Dundee," be-
speaks an air of sentiment and emotion ; and here we have one which gives
" a very echo to the seat
Where love is throned."
The modern tune may be well enough fitted to the words —
" O whare did ye get that havermeal bannock ;
O sillie auld body, O dinna ye see ?"
* To satisfy such of our readers as may not remember the modern air, we have given it in tlie
Appendi.v.
»
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 267
And Hector Macneill has done the most for it in his " Saw ye my wee thing," a
justly popular ballad. But for the other, we desiderate vocal poetry of a higher class,
— something which, while it responded to the simple, affecting, and characteristic
modulation of the melody, would bring before our minds the scenes and images
which the ancient name of the air most naturally suggests. The recovery of
the old words would be better than ail ; but that is now hopeless, and we know of no
historical event or tradition connected with Dundee on which they were likely to
have been founded.
The variations to this air merit attention. They are appropriate, and rather a
graceful specimen of the composition of an age when, in all matters of this sort,
art was too often permitted to stifle the voice of nature.
No. XXV •< SHOE LOOKS AS SHOE WOLD LETT ME."
This seems to be a pipe tune. It concludes with the " ritornello" alluded to in
No. XVIII.
No. XXVL—" I DARE NOT VOWE I LOVE THEE."
This tine air has all the appearance of having been composed for the harp.
No. XXVn.—" LETT NEVER CRUELTIE DISHONOUR BEWTIE."
No. XXVIIL— '• ALACE, I LIE MY ALON, I'M LIK TO DIE AWLD."
i.e. I am likely to die an old maid ! This air strongly reminds us of Marshall's well-
known tune, " Of a' the airts tiie wind can blaw."
268 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. XXIX.—" THE KEIKING GLASSE."
In the style of the masque tunes of the reign of James VI.; without any tincture of
Scotish melody.
No. XXX.—" LADIE CASSILLES LILT."
It has been mentioned," that this air is the same with that which is popularly known
by the name of " Johnie Faa," and to which the ballad descriptive of the Countess
of Cassiilis' supposed elopement with that personage is sung. It is not for us to
repeat in this place any thing so well known. It will be enough to bring to the
recollection of our readers the opening verses, —
" The gypsies they came to my Lord Cassiilis' yett,
And 01 but they sang bonnie ;
They sang sae sweet, and sae complete.
That doun came our fair ladie.
*' She came tripping doun the stairs.
And all her maids before her,
As soon as they saw her weel fa'ured face.
They coost their glamourie owre her."
The only essential difference between the old and the new is to be found
in the last two bars, where the ancient copy is remarkable for a wailing, mor-
dctido sort of close, similar to what may be found in some of the other Scotish
Melodies in this Collection. As this concluding passage has been laid aside in
modern times, and does not readily admit of being adapted to the words of the
ballad, it affords an additional presumption that the air was known under the
denomination of " Lady Cassilles"' Lilt" anterior to the composition of the
verses, and the circumstances which gave rise to them.** In that case, " Lady
a See No. IV.
^' There is a tune called " The Gypsy's Lilt" in the Rowallan MS., (which is of the aame age
with the Skene MS.,) but it bears no resemblance whatever to Lady Cassiilis' Lilt.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 269
Cassillis' Lilt" may have been a family tune for many generations before the
Countess of " gypsy" notoriety saw the light. She is supposed to have been Lady
Jean Hamilton, daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Haddington, and the wife of
John, the sixth Earl of Cassillis. We observe, in the Scots Magazine for November
1817, a lively and agreeable paper on this subject from the pen of a distinguished
antiquary, together with a portrait of the lady herself, taken from an original picture
at Culzean House, and a copy of the ballad, somewhat different from that which oc-
curs in the common collections, and to which we would refer our readers. There
are two editions of the story, — one the poetical, and the other the prose version.
In the first, to use the words of the writer immediately referred to — " A very nu-
merous jury of matrons" — spinsters and knitters in the sun — " pronounce the fair
Countess guilty of having eloped with a genuine gj^isy, though compelled in some
degree to that low-lived indiscretion by certain wicked charms and philtres, of which
Faa and his party are said to have possessed the secret." And the scene concludes
with the whole party being intercepted by the Earl, and taken back to Cassillis
Castle, where fifteen of them are executed, leaving only one of their number, who,
in the common way in which the verses run, is supposed to " tell the tale." The
prose tradition, again, if not altogether exculpatory of the lady's virtue, is at least
somewhat less derogatory to her taste, her seducer being represented not as a
real, but a feigned gypsy, in the person of Sir John Faa of Dunbar. Her affec-
tions are said to have been engaged to this gentleman before she was married,
contrary to her wishes, to " the grave and solemn" Earl of Cassillis, (as he was
called,) — a stern Covenanter, who took a prominent part in his country's politics,
having been a delegate to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster on the
ratification of the Solemn League and Covenant in 1643. It is stated to have been
at this time, and while the Ivirl was absent on this very mission, that Sir John Faa
repaired to Cassillis Castle, disguised as a gypsy, and attended by a band of these
desperadoes, when the lady agreed to elope with him ; — that the Earl returned
h6me in time to set out with his followers and overtake the party before they had
crossed the Border ; and, having captured, brought them back to Cassillis, where he
hanged all of them, including Sir John, upon " the dule tree" — " a splendid and most
umbrageous plane which yet flourishes in front of the castle gate."* The Countess,
after having been compelled to witness the death scene from the window of an apart-
ment still called " The Countess's Room," is said, after a short confinement in that
Clmnibcrs's Scotish Ballads, p. 14-1.
2g
270 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
apartment, to have been immured in the house belonging to the family at Mayboie,
which was fitted up for her reception, by the addition of a fine projecting stair-case,
upon which there are still to be seen a set of carved heads representing the effigies
of her lover and his attendant gypsies. It seems, however, that there are a number
of carved heads in the windows of the upper flat of Cassillis Castle regarding which
tradition is silent ; and another circumstance tells still more unfavourably for the
truth of the story. This Lady Cassillis, who had two daughters, one of whom was
married to Lord Dundonald, and the other to Bishop Burnet, could not have been
less than thirty-seven years of age at this time, viz. in 1643, as she was born
in 1607. Farther, the ingenious author of the article in the Scots Magazine
has informed us that he has seen a letter or letters from the Covenanting Lord
addressed to this very person, after the event is said to have taken place, in
which he expresses himself in such terms as to show that the utmost mutual con-
fidence and affection continued to subsist. Neither does the tapestry work still pre-
served at Culzean House, and said to have been wrought by her, throw any addi-
tional light upon the story. It merely represents a lady gorgeously attired on a
superb white charger, and surrounded by a set of persons bearing no resemblance
whatever to gypsies. Upon the whole, therefore, we are inclined to think that the
popular traditions and rhymes of the country have done great injustice to the
memory of a lady, who, for any thing we know to the contrary, may have been one
of the most virtuous and exemplary of her sex. Ballads, it is well known, were a
common mode of revenge in those days, and as such they must have been the ve-
hicles of all manner of calumny and falsehood. When Falstaff quarrels with his
comrades at Gadshill, he exclaims — " An I have not ballads made on you all,
and sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison." And really the case of
Lady Cassillis is not singular. Few, perhaps, will read the details of the Frendraught
tragedy without coming to the conclusion that Sir James Chrichton of Frendraught
and his spouse were wholly innocent of the foul and atrocious crime which the bal-
lad so pointedly lays to their charge.*
» Mr Finlay, iu his " Scottish Ballads," also adopts the opinion, that the whole story, relative to
Lady Cassillis' elopement, was an invention of some feudal or political rival, to hurt tlie character
and feelings of an opponent.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 271
No. XXXL— " THRIE SHEIPS SKINNS."
In a song in ridicule of the Popish hierarchy which we have quoted, (Disserta-
tion, p. 32,) a passage occurs in allusion to something of this kind —
" Remission of sins in auld sheep skint.
Our Sauls to bring from grace ;"
— and it is possible that this tune (if a song had ever been attached to it) had sprung up
in some such way, among the ballads which were levelled against the Catholic clergy
at the time of the Reformation. But for these many years it has been known as
one of the trades' tunes; and we find a copy of it in Oswald's Pocket Companion,
vol. vii. p. 10, very little altered from that in the MS. The worshipful body who lay
claim to it are, as may be supposed from the name, the incorporation of " Skinners ;"
and we are told that it used to be played on the bells of St Giles's Church on the day
on which they had their annual procession. " Clout the Caldron," a tune so like
this, that it is difficult to distinguish the one from the other, is appropriated to the
Hammermen.
No. XXXII.—" PORT BALLANGOWNE.'
" To the wandering harpers" (says Mr Tytler, in his Dissertation on Scotish
Music) " we are certainly indebted for that species of music which is now scarcely
known — I mean t/ic port. Almost every fjrcat family had a port that went by the
name of the family. Of the few that ar • still preserved are Port Lennox, Port
Gordon, Port Seton, and Port Athole, which arc all of them excellent in their
kind. The port is not of the martial strain of the march, as some have conjectured ;
those above named being all in the plaintive strain, and modulated for the harp."
" Port Uallangowiie," therefore, may be regarded with some interest as liy much
the oldest recorded copy of this very rare description of music which has hitherto
been published.
272 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. XXXIII— " MY MISTRES BLUSH IS BONIE."
No. XXXIV.—" BONIE JEAN MAKIS MEIKLE OF ME.'
No. XXXV " LESLIE'S LILT."
There were various families of this name in the early part of the seventeenth cen-
tury, so that to fix upon any one in particular to whom this lilt related is impos-
sible.
No. XXXVI " JOHNE DEVISONN'S PINT OF WIN."
The tune which bears this name appears to be a French Volt. See No. L XXX V.
No. XXXVn.—" THE LASS O' GLASGOVl^E. '
No. XXXVIII " MALE SIMME."
Few persons versed in matters of this sort will have forgotten the ballad which
relates the luckless fate of the king's daughter, whom her sister drowned in the
mill-dam ; and the number of ingenious ways in which the miller contrived to dis-
pose of her remains. One of the most fanciful of these is explained in the follow-
ing disticl) :
" What did he do with her two shins ?
Unto tlie viol they daaced Moll St/ms."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 273
At first it was thought that this might be the tune here celebrated, but, on farther
consideration, there was something in the grave majestic strain of " Male Simme"
which forbade the idea that it could be the " Moll Syms" of popular notoriety. It
was again considered how far this " Male Simme" might claim propinquity with
" Symme and his Brudcr," the Scotish Tartuifes of the sixteenth century, and of
whom the reader may learn some particulars in Lord Hailes's Notes to his published
selections from the Bannatyne MS., but no satisfactory evidence could be obtained
on that head. Finally, it was resolved, that, looking to the general features of the air,
its regular structure, and certain imitative passages which are very common in harp
tunes — it was a native of Wales — the forgotten favourite of some of the old Welsh
Bards. The Editor, however, has not hitherto been so fortunate as to find it in any
collection of Welsh airs; and the only work besides the Skene MS. where he has
met with it is a collection of old and new Dutch Rustic Songs and Country Dances
— " Oude en nieuve HoUanlse Boeren Lietes en Contre Dansen," printed at Am-
sterdam about the end of the seventeenth century, and containing nearly a thousand
airs of different countries. Here it figures under the name of " Malle Symen."
No. XXXIX.— "SHACKLE OF HAY."
No. XL.—" DOUN IN YON BANKE."
The words of this song have not been recovered, and the nearest appro.ximation
to its name which we can find is " By a bank as I lay," one of the " bunch of bal-
lets and songs, all auncicnt," belonging to Captain Co.k, and enumerated in Lane-
hame's Letter, describing the entertainment to Queen Elizabeth, at Killingworth,
in l.")75. It is said to be preserved along with the music, among the books of the
Royal Library in the British Museum, (17, B. 43,) where we have not had an op-
portunity of seeing it; but Uitson, who, however, was no judge of music, calls it
" a love song, without any other merit than antiquity."' The air in the Skene
MS., though slightly defective in the second part, is one of the most beautiful and
expressive we have any where seen.*
* Kitson'g Ancient Songs, p. 5!).
274 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. XLI.
No. XLII.— " ADERNEI'S LILT.'
No. XLIIL—" BLEW CAPPE."
The tune of the Anglo-Scotish ballad, " Blue cap for me,"* which begins as
follows : —
" Come hither the merri'st of all the Nine,
Come sit thee down by me, and let vs be jolly ;
And in a full cup of Apollo's wine
Wee'll drowne our old enemy, mad melancholy :
Which, when wee have done, wee'll betweene vs deuise
A dainty new ditty, with art to comprise ;
And of this new ditty the matter shall be,
Gif ever I have a man, Blew cap for me.
" There liues a blithe lasse in Falkeland towne.
And shee had some suitors, I wot not how many;
But her resolution shee had set downe
That shee'd haue a Blew cap, gif ere she had any.
An Englishman, when our good king was there.
Came often unto her, and loucd her deare :
But still she replide, * Sir, I pray let me be ;
Gif ever 1 have a man, Blew cap for me." "
I
After this, a Welshman, a Frenchman, an Irishman, a Spaniard, a German, and
a Netherlander, successively pay their addresses.
See Evans's Old Ballads, vol. iv. p. 264.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 275
" These sundry suitors of scueral lands
Did daily solicite this lasse for her fauour,
And cuery one of them alike vnderstands,
That to win the prize, they in vain did endcauour :
For shee had resolued (as I before said)
To haue bonny Blew cap, or else dee a maid.
Unto au her suppliants still rcplide she,
' Gif ever I have a man. Blew cap for mee.'
" At last came a Scottish man (with a blew cap),
And he was the party for whom she had tarry'd,
To get this blithe bonny lasse 'twas his gude hap,
They gang'd to the kirk, and were presently marry 'd :
1 ken not weel whether it were lord or leard,
They caude him some sike a like name, as I heard ;
To chuse him from all she did gladly agree.
And still shee crj'd. Blew cap, tii'art welcome to mee."
" Blue cap" was formerly a very common designation of the Scots. Dryden uses
it in an address to the University of Oxford, on the part of the actors of the Lon-
don company, the half of whom had been drafted off to perform at Edinburgh, dur-
ing the Duke of York's (afterwards James II.) residence at Holy rood House.
" Our lircthrcn have from Thames to Tweed departed,
And of our sisters all the kinder hearted,
To Edinburgh gone, or coach'd, or carted.
With bonny Blew cap there they act all night.
For Scots half-crowns, in English — threepence height."
And to distinguish them by this appellation was natural enough. " The husband-
men in Scotland, (says Morrison in his Itinerary, 1598,)' the servants, and almost
all the country, did wear coarse cloth made at home, of grey or sky colour, andy/of
blew caps, very broad." The expression in the second verse, " wlien our good king
was there," would fi.x the date of this ballad to be sometime posterior to 1(51", the
year of .James's visit to Scotland, when he spent a short time at Falkland, in the
enjoyment of his favourite amusement of hunting: and if so, it had been inserted
in the MS. during tlie season of its popularity. But it was so common to vary
* See Arnot's History of Edinburgh, p. M.
276 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
old versions of ballads and songs, as well as tunes, that it would be more consistent
with the presumed age of the MS. to hold that the tune " Blew cappe," which we
find there, referred to some previous set of verses on the same theme. In " Wit
Restored," vol. i. p. 118, there is another song " to the tune of Blue cap," begin-
ning—
" Come hither the maddest of all the land."
No. XLIV._" GILCREICHS LILT."
No. XLV._" SA MIRRIE AS WE HAUE BEEN."
One of the Scotish melodies which still retains its popularity, and which Mr
Tytler conjectured to have been composed between the Restoration and the Union f
The version here given is essentially different from the traditional copy, but such is
the indistinctness of the notation, that, although we have given it a place in the
present publication, we cannot vouch for its perfect accuracy.
No. XLVI._" HUNTER'S CARRIER."
Not Scotish.
No. XLVII " KETTE BAIRDIE."
So well did Sir Walter Scott know that this was a popular dance during the reign
of James VI. (though from what source he obtained that information, we have no
idea, as we do not believe that the Skene MS. was ever submitted to his attention,)
that true to nature, as he always is in his historical delineations, he introduces it in
the " Fortunes of Nigel;" with this difference, that it is there called " Chrichty
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 277
Bairdie" — a name not precisely identical with that here given ; but as " Kit" is a
diminutive of " Christopher," it is not difficult to perceive how the two came to be
confounded. " An action," says King James, (addressing his Privy Council on the
subject of Lord Glenvarioch's misdemeanour within the precincts of the court,)
" may be inconsequential or even meritorious quoad hominein ; that is, as touching
him upon whom it is acted, and yet most criminal quoad locum, or considering the
place wherein it is done, as a man may lawfully dance Chrichty Bairdie, or any
other dance, in a tavern, but not inter parietes ecclesia."
We find the same tune in the Rowallan MS., where it is called " Catherine
Bairdie."* " Kitty Bairdie" is also the heroine of a nursery rhyme in the recol-
lection of most people.
" Kitty Bairdie had a cow,
Black and white about the mou,
Wasn't that a dainty cow,
Daoce Kitty Bairdie.
" Kitty Bairdie had a grice,
It could skate upon the ice,
Wasn't that a dainty grice.
Dance Kitty Bairdie," &c. &c.
No. XLVUI.—" I WILL NOT GOE TO MY BED TILL I SULD DIE.
A wild, plaintive strain, of a pastoral and strictly Scotish character.
No. XLIX.— " I SERVE A WORTHIE LADIE.
In a musical MS. belonging to Mr Laing, bearing date HOC, this air appears
under the kindred name of " I lov'd a handsome lady ;"— but in modern times it is
* See Dissertation, p. 139.
2h
278 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
better known as " Dumbarton Drums" — a song which (as Mr Uobert Chambers
has pointed out in his " Scottish Songs," vol. i. p. 60) does not refer to the town
of that name, hut to the Earl of Dumbarton, commander of the Royal Forces in
Scotland during the reigns of Charles II. and James II., who suppressed the re-
bellion of Argyle, in 1685, and accompanied the last mentioned monarch to France
at the Revolution. The song " Dumbarton's Drums" first appeared in the " Tea
Table Miscellanv."
No. L— " SHE MOWPIT IT, COMING O'ER THE LIE," (LEA.)
To " mowp," in Scotish, is to eat like children and old people, who have few teeth.
It is expressed, or nearly so, by the English word " munch."
No. LI.—" WHO LEARNED YOU TO DANCE AND A TOWDLE."
Apparently the same with the Cushion Dance, which is well known to be of
considerable antiquity. See extract from Selden's Table Talk, No. 83.
No. LII '• OMNIA VINCIT AMOR."
An air called " Omnia vincit amor" appears in " Oswald's Pocket Companion,''
but in different time, of a different character, and decidedly inferior to this in style
and modulation.
No. LIIL— " PANTALONE."
The reader will find a dance tune very similar to this, and obviously of the same
school, in the extracts which Dr Burney gives (Hist. vol. iii. p. 282) from " Le
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 279
Ballet Comique tie la Royne," published by Baltazar do Beaujoyeulx, in 1582,
the music of which was composed " par les sieurs Beaulieu et Salmon," by com-
mand of Henry III. of France, on occasiqn of the nuptials of the Duke de Joyeuse.
Baltazar calls it " un son fort gai iiommo la clochette."
No. LIV.— '■ SIR JOHN HOPE'S CURRANT.
See Dissertation, p. 1 1.
No. LV — " MARIE ME, MARIE ME, QUOTH THE BONIE LASS."
The tune of an unrecovered ballad, very probably English, and though not exactly
the same, apparently the ground-work of what Ritson^" calls " the most famous and
popular air ever heard of in this country," — "The King shall enjoy his own again." —
" Invented," says this author, " to support the declining interest of the royal martyr,
it served afterwards, with moT6 success, to keep up the spirits of the Cavaliers, and
promote the restoration of his son ; an event it was employed to celebrate all over
the kingdom. At the Revolution it of course became an adherent of the exiled fa-
mily, whose cause it never deserted. And as a tune, it is said to have been a prin-
cipal mean of depriving King James of the crown. This very air, upon two memo-
rable occasions, was very near being equally instrumental in replacing it on the head
of his son. It is believed to be a fact, that nothing fed the enthusiasm of the Jacobites,
down almost to the present reign, in every corner of Great Britain, more than ' The
King shall enjoy his own again ;' and even the great orator of the party, in that ce-
lebrated harangue, which furnished the present Laureate with tlie subject of one of
his happiest and finest poems, was always thought to have alluded to it in his re-
markable quotation from V' irgil of
" Cannina lum melius cum vcnerit ipse canemus."
• Ancient Sougs, p. 2-29.
280 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. LVI " ALMAN DELORNE."
After describing the Galliard, which is a lively Italian dance in f time, Mor-
ley* says — " The Alman (which is of German origin) is a more heavie dance than
this, (fitlie representing the nature of the peopie whose name it carrieth,) so that no
extraordinary motions are used in dancing of it.' In Scotland, it seems to have
been common during the sixteenth century, as we find the '* Alman Haye" men-
tioned in the " Coraplaynt of Scotland," and another " Alman Nicholas" occurs in
the Skene MS. " It was," says the quaint author of the Complaynt, " ane celest
recreation to behald ther lycht lopene, galmonding,'' stendling bakuart and
forduart,"^ dansand base dansis, pauvans, galzardis, turdions, braulis and bran-
glis, buffons, vltbt mony uthir lycht dances, the quhilk ar over prolixt to be
rehersit." The names of several of these, however, are given, although we can-
not here spare room for their insertion ; and these names, denoting the particular
airs, are, as Leyden remarks,** all Scotish. Ritson'' expresses his regret that " not
one of the dance tunes here named should be known to exist at _ this moment ;"
and even yet, it can scarcely be said that any have been recovered corresponding in
designation with the national Scotish dances there specified. But there are several
dance tunes in the Skene MS. which answer to the general description, such as
galliards, branles, buffons, &c., and most of these appear to have been French.
In this matter Scotland seems in an especial manner to have affected the fashions of
foreign countries.
" Sum iisit the dancis to dance
Of Cipres and Boheme,
Sum the faitis full jarne
Of Portugal and Naveroe ;
* Introduction, p. 181. Edition 1597.
' " Galmonding."
" Now, boy, for joy and mirth I dauce,
Tak thair ane gamond of France."
Sir David Lyndsav.
•= See " Platfute," " Backfute," and " Futebefore," " Ourfute," and " Orliance," mentioned
in •• Dissertation," p. 46 ; also, " Lang platfut of Gariau," another of the dances specified in the
" Complaynt."
" P. 130.
• Historical Essay, p. 100.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 281
Sum couoterfutit the Gyis of Spayne,
Sum Italy, sum Almayne ;
Sum noisit Nupillis anoiie,
And uyir sum uf Arragone ;
Sum ' The Cane of Tartary,"
Sum ' The Soldane of Surry,' (Syria,)
Than all arr.iyit in a ring,
Dansit ' ray deir derling."*
The favourite dances in use, however, were French ; and of these many of this
age are still extant. We have been favoured with the perusal of a MS. volume be-
longing to Mr Lyle, Surgeon at Airth, written in tablature for the lute of seven
strings, and which had been the property of Sir William Mure of Rowallan about
the year 1620. It is in excellent preservation, extends to about forty pages, and
contains a great variety of these dances, including Currants — Basse Dances — Voltes
— Bourrees'' — Sarabandes — Passameze — Ballete — Canaries — La Robinette —
Branles, &c. — and has not yet been deciphered.
No. LVII._" AN ALMAN MOREISS."
This may be interpreted a German morris dance, but we should rather think
that it must have meant a particular kind of allemande in use among morris dancers.
The earliest notice we have of the morris dance in Scotland is in James the
First's " Christ Kirk on the Green." —
" He use himself as man discreet.
And up tuk ' morets dance.' "
In its simplest form, it seems to have been danced by a number of youths, with belU
at their feet,'= and ribbons of various colours tied round their arms, and slung across
their shoulders.'' A\'hether it was a dance of Moorish invention seems to be very
(ioiil)tful. According to Junius,"" its name originated in a pastime in which it wa«
* " Cockelbie Sow."
*• A lively dance, believed to have originated in Auvergne.
" Si'c DisMTtalion, p. 4 j.
'* Hawkins, vol. ii. p. 135.
' Tripudium Mauritanicum, nam faciem plerum quein&ciunt fuligine et peregrinum vestium cul-
282 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
customary for the performers to blacken their faces and put on a foreign costume, in
order to appear like Moors, or persons who had come from a distant part
of the world, and had brought with them a new species of recreation. But,
when performed at festivals, the characters were not usually such as here described.
On May-day, in particular, one of the party consisted of a boy dressed up like a
girl, to represent " Maid Marian," Robin Hood's mistress; and she, again, was
accompanied by a gentleman usher — Friar Tuck — a hobby-horse — foreigners or
Moors — fools, jesters, and other characters, an enumeration of which will be found in
Mr Toilet's account of a painted window, subjoined to the First Part of Henry IV.,
in Steevens' Edition of Shakspeare, (1778.)*
No. LVIII — •' PITT ON YOUR SHIRT ON MONDAY."
It must not be supposed by our brethren on the otlier side of the Tweed, that
the name of this tune imported an injunction to the people of Scotland to change
their linen on Monday more than on any other day of the week; and far less that
they were in the habit of dispensing with so imjiortant an article, except on
tliat particular day. The true meaning of it was, that they were to buckle on their
armour or coat of mail on Monday ; and a regulation in our Statute Book suffi-
ciently explains why Monday should have been selected for that purpose, while
it fixes an era when it is probable that the tune had been composed.
Musters, or military rendezvous called weapon-schawings, were customary in
Scotland from an early period. They took place annually, at stated times, and
were summoned by the sheriffs and magistrates of the counties, who, in conjunction
with commissioners appointed by the king, superintended the raising of the troops,
divided them into companies, and appointed their captains. Persons in all stations
were obliged to bear a part on these occasions, and to appear equipped in military
array according to their rank. Having been disused for some years, these weapon-
schawings were revived by James V. in a series of consecutive acts, — 1540,
turn assumunt qui ludicris talibus indulgent, ut Mauri esse videantur aut e longius remota patria
crcdantur advolasse, atque insolens recreationis genus advexisse.
Junii Etymologicon, v. Morris Dance.
• See Malone's Edition of Shakspeare, (1821.) vol. xvi. p. 4)9; also Mr Douce's Illustrations
of Shakspenre.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 283
c. 85, 86, 87, 88, S9, 90, 91 ; by the first of which, c.85, it is <' thocht expedient
that the samin (/. e. the weapon-schawlngs) l)e made thrise for the first yeir ; and
the first time to be on the morne after Law-Sunday (i. e. Low-Sunday, the first
Sunday after Easter) nixt-to-cum." And, again, by c. 87, " because it is under-
standin that their weapons and harnesse may not be compleitlie gotten at the first
weapon-schawing, that is to say, on the morne after Law-Sundaij nixt-to-cum:
Therefore it is dispensed be the kingis grace, that they make their schawinges and
mustures with sik harnesse and weapones as they haue, or may convenientlie get
against the said day." It was also appointed, by c. 90, that " the lieges be warned
to the saidis weapon-schawinges, upon fourtie daies warning, for the first time ;
and yeirlie at every time thereafter, upon twentie daies."
" Pitt on your shirt on Monday" is a brisk, lively, and highly original bagpipe
tune, in the style of a march or gathering, and excellently adapted to be played
by the common pipers to warn the people of their duty during the period of premo-
nition here mentioned.
No. LIX.
No. LX.— "JOY TO THE PERSONNE."
Nos. LX., LXL, LXIL, LXX., LXXIV., LXXV., LXXVL, and
LXXVIL, are not Scotish airs, but regular vocal compositions to which were
adapted, scion les rajles, fashionable songs and sonnets of the sixteenth century, to
be sung in three, four, five, and six parts. Their grave, psalmodic character, and
the monotony of their modulation, seldom leaving the key-note, present a singular
contrast to the wild, varied, and animated strains of the Scotish minstrels. Most
of them were written by English composers of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and
there can be no doubt that their popularity was quite as lasting in Scotland as it
was in England. In the former country, these songs, along with others of the
same stamp, were taught in the different music schools throughout the whole of the
seventeenth century — a fact which appears not only from Forbes's " Cantus, Songs,
284 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
and Fancies," printed at Aberdeen in 1662, 1666, and 1682,* (and which, with
the exception of No. LXI., contains every one of the above aire, and all of them
but one — No. LXXVI. — set to words the same with those indicated by the title
given in the Skene MS.;) but from another book of songs, dated 1639, belong-
ing to the Advocates' Library, and which is filled with the same description of vocal
pieces, including several of those here specified. This volume was the property
of the late Dr Leyden, who was informed that it had belonged to a schoolmaster on
the Border. There is also another MS., called " Constable's Cantus," (from
its having been the property of the late Mr Constable the bookseller,) the con-
tents of which appear to be nearly the same.
Considering these and the numerous collections of madrigals and songs in parts,
which are extant both in print and MS., of the age of Queen Elizabeth and
James VL, and in which these " ayres," and others little distinguishable from
them, are to be found, it might almost seem a work of supererogation to republish
them on the present occasion. But they may still be a novelty to such of our
readers as are not versed in the music of that age ; and even Forbes's Cantus
has become so scarce, that the insertion of the verees to which they were sung
may not be unacceptable to some, — while others would, no doubt, regard their
non-insertion as a culpable omission on the part of the Editor.
«' JOY TO THE PERSON."
" Joy to the person of my love,
Although she me disdain ;
Fixt are my thoughts, and may not move,
But yet I love in vain.
Shal 1 lose the sight
Of my joy and heart's delight ?
Or shal I leave my sute ?
Shal I strive to touch ?
Oh ! no, it were too much ;
She is the forbidden fruit.
Oh ! wo is me that ever I did see
The beauty that did me bewitch ;
Yet out, alace I 1 must forgo that face.
The treasour I esteemed so much.
' See this work noticed in Dissertation, pp. 28, 29.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 285
" ! shall I rage into some dale ?
Or to the mountains mourn ?
Sad echoes shal resound my talc ;
Or whither shal I turn ?
Shal I buy that love,
No life to me will give,
But deeply wounds my heart ?
If I flee away.
She will not to me say, stay,
My sorrows to convert.
O ! no, no, no, she will not once say so ;
But comfortless I must be gone :
Yet though she be so thrawart unto me,
rie love her, or I shal love none.
' ! that I might but understand
The reasons of her hate.
To him would be at her command,
In love, in life, in state :
Then should I no more
In heart be griev'd so sore,
Nor sad with discontent.
But since that I have lov'd
A maid that so hath prov'd
Unworthie, I do repent.
Something unkind hath setled in her mind,
That caused her to leave me so :
Sweet, seem to me but half so kind to be.
Or let me the occasion know.
Thousand fortunes fall to her share,
Tliuugh she rejected me,
And fill'd my heart full of despair,
Vet shal I constant be.
For she is the dame
My tongue shal ever name.
Fair branch of modcstie,
Chaste of heart and mind.
Oh I were she half so kind.
Then would she pity me.
2 I
286 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Sweet, turn at last, be kind as thou art chaste,
And let me in tliy bosom dwell ;
So shall wc gain the pleasure of love's pain;
Till then, my dearest love, farewell."
Forbes't Cantus.
No. LXI " THOW WILT NOT GOE AND LEAVE ME HEIR.
" Thow wilt not goe and leave me heir,
O do not so, my dearest deir ;
The sune's departing clouds the sky,
Bot thy depairting maks me die.
" Thow can'st not goe, my deirest heart,
Bot I must quyt my choisest pairt ;
For with two hearts thow must be gone.
And I sail stay at home with none.
" Meane whill, my pairt sail be to murne.
Telling the houres wbill thow returne;
My eves sail be but eyes to wcip.
And nether eyes to sie nor sleipe.
'• Prevent the hazard of this ill,
Goe not at all, stay with me still ;
rile bath thy lips with kisses then.
And look for mor ease back againe.
" Since thou will needs goe, weill away !
Leave, leave one hart with me to stay ;
Take mine, lett thine in pane remaine.
That quicklie thou may come againe.
" Fairweill, deir heart, since it must be,
That thow wilt not remain with ine ;
My greatest greife it still sail be,
I love a love that loves not me."
MS. Advocates' Librari/, 1639.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 287
No. LXII._" COME, LOUE, LETT US WALK INTO THE SPRINGE.
' Come, love, let's walk in yonder spring,
Where we shal hear the blackbird sing.
The robin-red-brcast and the thrush ;
The nightingale in thorny bush :
The mavis sweetly caroling,
Tliis to my love, this to my love,
Content will brini;.
' In yonder dale grows fragrant flowrs,
With many sweet and shady bowrs :
A pearly brook, whose silver streams
Are beautified with Phcbus's beams.
Still stealing through the trees so fair :
Because Diana, because Diana,
Batheth her there.
' Behold the nymph, with all her train,
Comes tripping through the park amain :
And in this grove she here will stay,
At barly-break to sport and play ;
Where we shall sit us down and see
Fair beautie mixt, lair beauiie mixt,
With chastitie.
' All her delight is, as you see,
Here for to sport, and here to be,
Delighting in this silver stream,
Only to bath herself therein :
Until Actcon her espy'd.
Then to the thicket, then to the thicket,
She her hyed.
' And there by magick art she wrought.
Which in her heart she first had thought,
288 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
By secret speed away to flee.
Whilst he a hart was turn'd to be.
Tlius whilst he view'd Diana's train,
His life he lost, his life he lost.
Her love to gain."
Forbet's Cantus.
No. LXIII " THE SPANISHE LADYE."
This is the original tune of the Spanish Lady's Love, an English ballad, which,
Dr Percy says, " most probably took its rise from one of the descents made upon the
Spanish coast, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in 1596, under the command
of Lord Howard and the Earl of Essex. In Ritson's English Songs (vol. ii.) the
ballad is given as having been sung " to a pleasant wew tune." Hence the present
version, taken down so near the event, may be depended upon as genuine and un-
corrupted; and the syllabic precision with which it gives effect to the words
would of itself leave no doubt of the fact, llitson states that the tune was " not
known ;" but although this may have been the case in England, in Scotland,
Mr Blaikie has furnished us with a traditional version which he took down from the
singing of a lady in Renfrewshire, who died at an advanced age about eleven years ago :
and this we have inserted in the Appendix, as another specimen of the deteriorating
influence of tradition upon ancien t melodies. We regret that we have not room
for more than the commencement of the ballad ; but it is well known, and will be
found in most of the English Collections.
" THE SPANISH LADY'S LOVE."
" Will you hear a Spanish lady.
How she woo'd an English man ?
Garments gay, as rich as may be,
Deck'd with jewels had she on :
Of a comely countenance and grace was she,
Both by birth of parentage and high degree.
" As his prisoner there he kept her,
In his bands her life did lie,
Cupid's bands did tie them faster.
By the liking of an eve.
" Reliques, vol. ii. pp. 223 and 229.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 289
In his courteous company was all her joy,
To favour him in any thing she was not coy.
" But at last there came commandment
For to set all ladies (Vee,
With their jewels still adorned.
None to do them injury.
O, then, said this ladie gay, full woe is me!
0> let me still sustain this kitid captivity.
" Gallant Captain, show some pity
To a lady in distress ;
Leave me not within this city,
For to die in heaviness:
Thou hast set, this present day, my body free,
But my heart in prison still remains with thee," &c. &c.
No. LXIV._" FROGGIS GALZIARD."
• This is a sort of fantasia for the mandour, in which it is very difficult to discover
any melody at all ; but the motivo, whatever it is, may be presumed to have re-
lated to the very old nursery sonj^ about the wedding of the frog and mouse, men-
tioned in the " Complaynt of Scotland," in 1548, under the name — " The Frog
cam to the myl dur ;" and carried down to the present day in the children's still
favourite rhyme — " A Frog he would a wooing go." Ravensuroft has given it
along with the music in his " Melismata, Musicall Pliansies, fitting the court, litie,
asd countrey humours, to three, four, and five voices," published in 1 1 1 . It
commences —
" It was the frogge in the well,
HiiiiLhle dum, humble duiii,
And the merry mouse in the mill,
Tweedle, tweedle, twino."
The tune in the " Melismata" is totally different from that which appears to have
formed the theme of the Froggys Gagliard in the Skene MS.; but singularly
290 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
enough, the former is nearly the same with the favourite Scotish air — " Saw ye
Johnny coming."*
No. LXV._" CRICHTONS GUD NIGHT."
" Justice Shallow," says Falstaff, " came ever in the rearward of the fashion ;
and sung those tunes to the over-scutcht huswives that he heard the carmen whistle,
and sware they were his Fancies or his Good-nights." These " Good-nights" were
generally " a species of minor poem of the ballad kind;"'' such as " Armstrong's
Good-night"" — " Essex's Good-night"—" Lord ^Maxwell's Good-night" ''— con-
taining the " dying speech and confession" of some criminal of distinction upon the
occasion of his final exit. But the passage in Shakspeare refers to tunes without
poetry ; and the air, " Chrichton's Good-night," in the Skene MS., is a specimen of
this sort of composition, being evidently of the instrumental class, and the produc-
tion of some English composer.
We have no difficulty in recognizing the individual to whom this " Good-night"
related to have been Robert Chrichton, Lord Sanquhar, an accomplished Scotish
nobleman, who was executed at London, in 1612, for the murder of Turner, a
fencing-master, under circumstances which, though well known, are so curious in
themselves, and so illustrative of the manners of the lime, that we may perhaps be
excused for briefly alluding to them.
Robert, sixth Lord Sanquhar, was a man of distinguished family, being the lineal
descendant and representative of one of the most eminent characters who flourished
in Scotland during the fifteenth century, Sir William Chrichton, Master of the
Household to James I., and afterwards Chancellor of the Kingdom, and to whose
efi'orts the House of Stuart were perhaps more indebted than to those of any other
individual for withstanding the encroachments of the powerful family of Douglas
during the most precarious period of their career. The Chrichtons were even allied
* See Dissertation, p. 53.
* See Nare's Glossary.
<= No. XVI.
* Border Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 194.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 2<J1
to royalty, a son of the Chancellor having married a daughter of James II. And
yet the life of this young man was forfeited to the law — and that, too, for an offence
which, though in reality an odious and base act of assassination, — a nation only
emerging from the barbarism of the Middle Ages might have regarded in a more
venial light ; and to which, but for particular circumstances, the royal mercy would
have been extended.
The young Lord had met Turner, in 1605, at the house of an English noble-
man. Lord Norreys', in Oxfordshire ; and in the course of a bout di amies, owing to
some mismanagement, most probably the impetuosity of the youth, the foil of the
fencing-master entered Lord Sanquhar's eye, and he was, for several days, in dan-
ger of his life." Notwithstanding the accidental nature of the occurrence, Chrich-
ton seems, from that moment, to have cherished a settled purpose of revenge, al-
though the fatal blow was suspended over the head of his victim for no less than
seven years, when he hired two ruffians, who, on the ilth May 1612, called upon
Turner at his lodgings in White-Friars, and while the latter was entirely off his
guard, and making them a proffer of his hospitality, shot him through the heart.
The two men were executed ; and Lord Sanquhar, after having absconded, was
also apprehended, and being arraigned as a commoner at the King's Bench, on
27th June 1G12, made a full confession of his guilt. Some idea of the sentiments
prevalent among the gallants of this day may be gathered from the terms in which
a part of this confession was couched : — " Another aspersion," says Lord Sanquhar,
" is laid upon me that this was God's judgment, for that I was an ill-natured fel-
low, ever revengeful, and delighted in blood. To the first I confess I was never
willing to put up a wrong, when, upon terms of honour, I might right myself; nor
never williny to pardon where I had a power of revenger Upon this part of his
character the great Lord Bacon, (who, as Attorney-General, conducted the prose-
cution,) in his grave, philosophical sjiirit, remarked — " All passions are assuaged
with time; love, hatred, grief, and all fire burns out with time, if no fewel be put to
it ; for you to have been in the gall of bitterness so long, and to have been in a
restless case for his blood, is a strange example. And, I must tell you plaiidy, that
I conceive you have sucked these affections of dwelling in malice, rather out of
Italy, and outlandish manners, where you have conversed, than out of any part of
this island of EnglaTid and Scotland."
A circumstance, however, is related, but for which the embers of the young
nobleman's wrath might, very possibly, have smouldered away ; and although it
• Cobbctt's State Trials, vol. i. p. 746.
292 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
was not mentioned by him at his trial, there is no reason to suppose on that ac-
count that it was not perfectly true. Happening to be at the Court of France, in
which country he was resident several years previous to the murder, Henry IV.
one day casually asked him how he had lost his eye ; to which he answered, " By
the thrust of a sword," when the King, supposing that he had received the injury
in some affair of honour, emphatically excLiimed, " Docs the man yet live !" No-
thing more passed, but these words are said to have inflamed Lord Sanquhar's
desire of vengeance to such a pitch, that he immediately resolved to lose no time in
carrying it into effect.
His ready confession, the address which he delivered, and his whole demeanour
at the trial, indicated a pretty confident reliance on the King's leniency, to which
family considerations, in his case, added a more than ordinary claim. But, al-
though intercession was made for him by the Archbishop of Canterbury and others
of great influence, James is said to have considered an example necessary in order
" to curb the insolence of the Scots," — and Lord Sanquhar died the death of a
felon in Palace- Yard, Westminster, on 29th June 1612. To judge from the fol-
lowing epitaph by Drummond of Hawthornden," his fate was not a topic of much
commiseration : —
" Sancher, whom this earth scarce could containe.
Having seen Italic, France, and Spaine,
To finish his travelles, a spectacle rare.
Was bound towards Heaven, but dyed in the aire."
James obtained no small credit for the firmness with which he allowed the law to
take its course in this instance ; but it is somewhat doubtful whether this sove-
reign, whose general conduct so little entitled him to be considered as a rigid dis-
penser of justice, did not receive more praise for his inflexibility in this particular
than he deserved. In the year 1760, during the excitement produced by the trial
of Earl Ferrers for the murder of his steward, a good deal of discussion took place
in the public journals as to the execution of noblemen for felony ; and the case of
Lord Sanquhar having been brought to recollection, a letter appeared in the " Edin-
burgh Chronicle," from a descendant of the Chrichton family, which goes very far
• Archasologia Scotica, vol. iv. p. 110.
■> Lord Bacon called it " the most exemplary piece of justice that ever came forth in any king's
reign." — State Trials, vol. vii. p. 86.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 293
to explain what has hitherto been deemed an anomaly in James's history, and ex-
hibits what may perhaps he considered to have been the real feeling by which his
majesty was actuated. The writer, whose name is unknown, professes to have been
" let into the secret by a person of quality," (the Honourable William Carmichael,)
" who was himself related to that family," and " whose polite learning and curious
knowledge of anecdotes of this nature were known to every body."
" The story is this — When the Duke of Sully was sent over upon that famous
embassy, of which he has given us an account in his letters, King James gave him
the most solemn promises, that he would support Henry with all that vigour and
gallant magnanimity with which the glorious Ehzabeth had done; and that he
would enter into all the heroic schemes projected between them two, for breaking
the power of the House of Austria, then so justly formidable to all Europe : but
instead of all this. Sully was hardly out of England, w hen James made peace with
Spain, and continued their dupe ever after. This entirely ruined his reputation in
France. Numberless were the jokes, the sarcasms, and epigrams, that were made
upon him ; of which that famous one which begins, Quand Elisabeth fut Roi, was
one. In the meantime, at home, King .James's flatterers called him the Solomon
of the age. It happened that one day Lord Sanquhar was in a merry company at
Paris, when one of them said, it was no wonder he was called Solomon, since
he was the son of David, alluding to the story of David Rizzio. This Lord
Creighton did not resent, but joined in the laugh. James was told of this by some
malicious whisperer; and this was the true reason of his letting him suffer
death," Sjc."
The information contained in this letter is worthy of regard, since it appears to have
come from a relation of the family ; but the circumstance itself was not so much of the
nature of a " secret" as the anonymous correspondent ofthc "Ediid)urgh Chronicle"
seems to have thouglit. As an on (lit, it was sufficiently well known, and is related by
Osborne in his " Traditionall Memoyres on the Raigneof King James I." with this
difference, that the individual who threw out the sarcasm is there described as hav-
ing been Henry IV. himself, which, if true, would the more easily account for the
fact of its afterwards having reached the ears of James ; while the additional circum-
stance there alluded to, that Chrichton was personally attached to the French monarch,
would have served to abate, in no slight degree, the interest which his own sovereign
might otherwise have felt in his behalf. By the death of Lord Sanquhar, says
Osborne, " the King satisfied in part the people, and wholly himself ; it being
* " The Chronicle of Pertli," presented to tlio Maitland Club by James Maidment, Esq., 1831.
-2 K
294 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
thought he hated him for his love to the King of France, and not making any
reply when he said in his presence to one that called our James a second Solomon,
that he hoped he was not David the fidler's son : Thus doe princes abuse one
another." — See " Secret History of the Court of James I." vol. i. p. 231, and vol.
ii. p. 397 ; also " State Trials," vol. vii. p. 86 ; and Wood's Peerage, vol. i. p. 450.
No. LXVI._" THE NIGHTINGALE."
The Nightingale has always been so favourite a theme with our lyrical poets, that
we shall not attempt to say to what words this air had been originally adapted.
" So sweetly sings the Nightingale" is one of the scraps introduced into the medley
in the " Pleugh Song" contained in Forbes's Cantus, 1666. Leyden* cites the air
among a number of others in a MS. collection adapted to the Lyra-viol, and writ-
ten soon after the Revolution, and it will be found in Durfey's Pills, vol. v. p. 87.
Considering the nature of the melody, it can scarcely be worth while to pursue the
enquiry farther ; but should any one wish to do so, he will find a Welsh harper's
version of the same air taken from a manuscript in Jones's Welsh Bards, p. 181.
No. LXVIL— '■ PRINCE HENREI'S MASKE.'
No. LXVIII.—" COMCEDIANS MASKE."
No. LXIX._" LADIE ELIZABETH'S MASKE.'
These three airs, together with No. LXXVIIL, (Sommerset's Maske,) had, no
doubt, formed part of the music which was performed at those magnificent perform-
" Introduction to " Complaynt of Scotland," p. 285.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 295
ances called masques, for which the court of King James VI., after his accession to
the English throne, became so celebrated. With respect to " Comoedians Masque,"
we have no information; but the others can be distinctly traced. On Monday, 4th
June IGIO, Prince Henry, then in his sixteenth year, was created Prince of Wales
with extraordinary pomp and solemnity. On the next day (Tuesday) the beauti-
ful masque of " Oberon" was performed, and on Wednesday " ITie Barriers" or
Tilting. Both these pieces were written by Ben Jonson, and personated in pre-
sence, and partly by the aid, of the queen, ladies, and nobles of the court." Lady
Elizabeth's Masque was celebrated on the Nth February 1(J13, at Whitehall, by
the Society of Lincoln's Inn, in honour of her marriage with Frederick the Elector
Palatine or Palsgrave; and that of the Earl of Somerset took place at the Ban-
queting Room at Whitehall, on St Stephen's Night, (2Cth December) IGI4, on
occasion of the inauspicious nuptials of this nobleman with the divorced Countess
of Essex.
The words of the masque last named were written by Dr Campion ; the music by
Nicholas Laniere, a native of Italy, and John Cooper, an Englishman, who, having
received his musical education in Italy, usually styled himself Coperario. Alfonzo
Ferrabosco, born at Greenwich, the son of a distinguished Italian composer of the
same name, was also greatly patronized at this time, and most probably wrote the
dramatic music of the other masques to which we have here alluded.'' To these
composers, and Laniere, is ascribed the importation into England of the Stilo Ite-
citativo, which had, not long before, been introduced upon the Italian stage. Mr
Hogarth observes,' " From the directions given in the printed copies, in Jonson's
Works, as to the manner of performing some of the masques which Laniere set to
music, it is evident that, having newly arrived from Italy, he followed the Italian
mode of the day ; setting the dialogues in stilo recitalivo, and intermingling them
with airs for single voices and choruses. Indeed, the masques of Ben Jonson, as set
by Ferrabosco and Laniere, bore a much closer resemblance to the regular Italian
opera than the pieces called operas which prevailed on the English stage during the
greater part of the last century.""*
For a circumstantial account of these costly and elegant entertainments, the
a Giflbrd's Juiisun's Works, v<il. vii. p. IGO.
'' Hawkins's llis(. vul. iii. p. 380. Uiirnc)', Hist. vol. iii. p. 34G.
« Vol. i. p. 80.
^ Memoirs of tlic Musical Drama, vul. i. p. 8G.
296 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
reader will do well to consult the attractive pages of Mr Hogarth's recently pub-
lished " Memoirs of the Musical Drama." — " I have no doubt," says Lord Orford,
" that the celebrated festivals of Louis XIV. were copied from the shows exhi-
bited at Whitehall, in its time the most polite court in Europe. Ben Jonson was the
laureate ; Inigo Jones the inventor of the decorations ; Laniere and Ferrabosco com-
posed the symphonies ; the king, the queen, and the young nobility, danced in the
interludes."
The masque tunes in the Skene MS. appear to have been a sort of arie di mar-
cia ; but, in a musical point of view, they are, perhaps, neither very curious nor
very important. No doubt, Dr Burney has said that it would now be difficult to
produce many specimens of the dramatic music of these composers ;* but several
examples are to be found in Playford's Works, in the Second Part of the " Musical
Companion," (1667,) and a set of" Ayres" published by A. Ferrabosco in 1609.
There are also many songs by Laniere to be found in the collections published
during the reign of Charles L ; and a good many compositions of Coperario still
extant in MS.*" The latter was music-master to the royal family; and, among
other works, published in 1613 — " Songs of Mourning, bewailing the untimely
death of Prince Henry, worded by Dr Campion, and set forth to be sung with
one voice to the lute or viol."
A degree of historical interest, however, is attachable to the tunes, considering
the personages and events to which they relate. The premature death of Prince
Henry in his nineteenth year will always be considered as one of the greatest na-
tional calamities that ever befel this country .■= His manly, straightforward, and
virtuous character shone conspicuously in the midst of the dissimulation, intrigue,
and licentiousness, with which he was surrounded, and led the people, who idolized
him, to prognosticate a career as advantageous for the kingdom, as it would have
been brilliant for himself. Nor is it easy to over-estimate the prosperity which this
country might have enjoyed, or the rapid strides which it might have made in the
» Burney's Hist. vol. iii. p. 446.
>> Hawkins's Hist. vol. iii. pp. 315, 380.
^ Tlie great regret felt at the death of this prince, wlio was cut off by a fever, after a few days
illness — the apprehensions entertained of tlie designs of the Papists, to whom he was supposed to
be unfriendly, and the slight concern manifested by some of his own relatives, concurred, with other
circumstances, in giving rise to the suspicion that he had been poisoned. But of this there was no
real probability, and the /)oj< mor/cm examination of the body, conducted in presence of members ol'
the Privy Council and of many medical men, gave no countenance whatever to the supposition.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 297
great march of civilization, under a prince possessed of his qualities of mind and
disposition. It pleased Providence, however, to disappoint the hopes of the nation,
and to place the inhabitants of Britain under the rule of a sovereign whose
bigotry, intolerance, and self-will, not only plunged them into all the horrors of
civil war, but, in the event, may be said to have retarded their social advance-
ment for nearly a century. Knowing, as we do, the melancholy issue of all
the splendid pageantry with which this music was associated, we almost look
back upon it with fear and trembling — with a feeling akin to that with which the
Kgyptians beheld the emblems of mortality obtruded upon them in their festive
moments. And surely no stronger proof of the hollowness and vanity of human
grandeur can be imagined, than when we follow up these scenes of mirth and revelry
with those of an opposite character by which they were destined to be succeeded ; —
not only the premature death of the Prince, and Charles's melancholy fate — but the
ruin of the Palsgrave and his family, and their final expulsion from the kingdom of
Bohemia. Add to these, the atrocious murder of Overbury, which so soon followed
the odious nuptials of the guilty Somerset and his wife — the execution of the perpe-
trators, and the condemnation and disgrace of the principals, who, although, through
the weakness of James, their lives were spared, and they were even enabled to live
in splendour,'* only lingered out the remainder of their days in misery and remorse,
shunned by every one — mutually hating each other with a hatred so intense and
implacable, that though dwelling for years in the same house, they were never seen
to exchange a single word — and dying covered with execration and infamy.
No. LXX.— " WH.VT IF A DAY."
" What if a day, or a month, or a year,
Crown thy delights with a thousand wisht conteotings ':
May not the cliange of a night, or an hour,
Cross thy deliglits with as many sad turnieutings ?
Fortune, honour, beauty, youth,
Are but blossoms dying;
Wanton pleasures, doting love.
Are but shadows flying.
King Jjnics added to his |>nrdun a pension of no less than I..4U0U per annum.
298 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
All our joyes are but toyes,
Idle thoughts deceiving,
None hath power of an hour,
Of his life's bereaving.
" Th' earth's but a point of the world, and a man
Is but a point of the earth's compared centure ;
Shal then the point of a point be so vain,
As to triumph in a silly point's adventure ?
All is hazard that we have,
Here is nothing byding ;
Days of pleasure are as streams
Through fair meadows gliding.
AVell or wo, time doth go.
Time hath no returning.
Secret Fates guide our States
Both in mirth and mourning.
" What if a smile, or a beck, or a look,
Feed thy fond thoughts with many vain conceivings :
May not that smile, or that beck, or that look.
Tell thee as well they arc all but false deceivings?
Why should Beautic be so proud,
In things of no surmounting ?
All her wealth is but a shrewd,
Nothing of accounting.
Then in this ther's no bhss.
Which is vain and idle,
Beauties flowrs have their hours,
Time doth hold the bridle.
" What if the world, with a hire of its wealth.
Raise thy degree to great place of hie advancing :
May not the world, by a check of that wealth.
Bring thee again to as low despised changing?
While the sun of wealth doth shine,
Thou shalt have friends plentie ;
But come want, they repine.
Not one abides of twentie.
Wealth and friends holds and ends.
As thy fortunes rise and fall :
Up and down, smile and fxown.
Certain is no state at all.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 299
" What if a grip, or a strain, or a fit,
Pincli thee with pain of the feeHng pangs of sickness :
May not that grip, or that strain, or that fit.
Shew thee the form of tliine own true perfect liekness ?
Health is but a glance of joy,
Subject to all changes ;
Mirth is but a silly toy.
Which mishap estranges.
Tell me then, silly man.
Why art thou so weak of wit,
As to be in jeopardie,
When thou mayst in quiet sit."
Forbes's Cantus.
No. LXXI._" SCERDUSTIS."
The meaning of this term is not easily explained, and the only conjecture that we
can offer is, that it may be a corruption of Surdastrum, the old name of a drum (or
perhaps a taljour) used to accompany a shepherd's pipe in a dance, which was sup-
posed to render harmless the bite of the tarantola spider. The tarantola is so named
from Tarento in Italy, which is said to be infested with these really innocuous in-
sects. The Latin word Surdaster means deafish. Erat Surdaster M. Crassiis, Cic.
5, Tusc. c. 40. The air itself appears to have latterly merged into the Scotish tune,
" Steer her up, and baud her gaun."
No. LX.XII.— " WHAT HIGH OFFENCES HES MY FAIR LOVE TAKEN."
No. LXXIII.—" SINCOPAS."
Sincopas, or Cinque pas, as its name implies, was a dance regulated by tiie number
Jii'c, whicii will be perceived at once by running over the notes of the air.
300 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Five was tl'.e number of the musics feet,
Which still the dance did y/ithjive paces meet.*
Sir John Daviess Poem on Dancing.
This is the only copy of the cinquepas which we have seen ; and now that we
have had an opportunity of inspecting it, it is amusing to observe how closely it
tallies with Shakspeare's description of this dance, in the passage in " Much
Ado About Nothing," where Beatrice compares wooing, wedding, and repent-
ing, to a Scotish jig, a measure, and a cinquepace : — " And then comes repent-
ance, and, with his bad legs, falls into the cinquepace faster and faster, till he
sink into his grave."'' It would now seem as if the " bad legs" had referred to the
tottering fabric of the tune — the " faster and faster" to the acceleration of its move-
ment towards the close — the sinking " into his grave" to the slow and solemn strain
of the finale. Indeed, it is not improbable that Shakspeare might have intended an
additional play upon the word grave, as being a musical term used to denote a slow
movement of the grave kind ; but, without descending to such minuticc, or at-
tempting to follow the example of some annotators, and diving into latent and
obscure meanings which may never have entered even the fertile imagination of the
poet himself, the correspondence between his description and the general cast and
features of the air is too obvious to escape notice, or to admit of dispute ; and it is
something — if, in this instance, the Skene MS. — a contemporaneous document —
should have been the means of illustrating even so slight a portion of the text of
our great dramatist. Here, the passage is such that nothing perhaps but the pro-
duction of the particular tune could have rendered his meaning intelligible.
Shakspeare has made another allusion to the same dance in Twelfth Night, Act
I. Scene 3 ; and many other notices of it by authors of the same period might be
cited.
" Now do your sinquepacc cleanly."
Microcotmus.
•' He fronts me with some spruce, neat sinquepace."
Marston, Sat. 1.
&C., &C.
a The cinquepas is spoken of as if it were the same with the Galliard ; but the fJalliard was a
dance of various kinds and figures, and it has only been in the cinquepas properly so called that we
have observed the Jive paces distinctly traced out in the rhythmus of the air. See Hawkins's Hist. vol.
i». p. 386.
•> Act n. Scene I.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 301
No. LXXIV " THE WILLOW TREE. "
" How now, shepherd, what means that?
Why wcarst thou willow in thy hat ?
Are thy scarfs of red and yellow
Turned to branches of green willow ?
They are changed, so am I ;
Sorrows live when joys do die :
It is Phylis only she,
That makes me wear the willow tree.
" Is't the lass that loved thee long ?
Is it she that doth thee wrong?
She who loved thee long and best.
Is her love now turned to jest ?
She who loved me long and best.
Bids me set my mind at rest :
She loves a new love, loves not me.
Which makes me wear the willow tree.
" Come now, shepherd, let us join.
Since thy love is like to mine ;
For even she I thought most true
Hath also changed me for a new.
Herdsman, if thy hdp be so.
Thou art partner of my wo ;
Thy ill hap dolh mine appease,
Company dotli sorrow case.
" Is it she who lov'd thee now.
And swore her oath with solemn vow ?
Faith and truth so truly plight.
Cannot be so soon neglect.
Faith and truth, vows and oaths,
Are forgot and broken both :
Cruel I'liylis, false to me.
Which makes me wear the willow tree.
" Courage, man, and do not mourn
For her who holds thy love in scorn ;
Respect not them who loves not thee.
But cast away the willow tree.
2 L
302 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
For thee shal I live in pain,
Phylis once was true love mine,
Wliicli slial ne"re forgotten be,
Altliougli I wear the willow tree.
" Shepherd, be thou rul'd by me.
Cast away the willow tree ;
For thy sorrows her content,
And she is pleased if thou lament.
Herdsman, I'lc be rul'd by thee.
Here lyes grief and willow tree ;
Henceforth 1 will be as they,
That loves a new love every day."
Forbes's Cantus.
No. LXXV._" SHEPHERD, SAW THOU NOV.
" Shepherd, saw thou not my fair lovely Phylis.
Walking on yon mountain, or in yonder plain ?
She is gone this way to Dianaes fountain,
And hath left me wounded with her high disdain.
Ay, she is so fair, and witliout compare :
Sorrow comes to sit with me.
Love is full of fear, love is full of care :
Love without this cannot be.
Thus my passions pain me.
And my love hath slain me.
Gentle shepherd, play apart.
Pray to Cupid's mother.
For I know no other
That can ease me of my smart.
" Shepherd, I have seen thy fair lovely Phylis,
Where her flocks are feeding by the river side :
Ah ! I much admire, she is fair exceeding.
In surpassing beauty, should surpass in pride :
But, alace ! I find they are all unkind ;
Beauty knows her power too well :
When they list they love, when they please they move ;
Thus they turn their heaven to hell-
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 303
Where their fair eyes glancing.
Like to cupids dancing.
Rules well for to deceive us,
With vain hopes deluding,
Still their praise concluding,
Thus they love, thus they leave us.
" Thus I do despair, love her I shal never,
If she be so coy, lost is ail my love ;
But she is so fair, I will love her ever.
All my pain is joy, which for her I prove.
If I should her love, and she should deny.
Heavy heart with me would break :
Though against my will, tongue thou must be still,
For she will not hear thee speak.
Then with kisses move her.
They shal siiow I love her ;
Lovely love, be thou my guide :
But lie sore complain me.
She will still disdain me ;
Beauty is so full of pride."
Forbes's Cantus.
No. LXXVI.— " O, SILLIE SOUL, .\LACE."
We have not discovered the words of this sonnet ; but the tune possesses some
interest in consequence of its being that to which the song " rarewell, dear heart,
since thou must needs lie gone," (which Shakspeare introduces in the scene with
Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and the Clown,) was sung. The ori-
ginal words of the sonnet " Farewell, dear heart," have been published by Dr
Percy. They are also to be found in the MS. Mjisic Book of IG3'J, formerly no-
ticed as belonging to the Advocates' Library."
» See Dissertation, pp. 29, 30.
304 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. LXXVII.— " FLOODIS OF TEARES."
" If floods of tears could change my follies past,
Or smoak of sighs could sacrifice for sin :
If groaning cryes could free my fault at last,
Or endless moan for ever pardon win ;
Then would I weep, sigh, cry, and ever groan,
I'or follies, faults, for sins and errors done.
" I see my hopes are blasted in their bud.
And find men's favours are like fading flowers :
I find too late that words can do no good,
But loss of time, and languishing of hours.
Thus since I see, I sigh, and say therefore,
Hopes, favors, words, begone, beguile no more.
" Since man is nothing but a mass of clay.
Our days not else but shadows on the wall :
Trust in the Lord, who lives and lasts for ay ;
Whose favour find will neither fade nor fail.
My God, to thee I resign my mouth and mind ;
No trust in youth, nor faith in age I find."
Furbes's Cuntus,
No. LXXVIII.—" SOMMERSET'S MASKE."
See No. LXIX.
No. LXXIX.— " VEZE SETTA."
The tune appears to be some kind of dance, probably French. The name which
it bears we are unable to explain.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 305
No. LXXX.— " CANARIES."
Hawkins' considers tlie " Canaries" to have been a dance of English invention,
and has described it from a sp'.-cimen which occurs in PurccU's opera of Dioclesian,
as a movement of two strains, with eight bars in eacli, and three quavers in a bar.
These, however, appear sometimes to have been followed up by variations, as in a
copy of the " Canaries" in Mr Blaikie's MS. of 1692, there are several strains
in addition to the two first. The version of this tune given in La Borde's Essai,
vol. ii. p. 178, contains nearly the same notes with those in the Skene MS. but in
5 time, which does not correspond with any copy or description of the tune %vhich we
have elsewhere seen. We suspect, therefore, that there must here have been some
mistake in the transcription, which, if the tune had been taken (as is not improbable)
from the Lute Tablature, was very likely to occur to an inexperienced translator.
As it stands, with the halting eflfect produced by this alteration of the time, it would
be a more fit accompaniment to a SC Vitus' dance than to one like this, where the
feet are said to have been moved with great rapidity. By a very strange coincidence,
in the same page of La Borde's work where the " Canaries " appear, we find the
fragment No. 82 called "The fourth measure of the Buffins." In La Borde it forms
the second part of what he calls " Le Branle dc I'Official ;" and the "air des Buf-
fons," also on the same page, is completely difll-rent from the fragment in the
Skene MS. The French author does not mention the quarter from which he
obtained these specimens^f the music of the sixteenth century, but it would almost
seem as if he in 1780, and Mr Skene in 1015, had borrowed their materials from
the same source; and we should suppose that in 1780, and even at the present
day, some of the numerous collections of " Danseries," which were made in
France during the sixteenth century, were still extant.
" Canaries" was the most rapid and animated of all the old dances. Mr Douce
says it was performed to a tabour and pipe, and Shakspeare characterizes it in the
following passage : —
" I have seen a medicine
That's able to breathe Mfe into a itouo ;
Quicken a rock, and make jou dance Canary
With sprightly fire and motion." *•
* Vol. iv. p. 391. Hawkins, however, may be mistaken. " El Canario ' is described in old
Spanish Dictionaries as " an old Spanish dance."
" " All's Well that ends Well." Act II. Scene 1.
306 NDTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. LXXXI.— " SCULLIONE."
Tlii< was probably the name of a tune to a j)articulai- figure of dance, like •' Pan-
talone."
No. LXXXIL— •■ THE FOURTH MEASURE OF THE BUFFINS."
We have here only one strain of the tune. It appears from the " Complaynt,"
that in Scotland, about the middle of the sixteenth century, we had a dance of this
name ; liut ii; regard to its particular nature we can give no information. See No.
LN'I. An " Air de Boutfons" occurs in La Borde's " Essai," vol. ii. p. 178;
also in the Dutch book referred to, No. XXX^'III.
No. LXXXni— " THE BRANGILL OF POICTU."
Speaking of the music of the Brangill or Branle, and the style and manner of its
composition, Morley'' says — " Like unto this (the Alman) is the French Branle,
(which they call B rank-simple^) which goeth somewhat rounder in time than this;
otherwise, the measure is all one. The ' Branle de Poictu,' or Bratile-doiible, is
more quick in time, (as being in a round tripla,) but the strain is longer, con-
taining most usually twelve whole strokes." As for the figure of the dance —
* Introduction, p. 181.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 307
" Why, 'tis but two singles on tlie left, two on the right, three-doubles forward, a
traverse of six round: do this twice, three singles side, gagliard trick of twenty,
curranto pace ; a figure of eight, three singles brokerf down, come up, meet two
doubles, fall back, and then honour."
The reader will find this very minute but somewhat embarrassing description in
Marston's " Malcontent." (Act IV. Scene 2.) The figure, however, is said to have
been a particular kind of Branle called Bianca's Brawl or Branle ; for the two terms
were synonymous, or nearly so. It m:iy be more comprehensible to modern under-
standings to be informed that the Branle bore a pretty close resemblance to a
Cotillon, or a country-dance, and it has been described as consisting of a dance in
which a number of persons danced together in a ring, and sometimes at length,
holding each other by the hand."
It will surprise musical people to find that this Branle of Poictu should be, after
all, something with which they have long been familiar — the theme of the still fa-
vourite glee of " We be threj poor mariners," said to have been composed, — and,
doubtless, adopted, by Thomas Ravenscroft, the author of several works in the
reign of James VI., and, among others, of " Musick's Melodic, or Melodious j\Iu-
sicke: of Pleasant Koundelaies, Freemen's Songs, and such delightful Catches,"
])u!)lished in 1009. This is depriving him of one of his choicest laurels ; but if he
has hiiherto been figuring in borrowed plumes, we may rest assured that these had
not been awarded to him by his contemporaries, who must have known perfectly
that he was not the author, but merely the harmonizer, of that composition ; and it
is not likely that he ever laid claim to any higher distinction than that of having se-
lected the subject, — which, having so nobly stood the test of time, does nearly as
much honour to his judgment, as the actual authorship would have done to his in-
vention.''
As the popularity of so fine a glee could not fail to have commenced with its
first appearance, which must have been very early in the seventeenth century, the
insertion of the air under its ancient name may be appealed to as an additional proof,
if such were wanting, of the antiquity of the Skene MS.
Sir Walter Scott, with his usual attention to historical accuracy, (in the Abbot,
vol. iii. c. 4,) introduces Queen Mary commanding her lady in waiting to tell her
" where she led the last Branle."
" See Hawkins, vol. ii. p. 133 ; also Cotgravc.
'' The words of tlie glee, " Sliall we go dance the rouiidc," had obviously related to the Branle.
which, as we have above seen, was a circular form of dance, similar to the " Koundc," or
" Roundelay."
308 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Of the fashionable dances of this age, the most solemn and pompous was the
Pavan, (supposed to be of Spanish origin.) This was performed by princes in their
mantles, nobles and gentlefcnen with a cap and sword, lawyers in their robes," and
by ladies in gowns with long trains ; the motion of which was supposed to resemble
the tail of a peacock, from the Latin name of which, Pavo, the term Pavan is said
to have been derived. During the reign of Charles I., Selden, in his Table Talk,
(title " King of England,") humorously complains that " the Court of England is
much altered. At a solemn dancing, first you had the Grave Measures, then the
Corantoes and the Galliards, and this kept up with ceremony ; ' and at length to
Trenchmore and the Cushion-dance ; then all the company dances, lord and groom,
lady and kitchen-maid, no distinction. So, in our Court in Queen Elizabeth's
time, gravity and state were kept up. In King James's time, things were pretty
» Gentlemen of tlie long robe may smile when thej- look back upon the antics of their prede-
cessors, at a time when it was thought not inconsistent with the decorum of the bar, and even
the dignity of the bench, for the learned society of Lincoln's Inn, at certain seasons, to take the
lead in the masques and public pageants, tlie sports, recreations, and particularly the dancings of
the day. It may be, however, that time has brought with it an accession of gravity without
any corresponding accession of wisdom.
•■ It is not many years (says Hawkins in his History, vol. ii. p. 137) since the Judges, in com-
pliance with ancient custom, (/anctf/ annually on Candlemas-day, in the Hall of Serjeant's Inn,
Chancery Lane. Dugdale, speaking of the revels at Lincoln's Inn, gives the following account
of them : — ' And that nothing flight be wanting for their encouragement in this excellent study,
(the law,) they have very anciently had dancings for their recreations and delight, commonly called
revels, allowed at certain seasons ; and that by special order of the society, as appeareth in 9 Henry
VI. viz. that there should be four revels that year, and no more; one at the feast of AU-Hallow'n ;
another at the feast of St Erkenwald ; the third at the feast of the Purification of our Lady ; and
the fourth at Midsummer-day, one person yearly elected of the society being made choice of for
director in those pastimes, called the Master of the Revels, which sports were long before then .
used.' And, again, he says, ' Nor were these exercises of dancing merely permitted, but thought
very necessary, as it seems, and much conducing to the making of gentlemen more fit for their books
at other times ; for by an order made 6th Feb., 7 Jac, it appears that the under barristers were, by
decimation, put out of commons for example's sake, because the whole bar offended by not danc-
ing on Candlemas-day preceding, according to the ancient order of this Society, when the Judges
were present ; with this, that if the like fault were committed afterwards, they should be fined or
disbarred.' " Dugd. Orig. Jurid. cap. 64.
•> Hawkins, Hist. vol. ii. p. 134. Although no " Pavans" occur in the Skene MS., specimens of
them are by no means uncommon ; and we have not deemed any of suflScient rarity to merit insertion.
' That tiiis was precisely the order of the proceeding appears from Ben Jonson's Stage direc-
tions, of which this is one — " Then followed the Measures, Coraiilos, Galliards, &c. till Phospho-
rus, the Day Star, appeared, and called them away," &c Masque of Oberon, Gifford's Jonson,
vol. vii. D. 104.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 309
well. But in King Charles's time, there has been nothing but Trenchmore and
the Cushion-dance, omnium-gatherura, tolly poUy, hoite come toite." This dis-
tinguished lawyer and antiquary died in 1654. Had he»iived a few years longer,
it might have been his fortune to have witnessed the restoration of these ancient
usages, along with others which would have afforded him less satisfaction. In
Pepys's Memoirs we have the following account of a Court Ball during the reign of
Charles II.: — " 31 December 1G(32 By and bye comes the King and Qucene,
the Duke and Duchesse, and all the great ones : and after seating themselves,
the King takes out the Duchesse of Yorke, and the Duke the Duchesse of Buck-
ingham ; the Duke of Monmouth, my Lady Castlemaine; and so, other lords, ladies :
and they danced the Brandt. After that the King led a lady a single Coranto ; and
then, the rest of the lords, one after another, other ladies : very noble it was, and
great pleasure to see. Then, the Country dances, (Contre-danses,) the King lead-
ing the first, which he called for ; which was, says he, ' Cuckolds all awry,' the
old dance of England.""
No. LXXXIV.— " A FRENCHE.
A French dance.
No. LXXXV.— " TRUMPETERS CURRAND."
Besides this and No. LIV. the MS. contains several other rurronts, or rorantoes
— " Abcrdein's currant," — " My Lord Hayis currant," — " My Lord Dingwall's cur-
rant," — " Queen's currant," — " Sir John Moreson's currant." But from the two
which we have inserted, the reader will be able to judge as to the nature of tliis dance,
specimens of which arc sufficiuntly abundant. Morley says, that voltes and courants
are both in the same measure, but " danced after sundry fashions ; the voile rising
* Vol. i. p. 353.
'■ Introduction, p. 181.
2 M
310 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
and leaping, the courante travising and running;"" — and Hawkins,*" that the air of
the latter consists of three crotchets in a bar, moving by quavers in the measure
of ^. He adds, that of dance tunes it is said to be the most solemn.
Those who are curious with respect to these old dances will find much information
regarding them in the valuable historical work of the author to whom we have last re-
ferred, whose five volumes form little short of a library of musical history, and one
nearly as interesting to the general student as to the musical reader. Its value, how-
ever, is much lessened by its not being accompanied with a proper index, of which it
stands the more in need, as Sir John Hawkins, though most laborious in his researches,
has taken so little pains in the arrangement of his matter, that one can never be
certain that he has possessed himself of all the information which the work contains
upon any given subject, until he has traversed it to its full extent — a range of
2574 quarto pages. The work of Burney, though not liable to a like objection in
point of method, is even still more defective with respect to index, and can scarcely
be said to have any means of reference whatever.
We make these observations chiefly in the hope that some one may, even yet,
be induced to supply these deficiencies by furnishing a clear synopsis of the con-
tents of these bulky volumes, which, we are persuaded, would supply an important
desideratum in our musical literature. We would wish also to take this oppor-
tunity of recording the high sense we entertain of the value of these works, especi-
ally of the Musical History of Dr Burney ; and we had thought that that sentiment
was fully participated in by all who have directed their attention to these subjects.
Certain it is, that abroad, among the critics of France, Germany, and Italy, only
one opinion is entertained on that point ; but we have sometimes seen a disposi-
tion on the part of Englishmen to depreciate the merits of this eminent writer.
Faults he had, and these have been prominently brought forward ; while his excel-
lencies have not been always so readily acknowledged, even by those who have
availed themselves of his labours as the ground-work of their own. The mass of
valuable opinions, not only on music, but on general art and literature, which his
various writings contain, has been too much overlooked. It would seem sometimes
to have been forgotten that few, besides himself, ever combined, in so remark-
* The Voile, though generally alluded to as French, and much practised by that nation, was, in
reality, an old Italian dance, " La volta," in which the male dancer turned his partner round several
times, and then assisted her to take a leap in the air. It was particularly common among the peo-
ple of Provence.
b Hist. vol. iv. p. 387.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIOxNS. 311
able a degree, the theoretical and practical attainments of the professional musician,
with the qualifications and accomplishments of the gentleman and the scholar.
Whatever errors he may have committed — and what historian and critic was
ever exempt from errors? — Burney is an author of whom his country will ever
have reason to be proud ; and, taken as a whole, we have never yet seen cause
to dissent from the high eulogium pronounced upon his History by Dr Samuel
Johnson, when he declared it to be his opinion that it was " one of the most cor-
rect books in the English language." '
Considering the extreme rarity of all early specimens of Scotish national music,
it may be satisfactory to state, that in the preceding pages the reader will find all
the airs of this kind which the Skene MS. contains, with the single exception of
No. L VII. of the Contents, the translation of which, from the looseness of the nota-
tion, was deemed too unsatisfactory to be presented to the public. It was also found
necessary to leave out No. XXV., " Lady wilt thou love me," which turned out,
upon examination, to consist of a mere fragment, wholly unintelligible.
Nos. VIII., X., XIX., XXXVI., XLIX., LVI., LIX., LXXIX.,
LXXXV., C, ex., and CXIV., have been omitted, because they consisted of
Gagliards, Volts, Sarabands, Currants, and AUemandes, of which it was thought
to be enough to furnish one or two specimens.
No, LXXVII., " Love is a labour in vaine," has also been omitted. It is an
English composition, (of the same age with the MS.,) to which no interest what-
ever attaches; and Nos. CXI. and CXII. have been withheld for a similar reason,
besides which, they appear in Forbes's Cantus. In regard to No. CXI., " Lyk
as the dum Solsequium," (or Sun Flower,) no one who has seen the melody to which
it was sung will have reason to regret its non-appearance in this publication ; but
ii3 the words, by Alexander Montgomery, possess considerable merit, they are here
subjoined.
" THE SOLSEQUIUM."
L,}'k as llic dum Sulscquium, with cair ou'rcum,
And sorou, vlicn the sun goes out uf sight,
Hiiigs doun his head, and droups lu dead, and will not spread ;
Rot louks his leavis, tlirou laniiour of the nicht,
Till folish Phaeton rysc, with vhi[i in hand,
To clcir tile cristall skyis, and light the laud :
• See Eostcott on Music, Bath, 1793.
312 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Birds in thair bour luiks for that hour,
And to thair Prioce ane glaid good-niorou givis ;
Fra thyn, tliat flour cist not to lour.
But laughis on Phoebus lousing out his Icives :
II.
Sa fairis with me, except I be vhair I may se
My lamp of licht, — my Lady and my Love.
Fra scho depairts, ten thousand dairts, in syndrie airts,
Thirlis throu my hevy hart, but rest or rove ;
My countenance declairs my inward grief;
Good hope almaist dispairs to find relief.
I dye, — I duyn play does me pyn, —
I loth on euiry thing I look, — alace !
Till Titan myne vpone me shyne.
That 1 revive throu favour of liir face.
III.
Fra she appeir [into hir spheir,] begins to cleir.
The dauing of my long desyiit day :
Then Curage cryis on Hope to ryse, fra he espyis
My noysome nicUt of absence worne auay.
No wo, vhen 1 aualk, m.iy me impesh ;
Bot on my staitly stalk, I flourish fresh.
I spring, — I sprout ; — my leivis ly out ;
My color changes in ane hartsum hew.
No more 1 lout, but stands vp stout.
As glade of hir, for vhom I only greu.
IV.
happie day ! go not auay. Apollo ! stay
Thy chair from going doun into the west :
Of me thou mak thy Zodiak, that I may tak
My plesur, to behold vhom I love best.
Thy presence me restores to lyf from dfeath ;]
Thy absence also shores to cut my breath.
1 wish, in vain, thee to remane.
Sen primum mobile sayis aluayis nay ;
At leist thy wane turn soon agane.
[Fareweill, with patience perforce, till day.]
Montgomery's Poems, edited by Dr Irving and
Mr Laing Edinburgh, 1821.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE MUSIC OF SCOTLAND.
BY MR FINLAY DUN, TEACHER OF SINGING, &c., IN EDINBURGH.
The national music of Scotland will always occupy a distinguished place in the his-
tory of music, on account of its remarkable structure and peculiar style, as well as
its great popularity. It is generally considered to be of high antiquity. Its his-
tory, however, seems to be involved in obscurity.
When, and by whom, the early Scotish melodies were composed, and how long
they continued to be handed down, by tradition, from one generation to another,
are questions not easily answered at the present day, from the absence of positive
historical evidence. There may exist unpublished documents, however, to which
we have not had access, and which may yet throw light upon this subject; but the
vague and unsatisfactory accounts given by our early historians, and their common
practice of indiscriminately confounding with each other the poetry and the music
of the Scotish songs, render it a task of no ordinary difficulty to trace the history
and progress of our national melodies.
Judging from the music itself, there is every reason to believe that it originated
in a remote age. The few notes upon which the oldest (at least those considered
as such) of the Scotish melodies turn, lead us to infer, either that these melodies were
comi)osed at a time when the musical scale and musical instruments of the country
were yet in an infant state ; or, that they were formed upon models of an early pe-
riod, which had continued to be imitated in after times, even when the musical scale
had become enlarged, and musical instruments improved. And whatever changes,
in the course of time, may have taken place upon their external form, it is un-
doubtedly from these early models that our melodies derive their essential and
peculiar character.
31(1 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
Independently, altogether, of the poetry of the Scotish songs, and the powcrfiil
assotiations connected with it in the heart of every Scotsman, there is somcthinu; re-
markable in the music of these songs. It is like no other music of the present day.
Its wild irregular strains speak of times long past. It may not be uninteresting,
therefore, to endeavour to ascertain, by an analysis of the music itself, what it is
which produces such pleasurable effects, not only upon the native, but upon the
stranger, unacquainted alike with the poetry and associations of the country. Such
an enquiry, also, may be attended with the farther result of establishing a standard
of reference as to the real nature and form of the music, which being once ascertained,
would prevent, cither in composition or performance, the introduction of any ill-ad-
vised changes and innovations, or admixture of incongruous matter, and so preserve
entire the purity and simplicity of the inspirations of the olden time. That such
changes have been made, from time to time, upon our melodies, may be easily proved
by examining and comparing the various versions of them published in different collec-
tions. Several of them, however, seem to have retained, even to the present day, their
primitive form, unchanged and uncorrupted ; while others in their style and struc-
ture furnish as decided internal evidence of the changes and innovations which
have been made upon their original form, by the prevailing fashions of successive
generations. Notes foreign to the native character of the music have been substi-
tuted for the true and legitimate ones ; others have been added which had no place
in the originals, besides modes of expression and embellishments peculiar to other
countries. In short, through mistaken attempts at refinement and modernization,
many of our melodies have already been almost entirely deprived of their national
and characteristic form ; and should such attempts be continued, it is not difficult to
foresee that a period may arrive when the music of Scotland may be so completely
lilended and incorporated with that of other countries, as to lose all title to a distinc-
tive and national character.^
In the hope of guarding against such an event, we, some years ago, entered upon
an analysis of the Scotish airs, founding our observations on the structure of such
as were reputed to be most ancient and authentic ; and we propose, in this place, to
present the reader with a brief sketch of the views which then occurred to us. These
•■ That such a result has actually taken place, from similar causes, in the national music of France,
may be learnt from the following passage of M. Fetis. After speaking of the old French airs pre-
vious to the year 1596, he adds : — " Les vaux-de-vire ou vaudevilles et les romances ont insensi-
blement fait disparaitre tons ces anciens airs, et le melange de quelques-unes des/orm« Italiennes et
AUemandes dans les airs populaires franjais a fini par iter a ceux-ci le caractire national qu'on
ne retrouve plus que dans quelques provinces, qui sont restees fideles a ieurs souvenirs."
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 317
we might liave illustrated by referring to the data upon which they were origi-
nally formed — thie Scotish airs which arc currently known to every one; but hav-
ing subsequently been made acquainted with the contents of the old MS., which
has given occasion to this publication ; and finding that they tend to enforce and
corroborate the ideas which we had previously adopted, we shall endeavour to de-
duce our examples from the airs in that MS. as well as from others more generally
known to the public. In fact, we think it preferable to do so, as the documentary
authority upon which they rest is so much more solid and satisfactory than any re-
liance that can be placed on the antiquity of airs handed down by tradition alone.
We shall begin with the modulation — the melodic forms or traits of melody, and
the closes or endings of the airs, which appear to us to contain some of the most
remarkable features by which the music of Scotland is distinguished. These sub-
jects we shall examine separately, and it may be proper, at the same time, to fur-
nish a brief explanation of several of the technical terms which we may have occa-
sion to employ.
With respect to
THE MODULATION" OF THE SCOTISH AIRS,
we cannot find a more apt illustration to suit our purpose than that which presents
itself in the air " Adew, Dundee," No. XXIV. Although this air begins and ends
» Modulation may be said to be the course of the melody. It may be farther explained as the
art by which the impression of any given key is made upon the ear, and by which the constitution
and establishment of a key is effected. A melody may modulate, or move about, in any way
whatever, through a scale, and still continue strictly to be in one key ; or it may pass out of one
key into another, or through several successive keys. Modulation, accordingly, is twofold. It
may be confined either to one key, or extend to two or more keys. The Germans call the first
kind leilergleich, or Iciterlreuc, (like, or true to the scale,) and also der Tonart Ircue modulation,
(the true modulation of the key.) The second kind, the passing or transition from one key to
another, is what is generally nnilerstood by the term modulation, although it may be correctly ap-
plied to both kinds. See Gfr. Weber's " Theorie der Tonsetzkunst," Zwciter B.S. 97-8, § 184-5.
Also Mr (j. F. Graham's admirable " Essayon the Theory and Practice of Musical Composition,"
just published, from the current edition of the Encyclopn.'dia ISritannlca. He says, •' Modulation
signifies, properly, the regular constitution of melody and of harmony, in any given key," SiC. Sec.
Also that " modulation takes place even in the simplest melody confined to one hy." Sec p. 31.
2n
318 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
in D minor, (speaking according to our modern notions of keys,)' — the key in which
it is here given — it will be observed that the modulation or progression of the melody
is not such as is found in modern tunes in that key, nor are some of the sounds present
which constitute that key in modern music. INIodern tunes, for instance, have the
sixth degree of the scale, B flat in tliis key, and the seventh, c sharp, in the ascend-
ing series of sound. Now, these sounds, B and c, as used in " Adew, Dundee," are
natural throughout the melody : for the two first parts or sections only are to be
considered as the real melody, the third and fourth parts being only variations
upon it. The use of the c natural, at the beginning of the third bar of this air, is
particularly worthy of notice. The effect is uncommon, and strange to a modern
ear, as the c sharp might have been expected instead. It is, however, of frequent
occurrence in Scotish music, and is an example of a modulation to the major second
below the key-note, or, by inversion, to the minor seventh above the key-note.
It is one of the characteristic modulations of our music, and takes place in minor as
well as in major tunes; although oftener, perhaps, in the former. " Adew, Dun-
dee," is a beautiful specimen of Scotish melody, and the version given of it in the
Skene MS. far surpasses the current one in expressive simplicity. Its recovery will
doubtless be appreciated by the public.
Another example of a similar progression of melody may be found in " Johne
Andersonne," No. VII. This air is also in D minor, and yet the c is natural through-
mit. The sixth of the scale, b, is not introduced. At the fourth bar, there is a
close or cadence upon c, the seventh degree of the scale, as in the second bar of
" Adew, Dundee ;" and at the eighth bar, a cadence upon a, the fifth of the scale,
as in " Adew, Dundee," at the eighth bar of the second part. At the fourteenth
bar, (two bars before the end of the first part of " John Anderson, my Jo," which, in
fact, contains the air, the second part being a mere fanciful amplification of what has
gone before,) we find f sharp introduced, which converts the previous impression of
the key of d minor into that of d major. Another example of this manner of end-
ing is found in "Male Simme," No. XXXVIII.; to whichwe might add the national
music of other countries, especially that of Spain, and also in a certain style of
musical composition, which will be afterwards noticed. In No. XXVII. " Lett
never crueltie dishonour bewtie," there will be seen another instance of diatonic
modulation between the second and third bars — and also between the fourth and
fifth, the eighth and ninth, and the twentieth and one-and-twentieth bars.
Many more instances of the same characteristic form of modulation could be
• Although it may be questioned whether many of the Scotish melodies can be said to come
under the head of, or belong strictly to, any particular major or minor key, as used in modern times
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 319
brought forward, not only from the Skene MS., but from the current airs of
the day. Those already adduced may be sufficient to point out to the enquirer
others of a like description. The sudden transitions, as exhibited in the above ex-
amples, from the scale of one key to that of another, one degree higher or lower,
(speaking according to our modern notions and phraseology,) would not be so very
remarkable, did they not occur so frequently, and form, in fact, so essential a pro-
perty of the Scotish melody. They may often appear harsh to a modern ear ; be-
cause they are sudden and unexpected ; but still, when judiciously introduced, as
in " Adew, Dundee," the effect is bold and striking.
Examples of such modulation are indeed not wanting in modern music ; they are
used by the best composers, but only occasionaUy, and almost as exceptions to ge-
neral practice ; whereas, in the music of Scotland their occurrence is so frequent,
that they form one of its most prominent and striking characteristics.
Another prevailing course of modulation to be noticed in the Scotish melodies is,
that of the alternation of the major key, and its relative minor ; the melody mov-
ing to and from these keys to the exclusion of every other, and this, too, not unfre-
quently, at regular distances. Nos. I., II., III., and XX., are examples of this
kind of modulation — of these. No. I., " Alace yat I came owr the moor," is a spirited
and genuine Scotish air. No. II., " Peggie is over ye sie wi' ye souldier," is also
a beautiful and expressive air, in the best style of our national melodies, and deserves
to be made known. No. XX. — " I mett her in the medowe" — exhibits this al-
ternate modulation of the minor, and its relative major key exclusively throughout.
Of this description, also, are the well-known airs of " Poortith cauld," " Wander-
ing Willie," " Bonnie May," besides many others, which alternate from major to
minor, beginning in the former and ending in the latter. We have also instances
of modulations at once diatonic and alternating, taking place in the same tune.
There is a remarkable specimen of this combination in the air of " Blithe, blithe
and merry was she."
It may be worthy of remark, that, in these examples of modulation, the melody,
for the most part, keeps true to the diatonic scale of the princij)al key ; and that
even when other notes of that scale are, in the course of modulation, uscil as substi-
tuted or temporary key-notes, still, no accidental flats or sharps, foreign to t\xcprin-
cipalVcy, are introduced in the melody; and that, therefore, the modulations, how-
ever varied, are still, in fact, confined to one principal key. This will appear the
more clear as we proceed farther. We are quite aware that we are now treading
in modprn music, yet, in order to be better understood, we have retained here, in the nieiintiiiir, iIjc
common notions and expressions about major aud minor keys. But more of this afterward.^.
320 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
upon debateable ground ; but, in corroboration of our remark, we may, in the mean-
time, appeal to the evidence of the tunes themselves, not only in the Skene MS., but
in the collections previously known to the public, where the tunes have not been
altered and modernized through the caprice of editors, or for the purpose of accom-
modation to modern harmony, or otherwise. Besides the published proofs, we may
appeal also to the traditional manner of singing and playing these tunes which is
practised throughout the country by those skilled in the true style of the national
music. But we shall return to this subject afterwards.
Although the diatonic modulation mentioned above — we mean that in which the
melody passes from the scale of one key to that of another one degree higher or
lower — is decidedly one of their most characteristic modulations," we find that many
of these airs modulate out of the scale of the principal key into the scale of another
key, not as a substituted, but a principal key, bearing, for the time, its own
scale. This kind of modulation, however, must of course be of very short duration
in melodies containing at the most but two strains like the Scotish. Every one
acquainted with the songs of the " Flowersof the Forest," No. XIII., and " Waly,
waly," must have felt the effect of the passages where the minor seventh of the major
scale is introduced ; — these passages are beautiful examples of the kind of modula-
tion of which we are speaking. It is this minor seventh, of a major scale, that does
away with the impression, for a time, of the principal key, and makes one feel that
he is passing into a different scale and key. The modulation, in both examples, is
made into the fourth degree of the principal key."" There are several other instances
of this modulation in the Skene M S., such as No. XXXIII., " My mistress' blush
is bonie;" No. XIX., " Remember me at eveninge;" and No. XXXV., " Les-
lie's Lilt." The first is a lively pretty tune, in the style of a " measure ;" Leslie's
Lilt is also pretty and characteristic.
a We have witnessed many instances of the efl'ect which this strong feature of our national
music lias produced upon foreign musicians. Among others, during Paganini's first visit to Scot-
land, he requested the band, at the rehearsal of one of his concerts, to let him hear some of our
Scotish national music. They immediately played some of the strongly marked dance tunes.
He appeared much amused with the suddenness and oddity of their modulations, as well as with
the style of the performance, and begged a copy of the tunes as musical curiosities. He said they
were very " baroques."
*" Speaking as regards Harmony, •
i<r traits I ] \
I music, - (1^ J J
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISII MUSIC. 321
THE MELODIC FORMS, Oil TRAITS OF MELODY.
As frequently recurrin
of melody in the Scotish mu^ii,, _i.i>'
we will instance the following : — «/
Even these snatches, played or sung to a Scotchman, will instantly bring before his
mind his native country, and many associations connected with it. To an Irishman
they will have the same effect ; for the old Irish melodies appear to be constructed upon
the same scale as our own. The same passages, in so far as mere successions of
intervals are concerned, also occur frequently in a style of music, which will
be spoken of by-and-by. To any one acquainted with our music, innumerable
examples of such successions of sounds cannot fail to suggest themselves. They
will be found in the first page of the Skene MS., Nos. I. and III. ; and any of the
other pages, where the tunes are Scotish, will afford the same evidence. In the
music of Ireland instances will be found, among many others, in the well-known songs
of the " Meeting of the Waters,"* and " As a beam o'er the face of the waters."''
Now, it is evident that the wild and plaintive effect of such passages arises in
great measure from the omission or absence of certain sounds which we are accus-
tomed to hear introduced in other styles of music, particularly of a more modern
date. Whether the omission of these intervals in much of the Scotish music is re-
ferable to an imperfect primitive scale, or to imperfect musical instruments, such as
the shepherds' pipe, chalumeau, &c., upon which the music may have been at first
composed, it is difficult to determine. But not to mention the human voice, which
has the power of expressing not only whole tones, but semitones, and even still more
minute musical intervals — there existed in the country, at a very early period, in-
struments capable of producing the whole series of sounds of a perfect scale. Of
this there can be no doubt; and yet the predilection of the people, from whatever
cause, was, and still ii, in favour of those tunes containing the kind of passages ifi
question with omitted intervals. These passages, in short, exhibit part of tiie re-
cognised features of the national melody ; and all Scotish tunes, ancient as well as
modern, which possess any claim to popularity, will be found to have their traits
more or less moulded after this form.
a Old name, " Tlie young ninu's dream."
i> Old name, " Old iicad of Deuis." See Moore's Irish Melodies.
322 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
THE CADENCES OR CLOSES.
The close upon the key-note of the melody is common in the music of all coun-
tries. The Scotisli melodies, however, end upon other degrees of the scale besides
the first degree, or key-note ; namely, the second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and
eighth degrees. Examples of closes upon the second and seventh degrees are found
principally in the Highland airs. When in a major key, they often close upon the
second ; and when in a minor, upon the seventh, (the minor seventh of the scale.)'
" Port Ballangowne," No. XXXII., Skene MS., a curious kind of " Measure,"
begins and ends on the second degree of the scale. The effect of this ending is wild, and
perhaps unsatisfactory to many a modern ear, which would desire something else to
follow to make the conclusion more determinately final.
Closes upon the third may be seen in Nos. IV., IX., XV., and XIX., of Skene
!MS. ; the three first of which exhibit true features of Scotish melody : also in
" Roy's wife of Aldivalloch," and many others of the common tunes of the country.
These are all in major keys ; but there are instances of tunes beginning in minor
keys, that is, with the minor third of key-note, and ending with the major third.
See Nos. V., VII., (" Johne Andersonne, my Jo," cited above in reference to mo-
dulation ;) " Shepherds, saw thou not," a pretty tune, but not of Scotish growth ;
and XXXVIII., " Male Simme," a remarkable tune in point of modulation, but
apparently not Scotish. Besides sacred music, in which such closes are said to have
originated, many examples of them are to be found in the different styles of modern
music. There is a beautiful specimen, for instance, in the last movement of the se-
cond of JNIozart's violin quartets ; and also in the last Chorus of Furies in the second
act of his Don Juan. C. M. Von Weber likewise frequently employs this as well
as the first description of close on third. Its effect is generally lively and exciting,
and sometimes grand, as in the case of the Chorus in Don Juan just quoted.
Closes on the fifth occur in Nos. VI., VIII., X., XL, XXX., XXXI., and
LVIII., of Skene MS. Of these Nos. VI., XI., and XXX., are good samples
of Scotish music. The ending of the fifth in these tunes is brought about in vari-
ous ways. It is sometimes immediately preceded by the key-note, or its octave ;
sometimes by the third ; sometimes by the fourth ; sometimes by the sixth ; and once,
" See " Celtic Melodies," published by a Highlander, Edinburgh. Many specimens of modu-
lation, traits of melody, and closes characteristic of our national music, are to be found in this
volume. As also in the Rev. P. M'Donald's Collection of Highland Airs, 1781 ; Captain S.
Fraser's Highland Melodies; and Campbell's " Albyn's Anthologj'."
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 323
in No. XXXI., by the seventh of the key. The fifth used as final note preceded
by the sixth, as in No. XL, and in the well known airs of " Gala Water," " Aye
VVaukin, O," " Scots wha hae," and many others, is also much practised in the
Scotish and English Church music. This form sounds unsatisfactory as an end-
ing to ears accustomed to other styles of music. They expect something more to
follow.
The Swiss and Tyrolese melodies abound with examples of endings on the fifth
rising from the key-note, as we have it in the airs of " Highland Mary," " Up in
the morning early," &c. Indeed, this appears to be a favourite form of ending in
the music of mountainous countries. Its effect is wild l)ut pleasing.
Closes on the sixth take place in Nos. II. and III. The former is a beautiful air.
Of tliis class also are the familiar songs of " Woo'd and married and a," " Birks of
Aberfeldie," " Poortith cauld," " Wandering Willie," &c. ; and among many others
of the Irish songs, " Drink not to her," ends in the same way.
The ei<jhth, rising by a leap from the key-note, as in the " Braes aboon Bonaw,"
is likewise used as a final note. This form is also common to the Swiss, Tyrolese,
and Neapolitan melodies. In addition to the usual forms, we find closes upon the
key-uote, preceded by the third above, at Nos. XVIII., XX., XXV., and LIX. ;
and by the third below, at No. XII,, Skene MS. Similar endings occur !n Irish
tunes.
Of all the closes above mentioned, the most remarkable, on account of their pecu-
liarity, are those u])oii the second, sixth, and seventh degrees of the scale. Some of
those upon the fifth are rare.
W^e have now examined those parts of our national music which go to form its
internal and strongly marked character. And it is in the internal constitution of the
music itself that we must look for the cause of the effect which it produces as vtusic,
independent of the aid of poetry, or even of the style or manner of performance.
But when we add these, and measure, rhythm, and accent, the dead mass becomes
animated — the bones are " clothed with flesh," and life is inspired into them. We
tiien behold realized that wild, dignified, and expressive character which our melo-
dies so eminently possess.
THE RHYTHM.
We would say a few words here about rhythm ;> for, although it enters into tiie
* This word is used in music to express tlie difference of quickness .ind slowness of sounds,
according to any regular order of succession ; and also the symmetrical [iropurtion, witli respect
324 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
structure of all kinds of modern musical composition, except a particular species of
church music, its proper office and treatment, as regards Scotish music, have been
frequently overlooked or misunderstood.
The rhythm of Scotish melodies, like that of all other national music, is for the
most part regular. Indeed, it could not be otherwise ; for it is the regular recur-
rence of the reposes or cadences in the melody which makes the music of the people
easily caught and remembered, besides rendering it applicable to their songs and
dances. Most of our melodies consist of sentences or phrases of four or eight bars
length, which is the usual number employed in music ; but some of them also
consist of three or six bars. Of these last, " Tweedside," " Leezie Lindsay," " The
Mucking o' Geordie's byre," and some others, afford examples.*
Almost all the tunes in the Skene MS. appear to be regular in regard to rhythm,
except a few. The first part of No. XXXIX. contains a rhythm of eight measures
or bars, but the second only six. It is, however, a graceful air, but apparently not
Scotish. *' Come, love, lett us walk into the Springe," at p. 192-3 of original
MS., has an uneven rhythm of five bars in the second part. " Joy to the personne,"
p. 24, also of original MS., contains a rhythm of seven bars in the first and third
parts. The effect of the tune is, however, by no means hurt by it. The three last
tunes are evidently not Scotish.
In the course of the foregoing remarks we have several times alluded to a style
of musical composition in connection with the Scotish melodies — that style is the
ancient ecclesiastical music. While prosecuting our enquiries respecting the nature
of these melodies, many points of strong resemblance appeared to exist between them
and that music. But, although we bring forward proofs of this resemblance, and
are also quite aware of the fact, that until about the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury all secular music was composed upon the model of the church style," we are
still far from asserting that Scotish music derives its constitution from the music of
the Romish Church. We speak only to the fact of coincidence between the two.
And, indeed, until proofs be adduced of what the music of Scotland was before
to length, of the successive musical sentences or phrases contained in an air. Tliis last the French
musicians call " la carrure des phrases," which is the sense in which we use the term rhythm in
the above remarks. See G. F. Graham's Essay on Music, p. 18.
° It is strange that this peculiarity of rhythm has not been noticed or acted upon by many who
have arranged the Scotish songs. We often find the introductory and other symphonies so
managed as to impress a totally different rhythm upon the car, from that which the air really has
the reposes being made to fiill upon the even instead of the odd measures. This is surely a
great oversight.
b See Burney, Hawkins, Berardi, Fetis, &c. and the music previous to that period.
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 325
the introduction of the Romish service into the country, the question as to
the extent of influence which the latter had on the former must be held in
suspense. In order that these points of coincidence may be more fully under-
stood, we shall, in the first place, briefly state what the ancient ecclesiastical music
is. The ancient ecclesiastical modes or tones are certain formula;, by which
the plain-song, or chant, used in the Romish Church, is regulated. These modes
or tones are said to be a relic of the ancient Greek music. They were originally
four in number, and were first reduced to fixed laws by St Ambrose, Archbishop of
Milan, in the fourth century ; and, about two hundred years afterwards, they were
increased in number — to eight — by Pope Gregory the First. The first four were
called authentic, or principal modes ; those added by St Gregory were called plagal,
derivative, oblique, or less principal modes. The plain-song, as improved by him,
is, therefore, often called Cantus Gregorianus.* This cantus, besides being plain
or simple, was unisonous, and not in different parts, or, what is' technically called, in
harmony.^ For it is generally acknowledged that harmony, as we now understand
the term, was not known in the time of Gregory the First. The arrangement or
disposition of the sounds composing the scales upon which these chants were con-
structed, was made according to the natural or diatonic order of progression, without
any accidental tilterations of flats or sharps, that is, from d, (the first mode,) upwards,
to its octave above ; from e, f. g, a, and n, in like manner ; employing, in short,
in all these scales the same sounds as the moderns do in the scale of c major, (which
was also among the number,) but beginning the series from d, e, f, g, a, or b,
according to the mode. As in process of time four more modes were added to the eight
• In Italy it is called indifferently Canto Fermo — Canto Gregoriano — Canto piano Canto
corale — or Canto Romano. In France, plain-chant, or chant d'Eglise ; and the modes arc called
Modes antiques or ecclcsiastiques — Tons d'Eglise, or Tons du plain-chant. In Gerninny, these
are called Alte, griechische, (from their supposed Greek origin,) odcr Kirchentonarten ; and the melo-
dies composed in them, Cantus firmus, or choral, with the addition sometimes o( romischcr, to dis-
tinguish the Roman from the Protestant chor;d, .nltliougli the latter, for a considerable time after
the Reformation, was composed in the ancient church modes. " The psalms, and ancient chants
of the Romish Church," says Burney, " were long retained in the Lutheran service, as appears
by a book with the following title : — Psalmodia hoc est cantica sacra veteris ecclesia; selecta, per
Lucam Lossium collecta, cum prefactione I'hillippi Melancthonis. Wittcberga-, 1561. Becker,
printed ut Leipsic, l(j21, the Psaltuv o( David, in the German language, with the melodies used
in the Lutheran Church." See vol. iii. p. 33; also pp. 30, 31, 34, same vol.
'' Cardin-ol Bono, " De Cantu Ecclcsiustico."
2o
326 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
ancient ones, it became necessary to use one and the same scale for several of the
modes, each mode having, however, some peculiar laws to distinguish it from the
others. It will easily suggest itself, from the above description of the scales, that
taking any of the sounds, d, e, &c. as the starting note, and running through the
diatonic scale up to the octave, although using, at the same time, the same sounds
as in the modern scale of c major, yet the places of the tones and semitones in each
of such scales will be different from each other. See plate, p. 342, containing the scales
of the eight modes, with the places of the semitones indicated by black notes ; the
round notes showing those of the whole tones. The scale of the ninth mode is a
repetition of that of the second — the tenth of the third — the eleventh of the fourth
and sixth — and the twelfth of the seventh. All these modes may he transposed in
any convenient manner to suit voices ; the only thing indisj>ensable being to pre-
serve exactly the places of the tones and semitones.
There were certain laws observed as to the beginnings of the chants, and as to
the middle and final closes or cadences. These arc called the tonal laws, as belong-
ing to the respective tones or modes. And hence the term tonality, which we have
hut very recently borrowed from continental writers on music. All these laws were
made with reference to melody alone, and not to harmony. Now, it is in the cha-
racter of the melody, and in the peculiar cadences upon various sounds of the modes
cadences initial, medial, and final — that strong points of resemblance may be
traced between the ancient Canto Fermo of the Romish Church, and a number of
the Scotish airs, particularly those of a graver cast. We are quite aware that such
resemblances have been casually noticed by several authors, but it has never yet
been shown, so far as we know, wherein the resemblance lies. A few examples of
well authenticated chants will illHstrate this. The passages particularly worthy of
attention in these are indicated by an asterisk followed by a broken line. In exam-
ining these specimens, and comparing them with Scotish music, it must be borne
in mind that, while the latter possesses both rhythm and measure, and contains
long and short notes, the Gregorian chant has neither rhythm nor measure, and con-
sists of equal notes. The Ambrosian chant is, however, in some degree rhythmical,
and consists of long and short notes.
It must be' mentioned also, that the distinct intervals only are given in these
printed specimens, the frequent consecutive repetitions of the same sound being left
out, as they could serve no purpose here, except adding to the number of music plates.
The chants have likewise been transposed from the tenor and other clefs, into the bass
and treble clefs, and, in some cases, reduced into modern notation for the facility of
leading.
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
327
The first example* is composed upon the first, or Dorian mode. It begins on f,
and ends on d. The c is natural throughout. Observe the many leaps of thirds,
and the notes before and after them. The cadences take place on a, f, and d; the
middle cadence on a, and the final one on d. The scale of this mode is similar to
that of the modern one of d minor, except that it has it and c natural in its series
of sounds. See what we have said on the modulation of " Adew, Dundee," " John
Anderson," &c., at pp. 317-18-19, of" Analysis."
In the second specimen*" the same features occur. Mark the third note of the
melody, c, and the notes leading to and from it. This mode is often transposed
into the fourth above, and then it has b flat. We find it here.
No. 3c is in the transposed state ; the b flat is marked at the beginning. Here the
psalmody commences upon c natural, and terminates on d.
According to the tonal laws of this mode, compositions of Canto Fermo may begin
with any of the six following sounds, c, d, e, f, g, a. The regular cadences are in
D, A, and F. The middle cadence of the psalmody is in a. The final cadences in d,
F, G, a ; and even in c. Mark here, that although the psalmody begins in d, it may
end in c, the seventh of the scale. See No. XXII. of Skene MS. Each of the
modes has its own peculiar tonal laws as to the above particulars — the initial intonation
— the cadences regular, medial, and final. Our space not permitting us to discuss
these modes separately, we must, therefore, refer for farther information on the subject
to Padre Martini's Saggiodi Contrappunto, and also to Mr G.-F. Graham's Essay.
We shall, however, proceed to make some brief remarks upon a few of the speci-
mens. The " Ofiertorium," No. b,^ contains a number of Scotish modulations ;
aiso the following " Communion," and the " Audi benigne."" All the three have a
Scotish sound. They are composed in the second, or Hypo-Dorian mode. The
scale of this mode is similar to the modern scale of a minor, except that g, the
seventh, and f, the sixth, are natural. It is always transposed a fourth above, and
then it has ujiat.
In No. 8,' we have a striking example of a common manner of Scotish ending ;
the descent by third. See "Analysis," p. 323. The beginning of No. 9," " Ilostes
Herodes," gives us the feeling of one key, and the ending that of another. This is
also common in Scotish music. See p. 319. These two specimens are in the third,
or Phrygian mode. A passage in No. 12'' in the fifth, or Lydiau mode, ending by
descent of Ji/th, reminds us strongly of similar passages in our own airs. The scale
of this mode corresponds to that of the modern f major; except that b is natural.
This mode is, however, sometimes transposed, as may be seen in the second ex-
• See p. 342.
' See p. 344.
" Ibid.
' Ibid.
' Sec p. 343.
• Ibid.
' Ibid.
» Sec p. .MJ.
328 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
ample* here given of it, (No. 13,) and then it has 'a fiat. Compositions in this mode
begin upon d, or f, or g, or a, or c. Its regular cadences are in f, or c, or a. The
middle cadence of the psalmody is in c. The final cadences are — the lloman in a ;
and in the other churches in f, «, c, and even u. It will be observed, that among
the sounds that may terminate melodies in this mode we find g, the second of the
scale. A similar termination may also take place in the seventh mode, which cor-
responds to the modern scale of g major, except tiiat f, the seventh, is natural.
We meet with such endings in some of the Scotish tunes, particularly those of
the Highlands. See p. 322.
We have one more remark to make upon the cadences in the fifth mode, a is
there mentioned as forming not only one of the sounds upon which the final cadence
may be made, but also as forming one of the regular cadences in the course of the
composition. Now, a modulation of this kind proceeding, for instance, from the
key of F major to that of a minor, or from d major to f sharp minor, has been
very much employed of late years. Rossini was perhaps among the first who
in our day brought it into vogue ; but he and his imitators have used it so often,
that it has become stale, and even more trivial than the most common modulation.
Some other new modulations may perhaps be found among the church tones, and
extolled as original products of genius by the public, ever greedy after any thing in
the shape of novelty. But might we not well say in this case, as in many others,
" There is nothing new under the sun ?" See another instance of ending by descent
of third in No. IG,'' in the eighth, or Hypo-Mixo-Lydian mode. The number
before this affords another example of what we moderns would conceive to be be-
ginning in one key, and ending in another. The scale of this mode resembles that
of the modern scale of d minor ; but the b is natural. This mode is sometimes
transposed to the fourth above, beginning on g. Although the scales of the eighth
and the first modes consist of the same series of sounds, yet the cadences in each
are in some respects different. In the former, the regular cadences are upon g and
B, besides d ; the middle cadence on c ; and the final cadences upon g, c, and a.
See above, the cadences in the first mode. In the eighth mode, therefore, cadences
can be made upon the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh degrees of the scale. See
what has been said upon the endings of the Scotish melodies, pp. 322, 323.
The following specimens of Canto Fermo are of the year 400, and from a MS. in
the monastery of St Blasius. See Gerbert " De Cantu et Musica Sacra," Vol. I.
They are here transposed an octave higher — from the tenor into the treble clef — for
the facility of reading. See p. 346.
• See p. 345. "■ Ibid.
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 32y
The first example from Gerbert begins with a bold and stiiiviiii^ passage, which
will at once remind every Scotsman of the song of " Lord Ronald, my son," where
precisely the same passage occurs at the fifth and sixth bars. The other specimens
sound in many places very Scotish — particularly the melody set to the " Prosa post
Offertorium," No. 19, p. 346, the ending of which isalso Scotish. See likewise the
five last bars of the " Kyrie," No. 21, in the same page.
We shall now give a few examples of what are called irregular intonations, (In-
tonazioni dette Irregolari,) as practised by particular churches and certain orders of
monks. These bear pretty strongly upon the Scotish melodies in regard to eiulings,
which, although common in them, are unusual in other styles of music.
They are remarkable, viewed abstractedly ; but more so, occurring, as they do, in
the modes to which they are assigned. The mode to which these cadences respec-
tively belong is indicated by primo tuono, secondo tuono, &c. There are several
examples given in each mode. These are marked by the figures 1, 2, &c. See
pp. 347, 348. The forms of some of these cadences are similar to those in mo-
dern use, particularly Nos. 1, 2, and 4, of the sixtli tone or mode, p. 348.
Before quitting the points of analogy as to structure, which exist in many re-
spects between the Scotish music and the Canto Fermo, we must notice the Do-
minants, or, as they may be called, the prevailing notes of the modes. In the
ancient tonalities the Dominant varies its place in different modes. In the modern
tonalities the Dominant is invariably the fifth of the key. In the ancient system,
supposing we reckon all the twelve modes, six of the modes have their Dominants
upon the sixth of the key, five of them upon the fifth, and one of them (the eighth
mode) upon the seventh of the key. See what has been said of the prevalence of
the modulation to the sixth of .the key in the Scotish songs, pp. 319, 323.
The reader will now understand that in the former part of this Analysis, we used
the modern terms of major and minor keys in reference to the Scotish tunes, be-
cause we had not then spoken of the ecclesiastical modes with which some of the
Scotish tunes have more affinity than with the modern major and minor scales or
keys. See note, p. 318.»
* As 10 tlie question regarding tlie Scotisli scale, or the so-called scale of nature, we do not
enter into it. Wc may just remark, hnncvcr, that the occasional omission or absence of" certain
sounds in particular keys or modes observable in many Scotish tunes, does not warrant our say-
ing that the Scotish scale rca/ty wanted such sounds, and was, therefore, imperfect, any more than
wc should be warranted in saying, that because in a Canto I'crmo some particular soinids were
not used, the scale upon which it was composed should also want such sounds, and be conse-
quently imperfect. That such a conclusion would be false, is proved by the Canto Ternio, No. 1.
It is in the first mode ; and although s, the sixth of the scale, is not used throughout the melody,
vet that interval u in the scale of this mode. See plate, p. 342. " John Anderson, my Jo," also
330 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
After the reader has examined these specimens of Canto Fermo, and compared
them with Scotish music, and drawn his own conclusions from such comparison, we
submit the following observations to him. It appears evident that the Canto Fer-
mo was composed originally with the view of constructing a melody consisting of
single sounds, without reference to harmony, or music in parts, and that the scales
upon which it is constructed, and the tonal laws by which its modulations and ca-
dences are regulated, are, in many respects, distinct from those used in modern mu-
sic. Hence the distinction made by musicians between the ancient and modern
tonality.' Again, it also appears that much of the Scotish music is composed in the
ancient tonality, and that the analogy between it and the Canto Fermo is in many
respects very remarkable. However, there are marked differences between the two
styles of composition. The occasional resemblances seem to arise from some of the
wants the sixth of the scale, b, (See VII. Skene MS.,) and yet who will say that it is not a beau-
tiful air, and perfect in its kind, whatever the scale may have been upon whicli it was formed ?
In fact, we cannot say, with our present scanty information upon the subject, what the Scotish
scales originaUy were. But we know to a certainty wliat the tunes are that have been handed
down to us. Some of these, when the notes of which they consist arc compared with what is
called a regular scale, will, it is true, be found wanting in certain sounds ; while others, again, have
all the sounds contained in a regular scale ; and yet, as we have before observed, Scotish people
in general prefer the former description of tunes.
But let it be granted that the music of Scotland was at one time composed according to a hmited
scale, arising from imperfect instruments, is it incompatible with the fact to say that, even at a
time when there existed a regular and perfect scale, and corresi)onding instruments to perform all
sorts of intervals, the omission of particular sounds in certain cases might not be the result of
design on the part of the composer : Might he not wish to produce a peculiar etfect by not using
such sounds, although otherwise at his disposal? These sounds might not even suggest them-
selves to his mind in the act of composition, and yet the melody composed might nevertheless be
still quite correct and perfect.
Tlie occasional omission of sounds in melodies .appears to us, therefore, not attributable to any
peculiar form of scales, but rather to the imperfection of certain instruments, or to design on the
part of the author.
» Such discrimination is, however, not always made. "There exist, indeed," says Choron, in
a note, in his edition of Albrechtsbergcr, " in composition, two systems of proceeding, which differ
singularly from each other, and on the nature of which most professors have but very confused and
inaccurate ideas." — " We have already shown," he continues, " that two sorts oi tonality (tonalite)
exist in the music of the present age: first, t\\e ancient tonality, a relic of that of the Greeks, and
still existing in the plain chant, otherwise called the Gregorian Chant, in use in tlie Catholic
Church, and principally in the Roman Church ; second, the modern or common tonahty, whicli is
generally in use in all the modern nations of Europe. Now, these two tonalities form the basis
of the two systems, or methods of proceeding in musical composition." See Merrick's English
edition of Atbrechtsberger, p. 99.
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 331
laws as to structure appearing to be common to both. And hence the similarity of
impression which they sometimes make upon the mind and feelings. They both par-
take of a wild and plaintive character, and possess a certain pleasing vagueness of
expression, which the imagination delights to follow out in its own way.
This plaintive character may arise, in no small degree, from the peculiar nature of
the scales upon which the melodies are constructed. For, when it is considered, that
the majority of these scales contain within the octave (the extent to which at least
the Canto Fermo is usually confined) a greater proj)ortion of minor thirds than ma-
jor ones, it will not be wondered at that the music should have a plaintive effect.
In some of the scales we find the proportion of four to two in favour of the minor
thirds, and in some it is equal ; but in none do the major thirds prevail over the
minor. As to vagueness of expression, this might indeed be said with more or less
propriety of all kinds of music, but of none surely with more truth than of that com-
posed according to the ancient tonality, in which the uncertainty of the key or
mode forms so remarkable a feature, and which is sufficient in itself to impart that
wandering and apparently irregular style of modulation to this kind of music. And
it is this uncertainty which makes it often difficult to say in what particular mode
or key, whatever the assumed one may be, a Canto Fermo or a Scotish tune is."
This is especially the case with the Canto Fermo ; for, besides other causes of un-
certainty as to mode, several of the scales are identically the same. Some of the
' This puzzling difficulty of distinguishing the ecclesiastical modes has been noticed by several
authors. Kirclier, in his ^fusurgia, remarks — " Tanta est de Tonorum numero et qualitate inter
auchores dissentio, ut cui subscribas vix dispicere possis." Lib. v. cap. 7. Kux also observes
" Ad modorum materiem tractandam adniti, perinde est, ac antiquum chaos in ordinem redi^ere.
Tanta enim opinionum diversitas inter auctores, turn antiquos, turn recentioies reperitur, ut fcrme
quot capita quot sententia; fuisse videantui." See Fuxius, in " Gradu ad Pamassum," Exerc. V.
Lect. vii. De modis, p. 221. This difficulty is t'artlier increased by tlie (to us) unmeaning names
of Dorian, Hypo-Dorian, Mixo-Lydian, Hypo-Mixo-Lydian, &c. being affixed to them, purporting
thereby that they are the same modes with tliose used by the ancient Greeks, or at least otf-shoots
(rom them. But what do we know of the ancient Greek music? Nothing. We cannot liear it :
we cannot sec it to compare it with modern music; for, unfortunately, no musical examples were
given by the Greek writers in tlicir works. See " Eximeno Dell'originc c dellc regole dclla tiituica."
Many learned men have indeed endeavoured to decipher the few fragments of it which have been
found, and which are said to be autlientic ; but they have uU given a difleront explanation of the
notation. Tiic Greek music, as rendered by them, is certainly vciy uncouth, luid most unlike what
might be expected from sucli a people. liul, in fact, until a Icy is found to the semi-iographv, or
musical notation, (that hitherto impenetrable mystery,) we can form no clear conce|ition of the real
effect of their music. Forkel, in his " Getchkhte dcr Miuik," says, thot we are as much in the
dark with regard to the true sound or expression {wahrenton) of the ancient music, as we are in
regard to the true pronunciation of the dead languages.
332 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
Scotish tunes are of a like embarrassing description, and whether one tries to assign
to them such a mode or key, either in the ancient or modern tonality, the result is
equally unsatisfactory. There is no seeing one's way through the " Lucis egens
aer ;" and so we fear it must rest, until something more is known of the early his-
tory of our native music which may throw light upon the subject. Be this as it
may, however, it is perhaps of no great moment in the present enquiry whether a
Scotish tune be sometimes found of that doubtful character which makes it diffi-
cult to assign it to this or that particular key or mode, provided we have, in the
meantime, been able to ascertain, in the absence of earlier information, that much of
the Scotish music is constructed upon the ancient tonality, and that in many respects
it coincides with the laws of the ecclesiastical modes. These laws have been in
operation since the fourth century, and until we find some trace of the principles
upon which the Scotish music in early times was composed, it is surely not unrea-
sonable to refer them in the meantime to these laws, particularly when the two
styles of melody exhibit so many features of kindred resemblance. This is the
point we wished to arrive at. Much difficulty is encountered in attempting to un-
derstand and explain the nature of the Scotish music according to the modern to-
nality. Indeed, it is impossible to do so. Every step leads to disappointment.
Every thing appears at variance with the practice of that tonality. Every thing
seems anomalous. But the moment we refer to the ancient tonality, the difficul-
ties disappear. What before was unusual, irregular, and unaccountable, is sanc-
tioned and explained by the tonal laws.
It may be thought that we have dwelt too long and too minutely on the ancient
ecclesiastical music ; but we had no other reason for bringing the subject forward
here at all, except that it seemed to afford better means of illustrating the nature of
Scotish music. The tonal laws which regulate the structure of the Canto Fermo are
extant, and are known to musicians of all countries : but still the general reader
could not be supposed to be conversant with these laws ; and seeing the many points
of analogy which existed between the structure of the Scotish music and the Canto
Fermo, and not being aware of the existence of any code of rules or laws regarding
the composition of the former, it appeared to us necessary to enter thus far into the
subject of the tonal laws. Had we merely stated the fact that the forms of melody,
the modulations, the cadences, &c. of Scotish music differed in many respects from
those used according to the modern system of composition, or ihe so-called modern
tonality, and that they seemed rather to depend on and flow from what is called the
ancient tonality ; had we done this, without at the same time attempting to explain
what was meant by the ancient tonality — or in what the difference between it and
the modern tonality consisted, in order that the two might be compared — or what
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 333
were the points of analogy between the Scotish music and the Canto Fermo, we
should, as we conceive, have given the reader no very satisfactory solution of the
subject of investigation.
Scotish music shows its antiquity by its connection with the ancient tonality.
And it is remarkable that the more anticjue the Canto Fermo, the more features of
resemblance does it seem to have in peculiarities of tonality (progressions of inter-
vals, modulations, cadences, &c.) in common with the ancient Scotish music. And,
as these peculiarities do not appear so strongly marked in what is considered as the
national music of other parts of Great Britain, this seems to throw back the origin
of the ancient Scotish music to a period of more remote antiquity than can easily be
assigned to any other popular music of our island. And moreover, if it is true, as
many authors assert, that the Canto Fermo is a relic of the old Greek music, or,
according to Padre Martini," that it was introduced into the Christian churches by
the Apostles, who derived it from the Hebrew synagogues, then we shall find the
Scotish music to be of the same lineage as the music of nations of the highest an-
tiquity.
We have said that much of the Scotish music is composed according to the ancient
tonality, and that, being of that tonality, it has many striking points of resemblance
with the Canto Fermo. And so has the old Irish music, which we have noticed be-
fore. But, although such resemblance is inevitable, it does not follow that there
should be no difference between the music of the Canto Fermo and the music of
Scotland or Ireland. For if that were the case, we might just as well say, that be-
cause a school of painters chose to use certain colours, with the exclusion of others,
all the individual works of those artists would be little more than mere copies one of
the other : or that because modern musical compositions are formed upon the modern
tonality, they should be all alike, or nearly so. There are, indeed, ijtmral laws
by which the structure or plan of these compositions is formed, and by whicli the
modulations, cadences, &c. are regulated. This may give to the works, even in op-
posite styles, of different composers, a certain degree of sameness in many passages.
And this is well known to be the case ; and yet, although the materials are the same
with which they work, the productions of one artist will be different from those of
another, in proportion as the genius of each is different. So also in regard to the pro-
ductions of the ancient system or tonality. Although the composers of the Scotish
music and the Canto Fermo, for instance, might work, in a great measure, with the
same materials, yet the subjects upon which these were employed being different, and
the genius of the individual artists also, as may fairly be presumed, being different.
■ Storia dcllu Musica, tumo !. Uissertazione 3.
•2 p
334 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
different results would necessarily be produced. And such is the fact. Nay, indeed,
comparing the Scotish music with the Canto Fermo, the difference between them is
perhaps still more conspicuous than between any two kinds of composition in the
modern tonality. And for this reason, the Scotish music has measure, rhythm, ac-
cent, besides a very peculiar manner or style of performance. The Canto Fermo
has none of these. They are most powerful engines of expression, and when added
to a piece of music, which previously did not possess them, are sufficient so to change
that piece as to make it almost irrecognizable. But even witliout these aids and
additions, all powerful as they are, we can safely say, that there is not one single
Scotish air we are acquainted with, which throughout can be called a transcript of
anv known Canto Fermo.
We hope that we have already shown sufficient reasons why the primitive form
and style of our national music should be, as far as possible, preserved. But
how is this best to be done? Why, by first ascertaining the great leading features
of our music, and keeping these untouched ; — by preserving the ancient tonality
in such tunes as are evidently framed upon it, and repelling all attempts to mix it up
and confound it with the modern tonality, which compound must unavoidably produce
a perfect jumble — a patch-work of incongruous things. If there are really two kinds
of tonalities, and two distinct styles of musical composition resulting from them, why
cripple the resources of the art, which has need of all its different means of expression
to produce variety of effect, by confounding together the two styles, and reducing them
to one only ; and particularly when the effect of each is good in its own way ? Had
the music of the ancient tonality been proved to be bad, then, indeed, if would be
time to throw it aside altogether, and employ exclusively that of the modern to-
nality. But such is not the case. Both, then, should be retained in practice ; each
acting in its own proper sphere. It is from not going upon this principle, partly,
perhaps, from ignorance of the existence of any more than one tonality— the mo-
dern — and partly from caprice, that much of the Scotish music has in later years
been adulterated by strange mixtures and additions, exhibiting, in many cases,
" a particoloured dross
Of patcli'd and piebald manufacture."
We have hitherto spoken of Scotish music only as regards its melodic character,
and for (as we think) the very obvious reason, that the original models at least, if
not the whole body of the music, were composed with reference to the laws of me-
lody, and these, too, of the ancient tonality. But before closing these remarks, we wish
to say a few words upon the susceptibility of Scotish music for harmonic treatment.
The system of harmony at present in use is based upon the modern tonality.
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 335
When or where this tonality came first to be introduced into practice, it is difficult
precisely to determine ; but it is known that even about the middle of the sixteenth
century not only the ecclesiastical, but all kinds of secular music, were composed in
the ancient tonality, and that no difference was then made between these two styles,
and that composers had only one style and one mode of procedure for all their com-
positions.* Even towards the end of the seventeenth century, we find the introduc-
tion of certain intervals (such as the diminished fifth, the tritone, the unprepared
seventh, &c.) spoken of as novelties, and as belonging to the new mode of proce-
dure, (jia seconda prattica, as Berardi calls it, in contradistinction to the prima prat-
tica, or old practice.) These novelties, as they were then called, besides being in-
troduced gradually, must have taken a considerable time before they came into
general use. Upon this seconda prattica was built the modern system of composi-
tion as regards melody and harmony. When we compare it with the older system,
we find the difference to consist in a freer use of all manner of intervals that could
be employed in melody and in harmony, and a more determinate establishment of
tonics, or initial and final key-notes ; and this is what is now called the modern to-
nality.
Now, it must occur to every one, from what has been said as to the distinctive
peculiarities of these two tonalities, that it must be a task of no ordinary difficulty
to combine the two in one composition, without at the same time sacrificing in great
measure the due force and effect of either. Indeed, in many cases it is even ques-
tionable whether we should attempt to unite them at all. Let us take a Scotish
tune — one containing a greater proportion of minor than of major thirds — " Adew,
Dundee,"'' for instance, and put an accompaniment of modern harmony to it for the
piano-forte. How is the melody of the third bar to be treated ; occurring, as it
here does, with c natural, where, according to the constitution of the modern key
of D minor, c sharp would be used ? (See p. 318.)^- It will be observed, that, even
* See Berardi's " MUcdlanea Musicale," 1089. Wliat Ik-rardi says above refers to tlio stati-
of music on tlie Continent only ; but when it is remembered that tliere was but one scliuol and
one style of composition followed by composers before and at the period he alludes to — towards
the middle of the sixteenth century — his remarks apply with equal force to this country as well
as the Continent. A Continent;il author observes, that it would perhaps be no easy task to dis-
cover any ditf'erence between the styles of Willhaert, Zarlino, Henry Isaac, Goudiniel, or of Wil-
Ham Hird. Claudio Montevcrde, about the close of the sixteenth century, is said to have been the
Krst innovator upon the ancient tonalities.
" No. XXIV. Skene MS.
' The fine old French air, " Vive Henri Quatre," ha.s a similar modulation at the second bar ;
n, d d, c natural ; and also at the opening of the second part. By-the-by, there is a striking re-
semblance between the second part of this air and the second part of the Scotish air of " Bonnie
33G ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
in the variations of this air, at the second bar before the end of each part, (of the
variations,) the c is also natural, contrary to the usual modern way, either in har-
mony or melody, of making closes or cadences in such keys. The closes of Nos.
II. and III., among many others of the Skene MS., present similar difficulties to
the harmonist. The way in which the seventh of the scale is often used in the
ancient tonality puts the modern harmonist to a stand. His harmony tells him,
and, perhaps, his modern ears also tell him, that that interval ought to be sharp ;
but the melody before him says no, it must be as it is, natural. Then he either
May." Many of the old French airs are composed after the model of the ancient modes, and
some of them were actually taken from the church service. The well-known air of the romance
" Charmante Gabrielle," for instance, was originallj/ a Christmas Hymn. On the other hand,
popular airs were at one period used as psalm tunes, and as subjects or themes for masses and
motets. Bayle, article Marot, has some curious passages relative to this practice. He (|Uotes ttie
Sieur de Pours's Divine MHodie dti St Psatmiste, where it is said that a Flemish translation of tlie
Psalms, published at Anvers by Simon Cock, in 1540, contains music borrowed from popular
songs, and this is indicated at the beginning of each psalm. For example, Psalm 72 is marked to
be sung to the tune of " D'oii vient cela;" Psalm 81 to " Sur le pont d'Avignon ;" Psalm 95 to
" Que niaudit soit ce faux vieillard ;" Psalm 103 to " Languir me faut ;" Psalm 113 to " De tris-
tesse et deplaisir;" Psalm 120 to " Madame la Regente ce n' est pas la fajon ;" Psalm 128 to
" 11 me suffit de tons mes maux ;" Psalm 135 to " Le berger et la bergere sont a I'ombre d'un
buisson," &c.
Florimond de Remond, speaking of Marot's version, says — " On n'cn pouvoit tant imprimer
qu'il ne s'en debitast d'avantage. lis ne furent pas lors mis en musique, comme on le voit
aujourd'huij, pour estre chantez au presche. Mais chacun y donnoit tel air que bon luy sembloit,
et ordinairement des vau-deville. Chacun des Princes et Courtisans en prit un pour soy. Le
Roy Henry second aymoit et prit pour le sien le Pseaume, Jlinsi qu'on oi/t le cerfhruire, lequel il
chantoit a la chasse. Madame de Valentinois qu'il aymoit prit pour elle, Dufond de ma pcnsce, »
qu'elle chantoit en volte. La Royne avoit choisi, Ne vcucillez 6 sire, avec un air surle chant des
bouffons. Le Roy de Navarre Anthoine prit, Revange moy, prens la qucrelle, qu'il chantoit en
bransle de Poitou, ainsi les autres." Flor. de Rem. p. 70.
Muret, in his " Querela ad Gassendum," &c., has the following passage quoted by Bayle : —
vixque in indignatione risum teneo, quoties recordationem subit alicubi videri sacrorum
cantuum rituale, in quo banc (ut alias omittam omnino turpes) rubricam legere est ;
Magnificat : sur le chant,
Que ne vous requinquez-vous vieille ?
Que ne vous requinquez-vous done?
The fact of there being no music for the express purpose at the time above alluded to, may]
sufficiently account for, although it cannot excuse, the profane folly of associating sacred words
with ridiculous songs. The French psalms, after being completed by Theodore de Beza, were
some time afterwards set to suitable music by the ablest masters of the time, and the old way of
singing them to popular airs was abandoned.
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 337
alters the melody, in spite of its cliaracteristic peculiarities, to accommodate it
to the usual routine of his harmony ; or, which is certainly much more wise, he
preserves the melody entire, and suits his harmony as he best can to the case.
Much has been said and written upon this very point, both for and against, in re-
gard to the Canto Fermo. Great was the outcry against some singers who first dared
to innovate upon the old practice, and use the major seventh and other novelties.*
But with regard to the manner of performing these and other passages in the Scot-
ish songs, we are to be guided by the traditional way of singing them, as preserved
among the great body of the people of the country : by the modus populi, and not
by a modus chori. And it is fortunate that we have been able to prove by the
Skene MS. that this modus populi — this national way of singing — tallies exactly,
in its great leading features, with the music as it is there written. The melody is
there represented in the simplest (and, as we believe, the true) form ; a form congenial
at once to the nature of the music, and to the principles of the ancient tonality.
Let any one, whose ears are not sentinelled by prejudice, try the effect of changing
the « natural into g sharp in the third bar before the end of No. IL ; or in the
second before the end of No. XX., Skene MS.; or in the closing bar of " My
luve's in Germany ;" or of " Ca' the ewes to the knowes," and many other of our
current airs of this mould, and he will find, not only in these, but in many other
passages where the minor seventh of the scale is used, that, after the ear gets ac-
customed to such use of the natural diatonic modulation, he will give his verdict in
favour of it, in preference to the other. And the reason is plain, because it is more
consonant with the nature and style of the music. To alter such passages to mo-
dern forms is at once to deprive them of their peculiar expression, and to blot out
one of the distinguishing marks of the ancient tonality. And (as we said before) if
there are two different tonalities, they certainly ought to be kept distinct.^ While
we would insist upon the preservation of the ancient tonality in those tunes which
seem evidently formed upon it, we by no means overlook the fact, which must be
' Examples of the harmonic treatment of the minor seventh of the scale may be seen in the
works of Vogler, Choron, Reicha, &c. See also Marpurg's " Traite de la Fugue ct du Contrc-
poiiit," cliap. 3. Sur let modes <les ancicni, et let tons d'e^lise; where he slmws the dirterence of
treatment to he observed in regard to these tones, and music composed in the modern tonahty.
*• Dr Burney, after speaking of Palestrina's Studj, which contain chants by himself and some of
his great contemporaries, says : " Ears not accustomed to ancient modulation would at Jirsl bo
surprised, and perhaps otl'uMdi'd, with some of the transitions in those fragments; but they must
be dirtbrently organized from mine, if, after the prejudice oj' habitude is a little subdued, they should
continue insensible to the solemnity and grandeur of such harmonica! combinations." Uittorif of
yiutic, vol. iii. p. '201.
338 ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC.
obvious to every body, that there are many tunes formed also upon tlie modern to-
nality. Some of these are as beautiful as those of the other class, although the
style is necessarily different : And if the style of melody be diiferent, so also should
the style of harmony be different.
VVe have enlarged upon this point rather too fully perhaps, but it appeared to us
right to say so much, in order to establish sure grounds for preserving the purity
and integrity of one of the most essential elements of our national music. Besides,
we have preferred noticing these peculiarities more fully here, that they might be
brought into closer contact with what we had to say regarding their harmonic
treatment. There are, however, other important points to be tal^en into account,
in this respect, as the intelligent reader will naturally infer from what we have al-
ready said regarding the structure of Scotish music. We shall now merely add
some general remarks on accompaniment." The nature and style of a melody
influences, or ought to influence, the kind of accompaniment applied to that
melody. This, however, is not always kept in view. We often see melodies
of all ages, and of all countries, and of all styles, treated, as to accompaniment,
precisely in the same way. But surely this is not right. What should we say
of a poet who makes shepherds and heroes speak in the same style ; or of the
painter who would deck out a Turk in the garb of a Highland cliieftain ? Would
we not characterize such proceeding as a piece of absurdity and incongruity?
Equally absurd and incongruous appears to us the dressing up of our Scotish me-
lodies in German, or Italian, or even in English costume — and modern costume tool
They require little accompaniment, and that of the simplest kind. And it should
be borne in mind, that, in them, the melody is the principal point of attraction ;
and that, therefore, the accompaniment is only appropriate and judicious in propor-
tion as it reflects, as it were, that melody in its true and native colours. And when
it does not do this, be the contexture of the whole even of the most exquisite work-
manship, it fails to exhibit faithfully the marked features of the national music,
which are thus wrought, it may be, into a beautifully contrived piece of art, which
every body must admire as music, but which, in this state, is not Scotish music.''
As to the harmonic accompaniment employed in the tunes of the Skene MS. it
is of a very simple kind. It consists of octaves, thirds, fifths, and sometimes of
' By accompaniment we mean, the adding of other parts, wliether vocal or instrumental, to a
melody : in other words, the clothing a melody with harmony.
'' On the subject of accompaniment, as regards melody in the ancient as well as the modern to-
nality, we refer the reader to Mr G. F. Graham's book already quoted. He will there find, at pp.
68, 69, 70, many sound and valuable remarks well worthy the serious attention of the musician.
ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTISH MUSIC. 339
the common chord. These are thinly sown, and put down only here and there.
But it is the melody that is the valuable part of this MS. to us of the present day,
as it most probably also was to the original possessor, who looked upon the book
merely as a depository of favourite melodies.
We now close these remarks on Scotish music. It is a curious and interesting
subject, not merely on account of the intrinsic beauty of the music, but as con-
nected with the early history of the art." It deserves to be more thoroughly
investigated than our space has permitted us to do in this brief sketch. We intend,
however, to take it up again ourselves, at some future time ; but shall be glad if
any thing we have said here may prove useful to others labouring in the same field.
* That Scotish music is considered in this light by accomph'shcd musicians, there are many in-
stances to show. We remember, some years ago, liaving accompanied the Chevalier Neukomm
and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy to the Competition of Pipers held in this city, and there
witnessing the lively interest with which they listened to the niu?ic. We know, also, that, during
their visit here, these gentlemen took every opportunity of hearing our national music in private.
No. n.
MUSIC,
342 SOALI^ OF AMCJiriV f £Ci£5]Au7] CAl iVJOBIS.
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Same Transposed,
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IN P.* or DORIAN MODE.
Psalm in the Festivals of the Virgin.
33
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t> " ot>
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Communion of Quinquagesima Sunday. (Shro\e Sunday.)
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■sfin'imins 07 cahtd mmQ.
343
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Ae-
Ingri's.&o Zaccha.ri_a.
3+6 SflClWlINS or ChtTIO flJJiVlD
OF THE YE\R 400.
From MS. in Monastery of St Blasius .
In the lectio libri Apocalipsis the following passage oecnrs .
17.
18.
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In Jacob
Extract from p. 43S.
U^jne.*
Ends on \.
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Prosa post Offcrtoriuin. p. 4.^7.
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331
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c k_ i_ son.
See Gerbert 'De Cantu ct Musica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 392.
C^A'Dl^lE 7]NAiJ D] G^ilE^S. ?AH-nSQIAHJ. 347
Priuio Tnono. ( T? Mode.)
1. a. 3.
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4. 5. .^ e.
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*See Pidrc Martini
348
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Chant for the US*.** Psalm. Roman Catholic, ancient.
i ^O O , ^ _ _^Q — » n , — o ''" — © — # — © — ©-
Nos qai vi_vi_mns be _ ne _ di _ ci _ mir. Do-mi-no. In ex _ i _ tn Jtc.
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349
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*■ From Mr. BUikiA MS. IGSJ. Sec Dissertation, y. ll-».
+ FroiTi Mr. Bliikit's MS. icas, tlso MS. \il\..c«t(s lilmirv . WOf. Str Dissertation, p. II.'..
li From Mr. Blaikie's MS. IbSS.
3o0
TKE lASTT TJWIE CAME ©EiR THE mVIE. Comuion Version.
fe3
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■JENMT DR]?>m3 MAE WATIK.
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Common Version.
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BDMfl'Y DUWDIE.
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Ccinmor. Version.
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35^
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^
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1:;'' cxxJ ^ ^^ I r r M^v^^-^fff^^^B^
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Och Jung-frunhoDsknlle&i^ M ot.tr sangt-n f;a; S^c
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* ScT Dissc-rtatiMn.p. 204, and N? 7 Nntrs and Illa%tnitionN.
3o2
T>J£ FLOYiljii OF THE 'F'JHL^'!.
From the Sl<cnc MS. wiih Svinphonics and Accoinpaniiii(.nts, by G. F. GrAhaui, Enquire.
J
t
S
^fcS
jzin
I've heard them lilt _ ing- »t
j^^^-J^
r j:] i J I i ^^^=p^=g.=^
the Ewe inilk _ ing, Lass _ cs a lilt _ ing be _ fore dawn of da
W4 i ^ ' i ^M-^
rcc
:#fc
4^
#^
J j U ■ ' ^^
p
\ S
# ^
Now there's a moan _ ing on il _ ka green loan _ ing, The Flow'rs of the
U:^
s
m
f
It:
i
-J — J—*
m
Fo _ rest are
wede
a _ way.
^
V-A-^'°^i
4'^'T 'l^r
J
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nn
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^
^
353
2
At liaghl!) in the morning, nac blithe Uds are scorning.
Lasses are lanely and dowie and wae ;
Nae daffin, nac gabbin, bat sighing and sabbing
Ilk ane lifts her leglin and hies her awav.
3
In har'st at the shearing, nae youths now are jeering,
Bandsters are runkled and Ijart or grey ;
At fair or at preaching, nae wooing nae f leeching ,
The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede a\\a\ .
♦
At e'en in the gloaming, nae younkers are roaming
"Bout stacks with the lasses at bogle to play ;
But ilk maid sits dreary, lamenting her dearie.
The Flowers of the Forest are weded away.
5
Dool for the order sent our lads to the Border ,
The English for ance by guile wan the day ;
The Flowers of the Forest that fought aye the foremost
The prime of our land lie cauld in the clay.
6
Well hae nae mair lilting at the Kwe milking,
Women and bairns arc heartless and wae ;
Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning,
The Flowers of the Forest are a' wcdc away.
// V* .K'm* £>ynuitr£iift '
No. III.
EXTRACTS FROM DOCUMENTS PRESERVED IN THE GENERAL
REGISTER HOUSE AT EDINBURGH.
I. — EXTRACTS FROM THE ACCOUNTS OF THE LORDS HIGH TREASURERS OF SCOTLAND
RELATIVE TO MUSIC.
1474.
Item, gevin at the kingis coramand iij° Septembris, to John firouD, lutare, at his passage
our sey to leue his craft, . . . . . . v. ti.
Item, to the trumpates, vj. eln of blew for their go>?nes, price of the eine zvj, s.
Item, iv. elne of blak for their hose, xiij. s. the eIne.
Item,x. elnes of blak holmefs fustian to the trumpatis doublats, iij. s. the eln.
Item, fra Will of Rind, to the kingis lutarc, the boye, ij. eln of fustiane.
Item, gevin to Ando. Balfour xi. Junij, to by lyning and smale grath to the kingis litle
lutare, ....... vj. s. viij.d.
1489.
Jun Item, to Cunnynghame the singar, at the kingis commande, a demy, xiij. s.
.Fuly 1. — Item, to Wilzeam, sangster, of Lithgow, for a sang bwke he brocht to the king be
a precept, . . . . . . . . x. ti.
Jul. 10 Item, to Inglis pyparis that com to the castel yet and playit to the king,
viij. ti. viij.s.
1490.
Apr. 13. — Item, to the trumpatts, .... v. ti. viij.s.
Item, to Blind Hary, ...... xviij.s.
Item, to Benat, ....... xviij. s.
Item, to iino oder fydlar, . . . . . . v. s.
Apr. 19. — To Martin Clareschaw, and ye toder crschc clareschaw, at ye kingis command,
xviij. s.
May. — Till ane ersche harper, at ye kingis command, . . xviij.s.
2q
356
EXTRACTS.
1491.
Apr. 5 Item, to the trumpets, .... vj. unicorns.
Item, to Blind Hary, ....... xviij.s.
Item, to Benat, ....... xviij. s.
Item, til a harper, ....... xviij. s.
Aug. 21. — Item, to iiij. Inglis pyparis, viij. unicorns, . . vij. ti. iiij.s.
1496.
April Giffin to James Mytson the harpar, at the kingis command, xiij. s. iiij. d.
June. — To tua wemen that sang to the king, .... xiij. s.
July To lundoris the lutare, at the kingis command, . . . xiij. s.
To Jacob the lutar, at the K. command, . . . xiij. s.
July 17 — To John of Wardlaw, the lutar, .... xviij.s.
Aug. 1 — Item, that same day, giffin to the harpar with the a hand, . ix. s.
Mar. 14 Item, that samyn day, to a man that playit on the clarscha to the king, vy. s.
1497.
Apr. 10. — Item, to John Hert, for bering a pare of monicordis of the kingis fra Abirdene
to Strivelin, ... . . . . is. s.
Apr. 19. — Iteu), to the tua fithelaris that sang Graysteil toge king, . ix. s.
July 21. — To the pyonouris to gang to the castill to help with Mons doun,* x.s.
Item, to the menstrallis that playit before Mons doun the gate, . xiiij.s.
1500.
Mar. 1 — Item, to Jacob, lutar, to lowse his lute that lay in wed, . xxxij. s.
1502.
Aug. 30. — Item, for xx. elnis franch tanne to the foure Italien menstrales,
xiij.ti. vj.s. viij.d.
1503.
Aug. 13. — Item, to viij. Inglis menstrales, be the kingis command, xl. french crownis,
xxviij.t.
Item, to the trumpetis of Ingland, ..... xxviij.t.
Item, to the Quenis four menstralis that remanit with hir, . . vij.t.
Item, to the Erie of Oxfurdis tua menstrales, . . . v. f. xij. s.
Item, to the five lowd menstrales, ..... xxviij. t.
The famous piece of ordnance called " Wons Meg. "
« EXTRACTS. 357
Aug. 21 — Item, that nycht to the cartis to the king, and syne giffin to the Inglis harparis,
iij. ti. X. S.
Sept. 10. — Item, to the four Italien menstrales to fe thaim hors to Linlithqw, and to red
tbaim of the toun, ....... Ivj. s.
Sept. 29. — Item, to Bountas, that playit on the cornut in the Qucnis chamer, xxviij.g.
Item, to four Italien menstralis, ..... Ivj.s.
Sept. 30. — Item, to ane of the menstrales, to pas to Edinburgh, to by him ane schalme, be
the Kingis command, ...... icxviij.s.
Oct. 2. — Item, to the cornut, to by him quhissillis, be the kingis command, xlij.s.
Oct. 6. — Item, to the coramoun piparis of Abirdene, . . xxviij. s.
Oct. 25. — Item, to Bountas that playit on the cornut, . . xxviij. s.
Item, to Pate Harper, clarscha, .... xiiij. s.
Oct. 31. — Item, to the four low d menstrales, . . xxviij. s.
Item, tlie first day of Januar giffin to thir menstralis vndervrittin, that is to say, Thomas
Hopringill, John Hopriugill, Alex'. Caslaw, Pete, Johne, and Johne, trumpet, ilk ane,
xiiij. s. .... . . . iij. ti. x. s.
Item, to Alex'. Harper, Pate Harper, Pate Harper clarscha, Hew Brabanar, and the blind
harper, harperis, ilk ane, xiiij. s. .... iij.ti. xs.
Item, to Robert Kudman, Cuddy the Inglis boy, Sowtar lutar, Adam Dikesoun, and
Craik, lutaris, ilk ane, xiiij. 5. . ... iij. ti. x. 5.
Item, to Ansle Guiiliam Portuous and Quhynbore, taubroneris, . Ivi.s.
Item, to Adam Boyd, Bennct, and Jamc Widderspune, fithelaris, . xlij. s.
Item, to the commoun piparis of Edinburgh, . . . xxviij. s.
Item, to the Qucnis lutar, ... ... Ivj. s.
Item, to Bountas, the cornut, .... . Ivj. s.
Item, to the four Italien menstralis, ..... vij. ti.
Item, to Hog, the tale tellar, . .... xiiij- s.
Feb. 24 — Item, that samyn nycht in Bigar to ane'pipar and ane fithelar, be the Kingis
command, . . . . . . xiiij. s.
Item, to the Countes of Craufurdis harper, .... xiiij. s.
1504.
Aug. 21. — Item, to tua Inglise wemen that sang in the Kingis pailzeoune, xxiij. s.
Item, that samyn nycht (15 Oct.) in Dunnottir to' the chcild playit on the monocordis, be
the Kingis command, ...... xviij. s.
1505.
Item, the xiiij. day of Aprile pasch tis day to thir menstralis underwrittin. In the first,
to Tlionias Hopringill, &c., trumpetis, .... liiij. s.
358 EXTRACTS.
Item, to the four Schawmeris and ther iiij. childer, . . iij.ti. xij. s.
Item, to the More taubroner, giiilliam taubroner, &c., ilk man, ix. s. . liiij. s.
Item, to Adam Dikeson, lutair, the Countes of Craufurdis lutair, Robert Rudman, the
sowtar lutar, &-C., ilk man, ix. S. . . . • liiij. s.
Item, to Alexander harper, Pate Harper clarscha, his son, the ersch clarscha, &c., Sec,
ilkman, ix. S. ..... iij.ti. xii.s.
Item, to Sir George Lawederis fithelar, ane fithelarof Strivelin, &c., ilk man, ix. s.
xlv. s.
Item, to the tua piparis of Edinburgh, the franch quhissalar, the Inglis pipar with the
drone, ilk man, ix. s. ... . xxxvj. a.
1507.
Jan. 1 — Item, that day giffin to divers menstrales, schawmeris, trumpetis, taubroneris.
fithelaris, lutaris, harparis, clarscharis, piparis, extending to Ixix. persons, x. ti. xj.s.
Jan. 12. — Item, to the chanoun of HaijTudhous that mendit the organis in Strivelin and
Edinburgh, ... . . . . vij.ti.
Sep. 17. — Item, to the crukit vicar of Dumfreise that sang to the king in Lochmabane, be
the kingis command, ....... xiiij. s.
Dec. 3 1 — Item, to xxx dosane of bellis for dansaris dely verit to Thomas Boswell,
iiij. ti. xij. s.
1508.
Jan. 22. — Item, to Gray Steill, lutar, . . . . . v.s.
Feb. 16. — Item, to Wantonnes that the king fechit and gert hir sing in the quenis chamer,
xiij.s.
Mar. 6 — Item, to VVantones and her tua marrowes that sang with hir, . xiij. s.
1511.
Item, to Gilleam, organist, makar of the Kingis organis, for expensis maid be him on the said
organis in gait skynnis, and parchment for the belles, in naillis and sprentis of ime, in
glew, papir, candill, coiU, &c., .... viij.ti. iiij.s. ,
Sept. 20 — Item, in the new havyne to Gilleam taberner, and to the Scottis and Italiaue
truropatis in drinksilver, .... . xiiij. s.
1512.
Mar. 27. — Item, to foure scolaris, menstralis, be the Kingis command, to by thame instru-
mentis in Flandris, vij.ti. gret, answerand in Scottis money to xxi.ti.; and help thair
EXTRACTS. 359
expens'3 and fraucht, Ivj. s. And therefter, becaus thai plenyeit thai gat our litill ex-
pens and fraucht, deliveret uther Ivj., . . . xxxvj.ti. xij.s.
Jan. 1. — Item, gevin to the menstralis, that is to say, Italianis, Franche men, Scottis trum-
pettis, lutaris, harparis, and uther Scottis menstralis, to the nowmer of xxv. personis, to
euerilk ane of thame xiiij. s., ... . xvij.t. xS.
Item, the third day of Januar. gevin till ane barde wife callit Agnes Carkill, at the Kingis
command, ........ xiij.s.
Mar. 17. — Item, the said day to the curat of the Canongait for the tyrementof ane Italiane
trumpet, ........ xiiij. s.
Jul. 11. — Item, to Odonelis, (Ireland man,) harpar, qubilk past away with him, at the
kingis command, .... . . vij.fi.
Item, to xiiij. menstralis, Italianis, Franchemen, trumpettis, scbawmeris, t tawbrouneris, to
thair clathis, ilk man for his goune, doublattis, and hois, vj.t. x.s., . Ixxxxj.ti.
Item, ye i. day of November, to Juliane Drummond and his vij. complicis, Italiane men-
strallis and trumpettis, for the monethis of December instant and Januar to cum, to ilk
ane of thamc iiij. I. vij. s. vj. d. be the said tyrae.
Item, the said day to James davcncourt, boncruss, and thair complicis, menstrallis,
Franchemen, qubilk ar vj. personis in thehaile, for thair wagis of the saidis monethis of
November, December, and Januar, to ilkane of thame, iiij. ti. vij.s. vj.d.
1513.
Aug. 6. — Item, to the Italiane menstralis, for thame and the franche taberneris, fidlaris,
organeris, trumpettis, extending to the nowmer of xj. personis, to every ane of thame
iiij. ti. vij. s. vj.d., for thair termis wagis of larais last bypast, xlviij. ti. ij. s. vj. d.
1515.
Dec. 30. — Item, to Bountans franche menstrall, at my Lord governouris command, in part
of payment of his wagis, . . . . • . xl. s.
Item, to V. Italiane menstrallis, viz. Vincent Auld, Juliane Younger, Juli.ine, .Antbone,
and Bestiane Drummonth, and George Forest, Scottisman, with them makand vj.
personis, ....... Ixxviij. ti. xv. s.
Item, the samyn day, be my Lord Governours command, to Bestiane Drummonth, ane of
the said menstrallis, becaus he past with licence to vesy his frendis in Itale, to help his
expens, by his wagis abuff written, . x. ti.
1516.
Aug. 8. Item, to James Cabban, now the Kingis menstrale in Striveling, at the Lordis
deliverans, for his goun, dowblat. and hois, . . iiij. ti. xviiij. 5.
360 EXTRACTS.
Sept. 12. — Item, to Nicholas Abernethy, the sangistar, at ray Lord Governors com-
mand, • • • • • • • • XX. ti.
1530.
Item, to Cabroch fidlar, be the Kingis command, . . . vj.ti. vj.s.
Item, to Anthoun, talburnar, ..... xij. li. xj. s.
1533.
Oct. 19 Item, for ane dozen luyt stringis send to the Kingis grace in Glasgow, vj. s.
Nov. 2 Item, for iiij. dosane luyt stringis send to the Kingis grace in Falkland, xxiiij.s.
Leuerais.
Item, to Anton, talbonar, for his liveray, .... xij.ti.xj. s.
Item, to Thomsoun, quhissillar, . . . . v. ti. xij. s.
Item, to Wille Thomsoun, quhissillar, his bruthir, ... xl. s.
Item, to Cabroch, fiddillar, . . . . . . v. ti. xij. s.
1537.
In primis, to iiij. trumpetouris, iiij. tabernaris, and iij. quhislaris, quhilkis passit in the
schippis to France the vij. day of Maij, xxxiij. elnis reid birge satyne and yallow, equaly
to be thame dowblatis, .... xvj. ti. xij. s. vj. it.
Item, gevin to the King of Francis trumpettis for their new geir giftis.
Item, gevin to his howboyis, ..... xxij. cronis.
Item, gevin to his sifters, :..... vj. cronis.
Item, gevin to the cornatis, ..... xvj. cronis.
Item, gevin to the Queue of Navernis howboyis, . . . x. cronis.
Item, gevin to the Queue of Scotlandis tabirnar, . . . xij. cronis.
1538.
Ordinare Feis and yeirlie Pensionis, ^c.
Item, gevin to the five Etalianis for thair twa leverais in the yeir, . Ixv. ti.
Item, to thefoure raenstralis that playis upon the veolis for thair yeirlie pensioun, payit to
thame quarterlie, ....... ij°. ti.
Item, gevin to twa menstralis that playis upon the Swesch talbum, . l.ti.
Item, to foure mynstralis that playis upoun the trumpettis of weir, . j^ ti.
Dec. 16 Item, gevin to Jakkis CoUumbell, player upon the veolis, becaus his leveray is
EXTRACTS, 361
reid, v. einis dimmegrave, to be his cote and hois, and to his uther thre coilegis, playeris
on tlie veolis, Sec. ...... xxiij. ti. xvij. s.
Item, deliverit to the uther thre that playis upoun the veolis, iij. reid bonettis,* price of the
pece, xvij. s. . . . . . . . . li. s.
Item, for ane lute and twa dosaae of stringis to Johne Barbour, . Ivj. s.
1542.
In the first deliverit to be x. coittis and x. pair of hois to the four playaris on the veolis,
four trumpettis of war, and twa taburnerris, xxxij. elnis of dummegrave, price of the
elne, xxviij. s. and xviij. elnis Frenche fallow, price of the elne, xx. s. &c. &c.
Ixij. ti. xvj. s.
Item, gevin to the v. Italianis for thair liverais usit and wount, . Ixv. ti.
1548.
Item, viij. Aprilis, ane to play throw the toun with the swesche, to raise certane men of
weir to pas to Yaister, . . . . . . i'j- s.
Item, to the vyolaris that playit to my Lorde Governour the tyme of pasche, xliiij. §.
Item, to Stewyn, tabronar,| and ane other harpar with him.
Item, to Cunynghame, Iwtar, quhay playit the haill holy dayis of pasche to my Lorde
Governour.
1550.
Item, to certane Franchemen that playit on the cornettis, . vj. ti. xviij. s.
\ EXTRACTS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD BOOK OF LADY MARIE STEWART, COUNTESS OF MAR.
EdinbuTtjh. (No date.)
1638.
May 16 To ane blind singer, who sang the time of disner, . . xij. s.
Sept. 8. — To twa hieland singing women, at my Laidies command, vj. s.
Sept. 23. — To ane lame man callit Rosse, who playes the plaisant, . iij. s.
* In the time of Chaucer it nu cuitomary for a)l minstrcli to near red hats.
'* He was no cardynall
With a rcdde hatto as usen minstrals." — Tlif Plowman s TaU,
t In Dissertation, p. 74, an anacdoto is related from Knox's History respecting " Sandy .Stevin, MenitralL"
The reader will also find some notice of " Steven, Taburncr," in Pitscottie's History, p. 230. (Edition 1*78.)
362 EXTRACTS.
1641.
March 4. — To blind Watt y piper that day, as my Laidy went to the exercise, iiij. s.
Aug. 18. — To the drummers and piffarers y" second time, . . xij.s.
1642.
To ane woman clarshochar who usit y" house in my Lord his tyme, . xij. s.
June 20 Item, that day given to three English pifiFereris, . . xviij.s.
II EXTRACTS FROM ACCOUNTS OF THE COMMON GOOD OF VARIOUS BURGHS IN SCOTLAND,
PRESERVED IN THE GENERAL REGISTER HOUSE, RELATIVE TO MUSIC SCHOOLS, &C.
Aberdeen, 1594 — 1595.
Item, to the raaister of the grammer schoil for his fee of the Jwa termis, xxxiij. ti. vj. s.
Item, to the inaister of the sang schoill, &c., . . xiiij. ti. xiij.s. iiij.d.
Air, 1627—1628.
Item, to the Mr of the gramer scule his stipend, . . . jMi.
Item, to the Mr of musik scule, for teaching of the musik scule and taking up the psalmes
in the kirk, x. bolls victuall, and xlji. ti. vj. s. viij. d. of silver.
(The same repeated for 1G33 and 1634.)
Couper, 1581.
Item, to the maistcr of the sing scole fe, . . . vj.ti. xiij.g. iiij.d.
Item, to Mr Alexander Tyllideaphe, Mr of the musick scol, . . j'. ti.
Dumbarton, 1621.
Item, to Mr Alexr. Home, scholemaster, for his feall and hous maill, 1621,
iiij'^.lxvj.ti. xiij.s. iiij.d.
Item, to the teicher of the Inglische schoole and musick, . . j"^. ti.
Dundee, 1602.
Item, to the maister of the grammer scole, . . . ij"^. merkes.
Item, to the master of the sang scule, .... Ixxx. ti.
EXTRACTS. 3G3
1603.
Item, the masters of gramer and sang schol, . . Ixx.ti. xiij.s. iiij.d.
1621—1622.
Item, to Mr John Mow, Mr of the music schoole, for his fee and hous maill, ccl.ti.
1628.
Item, to Mr John Mow, maister of the music scule, . ij'lxvj.ti. xiij.s. iiij. d.
Elgin, 1633—1634.
Maister of the grammcr and musicic schuillis, . . ij'xxx. ti.
1622.
First, to the master of the gramer scole, . . Ixvj.ti. xiij.s. viij.d.
To the master of the music scole, . . . . . j*-'. ti.
Inverness, 1634.
Item, gifFen to the Mr of the grammer scoil, . . . iiij".ti.
Item, gift'en to Mr of the rausick scoil, .... xsxvj. ti.
Irving, 1633.
Our sciioolmaister, ...... Ixsx. merkis.
Our doctour and rausicianer, . . . . . . j*. li.
Lanark, 1627—1628.
Item, to the scholemaister of the said bruche that tciches the gramer for the saidis tua termc?,
(Mcrtimes aud Witsonday,) . . . . . j'. ti.
Item, to ane wther scholemaister that teichis the musick, i<j"v-j. ti. xiij.s. iiij.d.
St Andrews, 1(;26— 1627.
Item, to the publict reader, . . . . . j'. ti.
Item, to the maister of the musik scholi, and for taking up of the psalmc at preaching and
prayeris of fie, . . . . . ij'. ti.
(The same repeated for 1632 and 1633.)
2 R
364 EXTRACTS.
Taijne, 1628.
Item, to Mr Thomas Ross, master of the gramour schooU, . . jj. ti.
Item, to Mr Johne TuUidef, reider and master of the musick schooll, . j^. ti.
(The same repeated for 1634.)
Wigton, 1633.
Imprimis gevin to ane schoolmaister for teiching the grammer schoolc, reiding and raising
the psalmeis in the kirk yeirlie, .... iij^ merkis.
In a Minute of the Town Council of Glasgow, ditcd 24th December 1583, " the scuile, sumtyme callit the
sang scuile," is mentioned as a part of the common good which it was resolved to sell in order to liquidate the heavy
charges which the town had incurred in consequence of the pest, &c. And in the Treasurer's accounts for the
same burgh, in 1609, we find the following item — " Gifin upon the third day of Klarche 1608^, (erroneously printed
1808,) to Jon Buchan, Mr of the sang scole, for Witsonday and Martymes termes, miiU of bis hours, (apparently a
misprint for house,) 1608, L.xx," See a volume printed for private distribution, entitled •• Memorabilia of the
city of Glasgow, selected from the Minute Books of the Burgh, 15b8 — 1750." Glasgow, 1835, pp. 27 and 70.
No. IV.
"INFORMATION TOUCHING THE CHAPPELL-ROYALL OF SCOTLAND."
" To the King's most excellent Majestie, the Information and Petition of
j'our Majestie's humble Servant, Edward Kellie, touching your Ma-
jestie's ChapelURoyall of Scotland.
" When first your Majestie intended to goe into your kingdome of Scotland, I
was employed by your Majestie, and such of your Councill of that kingdom as
were then at courte ; To provide psalmes, services, and anthymnes for your Majes-
tie's said cliappell-royall there, as in your chappell here. Thereupon I caused make
twelve great books, gilded, and twelve small ones, with an organe-book wherein I
caused write the said psalmes, services, and anthymnes, and attended the writing
thereof fyve monethes here in London. At that tyme, alsoe, I provided the same
musick that was at your Majestie's coronation here, with one Bible for your Majes-
tie, and two great Bibles for the Deane and for the lleailers of the said chappell.
Thereafter, I procured your Majestie's warrante for deposeing all insufficient per-
sons that had places in your said chappell-royall, and for placing others more quali-
fied, upon examination, in their roomes. Herevpon, I carryed home an organist
and two men for playing on cornets and sakbuts," and two boyes for singing divi-
sion in the versus, all which are most exquisite in tlieir severall faculties. I caused
the said organist examine all the aforesaid musick-books and organ-books ; and
!k Hawkins (Hist. vol. ii. p. 267) says, that " in the Statutes of Canterbury Cathedral, provision
is made for players on sakbuts and cornets, which, on solemn occasions, might probably be joined
to, and used in aid of thu organ." The sakbiit, or liiha traclilit, was a bass wind instrument of
the trumpet kind, contrived so as to be drawn out to ditlerent lengths, according to the acutcness
or gravity of the sound, similar to the trombone of modern times.
36C INFORMATION TOUCHING THE
finding them right, convened all tlie musicians of your Majestie's said chappell, some
whereof (being after trial! found insufficient for such service) I deposed, and choosed
some others in their roomes, wherehy I made vpp the number of sixteen men beside
the organist and six boyes ; who all of them sung there psalmes, services, and an-
thymnes, sufficiently, at first sight, to the organe, versus, and chorus, see being con-
fident of their abilitie to discharge the service, 1 desired the lordes of your Majes-
tie's honourable councell, and others of authoritie, skillfull in that facultie, to heare
them ; which lords, after their hearing, in token of their approbation, gave me a
testificate under their hands, witnessing that I had fully performed my former vnder-
takings, and showing that the like service was never done there before by any soe
well, or in soe good order. This testificate I have here to showe your Majestie.
Then for my assurance in tyme comeing, I took bond of the said musicians, that
they should be ready at all tymes to vndertake and discharge the seruice. This
bond I have here alsoe to showe. Herafter your Majestie was gratiously pleased,
by your letters vnder your highnes privie seall, with consent of the Deane of your
said chappell-royall, to constitute mee collector and distributer of the rents pertayn-
ing to your said chappell, and to see such good orders established in the same, as
the service therein might be well and faithfully done, and that none but persons
sufficiently qualified should have any place there, and that they should be all keept
at daily practise ; and for that effect, your Majestic appointed mee ane chamber with-
in your pallace of Halyrudehouse, wherein I have provided and sett vpp an organe,
two fiutes, two pandores with violls, and other instruments, with all sorts of Eng-
lish, French, Dutch, Spaynish, Latin, Italian, and old Scotch musick, vocall and
instrumental). In the said chamber, the said organist and the boyes doe remain,
and the remanent musicians and vnder officers doe meet therein twice a-week to prac-
tise and to receive directions for the next service. For observance of these meetings,
and many other good orders, I have likewise taken bond of the said musicians, which
bond I have also here to showe. In tyme of service within the chappell, the organist
and all thesingingmon are in black gownes, the boyes are in sadd coloured coats, and
the vsher and the sexten and vestrie-keeper are in browne gownes. The singing-
men doe sit in seats, lately made, before the noblemen, and the boyes before them,
with their books lay'd, as in your Majestie's chappell here. One of the great Bibles
is placed in the midle of the chappell, for the reader, the other before the Deane.
There is sung before sermon ane full anthymne, and after sermon ane anthymne
alone in versus with the organe. And thus every one attendeth the charge in his
place in a very grave and decent forme.
" At this tyme, for your Majestie's now intended journey into your said native
CHAPEL-ROYAL OF SCOTLAND. 367
kingdome, and for your highnes coronation there, I have not as yet had any com-
mandment. Nevertheless, I am alwayes in readinesse in manner aforesaide, with
the said musick for your JVIajestie's coronation, and all other musick necessary, with
cornets, sakbuts, and other instruments, with men to play thereon, ready vpon ad-
vertisement.
" If, therefore, it shall please your most sacred Majestic to ratifie these my for-
mer powers and warrantes, for ingathering of the rents and ordering your said chap-
pell, as I have beguiine, your Majestie's exchequer by that meanes will be disbur-
dened : And I, your Majestie's servant, shall vndertake either to give your Majes-
tic good assurance by a new testificate from your councell of my present abilitie for
performance of the service with greater credite to your Majestie's native kingdome,
then it can be done by strangearis, and with no greater charge vnto your JIajestie
then is allready due : Or else I shall give tymouse advertisement vnto your highnes
that your musicians here may be carryed thither for the service ; which, vndoubt-
edly, will be a great and needless charge, if your Majestie's servants at home can
doe the same, all things being provided and ready for the purpose. These pre-
misses I most humbly referr vnto your Majestie's princely consideration, and desire
your Majestie's speedy resolution and answer herein. And because this informa-
tion hath no man else to [be] answerable for what is in it but my selfe, whoe have
formerly given good proofs of my care and affection to your highnes service ; There-
fore, that your Majestic may be assured that I attempt nothing but what is faire,
and what I am confident to performe, as 1 shall be answerable for, according to my
vndertaking, I have subscrived these presents with my hand, at Whitehall, 24th
Januarii 1G31, after the English account.
" E. Kellie."
POSTSCRIPT.
SiNXE closing the Preliminary Dissertation and Notes, we are enabled to present
our readers with some additional information which augurs favourably for the
farther success of the enquiries in which we have been engaged.
It appears that the MS. volume, mentioned pp. 84 and 147, Dissertation, is in the
possession of Mr Chalmers of London. It is written in Lute Tablature, on a stave
of six lines, and was presented to Dr Burney, in June 1781, by Dr George Skene,
Professor of Humanity and Philosophy in Marischal College, Aberdeen. The
title of the work is, " An Playing Booke for the Lute. Where in ar contained many
cvrrents and other mvsical things. Musica mentis medicina mastoc. At Aberdein.
Notted and collected by Robert Gordon, (the well-known Sir Robert Gordon of
Straloch.) In the year of our Lord 1627. In Februarie;" and on the back of the
title there is a drawing of a person playing on the lute. Its contents were insert-
ed in the Gentleman's Magazine for February 1823 ; and, as we have not seen the
original volume itself, we here transcribe the list of the tunes as given in that work,
although we have neither time nor space to accompany them with any remarks.
It should be premised, that, besides those here mentioned, there are others which
are simply distinguished as " Ballets," or " Currants :" —
" The Buifens — Sleepe wayward thoughts Sannicola. — Sheepheard saw thou
not What if a day. — Give caire does cause men cry Canaries Finis, quod
Ostend, (no title.) — Finis ballat, or Almon. — Hurries Current Queen's Current.
— Frogge's Galzeart — Lyke as the Durabe — When Daphne did.— The Prince
Almon The day dawes. — Cum sueit Love lett sorow ceasse. — Finis, Hadding-
ton's mask Thir Gawens Finis, Queene's Almone, as it is played on a fourteen
cord lute A Saraband — Ther wer three Ravns. — In a gardeen so green Had-
dington's maske The barg of maske Begon sueit night Tell me Daphne. —
Lachrymy. — A stryng of the Spanish Pavin Finis, Darges Current. — Fantasie.
— A passing sour Ballart's Current. — The quadro pavin. — The galziart of the
pavin In till a mirthful May Morning Orlio's Current Hebrun's Current
A Port. — Port Priest — Before the Greekes Brangle, simple The Old Man.
— I long for the Wedding — Gray steel. — Put on the Sark on Muuday. — Brail de
POSTSCRIPT. 369
Poyctu — Ostende — God be with the Geordie — A Pasmissour. — A Brangle witli
the braking of it — A Braill : second, third, fourt, fift, sext braill. — Thoes rare and
good in all. — Finis, Lilt Ladle : An. Gordone. — A daunce. — Green greus ]>' rashes.
— Com Love lets walk — Finis. Cum lett us walk into yon springe Hunter's
carrerre — Vpon a Sommer's time. — Its a wonder to see how p' world doos goe
An thou wer myn oun thing — Finis port Jean Kinsay. — Cock-stouns hoggie. —
Wo betyke thy waerie bodie — Ladle Laudlon's Lilt. — Have over the water
From the fair Lavinian shore Keath keares not for
thy kyndnes — Earlie in the Mornning Galua Tom. — The tript of Diram. —
Kist her while she blusht — God be with my bonnie love. — Whip my toudie. —
Bon acord — My beelful breest Hench me malie Gray. — Thir gawens ar gev. —
A preludlum. — Finis huic libro impositus. Anno D. 1629. Ad finem. Decem.
6. In Stra-Loth."
The Editor has also seen a copy of the collection referred to in the Dissertation,*
called " Flores Musicte," and announced In the advertisement to have been "collected
from a variety of old MSS. wherein the errors that havecrept intothcformer editions
of the Scots tunes are traced," &c. ; but the expectations which such an announcement
was calculated to raise have been greatly disappointed. The work had most pro-
bably been confined to the Jirsl number, and contains the following airs: — The
Birks of Invermay — The Broom of Cowdenknows — The Blatherie o't — The Yel-
low-haired Laddie — The Braes of Ballendlne — My Nanio, O — The Lassof Patie's
Mill — Logan Water — KillicTatikie — The Mill, O — Bush a!)oon Traquair — Hey
Jenny come down to Jock — lloslln Castle — Kohin Cushie — The last time I came
o'er the moor — To danton me — Tweedside — I'll never leave thee — 1 wish my love
were in a mire — Woes my heart that we should sunder — My mother's ay glowering
o'er rac — Bonny Dundee.
Several of these airs are not ancient. " Iloslin Castle," and " The Braes of
Ballenden," are said to have been composed by Oswald, and " The Yellow-haired
Laddie" is probably of an age little anterior to his. Neither docs the music bear the
least semblance of its having been taken from collections older, at all events, than
the beginning of last century ; and yet the Editor, in his preface, says that he has
examined a variety of old manuscripts, and " endeavoured, with the utmost ac-
curacy, to trace out the errors of former editions." The following passage of tliat
preface, however, is worth quoting, as it contains some truth, though blended with
a good deal of that random assertion so common at the time when the work was
published.
* r. 3. This Collection w.is publislicd in 1773j not in 1773, iis there mentioned.
370 POSTSCRIPT.
" David Rizzio is now generally fixed upon as the composer of the best of these
delicate songs ; but how so gross a falsehood comes to be so universally believed, is
not easy to determine. That tiie Scots music is of no older a date than two centuries
ago, no one, we hope, will venture to assert, who is, in the least, acquainted with the
liistory of this kingdom ; yet, some writers have, of late, so confidently affirmed
them to be his compositions, that they are now generally termed the Songs of
Rizzio ; although it will plainly appear to any person who will take the trouble
to look into the transactions of those times, that the finest of these songs were very
currently known in Scotland some centuries before that unhappy man first landed
on its coast.
" That they have received some improvements from Rizzio, by being more re-
gularly set, we pretend not to dispute; but to prove that they were not originally
composed by him, many instances might lie brought from private as well as jjublic
records ; as we find many of these tunes mentioned prior to the reign of James I."
The reader is by this time aware that of the two facts assumed in the last sen-
tence — that Rizzio had improved the Scotish music, and that Scotish airs now known
to us existed anterior to the reign of James I. of Scotland, the monarch here
alluded to — we have no historical evidence whatever.
It may be proper also to mention, that, since this work was printed, a vol-
ume has been put into our hands, entitled " A Collection of National English
Airs, consisting of Ancient Song, Ballad, and Dance Tunes, interspersed
with remarks and anecdote, and preceded by an Essay on English Minstrelsy."
This work has been very recently published in London, and we believe that farther
researches of the same kind are in the course of being actively carried on in the
southern part of the kingdom, from which much interesting information of a
literary and historical nature may be derived. We should think, however, that
it would be of more consequence to the musical world if public attention were
directed to Ireland and Wales, from both of which countries music of a distinctive
national character might be obtained : whereas, with respect to the national music
of England, little can be expected. And notwithstanding the laudable industry
which Mr Chappell has here evinced, nothing has as yet transpired of a nature
to affect the opinions which we have had occasion to express, or the conclu-
sions to which we have come on this subject." We confess that we have never
yet been alile to comprehend in what the alleged nationality of the English
music consists, and this collection has left us as much in the dark on that point
• Sec Dissertation, pp. 197, 198, 199, 200.
POSTSCRIPT. 371
as ever. We see a great many songs and tunes with English words and verses
attached to them ; but we cannot |)erceive in what respect the melodies differ from
tliose of other nations. There is nothing marlced, striking, or uncommon in the
succession of their intervals, tiieir cadences, time, rhythm, or accent ; and even
the most ancient of them, some of which might have been composed before the
modern tonality or system of keys and scales was fully estal)li>lied, possess none of
the antique characteristics which might have been looked for. We only speak,
however, of what we have seen, which has not extended to more than sixty airs.
The work, we believe, is to be continued, and we are still open to conviction.
Two collections are spoken of in the preface to the work last mentioned, one pub-
lished at Haerlem in 162C, another at Amsterdam in 1634, and both are said to
contain English airs. It is observed that " the existence of two such collections, a
century before any published collection of Irish or Scotch tunes, is a proof of the
high estimation of English airs" at this time. But it shovild be remember-
ed that, although some of the English airs might have been found congenial to
the taste of the phlegmatic Hollanders in 1020, the tunes of Scotland had, a>* early
as 1504, found their way into at least one of the musical publications of the more
lively and accomplished natives of France.
From what the Editor states, (p. 44,) we find that the air of the Spanisli Lady,
the original of which we have given in the Skene MS., was not lost in England,
as Mr Ritson supposed, but had appeared in "The Quaker's Opera," in 1728,
"The Jovial Crew," in 1731, &c. Our copy is certainly the more perfect of the
two in a melodic point of view, and tallies more precisely w ith the w ords ; which
is not surprising, considering the changes to wiiich popular tunes are liable in the
course of time, and that our version has been drawn off so much nearer the foun-
tainhead than tliat contained in the English collection.
In p. 54, the Editor has a remark upon tiie dance-tune called in England " Roger
de Coverly," and in Scotland, " The Maltman conies on Monday" — a coincidence
which we happen to have incidentally pointed out in a note to p. 200. He says,
" From Allan Ramsay's having written a song, called ' The Mautman comes o'
Monday,' to this tune, it has been erroiwonsly put under that name in modern col-
lections." N\ hether this tune be English, Scotish, or Irish, (and it is perhaps more
like the latter than either of the other two,) we sliall not positively assert : but if
there has been any error in classing it among the airs of Scotland, Allan Ranisjiy,
at all events, must be exculpated, as the MS. to wiiich we have referred, and in
which we find it along with other popular Scotish tunes, under the name of " Tlie
Maltman comes on Monday," is dated 1700, at a time when Ramsay was pursuing
372 POSTSCRIPT.
the bumble vocation of a wig-maker, and several years before he had ventured
into the regions of rhyme.
Having laboured so assiduously to correct the errors of others, it is right that be-
fore taking leave of the public we should say a few words in regard to our own. In
a remark which we have made, p. 78, we find that we had overlooked an obsolete
Scotish statute, 1621, c. 25, § 10, " anent banqueting and apparel," in which
honourable mention is again made of minstrels by their being exempted from cer-
tain sumptuary restrictions, although this class of persons had been passed over in
a preceding statute during the same reign. We fear, also, that notwithstanding the
care which we have bestowed on the preparation of this work, and our anxious wish to
ensure accuracy, it may have happened that amidst the extensive range of matter,
the circumstantial nature of the details, and the obscurity which overhangs a great
part of the subject — other errors of more importance may, very probably, have escaped
us. Whether these relate to the views or to the facts which we have brought forward,
we shall only say that it will afford us equal pleasure to see them corrected. Mistakes
and fallacies are common to all historical enquiries, and the example of the wisest
of those who have gone before us has sufficiently shown that they are peculiarly
incident to the topics which we have here brouglit under the notice of the reader.
It is only by a careful examination of our statements along with those of others, that
the public can ultimately be disabused of error, and clear, distinct, and satisfactory
information obtained. What we have endeavoured to do has been merely, as we pro-
fessed at the outset, to collect materials for a history of Scotish music ; and these
have not yet been fully amassed. More research must be applied, more manuscripts
recovered, and much more information, historical and traditional, be brought to bear
upon them. We should rejoice if the Skene MS. should, in the end, be the pre-
cursor of such a work; but until all the requisite facts are brought to light, its exe-
cution need not be attempted.
Edinburgh, November 1, 1838.
INDICES.
GENERAL INDEX.
Aberbken, City of, SiO, 21, 127.
Kfimcdy's Anr.als of, 26, 27, 2j8.
Orein's Description of Old, 25, 26.
.Music of. 21, 22.
Alusic School of, 26, 27.
Register of, 20, 26, 1 17, 127.
—^^ A ncient Soiigs of, 4-8, 49.
MinslreU of, 1 17, 127, 357.
Addison, 16.
Advocates' Library, MS.S., 5, 29, *7, 137, U7, 135,
l&(), 260, 262, 28 1-, 286, 303.
Alexaniler I., 93.
III., St.
Alfred, 70.
Alm.in or AUctnande. 260, 280, 281.
Ambrosian Chant, 189, 325, 336.
Atuinianus iMarcellinus, 60, 62.
" .'\i)alecu Scotica," 21, 118, 127.
Anglesey, 64., 130.
Anglo-Saxons— tlieir Music, &c., 184.
Anlair, 70.
Anne of Denmark, Queen — her Currant, II.
t* Antiplionarium " of the Abbey of Scone, 180.
Arabians, Music oi^ 191.
Arabian Tunes, 102,
Arcbxologia, 59.
Siotica, 22, 69, 117.
Athena.- Uxonienses, Wood's, 31.
B
Baco.v, Lord, 65, 291.
Bagpipe, 59, 97, 119, 120, 121, 122, 12;j, 121, 125,
126, 127, 128, 129, 130.
Itartionr — his *' nriice," 1 19.
Bards, 60 61, 67, 73, 79, 81, 83, 8i, 85, 359.
Balrinnes, Battle of, 120.
Hannockburn, Battle of, 4^
It.iyle, .'{36.
liiatlie, Dr, 2, 40— his " £uay oo I'oeiry and
Music," «0 1,202, 203.
376
GENERAL INDEX.
Beatoiin, Mary, 138.
Beaut£, Lc Chevalier dc la, 5J, 157.
Bede, 2S, 70, 183.
Berardi— his " Miscellanea Musicale," IGl, 182, 324,
335.
Bereans, The, 37.
Berwick, Siege of, *2, 259.
Beethoven, 188,259.
Bird, the Composer, .335.
BIrnie, Mr William, 157.
Birrel — iiis Diary, 172.
Blaikie, Mr— his MSS. &c., 120, 143, 14i, 14.6, 208,
210, 253,288, 305.
Blind Harry. See Harry.
Blow, Dr— his " Amphion Anglicus," 1 7.
Boethius, 97, 166.
Bombardt, 114, 115, 1 10.
Bona — his vpork, " De Cantu Ecclesiastico," 325.
Bower, the continuator of Fordun, 97, 121, IGG.
Branle, 306, 307, 368.
Brantome — his " Dames Illustrcs," 95, 107.
Brian Boiromh — his harp, 90.
liritisli Museum, 273.
Brilons, GO, 62, 68, 125.
Bruce, tlie Traveller, 63.
Buck-horn, 130.
Buffins, 306, 368.
Bull, Dr, 109.
Bunting— his " Ancient Irish Music," 91, 148, 153.
Burel, the Poet, 88.
Burgh Accounts, Extracts from, relative to music
schools, 362.
Burncy, Dr— his History, &c., 2, 15, 17, 27, 28, 63.
87, 91, 92, 9.3, 102, 10.3, 104, 107, 108, 109, 110,
111, 112, 127, 13.3, 135, 136, 145, 147, 15.3, 159,
162, 163, 164, 170, 171, 181, 182, 183, 188, 190,
191, 192, 193, 207, 214, 259, 260, 278, 295, 296,
310, 311, 324, 325,337, 368.
Burns, Robert, 149, 253, 261.
CjESar, Julius, 60, 63.
Calamus, 130.
Campbell, Dr, 2.
— — ^ Alexander — liis
Introduction to Scotish
Poetry," &c., 39, 137, 180, 193.
Campion, Dr, 10, 295, 296.
*' Canaries," 306.
Canto Fermo, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183.
'' Cantus," Forbes's, 20, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 39,
136, 283, 285, 286, 288, 294, 299, 302, 303, .304,
311.
Capella, Martianus, 61.
Caradoc, the Historian, 65, 66.
Carpentier, 77, 102.
Cassillis, Lady, 256, 268, 269, 270.
*' Catch that catch can," Hilton's, 1 7.
Caxton, 43, 44.
Cedmon, 70.
Celtic Music, Ancient, 189.
districts of Scotland, 59, 69.
Celts, 61, 62, 119.
Chalmer, Mr William, of Chapel- Royal, 156.
Chalmers, 50, 20.3.
Chalumeau, 114, 130.
Chambers, Mr Robert— his " Scottish Songs," 14.3,
141-, 255, 261, 269, 278.
" Chansons du Chatelain de Coucy," 182.
Chapel- Royal, 76, 106, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 1 08,
365, 366, 367.
Charles I., 110, 158, 159, 297, 308, .309.
II., 15, 16, 18, 19,21,28,80, 110.278,309.
Chaucer, 17, 86, 94, 126, 128, 130, 361.
Chinese Music and Scale, 193.
Choraules, 124.
Choron, M., 188, 189, 330, .337.
Chorus, or Bagpipe, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125.
Cithnristsc, 73.
Cithill, 98.
Citole, 94.
Clairseach, 89.
GENERAL INDEX.
377
Clair-schochar, or Clarschar, 74, 89, 355, 356, 357,
358, 362.
" Clandam," M., al.
Clarion, 98, 115, 110.
Clavichord, or Clarichonl, IIX), 101, 101.
Clavicymbalum, 102.
Clokarde, 115.
" Cockclbie Sow," 45, 84, 130, 265, 281.
" Complaynt of ScotlamI," 52, 53, 54, 130, 131, 150,
280, 289, 294, 306.
Constable's " Cantus," 46, 47, 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 284.
Cooper, or Coperario, 10, 295, 296.
Cordiner — his " Remarkable liuins," C8.
Cornets, 113, I U, 357, 360, &c.
Corn-pipe, 130, 131.
" Coil thou me," Music of, 199.
Covenanters, Manifesto of, 23, — Verses of", 1 42.
Crichton. See San«jtihar.
Cromek, Ills Select Songs 253, 2GI.
Croude, 88, 97.
Cnv Ih, 59. 62, 67.
Cunningham, Allan, 40, 41, 262, 263.
Currants, or Corantoes, 309, 310.
Cymbal, 72.
Cymbacllonis 98. •
D
Dalyell, Sir John Graham, 30, 47, 105, 120.
Dance Tunes, Book of, (1581,) 188.
Dances, Ancient, 45, 46, 50, 260, 281.
Danseries. See D'Ktree.
Danes, 59, 62, 18, 69, 70, 71, 125, — their melodies,
191, 204.
Dante, 66.
David I., 93, 105.
Dc Beza, Theodore, 336.
D'Etree, Jean — his publication of " Danseries," in-
cluding Scotish tunes, at I'aris, (156t,) 1.36.
Diodorus Siculus, 60, 62.
Dinguall, Lord, — his Currant, II.
Domesday Hook, 73.
Doni, Anton. Francesco, 1 14.
Giovanni, Batlista — his " Trattaio dilla Mu-
sica Scenica," 162.
Douglas, Gawin, 50, 51, 88, 1 15.
Uowland, 109.
*' Down, derry down," 43.
Druids 43, 60, 61,63, 64.
Drummond — his " I'olemo-Middinia," Ac, 120, 139,
156, 263,290.
Drum, 112, 299,362.
Dryden, 17, 275.
Du Cange, 61, 71, 102.
Dugdale — his " Origines Jurijicales," .308.
Dulsacorilis, 98.
Dulsate. 98.
Dun, Mr Finlay— his Analysis, 178, 209.
Dunbar, 51, 84.
DLifey— his " Pills" 15. 16, 265, 294.
Dutch popular tunes of 16th century, 182.
E
EAsTCOTTon " Music," 165,311.
Edgar, King, 93.
Edinburgh, Ancient music belonging to College Lib-
rary of, 180.
378
GENERAL INDEX.
Edward I., 'tS, 64^ 82.
II., 43, 82.
III., 119, 120.
IV., 82, 106, 156. 168, 169.
Egypt, 63.
Egyptians, music of, 191,
Eistedvodd, 20a
Elizabeth, Queen, Statutes of. &c., 82, 83, 107, 109,
110, 112, 273, 283, 285, 309.
English Songs, specimens of Ancient, 199.
English Airs, 162, 197, 189, 199, 200.
collection of, (1838,) .370.
Enharmonic of Olympus, 190, 193.
Erasmus, 169.
Essex, Eailof, 288.
Countess of, 295.
Eugenius, Law of, 79.
Eulenstein, 131.
Exinieno, his " Tiattalo del' origine della Musics,'
183,331.
Fabian, 4a
Ferrabosco, 295, 296.
Ferrerius, the Historian, 156, 168, 169.
Fetis, M., 189,316, 324.
Fife, 98, 118.
Fifer, or Piffarer, 362, &c.
Fithelaris, or Violars, 74, 83, 96, 355, 356, 357, 358,
&c.
Fletcher of Salton, 81.
Flodden, Battle of, 152.
" Flores Musica;," 3, 369.
Flute, 59, 97, 116, 117, 118.
Ft)rbes's " Caittus." See Canlus.
Fordun, the Historian, 87, 105, 106.
Forkcl, a-jl.
France, Airs of, 162.
in 16lh century, 182,316.
Franck's Northern Memoirs, 20.
Franklin, Dr, 2.
Frendraughl, Burning of, 255, 270.
Fuxius, 331.
G
Gait-hokne, Pipe made of a, 130, 131.
Galileo, 65.
U.illiard, 200.
Galloway, Bishop of, 15.5, 156.
Gauls, 60, 68, 118.
Geddes, Mr, his • Saint's Recreation," 38, 141, 1«0.
Gerbertus' " De Musica Sacra," 125, 328.
German airs, 162.
Gesualdo, Carlo, Prince of Venosa, 160, 161, 163,
164.
Giraldus Cambrensis, 58, 59, 65, 91, 92, 122, 16(),
195, 197, 204.
*' Godly and Spiritual Songs," 3(*, .31, 32, .34, 54,
1.34.
Gondolieri at Venice, their Songs, 18a
'* Goodnights," 290.
Gordon's Lute- Book, 84, 147, 368, 369.
Goudimel, the Composer, 335.
Gow, his Scotish airs, &c., 205, 25S.
Gower, 91, 115.
GENERAL INDEX.
37'J
Graliain, George Farquliar — his Essay on the Theory Gregory, Dr, 2.
and Praclice of Musical Composition, &c., 162,
193, 194, 209, 317, 3?+, 327, 338.
'■ Gray Steil," 83, &t, 356, 368.
Greeks, 31, 126.
Music of the, 135, 189.
Gregorian chant, 179, 182, 184, 185, 189, 325, 326,
330.
GrufTudd ab Cynan, 65, 66.
Guide, the Musician, 103.
Guitar, 97.
Guthrie, James, the Covenanter, I tO.
Gunn, Mr — Ills Disserution on Uic Harp, 6!, 73, hV,
90, 101.
II
Hailes, Lord, 2, 4, 30, 273.
Hamboys, 169, 198.
Hardiman — his Irish Minstrelsy, 153.
Harlaw, Battle of, 120, 138, 139.
Harp, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 6.5, 66, 67, 68, 70,
72, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 97, 101, 126, 145.
Harper, 72, 73, 74, 87, 88, 89, 355, 356, 357, &c.
Harpsichord, 100, 102.
Harry, Blind, the Minstrel, 83, 355, 356.
Hautbois, 88, 113, 114, .^60.
Hawkins, Sir John — his History, &c., 10, 15, 18, 22,
28, 41, 92, 100, 102, 103, 109, 1 15, 133, 139, 15.-S,
1.56, 159, 104, 169, 181, 185, 198, 208, 214, 260,
281, 295, 296, 300, 305, 307, 308, 310, 324.
Haydn, 1S8.
Hedlngton, James and Charles, Scotish Lutars, 111.
Henry, Dr, the Historian, 133, 167, 168.
IV., (of France,) 292, 293.
VIII., 112.
I'rince, 10, 110,295,296.
Henrysoun, Edward — extract from his testament, 99.
Heralds, 76, 77.
" Heve a lowc rumbclowe," 43.
Highland Melo<ly, 203.
Society of Scotland, 120.
Hindoo airs, 191.
HIstrio- synonymous with '* Minstrel," 76.
Hoare, Sir Richard Colt, 197.
Hogarth — his " Memoirs of the Musical Drama," 895,
296.
Hogg — his " Jacobite Relics," 147.
HoUinshed, 65, 112, 169.
Hope, Sir John — his Currant, 1 1.
Horn, 116, 118, 119.
^^-^ Crum, 115.
Stock, 115.
Hornpipe, 104, 130.
" Houlate, The," 84, 95, 97.
" Hucheon of the Awie llyall," 80.
Hudson, 'llionios, of the Chapcl-Royal, iu7.
Hume of Logie — his " Hymncs," 34.
Hurdy-gurdy, 94.
IcONOGRAPHiA, ScoTiCA. (Pinkerton's.) 156.
Indian tunes, 162.
Information touching Chapcl-Royal. See Chapcl-
Royal.
Ingulphus, 71.
Ireland, 64, 65, 66.
Irish, 62, 167— Sooto-Irisli, 67, 69.
Melody, 20.T
Irvin — his " Nomenclatum," 172.
Isaac, Henry, the I'omposcr, 335, 356, 357, Ac.
lulian Musicians of Household, 75, 169, 173, 356,
357, &c.
•2 T
380
GENERAL INDEX.
James I., 87, 96. 97, 101, 106, 126, 127, 161, 165,
Ififi, 107, 171,281.
II., 84., 108,278.
III., 76, 83. 106, 155, 168.
IV., 76, 83, 101, 155.
v., 107, 112, 113,282.
VI., 5, 10, 11. 13, 24, 108, 109. 110, HI,
131. 157, 259, 268, 285, 292, 293, 295.
ir., (of Erigland.) 22.
Jeremiah, 1 19.
Jew's Harp. See Trump.
Jigg. 104.
Jockics. 85.
Joculator Hei/is, or King's Minstrel, 73.
Johnson, Dr, .311.
Johnson's Museum, 139.
Jones— his " Welsh Bards," 43, 63, 64, 73, 81, 90,
130, 147, 148, 294.
— ^^— Inigo, 296.
Jongleurs, 83, 93.
Jonson's (Ben) Works, 10, 263, 295, 296, 308.
Juglars, 93.
K
Kam£s, Lord, 2, 160.
Keitli's Scotish Bishops, 155.
Kellie, Edward, of Chapel- Royal, 155, 158, 159, 365.
Kettle-drum, 75.
Kirchcr — his " Musurgia," 331.
Knox, John, 24, 3S, 74, 95.
La Borde— his « Essai," &c., 22, 94, 95, 97, 100,
104, 116, 172, 191,214, 305, 306.
Laing, Mr David— his MSS., Sec, 21, 52, 53, 83,
140, 143, 147, 171, 209, 277.
Lambert, M. 21, 22.
" Latin Music," 158.
Laniere, 10,295,296.
Ledwich, Dr — his " Antiquities of Ireland," 62, 66,
68, 92, 128. 183.
Leland — his ** Collectanea," 101.
Leslie. Bishop of Ross, 26.
•^-—— Norman, 33.
Leyden, Dr — his Introduction to " Complaynt," 50, 88,
115, 121, 129, 130. 131, 116. 187,280. 284, 294.
Lilt-pipe. 98.
Logan — his " Scotish Gael," 174, 258.
Lothian, Lady, 264.
Louis, M., 21, 22.
Luscinius — his " JIusurgia." 1 14. 1 15. 117.
Lutars, 74. 355, 356, 357, .358.
Lute, 88, 97, 98, 101, 107, 1 1 1, 112, 360, &c.
Lyie, Mr— his MSS., 210, 281.
Lyndsay, Sir David— his Poems, 33, 50, 51, 75, 84,
116, 155.
Lyr.a-viol, 146.
Lyra-Mcndicorum, 94.
Lyre, 60, 61.
GENERAL INDEX.
381
M
Macbeth, law of, 79.
Maccari, Signer — his Dissertation on the " Tibia
Utricolaris;' 122, 123, 124.
Mace, Thomas — his ** Mustek's Monument," 185.
Macdonald — his " Essay on the Highland Music,"
&c.,84-, 121, 125, 202, 322.
Macliau, the French Poet, 87.
Mainzer, M his Essay on the " Chants Populaircs
de ritalie," 162, 185.
Maitland MS., 52.
Major, the Historian, 8a 87, 166.
Malcolm Canniore, 59, 84'.
Malraesbury, William of, 71.
Man, Isle of, 64.
Mandour, 111, 112.
Manicbordion, 102.
Maries, the Queen's, 138.
Alarol — his Version of the Psalms, 336.
Marpurg, 'Sil.
Marshall— his Scotish airs, 205, 258, 267.
Martinc— his " Ileliquiie Divi Andreas," 35.
Martini — his " Saggio di Contrappunto," 1U2, 259,
.■J27, 333.
Mary, Queen of Scots, 90, 93, 95, 107, 172.
Queen of William III., la
Masi|ue, Prince Henry's, 10, 291; Somerset's, 10,
294; Lajly Elizabeth's, 10, 294..
M'Crie — his " Life of Andrew Melville," 185.
JI'Keniie, Sir George, 80, 205.
Melrose Abbey, 59, 125.
IMelvillc, Sir James, 107, 172.
Mendelsohn, the Composer, 339.
Mersenne, Pere — his "Hamionicorum," lib. 41, 102,
111, 115, 118, 123.
Michel, M. — bis "Chansons de Coucy," 182, 215.
Minstrels, 73, U, 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 82, 83.
English and Scotish, 72, 79, 95, 356, 357, &c.
French, 71, 72, 79, 92, 93, 94, 359, &c.
King's, 7.'J, 76, &c.
Scholars, 169, 358.
Monochord. Seii Monycordis.
Mons Meg, 356.
Montfaucon, 60.
Montgomery, Alexander, 29, 51,311.
Monycordis, or Monochord, 97, 9S, 99, 100, 101.
102, 103, 104, 356, 357.
Morley's " Introduction," 169, 205, 280, 307, 310.
Morris, Mr— his MSS., 147.
Morison, Rhoderick, the Harper, 84.
Motherwell— his " Minstrelsy," 139, 255.
Moiart, 188, 322.
Mure, Sir William— his MS., 138, 139, 26a 277. 281.
Muris, Joannes de — his " Tractatus de Music.i," 104.
Musars, 93.
" Muses Threnodie," 51.
Musette, 129.
Music Schools, 24s 25, 26, 27, 28, 195, 362, 363,
364.
N
NEAPOLrTAN airs 170.
Nero, the Emperor, 127.
Neukomm, the Composer, 259, 3.19.
" Newcs from Scotland," 55, 132.
Normans 59, 69.
" Norlliern Antiquities," Jamicton't, 191.
Norwegians 59, 69, 125.
their .Melodies 191, 204.
382
GENERAL INDEX.
O
O'Kane, the Irish harper, 91.
0\e Bull, the Norwegian viohnist, 201.
Orford, Lord, 296.
Organ, 97, 105, 106, 115.
" Orpheus Britannicus," 18.
Caledonius," 15, 177.
Osborne — his " Traditional) Memoyres," 293.
Ostcnd, Siege of, 263.
Oswald, the Composer, 171,206, 271, 278.
Otricolarii, 123, 124.
Ottadini, 69.
Oxford, University of, 195, 275.
Paganini, 320.
Palatine, Frederick, the Elector, 295.
Palestrina, 161, 182,337.
Pandora, 111.
Paton, Jlr George, 4, 85.
Pavan, 308.
" Peblis to the Play," U, 45, 126, 145.
Pennant — his Tour, 121.
Pcpys's Memoirs, 309.
Percj-, Dr— his " Reliques," 29, 40, 53, 67, 68, 71,
73, 76, 78, 82, 83, 180, 260, 288, 303.
Perne, M., 182, 215.
Persian tunes, 162, 191.
Piimo-forte, 100.
Pib-corn, or Hornpipe, 130.
Picardie, Tierce de, 259.
Picts, 67,68, 69, 118.
PilTarers. See Fife.
Pinkerton, 53, 61, 03, 67, 1'8, 120, 150, 156, 168.
Pipe, 59, 130, 131, 299.
Pipers, 74, 127, 128, 129, 357, 358, &c.
English, 127, 355, 356, 358.
Pitcairn — his Criminal Trials, 75, 113.
Pitscottie, 113, 156.
Playford— his Collections, &c., 17, 285, 296.
Plutarch — his Dialogue on Music, 190.
Poles, Music of the, 190.
Polybius, 118.
Port, 271.
Portativi, 98, 1 15.
Portugal, tunes of, 162.
Powell, the Historian, 65, 66; the Musician, 16.
Prajlorius, Michael — bis " Syntagma Musicum," 100.
104.
Privy Seal Register, 75, 156, !57, 158.
Procopius, 120.
Provcn9aI Songs, 170.
Psaltery, 97.
Purcell, Henry, 18, 305.
Pythaules, 123, 124.
Q
QuiiisLABis, or Whistlers, 113, 116, 130, 131, 357, Quhissel, Almany, 117, 118.
358, &c.
GENERAL INDEX.
383
R
IUmjay, Allan, Ij, 130, 159, 160, 253, 371.
— — ^ of Ochtcrtyre, V.
Ravenscroft— his " Mclismata," 30, 289, 307.
Rebec, 9j.
Reed, Shepherd's, 97, 1 7a
Reicha, 337.
Ribiblc, 115.
R!ng-dance, 50.
Uitson— his various works, 2, 3, +, 39, 40, i2, Rote or Uiotc, 9-1, 95, 115.
45, 50. 52, 53, OH, 71, 72, 81, 86, 87, 127, Rowallan MS. See Mure.
129, 133, 13G, 137, 14-7, 150, 153, 160, 165, Russia, music of, 191.
180, 184, 186, 198. 208, 209, 273, 279, 280,
2S8.
Ritzio, David, 171, 172,293.
Robertson, Dr, the Historian, 172.
Robertson's " Index of Royal Charters," 73.
Rogers, Sir William, 156, 167, 168, 169, 170.
Romans, 61, 125.
Rossini, 189, 328.
Sakbl'Ts, 365.
Sangsters, 79, 82, 355, 360.
Sanquhar, Lord, 290, 291, 292, 293.
Savage nations, music of, 192, 193.
Scalds, 62, 67, 71.
Scaliger, Julius Casar, his " Poetices," 102.
Scandinavians, 69, 118.
Schawmers, 74, 358.
.Scoto and Anglo-Saxons. 59, 62, 68, 69, 71, 1 1^.
Scott, Sir Waller, 2, 87, 138, 152, 200, 201, 264,
.307.
— — — Alexander, 29.
Scythians or Goths, 61, 63.
.Selden— his Table Talk, 278, 308.
Sennachie. 84.
.Scrasii — his Life of Tasso, 163.
Shadwell — hit I'lay " Tlio Siowrers." 19.
Shatrm. 98, 1 14. 1 15. 1 16. lijl.
Sicily, airs of. 162.
Sinkepace. See Cinquepas. 299.
Shakspearc, 29, 55, 109, 1!6, 139, 201, 205, 282.
290. 305.
Songs in Score
Sifflcurs, or Sillers, 113, 116, 300, 303, 360. Sec
Quhislaris.
Simmicum, 102.
Skene, Miss Elizabeth. 5.
John, of Hallyards. 5. l.f, 14.
Sir John, 5, 12, 13.
Smith, R. A., 143.
J. .Stafford — his collection of *
before the year IjOO," 19a
Soeck-pipc, 121.
.Somerset, the Earl of, 295.
Song-schools. See Music .Schools.
Spain, tunes of, 162, IK3.
Spinet, 10(1, 102.
S|>ottiswoodc — his History, 13.
his Religious Houses. 155.
Si Andreivs, College of, 106, 185.
minutes of I'resbytery of, 134.
State Triiils, 29-ls
Stcrnhold, 34.
Stewart, Household Uook of Lady Morir, 361.
Slewyn Tabronar, 74. 361.
384
GENERAL INDEX.
Stock and horo, 130.
Strult — his " tlanoen and Customs of the English,"
101, 117. 118, 122, 125.
" Sumcr is icumin," lo3, 198.
Sweden, airs of, 191.
Swesch, 75, 112, 360, 361.
Sybill, a tunc, 139.
T
Tabiatuse, 111; explanation of, 213, 214, 215, 216.
Taborine, 1 18.
Tabour, 58, 59, 72, 97, 116, 299.
Taillefer, the Norman Knight, 77.
Taletellers, 79, 82.
Tarantola, 299.
Tassoni, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 204.
Taylor. Simon, the Dominican Monk, 106.
Taubroners, 74, 112, 113, 357, 358, ate.
Tea Table Miscellany, 15, 159, 261, 278.
Theorbo, 111.
" The North Country Garland," 255.
" Thomas the Rhymer," 80, 88.
Thomson, editor of" Orpheus Caledonius," 15, 171.
IVIr George — his *' Select Melodies of Scot-
land," &c., 175, 176, 177, 193, 208.
Treasurer, Lord High, his Accounts, 25, 73, 74, 83,
88, 89, 95, 96, 106, 107, 110, 112, 113, 127, 169,
355, &c.
Troubadours, 71, 80, 92, 93, 95, 182.
Trump, 97, 131.
Trumpet, 74, 97, 101, 113, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120,
355, 356, 357, .'J58, &c.
Marine, 100.
Turkish airs, 162, 191.
Tympane, 97.
Tytler, Mr — his Dissertation on Scotish Music, &c.,
2, 3, 4, 106, 117, 136, 160, 161, 163, 165, 166,
173, 174, 180,206, 271, 276.
Mr P. F.— his History of Scotland, 31, 33.
72, 106, 121, 132,138, 139.
Vagabond Scholars of Universities, 83.
of feudal ages, 81.
Valle, Signordella, 162.
Venantius Fortunatus, 61, 62.
"enetian Ballads, 170.
Vielle, 72, 93, 94.
Viol, 72, 93, 94, 95, 96.
Viol, da Gamba, 14.3, 159.
Violin, 59, 94, 95, 96.
Violists, 75, 93, 96, 112.
Virginals, 100, 107, 111, 112.
^'ogIer, the Composer, .337.
Volts, 272, 309, 310.
Vossius, 60, 123.
w
Walker— his "Irish Bards," &c., 63, 67, 81, 90, Ward's Lives of Professors of Grcsham College, 139.
123, 128, 147, 148, 164, 183. Waterston, Mr— his MS., 147.
GENERAL INDEX.
385
Weaponschawings, 283.
Weber, the Composer, 259, 322.
the Historian, 317.
Welsh music, 203.
Willhacrt, the Composer, 335.
William the Lion, 59. 93.
Wind Instruments, 189.
Witches at North Berwick, 132.
Wolsey, Cardinal, 112.
Wood — liis Peerage, 29+.
Wynne, the Historian, C6.
Wyntoun — his Rhyming Chronicle, 42.
Zahfoqna, 130.
Zarlino, the Composer, 335.
INDEX OF AIRS.
AnEW, Dundee. 223, 317, 318, 319, 327, 335.
Allan Water, H-5.
Auld Ilobin Gray, 261.
Aye Waukin, O, 323.
B
BiRKS of Aljerfcldie, 323.
Blitlie, blithe, and merry was she, 319.
Blue Ribbon, Scotish Measure, 218, 258, 351.
Bonnie May, 319, 335.
Bonny Dundee, 16, 15t, 251, 369.
Bonny Jean, 14?.
Bothwell Bank, thou bloomest fair, 55.
Brose and Butter, 19.
Ca the Ewes to the K nones, 337.
Canaries. 146, 250, 306, 368.
Carle, now the King's come, 144.
Charmante Gabrielle, 336.
Clout die Caldron, 142, 271.
Cold and Raw, 17, 18.
Cushion Dance, 237, 278, 309.
INDEX OF AIRS.
387
D
Dainty Davie, 16, 265.
Di!l tak ihe Wars, 16, 14.6.
Dumbarton Drums, 236, 278.
G
(iAi.A Water, 323. Gray Sicel, 83, 84, 36a
Good night, and God be witli you, 143, 154, 222, Green grows ilie i allies, 142, 369.
264, 265. Green Sleeves, 180.
H
Haud awa frae me, Donald, 145.
her gaun, 142, 299.
Iffy, Jenny, come doun to Jock, 254, 369.
Highland Laddie, I U.
Mary, 323.
Honest Luckie, 144,349.
Ik the Kirk vrould let me be, 142.
If thou wert my ain thing, 143, 369.
I love my love in secret, 54, 142.
I'll never leave thee, 369.
Janet drinks nae water, 154, 223, 350.
Jenny Nettles, 218, 256.
Jock, Ihe l.aird'M Urother, 145.
Jockic drunken bable, 142, I45,.'U9.
Jackie went to the wood, 145, 349.
John Anderson, my jo. 154, 180, 204, 219, 260, 318,
327, 329.
John, come kiss me now, 35, 145, ISO, 260.
Johny Faa, 154, 250, 268.
3 u
388
INDEX OF AIRS.
K
Katherine Bairdie, 139, 235, 277.
Ogie, 17, 142.
Killicrankie, 146, 369.
Kind Robin lo'es me, 180.
LiLLIBL'LEBO, 19.
J.izzy Lindsay, 324.
Lochaber, 144, 176.
Logan Water, 369.
Lord Ronald, 328.
M
Maggie Lauder, 180.
My dearie, if thou die, 1 H.
My Jo, Janet, 144, 154, 220, 261.
My luve's in Germany, 337.
My mother's aye glowrin o'er me, 10, .144, 369.
My Nanie, O, 369.
My wife has taen the gee, 142.
N
Nancy's to the Greenwood gane, 144.
Now is the month of Maying, 29.
o
O'er the muir to Maggie, 144.
Of a' the airts the wind can blaw, 227, 267.
Omnia Vincit Amor, 238, 278.
Over the hills and far aw.ny, IG, 14(i.
Peggy, I must love thee, 144.
Poortitfa Cauld, 319, 3i3.
INDEX OF AIRS.
389
R
Rattmn roarin Willie, Hi.
Rich and rare, I5J.
Robin, quoth she, 116, 3G9.
Roger de Co»erly, 260, 371.
Hoslin Castle, 369.
Roy's Wife, 322.
Sa merry as we haV been, 154-.
Saw ye nae my Peggy, 26 1 .
Saw ye Johnny coming, 290.
Scots wha ha'e, 51, 323.
Swedish Air, 3;I.
Sweet Willie, IM, 144.
The Banks of Helicon, i, 137.
The Battle of Ilarlaw, 53, 120, 138, 31-9.
The Birks of Inverraay, "i69.
The Blathrie o't, 369.
The Bonny Broom, 1-12.
The Braes aboon Monaw, 323.
——— of Ballendine, 369.
The Broom of Cowdenknowes, 369.
'I'he Bush aboon Traquair, 369.
I'hc Day dawes, 51, 368.
Oic Dusty .Miller, Uk
Die 1-lower^of the Forest, 152, 153, 170, 207, 221,
320, 350, 352.
Tlic Frog came to the mill door, 53.
Hie Hunt is up, 31.
Hie Lms of Patie's Slill, 369.
The last time I came o'er ilie .'Moor, l-W, I5i, 174,
207, 217, 253, 350, 369.
The Lea Rig, 16.
The Mailman comes on Monday, 260, .369.
The .Meeting of tlie Waters .'^21.
The .Mill, O, 309.
The mucking of Geordic's byre, 324s
The Spanish Lady, 2!^, 351.
Tlie Souters of Selkirk, 1 29.
Tile yellow-haire<i laddie, 36U.
Tlicre's Auld Hob .Morris 145.
This is no my ain house, It'L
Three sheep skins, 228, 271.
To danton mc, .■J69.
Tullocligorum, l.'J9.
Tweedside, U4^ 32 k 369.
u
Vr in the morning curly, 323.
390
INDEX OF AIRS.
Vive Henri Quatre, 336.
w
M'ae's my heart, tliat we should sunder, SSi, 369.
Waly, waly, 176, .320.
Wandering Willie, 319, 323.
We lie three poor mariners, 307.
When the King enjoys his own again, lH.
When she came ben she bobbit, 146.
Wliere Helen lies, HI.
Whistle o'er the lave o't, 145.
Willie Winkle's Testament, 14-6.
Woo'd and married and a', 323.
ERRATA.
Page 7, line 18, insert " Let not crueltie dishonour bewtie."
^-^^ 40, — 29, for " seems," read " seem."
75, _ 6, for " Edward 1., ' read " Edward II."
— ^ 87, — 15, for " Fordun," read " liower, the continuator of Fordun.
— ^ III, — 28, for " four," read "five."
152, — 16, for " Mrs," read " Miss."
185, — 9, insert "remote" between "the" and "antiquity."
268, — 19 and 20, for " mordendo," read " morendo."
270, — 9, for " thirty-seven," read " thirty-six."
EDINBURGH FRINTING COMPANV, 12, SOUTH ST DAVID STREET.
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