 Nairne could read music and played the harpsichord, which allowed her to contribute some of her own tunes.Three tunes she almost certainly wrote are those to "Will Ye No Come Back Again", "The Rowan Tree", and "The Auld House", as no earlier printed versions have been found.What was probably her first composition – "The Pleughman" (ploughman) – may have been a tribute to Burns.