Annotation:Mill Oh (The)

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MILL OH, THE. AKA - "The Mill," "Mill Mill O (The)," "Mill Oh the Mill (The)." AKA and see "Cuba March (The)," "Soldier's Return (The)," "Blue-Eyed Stanger (1) (The)." Scottish, English. England, Northumberland. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB: AAB (O'Farrell). "The Mill Oh" or "The Mill Mill O" was a popular tune common to collections printed in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and was the air Robert Burns in 1793 set "The Sodger's (Soldier's) Return" to. Burns' poem is a reworking of a folk theme, popular since Homer's Ulysses, of lovers parted by war -- when the man returns he is not recognized but finds his love has been true, reveals himself and is happily reunited. It begins:

When wild war's deadly blast was blawn,
And gentle peace returning,
Wi' mony a sweet babe fatherless,
And mony a widow mourning;
I left the lines and tented field,
Where lang I'd been a lodger,
My humble knapsack a' my wealth,
A poor but honest sodger.

Bayard (1981) believes that "Quaker's Wife (The)/Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife" grew out of this tune, or else both tunes stem from an ancient original, primarily because of the "unmistakable" similarity of the 'B' parts, and the "noticeable" resemblance of the 'A' parts. The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800. Glen reported it was first printed by William Thompson in his 1725 Orpheus Caledonius (No. 20); it also appeared in Thompson's 1733 edition (vol. 1, p. 40).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bremner (Thirty Scots Songs), 1770; p. 30. Crosby (The Caledonian Musical Repository), 1811, pg. 48. Johnson (Scots Musical Museum), vol. 3, 1787-1803, No. 242. S. Johnson (Kitchen Musician No. 10: Airs & Melodies of Scotland's Past), 1992 (revised 2001); p. 13. McGibbon (Collection of Scots Tunes, book III), 1768, p. 76. McGlashan (A Collection of Scots Reels), vol. 2, 1781, p. 4. O'Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. II), c. 1806; p. 157 (set as a "duett"). Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion), c. 1780, vol. 1, p. 74.

Recorded sources: Jerry O'Sullivan - "O'Sullivan meets O'Farrell" (2005).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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