Scotlandsmusic

Three versions by Burns of this famous poem about a deserted lover are known, of which this is the last and best. The Doon river winds through a romantic glen on its way from Loch Doon to the sea near Ayr. The tune, The Caledonian Hunt's Delight, was (according to Burns) written by a Mr. James Miller with the assistance of Burns's friend Stephen Clarke, the Edinburgh musician who undertook the harmonisation of the tunes in Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum, to which Burns contributed many songs. A tradition persists, however, that the tune is of Irish origin. It was first published by the eminent Scots fiddler Neil Gow in his Second Collection of Strathspey Reels of 1788. The final version of the song was published in Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum of 1792.