Yorkshire Dialect Poems Part 2

5. Handful. 6. Draff. 7. Sows and boars. 8. Oxen. 9. Stalls.

10. Gore. 11. Unless. 12. Pole. 13. Oven-fork.

14. Handle of oven-mop. 15. Quickly. 16. Bullock. 17. Gored.

18. Bend of hind.leg. 19. Smithy. 20. Snorts. 21. Swells and stings.

22. Flank. 23. Windpipe. 24. Cough. 25. Bellows. 26. Horse-collars.

27. Bracken. 28. Heaps. 29. Belly-band. 30. Ox. 31. Recover.

32. Alas! 33. Wonder. 34. Heifers. 35. Among. 36. Shade.

37. Barn-doors. 38. Near at hand. 39. Halter-full. 40. Soon.

41. Perhaps sooner. 42. Perilous state. 43. Flap-end. 44. Mallet.

45. Hand-mill. 46. Brains. 47. Eaves. 48. Stairs. 49. Oven-top.

50. Bucket. 51. Porridge-stick. 52. Stick.

53. Iron chains for pot-hooks. 54. Chimney cross-beam. 55. Those.

56. Away. 57. Bucket. 58. Pour. 59. Next harvest-supper.

60. Merry feast. 61. Tub. 62. Maggot-hearted. 63. Weep.

An Honest Yorks.h.i.+reman

Henry Carey (Died 1748)

I is i' truth a c.o.o.ntry youth, Nean used to Lunnon fas.h.i.+ons; Yet vartue guides, an' still presides Ower all my steps an' pa.s.sions.

Nea coortly leer, bud all sincere, Nea bribe shall iver blinnd me ; If thoo can like a Yorks.h.i.+re tike, A rogue thoo'll niver finnd me.

Thof envy's tongue, so slimly hung, Would lee aboot oor c.o.o.nty, Nea men o' t' earth boast greater worth, Or mair extend their boonty.

Oor northern breeze wi' us agrees, An' does for wark weel fit us ; I' public cares, an' love affairs, Wi' honour We acquit us.

Sea great a maand(1) is ne'er confaand(2) 'Tiv onny s.h.i.+re or nation, They gie un meast praise whea weel displays A larned eddication; Whaal rancour rolls i' laatle souls, By shallow views dissarnin', They're n.o.bbut wise at awlus prize Good manners, sense, an' larnin'.

1. Mind 2. Confined

From "Snaith Marsh" (1754)

Anonymous

This was written at the time of the Enclosure Acts which robbed the peasent farmer of his rights to use Commons.

Alas! will Roger e'er his sleep forgo, Afore larks sing, or early c.o.c.ks 'gin Crow, As I've for thee, ungrateful maiden, done, To help thee milking, e'er day wark begun?

And when thy well-stripp'd kye(1) would yield no more, Still on my head the reeking kit(2) I bore.

And, Oh! bethink thee, then, what lovesome talk We've held together, ganging down the balk, Maund'ring(3) at time which would na for us stay, But now, I ween, maes(4) no such hast away.

Yet, O! return eftsoon and ease my woe, And to some distant parish let us go, And there again them leetsome days restore, Where, una.s.sail'd by meety(5) folk in power, Our cattle yet may feed, tho' Snaith Marsh be no more.

But wae is me! I wot I fand(6) am grown, Forgetting Susan is already gone, And Roger aims e'er Lady Day to wed; The banns last Sunday in the church were bid.

But let me, let me first i' t' churchyard lig, For soon I there must gang, my grief's so big.

All others in their loss some comfort find; Though Ned's like me reduc'd, yet Jenny's kind, And though his fleece no more our parson taks, And roast goose, dainty food, our table lacks, Yet he, for t.i.thes ill paid, gets better land, While I am ev'ry o' t' losing hand.

My adlings wared,(7) and yet my rent to pay, My geese, like Susan's faith, flown far away; My cattle, like their master, lank and poor, My heart with hopeless love to pieces tore, And all these sorrows came syne(8) Snaith Marsh was no more

1. Well-milked kine (cattle) 2. Pail 3. Finding Fault 4. Makes 5. Mighty 6. Fond, Foolish 7. Earnings spent 8. Since

When at Hame wi' Dad

Anonymous

When at hame wi' dad, We niver had nae fun, sir, Which meade me sae mad, I swore away I'd run, sir.

I pack'd up clease(1) sae smart, Ribbed stockings, weastcoats pretty; Wi' money an' leet heart, Tripp'd off to Lunnon city, Fal de ral de ra.

When I did git there I geap'd about quite silly, At all the shows to stare I' a spot call'd Piccadilly.

Lord! sike charmin' seights: Bods(2) i' cages thrive, sir', Coaches, fiddles, feights, An' crocodiles alive, sir, Fal de ral de ra.

Then I did gan to see The gentry in Hyde Park, sir, When a la.s.s push'd readely(1) by, To whom I did remark, sir: "Tho' your feace be e'en sae fair, I've seen a bear mair civil."

Then, the laatle clease they wear!

G.o.d! Lunnon is the divil, Fal de ral de ra.

To t' play-house then I goes, Whar I seed merry feaces, An' i' the lower rows Were sarvants keepin' pleaces.

The players I saw sean, They managed things quite funny; By gock! they'd honey-mean Afore they'd matrimony.

Fal de ral de ra.

Now havin' seen all I could An' pa.s.s'd away my time, sir, If you think fit an' good, I'll e'en give up my rhyme, sir.

An', sud my ditty please, The poppies in this garden To me would be heart's-ease; If not, I axe your pardon.

Fal de ral de ra.

1. Clothes 2. Birds 3. Rudely

I'm Yorks.h.i.+re too

Anonymous

From A Garland of New Songs, published by W. Appleton, Darlington, 1811.

By t' side of a brig, that stands over a brook, I was sent betimes to school; I went wi' the stream, as I studied my book, An' was thought to be no small fool.

I never yet bought a pig in a poke, For, to give awd Nick his due, Tho' oft I've dealt wi' Yorks.h.i.+re folk, Yet I was Yorks.h.i.+re too.

I was pretty well lik'd by each village maid, At races, wake or fair, For my father had addled a vast(1) in trade, And I were his son and heir.

And seeing that I didn't want for bra.s.s, Poor girls came first to woo, But tho' I delight in a Yorkshrre la.s.s, Yet I was Yorks.h.i.+re too!

To Lunnon by father I was sent, Genteeler manners to see; But fas.h.i.+on's so dear, I came back as I went, And so they made nothing o' me My kind relations would soon have found out What was best wi' my money to do: Says I, "My dear cousins, I thank ye for nowt, But I'm not to be cozen'd by you!

For I'm Yorks.h.i.+re too."

1. Earned a lot.