Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Volume III, song 274, page 283 - 'Sandy o'er the Lee'

Verse 1:
'I winna marry ony man but Sandy o'er the lee.
I winna marry ony man but Sandy o'er the lee.
I winna hae the dominie for gude he canna be,
But I will hae my Sandy lad, my Sandy o'er the lee,
For he's aye a kissing kissing aye a kissing me,
he's aye a kissing, kissing aye a kissing me.'

'Lee' in this instance refers to uncultivated land.

According to John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), both the song and melody are of Anglo-Scottish origin. To find this 'cross pollination' in the 'Museum' is fairly unusual, with the exception of Volume One. When Burns joined forces with Johnson, after Volume One had gone to print, he made it a condition of his involvement that only Scottish tunes and melodies would be selected for inclusion. Johnson's original intention had been to gather Scottish, English and Irish songs for the 'Museum'. The melody to accompany this song was composed by the English composer and organist, James Hook (1746-1827).

The 'Scots Musical Museum' is the most important of the numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections of Scottish song. When the engraver James Johnson started work on the second volume of his collection in 1787, he enlisted Robert Burns as contributor and editor. Burns enthusiastically collected songs from various sources, often expanding or revising them, whilst including much of his own work. The resulting combination of innovation and antiquarianism gives the work a feel of living tradition.

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