Annotation:Gowd on Your Gartens Marion

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GOWD ON YOUR GARTENS, MARION. AKA - "Marion." Scottish, Slow Air (3/2 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The title comes from the third verse of the song which begins:

Will ye go to the ewe-buchts, Marion?
And weire in the sheep wi' me?
The sun shines sweet my Marion,
But he shines na sae sweet as thee.

Poet Robert Burns adapted the tune for his song "Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary?", written for his love of the moment, Mary Campbell. It was composed in 1786 on the eve of his supposed trip to Jamaica, when he thought to emigrate, however, he did not ask Mary to go with him; they had already parted ways.

Source for notated version: Skene MS., 1620 [Johnson].

Printed sources: Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century), 1984; No. 4, p. 23.

Recorded sources: Maggie's Music MM220, Hesperus - "Celtic Roots." Dorian DOR-90264, Laura Risk & Jacqueline Schwab - "Celtic Dialogue" (1999).

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