Nevertheless, Urbani was the first to press with 'A Red, Red Rose' in 1794, publishing it in the second book of his anthology. Burns called this a 'damned falsehood', and ended their friendship. I would not even have given him this, had there been any of Mr Thomson's airs, suitable to it, unoccupied.' Urbani began to boast of a partnership with Burns on the Scots Songs anthology. Burns recalls, 'I likewise gave (Urbani) a simple old Scots song which I had pickt up in this country, which he had promised to set in a suitable manner. Burns and Urbani spent three days together in 1793, collaborating on various songs. In 1794, he wrote to Alexander Cunningham that he and Thomson disagreed on the song's merits, 'What to me appears to be the simple and the wild, to him, and I suspect to you likewise, will be looked on as the ludicrous and the absurd.' : 367Īt the time, Thomson's publishing project was rivaled by the Italian musician Pietro Urbani who called his anthology A Selection of Scots Songs. : 69–70īurns intended 'A Red, Red Rose' to be published in Thomson's collection. Burns also contributed to George Thomson's five-volume A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice (1793–1841).

He collaborated with James Johnson on a folk music collection called the Scots Musical Museum (published in six volumes between 1787-1803).

In the final years of his short life, Burns worked extensively on traditional Scottish songs, ensuring the preservation of over 300 songs, including ' Auld Lang Syne'. Publication in A Selection of Scots Songs Harmonized Improved with Simple and Adapted Graces by Peter Urbani, Edinburgh, c.

Burns red red rose