Annotation:Nae luck about the house when our goodwife's awa
NAE LUCK ABOUT THE HOUSE WHEN OUR GOODWIFE'S AWA. AKA - "Colonel Baird (1)," "There’s nae luck about the house (3)." Scottish, Air (6/8 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song "Nae luck about the house when our goodwife's awa" was printed by James Johnson in the sixth and last volume of his Scots Musical Museum (1803, Song 595). Much is not known about it. The authorship of the words is disputed and has been attributed variously to William Julius Mickle and to Jean Adam. The tune's origin was previously obscure, and was, according to Stenhouse, "inserted this sprightly modern tune for the sake of variety"; it is a different melody than those usually associated with the song "There's nae luck aboot the hoose (1)" and "There's nae luck aboot the hoose (2). However, the melody Johnson employed was originally called "Colonel Baird (1)", composed by "the incomparable" Louisa "Lucy" Johnson of Hilton," in honor of the military husband of her sister Henrietta.
The words, which were called by Burns "one of the most beautiful songs in the Scots, or any other language," begin:
You sing of your goodman frae hame,
But whiles they're best awa',
For tho' the goodwife stay at hame,
John does not toil for a'
There was nae luck about my house
An' little for my wame,
There was nae luck about my house,
When Maggy gade frae hame.'
