I've been looking into the possible origins of this song's story and there is speculation that the main theme, one sister killing another because of jealousy and/or for some personal gain, may go back to pagan Ireland around the 1st century AD with the pagan Irish warrior queen Meave of Connaught (Medb of Cruachan). This is at odds with some that believe the source was from Scotland. We can be certain that there were many versions of this ballad by 1655 through out northern Europe that may have been influenced by a similar Celt myth of a powerful godlike queen.
https://symbolsage.com/medb-queen-of-ireland/
Many of the earlier versions have the sisters as princesses with their parents the king and queen and their suitor a knight.
https://storyarchaeology.com/the-two-sis...ld-ballad/
Once we get to the "Wind and Rain" versions that survived into Canada and the States, we have a miller, his son, a wandering "fiddler" and the two sisters involved. I suspect that some true story was picked up by a medieval European traveling bard and became a popular folk song due to it's similarity with the ancient pagan stories. Some times the miller merely pulls the girl's body from the water, but he also doubles for the fiddler and even helps drown her after the sister gives him jewelry and coins. The miller, the river or brook and the dam seem important even though many of the songs have her getting pushed into the sea while watching for ships arriving back to port and her bones being washed by the tide water. One version has the miller part her out for all kinds of musical accessories including some eyeglasses to boot.
If I were to guess, I'd say that the narrative of this song as we have it today probably came about around the time Christianity took hold in Ireland, after around 300AD or so. If we go with the Ireland first theory, then Scandinavia may have picked up on this after the Vikings were an influence there in early 800AD. The fiddle began as a medieval European bowed, stringed musical instrument. The medieval fiddle emerged around the 10th-century in Europe (900AD) this would have been half way through the Viking era in Ireland making this song possibly as old 1,100 years or a little more.
A link to the lyrics of the first written record of these songs published in 1656.
https://www.contemplator.com/child/variant10.html#A
Quote:In one of Medb’s many possible histories, she was known as Medb of Cruachan. In this tale, her first husband was Conchobar Mac Nessa, king of the Ulaid. Her father Eochiad Fedlimid had given her to Conchobar as the prize for killing his father, Fachach Fatnach, former king of Tara. She went on to bear him one son, Glaisne.
However, she did not love Conchobar, and after she left him, they became lifelong enemies. Eochaid then offered Conchobar to Medb’s sister Eithene, to replace his other daughter who had abandoned him. Eithene also fell pregnant, but before she was able to give birth, she was assassinated by Medb. Miraculously, the child survived as it was delivered prematurely through a cesarean birth as Eithene lay dying.
https://symbolsage.com/medb-queen-of-ireland/
Many of the earlier versions have the sisters as princesses with their parents the king and queen and their suitor a knight.
Quote:One of the most persistent parts of the tale, at least locally, is Medb’s act of sororcide regarding Ethne. In an act of userpation, Medb drowns her sister in the river Inny, (named for Ethne). I have wondered if this part of the story might have survived owing to its similarity to the popular ballad, ‘The Twa (Two) Sisters’.
‘Twa Sister’s’ first appears on a broadside in 1656 as ‘The Miller and the King’s Daughter’. Variants and alternate titles include: ‘The Cruel Sister’, ‘The Bonnie Milldams of Binnorie’, ‘The Bonny Bows o’ London’, ‘Binnorie’. ‘Sister, Dear Sister’ , ‘The Wind and the Rain’ among others. Its popularity has transferred the setting to a wide variety of river side locations, from Edinburgh to London, from the Thames to the Tweed.
https://storyarchaeology.com/the-two-sis...ld-ballad/
Once we get to the "Wind and Rain" versions that survived into Canada and the States, we have a miller, his son, a wandering "fiddler" and the two sisters involved. I suspect that some true story was picked up by a medieval European traveling bard and became a popular folk song due to it's similarity with the ancient pagan stories. Some times the miller merely pulls the girl's body from the water, but he also doubles for the fiddler and even helps drown her after the sister gives him jewelry and coins. The miller, the river or brook and the dam seem important even though many of the songs have her getting pushed into the sea while watching for ships arriving back to port and her bones being washed by the tide water. One version has the miller part her out for all kinds of musical accessories including some eyeglasses to boot.
If I were to guess, I'd say that the narrative of this song as we have it today probably came about around the time Christianity took hold in Ireland, after around 300AD or so. If we go with the Ireland first theory, then Scandinavia may have picked up on this after the Vikings were an influence there in early 800AD. The fiddle began as a medieval European bowed, stringed musical instrument. The medieval fiddle emerged around the 10th-century in Europe (900AD) this would have been half way through the Viking era in Ireland making this song possibly as old 1,100 years or a little more.
A link to the lyrics of the first written record of these songs published in 1656.
https://www.contemplator.com/child/variant10.html#A
A trail goes two ways and looks different in each direction - There is no such thing as a timid woodland creature - Whatever does not kill you leaves you a survivor - Jesus is NOT a bad word - MSB