“Up in the morning early” is the title of one of these songs, and we gather from the singer that it’s not for her. Nor for me neither, but if the music of one composer could be guaranteed to cheer the process it would be Haydn’s. In whatever mood he writes he carries a wholesome conviction that life is good.

His folksong arrangements are the unexpected, joyous and fairly lucrative work of old age. He came to them through the advances of George Thomson of Edinburgh, and previous volumes in this admirable edition have included the 200-odd written for that enterprising collector and publisher. His contributions were so successful that competitors became interested, and Haydn, on to a good thing, did not turn them down.

His immense output was maintained at an amazingly consistent standard of freshness and apparently effortless invention. Equally consistent is the standard of performance, the singers ideally suited to their task, the instrumentalists unfailingly lively and stylish in their playing.

The distinctive feature of this fourth volume is that these songs were written for one of the rival publishers, William Whyte, and include some of the best-known such as “John Anderson, my Jo” and “Auld lang syne”, set to a jaunty, light-footed rhythm with no hint of Hogmanay mawkishness. Tales of laddies sent to the wars and lasses left forlorn at home are familiar subject-matter. Some, like “The braes of Bellenden”, come close to the condition of what we call art-song, and several of the melodies require of the singer nimble fluency over a wide range. For ourselves, we are never in danger of forgetting that all are in the Scottish folk tradition, for the texts require frequent recourse to the thoughtfully provided glossary – on the subject of which I have to repeat the single complaint: the eyes of our readers (and theirs) are a year older and the small print is no bigger.