English

Noun

Miller of Dee ‎(plural Millers of Dee)

1. (idiomatic) Someone who lives independently and unattached to others, especially for selfish reasons.
   • Samuel Warren (1852) The Experiences of a Barrister, page 209: “Mr. Wallace, although fortified with a letter bearing the mitred seal of the Bishop the diocese, feels that he is about to come in contact with a great power; an awful something that is not to be trifled with; one of the noblest institutions of our land, who is a very Miller of Dee, and accountable to nobody.”
   • John Galsworthy (1920) Tatterdemalion, ISBN 1406850519, page 82: “He was a regular "Miller of Dee," caring for nobody; and yet he was likeable, that humorous old stoic, who suffered from gall-stone, and bore horrible bouts of pain like a hero.”
   • Claire Rayner (1992) The Strand, ISBN 070892669X, page 72: “"None at all? No parents, no wives, no children of your own?" "Not one, thank God. Miller of Dee, that's me."”