Footprints in the flour

A few days before leaving on my latest expedition I met with my director who advised me that she was planning a longer-term investigation in the Netherlands around the Sixteenth to Seventeenth centuries.

Of course, I was immediately interested, having been there when the pilgrims were preparing to leave for America, and the director suggested that I might be a good choice for someone to look for a vacant property that could be bought to use as a base for operations.

One of the places that was recommended to me was a windmill. The miller had become disabled recently as the result of an accident and his wife, who had become his caregiver, had expressed an interest in selling the mill as a going concern.

When I got there the miller himself was sitting under an apple tree in a wheelchair; literally a chair which had been adapted by mounting it on a low cart. The extent of his injuries was quite apparent; he was missing his right leg from the knee down, and all of his right arm. He admitted that his injuries had been caused by the mill machinery, but he also admitted that he had been foolish enough to try to carry out a running repair when he was drunk, that should have been done when the mill was idle.

Although he is clearly in some pain, he insists on showing me through the mill itself, with the help of his wife. He asks me if I have considered running the mill myself, pointing out that he has added several labor-saving devices all of which are powered from the mill's main drive shaft. The devices include an ingenious harnessing of the power to operate sack hoists which can be used to lift heavy weights both inside and outside the mill, and a boulter, for sifting flour to produce a finer grade. Of course, the mill also makes use of several simple machines such as ropes and pulleys for lifting, screws to regulate the grain feed, and levers on the weighing scales.

My own thinking is that, for the rather high one thousand nine hundred and fifty guilders asking price, we could not only have a useful base of operations in this time, but a very important source of much-needed income in local coin.

Before committing to a deal it seems sensible to ask the miller about the craft of milling. If there is one thing that I have learned in my travels (and my colleagues agree) it is that there are very few occupations in this age that don't involve some knowledge of specialized skills. The miller chuckles and tells me that when he started learning, all his master would tell him was that he needed to know how to "whistle up the wind" on a calm day! However, there are some things that are worth knowing and he doesn't mind teaching me. For example, whenever you have to make a part for machinery that will be exposed to water on a regular basis, use elm rather than oak, for elm will outlast oak when immersed in water and both are roughly equally hard for durability.

It is as we are descending to the exit door that I hear something scrabbling on the stairs behind us, and turn around just in time to see a very-well-fed mouse skitter down the wall and into a crevice. Despite being startled by the mouse, I am reminded of a favorite song from my own younger days: (also in Dutch)

X:73                          % number
T:A Mouse lived in a windmill
M:3/4
O:http://www.mudcat.org/thread.CFM?threadID=10434 Q:1/4=160 P:ABABABA K:G P:A VERSE ^A6 |"G" B2 d2 DD |"C" E2 G2 G2 |"F" A2c2C2 |"Bb" D4 D2 |"Eb" G2^A2^A,^A, | w:A mouse lived in a wind-mill in old Am-ster-dam, A wind-mill with a "Ab" C2 ^D2 ^D2 |"D" D2 F2 A2 |"G" G2 B3 ^A |B2 d2 D2 |"C" E2 G2 G2 |"F" A c3 C2 | w:mouse in and he was-n't grous-in'. He sang eve-ry morn-ing, "How luc-ky I "Bb" D6 |"Eb" G2 ^A2 ^A,^A, |"Ab" C2 ^D2 ^D2 |"D" D2 F2 A2| "G" G6 || w:am, Liv-ing in a wind-mill in old Am-ster-dam!" P:B CHORUS G6 |-G2 B2 d2| "C" e6 | c6 |"G" d2 B2 G2 | D6 |"D" c2 A2 F2 | D4 e2 |"G" d5 ^c | w:I_ saw a mouse! Where? There on the stair! Where on the stair? Right there! A d^c d2 ^d2 |"C" e6 | c6 |"G" d2 B2 G2 | D2 e2 d2 |"A" ^c2 ^cA ^c2 |"D" c2 A2 F2 | w:lit-tle mouse with clogs on. Well I de-clare! Go-ing clip-clip-pe-ty-clop on the "G" G2 DEGB | A2 G2 A2 | G6 |] w:stair! * * * * * * Oh yeah! W: W:This mouse, he got lonesome, he took him a wife W:A windmill with mice in, it’s hardly surprisin’ W:She sang every morning “How lucky I am W:Living in a windmill in old Amsterdam” W: W:(Chorus) W: W:First they had triplets and then they had quins W:A windmill with quins in, triplets and twins in W:They sang every morning “How lucky we are W:Living in a windmill in Amsterdam – ya” W: W:(Chorus) W: W:The daughters got married and so did the sons W:The windmill had christenings when no one was listening W:They all sang in chorus “How lucky we am W:Living in a windmill in old Amsterdam” W: W:(Chorus) W: W:A mouse lived in a windmill, so snug and so nice W:There’s nobody there now but a whole load of mice W: W:EEN MUIS IN EEN MOLEN IN MOOI AMSTERDAM W: W:Er was eens een muisje in mooi Amsterdam W:Dat zat in een molen heel stiekem verscholen W:Hij zong elke morgen: 'Wat is het toch fijn W:Een muis in een molen in Mokum te zijn' W: W:REFREIN: Ik zag een muis. Waar? W:Daar op de trap. Waar op de trap? W:Nou, daar! W:Een kleine muis op klompjes W:Nee, 't is geen grap W:'t Ging van klipklipperdieklap op de trap W:Oh ja! W: W:Het muisje was eenzaam en zocht naar een vrouw W:En 'Piep' zei de muis in het voorhuis, 'ik trouw' W:Dus zongen ze samen 'Wat is het toch fijn W:Een muis in een molen in Mokum te zijn'. REFREIN W: W:Ma Muis kreeg een vijfling, en allen gezond W:Dus aten de muisjes beschuitjes met muisjes W:En iedereen zong toen 'Wat is het toch fijn W:Een muis in een molen in Mokum te zijn'. REFREIN W: W:De muizenfamilie werd vreselijk groot W:De molenaar vluchtte, hij was als de dood W:Voor de muizen die zongen ' Wat is het toch fijn W:Een muis in een molen in Mokum te zijn. REFREIN W: W:De muizen die hebben het fijn naar hun zin W:De molen staat leeg want geen mens durft er in... W:Ieeeee! 

To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit].

Of course, by the time we are on the ground outside the mill once more, two of the mill cats are snoozing in the sun. Blissfully ignorant of the juicy meal they might have had.