Wednesday 9 March 2016
Tune of the Day: The Mill Oh
Traditional Scottish tune
This popular tune is common to many collections printed in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The melody is that to which Robert Burns in 1793 set “The Sodger's (Soldier's) Return” (“The Poor and Honest Soldier”). Burns's poem is a reworking of a folk theme, popular since Homer's Odyssey, of lovers parted by war: when the man returns he is not recognized but finds his love has been true, then reveals himself and is happily reunited.
The Scottish Christmas carol “What Strangers Are These?” is also sung to this tune.