A rich intangible heritage surrounding the mills amassed throughout Galicia. Though were places where one went to grind grain, the dead hours when the mill was grinding were filled by dances, songs were sung, legends or scary stories were told… Many times the milling was done at night and this circumstance was used for flirting, courtship, and also for jokes.
One of the richest manifestations are the cantigas. The theme of these songs varies, but flirting is usually one of the favorite themes. Double meanings and irony always abound in these works.
Due to the fact that fulling mills are not as common, their appearance in the folklore is less pronounced. The only cantiga mentioned in the Cancioneiro Popular Gallego [Galician folksong book] of the Pedro Barrié de la Maza Foundation (1984) is the following:
One night they caught me
in the mill of Batan
one night they caught me
but another it shall not go on.
However, there are countless cantigas regarding the mills throughout Galicia. Here are a few from A Costa da Morte and the territory closest to Mosquetín:
The priest went to the Mill
and fell from the bridge below
Get the priest, girl,
or else downstream he goes!
One night in the mill,
One night is nothing.
Four whole weeks
Now that’s a stirring something!
The song of the muleteer
is a very gentle air,,
sung to him by the girls
going to the mill.
You went around bragging
while grinding at the mills:
that you were going to marry me;
well, I’d rather my body killed.
Cantigas collected from: Pablo Díaz Carro, Olga Kirk Martínez (2012): Cancioneiro de Cabana de Bergantiños.
