Edinburgh

Cabinet 18

‘How are you, my Dear Friend? And how comes on your Fifth Volume? You may probably think that for some time past I have neglected you & your work; but, alas, the hand of pain, and sorrow, and care has these many months lain heavy on me!’

So wrote Robert Burns to James Johnson, editor and compiler of The Scots Musical Museum, published in Edinburgh in six parts between 1787 and 1803.

With more than 600 Scottish tunes and songs ‘retained unencumbered with useless Accompaniments and Graces’, this work represents one of the most important and comprehensive collections of traditional Scottish music.

This book contains parts five and six, and is from the James Hogg Collection.

James Johnson, The Scots Musical Museum. Consisting of Six Hundred Scots Songs with Proper Basses for the Piano Forte. Vols V-VI. Edinburgh: J. Johnson, [1787-1803].