given by James IV. to the French ambassador, it is found that a gratuity such as that to John Broun would buy seven oxen; and that the 'twa fithelaris' (fiddlers) who sang 'Graysteil' to the King received the value of three sheep. The sums seem odd, but an examination of the items will show that the payments were made in gold. The unicorn (a Scottish coin that weighed from 57 to 60 grains of gold) is valued in the accounts at eighteen shillings; and another coin, the equivalent of the French crown, at fourteen shillings—
Mr. Gunn, in his Enquiry on the Harp in the Highlands, quotes thus from a work of 1597—'The strings of their Clairschoes (small Gaelic harp) are made of brasse wyar, and the strings of the Harp of sinews, which strings they stryke either with their nayles growing long or else with an instrument appointed for that use.' The correct word is Clarsach; and the harper Clarsair.
(Which means that the thriftless Jacob received the value of eleven sheep to redeem his lute that lay in pawn.)
(Riotous fellows, no doubt, who got a French crown each to clear their 'score' in Edinburgh, and hire horses to Linlithgow.)
Information regarding the state of popular music during the 16th century is almost equally meagre. James V. is believed to have written two songs on the subject of certain adventures which befell him while wandering through the country in disguise; these are 'The gaberlunzie man' and 'The beggar's mealpokes' (mealbags). The airs are said to be of the same date, but of this there is really no certainty; though Ritson, with all his scepticism, admits them into his list of early tunes; the second is much too modern in style to have been of James V's date. Of Mary's time there are two curious works in which musical matters are mentioned. 'The Complaynte of Scotland' (1549), and 'The Gude and Godly Ballates' (ballads) (1578), both of which furnish the names of a number of tunes almost all now unknown. Mr. J. A. H. Murray, in his excellent reprint of the former of these, says 'The Complaynte of Scotland consists of two principal parts, viz. the author's Discourse concerning the affliction and misery of his country, and his Dream of Dame Scotia and her complaint against her three sons. These are, with rather obvious art, connected together by what the author terms his Monologue Recreative.'
This Monologue—which, from its being printed on unpaged leaves, Mr. Murray has discovered to be an afterthought—is now the most interesting part of the work. In it the author introduces a number of shepherds and their wives. After 'disjune' (déjeuner) the chief shepherd delivers a most learned address, and then they proceed to relate stories from ancient mythology, and also from the middle ages. Short extracts to give an idea of the style may not be objected to.
Quhen the scheipherd hed endit his prolixt orison to the laif of the scheiphirdis, i meruellit nocht litil quhen i herd ane rustic pastour of bestialite, distitut of vrbanite, and of speculations of natural philosophe, indoctryne his nychtbours as he hed studeit ptholome, auerois, aristotel, galien, ypocrites or Cicero, quhilk var expert practicians in methamatic art.… Quhen thir scheipliyrdis hed tald al thyr pleysand storeis, than thay and ther vyuis began to sing sueit melodius sangisof natural music of the antiquite. the foure marmadyns that sang quhen thetis vas mareit on month pillion, thai sang nocht sa sueit as did thir scheiphyrdis.…
Then follows a list of songs, including—
Pastance vitht gude companye, Stil vndir the leyuis grene, Cou thou me the raschis grene, … brume brume on hil, … bille vil thou cum by a lute and belt the in Sanct Francis cord, The frog cam to the myl dur, rycht soirly musing in my mynde, god sen the due hed byddin in France, and delaubaute hed neuyr cum hame, … o lusty maye vitht flora quene, … the battel of the hayrlau, the hunttis of cheuet, … My lufe is lyand seik, send hym ioy, send hym ioy, … The perssee and the mongumrye met, That day, that day, that gentil day.
With the exception of the ballads, these seem to be chiefly part-songs, some of them English.
Than eftir this sueit celest armonye, tha began to dance in ane ring, euyrie ald scheiphyrd led his vyfe be the hand, and euyrie ȝong scheiphird led hyr quhome he luffit best. Ther vas viij scheipnyrdis, and ilk ane of them hed ane syndry instrament to play to the laif. the fyrst hed ane drone bag pipe, the nyxt hed ane pipe maid of ane bleddir and of ane reid, the thrid playit on ane trump, the feyrd on ane corne pipe, the fyft playit on ane pipe maid of ane gait home, the sext playt on ane recordar, the seuint plait on ane fiddil, and the last plait on ane quhissil.
The second instrument seems to have been a bagpipe without the drone; the third, a jew's-harp, and the last a shepherd's-pipe, or flute à bec. Sir J. Graham Dalyelt says 'Neither the form nor the use of the whistle (quhissil) is explicit. It is nowhere specially defined. In 1498 xiiij s. is paid for a whussel to the King.… Corn-pipe, Lilt-pipe, and others are alike obscure.'
In the other little book already mentioned, known as the 'Gude and Godly Ballates' (1578) there are a number of songs 'converted from profane into religious poetry.' Dr. David Laing, who published a reprint of it in 1868, informs us that the authorship of the work is usually assigned to two brothers, John and Robert Wedderburn of Dundee, who flourished about the year 1540. It is divided into three portions; the first is doctrinal; the second contains metrical versions of Psalms, with some hymns, chiefly from the German; the third, which gives its peculiar character to the collection, may be described as sacred parodies of secular songs. They were to be sung to well-known melodies of the time, which were indicated usually by the first
