The High-Kilted Muse: Peter Buchan and His Secret Songs of Silence

Preface and Acknowledgments

xvii PreFAce And AcKnOWledgMenTs This is the first full publication of the Peter Buchan ‘savoury’ manuscript Secret Songs of Silence, preserved, or embalmed, at harvard for more than a hundred years. The introductory material is in two parts, the first a foreword by ed cray, one of the small (but thankfully ever-growing) group of scholars who have not disdained to study the bawdy song as a proper, if not hitherto respected, species of folklore. i thank him for the interest he has shown in the book since its inception several years ago. The introduction proper is an attempt of my own to put Peter Buchan in some perspective as collector and editor. The manuscript, described further in the introduction, nowhere names the compiler; Buchan calls himself ‘the editor’ of the Ancient Ballads, and ‘the collector’ of the material, besides assuming the coy nom-de-plume of ‘sir Oliver Orpheus’. The manuscript title may be explained as a hint that the contents are not for general broadcasting. This edition of the Peter Buchan Ms ‘secret songs of silence’ (call number Ms eng 1491 (3)] is made by permission of the houghton library, harvard university. The editor wishes to thank leslie A. Morris, the curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts of the houghton library, harvard, for releasing the manuscript , and several individuals, living or recently dead, who have contributed in one way or another to a greater or lesser degree in the production of this edition: ed cray, as general adviser, Abby sale, sheila douglas, Michael Ballantyne of the British columbia Folklore society, Philip J. Thomas, Jon Bartlett of the Vancouver Folk song society, roger de V. renwick, Klaus roth of Munich, caroline Macafee, Thomas A. McKean, samuel rich, and ian russell xviii PreFAce And AcKnOWledgMenTs of the elphinstone institute. i should also thank the peer reviewers who commented on an earlier version for their helpful suggestions. Throughout my work on this project i have been immensely helped by William Bruce Olson of gaithersburg, Maryland, a dedicated scholar of old songs and tunes, whose now archived website is a mine of information and whose postal encouragement was always generous and cheering. he never stinted in his readiness to supply data on tunes and texts otherwise very difficult to access by an isolated student of the ballad. he died at hallowe’en, 2003, mourned not just by his family but by the many with whom he had shared his knowledge and enthusiasm. it is with genuine sad gratitude that this volume is dedicated to him. —MurrAy shOOlBrAid december 2008 ...