"Two Sisters" as written by and Traditional,.....
"Oh sister, oh sister, let's walk the seashore
Bow, balance to me
"Oh sister, oh sister, let's walk the seashore
And see the ships as they sail in oar"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
While these two sisters were walking the shore
Bow, balance to me
While these two sisters were walking the shore
The oldest pushed the youngest o'er
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
"Oh sister, oh sister, please lend me your hand"
Bow, balance to me
"Oh sister, oh sister, please lend me your hand
And you'll have Willie and all o' his land"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
"I never, I never will lend you my hand"
Bow, balance to me
"I never, I never will lend you my hand
But I'll have Willie and all o' his land"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
Sometimes she sank and sometimes she swam
Bow, balance to me
Sometimes she sank and sometimes she swam
Until she came to the old mill dam
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
A miller, he got his fishing hook
Bow, balance to me
The miller, he got his fishing hook
And fished that maiden out o' the brook
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
"Oh miller, oh miller, here's five gold rings"
Bow, balance to me
"Oh miller, oh miller, here's five gold rings
To push the maiden in again"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
The miller, he received those five gold rings
Bow, balance to me
The miller, he received the five gold rings
And pushed that maiden in again
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
The miller was hung in the old mill gate
Bow, balance to me
The miller was hung in the old mill gate
For drowned the little sister Kate
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
Bow, balance to me
"Oh sister, oh sister, let's walk the seashore
And see the ships as they sail in oar"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
While these two sisters were walking the shore
Bow, balance to me
While these two sisters were walking the shore
The oldest pushed the youngest o'er
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
"Oh sister, oh sister, please lend me your hand"
Bow, balance to me
"Oh sister, oh sister, please lend me your hand
And you'll have Willie and all o' his land"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
"I never, I never will lend you my hand"
Bow, balance to me
"I never, I never will lend you my hand
But I'll have Willie and all o' his land"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
Sometimes she sank and sometimes she swam
Bow, balance to me
Sometimes she sank and sometimes she swam
Until she came to the old mill dam
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
A miller, he got his fishing hook
Bow, balance to me
The miller, he got his fishing hook
And fished that maiden out o' the brook
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
"Oh miller, oh miller, here's five gold rings"
Bow, balance to me
"Oh miller, oh miller, here's five gold rings
To push the maiden in again"
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
The miller, he received those five gold rings
Bow, balance to me
The miller, he received the five gold rings
And pushed that maiden in again
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
The miller was hung in the old mill gate
Bow, balance to me
The miller was hung in the old mill gate
For drowned the little sister Kate
And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me
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morbid morag:
For your name to say "morbid", you sure seem shocked by this song. Many old sea chanties and songs of this nature were grisly. Try reading some old fairy tales, you'll understand. The folk tales of past eras sometimes reflect just how grisly things in real life could be.
Also, the girl is in a sea - it never specifies an ocean, it could be more like a very large lake - and I guess she comes to a river, where there is presumably a waterwheel or other water-powered mill. The mill dam is just that - a dam in the river, where the miller fishes Kate out.
"Bow, balance to me."
and
"And I'll be true to my love if my love'll be true to me"
You think that's just Wait's singing the refrain.
Or perhaps what Willie is saying, under the
false impression of the older sister didn't kill Kate.