ABSTRACT
James Hogg has just recounted an epiphany in his early life; the story of his introduction to the work of Robert Burns, which took place one summer afternoon in 1797 when Hogg was seventeen. Hogg clearly realizes that he is closer than many contemporary songwriters to an older song tradition — both have an authentic connection, through birth and environment, to an existing oral tradition. Hogg recounts the story of attending a local dance and coming back to his bed afterwards to pick out the tunes he had heard. Hogg’s musical connections with London were far from slight and indeed had begun around the same time as Thomson’s commission. Processes for music engraving and printing were experiencing rapid change, allowing for cheaper production, partly inspired by the growing market for sheet music for domestic performance. Hogg had performance of the tunes in mind for the project and the inclusion of melodic notation was not simply for antiquarian purposes.
