I came across this thread when I was trying to recall a folk ditty from my youth. It went something like this:
There was a farmer had three sons Three sons to him were born And he came right home in the middle of the night And he threw them out of doors. And he threw them out of doors. He came right home in the middle of the night And he threw hem out of doors.
The first he was a stout miller The second was a spinner of yarn And the third to be sure as a little tailor With the broadcloth under his arm With the broadcloth under his arm. And the third to be sure was a little tailor With the broadcloth under his arm.
The miller he was drowned in his pond The spinner was hanged in his yarn And the devil ran away with the little tailor With the broadcloth under his arm With the broadcloth under his arm And the devil ran away with the little tailor With the broadcloth under his arm.
I'm not sure if I have all the words correctly as my memory of the piece is not precise and I may have borrowed subconsciously from some lines in this thread to fill in the blanks in my memory. However, has anyone else heard of this version? It did not have any references to a king - why would it instead refer to a farmer? Second and third stanzas are very similar in content to those listed but I think the one I knew went to a different tune. I'm trying to place that melody as I think it has been used with other words - I'll add that info if I can figure it out. Input or comments most welcome.