This song is often called the "Miller of Dee".
There Was a Jolly Miller Once
Nursery Song
There was a jolly miller once
Lived on the river Dee;
He worked and sang from morn till night,
No lark more blithe than he.
And this the burden of his song
For ever used to be,
"I care for nobody, no, not I,
And nobody cares for me."*
Notes
*Some versions have this as "I care for nobody, no, not I,
If nobody cares for me."
Another version from The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897), goes:
THERE was a jolly miller
Lived on the river Dee:
He worked and sung from morn till night,
No lark so blithe as he;
And this the burden of his song
For ever used to be-
I jump mejerrime jee!
I care for nobody - no! not I,
Since nobody cares for me.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
The illustration, sheet music and tune come from The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane (1877).
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