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)
So when by her whom long I lov'd,
I scorn'd was and deserted, Low with Despair my Spirits mov'd, To be for ever parted: Thus droopt I, till diviner Grace I found in Peggy's Mind and Face, Ingratitude appear'd then base. But Virtue more engaging. |
(3)
Then now since happily I've hit,
I'll have no more delaying, Let Beauty yield to manly wit, We lose our selves in staying; I'll haste dull Courtship to a Close, Since Marriage can my Fears oppose, Why should we happy Minuets lose, Since, Peggy, I must love thee. |
(4)
Men may be foolish if they please,
And deem't a Lovers Duty, To sigh, and sacrifice their Ease, Doating on a proud Beauty: Such was my Case for many a Year, Still Hope succeeding to my Fear, False Betty's Charms now disappear, Since Peggy's far outshine them. |