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قراءة كتاب Songs of the Ridings

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‏اللغة: English
Songs of the Ridings

Songs of the Ridings

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
الصفحة رقم: 9

class="c7">    But graws i' strength wi' lowpin ower yon force.

Then thou sud see the birds alang its banks--
    Grey heronsews, that coom to fish at dawn;
Dippers, that under t' watter play sike pranks,
    An' lang-nebbed curlews, swaimish(2) as a fawn.

Soomtimes I've seen young otters leave their holes,
    An' laik like kitlins ower the silver dew;
An' I've watched squirrels climmin' up the boles
    O' beech trees, lowpin' leet frae beugh to beugh.

Fowers! Why, thou'd fill thy skep,(3) lass, in an hour,
    Wi' gowlands, paigles, blobs,(4) an' sike-like things;
We've daffydills to deck a bridal bower,
    Pansies, wheer lady-cows(5) can dry their wings.

Young childer often bathe, when t'weather's fine,
    Up yonder, wheer t' owd miller's bigged his weir;
I like to see their lish,(6) nakt bodies shine,
    An' watch 'em dive i' t' watter widoot fear.

Ay, yon's our brig, bent like an archer's bow,
    It's t' meetin' place o' folk frae near an' far;
Young 'uns coom theer wi' lasses laughin' low,
    Owd 'uns to talk o' politics an' t' war.

It's daft when chaps that sit i' Parliament
    Weant tak advice frae lads that talk farm-twang;
If t' coontry goes to t' dogs, it's 'cause they've sent
    Ower mony city folk to mend what's wrang.

They've taen our day-tale men(7) to feight for t' land,
    Then tell us we mun keep our staggarths(8) full.
What's lasses, gauvies,(9) greybeards stark(10) i' t' hand,
    To strip wer kye, an' ploo, an' tew wi' t' shool?(11)

But theer, I'll nurse my threapin' while it rains,
    An' while my rheumatiz is bad to bide;
I mun step heamwards now, through t' yatts(12) an' lanes,
    Wheer t' owd lass waits for me by t' fireside.
 

1. Strangely 2 Timid 3 Basket
4. Kingcups, cowslips, globe-flowers. 5. Ladybirds
6 Smooth. 7. Day Labourers 8. Stock Yards
9. Simpletons 10. stiff 11. Shovel 12. Gates


Lord George

These verses were written soon after the Old Age Pensions Bill
came into operation.

I'd walk frae here to Skipton,
    Ten mile o' clarty(1) lanes,
If I might see him face to face
    An' thank him for his pains.
He's ta'en me out o' t' Bastile,(2)
    He's gi'en me life that's free:
Five shill'n a week for fuglin'(3) Death
    Is what Lord George gives me.

He gives me leet an' firin',
    An' flour to bak i' t' yoon.(4)
I've tea to mesh for ivery meal
    An' sup all t' afternoon.
I've nowt to do but thank him,
    An' mak' a cross wi' t' pen;
Five shillin' a week for nobbut that!
    Gow! he's the jewel o' men.

I niver mell on pol'tics,
    But I do love a lord;
He spends his savin's like a king,
    Wheer other fowks 'll hoard.
I know a vast o' widdies
    That's seen their seventieth year;
Lord George, he addles brass for all,
    Though lots on 't goes for beer.

If my owd man were livin',
    He'd say as I spak true;
He couldn't thole them yallow Rads,
    But awlus voted blue.
An' parson's wife, shoo telled me
    That we'll sooin go to t' poll;
I hope shoo's reight; I'll vote for George,
    Wi' all my heart an' soul.
 

I don't know wheer he springs frae,
    Happen it's down Leeds way;
But ivery neet an' mornin'
    For his lang life I pray.
He's ta'en me out o' t' Bastile,
    He's gi'en me life that's free:
Five shill'n a week for fuglin' Death
    Is what Lord George gives me.

1. Muddy. 2. Workhouse. 3. Cheating
4. Oven


Jenny Storm

Young Jenny, she walked ower t' ribbed sea-sand,
    (T' lairocks sing sae sweetly, O!)
Wheer she met a fisher-lad, net i' t' hand,
    As t' tide cam hoamin'(1) in.

"Jenny, thy farm is twee mile away;
    (T' wing-mouse flits sae featly, O!)
Say, what is thou latin'(2) at dusk 'o day,
    When t' tide cooms hoamin' in."

"I's latin' waif an' straif(3) by the feam,
    (O! esh an' yak are good for bield)
I's latin' timmer to big me a heam,
    As t' tide cooms hoamin' in."

"What for is thou latin' waif an' straif?
    (T' summer-gauze(4) floats ower hedge an' field)
What for is thou biggin' a heam an' a hafe,(5)
    When t' tide cooms hoamin' in?"

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