Pleyel's reputation was second only to that of Haydn in London in the 1790s. Both composers were commissioned to produce updated versions of well-known Scottish songs.

Lyrics: Allan Ramsay

In April, when primroses paint the sweet plain
And summer approaching, rejoiceth the swain;
The yellow hair'd laddie would oftentimes go
To the wilds and deep glens, where the hawthorn trees grow.

There, under the shade of an old sacred thorn,
With freedom he sung his loves evening and morn;
He sung with so soft and enchanting a sound,
That sylvans and fairies unseen dan'd around.

The shepherd thus sung: Tho' Madie be fair
Her beauty is dash'd with a scornful proud air;
But Susie is handsome, and sweetly can sing,
Her breath's like the breezes perfum'd in the spring.

That Madie, in all the gay bloom of her youth,
Like the moon is inconstant, and never spoke truth;
But Susie is faithful, good-humour'd and free,
And fair as the goddess who sprung from the sea.

That mama's fine daughter, with all her great dower,
Was awkwardly airy, and frequently sour:
Then sighing, he wish'd, would her parents agree,
The witty sweet Susie his mistress would be.