always...recast the sentence for clarity said TEd R, umpteen posts above in flat mode. Hear, hear.

Not to digress or anything, but somehow the original question brings to mind the futility of trying to understand the meaning of "the man who owned the lumbermill's daughter". (Probably it should have been the steel mill, because it sure needs re-casting.)

It's an ambiguously written sentence, and it sounds wrong either way, and we oughtn't be arguing about which wrong way is the correct one! (Now did I mean the birthday sentence or the one I just quoted in blue...)