Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/469

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JOHN BLOOM IN LON’ON.
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JOHN BLOOM IN LON’ON.

(All true.)

John Bloom he wer a jolly soul,
 A grinder o’ the best o’ meal,
Bezide a river that did roll,
 Vrom week to week, to push his wheel.
His flour wer all a-meäde o’ wheat;
An’ fit for bread that vo’k mid eat;
Vor he would starve avore he’d cheat.
“ ’Tis pure,” woone woman cried;
“Aye, sure,” woone mwore replied;
“You’ll vind it nice. Buy woonce, buy twice,”
Cried worthy Bloom the miller.

Athirt the chest he wer so wide
 As two or dree ov me or you.
An’ wider still vrom zide to zide,
 An’ I do think still thicker drough.
Vall down, he coulden, he did lie
When he wer up on-zide so high
As up on-end or perty nigh.
“Meäke room,” woone naïghbour cried;
“ ’Tis Bloom,” woone mwore replied;
“Good morn t’ye all, bwoth girt an’ small,”
Cried worthy Bloom the miller.

Noo stings o’ conscience ever broke
 His rest, a-twitèn o’n wi’ wrong,
Zoo he did sleep till mornèn broke,
 An’ birds did call en wi’ their zong.
But he did love a harmless joke,
An’ love his evenèn whiff o’ smoke,
A-zittèn in his cheäir o’ woak.