Yorkshire Dialect Poems (1673-1915) and traditional poems

The Miller's Thumb

     Miller, miller, mooter-poke,
     Teak a laid an' stale a stroke.(2)

     2. Took a load of corn and stole a half-bushel; mooter, or multure,
     is the toll of meal taken by the miller for grinding the corn:
     mooter-poke, or multure-pocket, is accordingly a nickname for a miller.

Down i' yon lum(1) we have a mill,
     If they send more grist we'll grind more still.
     With her broad arm an' mighty fist
     Shoo rams it into t' mooter-chist.(2)

     1. Wood.  2. The chest in which the toll of meal was kept.