George Thomson and Robert Burns

A productive relationship

On the day we pay tribute to Scotland’s best and most famous poet, Robert Burns, I thought it might be of great interest to write about his fruitful relationship with less well-known Fifer, George Thomson.

George Thomson

Born in the Fife coastal village of Limekilns near Dunfermline, Thomson (1757–1851) was an influential Scottish music collector and publisher best known for his role in collecting and publishing Scottish folk songs. His relationship with Robert Burns (1759–1796), the famed Scottish poet, is an essential aspect of Scottish musical and literary history.

Thomson began a project to publish a collection of Scottish songs in their "original purity" with improved arrangements for the instruments of the time, aiming to preserve them and make them more popular. He sought contributions from Scottish poets to provide high-quality lyrics for these tunes, which sometimes lacked appropriate words or had verses considered unsuitable for a refined audience.

One of Scotland's most celebrated poets, Robert Burns, was central to this effort. Burns saw it as an opportunity to promote Scottish culture and willingly contributed by writing new lyrics for traditional melodies, revising old songs, and sometimes creating entirely new compositions. His involvement with Thomson's collection was not just about writing lyrics; he was also passionate about preserving the Scottish musical tradition and was engaged in selecting the tunes themselves, often providing commentary and criticism on the arrangements.

Robert Burns

Many of Burns's most famous songs today, such as "Auld Lang Syne," "My Love is Like a Red Rose," and "Scots Wha Hae," were popularised through Thomson's publications, enhancing both of their legacies. Burns contributed over 100 songs to Thomson's collections, and this collaboration served to strengthen the Scottish identity through music and poetry at a time when Scotland's traditional culture was under threat due to political and social changes.

The correspondence between Burns and Thomson over the years of their collaboration is also of significant historical interest, indicating the dynamics of their relationship, which combined mutual respect with occasional disagreements over musical settings and the direction of the project.

Thomson's most famous work also involved commissioning arrangements of traditional Scottish folk tunes from prominent composers of the day, including Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert. He sought to modernise and popularise Scottish music by setting these folk tunes to new piano accompaniments and pairing them with contemporary poets' verses, including those of Burns.

George Thomson's efforts not only succeeded in preserving traditional melodies but also aided in fostering a new appreciation for the folk music of Scotland and influenced the development of European art music. His collections of Scottish melodies, known for their high artistic quality, are still cherished and performed today.

Catherine Dickens

Remarkably, that wasn’t the end of George Thomson’s legacy in the literary/art world as his granddaughter Catherine (Kate) Hogarth married Charles Dickens in 1836. Kate’s younger sister Mary went to live with the Dickens but sadly passed away suddenly aged 17. Dickens had grown fond of his young sister-in-law, and she inspired several of Dicken’s characters. These included Rose Maylie in Oliver Twist and Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.

Mary Hogarth

Thanks again for your interest.

Billy George