Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/124

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POEMS OF RURAL LIFE.

An’ Fanny’s last young teen begun,
Poor maïd, wi’ thik day’s risèn zun,
An’ we all wish’d her many mwore
Long years wi’ happiness in store;
An’ as she went an’ stood avore
 The vier, by her father’s zide,
 Her mother dropp’d a tear o’ pride
  While music wer a-soundèn.

An’ then we did all kinds o’ tricks
Wi’ han’kerchiefs, an’ strings, an’ sticks:
An’ woone did try to overmatch
Another wi’ zome cunnèn catch,
While tothers slyly tried to hatch
 Zome geäme; but yet, by chap an’ maïd,
 The dancèn wer the mwost injaÿ’d,
  While music wer a-soundèn.

The briskest chap ov all the lot
Wer Tom, that danc’d hizzelf so hot,
He doff’d his cwoat an’ jump’d about,
Wi’ girt new shirt-sleeves all a-strout,
Among the maïdens screamèn out,
 A-thinkèn, wi’ his strides an’ stamps,
 He’d squot their veet wi’ his girt clamps,
  While music wer a-soundèn.

Then up jump’d uncle vrom his chair,
An’ pull’d out aunt to meäke a peäir;
An’ off he zet upon his tooe.
So light’s the best that beät a shoe,
Wi’ aunt a-crièn “Let me goo:”
 While all ov us did laugh so loud,
 We drown’d the tuèn o’ the croud,
  While music wer a-soundèn.

A-comèn out o’ passage, Nan,
Wi’ pipes an’ cider in her han’,