Annotation:Good Night and Joy be with Ye a' (3)
X:1 T:Good Night and Joy be wi' ye a' [3] M:C L:1/8 S:Gow - 2nd Repository (1802) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:C ed|c2~c2 G3c|A2A2 a3g|(eg)ag egag|e2c2c2:| ze|{e}dcde {e}d2 cA|GAcd {cd}e2 dc|~dcde ~fefg|{fg}a2d2 d3e| f>efg {fg}a2 gf|edef {ef}g2 fe|(de)fa (g<e)d>e|c2A2A2||
GOOD NIGHT AND JOY BE WITH YE A' [3]. Scottish, Air (whole time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song is by poet Robert Burns who wrote it on what he imagined was to be his last day on Scottish soil, before setting sail in the morning for Jamaica. He was being sued by his future father-in-law, James Armour, for the pregnancy of his daughter Jean Armour and Burns saw emigration as a solution to that problem as well as his poverty. However, to his surprise, his first published poems were suddenly successful, allowing him to reconsider his plans. He recited the song in a farewell speech to the St. James's Mason Lodge in Tarbolton in 1796. His song begins:
The night is my departing night,
The morn's the day I maun awa',
There's no a friend or fae o' mine,
But wishes that I were awa'.
What I hae done for lack o' wit
I never never can reca'
'''I trust ye're a' my friends as yet,
Gude night and joy be wi' you a'.
The melody for his song, as printed in the Scots Musical Museum vol vi (1803), long predates Burns. Some sources say it first appears in recorded history as early as 1625. "Good night and joy be with ye a' [3]" was published by James Oswald in his Caledonian Pocket Companion Book IV (1760, p. 32), and by Glasgow musician and editor James Aird in his Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol II (1785, p. 74). It was also included by dancing master and fiddler-composer James Gillespie's Duke of Perth Manuscript (also called the Drummond Castle Manuscript), compiled in 1768 (p. 18). See also note for the similarly titled "annotation:Good Night and God be with You."
The tune has also been adapted for use as a polka.
