Jolly Miller (I), The

DESCRIPTION: Singer, a miller, says "I care for nobody, no not I, and nobody cares for me." His back is bent with work; his mill has strange new machinery, but he's content with a drop of whisky. He has engaged with Dr. Ramsey, the landlord, and does his bidding
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Greig/Duncan3)
KEYWORDS: work drink nonballad miller worker technology
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(North,Lond)) US(NE,So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #41, p. 1, "The Miller o' Straloch"; "Folk-Song in Buchan," pp. 28-29, "The Miller of Straloch" (2 texts)
Greig/Duncan3 452, "The Miller o' Straloch" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, p. 271, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text)
Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland, pp. 220-221, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 229, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 352, "There was a jolly miller once" (1 text fragment)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #124, p. 103, "(There was a jolly miller once)"
DT, JOLMILLR
Roud #503
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "The Jolly Miller" (on FSB3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(449), "Their [sic] was a jolly miller" [error in title, not in text], J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), c.1850; also Harding B 11(450), "Their [sic] was a jolly miller" [error in title, not in text]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Miller of Dee" (refrain, subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Wee Millar
Willie Stroth
NOTES [76 words]: The Baring-Goulds report that this song, "a favorite of Sir Walter Scott's," was included in Bickerstaffe's 1762 opera "Love in a Village." They also say that it may have been based on the owner of the Dee Mill in Chester, which dated back to around the Conquest but burned down in 1895.
All of these references, however, may be to "The Miller of Dee"; the Baring-Gould fragment is only a single stanza. See Ben Schwartz's note on "The Miller of Dee." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: K229M

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