Henry's Songbook

A maid gae'd tae the mill ae nicht
   Sae wanton, sae wanton
A maid gae'd tae the mill ae night
   Hi sae wanton she
A maid gae'd tae the mill ae night
She swore by moon and stars sae bricht
That she would get her corn grun'
   Mill and multure free

Then oot an' cam' the miller's man (3x)
Says he, I'll dae the best I can
Fir tae get her corn grun'

He's laid her doon upon a sack
Her maidenhead's gae'd wi' a crack
Richt weel she got her corn grun'

It's easy up and easy doon
She scarce could tell her corn was grun'
Richt well she got her corn grun'

When twenty weeks had passed and gone
This fair young maid grew pale and wan
Fir gettin' a' her corn grun'

When forty weeks had passed and gone
This fair young maid brought forth a son
Because she'd got her corn grun'

This young son maun hae a nurse
The young man he'll draw oot his purse
Because he has her corn grun'

Repeat 1

(as sung by Cilla Fisher)

multure - a tax paid on the milling of flour

[1990:] Ewan wrote: 'This song belongs to the end of the first quarter of an all-male drinking session or at the end of the third quarter of a mixed party. It has a nice blend of sly bawdiness calculated to make the not-so-young remember incidents they thought they had forgotten. I learned it from my father.' (Notes Ewan MacColl, 'Black and White)

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=33125#439869