ABSTRACT
Stenhouse's extensive knowledge of Scottish song, allied to his Borders background, would have made him a valuable collaborator. However, his name is generally only linked in the authorial sense to the Illustrations. Whilst their publication histories and the motivations behind them were very different, Stenhouse's and Hogg's commentaries both mark a significant point in the history of the genre, in terms of the level and nature of scholarship that they present and in the attitudes betrayed towards their subject. This chapter defines that point in history and to make comparisons between the two commentaries. Much has been written about the Relics by authorities such as Donaldson, and more recently Pittock in his authoritative annotated edition, some of the ground has been briefly surveyed. The Illustrations were intended as a companion and close commentary on the Scots Musical Museum, drawing upon Burn's interleaved notes, as well as upon the knowledge of Blacklock and Tytler, not to mention Stenhouse's own research.
