Yorkshire Dialect Poems Part 23

I see t' mean an' t' mean sees me, G.o.d bless t' sailors oot on t' sea.

New mean, new mean, I hail thee, This neet my true love for to see.

Not iv his best or worst array, Bud iv his apparel for ivery day.

That I to-morrow may him ken Frev amang all other men.

Eevein' red an' mornin' gray: Certain signs o' a bonnie day.

Evenin' gray an' mornin' red Will send t' shepherd weet to bed.

Souther, wind, souther!(1) An' blaw my father heame to my moother.(2)

1. Veer to the south.

2. This is the lilt of the children of the east-coast fishermen when the boats are at sea.

Friday Unlucky

Dean't o' Friday buy your ring, O' Friday dean't put t' spurrins(1) in; Dean't wed o' Friday. Think on o' this, Nowther blue nor green mun match her driss.

1. Banns

An Omen

Blest is t' bride at t' sun s.h.i.+nes on, An' blest is t' deead at t' rain rains on.

A Charm

Tak twea at's red an' yan at's blake,(1) O' poison berries three, Three fresh-cull'd blooms o' devil's glut,(2) An' a sprig o' rosemary.

Tak henbane, bullace, b.u.mmlekite,(3) An' t' fluff frev a deead bulrush, Naan berries shak frae t' rowan-tree, An' naan frae t' botterey-bush.(4)

1. Yellow. 2. Bindweed. 3. Blackberries. 4. Elder Tree

A gift(1) o' my finger Is seer to linger; A gift o' my thumb Is seer to coom.

1. White speck.

Sunday clipt, Sunday shorn, Better t' bairn had niver been born.

A Monday's bairn 'll grow up fair, A Tuesday's yan i' grace thruf prayer; A Wednesday's bairn has monny a pain, A Tho'sday's bairn wean't baade at heame.

A Friday's bairn is good an' sweet, A Settherday's warks frae morn to neet.

Bud a Sunday's bairn thruf leyfe is blist,.

An' seer i' t' end wi' t' saints to rist.

A cobweb i' t' kitchen, An' feat-marks on t' step, Finnd nea wood i' t' yune(1) An' nea coals i' t' skep.(2)

1. Oven. 2. Scuttle.

Snaw, snaw, coom faster, White as allyblaster, Poor owd women, pickin' geese, Sendin' t' feathers daan to Leeds.

Julius Caesar made a law, Augustus Caesar sign'd it, That ivery one that made a sneeze Should run away an' find it.

A weddin', a woo, a clog an' a shoe, A pot-ful o' porridge, away they go!

Chimley-sweeper, blackymoor, Set o' t' top o' t' chapel door.