"The Miller's Three Sons" ( Roud 138, Laws Q21) is an English folk song. It was published as a

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

in the middle of the 18th century AD, but no more recent printings are known. It was "reasonably widespread in England but hugely popular in North America".Roud, S, and Bishop, J; The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs; London, 2012

Synopsis

A miller has three "lusty" sons. On his deathbed he questions them to decide which should inherit his mill. He asks each how much flour they will take from the grain brought to the mill by farmers to be ground. The eldest says he will take one peck out of every bushel (a quarter of the total).

"Thou art a fool," the old man said.
"Thou has not well learnt thy trade"

The second son says he will take half, and gets the same reply. The third son says:

"Before I will a good living lack, I'll take it all and foresware the sack"

In most versions the old man leaves the mill to his youngest son, and dies. In some versions there is some speculation as to his eternal destination:

Now this millers's dead and in his grave,
And hungry worms his body have;
But where he's gone to I can't tell
But I'll leave it to you to judge for yoursel'.Palmer, Roy; English Country Songbook; London; 1979

However in at least one version collected in Wisconsin:

The old man died without any will,
I'll be hanged if the old woman didn't keep the mill!

Early Versions

Broadsides and early printed versions

The song was printed by broadcast sellers Dicey & Marshall sometime between 1736 and 1753.

Versions Collected from Traditional Singers

The Roud Folk Song Index lists about 19 versions collected from England, 7 from Scotland, 5 from Canada, and 90 from the USA (mainly from the Appalachians, Ozarks and New England).

Recordings

Field Recordings

Versions by Norfolk singers

Harry Cox Harry Fred Cox (27 March 1885 – 6 May 1971), was a Norfolk farmworker and one of the most important singers of traditional English music of the twentieth century, on account of his large repertoire and fine singing style. His music inspired ...

, and

Walter Pardon Walter Pardon (4 March 1914 – 9 June 1996) was an English carpenter, folk singer and recording artist from Knapton, Norfolk, England. He learned songs and tunes from older members of his family and remembered and performed them at a time whe ...

, Suffolk singer Jumbo Brightwell, Arkansan J.D. Stark, and Scottish singer Charles Fiddes Reid are in online archives. Jim Holbert was recorded singing "The Miller's Goin' For To Die" at an FSA camp in Visalia, California in 1940. Jumbo Brightwell's version. The Derby Miller" is on "Troubles They Are But Few" ( The Voice of the People Volume 14). Virginian

Horton Barker Horton Barker (August 23, 1889 – August 12, 1973) was an Appalachian traditional singer. Barker was born in Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee, USA. Blind nearly all his life, Barker learned his unusually wide repertoire at the School for the Deaf an ...

was recorded singing "The Millers Will" in 1962., Georgia singer Dr. C.B Skelton was recorded singing "The Miller's Will" in 1993,

Recordings by Old-time and Country Singers

This song was recorded by Carson Brothers & Sprinkle as "The Old Miller's Will" in 1929, and by

Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians." Biography ...

as "The Miller's Will" in 1956.

Recordings by revival singers and groups

The

Oldham Tinkers Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, Brass Monkey, The Claque, Jackie Oates, and Bella Hardy have all recorded versions.The Dark Peak and the White; Bella Hardy; Noe Records NOE04; 2012)

Discussion

As both Steve Roud and Roy Palmer point out, millers were suspected of taking more than their fair share or "toll" of the flour produced from the grain taken by farmers to be ground. They often had a monopoly, and were suspected of sharp practice. This unsavoury reputation goes back at least as far as

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

's "

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...

"; Chaucer describes his miller as stealing corn and taking three times his toll:

External links

*Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
*MainlyNorfolk: English Folk and Other Good Musi

*The Mudcat Cafe
Lyr Req: The Miller and His Three Sons

References

English folk songs English broadside ballads Songwriter unknown Year of song unknown {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller's Three Sons