Allan Cunningham (7 December 1784 – 30 October 1842)*
Fraud, Forger and Poet
Although we ordered one of those cheap modern digital reprints of Allan Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, I didn't think it would matter much. After all, what matters is that we can read his introduction, as much as the poetry his once-famous anthology contains.
I didn't bargain on the cheap modern reprint containing only the introduction. Ah, well! You win some, you lose some. Here's where to find it in the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. (Catalogue entry.)
Cunningham was a bit of a fraud - he made up poems as well as including genuine old Scottish poems. Still, although in the 1820s his peers thought he was a fraud, within a few years of his death, he was revered as a poet in his own right.
The wording of his introduction shows us his poetic interpretation of the history of Scotland's poetry. Interesting!
* Whilst we wouldn't recommend Wikipedia as a trusty source for an essay, the basic details of Cunningham's life and output are here for a start.
Where can you find the words to thousands of songs and poems?
A useful free database, The Lied, Art Song and Choral Texts Archive contains the words of thousands of songs.
Take the Romantic Scottish poet, Allan Cunningham, for example. (Well, today's his birthday, so it's a good day to focus on him!)
Allan Cunningham (1784-1842) was a bit of a prankster, to be honest. He invented some Borders songs for Cromek's collection called Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song. (He admitted this to close friends.) And he was thought to have done the same for his own larger collection, Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern. (This is a collection of poetry, not music.) Plenty of composers have drawn upon his lyrics, all the same. As you'll see in The Lied, Art Song and Choral Texts Archive. Here's his page.
Looking for Scottish verse? Allan Cunningham might not be quite what you're looking for, but you can find plenty of source-material at the Scottish Poetry Library. Here's their catalogue. Learn a poem, or set one to music.
- If you're using a poem as lyrics, do remember to check if the poet is still in copyright. Poets have feelings (and rights!), but they'll be flattered to be asked ...
NB this post is one of Whittaker Live's 'On this day' series about Scotland's song history.
