Miller is a
lifelong admirer of Burns not only for the poetry, but equally for his music.
He felt that Robbie Burns could have been famous for his music even if he
hadn’t written poetry.
After
reading “To A Mouse” he explained the rhyming structure of the poem and the
significant number of Scots words used. We had a couple of exercises with each of
us attempting to produce a verse using the same structure (with differing
success).
Miller sang
to us a number of Burns poems including the following based on the 1720’s tune
of “Whistle o’er the lave o’t” written by John Bruce of Dumfries.
First when Maggie was my care,
Heaven, I thought, was in her air;
Now we're marríed—speir nae mair;
But
whistle o'er the lave o't.
Meg
was meek and Meg was mild,
Sweet
and harmless as a child;
Wíser
men than me's beguíled;
Sae,
whistle o'er the lave o’t.
How
we live, my Meg and me,
How
we love, and how we gree,
I
carena by how few may see;
Sae,
whistle o'er the lave o't.
Wha
I wish were maggots' meat,
Dished
up in her winding-sheet,
I
could write—but Meg maun seet;
Sae,
whistle o'er the lave o’t.
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