Page:The Book of Scottish Song.djvu/139

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[ by in 1789 for the Museum. The subject of the song was a daughter of the Rev. Mr. Jeffrey of Lochmaben, now Mrs. Renwick of New York. The air was composed by Robert Riddle of Glenriddle, Esq., and called "The blue-eyed lassie."]

[ by, to supplant old and coarse words to the tune of "The Lass wi' the Lump o' Land." This appears in the 2d vol. of the Tea-Table Miscellany, and also, with the original melody, in the Orpheus Caledonius, 1725.]

[ by for George Thomson's collection, to an Irish tune, called "Balinamona Ora." "Your 'Hey for a lass wi' a tocher, says Thomson, "is a most excellent song, and with you the subject is something new indeed. It is the first time I have seen you debasing the god of soft desire into an amateur of acres and guineas." We have placed this song of Burns's in juxtaposition with one on a similar subject and in a similar spirit by Ramsay, that the reader may indulge his curiosity by comparing the two. In this case, we think, the older poet surpasses his distinguished successor in vigour and humour.]