Volume II, song 123, page 129 - 'The Miller' - Scanned from...
Volume II, song 123, page 129 - 'The Miller' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'O Merry may the maid be That marries with the miller, For foul day and fair day He's ay bringing till her. Has ay a penny in his purse, For dinner and for supper: And gin he please, a good fat cheese, And lumps of yellow butter.'
The 'Scots Musical Museum' is the most important of the numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections of Scottish song. When the engraver James Johnson started work on the second volume of his collection in 1787, he enlisted Robert Burns as contributor and editor. Burns enthusiastically collected songs from various sources, often expanding or revising them, whilst including much of his own work. The resulting combination of innovation and antiquarianism gives the work a feel of living tradition.
According to Glen (1900), this 'melody does not appear in any collection known to us before the Museum, and it is our belief that such a good tune would not have escaped either the musician or compiler if current much before 1788'. This is in contrast to the views of William Stenhouse, editor of the 1853 edition of the 'Museum', who believed 'this song, with the exception of the first verse, which is said to belong to a much older song, was written by Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik; and was published in Yair's Collection of Songs, called 'The Charmer', vol. ii, 1751'. Glen is generally considered to be the more reliable source.
Volume II, song 123, page 129 - 'The Miller' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)