Volume VI, song 505, page 521 - 'When I gaed to the mill' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'When I gaed to the mill my lane, A' for to grind my maut The miller laddie kist me I thought it was nae taut. What tho' the laddie kist me When I was at the mill, A kiss is but a touch and a touch can do nae ill.' 'Gaed' is 'went', 'my lane' means 'by myself' and, finally, 'maut' is 'malt'. 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. In his book 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), John Glen noted that 'The melody to which this song is written is an adaptation of 'The Birth of Kisses''. It is known to have appeared in book five of James Oswald's 'Caledonian Pocket Companion'. Glen did not believe the melody to be Scottish, but rather detected 'a considerable touch of the Irish style about it', which he found to be more pronounced in the version Johnson included in the 'Museum'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503699

Title

Volume VI, song 505, page 521 - 'When I gaed to the mill' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Object Type

PhysicalObject

Measurements

- 129 x 211 mm