My early memory of this song was a performance in a variety show at the Pavilion Theatre -- or possibly the King's Theatre -- in Glasgow, in the late 1960's.

The headline act was Lonnie Donegan, the King of Skiffle, who was superb: full of energy and absolutely on top of any hecklers from the audience. There was also Denny Willis, a very physical comedian and the son of the inimitable pantomime star Dave Willis; and another comedy act -- probably Irish, as I have a memory of a saffron kilt.

But The Road and the Miles to Dundee was delivered by the Scottish musical act of (George) Cormack and (Irene) Sharp. He was dressed in a velvet double-breasted jacket and a somewhat lurid kilt -- but she had a tight, floor-length, spangly dress which seemed quite at odds with his outfit. The delivery was saccharine-sweet, cloying and a total turn-off to our group which had been exposed to the rather more authentic approach of singers such as Jimmy MacBeath….

It was only many years later that I could listen to the song in the performance of singers from the Folk Revival and enjoy it for its lack of pretensions!