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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(2)
The Muses with the milk of Queens,
Have fed this comely Creature, That she's become a Princely Dame, A miracle of Nature. O let us &c. |
(3)
The Graces all both great and small,
Was not by half so pretty, The Queen of Love, that Reigns above, Cou'd not compare with Betty. O let us &c. |
(4)
Had David seen this lovely one,
No Sin he had committed, He had not lain with Bath-sheba, Nor slain the valiant Hittite. O let us &c. |
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(5)
Had Solomon Heav'ns minion,
View'd her Perfections over, Then Sheba's Queen rejected had been, Tho' clad with Gold and Ophir. O let us &c. |
(6)
The Dons of Spain cou'd they obtain,
This Magazine of Pleasure, They'd never go to Mexico, For all its Indian Treasure. O let us &c. |
(7)
The Christian King wou'd dance & sing,
To have her at his Pleasure, And wou'd confine great Mazarine, Within the Banks of Tybur. O let us &c. |
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(8)
The Turk for all his great Empire,
Wou'd prostrate him before her, And wou'd lay down his Golden Crown, A Goddess like adore her. O let us &c. |
(9)
Her Eyes are full of Majesty,
None but a Prince can own her, She's fitted for an Emperour, A Diadem must Crown her. O let us swim in Blood of Grapes, The Richest of the City And Solemnize upon our knees, A Health to Noble Betty. |