Tuesday 5 July 2011
Tune of the Day: Flow Gently, Sweet Afton
Music by Jonathan E. Spilman
This song is based on the lyrical poem Sweet Afton by Robert Burns, describing the Afton Water in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was set to music by Kentucky lawyer, minister, and composer Jonathan E. Spilman in 1837. An adaptation of the same melody has since become one of the tunes to the Christmas carol “Away in a Manger”. This melody is sometimes erroneously attributed to Alexander Hume, who did compose a different, less known tune to Burns's poem.