Album Summary: William Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius (1725) was a landmark publication; the first ever large-scale collection of "Scotch Songs" in print — 50 songs arranged with un-figured bass, most with lyrics from Allan Ramsay's Scots Songs and Tea-Table Miscellany, plus an appendix of melodic reductions. It was an instant hit and in 1733, expanded into 2 volumes with 100 songs. Indeed, Thomson's Orpheus set the standard format for Scots Song settings for the rest of the eighteenth century, including those of Robert Burns in The Scots Musical Museum. This ScotMus.com album is a faithful reprint of the song arrangements from the historic 1st edition of 1725.
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Chain'd to thy Charms I cannot range,
No Beauty new my Love shall hinder, Nor Time nor Place shall ever change My Vows, tho' we're oblig'd to sunder. The Image of thy graceful air, And Beauties which invites our wonder, Thy lively wit and Prudence rare Shall still be present, tho' we sunder. |
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Dear Nymph, believe thy Swain in this,
You'll ne'er engage a Heart that's kinder, Then seal a Promise with a Kiss, Always to love me, tho' we sunder. Ye Gods, take care of my dear Lass, That as I leave her I may find her: When that blest Time shall come to pass, We'll met again, and never sunder. |