I was moved to join this friendly community because I saw the answers to the problems some of you'd had with Ken Hulme's tab and thought you might be interested in my workaround.

I tune my instrument DGD and play the 1+'s as a 3 (on the second string)!

This tuning also gives the opportunity to play some of the "4"'s on the melody string as an emphatic 444 chord, also some of the "0"'s as an 010 and at least one of the "3"'s as 323 ... these chords are optional, the original melody still works fine without them.

Hope this of interest to someone :)

Uff da! I thought I saw th 1+ on the melody string....

Ken - the 1+ is on the middle string, not the melody string. Tuning to DAA and adding 3 will just move it to the 1+ fret on the melody string(not the 4th fret). You will also need the 8+ to cover the 6's.

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This is something that crops up in a fairly large number of tunes where the root note falls on the open string, so maybe it's worth spending a bit of time looking at ways of working around it if you're playing Drone style.

The problem.
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When the root note is on the open string(mixalydian) there is no leeway to go any lower on the melody string. In the case of SMTTF the tune calls for the note below the root, so you have to find some other way of getting this.

With no extra frets.

1) 'Fudge' it or leave it out. This works well for some tunes, but unfortunately, the note we're looking for here is the most important for this mode( a minor 7th), and it's not so easy to leave it out without changing the character of the song.

2) Move to the higher register(octave) i.e. move the root note to the 7th fret by adding 7 to the TAB (1+ on the middle becomes 6 on the melody).
Give this a try first. It may not sound particularly good, many dulcimers tend to lose something up the dusty end, but it will give you a good view of what the problem is when you go back down to the lower register with the root on the open string.

3) Borrow the note you want from one of the other strings.
If you're in DAD (key of D) then the note you want is a 'C' which can be found at the 6th fret on the bass. This is a bit of a stretch and probably not a very good solution.
Or you can take Cynthia's approach and move the melody on to the middle string (key of A) then the note you want is a 'G' which can be found at the 3rd fret on the bass.

With a 1+ fret.

4) Tune to DAA and add 3 to the TAB. (1+ on the middle becomes a 1+ on the melody).

5) Play as TABed in DAD, borrowing the note you want from the 1+ on the middle.

With a 6+ fret.

6) I've left this to last as it is often the most practical solution.
Tune to DAG(Dorian) and add 4 to the TAB. (The 1+ becomes a 3, and the 3 becomes a 6+)

Advanced technique.

7) Make any extra notes you need using an angled noter.

I don't know how to tab this and post it, but I will get you playing this tune even if we go one note at a time - promise!

If you play the 1 fret and the 2 fret in the same time as called for that 1+ note, it will work. Or just skip the 1+ note entirely....

If you add 3 to the fret numbers to convert from DAd to DAA, as Cynhia suggests, you convert the 1+ to a 4 and won't need to bother. I've played the tune a time or two in DAA, noter & drone style, and it works just fine.

Lynn, I am really new but heard this haunting air many years ago sung a cappella. I just put up the video I did for it. I did it DAA tuning, with the melody starting on the A string 0123 2 3 4 4 31, then on the low D string 3 4 4 4. I think you can get the rest. I didn't tab it out. The best thing about it is that it only needs the drone strings, no chords as it is sung a cappella (just the voice alone). Hope this is helpful to you, I've always loved this tune.

There is a version on Everything Dulcimer in the Tabulature collection, but it's a .TEF (TableEdit) file. There's a free TEF Viewer available if you don't have TablEdit.