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FAMOUS SONGS
the author was yet a young girl. It was pub-lished anonymously and acquired great popu-larity. No one, however, came forward to lay claim to the laurels lavished upon it; and a literary controversy sprang up to decide the authorship. Many conjectured that it was as old as the days of David Rizzio, if not composed by that unfortunate minstrel himself, while others considered it of a much later date. The real author was, however, suspected; and, ulti-mately, when her ladyship was an old woman, Sir Walter Scott received a letter from Lady Anne herself openly avowing that she had written it." Before giving Lady Anne's version, it would be interesting to know why she was suspected of being the author. The song was published in 1776 and also in 1790. Was she suspected of being the author before she went to the Cape after her marriage with Andrew Barnard in 1793, or after her return to England in 1808? She died in 1825; the Rev. William Leeves, who composed the second and now familiar air (it is said in 1770, in " Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians") did not die until 1828. As he must have known who was the real author, it is a pity that we do not possess his corroboration as an historical fact. However, revenons a nos romance: Lady Anne stated
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