The Mill and the Miller

Windmills held a very important place in village life. They were often constructed on an elevated site. Some mills occupied the top of small hills and others stood on man-made mounds. The purpose of this was to elevate the mill above any windblocks, and because the air currents are stronger 20-40 feet above the ground level.

In the late 1500's the concept of Zwangsmühlen (Zwangs = compulsion) was introduced. This meant that the local inhabitants of the villages, which belonged to the adelige Guts, were "obligated and liable without exception" to have their grain milled at a specific mill which was owned by the noble. For some farmers this meant travelling long distances. In the beginning the estate owners often employed a wage earning miller. This practice was abolished in 1853 in Schlesvig.

In 1703 Erbpacht contracts were introduced. Erbpacht contracts were hereditary leases on the mill. Erbpacht contracts gave the miller the exclusive right to operate the mill. These leases could be passed on from father to son, and also, with the nobles approval, be sold to another miller. The requirements of these contracts varied. In some cases the miller was required to pay a deposit; an annual fee; or periodic fees. Besides giving the miller, and his heirs, the right to operate the mill into perpetuity, the Erbpachts also included an amount of farm land, a dwelling, farm buildings, and water rights. One particular contract also included the right to harvest peat from a bog, in a carefully regulated and specified manner. Often, the miller was held responsible for the upkeep of the mill, stables, buildings and fences at his own expense. The fields included in the lease had to be tilled according to the orders of the noble and the work had to be performed by laborers from the estate. Foreigners could be employed only with the consent of the authorities. If the mill or associated properties suffered from plagues or war, the miller was held liable. In the event that the mill building was destroyed because of fire or as a result of a storm, the noble would assist the miller in re-building.

An amount of grain brought to the mill was withheld by the miller. This grain was kept in a special chest, or a barrel and was called the "matte." Part of the matte belonged to the owner of the estate, and part belonged to the miller, who kept it as payment for grinding. Often miller's would use this withheld grain to feed cattle and pigs. In some instances, the amount withheld equaled 1/16 of a ton (125 pounds).

Millers:

For centuries millers wore white clothing. The millers did not have a means of cleaning grains until the end of the 1700's. If the miller had a clean appearance, perhaps his product was the same way, i.e. free from dirt and contamination. During the 1100's, bakers adopted the custom of the millers and wore only white clothing for the same reasons of appearance.

A miller could not wear loose fitting clothing since it could get caught in the machinery. The miller would either keep his shirt sleeves buttoned or tightly rolled up and never hanging loosely. His waist coat would be buttoned and closed. The miller also kept the top buttons of his shirt closed. Pieces of grain that get into clothing are uncomfortable and itchy during warm weather. To keep even smaller particles out, the miller wore a neckerchief tied around his shirt collar. The miller also wore a white, flat topped, brimless cap to keep the dust, flour and grain particles out of his hair. Brims presented problems because they caught cobwebs, grease, flour and grain particles, and could be easily knocked about in the close quarters of beams and machinery. In medieval drawings millers were shown wearing a knitted cap with a floppy top hanging to one side. Millers tended to wear beards because mills were cold places to work, and the beard protected their faces against stone chips as they were dressing (sharpening) the millstones.

The miller often wore an apron. Sometimes a half apron tied around the waist, but generally a full apron that would have a bib covering the chest. The miller could quickly take it off to attend to the machinery or greet an important customer. The aprons were made of the same canvas or cotton duck that the flour sacks were made of. Often these were made by the miller's wife. Particles from the milling process often gave the flooring in the mill a very smooth and polished surface, so the millers shoes had to have soles designed to keep him from slipping.

Working in a mill was inheritantly a very dusty job. The dust from the milling process would cover their clothing and exposed skin. Millers, and the workers in mills, often developed lung ailments from constantly breathing the dust produced from grinding the grain.

Individuals who wanted to become millers had to first complete an apprentice program under the direction of a miller. During this phase they were known as Zimmergeselles, or apprentice carpenters. Carpentry skills were very important and necessary in order to keep the mill running properly and to make needed repairs. Additionally, they learned how to operate the machinery in the mill and performed the routine tasks of cleaning the mill and machinery, sacking milled products etc.

Much secrecy and superstition surrounded mills and millers. Millers endeavored to keep the process of milling the grain a secret. People not directly associated with the mill and it's operation were almost never allowed to see the millstones exposed from their casing. Individuals who sharpened the stones often kept this process secret and held beliefs that their own techniques and variations were best.

Similarly, millstones themselves were believed to possess evil powers. Before the invention of cranes in the 1700's, the top runnerstone had to be lifted and turned over by means of prybars and wedges, in order for its surface to be sharpened. This was a very dangerous procedure, and it was not uncommon for the stone to break away and plunge through the floors below. Consequently, there were many injuries and deaths. If this happened, the stone had to be immeaditely removed from the mill. It was believed that once it hurt or killed someone, it would be inclined to do it again. These stones became grave markers for the people they killed; used in stone construction projects such as bridge abutments and as doorsteps. The theory behind their use as doorsteps was simple. When someone stepped on it they carried the evil away with them.

Another belief was held that grain and flour must never come into contact with metal. Metal was believed to taint the taste of flour, and only wooden items, such as shovels and scoops, were used in the production of flour. Unknown to early millers was the very real danger associated with metal objects in a mill. Using metal tools inside a mill could create very dangerous conditions. If a metal tool collided with another metal object and produced a spark, the resulting explosion from the ignition of the flour dust would engulf the interior of the mill in flames. Until the 1800's, when the true nature of these explosions was understood, it was believed that evil spirits were responsible for the catastrophes.

Another danger in operating a mill was 'tramp iron.' This referred to metal objects mixed in with the grain, such as a coin, nail, wire, or staple. If a large enough piece of metal got between the two stones, it could cause the upper runnerstone to jump off the spindle. A millstone weighing several hundred pounds, and turning 125 revolutions per minute, could cause a tremendous amount of damage once it got free of the spindle. A smaller piece of metal could be forcibly exited from between the stones and create a shower of sparks on its way out. Not only did this do great damage to the surfaces of the stones, but it produced the danger of igniting the dust particles. A method of placing magnets inside the grain chutes developed to catch these metal pieces before they reached the stones.

Windmills in particular were in great danger from lightning strikes which set their thatched roofs on fire and often burned them to the ground, and from strong winds which could topple them.

Sophie Knab, in an internet article "The Miller" (© 1998 by the Polish American Journal) wrote:

"The miller was one of the most important figures in the country village. This was another occupation that played a vital role in the overall day-to-day life of the inhabitants of the village.

In the 17th and 18th century the village was witness to numerous class distinctions and struggles. An individual's standing often depended on their heritage, the level of their wealth and/or education. The miller was one individual who was generally differentiated from the rest of the village population by virtue of having all three of these characteristics. There did exist, however, a hierarchy among the millers themselves. For instance, a miller's property could consist of a water or wind mill along with hundreds of acres of property. There were those millers who owned a water-powered flour mill that also had the capabilities of fulling wool and pressing oil. They also owned an enormous pond filled with fish and had numerous fields under cultivation. Some millers had smaller land holdings amounting to 16 or 32 acres. Others had land no bigger than a postage stamp next to their home and some, much lower on the pecking order, did not own their own mill but rented it from someone else.

The profession was often passed down from father to son or son-in-law. There existed some outstanding milling dynasties. These were families who had received permission to establish a mill hundreds of years ago on permission of a king. In such cases the miller was understandably proud of his heritage and tended to lord it over the rest of the community. This holier-than-thou attitude did not win him too many friends. Add to that the general belief that the miller short changed people when they weren't looking and literally took the bread from the mouths of children and you had a situation that was full of conflict.

Many legends and stories began to circulate of the miller who did penance in the after-life for cheating people, of millstones turning at night by themselves, of the miller being in league with the devil, the water spirits in the pond or the demons in the wind. The miller is portrayed as a leacher with all kinds of carrying on at the mill at night.

The miller's wife did not escape from the village wrath either. Because many of the millers were better off, their wives ate better and dressed better than the rest of the women in the community. Many proverbs focused on the miller's wife, i.e., fat as a miller's wife or dressed up like a miller's wife.

The miller's son or daughter (who stood to inherit) were considered a good marriage catch but it didn't protect them from being laughed at. There is the tale of three young swains who sought the hand of a lovely local girl. Late one night the blacksmith's son knocked on her window. On seeing a blackened face, the young girl made the sign of the cross, thinking he was the devil. When the miller's son, all covered in white from flour came knocking on her window, she almost fainted thinking it was a ghost. When a peasant's son knocked on the window, she opened it wide and let him in.

The miller may have been suspected of thievery and his wife may have been the subject of jokes and fun but the fact remained that in village life the miller was an important authority figure.

The miller was often one of the most well-to-do individuals in the community and was also one of the brightest. Becoming a miller required a fair amount of knowledge and experience. Learning the in's and out's of the job demanded quite a few years of apprenticeship. Very often, trade secrets were passed down from father to son or son-in-law with marriages arranged within their own professional circle so that daughters of millers married the son of another miller, etc. Many would-be millers spent years with a master as apprentices but also invested in a great deal of time at other mills, learning as many things as possible.

In those days, a good miller had to be proficient at quite a number of skills besides milling grain. He had to be able to read and write and do simple mathematics such as adding and subtracting. The miller frequently subscribed to newspapers and bought books and was subsequently at the center of information about politics and the world at large. The villagers, hungry for any news outside the village, stopped by to see the miller for news. Because he could read and write they often sought his assistance in solving problems and legal difficulties. Besides the parish priest, the church organist there were few individuals to whom the villagers could turn to for reading letters or interpreting some complicated matter. In some villages, the miller was often the elected mayor with the overall responsibility of overseeing the good of the village.

The miller had to have a good working knowledge of carpentry for erecting a mill house as well as repairing fairly complicated parts and structures of the grinding gears and machinery which, in the early years, were constructed chiefly of wood.

Besides playing a useful role in grinding grain for the villagers, the miller often acted as advisor to the local folk and sometimes was actually elected the town major. The role was so important that it became the subject of numerous, proverbs, folk songs and folk legends."

The Mill Language:

Because of the importance of the mill in village life it became a center for discussing the news of the day and events in the village. Because the mill often stood on an elevated site, it was visible from great distances. By positioning the sails of the mill in specific ways, the millers could announce or commemorate certain events:

Lange Arbeitspause - This position signified that the mill was taking a long pause from work and not milling grain or accepting customers. This could have meant that the mill was in need of repair, or that it was having it's stones sharpened.

Kurze Arbeitspause - This position meant that the mill was taking a short break from working.

Freudenschere - This position was used to signify that a joyful event that had taken place in the village such as a birth, a wedding, birthday or other joyous event.

Trauerschere - This position was used to signify that a sad event had occurred in the village, such as a death or a funeral. Often when a funeral procession was enroute to the cemetery the cap of the mill was rotated to follow the direction of the procession and be stopped in a position which faced the churchyard.

Occasionally a miller might also place a flag on the cap of the mill or on the sail. The miller could also use the sails to communicate other messages. There were positions which indicated that the miller requested a carpenter or millwright to come to the mill for repairs.

The Millwright:

In early times the millwright was responsible for the construction of the mill building, it's design and planning from start to finish and for fabricating the machinery inside the mill. There was no ready made machinery or standardized parts available. Except for a few metal parts that the blacksmith might forge, everything had to be made from wood and stone.

Later, millwrights began to specialize in being the ones responsible for designing, building, assembling/installing and repairing/adjusting the machinery inside the mills. However they traditionally did not dress the millstones or have knowledge about the process of grinding grain.

To become a millwright, one had to serve as an apprentice under a master. During this apprenticeship they became skilled using the necessary tools and materials; learned computation and mathematical skills for calculating the velocities, strength, and power of the mill equipment.

Millwrights safeguarded their knowledge and kept the information about their trade secret. They were once considered very powerful people and it was believed that their expectorant would kill a toad. No one dared ask the millwright about his work, or about why he was doing what he was doing, and he often went about it in silence. Few people were allowed to watch him work.

Building a mill took weeks or even months of planning and labor. The millwright found a good site and the foundation walls were erected. Logs were cut and fashioned into beams, boards, and shingles. If the mill was to be operated by water, pillars were constructed to support the water wheel shaft; a white oak tree was used for the water wheel shaft. Only the millwright had the knowledge of what woods were best suited for the various mill parts. The water wheel, gears, and bearings were usually made of wood, although sometimes stone was used for bearings. Stones bearings were lubricated with either water or tallow, while wooden bearings were lubricated with tallow. A dam, mill race and/or a sluice box was constructed.

As technology improved with the use of iron and steel components and the introduction of other energy sources, the job of millwrights became more and more specialized into that of a civil engineer.

 

Printed Sources:

The Experienced Millwright, by Andrew Gray, Archibald Constable, Edinburgh, 1804.

The Practical American Millwright and Miller, by David Craik, H. C. Baird, Philadelphia, 1870.

The Mill, by William Fox, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1976.

The Mill's Life: From the Domesday Book to the Millennium, Charles Llewellyn, Robson Books, New York, 1998.

Flour Milling, by Joseph Lockwood, 1945.

Bornstein: Chronik eines Dorfes im Dänischen Wohld, by Kurt Möller, published by the village of Neudorf-Bornstein, Germany. Page 57-61.

Chronik of Neuwittenbek, containing the article "Die Warleberger Mühle", 2002, a yet published work by Marianne Wolf

The Miller, by Sophie Knab, (© 1998), published by the Polish American Journal (an internet article)

(Texts courtesy Matthias Roese and Marianne Wolf. Translation of texts courtesy David Strelan)

 

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