The Miller and his Three Sons
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1960.149.A3
Original Tape ID
Summary
In this song, a dying miller tests each of his three sons in order to determine which should inherit the mill. He asks each son in turn how much flour he would take from each sack he produces for his customers. The eldest would take half a sack, the middle son would take a 'peck' from each 'bow' [about one-sixteenth], but the youngest son would steal the lot. The miller will leave the mill to the youngest son, saying that his brothers have not learned the art of trade.
Item Notes
8 verses of 4 lines, with a vocable refrain of 2 lines. The 'boll' (or 'bow'), and its subdivision the 'peck', were Scots dry measures, whose quantities varied from place to place.
See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 3, pp. 606-608, no. 703
'Folksongs of Britain & Ireland' (P. Kennedy, 1975) p. 517
'Ozark Folk Songs' vol. 1 (V. Randolph, 1949) pp. 359-365
'Folk-Song of the North-East' (G. Greig, K. Goldstein, A. Argo, 1963 reprint) art. XLI
Language
English
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good