Building Community: MIlls and Millers Folksong

The German Miller on the Eve of Colonial America

The miller was often known as a rogue or cheat, although at the same time he was the center of communities and a necessary member of early towns.

In 1565, Jopst Amman published his Book of Trades (Standebuch) which illustraed dozens of professions, each with a 8-line poem describing them. The miller (Der Müller) is no exception. The poem reads:

Wer korn und Weiss zu mallen hat,
Der bringt mirs in die Mül herab,
Denn Schütt ichs zwischen den Mülstein
Und mal es sauber rein und klein,
Die Klenen gib ich treuwlich zu,
Hirsch, Erbeiss, ic auch neuwen thu,
Dergleich thu ich auch Stockfisch bleuwn,
Würss stoss ich auch mit ganzen treuwen.

When [I] have corn and flour to mill,
I bring them to the mill,
[and] then I put them between the millstones
And mill? it sauber, rein, and small,

Finall commentary...