Burns’s song ‘John Anderson My Jo’ was written in 1789 and included in James Johnson's ‘Scots Musical Museum’. The motif of the song is the effect of aging on the body; “Your locks were like the raven, / Your bonie brow was brent; / But now your brow is beld, John, / Your locks are like the snaw”. The song is a tender reflection on the couple’s shared life and enduring love and devotion over their many years together. In this illustration to the song, Weigall shows an elderly couple sitting in a domestic interior. They hold hands and gaze at each other, still very much in love. The man’s bald head and wispy ‘snaw’ white hair are exactly as Burns described.