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.
Fixed the lyrics.
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.