[A composite volume : containing The ballads and songs of Ayrshire ...

!
And aye the burden o' the sang
Was—o'er the moor amang the heather.
O'er the moor, &c.
She charm'd my heart, an' aye sin syne,
I coudna think on ony ither :
By sea and sky she shall be mine
The bonnie lass amang the heather.
O'er the moor, &c.
i Burns communicated this song to
,"
" Johnson's Scots Musical Museum ;' \
and in his " Remarks on Scottish Songs and Ballads," he states, in lan-
\ guage somewhat rude, that it " is the composition of a Jean Glover, a
\
girl who was not only a , but also a thief ; and in one or other character
has visited most of the correction houses in the west. She was
f born, I believe, in Kilmarnock : I took the song down from her singing
as she was strolling with a slight-of-hand blackguard through the country."
Though the song alluded to has been long popular, and copied into
numei-ous collections, this is all that has hitherto transpired respecting
Jeauie Glover.
That the song was her own we are left in no manner of
doubt ; for it must be inferred, from the positive statement of the Poet,
that she had herself assured him of the fact. It is well that Burns expressed
himself in decided language ; for otherwise it would scarcely be
credited that one of our sweetest and most simple lyrics should have been
the production of a person whose habits and course of life were so irregular.
When at Muirkirk, we were fortunate enough to learn a few particulars
relative to Jeanie Glover. A niece of hers still resides there,* and
one or two old people distinctly remember having seen her.
She was born
at the Townhead of Kilmarnock on the 31st October, 1758, of parents respectable
in their sphere.'!'
That her education was superior, the circumstances
of her birth will not permit us to believe ; but she was brought up
* A sister's son and daughter also live at the Sorn.
f " James Glover, weaver in Kilmarnock, and Jean Thomson, both their first marriages,
had their 3d child born on Tuesday, October 31, 1758, and baptized Jean, on
Sabbath, Nov. 5, 1758, by Mr John Cunningham, minister, Dalmellington.—Extracted
from the Register of Births and Baptisms of the Town and Parish of Kihnarnock,
upon the 17th day of January, 1839. Wm. Anderson, Sess. Clk."
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