Volume III, song 242, pages 250 and 251 - 'The Mill Mill O'...
Volume III, song 242, pages 250 and 251 - 'The Mill Mill O' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'Beneath a green shade I fand a fair maid, Was sleeping sound and still! O; A lowan wi' love my fancy did rove Around her wi' good will O: Her bosom I prest; but sunk in her rest, She stir'dna my joy to spill O: While kindly she slept, close to her I crept, And kiss'd and kiss'd her my fill O.' The word 'lowan' translates as still or calm while 'fand' is simply found.
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.
The first publication date attached to this song is 1721, when it was printed by Allan Ramsay. There is a copy of the song included in Mrs Crockat's 1709 Manuscript. The song continued to be printed but varied greatly which suggests an older date of composition, with a wider diffusion across the oral tradition. This melody also accompanies another song, written by Robert Burns, entitled 'The Soldier's Return'.
Volume III, song 242, pages 250 and 251 - 'The Mill Mill O' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)