'■'!'''!'i'\i:i!!t!>;%;';i.';-«V'i-'';t(|'"f;,' '-wvsKvi'.-i'.'iVi'' •■;''; •■ 5'-,Wi'A3;'-*'>'i',! '<: lis!:'-; >*•■>:?.**;•(!;'■ [/Jord9 ?0 cJ or/ t (8V CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE WORDSWORTH COLLECTION FOUNDED BY CYNTHIA MORGAN ST. JOHN THE GIFT OF VICTOR EMANUEL OF THE CLASS OF I919 THE Folk-Speech of Cumkrland AND SOME DISTRICTS ADJACENT; BEING SHORT STORIES AND RHYMES IN THE DIALECTS OF THE WEST BORDER COUNTIES. BY ALEXANDER CRAIG GIBSON, F.S.A. What hempen Homespuns have we swaggering here. A Midsuramer Night's Dream. Speech, manners, morals, all without disguise. The Excursion. FOURTH EDITION, LONDON: BEMROSE & SONS CARLISLE: G. & T. COWARD, THE WORD3WORTH PRESS. MDCCCXCI. iv\' TO WILLIAM DICKINSON, OF NORTH MOSSES AND THORNCROFT, F. L. S., Author of "A Glossary of Cumberland Words and Phrases," " Lamplugh Club," "A Prize Essay on the Agriculture of Cumberland," The Botany of Cumberland," &c., &c., &c., THIS VOLUxME IS INSCRIBED, IN CORDIAL RECOGNITION OF THE PRE-EMINENT INDUSTRY AND SKILL DISPLAYED IN HIS ELUCIDATIONS OF THE HOMELY SPEECH OF OUR NATIVE COUNTY, AND IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE UNFAILING SYMPATHY AND THE KINDLY HELP WITH WHICH HE HAS BRIGHTENED A FRIENDSHIP OF MANY YEARS. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. One or two of the Cumberland stories included in this volume, as well as some of the pieces in rhyme, have already been circulated very largely in newspapers, pamphlets, and collections. Their re-appearance, along with many hitherto unpublished additions, in this aggregated form, is due mainly to the popularity attained by them separately. Whether they may be as popular in this more pretentious guise as in their humbler, and perhaps, more appro- priate form, remains to be tried. I claim superiority over most of the earlier workers in the same philological ground in respect of the greater purity of my dialect. The Cumber- land speech as written herein is pure Cumbrian, as the speech of the Scottish pieces, introduced for variety's sake, is pure Scotch. Miss Blamire, Stagg, Anderson, Rayson, and others, have all written their dialect pieces, more or less, in the Scofo Cumhnsin which prevails along the southern side of the west Border. In other respects my inferiority to those deservedly popular writers is sufficiently evident. But, as expositions of the folk-speech of those parts of the county where, and where only, the unadulter- ated old Norse-rooted Cumbrian vernacular is spoken, I claim for these Tales and Rhymes the distinction of surpassing all similar productions, excepting only the dialect writings of my friend Mr. Dickinson, and perhaps the Borrotvdale Letter of Isaac Ritson, and the Gwordie and Will of Charles Graham. I should not omit to state however, that Mr. John Christian of London, and a writer who assumed the nom de plume of Jack Todd, have evinced in their contributions to the local press, a mastery over the dialect of Whitehaven and its vicinity which makes us wish that their pens had been more prolific. For the illustrations I have attempted of the speech of High Furness and its Westmorland border, I ask no such distinction. The dialect there, as in the adjacent parts of Cumberland, is vitiated by an intermixture of that of the County Palatine, of which Furness forms a portion ; and as VI, it is spoken, so, if written at all, should it be written. These appear here for the reason already assigned for the introduction of the Rhymes given in the dialect of Dumfriesshire. The work rests its claims to favourable consider- ation entirely on its value as a faithfully rendered contribution to the dialect literature of the country. No higher estimate is sought for it. The produc- tion of its various contents has been an occasional amusement indulged in during some of the intervals of leisure and repose afforded by pursuits of a more important, more engrossing, and it is hoped, a more useful character, with which, had it in any wise interfered, it had not been proceeded with. Its composition has been a relaxation, not a task; a divertisement, not an occupation ; and had its success when published been deemed incompatible with these conditions, it had not appeared. Bebington, December \Zth, \i CONTENTS Joe and the Geologist (Cumberland) . PAGE I T' Reets on't (Ibid.) . 6 Bobby Banks' Bodderment (Ibid.) . IS Wise Wiff (Ibid.) . 23 Lai Dinah Grayson (Ibid.) • 31 Jwohnny, git oot ! (Ibid.) . 34 The Runaway Wedding (Ibid.) • 36 Billy Watson' Lonning (Ibid.) . 39 Lone and Weary (Ibid.) . 42 T' Clean Ned o' Kes'ick (Ibid.) . 44 Ben Wells (Ibid.) . 48 Sannter, Bella (Ibid.) . 51 Branthet Neuk Boggle (Ibid.) • 54 Mary Ray and Me (Ibid.) . 63 viii. PAGE Tlie Eannasyde Cairns (High Furness) . 66 Betty Yevvdale (Ibid ) 71 The Skulls of Calgarth (Westmorland) . 76 Map'ment (High Furness) . 86 Oxenfell Dobby (Ibid.) • ^9 , Meenie Bell (Dumfriesshire) . 96 A Lockerbye Lycke (Old Scotch) • 99 The Farmers' Wives o' Annandale (Dumfriesshire) . 109 A Reminiscence of Corrie (Ibid.) . 112 Reminiscences of Lockerbie (Ibid.) 122 Yan o' t' Elect (Cumberland) . 129 Keatie Curbison's Cat (Ibid.) 134 Joseph Thompson's Thumb (Ibid.) . 137 Cursty Benn (Ibid.) 14s Tom Railton's White Spats (Ibid.) . 148 A Sneck Posset (Ibid.) 154 Remarks on the Cumberland Dialect . • 157 Glossary 163 JOE AND THE GEOLOGIST. A het foorneun, when we war oa' gaily thrang at beam, an oald gentleman mak' of a fellow com' in tul ooar foald an' said, whyte nateral, 'at he wantit somebody to ga wid him on t' fells. We oa' stopt an' teuk a gud leak at him afoor anybody spak. At last fadder said, middlin' sharp-like — (he ola's speaks that way when we're owte sa thrang, does fadder) — " We've summat else to deu here nor to ga rakin ower t'fells iv a fine day like this, wid neabody kens whoa." T' gentleman was a queerish like oald chap, wid a sharp leuk oot, grey hair and a smo' feace — drist i' black, wid a white neckcloth like a parson, an' a par of specks on t' top of a gay lang nwose at wasn't set varra fair atween t' e'en on him, sooa 'at when he leuk't ebbem at yan through his specks he rayder turn't his feace to t'ya side. He leuk't that way at fadder, gev a lal chearful bit of a laugh an' said, iv his oan mak' o' toke, 'at he dudn't want to hinder wark, but he wad give anybody 'at ken't t'fells weel, a matter o' five shillin' to ga wid him, an' carry two 2 JOE AND THE GEOLOGIST. lal bags. "Howay wid tha, Joe," sez fadder to me, "it's a croon mair nor iver thoo was wurth at beam !" I mead nba words aboot it, but gat me-sel' a gud lump of a stick, an' away we set, t' oald lang nwos't man an' me, ebbem up t' dekl. As we war' climrain' t'fell breist, he geh me two empty bags to carry, mead o' ledder. Thinks I to me-sel', "I's gan to eddle me five shillin' middlin' cannily." I niver thowte he wad finnd owte on t' fells to full his lal bags wid, but I was mistean ! He turn't oot to be a far lisher oald chap nor a body wad ha' thowte, to leuk at his gray hair -and his white hankecher an' his specks. He went lowpin owre wet spots an' gurt steans, an' scrafflm across craggs an' screes, tul yan wad ha' sworn he was summat akin tul a Herd wick tip. Efter a while he begon leukin' hard at oa't' steans an' craggs we com' at, an' than he teuk till breckan lumps off them wid a queer lal hammer he hed wid him, an' stuflin t' bits intil t' bags 'at he geh me to carry. He fairly cap't me noo. I dudn't ken what to mak o' sec a customer as t'is ! At last I cudn't help axin him what mead him cum sea far up on t'fell to lait bits o' steans when he may'd finnd sea many doon i't' deals ? He laugh't a gay bit, an' than went on knappin' away wid his lal hammer, an' said he was a jolly jist. Thinks I to me-sel, thou's a jolly jackass, but it maks nea matter to me if thou no'but pays me t' five shillin' thou promish't ma. JOE AND THE GEOLOGIST. 3 Varra weel, he keep't on at this feckless wark tul gaily leat at on i't' efter-neun, an' be that time o' day he'd pang't beath o't' ledder pvvokes as full as they wad hod wid bits o' stean. I've nit sea offen hed a harder darrak efter t' sheep, owther at clippin time or soavin time, as I hed followin' that oald grey heidit chap an' carryin' his ledder bags. But hooiver, we gat back tul oor hoose afoor neeght. Mudder gev t' oald jolly jist, as he co't his-sel', some breid an' milk, an' efter he'd tean that an' toak't a lal bit wid fadder aboot sheep farming an' sec like, he pait ma me five shillin' like a man, an' than tel't ma he wad gi' ma udder five shillin' if I wad bring his pwokes full o' steans doon to Skeal-hill be nine o'clock I't' mwornin'. He set off to woak to Skeal-hill just as it was growin' dark ; an' neist mwornin', as seun as I'd gitten me poddish, I teuk t' seam rwoad wid his ledder bags ower me shoolder, thinkin' tul rae-sel' 'at yan may'd mak a lal fortune oot o' thur jolly jists if a lock mair on them wad no'but come oor way. It was anudder het mwornin', an' I hedn't woak't far till I begon to think that I was as gurt a feul as t'oald jolly jist to carry brocken steans o't' way to Skeal-hill, when I may'd finnd plenty iv any rwoad side, clwose to t' spot I was tackin' them tul. Sooa I shack't them oot o' t' pwokes, an' than stept on a gay bit leeter widout them. T' REETS ON'T; Another Supplement to ^'■Joe and the Geologist.'''' BY JOE HIS-SEL'. "A supplement to Joe and the Geologist, by another hand," appeared some time ago, in the Whitehaven Herald, and was afterwards published as a pamphlet. Joe, is represented therein as giving to a comrade called Tommy Towman, an account of his second meeting with the Geologist, and making himself seem conscious of having played an ugly trick, and appealing to his old friend's clemency on the ground that his father was dead ; and thinking his character misconstrued, of course unintentionally, here gives "T' Reets on't." HAT Tommy Towman's a meast serious leear — an', like o' leears, he's a desper't feiil. By jing ! if I hed a dog hoaf as daft I wad hang't, that wad I ! He gits doon aboot Cockerm'uth an' Wurki'ton, noos an' thans ; an' sum gentlemen theear, they tak' him inta t' Globe or t' Green Draggin, an' just for nowte at o' else JOE AND THE GEOLOGIST. 5 steans i' his country, when he was sooa pleas't at gittin' two lal ledder bags full for ten shillin', an' sec a breakfast as that an'. It wad be a faymish job if fadder could sell o' t' steans iv oor fell at five shillin' a pwokeful — wadn't it ? 8 t' REETS On't. I said afooar 'at I'd niver seen mair o' t' oald jolly jist, an' when I said that, I hedn't; but ya donky neet last summer fadder hed been doon Lorton way, an' 'twas gaily lekt when he gat hekm. As he was sittin' iv his oan side o' t' fire, tryin' to lowse t' buttons of his spats, he says to me, "Joe," says he, "I co't at Skeal-hill i' my rwoad heam." Mudder was sittin' knittin' varra fast at hur side o' t' harth. She hedn't oppen't her mooth sen fadder co' heam, - — nay, she hedn't sa much as leuk't at him efter t' ya hard glowre 'at she gev him at t' furst; but when he said he'd been at Skeal-hill, she gev a grunt, an' said, as if she spak till neabody but hur-sel', " Ey ! a blinnd body med see that." "I was speakin' till Joe," says fadder. " Joe," says he, " I was at Skeal-hill" — anudder grunt — "an' they tel't me 'at thy oald frind t' jolly jist's back agean. I think thu'd better slip doon an' see if he wants to buy any mair brocken steans. Oald Aberram hes a fine heap or two liggin aside Kirgat. An' noo, 'at I've gitten them spats off, I's away to my bed." Mudder tok a partin' shot at him as he stacker't off". She said, " It wad be as weel for sum on us if ye wad bide theear, if ye mean to carry on i' t' way ye're shappin' !" Noo, this was hardly fair o' mudder, for it's no'but yance iv a way 'at fadder cu's heam leat an' stackery ; but I wasn't sworry to see him git a lal snape, he's sae ruddy wid his snapes his-sel'. I ken't weel aneuf he was no'but mackin' ghem o t' reets on't. 9 me aboot gittin' mair brass oot oV oald jolly jist. But I thowte to me-sel', thinks I, I've deun many a dafter thing nor tak' him at his wurd, whedder he meen't it or nut, an' sooa thowte, sooa deun ; for neist mwornin' I woak't me-sel' off tuU Skeal-hill. When I gat theear, an' as't if t' jolly jist was sturrin', they yan snurtit an' anudder gurn't, till I gat rayder maddish ; but at last yan o' them skipjacks o' fellows 'at ye see weearin' a lal jacket like a lass's bedgoon, sed he wad see. He com back laughin', an' said, " Cum this way, Joe." Well, I foUow't him till he stopp't at a room dooar, an' he gev a lal knock, an' than oppen't it, an' says, " Joe, sur," says he. I wasn't ga'n to stand that, ye know, an' says I, "Joe, sur," says I, "he'll ken it's Joe, sur," says I, "as seun as he sees t' feace o' me," says I ; an' if thoo doesn't git oot o' that wid thy 'Joe, sur,' " says I, "I'll fetch the' a clink under t' lug 'at '11 mak' the' laugh at t' wrang side o' that ugly mug o' thine, thoo gurnin' yap, thoo ! " Wid that he skipt oot o' t' way gaily sharp, an' I stept whietly into t' room. Theear he was, sittin' at a teable writin' — t' grey hair, t' specks, t' lang nwose, t' white hankecher, an' t' black cleas, o' just as if he'd niver owder doif't his-sel' or donn't his-sel' sen he went away. But afooar I cud put oot my hand or say a civil wurd tull him, he glentit up at m6 throo his specks, iv his oan oald sideways fashion — but varra feurce-like — an' gruntit oot sum'at aboot 10 T REETS ON T. wunderin' hoo I dar't to shew my feace theear. Well ! this pot t' cap on t' top of o'. I'd chow't ower what fadder said, an' hoo he'd said it, i' my rwoad doon, till I fund me-sel' gittin' rayder mad aboot that. T' way 'at they snurtit an' laugh't when I com to Skeal-hill mead me madder; an' t' bedgoon cwoatit fellow wid his "Joe, sur," mead me madder nor iver; but t' oald 'jolly jist, 'at I thowte wad be sa fain to see me agean, if 't hed no'but been for t' seak of oor sprogue on t' fells togidder — wunderin' 'at I dar't show my feace theear, fairly dreav me rantiii' mad, an' I dud mak a brust. "Show my feace !" says I, "an' what sud I show than?" says I. "If it cums to showin' feaces, I've a better feace to show nor iver belang't to yan o' your breed," says I, "if t' rest on them's owte Hke t' sample they've sent us ; but if ye mun know, I's cum't of a stock 'at niver wad be freeten't to show a feace till a king, let alean an oald newdles wid a creuk't nwose, 'at co's his-sel' a jolly jist : an' I defy t' feace o' clay," says I, " to say 'at any on us iver dud owte we need sham on whoariver we show't oor feaces. Dar to show my feace, eh ? " says I ; "my song ! but this is a bonny welcome to give a fellow 'at's cum't sa far to see ye i' seckan a mwornin'!" I said a gay deal mair o' t' seam mak', an' o' t' while I was sayin' on't — or, I sud say, o' t' while I was shootin' on't, for I dudn't spar' t' T REETS ONT. II noise — t' oald thief laid his-sel' back iv his girt chair, an' keept tvviddlin' his thooms an' glimin' up at me, vvid a hoaf smurk iv his feace, as if he'd gitten sum'at funny afooar him. Efter a while I stopt, for I'd ron me-sel' varra nar oot o' winnd, an' I begon rayder to think sham o' shootin' an' bellerin' sooa at an oald man, an' him as whisht as a troot throo it o' ; an' when I'd poo't in, he just said as whietly as iver, 'at I was a natteral cur'osity. I diidn't ken weel what this meen't, but I thowte it was soace, an' it hed like to set me off agean, but I beatt it doon as weel as I cud, an' I said, " Hev ye gitten owte agean me?" says I. "If ye hev, speak it oot like a man, an' divn't sit theear twiddlin' yer silly oald thooms an' coa'in fwoke oot o' the'r neams i' that rwoad !" Than it o' com oot plain aneuf O' this illnater was just acoase I hedn't brong him t' steans 'at he'd gedder't on t' fells that het day ; an' he said 'at changin' on them was ayder a varra durty trick or a varra clumsy jwoke. "Trick!" says I. "Jwoke! dud ye say? It was rayder past a jwoke to expect me to carry a lead o' brocken steans o' t' way here, when ther' was plenty at t' spot. I's nut sec a feul as ye've tean me for." He tok off his specks, an' he glower't at me adoot them ; an' than he pot them on agekn, an' glower't at me wid them ; an' than he laugh't an' ax't me' if I thowte ther': cud be nba difference i' steans. "Whey," says I, "ye'll hardly hev t' 12 t' reets on't. feace to tell m6 'at ya bag o' stekns isn't as gud as anudder bag o' steans — an' suerlje to man, ye'll niver be sa consaitit as to say ye can break steans better nor oald Aberram 'at breaks them for his breid, an' breaks them o' day lang, an' ivery day ? " Wid that he laugh't agean an' telt me to sit doon, an' than ax't me what I thowte mekd him tak so mickle triable laitin' bits o' stean on t' fells if he cud git what he wantit at t' rwoad side. " Well !" says I, "if I mun tell ye t' truth, I thowte ye war rayder nick't i' t' heid; but it mead nea matter what I thowte sa lang as ye pait me sa weel for gan wid y§." As I said this, it com into my heid 'at it's better to flaitch a feul nor to feight wid him ; an' efter o', 'at ther' may'd be sum'at i't' oald man likin' steans of his oan breakin' better nor udder fwoke's. I remember't t' fiddle 'at Dan Fisher mead, an' 'at he thowt, his-sel', was t' best fiddle 'at iver squeak't, for o' it mead ivery body else badly to hear't ; an' wad bray oald Ben Wales at his dancin' scheul boal acoase Ben wadn't play t' heam mead fiddle asteed of his oan. We o' think meast o' what we've hed a hand in oorsel's — it's no'but natteral ; an' sooa as o' this ron throo my heid, I fund me-sel' gitten rayder sworry for t' oald man, an' I says, " What wad yd gi' me to git ye o' yer oan bits o' stekn^back agekn?" He cock't up his lugs at this, an' ax't me if his speciments, as he co't them, was seaf " Ey," says I, " they're sekf aneuf ; neabody t' reets on't. 13 hereaboot 'ill think a lal lock o' steans worth meddUn' on, sa lang as they divn't lig i' the'r rwoad." Wid that he jumpt up an' said I mud hev sum'at to drink. Thinks I to me-sel', Cum ! we're gittin' back to oor oan menseful way agean at t' lang last, but I willn't stur a peg till I ken what I's to hev for gittin' him his rubbish back. I wad niver hear t' last on't if I went heam em'ty handit." He mead it o' reet, hooiver, as I was tackin' my drink; an' he went up t' stair an' brong doon t' ladder bags I kent sa weel, an' geh me them to carry just as if nowte hed happen't, an' off we startit varra like as we dud afooar. T' Skeal-hill fwoke o' gedder't aboot t' dooar to leiik efter us, as if we'd been a show. We, nowder on us, mindit for that, hooiver, but stump't away togidder as thick as inkle weavers till we gat till t' feut of oor girt meedow, whoar t' steans was liggin, aside o' t' steel, just as I'd teem't them oot o' t' bags, only rayder grown ower wid gurse. As I pick't them up, yan by yan, an' handit them to t' oald jolly jist, it dud my heart gud to see hoo pleas't he leuk't, as he wiped them on his cwoat cuff, an' wettit them, an' glower't at them throo his specks — an' pack't them away into t' bags till they wer' beath chock full agean. Well ! t' bargin was, 'at I sud carry them to Skeal hill. Sooa back we pot— t' jolly jist watchin' his bags o' t' way as if t' steans was guineas, an' I 14 t' reets on't. was a thief. When we gat theear, he mead me tak' them reet into t' parlour; an' t' furst thing he dud was to co' for sum reed wax an' a leet, an' clap a greet splatch of a seal on t' top of ayder bag ; an' than he leuk't at me, an' gev a lal grunt of a laugh, an' a smartish wag of his heid, as much as to say, "Dee it agean, if thoo can, Joe !" But efter that he says, " Here, Joe," says he, " here five shillin' for restworin' my speciments, an' here anudder five shillin' for showin' me a speciment of human natur' 'at I didn't believe in till to-day." Wid that, we shak't hands an' we partit; an' I went heam as pleas't as a dog wi' two tails, jinglin' my niunny an' finndin' sum way as if I was hoaf a jolly jist me-sel'. When I gat theear, I says to fadder, "Fadder," says I, "leuk ye here ! If o' yer jibes turn't to sec as this, I divn't mind if ye jibe on till ye've jibed yer-sel' intul a tip's whom," says I ; but I reckon ye niver jibed to sec an end for yer-sel' as ye've jibed for me this time !" BOBBY BANKS' BODDERMENT. (A Sup of Coald Keal het up agehn.) jlHE was ola's a top marketer was ooar Betty. She niver miss't gittin' t' best price ga'n beath for butter an' eggs; an' she ken't hoo to bring t' ho'pennies heam ! Nut Uke t' meast o' fellows' wives 'at thinks ther's nea hurt i' warin' t' odd brass iv a pictur' beuk or gud stuff for t' barnes, or m'appen sum'at whyte as needless for the'rsels, — Betty ola's brong t' ho'pennies heam. Cockerm'uth's ooar reg'lar market — it's a gay bit t' bainer — but at t' time o' year when Kes'ick's full o' quality, ther's better prices to be gitten theear; an' sooa o' through t' harvest time, an' leater on, she ola's went to Kes'ick. Last back-end, hooiver, Betty was fash'd sadly wid rheumatics iv her back, an' ya week she cud hardly git aboot at o', let alean ga to t' market. For a while she wadn't mak tip her mind whedder to send me iv her spot, or ooar l6 BOBBY banks' BODDERMENT. eldest dowter, Faith ; but as Faith was hardly fowerteen — sticidy aneuf of her yeage, but rayder yung,— Betty thowte she'd better keep Faith at heam, an' let me tak' t' marketin' to Kes'ick. Of t' Setterda' mwornin', when it com', she hed us o' up an' sturrin', seuner nor sum on us liket; an' when I'd gitten sum'at to eat, iv a hugger mugger mak' of a way, says Betty till me, says she — " Here's six an' twenty pund o' butter," says she. " If thoo was gud for owte thoo wad git a shillin' a pund for't, ivery slake. Here's five dozen of eggs," says she, "/ wadn't give a skell o' them mair nor ten for sixpence," says she, "but thoo mun git what thoo can," says she, " efter thu's fund oot what udder fwoke's axin. When thu's mead thy market," says Betty, " thu'll ga to t' draper's an' git me a yard o' check for a brat, a knot o' tape for strings tul't, an' a hank o' threed to sowe't wid — if I's gud for nowte else, I can so2ve yit," says she, wid a gurn ; " than thoo mun git hoaf a pund o' tea an' a quarter of a stean o' sugger — they ken my price at Crosstet's — an' hoaf a stean o' soat, an' a pund o' seap, an' hoaf a pund o' starch, an' a penn'orth o' stean-blue, an' git me a bottle o' that stuff to rub my back wid ; an' than thoo ma' git two oonces o' 'bacca for thysel'. If thoo leuks hoaf as sharp as thoo sud leuk, thu'll be through wid beath thy marketin' an' thy shoppin' by twelve o'clock ; an' thoo ma' ga an' git BOBBY banks' BODDERMENT. 1 7 a bit o' dinner, like udder fwoke, at Mistress Boo's, an' a pint o' yall. Efter that t' seuner thoo starts for he&.m an' t' better. Noo thu'll mind an' forgit nowte? Ther' t' check, an' t' tape, an' t' threed, that's three things — t' tea, an' t' sugger, an' t' soat, an' t' seap, an' t' starch, an' t' stekn-blue, an' t' rubbin' stuff, an' t' 'bacca — I's up-ho'd the' nut to forgit that ! — elebben. Ten things for me, an' yan for thysel' ! I think I've mead o' plain aneuf ; an' noo, if thoo misses owte I'll say thoo's a bigger clot-heid nor I've tean the' for — an' that 'ill be sayin' nea lal ! " Many a fellow wad tak t' 'frunts if his wife spak till him i' that way. But bliss }e I've leev't lang aneuf wid Betty to know 'at it's no'but a way she hes o' shewin' her likin'. When she wants to be t' kindest an' best to yan, yan's ola's suer to git t' warst wurd 'at she can finnd i' t' inside on her ! Well, I set off i' gud fettle for Kes'ick, gat theear i' gradely time, an' pot up at Mistress Boo's. I hed a sharpish market, an' seun gat shot o' my butter an' eggs at better prices nor Betty toak't on. I bowte o' t' things 'at she wantit, an' t' 'bacca for mysel', an' gat a gud dinner at Mistress Boo's, an' a pint o' yall an' a crack. He wad be a cliverish fellow 'at went ta Kes'ick an' gat oot on't adoot rain ; an' suer aneuf, by t' time 'at I'd finished my pint an' my crack, it was cummin' doon as it knows hoo to cum doon at Kes'ick. 2 1» BOBBY BANKS BODDERMENT. But when it rains theear, they hev to deu as they dell under Skiddaw, let itfo! an' wet or dry, I hed to git hekm tull Betty. When I was aboot startin', I begon to think ther' was sum'at mair to tak wid me. I coontit t' things ower i' my basket hoaf a dozen times. Theear they o' warr — ten for Betty, yan for me ! Than what the dang-ment was't I was forgittin ? I was suer it was sum'at, but for t' heart on me T cudn't think what it med be. Efter considerin' for a lang time, an' gittin' antidder pint to help me to consider, I set off i' t' rain wid my basket an' t' things in't, anonder my top-sark, to keep o' dry. Bee t' time I gat to Portinskeal, I'd begon to tire ! T' wedder was slattery, t' rwoads was slash y, t' basket was heavy, an' t' top-sark mead me het ; but t' thowtes o' hevin' forgitten sum'at tew't me t' warst of o'. I rustit theear a bit — gat anudder pint, an' coontit my things ower and ower, " Ten for Betty ! — yan for my-sel'." I cud mak nowder mair nor less on them. Cockswunters ! — what hed I forgitten? Or what was't 'at mead me suer I'd forgitten sum'at when I'd o' t' things wid me'? I teuk t' rwoad agean mair nor hoaf crazy. I stop't under a tree aside Springbank, an' Dr. com' ridin' up through t' rain, on his black galloway. "Why, Robert," says he, "ye look as if ye'd lost something." "Nay, doctor," says I, "here t' check an' t' tape an' t' threed — I' lost nowte — that's three. BOBBY BANKS BODDERMENT. 1 9 Here t' soat, an' t' seap, an' t' starch, 'an' t' stean- blue — that's sebben — I' lost nowte, but I' forgitten sum'at. Here t' tea, an' t' sugger, an' t' rubbin' bottle — that's ten; an' here t' 'bacca — that's elebben. — Ten for Betty, an' yan for me ! Ten for Betty, an' yan for me ! ! Doctor, doctor," says I, "fwoke say ye ken o' things — what hev I forgitten?" "I'll tell ye what ye haven't forgotten," says he, "ye haven't forgotten the ale at Keswick. Get home, Robert, get home," says he, '^ and go to bed and sleep it off." I believe he ihowte I was drunk; but I wasn't — I was no'but maizelt wid tryin' to finnd oot what I'd forgitten. As I com nar to t' Swan wid two Necks I fell in wid greet Gweordie Howe, and says I, " Gweordie, my lad," says I, " I's straddelt," says I, " I's fairly maiz't," says I. "I' left sum'at ahint me at Kes'ick, an' I've thowte aboot it till my heid's ga'n like a job- jurnal," says I, "an' what it is / cannot tell." "Can t'e nut?" says Gweordie. "Can t'enut? Whey, than, cum in an' see if a pint o' yall '11 help the'." Well, I steud pints, an' Gweordie steud pints, an' I steud pints agean. Anudder time I wad ha' been thinkin' aboot what Betty wad say till o' this pintin', but I was gittin' despert aboot what I'd forgitten at Kes'ick, an' I cud think o' nowte else. T' yall was gud aneuf, but it dudn't kest a morsel o' leet on what was bodderin' on ma sa sair, an' I teuk t' rwoad agekn finndin' as if I was farder off 't nor iver. 20 BOBBY banks' BODDERMENT. T' rain keep't cummin' doon — t' rvvoad gat softer an' softer — t' basket gat heavier an' heavier — t' top sark better an' better, an' my heid queerer an' queerer. If I stopt anonder ya tree i' t' wtid, I stopt anonder twenty, an' coontit ower t' things i' t' basket till they begon to shap' theirsels intil o' mak's o' barnish sangs i' my heid, and I fund mysel' creunin' away at sec bits of rhymes as thur — Ten things an' yan, Bobby, Ten things an' yan ; Here five an' five for Betty Banks, An' yan for Betty's man. " Lord presarve oor wits — sec as they urr," says I. " I mun be ga'n wrang i' my heid when I've tean till mackin' sangs ! " But t' queerest break was 'at I duddn't mak' them — they mead thersel's — an' they mead me sing them an' o', whedder I wad or nut — an' off I went agean till a different teun — Says Betty — says she ; says Betty till me — " If owte thoo contrives to forgit, I'll reckon the' daizter an' dafter," says she, " Nor iver I've reckon't the' yit." I's daizter an' dafter nor iver, she'll say. An' marry, she willn't say wrang ! But scoald as she will, ey, an' gum as she may, I'll sing her a bonnie lal sang, lal sang, I'll sing her a bonnie lal sang. " Well ! It hes cum't till whoa wad hae thowte it," says I, "if I cannot stop mysel' frae mackin' sangs an' singin' them of a wet day i' Widdup Wud. I'll BOBBY BANKS BODDERMENT. 21 coont t' things ower agean," says I, "an' see if that'll stop ma." Ye ma' believe ma or ntit, as ye like, but iv anudder tick-tack theer was I coontin' t' things ower iv a sang : — Here t' check an' t' tape an' t' threed, oald lad ! Here t' soat an' t' sugger an' t' tea — Seap, starch, stean-blue, an' t' bottle to rub, An' t' 'bacca by 'tsel' on't for me, Here t' 'bacca by 'tsel' on't for me, me, me. Here t' 'bacca by 'tsel' on't for me. I'll niver git heam while Bobby's my neam, But mafifle an' sing till I dee, dee, dee, But maffle an' sing till I dee. "Weel, weel," says I, "if I is oot o' my senses — I is oot o' my senses, an' that's o' aboot it." — But Loavins what'll Betty think, Betty think, Betty think, Loavins what'll Betty think if Bobby bide away ? She'll sweer he's warin' t' brass i' drink, t' brass i' drink, t' brass i' drink. She'll sweer he's warin' t'brass i' drink this varra market-day. She's thrimlin' for her butter-brass, her butter-brass, her butter-brass. She's thrimlin' for her biitter-brass, but willn't thrimle lang. For Bobby lad, thvi's hur to feace, thii's hiir to feace, thu's hur to feace. For Bobby lad, thu's hur to feace ; she'll m'appen change thy sang. Sang or nea sang, t' thowtes o' hevin' "hur to fekce," an' that gaily seun, rayder brong me to my oan oald sel' agean. I set off yance mair, an' this time, I dudn't stop while I gat fairly into t' foald. 22 BOBBY banks' BODDERMENT, Faith seed me cummin', an' met me ootside o' t' hoose dooar, an' says Faitli, " Whoar t' meear an' t' car, fadder?" I dropp't my basket, an' I geap't at her ! Lai Jacop com runnin' oot, an' says Jacop, "Fadder, whoar t' meear an' t' car?" I swattit mysel' doon on t' stean binch, an' I glower't at them — furst at yan an' than at t' tudder on them. Betty com Hmpin' by t' God-speed, an' says Betty, "What hes t'e mead o' t' car an' t' meear, thoo maizlin' ? " I gat my speech agean when Betty spak', an', hoaf crazet an' hoaf cryin', I shootit oot, " 'Od's wuns an' deeth, that's what I' forgitten ! " That was what / said. What Betty said I think I willn't tell ye. WISE WIFF, T was a fine job for Wilfrid Wankelthet 'at his fadder was bworn afooar him. If he'd chm't into t' warld pooar, he wad ha' bidden pooar, an' gean pooarer an' pooarer still, till he'd finish't on t' parish. He was yan o' t' hoaf-rock't mack, was Wifify, varra lal in him but what was putten in wid a speiin, an' that hed run a gay deal mair to body nor brains. For o' that he wasn't a bad fellow, an' he wasn't badly thowte on. Many a body said o' Wise Wiff, 'at if he hedn't much in him, t' lal he hed in him wasn't of a bad pattren ; an' es for his manishment, if he'd nb'but stuck till his fadder' advice, he needn't ha' gitten sa varra far wrang. T' way he gat his fadder's advice was this. When t' oald man fund 'at he was ga'n whoar he cudn't carry his land an' his morgidges, an' his munny, an' his moiderment alang wid him — whoar they wadn't dee him mickle gud if he cud — he sent for Jobby Jinkison, o' Jurtinsyke, a smo' farmer of his 24 Wise wiff*. 'at hed deun a gud deal o' bisness for him at fairs, an' markets, an' settles, an' sec like, efter he'd growne ower frail to git fray hekm his-sel'. An', says he, "Jobby, I's leavin't o'," he says, "I've mekd a fair scraffle, Jobby," says he, "an' I've gedder't a gay bit togidder, but I can't tack it wid me, Jobby, an' I's wantin' to speak till the' aboot that pooar lad o' mine, 'at it o' hes to cum till. Neabody kens better nor thee what he's shwort on — neabody kens so weel hoo I've triet to git a bit o' edication druven intul him, an' hoo lal we've mead on't. Ya scheiilmaister said he was shwort o' apprehension ; anudder, 'at he wantit ability ; an' a thurd, 'at he hed nea capacity. If thur hed been things 'at munny wad ha' bowte, he stid hed them o', but they warn't. What God's left oot we cannot o' put in, thoo knows, an' we mun submit — we mun submit, Jobby," says he, "an' mack t' best o' things as they urr. But I cud submit better — I cud dee easier if thoo wad promish to leuk efter things for him when I's gean. I divn't want him to be idle o' togidder, an' sooa I wad wish him to keep t' Booin-leys iv his oan hand — it'll give him sum'at to think aboot, an' mack fwoke leuk up till him mair nor if he was deuin nowte at o'; an' I fancy 'at if thoo wad agree to deu o' his buyin' an' sellin' for him, an' seav him fray bein' tekn in an' laugh't at, I cud be happier noo. lVi7't6?" Jobby wasn't a man o' many wurds, but he said, "I will, maister ! I'll dee o' for WiSiE WIP'F. 2^ him t' seam as if ye war heear to worder it yersel' an' see it deun. Wid t' farms o' weel set — wid t' Booin-leys liggin' i' girse, an' wid me to leuk efter his barg'ins, I wad like to see t' fellow 'at wad laugh at ooar Wiff." "I believe the', Jobby- — I believe the', my lad," says t' deein' man, " I leuk't for nea less at thy hand. Fetch him in here, an' I'll tell him afooar the' what I wis' him to deii when I's gekn. Wiffy, my lad," says he, as his son com in, leuken, as he thowte, mair sackless nor iver. "Wiffy, my pooar lad, thy oald fadder's ga'n to leave thee. Whey, whey, gud lad ! it's reet aneuf thoo sud be sworry to Iwoase sec a fadder, but divn't gowl i' that way," for Wiff hed brassen oot wid a meast terrable rooar. " I say I hev to leave the', an' that afooar lang. Hod thy noise, thoo bellerin' coaf, an' hear what I've to say," says t' fadder, as he gat oot o' patience at Whiff's gowlin', an' went back tuU his oald hard way o' speakin' til him. "Stop thy beelin, I say, an' lissen to me. I've hed Jobby here browte ewer, ebben o' purpose, to mack him promish 'at he'll leuk efter thee when I's away. Hod t' noise on the', wil'te ! I's leavin' the' weel providit for, an' o' t' land mun be let but t' Booin-leys ; thoo mun keep them i' thy can hand — thurty yacre o' gud grund. Ey," says he, hoaf till his-sel', "t' best land 'at iver laid oot o' dooars. Whativer way ye gang fray't ye warsen ! Thoo'U hod them i' thy oan hand, for t' seak o' hevin' sum'at to deli. Thoo'll 26 WISE WIfP. hev to leuk efter t' fences, an' t' yatts, an' t' water- coorses. Keep them i' order ; an' keep t' plew oot o' t' land ; it 'ill give t' meast liggin' t' green side up. Jobby 'ill deu thy tradin' for the', Dunnot thee mell wid buyin' or sellin'. Leave o' that to Jobby, an' pay him whativer he charges for his truble. He'll deu what's reet, will Jobby. An' noo I's aboot deun. Gi' me yer hands, beath on ye', an' say ye'U deii what I tell ye. Wilfrid ! thoo'll be advised by Jobby. Jobby ! thoo'll be true frind to my pooar lad, as if I was theear to see. Promish ! " This was a langish noration for a body wid t' breath leavin' him, an' when it was deun he laid back on his pilliver, an' leuk't at them varra wistful- like, till they promish't, an' it was a bit afooar they cud, for by this time they war beath on them yewlin, t' yan ower t' tudder, whedder to yewl t' hardest. When t' oald man was bury't oot o' geat, Wilfrid an' Jobby wurk't away togidder varra cannily. Job bowte t' stock for t' Booin-leys, an' selt them as they fatten't off, an' enter't o' iv a big beuk 'at Wiff niver so much as leuk't atween t' backs on. He'd his fadder's last wurds for Jobby deein what was reet, an' they war aneuf Nowte com to put owder on them oot of his way, till Wiff gat a wife — or mebbe I wad be narder t' truth if I said, a wife gat Wiff — for when iverybody Wise wiff. 2) seed 'at he went on i' sec a stiddy soort of a way — gittin' heavy incomins i' rent, an' interest, an' shares, an' neabody kent what ; an' mackin' varra leet oot- gangins, it was plain aneuf 'at he wad seun be yan o' t' yablest men i' thur parts, an' t' lasses begon to cock ther caps at him of o' sides — 'specially them 'at thowte a man isn't wurth hevin' if he hesn't a bit o' t' feace o' t' yurth ; an' efter a while yan o' that mack fassen't WifFy. She mead him a fairish wife, as wives gang, an' if she'd no'but been wise aneuf ta tack him as he was, an' let things ga on as they hed deun, o' wad been weel; but she cudn't bide t' thowtes of oanin', owder till hersel' or udder fwoke, 'at she'd weddit a Tommy Moakison for t' seak of his brass; an' sooa she keept eggin him on to dee his oan turns, an' let fwoke see 'at he wasn't sec a natteral as he was co't. It was this whim-wham o' t' wife's 'at gat him t' nick-neam of Wise Wiff, an' it com tul him i' this geat. Amang t' stock ga'n on t' Booin-leys ya year theer happen't to be hoaf a scwore of as bonnie Galloway Scots as iver hed yar o' t' ootside on them. Jobby hed bowte them i' t' spring o' t' year at a guddish price, acoase he seed ther' was munny to be gitten oot on them efter a summer's run iv a gud pastur'. Just as they war ruddy for a customer, an' Wiff was thinkin' o' ga'n doon to Jobby to toke aboot sellin' on them, t' wife says, 28 Wise wif*?. "There's a butcher cummin' fray Cockerm'uth to-day aboot buyin' them Scots." " Whey than," says Wilfrid, " I's just step doon to Jobby, an' tell him to cum up an' meet t' butcher." " Thoo'U dee nowte o' t' mack," says t' mistress, "Thoo'll set to wark, as a gentleman sud dee, an' let Jobby Jinki- son, an' ivery body else, see 'at thoo wants neabody to cum atween thee an' thy oan bisness." "Well, but," says Wiff, "I promish't fadder on his deith-bed 'at Jobby sud dee o' t' buyin' an' sellin'." " Niver thee mind that," says she. "Fadder willn't cum back to claim thee promish, an' if he dud, I wad tell him 'at if a promish isn't reet it's wrang to keep it. Thoo'll dee as I tell the'." "Well, but," says pooar Wiffy agean, " fadder mead me varra nar sweear tul't." " Shaff o' thee fadder ! " says she, " What sense is ther i' flingin a deid fadder iv a leevin wife's fekce i' this ugly fashin. Does t'e know what t' Scriptur' says aboot it ? — 'at a man mun leave his fadder and mudder, an' stick till his wife ! I say agean, sell thee oan guds thee oan sel', an' mack t' best thoo can on them." "But hoo's I to ken what price to ex?" says_he. "Whey," says she, "cannot thoo leuk into t' beuk 'at Jobby writes o' doon in, an' finnd t' price he pait for them ? That'll be a guide for the'. But I wad rayder loase a pund or two, if I was thee, nor be mead a barne on any lang-er." Like many a cliverer fellow, pooar Wifif fund ther was nowte for't but lettin his wife hev her WISE WIFF. 29 way; an' when t' butcher com, he went reet ower wid him to t' fields whoar t' bullocks was ga'n, an' selt them tuU him oot o' hand. Iv his rwoad heam he went roond by Jurtinsyke to tell Jobby of his mwornin's wark. Jobby leuk't rayder strucken iv a heap when he hard it; but efter considerin' a lal bit, he said, " Weel, maister," (he oalas spack respectful-like to pooar Wilfrid, dud Jobby his-sel', an' he wadn't let any body else dee udder ways when he was theear.) "Weel, maister," says Jobby, "I willn't oalas be here to mannish for y^, an' ye may as weel begin noo as efter I's gean to try yer fist at tradin'. But what gat ye for t' Scots?" "I dud bravely, lad," says Wifif, "I dud bravely. I gat nine pund ten a heid for them." "Nine pund ten!" Jobby shootit, "Whey, that's what I geh for them mair nor five raunth sen ! " " I ken that," says Wiff, " I teuk a peep into t' girt beuk, an' fund theear what thu'd gi'en for them." "An' yd just gat what they cost i' t' spring?" says Jobby. " I think if ye carry on a trade like that owte sa lang, ye'll be mackin' t' oald maister's munny bags leilk gaily wankle." " Munny bags," says Wiff", " What's t' use o' toakin' aboot munny bags ? T' munny bags is seaf aneuf sa lang as I git as much for beasts as I gi' for them. I think I've mead a varra fair trade, whativer thoo may think." "Aih dear! aih dear!" says Job, "it wad mack t' oald maister git up oot o' his grave if lie cud hear 30 WISE WIFF. this. Whoar's t' rent o' t' land to cum fray wid yer fair trade." "T' rent o' t' land, thoo oald neudles," says Wiff, "t' rent o' what land? T land's my oan ! " Sooa Mistress Wankelthet fund 'at her fadder- in-lo' kent his sun better nor she dud her man ; an' o' 'at com of her middlin was to git her husband a nickneam an' mack him a by-wurd ; for iver sen, when any body theear aboots macks a queerish bargin, somebody else is suer to say, "T' land's my oan, says Wise Wifif !" LAL DINAH GRAYSON. ]AL Dinah Grayson's fresh, fewsome, an'free, Wid a Hit iv her step an' a glent iv her e'e; ij She glowers ebbem at me whativer I say, An' meastly mak's answer wid " M'appen I may !" " M'appen I may," she says, " m'appen I may ; Thou thinks I beUeve the', an' m'appen I may ! " Gay offen, when Dinah I manish to meet O' Mondays, i' t' market i' Cockerm'uth street, I whisper, "Thou's nicer nor owte here to-day," An' she cocks up her chin an' says, "M'appen I may ! M'appen I may, my lad, m'appen I may ; There's nowte here to crack on, an' m'appen I may !" She's smart oot o' dooars — she's tidy i' t' hoose ; Snod as a mowdy-warp — sleek as a moose. I' blue goon, i' black goon, i' green goon or grey, I tell her she's reeght, an' git "M'appen I may !" " M'appen I may," she'll say, " m'appen I may. Thou kens lal aboot it, but m'appen I may !" 32 LAL DINAH GRAYSON. There's nut mickle on her, — we ken 'at gud stuff Laps up i' lal bundles, an' she's lal aneuf ; There's nowte aboot Dinah were better away But her comical* ower-wurd " M'appen I may." "M'appen I may," it's still, "m'appen I may." Whativer yan wants yan gits "m'appen I may." An' it shaps to be smittal ; whoariver I gang, I can't tell a stwory — I can't sing a sang — I can't hod a crack, nay ! — ^I can't read or pray Widout bringin' in her dang't " M'appen I may." "M'appen I may," it ctims, "m'appen I may;" Asieed of Amen, I say "m'appen I may." But she met me ya neeght aside Pards'aw Lea yatt — I tock her seaf hekm, but I keep't her oot leat, An' offen I said i' my oan canny way, "Will t'e like me a lal bit?"— "Whey,— M'appen I may ! M'appen I may, Harry — m'appen I may ; Thou's rayder a hoaf-thick, but m'appen I may!" I prist her to wed me — I said I was pooar, But eddlin aneuf to keep hung-er fray t' dooar. She leuk't i' my feace, an' than, hoaf turn't away. She hung doon her heid an' said "M'appen I may! M'appen I may!" — (low doon) — "m'appen I may, I think thoo means fairly, an' m'appen I may." * Comical, used thus, means Pert, in central Cumberland. LAL DINAH GRAYSON. 33 We're hingin' i' t' bell re^ps* — to t' parson I've toak't, An' I gev him a hint as he maffelt an' jwoak't, To mind when she sud say "love, honour, obey," 'At she doesn't slip through wid her " M'appen I may." M'appen I may, may be — m'appen I may. But we moont put up than wid a "m'appen I may." * During the period required for the publication of banns, a couple are said, figuratively, to be "hinging in t' bell ropes. " 34 JWOHNNY, GIT GOT! Git oot wid the', Jwohnny, thou's no'but a fash ; Thou'll come till thou raises a desperat clash ;* Thou's here ivery day, just to put yan aboot, An' thou moiders yan terrably — Jwohnny, git oot What says t'e? I's bonnie? Whey! That's nowte 'at's new, Thou's wantin' a sweetheart? — Thou's hed a gay few ! An' thou's cheatit them, yan efter t' t'udder, nea doubt ; But I's nut to be cheatit sba — Jwohnny, git oot ! There's plenty o' lads i' beath Lamplugh an' Dean As yabble as thee, an' as weel to be seen ; An' I med tack my pick amang o' there aboot — Does t'^ think I'd ha'e thee, than? Hut, Jwohnny, git oot ! * Clash — Scandal, JWOHNNY GIT DOT ! 35 What? Nut yan amang them 'at likes me sa weel? Whey, min — there's Dick Walker an' Jonathan Peel Foorsettin' me ola's i' t' lonnins aboot, Beath wantin' to sweetheart me — Jwohnny, git oot! What?— Thou will hev a kiss?— Ah, but tak't if thou dar ! I tell the', I'll squeel if thou tries to cu' nar ! Tak' care o' my collar ! — Thou byspel, I'll shoot ! Nay, thou sha'n't hev anudder — Noo Jwohnny, git oot ! Git oot wid the', Jwohnny — Thou's tew't me reet sair; Thou's brocken my comb, an' thou's toozelt my hair. I willn't be kiss't, thou unmannerly loot ! Was t'ere iver sec impidence ! Jwohnny, git oot ! Git oot wid the', Jwohnny — I tell the', be deun. Does t'e think I'll tak'up wid Ann Dixon's oald sheiin'? Thou ma' ga till Ann Dixon, an' pu' hur aboot, But thou s'alln't pu' me, sea — Jwohnny, git oot ! Well ! That's sent him off, an' I's sworry it hes ; He raed ken a lass niver means hoaf 'at she says. He's a reet canny fellow, howiver I floot. An' it's growin' o' wark to say "Jwohnny, git oot !" 36 THE RUNAWAY WEDDING. My fadder said "Nay" — an' my mudder said "Niver!" When Willie furst telt them we wantit to wed ; We mud part — they said, beath — part at yance an' for iver, An' she deavet me to deeth aboot foats 'at he heil. A sailor was Will, forret, free-tonguet, an' funny, An' gi'en till o' manner o' teulment was he ; Rayder lowce i' religion, an' careless o' money, But dear was my wild thowtless Willie to me. His life seemed mead up of arrivin's an' sailin's — Rough hardship at sea, an' fair daftness at beam. I cry't ow'r his danger — I pray't ow'r his failin's. An' ofifen forgev what I cudn't but bleam. An' many a frind, an' relation, an' neighbour Brong hints an' queer tekls aboot Will to poor me; But neighbours an' frinds gat the'r pains for the'r labour, For t' mair they misco't him t' mair thowte on was he. THE RUNAWAY WEDDING. 37 An' t' upshot of o' the'r fine bints an' advices Was 'at, ya neat, weel happ't i' Will's greet sailor cwoat, We dreav, afoor dayleet, to Foster Penrice's, An' slip't ow'r till Annan i' t' Skinburneese bwoat. An' theer we wer' weddit, i' their way o' weddin'; — I dudn't hoaf like't, but they said it wad dee ; An' I dar-say it may'd — for a lass 'at was bred in Their ways — but it wasn't like weddin' to me. An' when Will brong me back, varra sham-feacet an' freetent, Ower t' sin an' disgrace on't my mudder went wild. — Sair, sair dud my heart sink, but bravely it leeten't When Will prist me close up beside him, an' smil'd. My fadder said lal, no'but whishtit my mudder, An' pettit an' blest me wid tears iv his e'e ; Till beath on us rii't what hed gi'en him sec bodder, An' sham't of our darrak steud Willie an' me. Eigh — for loave, he was kind ! an' he wad hev us weddit, As t' rest of his barnes hed been — menseful an' reet — He leuk't at oor Scotch weddin'-writin' an' read it. But went up to t' Priest's aboot t' license that neet. 3§ THE RUNAWAY WEDDINCJ. An' he keep't me at heam, though we hed a hoose riddy ; He said he mud hev me, while Will foUow't t' sea. An' Will ! weddin' mekd him douce, careful, an' stiddy, An' he's hoddenly been a gud husband to me. He seun hed a ship of his oan, an' mekd money, An' seav't it, what he reckoned harder by far ; An', ola's weel-natur't, free-heartit an' funny. He mead his-sel frinds wid whativer com' nar. An' es for my mudder, 'at thowte me so silly, An' lang nowte but bad i' poor Willie wad see, I's thenkful she leevet to say — "Bless thee, i"^;? Willie, Many cumforts we've hed, but meast cumfort i' thee." 39 BILLY WATSON' LONNING. O for Billy Watson' lonnin' of a lownd summer neeght ! When t' stars come few an' flaytely, efter weerin' oot day-leeght — When t' black-kite blossom shews itsel' i' hoaf-seen gliffs o' grey, An' t' honey-suckle's scentit mair nor iver 'tis i' t' day. An' nut a shadow, shap' or soond, or seeght, or sign 'at tells 'At owte 'at's wick comes santerin' theer but you, yer oan two sel's. Ther' cannot be anudder spot so private an' so sweet, As Billy Watson' lonnin' of a lownd summer neeght ! T' Hempgarth Broo's a cheersome pleace when t' whins bloom full o' flooar — Green Hecklebank turns greener when it's watter't wid a shooar — There's bonnie neuks aboot Beckside, Stocks-hill, an' Greystone Green — High Woker Broo gi'es sec a view as isn't offen seen — 40 BILLY WATSON* LONNING. It's glorious doon on t' Sandy-beds when t' sun's just gan to set — An' t' Clay-Dubs isn't far aslew when t' wedder isn't wet ; But nin was mead o' purpose theer a bonnie lass to meet Like Billy Watson'lonnin'of a lownd summer neeght. Yan likes to trail ow'r t' Sealand-fields an' watch for t' comin' tide, Or slare whoar t' Green hes t' Ropery an' t' Shore of ayder side — T' Weddriggs road's a lal-used road, an' reeght for coortin toke — An' Lowca' lonnin's reeght for them 'at like a langsome woke — Yan's reeght aneuf up t' Lime-road, or t' Waggon- way, or t' Ghyll, An' reeght for ram'lin's Cunning-wood or Scatter- mascot hill. Ther's many spots 'at's reeght aneuf, but nin o' ways so reeght As Billy Watson' lonnin' of a lownd summer neeght. Sec thowtes as thur com' thick lang sen to yan, a lonterin' lad, Wid varra lal to brag on but a sperrit niver sad, BILLY WATSON* LONNING. 4t When he went strowlin' far an' free aboot his sea-side heam, An' stamp't a mark upon his heart of ivery frind-Uke neam ; — A mark 'at seems as time drees on to deepen mair an' mair — A mark 'at ola's breeghtens mekst i' t' gloom o' comin' care ; But nowte upon his heart has left a mark 'at hods so breeght As Billy Watson' lonnin' of a lownd summer neeght! Oor young days may'd be wastet sair, but dar their mem'ry's dear ! And what wad yan not part wid noo agekn to hev them here ? Whativer trubles fash't us than, though nayder leet nor few, They niver fash't us hoaf so lang as less an's fash us noo ; If want o' thowte brong bodderment, it pass't for want o' luck, An' what cared we for Fortun's bats, hooiver feurce she struck ? It mud be t' time o' life 'at mead oor happiness complete r Billy Watson' lonnin' of a lownd summer neeght! 4i LONE AND WEARY. Deid winter's nut sa dark to me As t' lang leet days o' t' spring ; — I hate to see a swallow flee, Or hear a throssle sing ; I grean at t' fresh green leaves on t' trees, I turn frae t' flooers o' May, For t' croft was white wid dog-daisies When Jwohn was tean away. We coortit lang, dud Jwohn an' me — We waitit lang an' sair — He thowte cor weddin' mudn't be While beath war poor an' bare ; An' sep'rat', I gat past my prime, Jwohn barrow-back't an' grey ; Reet sair I grudg't that wastit time, When Jwohn was tekn away. Jwohn pinch't an' spar't, an' tew't an' strekv, Till t' heart wid-in him brak' — Still aimin' brass aneuf to seav, Some lal bit farm to tak' : lon£ ANt> Weary. 43 An' when he'd gitten t' farm an' me, 'Twas plain he mudn't stay ; He dwined through t' winter dark an' dree — r t' spring was tekn away. We may'd hed many a happy year, If thowte to t' winds we'd flung. An' join't oor strength life's lead to beear, When beath war lish an' yung : But widder't was oor flooer o' life Afoor oor weddin' day ; An' I'd nut been ya year a wife When Jwohn was tean away. Sooa t' spring o' life na summer browte, To my poor man or me ; An' t' spring o' t' year noo brings me nowte But t' mind o' misery. I can't see what anudder sees r t' fields an' t' flooers o' May, For t' croft was white wid dog-daisies When Jwohn was tean away. 44 T' CLEAN NED O' KES'ICK. This phrase is proverbial in central Cumberland, and is generally used in a negative sense ; thus, of a person whose character for upright conduct will not bear the full light of day, it is said, "He's niit t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick. " Lang an' leat we ma' lait throo fray Fiend's-fell* to Fles'ickjt Afooar we'll finnd mair ner ya fellow or two Yan can fairly an' freely co' t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick; Oald Ciim'erlan' 'tsel' on't hods no'but a few ! An' hoo mun us tell when we div happen on them] Whey, that, just off-hand, isn't easy to say ! But sum of o' yages hev marks plain upon them Showin' they're nin o' t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick — nut they ! We ma' leet on a barne wid t' leuk of ill-natur' An' spite glowerin' oot of a widderful feace ; A lean, discontentit, cross, gyversome creetur', 'At kens hoo to mak' its-sel' t' maister o' t' pleace — * Fiend's-fell, an old name for Cross-fell, on the eastern verge of the county, t The beautiful secluded bay which divides the two Heads of St. Bees, the most westerly points of Cumberland, is called rieswick. t' clean NED O' KES'lCK. 45 'At yowls when it wants owte, an' glumps when it gits it, Till o' but it's mudder wad droon't iv a kit ; An' t' mair 'at she dantles, an' pampers, an' pets it, T' less like to growe t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick growes it. Or mayhap, a lal lad 'at tells teals of his brudders, An' cocks his-sel' up, an example to t' rest — 'At seavs his oan laikins an' laiks wid anudder's, An' geaps for owte gud like a gorb iv a nest ; 'At boggles at lowpy-back, rack-ups, or shinny, An' keeps his-sel' ootside o' t' ruck at foot-bo' ; — They ma' praise him 'at hes him — I'd lay my last guinea. He s' niver be t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick for o'. Or a rovin' yung chap 'at ga's hard efter t' lasses, An' stuffs them wid o' maks o' flaitchment an' lees; Ol'a's smiirkin' an' smilin' an' fair to the'r feaces, But skiftin' his mattie as fancy ma' please — Tackin' up at t' lang last, efter feulin a duzzen, Wid sumbody's dowter he thinks weel to dee ; — A taggelt like that slid be hatit like puzzen — ■ He'll niver be t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick, nut he ! 46 t' clean NED O' KES'lCK, Or a man 'at likes brass, an' cheats o' males o' ways for't, An' clowks at advantage whoariver he can ; An' taks drink gaily free when anudder chap pays for't, But wi'n't stand his share iv a shot like a man : 'At ol'a's for sum durty profit ligs watchin' ; 'At keeps o' he cares for anonder ya hat ; An' pays what he owes fwok wid phraisin' or fratchin' — He munnet be t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick — moon't that ! Or a swaddlin' oald sneak, wid a snowk an' a snivel, 'At kests up his e'en when he hears a ruff j woke; Co'in sangs an' queer stwories o' 'ticements o' t' divel — An' snirrups his nwose up at t' praise o' poor fwok : 'At grunts agean wrusslin's, fairs, hoond-trails an' reaces, An' sec-like divarsions, as sinful an' vain, Winkin' hard at t' sekm time at war sins i' hee pleaces — He niver was t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick — that's plain. Nay ! for be what it may be — his yeage, steat, or station, A man hollow heartit, unfrindly, unfair, Makin' mair nor reet use of a lofe or occasion, — Grippin' hard by his oan, an' still grankin' for mair; t' clean NED O' KES'lCK. 47 'At can toak like a bishop, an' hod back his meanin', But can't wid his neighbours or kinsfwoke agree ; Keepin' bleamin' an' backbitin', grudgin' an' pleenin' — He cannot be t' clean Ned o' Kes'ick — can't he. 48 BEN WELLS. Kersmas is hardly Kersmas noo ! — Nowte's left like what it used to be — T' yall's nut what they used to brew — An' t' fun's nut what we used to see — T' lasses irn't hoaf sa smart, For o' the'r fallal hats an' veils, An' music niver sturs yan's heart Like "T' Hunt's Up" played byoald Ben Wales. " T' Hunt's Up " of a Kersmas mworn. When stars war breet an' frost was keen, Wad roose us like a hunter's whom, Whativer hakes ower neet we'd seen. An' dar ! 'twas nice to snug i' bed. An' lissen oot that brave oald Hit, An' hear, at ivery stave they played, Gud wishes shootin' t' chorus till 't. Ben Wales's fiddle, many a neet, Gev weel oiled springs to t' heaviest heels, For few cud whyet hod the'r feet When Ben strack up his heartenin' reels. BEN WELLS. 49 Wid elbow room an' rozel't weel, Swinge ! how he'd mak' fwoke keav an' prance ; An' nowte cud match t' sly fiddle-squeal 'At signall'd kiss i' t' cushion dance. Noo, poor Ben Wales is deid an' gekn — His marrow willn't seiin be seen ; But rare top dancers many a yan, He's left to keep his memory green. Nea mair at ball or oald-fwoke's neet We'll see his gud reet elbow jog; An' when they laid Ben oot o' seet, T' oald cushion dance went oot o' vogue. Fwoke's ways turn different, t' langer t' mair, An' what, lang sen, was reet 's grown wrang; We're; meast on us, owre fine to care For heamly dance, teun, teal, or sang. An' nowte's mead varra lastin' here, T' best bow hand growes oald an' fails, An' t' lishest legs git num' an' queer ; Few last sa weel as oald Ben Wales. NOTE. The late Benjamin Wells was, for about half a century, the best known and most popular of all the dancing-masters who have plied their vocation amongst the country people of West Cumberland ; and, as a teacher of the old-fashioned style of 4 50 BEN WELLS. dancing, in which vigour, activity, and precision are, rather than gracefulness, the main desiderata, he has never been surpassed. As a violin player his performance was remark- ably correct, distinct, and strongly marked as to time — in fact, the best possible fiddling to dance to. The last time I met with him was about twenty years ago, in the bar-parlour of an inn in the southern part of the Lake district, which was some- what out of his ordinary beat, and where the strains of his fiddle, produced at my request, caused such excitement that a general and very uproarious dance (of males only) set in, and was kept up with such energy that, the space being confined, the furniture was seriously damaged, and Ben was at last ejected by the landlady as the readiest, indeed the only method of putting a stop to the riot. He was light, muscular, and springy, and, in his earlier years, wonderfully swift of foot, so much so that the late Dr. Johnstone, of Cockermouth, told me that he once (at Scale Hill) saw him, without any assist- ance, run down and capture a wild rabbit — a proof of activity rarely paralleled. Poor old Ben ! It will be long ere his erect, compact little figure, his bright, cheery expression, his sprightly address, and his quick firm step are altogether forgotten in the western dales and seaward parishes of Cum- berland. Requiescat ! 51 SANNTER, BELLA! Sannter, Bella ! — Bliss the', sannter, Th'u'U be seun aneuf at beam ; Ga'n frae t' cburcb at sec a cannter, Fwoke '11 sweer tb'u's tbinkin' sbam'- Sbam' 'at I sud woak aside the' ! Does t'e, Bella, sham' o' me? Whey than, bide the', dar it, bide the' !- Few's sa leet o' t' feut as thee. Sees t'e, Bella, nay but, sees t'e, Hoo tb'u's makin' t' ne'bours laugh ; Tb'u's a taistrel fair 'at is t'e, But I like thee weel Hut, shaff ! Whoa can tell bis stwory runnin' ? — Whoa can coort an' win a reace ? — If tb'u's flay't I's foase, or funnin'. Stop, an' leuk me fair i' t' fekce ! Leuk, an' see if I wad cheat the' — Leuk, I tell the', gbmes won't dee ! Whativer wrang't the', I wad reet the', Whoa-iver fails the', trust i' me. 52 SANNTER, BELLA ! Wait ! Nay, tak' mair time, I pray the'- Shuttin' frae yan like a dart — Nowte for nowte I's axin' frae the' — Nowte for nowte, but heart for heart. Sannter, than ! Nay, Bella, sannter ! I'll nut say ya wurd 'at's wrang, But th'u's a wannter ! — I's a wannter ! An' nowder sud be wannters lang. Thoo kens what sec a beam I've gitten — Kens o' 's reet, an' straight, an' square - Kens o' wad fit the' like a mitten ; What the hangment wad t'e mair ? Sannter! sannter!! sannter, Bella !! ! Gi' me time to tell my teal ; 'Tis n't kind to mak' a fellow T' laughin'-stock of hoaf o' t' dekl. Does t'e think o' 's nut fairation ? Hes t'e any foat to finnd ? Nay ! Whey than, ther's nea 'casion — Hiih — By jing, I's oot o' wind ! 'Bekt thy speed ! Dar sonn, I'll ho'd the' ! Ho'd the' till I've said my say — Till my heart's ya wish I've shew'd the', Gittin' back for 't ey or nay. SANNTER, BELLA ! 53 Wil't'e than, say, wil't'e wed me ? Ah ! Thou wadn't still say — no ! Faith ! a bonnie dance th'a's led me, But that lal squeeze mak's up for o' ! — T' squeeze frae thy smo' fing-ers, Bella ! Trimlin' here i' my rough hand ; It's queer a touch sa leet can tell a Teal sa plain to understand ; It's queerer thoo sud be sa freeten't, — Flay't when nowte at o' 's amiss. Loavin' ! How thy feace hes breeten't, Reedenin' up at t' furst fair kiss. 54 BRANTHET NEUK BOGGLE. (A Tehlfor a Winter Neeght.) 'At Marron Beck's a wad deny? bonnie beck, what mazelin An' what compares w Beck ga's by ? l' Branthet Neiik 'at Marron Wid hooses white, an' runnin' clear, worchets green, an' Marron Eigh ! Branthet Neuk' 3 a heartsome spot i' t' sunny time o' year ! But loave ! it is a dowly pleace when winter neeghts growe lang ; For t' Iwoan ligs dark atween its banks,— a flaysome rwoad to gang When t' wind rwoars wild in t' trees abeun, an' Marron rwoars below, — An' Branthet Neuk's reeght to know a hantit spot, as I' ve some BRANTHET NEUR BOGGLE, 55 They say a heidless woman woaks at sartin neeghts o' t' year, All' greans an' yewls at sec a rate as freeghtens fvvoke to hear ; I wadn't mind sec tekls, but yance I gat a freeght me-sel' I' Branthet Neuk, an' hoo it was, just lissen an' I'll tell. Ya neeght, lang sen, at Kersmas time, wid Kersmas mak' o' wedder, A lock on us at Branthet met, to hev a glass togidder; We crack't, an' jwok't, an' drank, an' smeuk't, while hoaf o' t' neeght went by. For Isbel Simon' drink was gud, an' we war rayder dry! 'Twas lownd an' leat — past yan o'clock — wid nut a spark o' moon : An' like a clood o' cardit woo', thick snow keep't sinkin' doon, When reeght up t' Neuk three Jwohn's an' me went wadin' beam through t' snow — Jwohn Suntan, an' Jwohn Bell o' t' Rayes, an' Jwohn o' Craypless Ho'. 56 BRANTHET NEUK BOGGLE. We'd gitten hoaf o' t' way up t' Iwoan,— nar Edard Beeby' yat, An' theear we stopp't, for marcy me ! a parlish freeght we gat, Lood greans we heard — lang hollow beels, 'at shak't cor varra bekns, "For God-sekk, lads, male on," sez yan, "them's t' heidless woman' greans ! " "But nay," sez I, "if wantin' t' held, she raises sec a rout, I'd like to see what way she taks to fetch sec haybays oot; They say yan stops a woman's noise when yan taks off her heid. But this, by gock ! wad mak yan sweer they're noisy whick or deid." It's Burns 'at sez Jwohn Barleycworn can mak yan bold as brass ; An' Isbel' drink mead me quite keen this gre^nin* thing to feace. We shootit Edard Beeby up an' mead 'im git a leeght — He grummel't sair to be disturb'! at sec a time o' neeght, BRANTtlEt NEUK. BOGGLE. 57 But brong yan oot; — an', led bee t' lugs, we foUow't efter t' soond, While clwose to t' swine-hull dooar we com, an' stopt, an' gedder't roond. "By gockers, lads!" Jwohn Suntan said, "It's no'but Edard' swine !" " Nay, nay," sez Edard, " mine's i' soat — it's nea pig o' mine ! " " Well, I'll ga in, an' see," sez I. O' t' rest steud leukin on As in I creept wid t' leeght, an' fund greit lang Joe Nicholson Hoaf cover't up wid mucky strea, — soond asleep, — and snworin', As if o' t' bulls o' Dean war theear, an' ivery bull was rwoarin'. We trail't him oot, an' prop't him up agean t' oald swine-hull wo' — An' dazet wid coald he glower't aboot, an' dadder't like to fo' — We help't 'im in, an' hap't 'im weel, on t' squab aback o' t' dooar. He said his wife hed barr't 'im oot, as oft she'd deun afooar. 58 BRANTHET NEIJK BOGGLE. Sez Jwohn o' t' Rayes, " If iv'ry neeght he maks sa gurt a din, It's rayder queer a wife like his sud iver let 'im in ; It's varra weel we h'ard 'im though, he med ha' dee't o' coald ! Come, let's git heam ! " — an' laughin' loud, we lonter't oot o' t' foald. Jwohn Suntan's rwoad left oor's gay seun, an' sooa dud Jwohn Bell's, An' Jwohn o' Craypless Ho' an' me went poapin on oorsells, An' no'but slow, for t' snow was thick, an' mead it bad to woke, Sooa mid-leg deep we striddel't on, but ofifen steud to toke. Jwohn hed a faymish crack in 'im — his fadder hed afooar 'im, — At teals an' sangs, an' sec like fun not many cud cum ower 'im ; An' thekr an' than, dud Jwohn set on, at t' furst gud rist we teuk, To tell me hoo ther' com to be a ghost i' Branthet Nelik. BRANTHET NEUK BOGGLE. 59 Sez Jwohn, sez he, "!' Branthet Neuk, as varra weel thoo knows, 'Tween t' beck an' Edard Beeby' hoose ther' stands some brocken wo's ; Lang sen, when they hed roofs on them, yance, leatish on i' t' year, Some tinkler fwoke gat leave fray t' Iword, an' com to winter theear. *' Two oald fwoke, wid a scrowe o' barns, an' ya son, just a man, — A handy chap to shap' a speun, or cloot a pot or pan, — An' this chap hed a bonnie wife, 'at dudn't leuk like t' rest, But fair, clean-skinn't, an' leady-like, an' ol'as nicely drest. "An' hoo she com to be wid them was niver reeghtly known, But nebbers so' she wasn't used as if she'd been the'r oan ; For t' oald fwoke soas't her neet an' day, — her man — a durty tike ! — Wad bray her wid a besom-stick, a thyvel, or sec like; 6o BRANTHEt NEiJK BOGGLE. " TuU yance a nebber teuk her in, when t' tinklers flang her oot, An' she let fo' a wurd or two 'at brong a change aboot ; She telt o' sum stown geese an' sheep, an' whoar they hed them hidden ; Of mutton up on t' sleeping loft, an' skins anonder t' midden. " It wasn't many wurds she said, — but wurds she said anew To bring t' oald tinkler an' her man tuU what was weel the'r due ; For lang i' Carel jail they laid, an' when t' assize com on, T' judge let t' oald waistrel lowce agean, but hang't his whopeful son. "An' back frae Carel t' tinkler com, to Branthet reeght away, An' 'ticet t' pooar lass frae t' nebber's hoose whoar she'd been fain to stay ; He promish't fair to treat her weel, an' dud while t' seckint neeght, An' than (reeght pleas't was Branthet fwok) he mekd a moonleeght fleeght. BRANTHET NEUK BOGGLE. 6 1 "An' days went by an' neabody went nar to t' tinkler's dooar, At last some barnes peep't in an' so' some huller't bleud on t' flooar, An' than t' hoose dooar was druven in, an' sec a seeght was theer, 'At sum 'at so' 't went reid wid reage, an' sum went white wid fear. *' Squeez't up intull a durty neuk, an' bleudy, stark, an' deid, They fund that nice young lass's corp, bit niver fund her heid ; T' oald tinkler hoond hed hagg't it off afooar he mead a fleeght on 't. An' tean it wid 'im, fwoke suppwos't, to gud his-sel' wid t' seet on 't. "An' nin o' t' clan at efter that i' t' country side was seen. But iver sen a hantit spot hes that Neuk-lonning been, For t' murder't woman wokes aboot, an' greans, for o' she's deid, As lood as what we hard toneeght, — they say she laits her heid ! 62 BRANTHET NEUK BOGGLE. "Wey, weel deun, Jwohn !" to Jwohn sez I, "an' thenks ta for thy teal, It's mead me hoaf forgit hoo t' snow maks o' my teeas geal ; Th'u's just at beam, — gud neeght, my lad, but furst hear this fray me, If iv'ry tekl 'at's telt be true, thy stwory's n^a lee !" 63 MARY RAY AN' ME. Bonnie Mary Ray an' me Wer' barnish sweethearts lang, But I was wild an' yung, an' she Was niver reetly Strang ; Sooa frinds o' beath sides threep't it sair 'At partit we sud be — An' life was darken't t' lang-er t' mair To Mary Ray an' me. But yance lal Mary Ray an' me Met oot on Woker Broo, When t' clouds burn't reid far oot at sea, An' t' sun com' bleezin' through, An' sent ya lang-droan glissenin' gleam Across that dowly sea, Like t' leetenin' up o' life's dark dream To Mary Ray an' me. An' "Sees t'e, Mary Ray," I says, " That lang low line o' leet ; — It cums to say oor leater days May yit be fair an' breet, 64 MARY RAY AN* ME. An' t' cloods 'at darken owre us noo May rive like yon we see, An' t' sun o' love cum glentin' through, To shine on thee an' me." But Mary lean't her sinkin' heid Agean my heavin' breist. " Turn roond," she said, " an' say asteed. What reads t'e here i' t' East ; For t' East's mair sure to guide us reet, If dark an' coald it be ; It's liker life — nor that reid leet — To Mary Ray an' thee." I turn't an' leuk't wid bodeful glooar, Whoar o' was coald an' gray, An' like a ghost rease t' white church tooar. To freeten whope away ; An' Woker's shadow heap't a gloom Owre beck, an' field, an' tree, 'At said far darker days mud cum To Mary Ray an' me. An' niver mair on Woker Broo I strowl't wid Mary Ray ; They partit us that winter through — An' than I went away. MARY RAY AN' ME. 65 An' Mary in t' churchyard they'd laid When I com' back frae t' sea ; 'Twas true what Woker's shadow said To Mary Ray an' me. THE BANNASYDE "CAIRNS." (in the dialect of high furness. ' yer jornas ooer Wa'na Scar to Seeathet ye'll offen aneeuf ha nooatis't a lot o' round heeaps o' steeans strinkelt heear an' theear ooer t' feeace o' Bannasyde mooer : an' if ye leuk inta them fine maps 'at t' guverment's putten owt, ye'll see 'at t' pleeace 'at's meeant for Bannasyde lies cairns, cairns^ cairns dottit o' ooer 't. They wor sharp fellows wor t' surveyors 'at went ooer t' grund ut meeak thor maps. Ya lot o' them com' efter anudder for iver sa many years, sum wi' red cooats an' sum wi'out ; an' they teeuk for iver o' pains wi' the'r wark. Why, when yee yersel' gat a lile lump off aid Geoordie Flimming' field ut meeak yer bit of a gardin, efter they'd survey't an' mizzer't it, they went o' ooer t' grund a-fresh, just ut put it in ; an' theear it is i' t' maps, as plain as t' field its-sel'. THE BANNASYDE CAIRNS, 67 Bit about thor cairns. I mun tell y^ 'at when I furst hard o' them, I cudn't meeak end nor side o' what they cud be, an' I went tull Rodger Forness lit ex about them. Rodger kna's meear about sike things nor a deeal o' fooak ; sooa I went tull him, an' he telt me 'at cairns was heeaps o' lilely steeans 'at hed been rais't ooer t' graves o' girt men lang sen, afooer ther was any kirk-garths ut bury t'em in — 'at Dunmal Raise is t' biggest cairn i' t' country, an' 'at it was pilet up ooer a king 'at was kil't theear. Rodger an' me hed a gud laugh togidder ooer t' Bannasyde cairns, for we beeath kna't gaily weel how they com to be theear, but we said t' yan til't tudder, "Let's hear, an' see, an' say nowte." Bit howiver, when them 'cute ordnance chaps, as they co'l thersel's, was teean in wi' thor heeaps, it's lile wunder 'at a gentleman 'at leev't here — yan Mr. Rovvlins, sud ha' meead his-sel' cock suer 'at they wor nowder meear nor less nor sooa many lile Dunmal Raises, an' thowte he wod like ut see what they hed in bela' t'em ; an' as it wodn't be like a gentleman iit keep o' t' fun till his-sel', he ex't a lot of udder gentlemen, frinds o' his, mainly what parsons, fray aboot Ooston, ut come and see t' cairns oppen't, an' t' grund under t'em groven up, lit finnd out what they cuver't. Well ! they o' torn't up true to t' day. Aid Billy Bamthet, Tommy Thackra, an' yan or two meear Cunniston chaps hed been hired iit due t' wark, an' 68 THE BANNASYDE CAIRNS. away they o' went, out on Bannasyde, an' at it they set. O' t' fun 'at they gat, howiver, was a bit laugh noos an' than's at aid Bamthet. He was a queer aid dog was Bamthet, an' he keep't exin' on them o' manner o' questions about what they wor laitin on. At ya time he wod say till a parson varra seriously, " Irr ye' expectin' iit finnd a Bishop?" at anudder he wod ex t'em if they thowte Moses was buriet theear. Bit nowte's nowte, whativer may be laitit for ! an' suer aneuf ther' was nowte lit be fund under t' heeaps o' steeans. It was a cald, sleety, slattery sooart of a day o' through, but they steeak tuU the'r wark like Britons, tull it was turnin' sooa dark 'at aid Bamthet says, " Irr we ut hod at it any lang-er, Mr. Rowlins ? Tommy Thackra's gittin' terrable teer't, an' it's growan sooa dark 'at we'll seeiin nit be yable ut say whedder what we may finnd be t' beeans of a bishop or t' beeans of a billy-gooat, wi'out ther's some amang ye 'at kna's beeans by greeapin' at 'em." Well, they o' thowte they mud give it up for a bad job. They'd torn't ooer meear nor a scooer o' t' steean heeaps, an' they hedn't fund sa mich as t' shin beean of a cracket ut egg 'em on any farder. Sooa Mr. Rowlins telt his men ut gidder up the'r hacks an' the'r speeads an' things, an' git away heeam. As they wor o' trailin' away varra sla' an' varra tHE BANNASYDE CAIRNS. 69 whishtly, down Willy Garnett' girt intak', aid Bamthet sidelt up till amang t' gentlemen, an' says, "Now, Mr. Rowlins," says he, "just tell us what ye thowte was to be fund i' t' clearin's o' t' bracken- beds." "What do you call clearin's of bracken-beds, William?" Mr. Rowlins ex't. "Why! dunnot ye kna," says Bamthet, " dunnot ye kna 'at t' farmers ma's t' brackens i' t' back-end, ilt bed the'r beeas's wi"?" "Of course I know that," says Mr. Rowlins, " but what has mowing brackens to do with these cairns?" "Due wi' them!" says t' tudder, "why, ivery thing iit due wi' them ! How d'ye think the'r leys wad cum on if t' cobble steeans wor left liggin howe-strowe amang t' brackens when they com ut ma' t'em ? They gidder 'em off, to be suer, an' pile 'em up into t' heeaps 'at we've been wrowkin' amang o' t' day, an' yee co' cairns. I rackon cairns is t' genteel wurd for t' clearin's o' t' bracken-beds, bit I niver heer't 'em co't cairns afooer, an' I'll niver co' t'em cairns ageean. T' aid neeam's reet aneeuf for fellows like me!" Well, when they heer't t'is, t' parsons leuk't at t' gentlemen, an' t' gentlemen leeuk't at t' parsons, an' than they leeuk't yan at t' tudder o' round as they steeud, an' than they brast out wi' a laugh loud aneeuf ut raise o' t' ravens on t' Bell Crag an' o' t' gleads i' Buckbarrow. Efter they'd whyeten't down a bit, Mr. Rowlins says, " Well but, William, why didn't you tell us this before?" "Nay, nay," says 70 THE BANNASVDE CAlRNS. t' aid thief, "I wosn't ga'n ut spoil yer day's spooart i' that fashi'n, when ye'd browte yer frinds sa far ut see't. That wodn't ha' been manners !" An' away down t' intak' he went sneeakin' an' sniggerin' till Tommy Thackra an' t' rist o' them. But Tommy an' t' rist o' them didn't snigger back ageean. They o' growl't at him, an' yan o' them said, "It's an aid turkey ! What for cudn't it hod t' aid tung on't till we'd gitten anudder gud day's weeage or two, an' plenty ut itt an' drink wi't, out o' t' clearins o' t' bracken-beds? T'er's anew o' t'em left too ha' keep't us ga'n for a week!" BETTY YEWDALE. [Extract fro?n a Lecture on '■^The People of the English Lake Country^ in their Humorous Aspect.^'') TILL harping upon married life, I wish to draw your attention to one of the finest passages in Wordsworth's greatest poem — The Excursion, which abounds in fine passages. In that I refer to, the poet gives a very charming account of the daily life of a humble couple in Little Langdale, on whose hospitality he describes himself, or his hero, as being thrown, when benighted and lost in that narrow vale, where, as /have found occasionally, the closely encircling belt of high mountains makes a dark night very black indeed. The poet says — Dark on my road the autumnal evening fell, And night succeeded with unusual gloom, So that my feet and hands at length became Guides better than mine eyes — until a light High in the gloom appeared, too high, methought, For human habitation. 72 6ETTY YEWDALE. Climbing the heights, however, he finds that the Hght proceeds from a lantern, held out by a woman to guide her husband homewards from the distant slate quarry. The poet proceeds to tell of his hospitable reception, the husband's arrival, and the unusual beauty of the goodman's face, adding — From a fount Lost, thought I, in the obscurities of time, But honoured once, those features and that mien May have descended, though I see them here. In such a man, so gentle and subdued, Withal so graceful in his gentleness, A race illustrious for heroic days, Humbled, but not degraded, may expire. Thus much for Jonathan Yewdale. His wife, Betty, is made to speak for herself — but to speak in language very different from that she really used, as may be seen in a still more remarkable work than that I quote from — The Doctor^ namely, by Robert Southey, wherein Betty Yewdale, in her "oan mak' o' toke," relates "The true story of the terrible knitters of Dent." In The Excursion, however, she is made to speak thus — "Three dark mid-winter months Pass," said the Matron, "and I never see, Save when the Sabbath brings its kind release, My helpmate's face by light of day. He quits His door in darkness, nor till dusk returns. And through Heaven's blessing, thus we gain the bread For which we pray ; and for the wants provide Of sickness, accident, and helpless age. 6ETTY yewdale. 73 Companions have I many ; many friends, Dependants, comforters — my wheel, my fire, All day the house-clock ticking in mine ear, The cackling hen, the tender chicken brood, And the wild birds that gather round my porch. This honest sheep-dog's countenance I read ; With him can talk ; nor seldom waste a word On creatures less intelligent and shrewd. And if the blustering wind that drives the clouds Care not for me, he lingers round my door, And makes me pastime when our tempers suit ; — But, above all, my thoughts are my support." This no doubt is, as I have said, a very charming picture of humble house Hfe in a lonely home ; but the picture is drawn by a poet, and in his words — certainly not in those of the worthy dame from whose lips they are made thus melodiously to flow, I have conversed with many elderly people who knew this couple familiarly, and several have told me of the almost seraphic beauty of the old man's features, diluted, as it was, by a lack of expression, denoting a weakness of mind and character, which, in the opinion of neighbours, perfectly justified Betty in maintaining full domestic supremacy and undisputed rule. Of the manner in which she sometimes asserted that supremacy, and brought her husband back to his allegiance, when, as was rare, he happened to stray from it, an amusing instance was told to me by a respectable widow, who for many years occupied the farm of Oxenfell, a lonely spot, amid the wild 74 feETTY YEM'DALE. craggy uplands on the Lancashire side of Little Langdale, and nearly opposite to Hackett, where the Yewdales resided. Were it only to show how differently great poets and ordinary people regard the same subject, this is worthy of preservation, and I give it, very nearly, in my informant's own phraseology. "Ther' hed been a funeral fray about t' Ho'garth, an' varry nar o' t' men fooak about hed geean wi' t' till Cunniston. Nixt fooarneeun, Betty Yewdale com' through fray Hackett, an' says she till me, ' Hes yower meeaster gitten back fray t' funeral?' ' Nay,' says I, 'he hesn't 1' 'An' irrn't ye gan ut lait him?' says Betty. 'Lait him!' says I, 'I wodn't lait him if he didn't cu heeam for a week.' 'Why, why !' says she, 'yee ma' due as ye like, but I mun bring mine heeam, an' I ivill P An' off she set i' t' rooad till Cunniston. On i' t' efterneeun, she co' back, driving Jonathan afooer her wi' a lang hezle stick — an' he sart'ly was a sairy object. His Sunda' cleeas leeiak't as if he'd been sleepin' i' them on t' top of a durty fluer. T' tye of his neckcloth hed wurk't round till bela t' ya lug, an' t' lang ends on't hung ooer ahint his shou'der. His hat hed gitten bulged in at t' side, an' t' flipe on 't was cock't up beeath back an' frunt. O' togidder, it wod ha' been a queerly woman body 'at wod ha' teean a fancy till Jonathan that day. " Says I till Betty, 'What, ye hev fund him than V feETtV YEWDALE!. 75 'Fund him!' says she, 'ey, I' fund him! I kna't whar ut lait him ! I fund him at t' Black Bull, wi' yower meeaster, an' a lock meear o' t' seeam sooart. They wor just gan ut git the'r dinner, wi' a girt pan o' beef-steeaks set on t' middle o' t' teeable. I meead t' frying pan an' t' beef-steeaks flee gaily murrily oot o' t' duer, an' I set on an' geh them o' sike a blackin' as they willn't seeun forgit. Than I hail't Jonathan oot fray araang them ; bit when I'd gitten him out wi' me, I sham't iit be seen on t' rooads wi' him. Dud iver ye see sike a pictur'?' 'Why, nay! nit sa offen, indeed,' says I. 'Well,' says Betty, 'as I wodn't be seen i' t' rooads wi' him, we hed to teeak t' fields for't, an', as it wosn't seeaf ut let him climm t' wo's, I meead him creep t' hog-hooals.* I meead him creep t' hog-hooals,' says Betty, 'an' when I gat him wi' his heead in an' his legs out, I dud switch him.' " This true story shows Wordsworth's humble heroine in not quite so romantic a light as he throws round her in the passages I have quoted ; but I don't see that it need lower her in our esteem. * Hog-holes are small apertures left in the dry stone fences, to allow the sheep, or hogs, to get through from one pasture to another. THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. A Reminiscence of Windermere. (chiefly in the dialect of WESTMORLAND.) REEN verged, glancing Wynander, first, fairest of our meres, How potent was the fairy charm, how perfect was the spell That bound me to its beauty once in youth's untrammell'd years And held me lingering, lingering at its Ferry's famed Hotel. 'Twas ere the railway whistle 'woke the echoes of the hills, And Arnold the vivacious perch'd as yet behind the mail, THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. 77 And that fine old English autocratic Boniface, Ben Bills,* Ruled with a wholesome despotism the Ferry and Hotel. And Benjamin's chief ferryman was stalwart old John Long, A veteran of the wrestling ring (its records hold his name), Who yet in life's late autumn was a wiry wight and strong, Though grizzly were his elf-locks wild and bow'd his giant frame. Cool Michaelmas its summer brought, serene, and soft, and gray ; The high steep wood of Harrowslack all yellow grew and sere. And shower'd its faded raiment o'er the Ferry's gloom-girt bay — The deepest, darkest, dreamiest nook of bay-fringed Windermere. * Arnold and Bills, landlords of the Ferry at different periods — the first named having been previously the well known guard of the coach that traversed the Lake district, 78 THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. And listlessly and idly as the lazy mists that rest, Or cling with loving closeness, after summer's heats are gone, And autumn's breezes over, to Wynander's placid breast — The latest guest the Ferry held, I loitered there alone. And there upon its calm-still'd wave, throughout the shortening day, And oft when daylight waned apace, and stars be-gemm'd the sky, By rocky nab or islet green, by slumb'ring pool or bay, We glided through the peacefulness — stark old John Long and I. Yes; though John Long was worn and wan, he still was stark and strong, And he plied his bending "rooers" with a boatman's manly pride. As crashing past the islands, through the reed stalks crisp and long, He stretch'd away far northward, where the lake spread fair and wide. THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. 79 "Now rest upon your oars, John Long," one evening still said I, When shadows deepened o'er the mere from Latterbarrow Fell ; For far beyond broad Weatherlam the sun sank in the sky, And bright his levell'd radiance lit the heights around Hillbell. "And tell me an old story," thus I further spoke, "John Long, Some mournful tale or legend, of the far departed time ; The scene is all too solemn here for lightsome lay or song. So tell, and, in your plain strong words, I'll weave it into rhyme." Then old John Long revolved his quid, and gaunt he look'd and grim — For darker still athwart the lake spread Latter- barrow's shade — And pointing o'er the waters broad to fields and woodlands dim, He soberly and slowly spake, and this was what he said. 8o THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. " A house ligs la' an' leansome theear, doon in that ooraer dark, Wi' wide, heigh-risin' chimla-heeads, la' roof, an' crum'lin' wo', O' wedder-gnawn an' weed-be-grown — for time hes setten t' mark O' scooers an' scooers o' weearin' years on hantit Co'garth Ho'. "T' aid Philipsons o' Windermer' lang, lang hed theer the'r heeam ;W An' far an' wide the'r manors spread ooer forest, field, an' fell ; But now ther's nit i' t' cuntryside a steeatsman o' their neeam — Ther's Philipsons, but o' work hard for breead like me mysel'. " For niver thinkin' they'd aneeuf, and strivin' still for meear, They wantit ivery scrap o' land the'r nebbers held aboot ; An' many a pooer man's grund they gat, by meeans nit ola's fair — An' lang o' that grund-greed o' theirs, this teeal o' mine fell out. THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. 8 1 An ald-ly man nar Burthet leev't, his neeam was Kraster Cook, An' whyetly his Hfe hed ron wi' Dorothy his deeam. A conny Hie bit farm was theirs, a lown an' sunny neeuk. An' t' hoose 'at's theear upon it still keeps up aid Kraster' neeam. " Myles Philipson wad offen toak wi' Kraster Cook an' t' wife, An' priss them hard the'r bit o' land ut swap wi' him or sell ; But beeath o' t'em at last spak' oot — they'd rayder part wi' life Ner sell or swap a single yird of infield land or fell. " 'Ye s' part wi' 't, than,' said Philipson, as rantin' mad he rooar'd, ' I'll hev that bit o' land o' yours, sud yee be 'live or deead.' An' Kraster fund 'at efter that as if ther was a sooard 'At hed to fo' when t' time co' round, still hingin' ooer his heead. 6 82 THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. " Bit nowte com on't till t' Kersmas time, an' than till aid Co'garth They went wi' t' tudder nebbors, kindly ex't to t' Kersmas feeast ; An' t' best o' t' seeats at t' supper booard, an' t' warmest neeuk at t' hearth Wer' theirs, for t' squire hed ooerder't 'at they sud be that mitch greac't. " Bit seeun they fund that Kersmas treeat mud cost 'em parlish dear, For Philipson pertendit 'at they'd stown a silver cup. An' Cook's house was ratch't through an' through, an' t' silver cup fund theear, Hidden theear, girt like, o' purpose — an' t' aid cupple wer' teean up. *' An' for the'r lives they triet 'em beeath, an' beeath condemn't to dee. Myles Philipson was theear, an' Dolly glooer't him hard i' t' feeace. As meear ner plowmb she rais't hersel', an', terrable ut see. She spak' thir wurds i' seccan a skrike as rung through t' justice pleeace : — THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. 83 '"Ey, gud thysel', Myles Philipson — thou thinks th'u's mannish't grand ; Thou thinks th'u's hooal't our Hie bit grund, and gitten't o' for nowte, Bit, harks t'e here, Myles Philipson — that teenie lump o' land Is t' dearest grund a Philipson hes ayder stown or bowte ; " 'For yee sail prosper niver meear, yersel' nor yan o' t' breed ; Whativer schemes yee set a-geeat 'ill widder i' yer hand, Whativer side yee tak' 'ill Iwose ; an', spite of o' yer greed, A time 'ill come when t' Philipsons wi' n't awn an inch o' land. *' 'An', while Co'garlh's Strang wo's sail stand, we'll ha'nt it neet an' day. Ye s' niver mair git shot on us, whativer way ye tak'; Whativer plan or geeat ye try, ut banish us away, Ye'U hardly kna' we irr away afooer ye see us back. 84 THE SKULLS OF CALGARTH. " An' suer aneeuf, neist Kersmas, when they'd nit been twelvemonth deead, (They'd buriet t' pooer aid fooak wi' Hme, whar they wor putten doon,) Two skulls steead in a hooel i' t' wo', aside o' t' wide stair heead, At aid Co'garth, an' theear they gurn't, a warnin' fray aboon. "An', ivery mak' o' pains they teeuk ut git 'em druven away — They buriet them, they born't them weel, they bray't them till they brak', They sunk 'em fuU't wi' leed i' t' lake, they pash't 'em deep i' clay, But just as Dolly said they wod, they still co' gurnin' back. " An' theear they've gurn't an' gurn't ageean, for many a hundert year, An' scooars o' fooak ha' seen 'em theear — it's neea lees I tell — Till t' Bishop(2) ^o't 'em up i' t' hooal, bit still they're gurnin' theear. For just afooar he wo't 'em up, I seed them theear mysel'. THE SKULLS Of CALGARTH. S5 "An' t' Philipsons went iloon an' doon, the'r schemin' o' went wrang, Though ofifen for a sinkin' coase they meead a gallant stand ; Fray t' steeat rowls about Windermer' the'r neeam hes vanish't lang, /divn't kna' a Philipson 'at hods an inch o' land." NOTES. 1. In a foot-note to Wesfs Guide to the Lakes, published first about 1770 — its 5tli edition being dated 1793 — the author or editor suggests certain other modes of accounting for the presence of the famous situlls of Calgarth, but fails in offering anything so satisfactory as the popular version here done into rhyme. The writer of the note appears to have seen them himself, and I have known more than one old person, besides John Long, who averred that in their youth, they had seen the said remains occupying their immemorial position. The misfortunes of the Philipsons of Calgarth and Crook are matter of local history, , aood^^with some of their recorded exploits, make them, perhaps, the most interesting family of the two counties.. * ^^ y.. 2. Dr. Watson, the celebrated Bishop of Llandaff,'who acquired the estate of Calgarth, and long resided upon it, but. not at, the old Hall. He is/ulw.ays spoken of by the old people who remember him as "Z" Bishop." MAP'MENT. (in the dialect of high furness.) Map'ment — Martha — map'ment ! Thow kna'sn't what thow says — An' thow fair torments my heart owt Wi' thy lile contrairy ways — It's oa' a heeap o' map'ment Ut say 'at this or that Sud meeak us put it off ageean — Thow toaks thow kna'sn't what ! We irrn't rich, an' mayn't be ; What than ! — wi' time an' keear, An' pu'in' weel togidder, We may meeak our Httle meear. We s' niver, I's insuer us, Be neekk't or clemm'd or cald. But spar' a ho'penny or two Ut cheer us when we're aid. map*ment, 87 Let's feeace it, Martha, feeace it, Whativer cunis behint ! God niver sends a mowth wi'owt A sum'at ut put in't. We s', happen, hev a mowth or two Ut feed besides owr a'n, What matter — they s' be welcome o' Ut share whativer's ga'n ! We s' ola's hing togidder weel, An' beeath du what we can — A borden 's leeter shared by two Nor when it's borne by yan. But if we's plagued wi' trubble, (An' wha's fray trubble free ?) I's try ut lig thy share tull mine, An' kep it oa' fray thee. An' if we's pooer, we s' sham' nin, For rich fooak's no'but fooak ; An' wha can tell, we s' happen dra Sum' prize fray fortun's pooak. But wrowte-for punds ga's farder far Nor hundreds 's gi'en or fund; An' sum may be to t' fooer for t' barnes When we ga under t' grund. 8S MAP*MENt. Cum, let's hev nea meear map'ment, But gradely feeace owr chance ; I 's off ut put owr exin's in, An' git it deeun at yance. Cum ! gi' 's a kiss o' t' heead on't, An' meeak na meear ut du ; My hand 's here, wi' my heart in 't, Tak' them beeath — thou s' niver rue OXENFELL DOBBY, A Reminiscence of Langdale. CCOMPANIED by the holder of a small farm in the dales, I was once riding up Yewdale sometime beyond the middle of a winter night. The fields on our right, and the slopes and ledges of the screes and fells to the left and in front, were shrouded in a vestment of frozen snow, which glared under the starlight with a brilliancy of reflection that rendered the absence of the moon unnoticed and uncared for. But the scattered groves and coppices to the eastern side, and the perpendicular craggs elsewhere, on neither of which the snow could rest as it fell, stood out black and dismal — blotches sable on a field argent — (queer heraldry this, but so suggested) — with an intensity of gloom, a weird dreariness of aspect, which may hardly be realized by those who have 90 OXENFELL DOBBV. looked upon Yewdale only when arrayed in the light verdure of spring, the matured leafiness of summer, or the marvellous variegation of autumn, under any one of which conditions that fair vale may fairly claim pre-eminence in beauty over all other minor dales of the Lake country. On the occasion I tell of, the solemn desolation of the scenery, and the oppressive silence, broken only by the quick tramp of our ponies' feet on the crisp snow, combined to discourage all thought of conversation or remark ; and we traversed the whole length of the vale without the interchange of sentence or word. When, however, we had reached the point where the road to Tilberthwaite and Langdale Head diverges from that to Skelwith, and I was about to follow the latter, my companion laid his hand upon my rein, and said, in a rather peremptory tone, " We s' teeak t' tudder rooad, if yee pleease;" and on my objecting to quit the smoother and shorter road for the longer and rougher, he persisted — "It may bee as yee say, beeath t' better an' t' bainer, bit nowte wad hire me to teeak t' rooad ooer Oxenfell at this hour o' t' neet, an' that's o' about it." "But why?" I remonstrated, disinclined to yield in a matter of such importance to reasoning like this. " I s' tell yee why," he replied, " when we's seeaf at my awn fireside, if ye sud ha'e time ut lissen." "Is it a story ? " I asked with some interest. " It's nowte oXenpeLl dobbY. 91 mitch of a stooary," said he, "bit what ther's on't 's true, an' that's meear ner can be said for many a better stooary. Bit cum on^ an' ye s' happen hear." I resisted no longer, and we pursued our journey through Tilberthwaite, where the piebald dreariness of the scenery was even more marked and more depressing than in Yewdale. We reached our destination without disaster, but not without danger. The broad, deep ford in the stream, which there divides the two counties, and which we had to cross, was edged on either bank by a high, abrupt shelf of strong ice, very dangerous to slidder off, and very difficult to scramble upon. Indeed, my fellow traveller, with his rough, clumsy little steed, more accustomed to the stangs of muck-cart or peat sledge than to saddle work, had a roll on the farther side — luckily rolling towards the land, and not into the water. But my sagacious old " Targus," who, as I was wont in those days to boast, could carry me over any ground on which a mountain goat or a Herdwick sheep could find a foot-hold, after testing the strength of each slippery ledge by a heavy paw or two, traversed the dangerous passage with the same steadiness with which I had known him pace over others where a slip or a stumble would have had much more serious results. Seated comfortably at the grateless peat fire of my travelling companion, now my host, and assured of the probability of leisure to hear his story out, I 9 2 c^henfell dobby. reminded him of the condition under wliich he had induced me to take the longer and less practicable way to his fell-girt house] and after some coy deprecation, which sat awkwardly enough upon his homely features and dale nurtured manner, he began. "Just about ten year syne, of just sic anudder neet as t'is, only t' sna' wasn't frozzen, I was out efter t' yars." "Poachin?" I interpolated. "Co't as ye like," said he, in a tone of indifference. " I was out efter t' yars. I'd gitten a yar or two ooer about Holme grund way, an' I was meeakin' heeam alang t' rooad atween Hodge Clooas an' Oxenfell Cross, when I thowte I was ga'n ut meet sum fellows I cud heear toakin', bit cudn't see. Ye kna', t' rooad's o' heets an' hooals theear about, an', for that reeason, I dudn't think mitch o' nit seein' 'em ; bit whoaiver they med be, I dudn't want them ut see me. Sooa I gat ooer t' steean fence wi' t' gun an' t' yars, an' croodel't doon aback on't ut let 'em git whietly by. Well, they com on, an', as I cud hear, they wor fratchin' cruelly o' t' way as t'ey com. Ther' was two on 'em, plain aneeuf, for sum'times yan spak', an' sum'times anudder, an', gaily oft, they beeath spak' at yance. As they co' narder till whar I was hidin', t' fratch gat feurcer an' louder ner iver, an' they shoutit, t' yan ooer t' tudder, whedder ut shout t' harder ; bit for o' that I cudn't meeak out a wiard 'at they said. When OXENFELL DOBBY. 93 they gat ebben fornenst me, yan o' them let out a meeast terrable skrike, an' I lowpt back ooer t' wo' ut seeav life. Ther was neabody theear ! They wor rooarin' an' screeamin' wi'in six yirds o' me, as I streetent mysel' up ut lowp t' wo', an' when I gat to me feet o' t' tudder side ther' was nowte ! An' raeear ner that, ther' wasn't a feeut-mark i' t' sna' bit my awn, an' they co' t' tudder way. How I gat heeam vvi' my gun an' my yars I kna'n't, an' I niver mun kna' — bit when I wacken't i' t' mooernin' theear was t' gun an' yars atop o' t' teeable, an' theear was I'i' my bed. "An' now I've telt ye t' reeason 'at I wodn't cu' heeam by Oxenfell Cross. I niver hev been, 'cept i' dayleet, on t' rooad whar them fellows woaks, an' I niver will, sa lang as I can git anudder 'at's less nor a scooer o' miles about." " Then is that road said to be haunted ? " I enquired. '■'■Said to be ha'ntit !" he exclaimed, in a tone of wonder and contempt. "Whar ha'e yee been o' yer Hfe, if ye hevn't hard o' Oxenfell Dobby?" " Has it been seen by any one besides you?" " Ey," replied he, "by hunderts o' fooak ! Why, bless ye ! aid Ben Grave gat seckan a torn as he was cumin' heeam yance leeat frae Haks'ed fair, 'at he dud na meear gud. He niver wod tell what it was, bit ivery body was suer 'at it was flayin' o' sum mak', an' a varry sairious mak' tu, for, as I said, aid Ben niver dud no meear gud after that neet — bit dwinet away an' deet." 94 OXENFELL DOBBY. "Is it known," I asked, "how the place came to be haunted?" "Why! It is — partly. It's kna'n an' it isn't kna'n, as a body may say — bit I can tell ye o' 'at's kna'n about it, if ye like ut hear." " Tell away then," said I, "I like to hear." "Well !" he again began, " Ya Kersmas, afooer I can mind, Iher' was a hake about Clappersgeeat, an' ther' was a stranger at it 'at varry few kna't owte about — bit it seeun gat out 'at he was a new Scotch gardener 'at hed just cum't tull Rydal Ho'. As t' neet went ooer fooak nooatisht 'at he was girtly teean up wi' lile Betty Briggs — a lively, rooesy-cheek't bit of a winch 'at com' frae Tilberthet. Betty hed an aid sweetheart theear 'at they co't Jack Slipe ; bit she was sa pleeas't wi' t' new an' 'at she wodn't hev owte ut say tull Jack. It was plain aneeuf tull o' theear 'at he dudn't hoaf like't ; an' when t' Scotch- man kiss't Betty i' t' cushion dance, t' fooak aside o' Jack cud hear his teeth crack as he grund 'em togidder. "When t' dance brak' up t' gardener wod see Betty heeam, an' as Betty hed nowte ut say ageean it, they set off togidder up t' rooad alang t' Brathay — an' Jack Slipe foUow't by his-sel' a gay bit behint 'era. " T' Scotch gardener niver co' back tull Rydal Ho'. He was niver seen ageean wi' neabody. He partit wi' Betty at her fadder' duer i' Tilberthet — she said — an' that was t' last on him !" "And was OXENFELL DOBBY. 95 nothing ever heard of him ? " I enquired. " Why ! nowte 'at was owte. Theear was a hoaf silly lass about Chapel-Steel 'at said she'd hed t' Scotchman' heead iv her brat ya meeunleet neet — bit when she was teean up an' quees't about it, they cud meeak nowte out on her, an' they let her lowce. It was said 'at Jooahn Turner, 'at hed t' Oxenfell farm afooar Grave fooak, fund t' beeans of a Christian yance when he was cuttin' a drain iv his pastur', bit it was niver leuk't intuU, an' Jooahn said lile about it." "And what about Jack Slipe?" ''Well ! queerly aneeuf, he weddit t' lass 'at dud o' t' mischief, an' dee't afooar he was an aid man, leeavin' Betty wi' a yung family. He was niver kna'n ut smile or teeak part iv any spooart. He ola's hed a wild scar'tly leeuk. As he woak't alang a rooad he keep't glimin' furst ooer t' ya shou'der an' than ooer t' tudder, an' he niver durst bide by his-sel' efter t' darkenin'. He leev't sarvant for a while wi' aid Jooasep Tyson of Yakrow, an' wheniver aid Joo'ep seed any o' them signs of a bad conscience, he wod say, ' Cum ! Dyne the'. Jack, thou med as gud confess. Thou kna's thou dud it ! ' Bit whedder Jack dud it or nit neabody can tell for suer. An' that's t' way it mun rist ! " MEENIE BELL. |ULL ye meet me, Meenie Bell ? Wull ye ^'A Ml tryste yince mair wi' me ? Where the sauchs half hide the burnie as it wimples on its way? When the sinking sun comes glentin' through the feathery birken tree, Till ye'd trow a thousand fairy fires wer' flichterin' on the brae. Wull ye meet me, Meenie Bell ? Wull ye say ye'll meet me there ? An' come afore the gloamin' fa's to hear what I've to tell ? For I'm gaun away the morn, an' I'll weary lang an' sair 'Or I see ye're bonnie face again — sae meet me, Meenie Bell ! MEENIE BELL. 97 I'll be far away frae Middlebie for monie an' monie a day ; An' I want ae curl o' gowden hair to treasure evermore. I've a keepsake braw for you, an' I've something mair to say — Aye ! a hantle mair to tell ye than I've ever tellt afore. Thus I fleech't wee Meenie Bell till her heart grew soft an' kin' An' she met me near the burnie as the simmer gloamin' fell ; We pairtit or 'twas day, an' o' a' the nichts I min' The brichtest in my mem'ry is that nicht wi' Meenie Bell. I thocht her heart was troth-fast, but my image faded oot. An' a stranger took the place in't that she said she'd keep for me ; For time gaed creeping on, an' her hopes changed into doobt, An' doobt to caul' mistrustin', while I toil't ayont the'sea. 7 98 MEENIE BELL. I've warselt wi' the worl' weel — I've run a wunnin' race, But, aih ! I'm of'en wushin' when I maunder by mysel', An' a' my weary strivin's through lang lanesome years I trace, I had bidden puir i' Middlebie and mairiet Meenie Bell. 99 A LOCKERBYE LYCKE."(i) (modern antique.) Ye've aiblins heard o' WuUye Smyth, Ane hosteler wychte was he ; Quha wonn't at the sygne o' the bonnie Black Bull, I' the toon o' Lockerbye. For Wullye, he drawyt the best o' wyne, An' brewyt the best o' yelle. An' mixyt the best o' brandye punch, As neebour Lairds coulde telle. For aft the neebour Lairds conveent At Wullye's to drynke theyre wyne. An' hech ! quhan they yokyt the brandye punch, They raysyt ane unco schyne. 100 "A LOCKERBYE LYCKE." An' ance, on the nychte o' a huntan' tryste, A blythesome companye There lychtyt doon i' the Black Bull closse, Wychte WuUye's wyne to pree. An' there war Johnstones an' Jardines routh Amang that rattlan' crewe, Wi' Herbert Herryes o' fayre Ha' Dykes, (2) An' his buirdlye byllye Hughe; An' gallaunte Wullye o' Becks was there, Wi' Wullye o' Kyrtletoone :* Sae they byrl't awaye at the reid, reid wyne, As the toasts gaed roun' an' roun'. Whyle up an' spak wylde VVullye o' Becks, An' they're fusionless toasts he curst, " We'll toom a glasse tylle ilk man's lasse. An' Ha' Dykes maun name his first ! " Than up gatte the Laird o' bonnie Ha' Dykes — " Weel ! rayther nor marre fayre myrthe. Here's wynsome Jean o' the Wylye Hole, The flower o' Tundergayrthe ; * Friends of the author introduced anachronically, as also is Wullye Smyth, who flourished at Lockerbie during the author's "school-day time." "a LOCKERBYE LYCKE." lOl " An' he quha wunna drynke fayre to thatte Maun quytte thysse companye ; An' he quha lychtlyes thatte sweet lasse, Maun answer it weel tylle me." Then up spak' Wullye o' Kyrtletoone, (A sleekye deevil I trowej "P'olke say, up the Water o' Mylke, that she lykes Ye're byllye farre better nor yowe !" The reid marke brunt on the Herryes his bree, An' wow but he lookyt grymme : " Can ye thynke that the flower o' the Mylke suld bloom For a beggarlye loon lyke hymme ? " Can ye thynke that ane haughtye dame lyke her Coulde looke wi' a kyndlye e'e On ane quha for everye placke that he spens, Or wastes, maun sorn on me?" " An' div ye thynke," cryet the wrathfu' Hughe, " It's noo my turne to speer — That ever a leal heartyt lassie could lo'e A sumph for the sake o' his gear ? 102 "A LOCKERBYE LYCKE. " An' div ye thynke " — mayre scornfu' wordes Younge Hughe essayet to speake, But his brither's rychte han' rase high in wrathe, An' fell on his lowan' cheeke. Than doon at that wanbritherly strayke Dyd Hughe the Herryes fa', An' for to redde this fearsome fraye, Uppe lappe the gentles a' : An' auld Wullye Smyth cam toytlan' benne — " Quhat's wrang amang ye noo ? It's a wonnerfu' thynge that 'sponsible menne Maun fechte or they weel be fou." Fu' slawlye did Hughe Herryes ryse, An' the never a worde he sayde, But he gloom't an' he tore his gluve wi' his teeth, As furthe frae the room he gaed. He muntyt his gude grey meare i' the closse, An' he gallopyt afif lyke wudde. "Eh, sirs !" quo' auld Wullye Smyth, "Eh, sirs ! This never maun come tille gude ; For quhan ever a Herryes he chows his gluve, It's ane earnest o' deidlye feud !" "a lockerbye lycke." 103 That myrthsome band they tynte theyre myrthe, The glide wyne tynte its power, An' like man glower't at his neebour's face Wi' a glum an' eerye glower. The Herryes he lootyt his heid to the board, I' sorrowe but an' shame ; The lawin' was ca't — ilk took tille his horse, An' sochte his ain gate hame. Kynde Wullye o' Becks sayde lowne tille his frien'. We maun ryde Ha' Dykes his way ; But the Herryes owreheard, an' shook his heid, An' doolfu' did he saye — " Alane ! alane ! I maun dree my weirde For the deede this nychte saw dune ; But O that the palsye had wuther't my han'. Or it strooke my fayther's sdnne !" Atweest Ha' Dykes an' the Water o' Mylke Rosebanke lies half-waye doone, An' Chayrlye Herryes laye there that nychte, An' he was sleepyn' soune. io4 'a lockerbye lycke. Quhyle he was rousyt i' the howe o' the nychte Wi' a dynne at his wundow board, For his youngest bryther was dunneran there Wi' the hylte o' a sheenless sworde. Sayan', "Chayrlye, I've mayde ye a Laird the nychte. An' I maunna be here the morne, My blade is barken't wi' Herbert's bkide, An' he lyes at Hurkelle Burne." He muntyt his meare i' the fayre muinlychte, An' he pryckyt out owre the greene, But never agayne in Annandale Was blythe Hughe Herryes seene. Na ! never agayne i' Dry's'al' Kyrke, Norre ever atte Lockerbye fayre, The lasses quha lo'ed the blynke o' his e'e, Saw that blythe e'e-blynke mayre. There was some folke sayde that his wynsome corse I' the fathomless sea was sunke ; Some sayde he was slayne i' the German wars — An' some that he deet a monke. "a lockerbye lycke." 105 Quhanne Chayrlye Herryes had ca't his menne, I' dool but an' i' frychte ; He boun't him awaye to Hurkelle Burne, An' saw ane awfu' sychte. For there the chief o' his aunciente house r waesonie plychte did lye, Wi' his heid on the banke, his feet i' the burne, An' his face to the sternye skye. Ane hastye batte wrochte unco chaynge ; Younge Chayrlye noo was Lairde, An' Herbert layde i' the Herryeses aysle, I' Dry's'al' auld Kirk-yayrde. But fearfu' sychtes hae beene seene sinsyne, An' monye a late-gaune wychte Quhan stayveran' hame by Hurkelle Burne, Hes gotten a lyfe-lang frychte. A voice ilke year as that nychte comes roun', Yells a' the plantyns throo — " There never was Herryes that dreet a stray ke, But he garr't the smyter rue /" io6 "a lockerbye lycke." An' what has been seen I downa telle, But this I ken fu' weel, That rayther nor crosse that burne at e'en, There's monye wad face the deil. An' ance quhan I was a smayke at the schule, I was late on Lockerbye Hylle, An' sure o' a flyte quhan I ance wan hame, I gaed wi' lyttle gude wylle ; But thynkinge on monye a fayre excuse, Juste aung-er awaye to turne, I'd got a rychte feasible storye framyt. As I loupit owre Hurkelle Burne. Quhan somethynge rase wi' ane eldrytche skrayche. An' a deevylyshe dynne it mayde. As doon the burne whyrre ! whyrre ! whyroo ! Lyke a flaughte o' fyre it gaede. My hayre lyftit up my cap frae ray heide, Cauld sweite ran owre my bree, The strengthe was reft frae my trummelan' lymbs, An' I cower't upo' my knee. 'Twas ane horryble thochte to forgayther wi' ghaysts, Quhan I'd just been coynan' a lee. "a lockerbye lycke." 107 But awaye belyve like a troute frae a gedde, Or a maukyn frae yammeran' tykes, I fledde, nor styntyt to breathe or looke backe, Quhyle I wan to the bonnie Ha' Dykes. My tale was tauld. They leuche, an' quo' they, " A frychtyt pheasaunte spryngs Wi' a skraich an' a whyrre;" — but I threepyt them doone, That I kenn't it was nae sic thyngs, For quhatte could pit me i' sic mortal dreide That flees upo' mortal wyngs ? The gyrse growes greene about bonnie Ha' Dykes, On raeadowe, brae, an' lea ; The corn waves wyde on its weel wrochte rygges, An' its wuddes are fayre to see. Its auld Ha' house 'mang the chestnut trees In statelye beautye stan's ; But I wadna gaen backe by the burne that nychte For Ha' Dykes an' a' its lan's. io8 "a lockerbye lycke." NOTES. 1. This phrase is generally applied to a heavy back-handed blow. It is said to have originated at the battle of Dryfe- sands, which was fought near to Lockerbie in 1593, between the Nithsdale and the Annandale clans, the former being defeated with terrible slaughter. It was found after the battle that many of the slain had been killed by a slashing sword cut across the face, from a blow peculiar to the Johnstones, and hence called the " Lockerbye lycke." 2. Halldykes, in the parish of Drj'fesdale, Dumfriesshire, where the writer passed some years of his boyhood, was formerly the seat of a branch of the Kerries family ; and, with three or four adjacent farms, formed almost the last remnant of their large border estates held by the descendants of that anciently powerful and noble house ; one member of which is immortalised as the builder of the Tower of Repent- ance, and another as Queen Mary's "loyal and brave Lord Herries ! " Sir Robert Herries, founder of the great London banking house of Herries, Farquhar, and Co., and the Right Hon. J. C. Herries, once Chancellor of the Exchequer, were both scions of the old stock of Halldykes. Like most old family seats in the same district, Halldykes possesses, numerically speaking, a highly respectable corps of boggles (as the writer knew to his great and frequent tribulation) ; the origin and mode of development of one of the most promi- nent of which is related pretty faithfully, according to local tradition, in the preceding rhyme. 109 "THE FARMERS' WIVES O' ANNANDALE." Being shown, at Lockei-bye, a printed programme of after- dinner proceedings at the celebration there of Mr. R. Jardine's marriage, the writer noticed in the list the sentence that heads this page, and enquired if it were a toast or a song. When told it was the former, he said it deserved to be a song ; and, acting on his own hint, crooned out the following verses on his homeward journey by rail. The farmers' wives o' Annandale ! Glide haud them bein an' braw ; Ilk rules within her foothy hame, Like leddy in her ha'. Ilk yearns to guide her ain gudeman Wi' love that downa fail ; — They irr the wale o' woman-kind— The wives o' Annandale ! The farmers' wives o' Annandale ! I've kent their gates fu' lang ; They're worthy weel the wine cup's grace- Weel worthy o' a sang. no "the farmers' wives o' annandale." But ne'er to tell their worth aricht, May toast or sang avail ; They far transcend a' rhymin' skill — The wives o' Annandale ! The farmers' wives o' Annandale Shew fine at kirk an' fair ; But see them at their ain firesides — They shine the brichtest there. Wi' gracious smiles an' winsome words The stranger guest they hail ; They're angels in a hamely sphere — The wives o' Annandale ! The farmers' wives o' Annandale ! They strive frae morn till nicht, Without, within, through but an' ben. To haud a' rowin' richt ; To keep contentit their gudemen, Their bairnies feal an' hale, Till baith rise up an' ca' them blest — The wives o' Annandale. The chiel' that hes in Annandale A weel-waled farm an' wife, Has drawn twae glorious prizes frae The lucky-bag o' life, "the farmers' wives O' ANNANDALE." Ill An' may they prosper, stock an' store, In ever hichtinin' scale, Whae treasure in their hames an' hearts The wives o' Annandale. A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIK Of a' the streams o' Annandale. Wi' names embalm't i' sang or story, Gin Mylke for beauty beer the bell, I think I'd gi'e the mell to Corrie. It's " up Corrie — doon Dryfe," (Gin a coortin' ye wad toddle) •' That's the gate to seek a wife " — (Hoo daft aul' rhymes bide in yin's noddle I) But sud ye take ye're way by Corrie, Till ye come gey near to Borelan', Ye'll aye see muir an' bent afore ye — Scarce ochte a' roon' but bent an' muirlan'. " There's Corrie Lea an' Corrie Law — ■ Corrie Mains — an' mowdies hork" there — " Corrie Hill an' Corrie Ha' — Corrie Common, Corrie Kirk" there. A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. II3 But Corrie Kirk's nae kirk ava — Corrie Hill's nae hill to roam on — Snell's the blast on Corrie Law — Scant the gerse on Corrie Common. They tell me Corrie's alter't now ; It's drain't, they say, an' fenced an' plantit ; But as I min' 't, lang syne, I trow, Drain, fence, an' biel war sairly wantit. Than what is't gars me ply my pen I' scribblin' doon this rhymin' clatter ? An' what is't mak's me aye sae fain To hear or read o' Corrie Water ? Atweel it is a simple thing As ever dreamer wastit time on ; Scarce worth the while to say or sing — For this is what I'm boun' to rhyme on The mem'ry o' a denty quean, I couldna draw a plain-spak' word frae ; Scarce heard ava — no fairly seen — An' never efter seen or heard frae. 8 114 A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. A' day we'd stey't at Corrie Common, Drinkin', thrawin' quoits, an' jeerin'; An' doon to Stidriggs, or the gloamin', Five wil' chiel's we gaed careerin'. (Jock PorteoLis, An'ro Hen'erson, Wull Fergyson, me, WuUie Beaty. Twae, like mysel', may yet leeve on — The ither twae — Aih me, the pity !) But passin' by a wee cot-house, Wi' riggin' laigh, an' gable suety, Yin cries oot sae baul' an' croose, "Come, boys, c' way in, an' licht the cutty I'd maist ill tricks a lad can ha'e — An' some I hadna neebors spak' d- But naither frien' nor foe could say I ever cared to blaw tobacco. An' in they gaed ; but I stood there Before the door, a tentless sentry, Till startled by a vision fair Gaun jookin' ben across the entry. A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. II5 Blate — blate an' backwarts aye I've been, An' niver forrat-ways nor saucy. But Where's ihe guff at bricht nineteen 'At wadna chase a fleein' lassie ? Sae ben I slinkit — hat i' han' — An' there, beside the wee bit wunnock, I saw a peerless maiden stan'. Just pantin' like a hare i' panic. Wi' shapely form i' braw black silk — Lang curls as black's the silk, an' blacker- A changefu' cheek — a throat like milk : An' lown an' pawkily I spak' her. I pled for my companions rouch — I trow't they couldna mean to fley her : But only heard her breath's quick souch, For fient a word could I get frae her. I howp't she didna think me rude — Civility I weel intendit ; An', quit I naither wad nor could, But pardon — gin I had offendit. Il6 A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. I ventur't yince to speir her name — I offen askit where she cam' frae — (That hoosie boodna' be her hame) An' thochte I heard ae word Uke Wamphray. But plague Ucht on thae rantin' chiel s, 'At couldna let yin coort i' quayet, But keepit cryin' — bletherin' de'ils ! — " Hoy ! This is no the bit to stey at ; Co' 'way to Stidriggs ! " — sae I gaed, But first the lassie low I herkit, " I'll come again?" was what I said- An' nae denial I remerkit. We wan to Stidriggs Bent — but haith ! Our bent was Stidriggs' tea and toddy ; An' he that wadna roose them baith, Maun be a puir wanwauchtie body. To Whitcastles I should ha'e gaen, But weet ! — I've seldom seen the like o' 't- An' An'ro swore i' siccan a rain He wadna turn a gangrel's tyke out. A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. I17 Twae close box-beds, to five big chiel's, Presentit scrimp accommodation ; But, "heids an' thravvs, or necks an' heels," They'd baud by An'ro's invitation. As they begood to think o' bed, An opportunity I grippit, Borrow't, no askin', some ane's plaid, An' furth into the rain I slippit. An' though the gate I hardly kent, r trustfu' love's instinct confidin', I, darklin', stayvelt owre the bent, An' fan the cot, but ither guidin'. An' nearin' that wee hoose at last, O' monie a fletherin' wordie thinkin', I saw, what gar't my heart beat fast, A licht frae oot its window blinkin'. I keekit through, but nochte could see ; A claith was there, half drawn, half drappit ; But sure the Ucht was meen't for me ; — Upon the glass I lichtly chappit. IlS A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. An' seun I heard the openin' door ; An' through its chink I saftly glidit ; But turnin' on the lichted floor, I saw I'd been sair, sair misguidit — I saw what gar't my heart stan' still, An' set my verra flesh a' creepin', While doon my limbs the sweit-draps chill, Like thowin' snaw gaed dreepin', dreepin', I' place o' braw black silken goon — A bed-goon an' a drogget coatie ; r place o' ringlets clusterin' doon — A reekit mutch an' chaft-locks tawtie ; I' place o' saft lid-droopin' e'en — Ae wulcat spark — a winkin' won'er ; I' place o' lips wi' bliss atween — Twae gums wad gar^a corby scunner ; V place o' broo an' throat o' sna', An' bosom fraucht wi' sweet emotion — A face an' figur' 'passin' a' The gruesomeness o' earth or ocean. A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. II9 An' sic a tongue — Gude guide a' weel ! — She lows't on me — sic fearfu' flytin' ! I' sic a voice — half craik, half squeel — Wi' jeers an' jibes braid, bitter bitin'. " To gie yin fash," Rob Burns declared, "An' aul' wife's tongue's a feckless matter;" But honest Robin never heard That aul' wife's tongue i' Corrie Water. An' whan she made a calmer souch, An' stey't a wee her skirlin' ang-er, I heard, far ben, a sweet wee lauch. An' dowdna thole the ordeal lang-er. I flang the carlin fierce aside, An' left h^ up hersel' to gether ; An', frae her cot, wi' wrathfu' stride, I fled to face the midnicht w'ather. An' back I took my darksome way. By gerse-grown dykes an' resh-rouch heid rigs; By spretty knowe an' staney brae, An', sair forfowch'en, wan to Stidriggs, I20 A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. Where, hingin' up the borrow't plaid, An' owre my queer inischanter smilin', I took my share o' ae box-bed, But couldna sleep for thochte's beguilin', For whae could yon sweet lassie be That lauch't at that aul' carlin' scaul'in' ? 'Twas plain, I've said afwore, to see That cot-hoose couldna be her dwallin'. How cam' she to be wonnin' there 1' that aul' muirlan' clay-wa't biggin ? How could a gem sae bricht an' rare Be treasur't 'neath its crazy riggin' ? It's mair nor thirty year sin syne — That maiden's aiblins noo a grannie — But 'mang the folk I like to min', I ofifen see her, skeich an' bonnie. An' whiles I've thochte that hed she gi'en. An' keep't, her word to be sweet-heartit, Like ither sweethearts, she'd ha'e been Frae raem'ry's hauld lang, lang depairtit. A REMINISCENCE OF CORRIE. 121 For weel I wat, fair favours won Ha'e frae men's minds aye seuner slippit Nor ochte we've set our hearts upon, An' triet to grip — but fail't to grip it. REMINISCENCES OF LOCKERBIE. Aul' Lockerbie ! aul' Lockerbie ! the dear wee toon to me ! Where, never fleyed, a boy I played, an' roved a younker free, Wi' heart sae Hcht that hfe was bricht as never mair it shall, For never mair I'll ramble where I drank o' Bessie's wal'.* Yes ! dear to me is Lockerbie, its houses wee an' big, Its "Up the gate," its "Doon the gate," its "Cross," an' "Through the brig," * Bessie's Well was not far from the foot of ' ' Cuddle's Lane." The writer has been informed that the well was drained or filled up by operations connected with the form- ation of the railway. This ancient fountain, the destruction of which is to be deplored, had the traditional reputation of attaching all who drank of it with a lasting affection to the town of Lockerbie. Bessie's Well has been restored and enclosed (1872). REMINISCENCES OF LOCKERBIE. I23 Its closes mirk,* its stumpy kirk, its fu' an' thrang kirkyard, Where caul' an' deep some dreamless sleep I wish dour death had spared. A hame to me was Lockerbie when half its roofs were theek, An' jeests, an' jaums, an' gapin' lums, a' black- japann't wi' reek ; Whan monie were the middens nerr the whunstane- causey't street ; But cosie aye its hearthstanes lay afore the stranger's feet. Than Lockerbie had sichts to see at race times an' at fairs, Wi' Jocks an' Jeans, Strang chiel's an' queans, i' scores an' scores o' pairs ; An' gledging oot the roads aboot or the fair had weel begun. We'd watch the braw, braw lasses a' pu' on their hose an' shune. *The existence of "closes mirk" in Lockerbie may be disputed ; but the writer liolds one or two in liis recolleclion well suited to the taste of those who love the darkness rather than the light. 124 REMINISCENCES O' LOCKERBIE. I wadna' gie aul' Lockerbie for ony toon I ken, For kindly were the kimmers there, an' kindly too the men, — Atweel the bouk were kindly folk, an' some were gey an' queer, An' whilk remain an' whilk are gane I downa bide to spier. My thochts oft flee to Lockerbie at midnicht's waukrife hour, An' thickly flock aul' mem'ries back wi' heart upheesing power, An' schulemates dear, an' sweethearts fair, an' frien's o' days lang fled, I' shadowy train appear again like phantoms roun' my bed. There was gude aul' Jeanie Kennedy, an' Jimmie Rule, the blin', Whase fiddle's squeal we liket weel, though't had nae tune but yin ; Lizzie Dobie, Winnie Stobie, Nickie Scott an' puir Jean Hine, An' aul' John Kerr, a lamiter, a pawkie frien' o' mine. REMINISCENCES OF LOCKERBIE. 1 25 Josie Weepers, Geordie Robison, Tam Bell, an' Cripple Peg, An' the puir man nocknamed " Providence," whae whiles gaed oot to beg. The Cameronian merchants twae, the wee yin an' the lang. An' Sawney Beck, wi's aul' white heck that scarce a fit could gang. There was roup-crier Awnro' Jiramison, whae hirplet in his walk, An' WuUie Smith, a carle o' pith whae squeekit in his talk, An' wi' a pow maist like a lowe the singin' nailer chiel', An' droothy twuns, twae burniewuns. Bob Johnston an' Jock Steel. Wullie Corrie, Sandy Moray, than a licht amang the Whigs, An' hairy-faced Bill Vairy, wi' his wife gaun sellin' pigs. 126 REMINISCENCES OF LOCKERBIE. Funny-speakin' Peggy Meekin, vvi' the meetin' nose an' chin, An' Robie Rule,*" aul' noisy tule, whase drum made sic a din. There was winkin' Sandy Linton, makin' peeries roun' an' fine, (Within his doors hoo monie hours o' merriment I min',) The pistol-fittit cooper carle whase name was aye a myth, An' the twae whase names were bye-words, WuUie White an' Michael Smith. Wi' monie mae than I may say, but yin I'd like to name (Gin I forget to him my debt, I'll hide my heid for shame,) Wi' great respec', the maister stric', an' danglin' frae his claws, His badge o' rule i' the thrang aul' schule, the weel-worn cutty tawse. * The town drummer and bellman, one of whose functions was to parade the streets, drumming the lieges of Lockerbie to bed at ten p.m., and out of bed at six a.m. — a custom which some thought "more honoured in the breach than the observance. " REMINISCENCES OF LOCKERBIE. 1 27 Sweethearts a score I whyles rhyme ow'r — their names, Bell, Barb'ra, Bess, Ann, Kirsty, Kate, May, Margaret, Jean, Georgie, Jamesie, Jess, Johanna, Helen, Hannah, Agnes, Maries twae or three, An' a pauchtie dame I'm sweir to name, the dearest yince to me. But monie a day has passed away, ay, monie a lang dark year, Sin I'd the chance o' smile or glance frae them lang syne sae dear, An' hoo they've fared, whase lots they've shared, or where the hames they've blest. May sometime be revealed to me — but noo it's just a mist. My schulemates ! hoo they're squander't noo, I haena words to say. Some east away, some wast away, they a' gaed far away — But what-for say they're wide away, or sunder't far abreed ? When, weel I wat, it's waur be that — the feck hae lang been deid. T28 REMINISCENCES OF LOCKERBIE. Aih me ! aih me ! aul' Lockerbie, my heart sinks cauld an' wae At the doolfu' thocht o' changes wrocht sin I speel't Mount Ulzie's brae ; But aye I'm fain to see't again, an' aye I hope an' pray To rest a wee at Lockerbie afore I'm ca't away. YAN O' T' ELECT. The following was most kindly seut to me by a gentleman well known in VVest Cumberland who has, from boyhood, been a keen and judicious observer of the peculiarities of thought and speech prevailing amongst his unsophisticated and unlettered neighbours ; and who has also favoured me with extensive contributions to my stock of anecdotes illus- trating the humourous side of rustic life in our common county. This remarkable [)iece possesses a higher value than any of my dialect productions, amongst which it appears, as being the veritable words used by one speaking the Cumberland vernacular and nothing else ; and also as an exposition and powerful expression of the opinions on the doctrine referred to that prevails amongst his class, who are generally very matter-of-fact, and impatient of anything that transcends their power of apprehension or that goes beyond the grasp of their every-day sense. The old man's self-laudation, when put upon his mettle, is perhaps the most characteristic point in the sketch. BOUT five or six years ago a gentleman entered a station of one of our local rail- ways, and found the worthy station master (whose original occupation was that of a small Cumberland farmer,) in a state of great excitement, 9 13-0 YAN O' t' elect. He enquired the cause, and received a reply of which the following is a verbatim report, committed to paper immediately afterwards. We must premise that Dr. was a well known amateur preacher, — a really benevolent man, who did good in his way, but had no charity for the opinions of others, and was ever intruding his views and advice on all who came in contact with him, and believed all who differed from him destined to perdition. The extreme Calvinistic doctrine of election and repro- bation was a perfect mania with him. On this occasion he was accompanied by his servant, a man of sleek aspect, who distributed tracts, etc., for his master. " What's t' matter wi' me ? Wey, theear matter plenty ! That Dr. com' here aboot hoaf an oor sen to tak' t' train. I was stan'in' at t' time aback o' t' ticket wole, an' what d'ye think he says; — he says, says he, 'Isaac, you are a very wicked old man, and will most certainly be damned; you are worse than Cass (then under sentence of death in Carlisle gaol) — you are worse than a murderer.' Says I, 'Me war' ner a murderer ! What the sham' an' hangment d'ye mean be that?' Says he, 'I mean this, old man ; it has been elected from the beginning that certain men shall be saved, and certain shall be lost. You are among the latter, and you will most certainly be damned.' Says I, 'An' what 'ill come o' you ? ' Says he, ' Oh, Christ YAN O' T' elect. 131 elected me many years ago.' 'Then,' says I, 'I think he mead a varra feckless choice ; but if it be sooa, I wad like to know what I've deun 'at I's to be damned ! I've been weddit abeun forty year, an' I've hed twelve barnes, an' I browte them o' up weel, an' I edicated them weel, an' they've o' turn't oot weel ; I've wrowte hard o' me life, an' I niver wrang't a man oot of a ho'penny — what mair can a man deu?' Says he, 'Isaac, you might do much more, you might follow the teaching of the Bible; you might sell all you have and give it to the poor.' Says I, 'Sell o' 'at I hev an' give 't to t' poor ! Is I to sell t' bed fray anonder me wife 'at she's sleept on for forty year ? Is I to sell t' chair fray anonder her 'at she's sitten on for forty year, an' turn her oot intil a dike gutter ? What kind o' religion is ther' i' that?' Says he, 'Oh, the Lord would provide for you.' Says I, 'The Lord provide for me ! Wad t' Lord finnd me wid a new bed an' a new chair? — an' if he dud, I wad likely hev to sell them ower agean ! Sell o' 'at I hev an' gi' 't to t' poor ! Do you sell o' 'zX. you hev an' gi' 't to t' poor ! I niver hard tell o' ye sellin' o' 'at you hev an' gi'in' 't to t' poor ! They tell me you hev atween fowrteen an' fifteen hunder't a year, — an' mebbee ye may, for owte I know, gi'e away — we'll say, a hunder't a year, an' that'll be t' ootside be a gay bit. — Do you co' that sellin' o' '2X you hev an' gi'n' to t' poor. I tell ye, you're a rich man, an' I's no'but a poor an'. 132 YAN O' T ELECT, wi' a loosey ten shillin' a week to leave on ; bit, accordin' to what I hev, I consider mysel' to be beath a nowbler an' a generouser fella ner you irr ! Noo, theear a poor Irish family 'at leeves nar oor hoose, an' ivery week end we send them o' t' scraps o' meat an' 'taties 'at we ha'e left, forby udder things ; — that's far mair, accordin' to what I've gitten, ner your hunder't a 'ear ! You talk aboot me bein' damned. Noo, I's neea scholar, bit I've read t' Bible for o' that, an' I've read 'at theear two mak' o' fwok 'at 'ill be damned — yan's leears, an' t' tudder's hypocrites. Noo, I'll preiiv 'at you're beath. You're a leear for sayin' 'at I was war' ner a murderer i' Carlisle gaol, an' you're a hypo- crite for sayin' seea when you knew you were leein' ! I know hoo you mak' o' fwok argies — you relit t' Scriptur' through an' through to finnd owte 'at suits y6, an' than ye throw o' t' tudder ower- bword. An' I tell you what, Mr. , theear anudder thing 'at I've read in t' Scriptur's — I've read 'at theear to be a day o' judgment. Noo, you chaps say 'at it's o' settl't afoorhan' what's to cum on us, whoa's to be seav'c an' whoa's to be damned. You say you're to be seav't an' I's to be damned. Noo, what's t' use of a day o' judgment if it's o' settl't afoorhan'? Ther' 'ill be nowte to judge aboot ! I'll tell ye' what, Mr. , theear will be a day o' judgment, an' beath you an' me 'ill ha'e to mak' oor appearance ; an' I doon't know bit upon YAN o t' ?:lect. 133 the whol' rii Stan' full oot t' better chance o' t' two ! An' what's t' use, I wad like to know, o' you ga'n an' preachin' i' that . girt leath o' yours of a Sunday neet till a parshal o' taggelts, if it's o' fix'd what's to come on them?' Says he, 'Old man, I perceive you are a child of the devil.' Says I, 'Wey, mebbee ! Bit I'll tell you what, Mr. , t' divvel hesn't two better frin's in o' Cummerlan' ner you an' that man o' yours — an' which on ye 's t' bigger kneave I's suer I can't tak upon mysel' to say.' Just than t' train com' up, an' my gentleman slipes. Theear was a kind of a country chap stan'in' ootside, an' when t' train hed gone, he com' intil t' stashun hoose, an' says, says he, 'Is that yan o' thur Methody chaps ? ' 'No,' says I, ^ it's yan 0^ f Elect. r'' KEATY CURBISON'S CAT. AN OALD, OALD STWORY. !]E ATY Curbison'cat hed a whudderin' waow, A waow like a yowl, fit to freeten a man; An' t' leet iv it' e'e was a green glentin lowe — Iv it' (f'^, we may say, for it no'but hed yan. T' ya lug hed been rovven, an' hung like a cloot, While t' tudder stack up like t' cockad' iv a hat ; Lang whiskers like brussles spread o' roond it' snoot — It wosn't a beauty — Keate Curbison' cat ! Kekty Curbison' cat was a terror to t' toon — Till butt'ry an' pantry it may'd hed a kay. Intil ivery hoose, ayder up t' geat or doon, By air-wole or chimla it wummelt it' way. KEATY CURBISON's CAT. 1 35 For thievin' an' reavin' 'twas war' nor a fox, Ther' wasn't a hen-hoose it hedn't been at ; Young chickens, an' geslins, an' pigeons, an' ducks Wer' "ghem, ga'way tul't" to Keate Curbison' cat Keaty Curbison' cat like a tiger wad feight ; — When it' back was weel up an' o' ruddy for war, It wad lick a cur dog mair nor ten times it' weight, An' mongrels an' messans they dursn't cu nar. It hed leet of a trap, an' ya feiit was tean off. An' it' tail hed been dock't — but it dudn't mind that, It wad flee at owte whick 'at wad give it a lofe — A hero, i' hair, was Keate Curbison' cat. Keaty Curbison' cat hed of lives a lang lot — Ye ma' toak aboot nine — it hed ninety an' mair ; It was preuf agean puzzen or powder an' shot — - They hed buriet it yance, but it still dudn't care. It was tiet iv a meal-bag an' flung into t' beck, But t' bag it brong heam for it mistress a brat, Limpin',trailin' 't ahint it wi' t' string round it' neck — T' beck cudn't droon Keaty Curbison' cat. Kekty Curbison' cat browte oald Keaty to grief— Pooar body ! she nowder was cumly nor rich — An' t' neybors aboot settlet doon to t' belief 'At her cat was a divil an' she was a witch. 136 KEATY CURBISON'S CAT. An' they said, "Let us swum her i' t' tarn," an' they dud ; She sworn a lal bit, an' than droon't like a rat, An' t' cat aboot t' spot sworn as lang as it cud ; An' finish't at last was Keate Curbison' cat. NOTE. I.remember reading somewhere the story of one of the many- old women so treated, in the wisdom of our ancestors, who was drowned while undergoing the common ordeal of being bound and thrown into deep water — and her cat, supposed to be her familiar spirit, swimming in circles over the place where she sank till it became exhausted and was also drowned. A story which made a lasting impression on my young imagination. 137 JOSEPH THOMPSON'S THUMB. AN OLD HARRINGTON STORY. Jwosep' Thompson leev't lang up at Harrin'ton toon,(i) An' a weel to dee, throughly oald marrow was Joe, Wid a neive like a neaf, an' a feace like a moon, An' a shap', standing' €ip, like a tee-tak-up-o'. Jwosep' Thompson hed ola's been hearty an' stoot. But trubble o' sum mak's gay sarten to cum, An'when threescwore an'itwo he hed just coontit oot, He was terrably tyl't wid a gedderin' thumb. For it feister't an' wark't wid sa headless a stoon, 'At rist he gat nin for't by neet nor by day; But he rantit aboot, or he reav't up an' doon, Fairly greknin' his life an' fwoke's patience away. 138 JOSEPH Thompson's thumb. Ther' wer' pokey oald wives aboot Harrin'ton than, An' a varst of advice, o' free gratis, he gat ; But he gat nea 'mends, dudn't t' pooar oald man, An' he fail't varra sair iv his leuks and his fat. He seeken't at meat, — nay, he'd bowk at a speun! An' his beiard he letgrowe Uke a Turk or a gwoat, An' he squeak't iv his toak Uke a fiddle oot o' teun, An' like bags full o' nowte hung his britches an' cwoat. But o' things they telt him Joe triet tuU his thumb — Sec as cerat', an' yal-grunds, an turmets an' skarn, Screap't 'taties, an' 'bacca, an' pooder wid rum, An reuts 'at they raik't oot o' t' boddom o' t' tarn. An' fegs, an' bog-unnion, an' blackberry buds. An' carrots, an' puppies, an' teadsteuls, an' sneels, An' soave mead wid rozzle an' meal boil't i' suds. An' t' fat rwoastit oot o' beath hag-wurms an' eels. An' Strang reisty bakin, an' boil't cabbish skrunt. An' broon seap an' sugger, an' typstic, an' tar, An' he keept an' oald pultess of o' mak's upon't/^> Till Joe an' his thumb warn't nice to cu' nar. JOSEPH Thompson's thumb. 139 It was o' nea use — nut a crumb dud he mend ! An' t' parson co tuU him to pray an' to read, An' whisper, " I say, Jwosep'! think o' thy end!" — But he wadn't— he thowte of a doctor asteed. An' tul't' doctor he dreav iv his car — thumb an' o' — An' t' doctor said, " Well, ray lad— off this mun cum ! " An' he haggelt an' cot at his pultess-bleach't po'. Till Joe was mead shot of his murderin' thumb. T' doctor lapt up his hand varra fewsome an' reet. An' Joe, like a man, pait him weel for his job, An' creunin', "I's m'appen git sum rist to-neet," Joggelt beam, pleased as Punch, wid his thumb in his fob. An' to t' wife says he, "Tak' 't to t' churchyard oot o' geat. An' bury 't whoar I'll lig mysel' when I dee." An' she went wid a trooin an' lantern, leat. An' left it i' t' spot whoar Joe siid it mud be. Jwosep' to'k till his meat, for his hand mendit weel — (He bed gud healin' flesh, an' fine natur', bed Joe,)(3) He screkp't off his beurd — hegev ow'r wid his squeel,. An' was gittin' as pubble an roond as a bo'. T40 JOSEPH THOMPSON S THUMB. But just when he thowte o' his trubble was gean, A pain com' agean, war nor iver he'd fund,(^> -An' theear it keept burnin' an' bworin' i' t' bekn O' t' thumb 'at was buriet an' coald under t' grund. Jwosep' went back to t' doctor, an' t' oald wicket teul H'ard his teal, an' says he, wid a snurt an' a gurn, " If thy thumb's i' t' churchyard, thoo pooar priest- bodder't feul, Thoo ma' mak' thysel' suer while it bides it 'ill burn." He laid him sum plaisters an' soav on his po', An' gev him sum stuff to lig on tul't at beam; But nowte putten on tul't gev easement ttill Joe, For t' burnin' an' bworin' wer' iverly t' seam. An' it keept on sa bad, he turn't maffelt an' maiz't, An' sa wankle an' wake, 'at he to'k lull his bed, "Whoar, liggin' hoaf deid, ey, an' mair nor hoaf craiz't, He cud think aboot nowte but what t' doctor bed said. He triet nut to speak on't — he knew 'twasn't reet, But it ola's bead by him — his uppermor' thowte ; An' he yammer't at t' wife tuU she went back at neet To dig up t' oald thumb, an' brong't beam iv a cloot. JOSEPH THOMPSON'S THUMB, 14! They laid it i' t' gardin, an' hoc 't com' aboot Nowder t' mistress nor t' parson cud under-cum- stand. But sarten it was, fray that varra time oot, Sairy Jwosep' was bodder't na mair wid his hand. But Jwosep' was niver agean his oald sel': An' a quest'n com' up still whativer he tried, "If athumbi't' churchyard was sa bad, whoa cud tell What a corp putten in't o'togidder mud bide! " This he maddelt aboot ebben endways away — ■ As lang as he breath't it was ola's his drone ; An' t' wife hed na peace till he gat her to say He sud lig by his-sel' iv a field o' the'r oan. An' Joe tiet her up till her wurd iv his will, For theear suer aneuf when he dee't it was fund 'At he'd left o' tull hur, no'but if she'd fulfil His craze agean liggin' i' consecrate grund. An' Joe hed his way, for a square roughish stean(5) By t' dike, i' t' Sco'-lonnin', at this varra day. Tells whoar Jwosep' Thompson ligs whyet an' lean- Keep us weel fray sec doctors as Jwosep's, I pray! 142 JOSEPH THOMPSONS THUMB. An' keep us, I pray, fray o' wild wicket toak, Bringan bodder an' fasbment tull oald an' tuU yung. Jwosep' Thompson wad ristit wid Christian fwoke, If t' doctor he went tull hed hodden his tung ! NOTES. 1. Harrington Town, the ancient village about half a mile inland, is so called in distinction from Harrington Harbour, the small sea-port, which is modern. The heiress of the family which took its name and title from Harrington was mother of the Lord Bonville and Harrington, brother-in-law to the king-making Earl of Warwick. The manor was forfeited by the attainder of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, great-grandson of the said Lord Bonville, and father of Lady Jane Grey, and given by the Queen (Mary) to the Curwens of Workington, who still hold it. 2. Should this compendium of topical applications seem at all overcharged, I would state that it consists of well known popular remedies, mostly of some use, and falls far short, whether in variety, extravagance, orrepulsiveness of the multi- farious nostra recommended by amateurs of the healing art in Cumberland and the adjacent counties. The "poultice of o' maks" is not, as its name seems to imply, a compound, but a simple substance, which it is unnecessary to indicate more distinctly than to mention that it was generally turned to when pleasanter applications had failed. I have frequently heard old people extol its virtues as a promoter of suppuration, but I trust its use may now be classed with the " many precious rites and customs of our rural forefathers," which, as Words- worth has said, " are gone or stealing from us." JOSEPH Thompson's thumb. 143 3. This alludes to the popular belief, not altogether un- founded, that readiness in healing is connected with an easy disposition. 4. A delusion common enough after amputation. 5. The stone stood behind the hedge which on the western side fences the lane called Scaw-lonning, near High Har- rington. When I last saw it, in 1871, the subjoined inscrip- tion was quite distinct upon it — plainer, indeed, than any of similar date in the churchyard : — "Joseph Thompson may here be found Who would not lie in consecrated ground Died May 13th 1745 Aged 63 when he was alive" With the traditional account of the circumstances that caused this fancv of Joseph Thompson's, the details given in the rhyme coincide as closely as my recollections of a tale heard in boyhood enables me to make them. Since the first appearance of this, however, another version of the matter has been reported to me by old friends near the spot— but inasmuch as it does not account so perfectly as the old story for Joseph's objection to all consecrated ground, I feel bound to abide by my first choice. The, to me, new story tells that Joseph Thompson annoyed the clerk in the church so seriously by repeating the responses in a voice that quite drowned his, that at length the said functionary exclaimed during service — "'Is thoo t' dark, oris / t' dark? If thoo's t' dark, ciim up hear, an /'// cum doon th^ar !"■ — and, on Joseph's paying no attention to his appeal, supplemented it by assaulting him. The clergyman taking his clerk's side in the quarrel, Joseph Thompson declared he would never come near the church again, dead or alive, and kept his word. I think that my version is the better, whichever may be the truer tale. I have further been told that the stone 144 JOSEPH Thompson's thumb. formerly stood in the centre of the field — and on the land) coming into the possession of Mr. John Christian Curwen, the farmer waited upon that distinguished agriculturist to obtain permission to remove it to the hedge-side, and to- plough the field. When he was told the history of the monu- ment, and its inscription was recited to him, Mr. Curwen exclaimed, 7nore sua " Would not lie in consecrated ground L Then, plough him up ! D him, plough him up ! " 145 CURSTY BENN. Cursty Benn of Under-Skiddaw Leev't on t' land whoar he was bworn ; Eight-ty yacre, lea an' meedow — Forty, green-crop, seeds an' cworn. Cursty' wife, a fewsome body, Brong him barnes, some nine or ten, Menseful, meat-heal, fat an' ruddy ; — "Whoar's their like?" said Cursty Benn. Cursty hed ya mortal failin' — Whoa may say they've less nor that ? — Rayder fond was he o' trailin' Off frae heam an' bidin' leat. Fray Kes'ick Kit was ola's leatish ; Hoo that com' t' wife gat to ken, When i' t' market neets she'd nwotish Signs o' drink i' Cursty Benn. Cursty' wife was kind an' canny, Nowder gi'en to flyte nor fret ; " Weel aneuf," she said, " I ken he Mayn't be cured by sulks an' pet ; 10 146 CURSTY BENN. But I moon't sit by an' see him, Gear an' grun' spang-hew an' spen', I mun gang till Kes'ick wi' him !" Nowte agean't said Cursty Benn. When they dadg't away togidder, O' row't reet a canny bit ; Cursty, pleas't to market wid her, Tiped his pints, but dudn't sit. No'but for a bit it lastit— Sooa 't's been afoor an' sen ! When fwoke thowte she'd wiled him past it, TuU't agekn went Cursty Benn. — * Tull't agekn i' t' public-hooses, Whilk an' Cursty dudn't care ; Adam Gill's, or Mistress Boose's, T' Yak, t' Queen's Heed, or t' Hoonds an' Hare. Through them o' t' wife whiles went laitin' — Whiles, for hours an' hours an' en'. In their shandry sat she waitin', Coald on t' street, for Cursty Benn. Ya fine neet when leat she gat him — Fairly fworc'd to flyte, t' poor deam Lowsed her tongue reet freely at him, While t' oald yoad went stammerin' he^m. CURSTY BENN. 1 47 Whietly Kit bore her clatter, Nea back-wurd he'd gi'en her, when T' mear pu't up aside some watter ; — " Drink^ gud lass !" says Cursty Benn. Lang she dronk, an' lood she gruntit, Till a gay gud drain she'd hed ; Than as t' rwoad yance mair she fruntit, Cursty' wife tuU Cursty said — " Sees t'e, min ! that pooar oald mear, When she's full, she's t' sense to ken ; Can't thoo tak' a pattren bee her — Drink an! deun wVt, Cursty Benn. "Whey !" says Kit, "but turn that watter Infill yall, wid udder yoads Swattin' roond it — hoddin' at her — Tellin' her t' time mak's na odds — Shootin' oot, 'Here's te the', Cursty !' — (Mears is mbars — men's nowte but men !) But I durst lay a pund 'at durst Ee, She'd, sit on— like Cursty Ben !" NOTE. Of this anecdote different versions are current, and various localities are assigned to it^Scotch as well as English. I presume to consider, however, the Cumberland version, as given above, the best of all that have been given. TOM RAILTON'S WHITE SPATS. |PATS?" said Tom, "Nay ! I niver hed a par o' spats i' my life ; but yance I'd as nar as a toucher gitten two par; an' I's tell ye hoc it com' aboot 'at I dudn't. "Nut varra lang efter we wer' weddit, an oald uncle o' t' wife's com' ower t' fell frae Ireby to see us, an' stop wid us a bit. Ya ebenin' when we wer' sittin' crackin' away roond t' fire, some way or udder oor toak happen't to turn on men-fwoke's driss, t' change o' fashions, an' sec like ; an' oald uncle Geordie begon to brag 'at they used to driss far better when he was yung nor they dud than ; an' by way o' clinchin' his teal, he says, ' Can ye finnd me a smo' steatsman's sun noo-a-days 'at '11 worder six par o' white corduroy knee britches o' at yance !' ' Six par o' corduroy britches?' says I. 'Ey,' says he, 'corduroy britches, as white as drip !' *Whey, no !' says I, 'I wadn't ken whoar to leuk for a fellow 'at wad git six par o' britches of any mak' o' at yance?' 'Well than," says he, 'just rub yer TOM RAILTON S WHITE SPATS. 149 een clear, an' leuk hard to this side o' yer oan fire,' says he, ' an' ye'll see a fellow 'at beath wad an' dud git them ! When I furst begon to ride efter t' hoonds,' says he, ' I gat six par o' white cword britches, an' two par o' top beuts. T' beuts was worn oot many a year sen, but I've t' six par o' britches yit, laid bye, an' for owte I know they're as white as iver.' Wid that oor wife spak up — she thowte a vast mair aboot my leuks than nor she does noo — an' she says, ' Uncle George,' says she, 'will ye iver weear yer white britches agean!' ' Nay, my lass,' says he, * I think my white britches days is gaily weel ower, but what o' that?' 'O, nowte,' says she, ' but I've a nwotion 'at Tom here wadn't misbecome white britches an' top beuts, when he's ridin' aboot ; an' as they're o' nea use till yersel' noo, ye'd better send them ower till him.' ' Whe — e — ey ! ' says he, iv a dronin' soort of a way, ' Whey ! Whey ! but m'appen they willn't gang on him,' says he. ' O ! ' says she, ' but ye know we med mebbe let them oot a bit, an' mak' them gang on him.' 'Well, well,' says her uncle, ' I'll send him ya par on them to try, an' if they fit, an' he likes them, he may hev mair efter.' An' sure aneuf, when he went back heam ageJln, he sent a par on them ower, as he said, as white as drip; an' we beath thowte he mud ha' been a parlish oald buck if he hed o' udder things to match when he gat sec a stock o' white britches. 150 TOM RAILTON*S WHITE SiPATS. "Nowte wad sarra t' wife, when we'd leukt at them, but I mud try them on theear an' than, an' see hoo they fittit. We gat a terrible begonk when we fund 'at they wadn't gang on at o'. He was rayder a wizzent oald fellow than, an' he'd been a wizzent fellow when he'd gean sproguein' aboot iv his white corduroys mebbe thurty year afoor, for t' knees on them, wid o' t' buttons lowse, wadn't come ower t' bo's o' my legs, an' what was warse nor o' t' tudder, ther was nowte left o' t' seame to let them oot wid. Sooa they wer laid bye be theirsel's at oor hoose, just as t' tudder five par on them wer liggin' laid bye togidder at Ireby. "A gay while efter that, when I'd forgitten o' aboot t' white britches, an oald crony o' mine chanced to be iv oor part, an' co't to see us, an' stopt o' neet. We nwotish't 'at he hed shoes on, an' t' bonniest spats we'd iver owder on us seen ; for they fittit roond his ancles an' ower his shoe tops widoot ayder a lirk or a lowse spot ; an' I said, ' Charley,' says I, 'whoariver did th manish to git sec fitters as them?' 'O!' says he, ' I hed t' pattren on them frae Scotland, an' my sister maks them for me as I want them.' 'Thy sister maks them!' says I, 'Whey, I wad ha' sworn thoo'd been to t' varra heid tailior i' Whitehebben for them !' 'Well,' says he, ' t' pattren's sa plain an' simple 'at she cuts them oot by it, an' mak's them quite easy ; an', as ye say, they fit as weel as if t' best tailior i' t' land TOM railton's white spats. 151 hed been at t' makin' on them. But if ye like, I'll send ye t' pattren by post, an' Mistress Railton may try her hand at them for thee.' "Well, t' pattren o' t' spats com, as Charley promish't it sud, an' efter she'd leiik't it weel ower, an' fittit it on my feut, t' wife clap't her hands an' shootit, ' I can dee't, Tom ! I can dee't ! an' thoo sail hev a par o' white spats. There's nowte maks a man leuk sa like a gentleman as clean white spats ! Did t'e iver see Dr. Dick Ringer o' Cocker- mouth ? Well, what was't 'at mead him ola's leuk cleaner, an' breeter, an' fresher, an' better-like nor anybody theear? Whey, nowte at o' else but t' white spats 'at he used to weear ivery day ! I'll mak thee a par o' spats oot o' pooar oald uncle Geordie's corduroys 'at wadn't gang on the', an' I'll mak them i' time for the' to put on when thoo gangs to Peerith nixt market day!' I so' it was nea use sayin' she sudn't, if I'd been that way inclined, an' I wasn't; sooa she set to wark off hand, an' ripp't doon t' white breeks, an' pin't Charley's pattren on t' death, an' cot it up by 't ; an' as her heart was set on t' job, she hed t' spats finish't lang afooar t' time she said. When we com to try them on, yan on them was a varra decent fit, but t' tudder wasn't : it seem't to stand off whoar it sud sit clwose, an' to sit clwose whoar it sudn't; an' it was a gay while afooar we fund oot t' reason on't. But I happn't, at last, to glime up at hur, an' ther 152 TOM railton's white spats. was mair trubble iv her fekce ner I'd iver seen afooar, 'Bliss thy heart, Mary !' says I, 'whativer's t' matter wid the' ? Thoo leuks as if thy poddish was welsh?' 'Doesn't thoo see?' she says. 'Can tb nut see 'at I've mead them bealh for t' seam feiit? Whoar's thy eyes, thoo mafiflin?' says she, tackin' it oot o' me acoase she was mad at hersel', 'Whoar's t' een on the', I wunder, 'at thoo doesn't see t' buttons is at t' inside o' t' ya feut, an' t' ootside o' t'tudder?' 'By jing,' says I, 'an' seea they urr ! Thoo hes mead a fist on't ! Thoo hes tailior't till a bonnie end ! If this be thy tailiorin', I think thoo'd better stick till thy hoose-keepin' wark for t' rist o' thy life !' But I so' t' watter gedderin' iv her eyes, an' I so' 'at it no'but wantit anudder wurd or two to mak' her blurt reet oot, an' seea I said nea mair. O' at yance she breeten't up agean, an' pot her arm roond my neck an' ga'e me a kiss, an' said, ' Niver fret aboot it, Tom lad,' says she, ' ther's aneuf left o' t' oald britches to mak anudder par o' spats. Thoo's gitten two for t' reet felit, an' thoo sail hev two for t' left, an' than thoo need niver gang frae heam adoot white spats to thy feet, for t' ya par 'ill wesh t' tudder, thoo sees !' " I thowte I was ga'n to be set up wi' spats for sure, for she went at t' oald corduroy agean feurcer nor iver, an' hed two mair mead afooar I kent whoar I was. She hed them o' wesh't an' iron't, an' straps putten on them, ruddy for ga'n to church o' t' Sunday TOM railton's white spats. 153 mwornin'; but loavin' bliss us o' weel ! if she hedn't gean an' mead o' t' fower for t' reet feut, an' left me just as far off hevin' spats to my feet as iver. Mad as we war, we beath brast oot laughin', an' laugh't tull hur laugh hed rayder less of a cry in't nor it hed at t' furst, an' than says I, 'What's to be deun noo, Mally?' I says. ' Urr we to send till Ireby for anudder par o' t' drip white corduroys, an' hev fower par o' spats ? I is ga'n to be weel spattit i' t' lang run !' ' Nay,' says she, ' I'll spat the' na mair spats ; I'll lig thur i' my oan top-dro'er, an' when- iver I see them they'll be a warnin' to me nut to mell wi' wark 'at I hevn't been browte up till. Fwoke says it taks nine tailiors to mak' a man, but I divn't think anybody hes tell't us hoc many women it may tak' to mak' a tailior; but whedder it tak's many or few, thoo may mak' thysel' seaf an' suer 'at thy wife willn't be yan o' them.' An' that was t' way I was deun oot o' my chance o' gittin' two par o' spats." A SNECK POSSET. KillVER agean, Eddy ! Niver agean ! If I moo'n't hev a lad 'at 'ill coort me my lean, At 'ill hod by ya sweetheart, an' me be that yan, I mun bide as I is till I dee. Thu's coddel't Keat Crosstet, Ann Atchin, Jane Blair, 'Becca Rudd, Mary Mo'son, Ruth Lytle, an' mair ; Thoo says it's o' fun, an' sec fun ma' be fair, But it doesn't seem jannic to me. I favour't the', ey ! abeun o' t' lads aboot ; I thowte, like a feiil, 'at thu'd sing-elt me oot Frae t' tudders, an' I've been reet sarra't, na doobt, To trust sec a taistrel as thee. Reet sarra't ? Ey, mess ! I was warn't gaily weel, — I was tel't hoo thu'd felil't an' than left Grekcy Peile; An' what reet hed I to believe thoo wad deal Ayder fairer or fonter wid me ? A SNECK POSSET. I55 Fwoke tel't me thoo com of a slape, sneeky breed; — 'At a tungue sec as thine seldom hung iv a held ; — 'At twice i' three times when thoo saidowte, thoo leed; But I fanciet that hardly cud be. For 'Speatry, I kent, was a hard-spocken pleace, An' I thowte 'at, may-hap, thu'd been wrang't aboot Greace ; — God help me! — I thowte I read t' truth i' thy feace, When thoo swore thoo cared only for me. We're silly, us lasses — We're maizlins, I know ! We're t' meast tean wi' them 'at oor frinds meast misco' ; An' when we're tean in, we've to shear what we sow, An' to rue sec mistaks till we dee. But leet com' i' time, an' it o' com' at yance, I so't fair aneuf, but, to give thee ya chance, I went by mysel' to Jane Loncaster's dance, Just to see if thoo dud care for me. Theear, hoaf oot o' seet, a bye corner I teuk, An' thoo dudn't cu' nar ; nut a smile nor a leuk Dud te' kest to poor me, as I dark't i' my neuk, An' wunder't I'd trustit i' thee. Thoo stack till Bess Bruff like a cockelty bur; An' she cutter't wi' thee just to greg Harry Scurr; — When t' cushi'n com' in thoo teuk t' cushi'n tull hur. An' thoo glimed, when thoo kiss't her, at me. 15^ A SNECK POSSET. But Harry an' Bess mekd it up iv a crack ; An' noo, 'at thu's hed a begonk, thoo cu's back ; But if thiXs fund oot thine^ I've fund oot my mistak', An', I'll ho'd mysel' heart-hekl an' free. Sooa Neddy, gud lad, dro' thy steak, an' be ga'n ; Amang thy oald chances thu's m'appen finnd yan Ma' be fain, though thus snaip't her, to hev the' agean. But, Eddy ! that yan isn't me. 157 REMARKS ON THE CUMBERLAND DIALECT. The dialect of Cumberland, spoken in its purity only in the central parts of the county, may be admitted to be deficient in euphony ; and, remarkable as it is for force and expression, its harshness of cadence renders it scarcely available for any poetry except the humorous or descriptive. By those unac- customed or unattached to it, it may probably be considered hard and coarse even in prose competitions. Its principal peculiarity is to be found in its vowel and diphthongal sounds, which, for the most part, are made either broader or deeper than in ordinary pronunciation ; and this may be indicated with sufficient ease and distinctness, by means of phonetic spelling, when written or printed, to enable any reader, with a little practice and care, to pronounce broad Cumbrian with tolerable correctness. The most important instances of this vowel peculiarity exist in the pronunciation of the long A and the short U, the former of which is sounded generally _ya/^ and the latter uh ; thus to secure the Cumbrian pronunciation — ale must be spelled _y(Z/^/, and 2LC&yahss, lame is made lyahm, name nyakm, etc., etc., all monosyllabic, or, to prevent the accent being laid upon the Y, and so making two syllables, these words might be written leahm, Jieahm. As regards the U, the first syllable of cunning is in Cumberland lengthened out exactly to the sound of the German kuhn, and come is made kuhm. These sounds can only be conveyed by the interposition of the II, 158 When I first scribbled in the folk-speech of Cumberland I wrote it after this fashion, and the efficacy of the method was proved by the fact that intelligent or painstaking readers, knowing nothing of the dialect as spoken, were able to repeat the verses called "Branthet Neuk Boggle" in a style that might have satisfied even an exigeant professor of our Cum- brian philology. The Cumberland dialect so written, however, had a remark- ably ugly and uncouth appearance when printed, and the remonstrances of my present provincial publisher induced me to abandon the H orthography, and endeavour to secure the proper pronunciations by means of accent marks, spelling the words instanced above ledm, necim, cunniyig, cum, et similia similiter. The broad O and Oa are in our Cumberland speech altered into ea, with the sound of yah, home becoming heam, broad — bread, etc. There are exceptions to this as to most other rules, for lane is rendered as Iwoan or lonm7i', choke as chowk, croak as crowk, road as r'wad, and more as mair, while shore has its ordinary sound. Almost in reversal of these changes, the broad A as in ball, a dance; Al, as in walk; Aw, as in awful, are sounded like the broad O or Oa, thus — boall, woak, oafid, etc. ; but the L is preserved in oala^s for always, scalp is pronounced scmvpe, and ball, a plaything, is bo\ all — oa! , call — co\ hall — ho\ etc., etc. Ea gets the pronunciation properly given to it in veal and mead; so that bread h breed, head — heed, dead — deed, etc., etc. ; but when this diphthong precedes R, as in bear, wear, etc., it becomes disyllabic like fear, as commonly pronounced, and mare too becomes viee-ar. Ei becomes ay, either and neither becoming ayder and nayder, sometimes cnvder and ncnvder. The broad I in bite, write, etc., the Cumbrians deepen almost as is done by well educated people in the southern counties, with notable exceptions however, the first personal 159 pronoun being madeAA; Igli, shortened and gutturalized by the Scotch, being sounded like £e, night being fieef, light — leei, etc., and find and bind pronounced like wind, viz. — flnnd, binnd. The double O is generally pronounced eu, or more exactly yuh shortly, fool being_/w/, school — scheul, etc., in one short syllable. Do and too are often pronounced according to this rule, but almost equally often are made into dee and tee, while the preposition to is for the most part changed into till or tull. With Ou and Ow Cumberland speakers are somewhat capricious, round being made roond, town — toon, etc., but found and bound become fund and bund, ought — owte, nought — noivte, etc. O with the sound of the short U is treated in a very arbitrary manner : one being called yan, nont—nin, and oven — yubben. Qu is generally softened into wh, aspirated distinctly : quick being pronounced whick, and quite — white, and Quaker, with old people, is Whaker. Y is sometimes converted into G, as in garth for yard, gam for yarn ; and again that habit is sometimes reversed, as in yatt for gate. The corruptions or variations of consonants are not so marked as those of vowels. The most notable are the hardening of Th into Dd, making father^izaV^r, mother — mudder, etc. ; and the dropping of the two last of the three letters in the definite article, well illustrated by the White- . haven boy's reply to an enquiry as to what ships had come in : " T 'Enry, an' f 'Ebe, an' f Ant, an' f Atlas, an' f Aurora ;" i.e., the Henry, the Hebe, the Ant, the Atlas, and the Aurora. Then we may notice the discarding of the final letter from" all words ending raing, and changing that syllable in all present participles to an, the participle of pass being in Cumberland more like the French passaw^" than the English pass/'w^ ; also the final age being made ish, as in cabbish for i6o cabbage, manish for manage, etc. ; the final 07is too under- going the same change, as in faymish for famous, parlish for parlous, etc. ; also idge as in poddish for porridge, or primarily, potage. V is often converted into B or Bb — evening, eleven, White- haven, being called ebeiiin\ elebben, Whitehebben, etc. These corruptions and deviations comprise nearly all the points vi^herein the dialect of Cumberland differs in sound and pronunciation from ordinary English speech ; and set forth roughly, as they are, (abbreviations explaining themselves, and archaic words being given in a concise glossary,) they may, with a little attention, enable the uninitiated reader to understand all the Cumbrian pieces contained in this volume. Some irregular verbs, as well as some not commonly classed as irregular, are curiously varied in Cumbrian conjugations. I give a few of these, written down as they rise in recollection, and arranged Lindley Murray's fashion. Present. Past. Past Participle. Break ' Brack Brocken Bring Brong and Brang Browte Brust (burst) Brast Brossen Cleed (clothe) Clead Cled Clim' Clam Clim't and Clum Cum (come) Com Cum't Cut Cot and Cuttit Cutten Drink Drunk Drucken and Drocken .Drive Dreav Druvven Fling Flang Flung Git (get) Gat Gitten Gi'e (give) Gev Gi'en Ga and Gang (go) Went Ge^n Greet (weep) Grat Grutten Hit Hat and Hot Hitten Ho'd (hold) Hodit Hodden Let Let Letten i6i Present. Past. Past Participle. Kest (cast) Kest Kessen Knead Knod Knodden May May'd or Med Mun (must) Mud Put Pot Putten Rive Reav Ruvven Run Ron Run Rise Reuz Ruzzen Stick Stack Stuck and Stucken Set Set Setten Tak Tok and Teiik Tocken Thrust Thrustit Throssen Minced or modified oatlis are r-emarkably numerous in Cumberland, and in very common use. Most of them have descended from the old Roman Catholic times Vi'hen, as Dr. Newman in speaking of Roman Catholic populations of the present day, avers, habitual swearing indicated piety and reverence for things sacred, and not profaneness. As heard now in Cumberland, these ancient expletives are as void of piety as of profanity, being used without any knowledge of their original signification, and merely to add force to assever- ation, and to express, as varied in tone, surprise, disgust, pleasure, or indeed almost any feeling or emotion whatever. I append a few of these with their probable,^ often obvious, etyma : — God's curse God, and God's Son Ibid. Ibid. God's wounds and death Loving Jesus God's sundry, or wondrous, wounds God's blame fall on you 'Scush or Skerse Goy, and Goy Sonn Gock, and Gock Sonn 'Od's wuns an' deeth Loavin' days 'Od's wintry wuns 'Od's wyte leet on thee 'Od rot, 'Od sink, etc., etc. See Dickinson^ s Glossary 11 l62 ' Marry By Mary ' Mess By the Mass Dar, Dy, and Dyne Damn Faix, and Faikins Faith Cock's wunters God's wonders Loze Lord My song My soul Deil bin Devil be in The pecuharities of the Scottish dialect have been explained by many writers, much more ably, as well as more at length, than may be done by me, Therefore the only assistance towards the understanding my Scots rhymes that I offer the reader is to intermingle, in the glossary appended, such Scottish words as I have used, with those proper to Cumber- land and those common to both sides the Border. The brief glossary here given consists, then, only of the words used in Scotland or Cumberland, or both, w"hich appear in the foregoing Tales and Rhymes ; corruptions and abbrevi- ations being omitted. The significations I alone am answer- able for, having, in nearly all instances, adopted the sense I can recollect the words being used in by the people speaking them in their daily talk. The quotations are intended to make these significations more intelligible, and also, by showing the manner in which the words so illustrated are used by others, to prove that the meanings I have so adopted are generally correct. i43 A GLOSSARY OF SCOTCH AND CUMBRIAN WORDS OCCURRING IN THE RHYMES AND TALES CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME. C signifies that the word it follows is Cumbrian. S that it is Scotch. S and C that it is common to both dialects. Addle, or Eddle, C, earn. " What, I mun tak' my flale wimma, antres I git a job er two a threyshin, Ise addle summat be't." Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. AiBLiNS, S, perhaps. " But aiblins neighbour ye have not the heart, An' dovvna eithly wi' the cunzie part." Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. Aneuf, C, enough in quantity. Anew, C, enough in number. "We've anew o' sec as thee, an' atieuf q' what thou brings wid thee." — Said to a Hawker. Aslew, C, amiss, out of course, "There's nowte sa far aslew but gud manishment med set it streight," — Proverb. 164 Atweel, S, I wot well. Used to strengthen either affirm- ation or denial. " Are they a' Johnie's ? Eh ! atweel na ; Twa o' them were born When Johnie was awa'. " Song — We're a' Nodin'. B. Back-end, C, late autumn. "T' hack-end'' s ola's t' bare-end." — Proverb. Bain, C, near, convenient. Used in most of the northern counties. . "I swin'd my ways t' bainest gtezi ower t' fell into Sleddle," Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. Bairn, S, a child ; Barne, C. " Maidens' bairns are aye weel bred." — Proverb. " They hed barnes an' bits o' flesh persirv'd i' bottles as fwok does berries. " — Ritson. The Borrowdale Letter. Barken't, S and C, encrusted. "For God-seak put that barne in t' dolly-tub an' scrub't : it's fairly barken^ t ower wid miick." — Said of a rarely washed infant. Barrow-back't, C, bent by heavy work, such as wheeling loaded barroivs. "He's gitten bow't an' barrow-backet, an' wizzent sair o' t' feice." — Heard at Ullock. Batt, S and C, a blow. " At ya batt he fell't me flat, 'Od dye ! he'll be a darter. " Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Baul', S, bold, fierce. "The first fuff o' a fat haggis is aye the baid'est.^' — Proverb. BeXdless, C. This adjective is used to signify intolerable in suff"ering, and also impatient of pain — thus "He says t' pain's headless, but than he's a hecidless body." Said to a Doctor. i6s Beck, C, a rivulet. "Change is leetsome, if it's no'but oot o' bed intil t' beck" Proverb. Beel, C, to bellow like a bull. "Summet tha caw^'t roworgins began a beelin' like a hundred mad bulls, an' as many lal lads i' ther sarks began a screamin' murder, I. think, for ivery beel was like thunner. " Ritson. The Borrowdale Letter, Begonk, Old S and C, a disappointment, "a sell." " Now Cromwell's gane to Nick ; an' ane ca'd Monk Has played the Rumple a richt slee begunk.'" Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. Begood, S, began. " The baronne he begood to bob, No longer colde he stande." Hogg. Lyttil Pynkie. Beild, S and C, shelter. " Better a wee buss than nae beild. " Proverb. Burns' s Motto. " Weal becalt frae t' fell wind by some heeh crags." Rev. T. Clarke. T' Reysh-bearin'. Bein, S, snug, comfortable. ' ' Were your bein rooms as thinly stocked as mine, Less ye wad lose, and less wad ye repine." Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. Belyve, S and C, by and bye. ' ^Belyve the elder bairns come drapping in. " Burns. Cotter's Saturday Night. Ben, S, the inner part of a house. "It's ill bringing but what's no ben."" — Proverb. Bent, S, a coarse hard grass ; applied also to the sterile land where bent grows. ' ' Gin ye'U consent to scour the bent Wi' me, a rantin' Hielandman. " Hamilton, Song. i66 BiLLiE, S, brother. " Be of gude cheir, now, Archie lad ! Be of gude cheir, now, dear billie. " Ballad — Archie o' Ca'field. BiNK, S, a bench for sitting upon. " For faut o' wise fouk feuls sit on bittks." — Proverb. BiRL, S, to drink in conviviality ; also to spend money in drinking. " When they were at the supper set An' birliit' at the wine. " Ballad — Young Huntin. " She took me in, she set me doon, An' hecht to keep me lawin' free ; But, cunning carlin' that she was. She gar't me birl my bawbee. " Song — Andro' wi' his cutty gun. In the Lake Country the attendants who serve the drink round at sheep-shearings, etc., are called burlers. BiRKiE, S, a brisk forward fellow. " See yon birkie ca'd a lord." Burns. For a' that. Black-kites, C, bramble berries ; in some parts called brummel-kites, in others black-bums. "I wantit grog — she brong m6 black-kite wine." Heard at Harrington. Blate, S and C, bashful. "A blate cat maks a proud mouse." — Proverb. " I've wonder't oft o' leate What made thee leiik sea skar an' seem sea hleate. " Graham. Gwordie and Will. Bleeze, S and C, flame. " In winter, when he toils through wind and rain, A bleezM ingle and a clean hearth-stane. " Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. 167 Bleiher, S and C, noisy silly talk, loquacity. ' ' A lawyer neist, wi' bletheriri gab, Wha speeches wove like onie wab." Old Song — Jenny's Bawbee. " Chaps like these, like butterflees, Win owte wi' pride an' blether." Anderson. Laird Johnie. Blink, S, glance. " The evening sun was ne'er sae sweet As was the blink o' Phemie's e'e." Burns. Blythe was she. Blurt, C ; Blirt, S, sudden burst of weeping, etc. " The lassie lost her silken snood, Whilk cost her monie a blirt an' bleer e'e." Song. Blythe, S, cheerful, happy. "A blythe heart mak's a blooming look." — Proverb. BooD, S, behoved to. " Weel leese me o' you, Souter Jock, For tricks ye bood be tryin'." Ferguson, The Election. BouNE, Old S, to journey or go. " Win up ! win up, now, Hynde Etin, Win up, an' boune wi' me." Ballad — Hynde Etin. Bowk, S and C, to retch. " For aye ye sup the brose at e'en Ye bowk at in the morn, lassie. " Song — Ye ha'e lain wrang, lassie. Brae, S, bank of a stream, brow. " 'Neath the brae the burnie jooks." Tannahill. Gloomy Winter. Brackin, C ; Breckan, S, the common fern (Pteris Aquilina). A lady near Hawkshead having bought a small fern plant at a -flower show, a neighbour exclaimed, "Three and sixpence for a lile brackin ! I'd ha' browte her a leead o' them for't !" " Round the sylvan fairy nooks Feathery breckans fringe the rocks." Tannahill. Gloomy Winter. i68 Brant, C, steep. "Old Man ! Old Man ! your sides are brant" The Old Man. Brat, S and G, apron; (used frequently for clothing in general). "To get them brats, then, ye maun toil an' spin." Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. "To see her whol'd stockings, her brat, an' her gown." Anderson. Our Sukey. Braw, S, fine, handsomely attired. " Upon the banks o' flowing Clyde The lasses busk them braw.'''' Burns. O' a' the Airts. Break, C, a joke, a bit of fun. "Joe Tyson teem't a pint o' yall doon Danny Towson' back. Wasn't that a break?''' — Heard at Dean. Buirdly, S, stout, strongly made. " They say ill ale has been the deid O' monie a buirdly loon. " Ferguson. Leith Races, Burn, S, a brook. " Beside that brig, out owre that bur?t. Where water bickereth bright and sheen. " Ballad — Thomas the Rhymer. BURNEWIN, S, a blacksmith (burn the wind). " An' burnewin comes on like death At every chaup." Burns. Scotch Drink. But, S, the outer apartment of a house. "The auld wife cried but the house, 'Jenny, come ben.' " Song — The Yellow Hair'd Laddie. But, S, without (probably from be out). "Beauty but bounty's but bauch. "■ — Proverb. But and, Old S, also, likewise. "Adieu, madame, my mother dear. But and ray sisters three." Ballad — Lord Maxwell's Good Night. 169 Byspel, C, a mischievous person. "It's a fair byspel 'at is't. It breaks o' 'at cums iv it geat." c Cabbish-skrunt, C; Kail-runt, S, the stalk of a cabbage. '■'Cabbish-skrunt pultess is grand for biles. Said by a rustic Doctor. Canny, C, (Connie in Furness, etc.) nice, attractive, pleasant. "God speed ye weel ! a cannier pair Ne'er kneel'd afore a priest." Miss Blamire. The Sailor Lad. Canny, S, gentle, careful. "Be canny wi' the cream." — A common legend on tea-ware. Canty, S, happy, cheerful. ^'Caniy war we ower yere kail, Toddy jugs an' draps o' ale." Hogg. The Laird o' Lamington. Carle, S, a vulgar man. " Auld gudeman ye're a drucken carle, a drucken carle." Sir A. Boswell. Song. Carlin, S, a coarse old woman ; feminine of Carle. On being told that the wives of the Scottish Judges claimed the title of "My Lady," their husbands being "My Lord," King James V. exclaimed : "I made the carles lords, but wha the deil made the carlins leddies?" Chafts, S and C, the jaws. " On Seaton crafts they bufif't their chafts, An' garrt them rin like daft, man." Skirvin. Tranent Muir, " At time when nowte but teeth was gawn. An' aw by th' chafts was tether't. " Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Chap, S, rap, strike or stroke. "An' quhan he cam' to Barnard's Ha' Would neither chap nor ca'." Ballad — Gilmorice. 17© Chiel', S, a man ; generally applied to young men. " Weel we lo'e the chieV we think Can get us tick or gi'e us drink." Ferguson. My Aul' Breeks. Clash, C and S, scandal, gossip. " The king, the laws, the reets o' man, The parish clash, the empire's ban. Stagg. New Year's Epistle. Clatter, S and C, superfluous, rapid or noisy talk. " He that talks till himsel' clatters till a feul. " — Proverb. Clink, C, a sounding blow. " An' brong Fisher Jemmy a clitik i' the lug.'' Anderson. Burgh Reaces. Clippin', C, sheep-shearing. A great festival on the larger dale farms. (For a description see "The Old Man," first edition.) Clemm'd, C, starved with hunger. A Lancashire and Cheshire word. Nixon, the Cheshire prophet, said he was going to London to be clemnid,'''' and was accidentally shut up in a closet with- out food, and there found dead — so fulfilling his prophecy. Clot-heed, C, blockhead. " I is ga'n to be a clot-heed — I's leavin' nin for mysel' ! " Anthony Gasgarth, carving a goose at a hunt dinner. Clowk, C, clutch or grasp greedily. " He mead a clowk at my neckcloth and missed it." Said after a fight. Cobbles, C, stones rounded by water-wear. " Smith Lytle fell oot wi' the cobbles, An' peel'd o' the bark off his shins. Anderson. The Cod beck Wedding. Coddle, C ; Cuddle, S, embrace. " I trimlin' steud an' dursn't speak, But fain wad coddled Peggy Penn." Anderson. Peggy Penn. " I've seen the day ye butter't my brose. An' cuddlet me late an' early." Old Song— The Deuk's dang owre wi' my Daidie. 171 Corbie, S, the carrion crow. "It's kittle shootin' at corbies or clergy." — Proverb. Crack, S and C, converse; also boast. "They crack' t djw&y like bourtree guns." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. "Keep oot o' his company that cracks o' his cheatrie." Proverb. Croodle, or Cruddle, S and C, crouch or shrink. "My bonnie wee croodliii doo." Old Song. "We sat doon an' grat under a hedge or a wo', o' cruddled togidder. " — Betty Yewdale. T' terrible Knitters i' Dent. Crouse, S, brisk, bold, "bumptious." "A cock's aye crotise on its ain midden-heed." — Proverb. Cushion dance, C, the finishing dance at a rural ball or merry-night. A young man, carrying a cushion, paces round the room in time to the appropriate tune, selects a girl, lays the cushion at her feet, and both kneel upon it and kiss, the fiddler making an extraordinary squeal during the operation. The girl then takes the cushion to another young man, who kisses her as before, and leaves her free to "link" with the first, and march round the room. This is repeated till the whole party is brought in, when they all form a circle, and "kiss out" in the same manner, sometimes varying it by the kissers sitting on two chairs, back to back, in the middle of the ring, and kissing over their shoulders — a trying process to bashful youth of either sex. CUTTIE, S, any thing short — as a spoon, pipe, etc. " Better sup wi' a aUtie nor want a speun." — Proverb. " Aul' Simon sat luntin' his cuttie. An' lowsin' his buttons for bed. " Andrew Scott. Simon and Janet. D Dadder, C, (Dodder in Furness, etc.) tremble, shiver. I once heard a Cumberland youth, at a supper table, say, indicating a "shape" of jelly, " I'll tak svim o' that dadderin' stuff." 172 Dadge, C, to plod along heavily. " Then dadged we to the bog owre meedows dree, To plet a sword and seevy cap for thee. " Relfh. Cursty and Peggy. Daft, S and C, foolish, silly. " Glower't at me as he'd been daft." Song — The carl cam ower the craft. " Ses I, 'A was niver larnt sec daftness.'' " Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. Daized, C, stupified, benumbed. " Theer war we stannin', dodderin' an' daiz't wi' cauld, as neer deead as macks nea matter." Betty Yewdale. T' terrible Knitters i' Dent. Dark, C, to lurk, keep unseen. " On her le^nly bed she toss'd her, Darkin' till the tempest ceas'd." Stagg. The Return. Darrak, C, day's-work. " An' as for a darrak in barn or in meedow, Whee match'd me when just i' my prime." Anderson. Twee auld Men. DiCHT, S, wipe, or cleanse. "An' aye she dicktit her father's bluidy wounds, when the blude ran reid as wine." Ballad — The Douglas Tragedy. Doff, C, (do off, Old English) undress, strip. " The bridesmaids o' wi' fusslin care The bride, hauf-yieldin', doff't." Stagg. The Bride wain. Don, C, (do on, old English) to dress. " And up he rose, and he donn\i on his clothes, And he d'upp'd the chamber door." Hamlet. " He's nicer in his war-day duds Nor udders don^t i' aw their best." Anderson. Geordie Gill. 173 DoNK, C, damp. "It donks an' dozzles an' does, but niver cums iv any girt pell." — A Boatman, on the Ullswater weather. DooL, S, sadness. " Lang may I weep in dool an' sorrow." Hamilton. The Braes o' Yarrow. Douce, S and C, respectable, well-behaved. " An' now I'm grown sae cursed douce, I pray and ponder but the house." Burns. "The a'(7?/^^ dapper lanleady criet 'Eat, an' be welcome.'" Anderson. The Bleckell Murry-Neet. DouCHT, S, could ; DowE in the past tense. "They held the nose an' crook't the mou', An' doncht na bide the smell." Hogg. The Witch o' Fife. Dour, S, hard, stern. " I'll set her up on yon crab-tree, It's sour an' doicr, an' so is she." Old Rhyme. Dow, S, can, is able. "Gin we canna do as we wad, we maun do as we dowe." Proverb. DowLY, C, melancholy, dismal. "When we turn't round Windermere Watter heead, t' waves blash't seea dowly 'at we war fairly heart-brossen." Betty Ycwdale. T' terrible Knitters i' Dent. Dree, S, suffer ; C, slow, lingering, also to move slowly. ''Dree out the inch when ye've tholed the span." — Proverb. " Six dree year hed Susan languish'd Sen her Walter went away." Stagg. The Return. Drook, S, drench, " An' aye she took the tither sook To drook the stoury tow." Song — The weary pun' o' tow. 174 Drouthy, S, thirsty. " The well o' life is dribbling dry, An' drouthy, drouthy' s kimmer an' I." Song — My Kimmer and I. E Eerie, S, fearful, or calculated to cause superstitious fear or awe. " Gloomy, gloomy was the nicht, An' eerie was the way." Old Ballad — Young Tamlane. Egg, or Egg on, C, incite, urge. "He was a rare 4o;^-battle." — Dickinson. Lamplugh Club. Eldritch, S, unearthly. *' Quhan words he found, their eldritch sound Was like the norlan' blast." Dr. Jamieson. The Water Kelpie. Fash, S and C, trouble, annoy, bother (noun and verb). "Ye' re sair fashed haudin' naething together." — Proverb. " Oald clish ma clash, thou's nowt hv^Kfash, Ga heam to bed, 'Od dye thee !" Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Feal, S, comfortable. " Frae tap to tae that deeds me weel, An' haps mtfeal an' warm at e'en." Burns. My Spinning Wheel. Feck, S, a considerable quantity or number, most part. " Wae sucks for him that has nze/eck o' 't. '' Fei'gitson. Gude Braid Claith, Feckless, S and C, feeble, useless. "'Feckless fowk are aye fain." — Proverb. "A thowte A sud no'but meeak a varra feckless fend, if A was witch'd seek a parlish lang way fray heeam." Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. 175 Fells, C, hills. ' ' If there were ntz. fells there wad be nea deals. " — Proverb. Few, C, This word is hardly translatable, but means to set about a task in a manner likely to accomplish it. "I' t' chimla neuk some gay gud ban's. An' gaily ill to slocken, Set tea wi' porringers an' pans, hx\! feiift weel to get drucken." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Fewsome, C, capable-looking, workman-like. " She warm'd him up some keal, An' Ralph dud mak a wa.via.Jewsome meal." Graham. Gwordie and Will. Flaitch, C, Fleech, S, coax. Sometimes used as a noun, thus — " He's a {■dJvx flaitch when he wants owte."— Said of me. " She fleech' t him fairly to his bed By ca'in' him her burdie." Christ's Kirk on the Green. Flaucht, S, flash. " Ae 'a.xe-flaucht darted through the rain, Where a' was dark afore." Kirkpatrick Sharp. Murder of Carlaverock. Flay, C, Fley, S, to frighten. '^ Fleyin^ a bird 's no the gate to grip it." — Proverb. This word has its substantive form mflayajt — ■ A blue-devilled fellow at Coniston said he could not stay in his house because there v/3.s flayan in it. "Ey," said his mother, "If there isn't there will be — there 'ill be empty cupboards. Ther needn't be y^'kx flayan nor that ! " Fletherin, S, flattering. '^Fletkerin fowk's maistly fause fowk." — Proverb. Flipe, C, a hat rim. A retired sea-captain at Whitehaven used to be called '■'■Flipy Fisher," on account of his broad brim. 176 Flyte, S and C, scold. " An' gin she tak' the thing amiss, E'en let her flyte her fill, Jo." Song — Steer her up. Font, C, fond, foolishly attached, "spooney." " Whey, Gworge, thou's owder feul or font, To think o' sec a frow." Anderson. Betty Brown. FOORSETT, C, to get in front of and face, to intercept. A ghost used to haunt the "Crossgates" in Lamplugh, of which it was said, " Whativer way folk turns it foorsetts them." FoOTH and Foothy, S and C, abundance, well provided, plentifully stocked. " He's brought y^£7//i o' foreign trash, An' dibbled it in our yairdie. " Song — The wee wee German Lairdie. "It's 2l foothy hoose is Betty Turnbull's." Said by old Cuddy Wilson at Workington. Foregather, S, meet. " To bear the milk-bo wie nae pain was to me, When I at the hvsi}a.\}vW foi-egathered v^A^ thee." Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. FOKFOUCiiTEN, S, ovcr fatigued, exhausted. " I'm but like a forfouchten hound Has been fechtin' in a dirty syke. " Ballad— Hobbie Noble. Fratch, C, quarrel. " He's just z. fratchin\ feightin' feul." Ande}-son. Dick Waiters. P'usiONLESS, S, pithless, insipid. "God ! the aul' doited body's as fusionless as a docken ! " Michael Scott. Tom Cringle's Log. G Ga, C ; Gang, S and C, go. " I'll ^a^^" nae mair to yon toon." Burns, Song. 177 Gangrel, S, vagrant. "A merry coie O' randy gangrel bodies." Burns. The Jolly Beggars. Gar, S, make, compel. " The first Scots kirk that they cam' to They garr't the bells be rung ; The next Scots kirk that they cam' to They ^arr'/ the mass be sung." Ballad — The Gay Goss-hawk. Gay, C ; Gey, S, (adverb form. Gaily) tolerable, con- siderable. "Here's 'z. gay canny mwornin'." — Common salutation. ' ' No verra, but gey. " — By-saying. "Hoo irr ye preuvin?" ''Gaily, gaily, gangin' aboot !" A common salutation and reply. Geal, C, split, rend, ache severely as from cold. "I've an oald teuth, when t' coald gits tull't, it maks o' geal agean. — Said to a Doctor. Gear, S and C, wealth, substance, " A gleib o' Ian' — a claut o' gear Was left me by my auntie, Tam." Burns. Ane an' twenty, Tam. "Bruff-side lairds bang't aw the rest For braggin' o' their ^^ar." Anderson. Bleckell Murry-Neet. Ged, S, the pike. " Now safe the stately saumon sail. An' trouts bedropp'd wi' crimson hail. An' eels weel kenn'd for souple tail, An' geds for greed." Burns. Tam Samson. Gezlin, C and S, goslin, young goose. "Peat' lass, wid her yallow muffs, Steud kaakin like 2, gezlin." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. " If I canna keep geese I'll keep gezlins." — Proverb. 12 178 Ghem, ga way tull't, C, game, go to it; a bunting phrase ; used proverbially to signify any attractive fun or quarreling. " There was a fine see howe — an' ghem ga way tull'i." Gin, S, if. "Gin a body meet a body." Song — Coming through the Rye. Gledge, S, look slyly. " Mr. Forret, alias Gledgin Gibbie, had borne the brunt of incensed kirk-sessions before that time." Hogg. Tibbie Ileslop, Glent, S and C, gleam. *' Where flowers an' gowans wont to ghnt, V bonnie blinks beside the bent. " Ferguson. Auld Reekie. Gliff, C and S, glimpse. ' ' Here, here it was (a wae leet on the pleace) 'At furst I gat 2. gliff o^ Betty's fcace." Relph. Harvest. Glime, C, look sideways. " 'Twad mak a deid man laugh to see Them glime at yen anudder. " Anderson. The Village Gang. Gloamin', S, twilight. ^^T\i&gloar}iin'' grey out owre the welkin keeks." Fergnsojt. The Farmer's Ingle, Gloom, S, frown. ' ' Still away his held was shyin', Gloamin'' like a boxing bull." John yohnslon. Dear Meal Johnnie. Glower, S and C, stare. '• We glower' t at the mune till he fell i' the midden." Proverb. "What's t^e glower in^ at? Does t'e see any cat' horns?" Sauce. Glump, C, sulk. " Neist time we met he glumft and glower't An' leukt anudder way. " Anderson, The lass abeun thirty. 179 God speed, C, a small wooden partition or screen placed within the house door, when it opens directly upon the sitting room. It has probably been called so from departing guests being wished "God Speed" beside it. I first heard the word at Harrington, from a humourist who asked a group of neighbours if they'd seen Tommy Wilson, who lived next door to him, adding, " If ye sud see him, tell him 'at his barnes an' mine hev been feightin' till they've knock'd t' God-speed doon. " . The fun of this lay in the well known fact that both were childless. GoRB, C, an unfledged bird. "Geap, gorbie, an' thou'll git a wiirm." — Proverb. Gowk, S and C, cuckoo, fool. "Ye breed o' thegowk, ye've nae rhyme but ane." — Proverb. "'Bout kings and councils ^^w^j may fratch." Anderson. Gud Strang yell. GowL, C, to weep vociferously, to howl. " It grean't, an' itgowVt, an' it freetent fwoke sair." Dickinson. Scallow-Beck Boggle. Gradely, C, a Lancashire and Cheshire word, often used in Cumberland, signifying proper or correct. I have over- heard myself, in contravention of the proverb, spoken of as "a ydirva. gradely man" in the lake district. Grank, C, to covet querulously. " Hout man ! what signifies repinin', Ox grankiri , snifterin', twistin', twinin'." Stagg. New Year's Epistle. Greet, S and C, weep. "It's nae mair to see a woman greel than to see a goose gang barefit." — Proverb. "When we'd hed oor belly full d' greet lii' we gat up, an' feel't better for't." — Betty Yewdale. T' terrible Knitters i' Dent. Greg, C, tantalize. " It does greg yan to hear a hunt yan cannot see." Said by a veteran hunter whose sight was failing. Gruesome, S, making the flesh creep with disgust or horror. " An' though she wore a human face, It was z. gruesome sight to see." Hog^. The Spirit of the Glen. i8o GuD his-sel', C, felicitate, or gratify himself "Gi'e me anudder kiss." "Nay, thou muu gud ihyseV wid what thou's gitten ! — thou s' git nea mair to-neet." An over-heard conversation. Guff, S and C, a silly fellow. " When sec-like ,^z/^ leame decent fwoke, It's time some laws sud alter." Anderson. The Village Gang. Gumption, C, tact, cleverness. " Hed I i\\y gumption or thy gift o' gob." Graham. Geordie and Will. Gyversome, C, voracious, ravenous. "T' mair ye give till greedy fwoke t' xn-sixx gyversome "dx^Y growe. " — Proverb. H Hag, C, to cut with an axe. "He was seun back, wid his axe ower his shooder, an' begon to hag his way through t' deurr. " Dickinson. Lamplugh Cliib. Hag-worm, C, the viper. "Theear was beears, an' lions, an' tigers . . . an' girt yedtheran hag-werms, fower or five yerds lang." J?ev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. Hake, C, a riotous festivity, tumult. " They drank the yell up ivery drop, Wid nowder hake nor quarrel." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Ham-sam, C, mingled promiscuously. " Five or six gat on to t' bed. An' sat ham-sai7i togidder. " Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Hank, S and C, skein of thread or yarn ; also a loop. " O though thy hair were hanks o' gowd, An' thy lips were droppin' hinnie. " Song — The Waukrife Minnie. "And when the worsted hanks she wound, Her skill was further proved." 6". Bamford. My Wynder. Hantle, S and C, a considerable number or quantity. Part of tiie Rev. Walter Dunlop's congregation at Dumfries having joined the Baptists, he alluded to tiie circumstance in the pulpit, thus — "1 thocht till ha'e gethered ye under my wings, as a hen gethereth her chickens, but a hantle o' ye ha'e turn't oot to be deuks, an' ta'en to the water. " " I've been a sad deevil, an' spent gowd i' gowpens. But still I've a hantle left yet. Anderson. Twee Auld Men. Hap, S and C, cover. ' ' Ance as gude As ever happit flesh an' blude. " Ferguson. My Aul' Breeks. Haver, (pron. Ilavver) C, oats, oaten. " Our Ellik likes fat bacon weel, A haver bannock pleases Dick. Anderson. Gud Strang Yell. Hay-bay, C, uproar. ' ' Wi' whiskey they weetit their wizzens. An' seun a sad hay-bay began." Anderson. The Clay Daubin'. Heartsome, S and C, cheerful, pleasant. " Let's creep ower the heartsome turf ingle. An' laugh the wild winter away." Anderson. The days that are gane. Heeze, S, hoist, elevate. "Thae bonnie bairn time Heaven has sent Still higher may it heize ye." Burns, A Dream. Heids an' Thraws, S, lying in irregular positions in bed or elsewhere. "Lie heids an thraws like Jock an' his mither." — Proverb. Herdwick, C, probably formed like bailiwick, etc., and first applied to the portion of hill-pasture assigned to the herds of each dale farm ; now used to distinguish the hardy, active breed of sheep grazed upon the herdwicks. "He breaks bands like a herdwick tip" is a proverbial saying I have heard applied to a rustic scape-grace. Ib2 Herk, S, whisper. " When a Scotchman wants you to listen he says 'speak,' and when he wants you to whisper he says 'herk.''" — Anott. HiRPLE, S and C, limp, walk lamely. "The hares were hirplin doon the furs." Burns. The Holy Fair. ' ' Jack Mar, the hirplin piper's son, Can bang them o' at leein'." Anderson. The Village Gang. HOAF-THICK, C, half-wit, thick-head. "Than Watty Ferguson, provwok't To hear this hoaf -thick rattle." Stagg. The Bride wain. HODDINGLY, C, persistently. "Does your pain come and go?" " It nayder cums ner ga's ; it's theear hoddingly.'''' — Said to a Doctor. Hooal't, or Whoal't, C, holed, "bagged," applied to anything being secured, thus — At a school treat in High Furness I was "scrambling" comfits, and having filled a paper packet with gravel, and thrown it up, it was caught by a great hulking fellow, who thrust it into his pocket, exclaiming, " I've hooal't that an'." His face, when his attention was directed to the contents of his prize, was a sight. Hosteler, Old S, keeper of an inn or hostel. " Syne pay him on a gantree, As hosteler waives should do. " Old Song. The Maltman. HORK, S, to burrow. "The mouse is a wee merrie beastie. The mowdie korks wantin' the een." Old Song— Brose and Butter. Hound-trail or dog trail, C, a drag hunt. "Whist's as much afooar lant (loo) as a fox-hunt's afooar a dog-trail." — Heard at a Merry-Night. How, S and C, hollow, empty. " A house looks how without a wife." Anderson. Tib and her Maister HowK, S and C, excavate. ' ' She has howkit a hole baith deep and wide, She has putten them in baith side by side." Old Ballad— The Cruel Mother. How-strOwe, C, in confusion. " Thy plew gear's liggin' how-strowe. An' somebody's stown thee thy cou'ter." Mark Lonsdale. Johnnie. Hugger-mugger, C, huddled up, out of order or system. "Thus in hugger-mugger make a wedding." Shakspeare. Most philologists hold that this word signifies private or surreptitious ; but in Cumberland, where it is still in common use, the sense is as above. Huller't, C, coagulated or clotted — applied to blood. I have heard of an up and down fight in a public-house^ where "T' huller't bleud laid an inch thick on t' flooer." I Ilka, or Ilk, S, each. "Ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drop o' dew." Proverb, and Song by y. Ballantyne, Intak, a piece of land taken in from the common. "T' intakes t' best o' t' grund." — Said by a Dale-farmer. IVERLY, C, everly, continuously. "How often do you take your ale?" "Yall? I^tak it iverly!" ^''IverlyV " Ey, ebben endways away !" Part of a professional conversation. J Jannic, C, a Lancashire word, signifying fair or honest. " Thoo hes ower mickle jaw to he Jannic.'" Said to a voluble Auctioneer. Jink, S, to escape suddenly, a rapid evasion. "Our billie's gi'en us a' ihejink. An' owre the sea." Burns. 184 JOB-JURNAL, C, a toy on the principle of a humming top, but made with a shouldered stick passed through a perforated nut-shell and an apple, or failing that, a potato stuck upon the lower end, to be spun by pulling a string wrapped upon the shaft within the shell. In Furness this name is applied to the pig-nut, which in central Cumberland is called a yowie-yorlin, and in Dumfries- shire a horitick. Joggle, C, to shake sharply, or violently. "He dreavus ower rwoads 'at varra vizx joggled us to bits." Said by an old lady at Loweswater. JOOK, S, to shrink, or dip the head to elude observation or missile. "It's ^zstjooking when the heid's off." — Proverb. K Kail, S ; Keal, C, broth — so called from a frequent in- gredient. " lie gat his kail in a riven dish." — Proverb. " Swoaps o' drink an' gud lythe keale Cheer up each day." ^t'^gS- The New Year's Epistle. Kaim't, C, literally crooked, but used to signify cross, or peevish. " Aa boddert my brain thinkan some on them ower. An' than set to wark an' wreatt doon three or fower O't' /^ay;//i^^j'/an' t'creuktest, like 'garrak' an' 'dyke-stoVer,' Sek like as we use in oald Cummerlan'. Dickinson. The words of oald Cummerlan'. KeXv, C, to dance awkwardly, throwing the legs clumsily about. "That barn, says Hyne, i' Palmer' toft, '111 dea reet weel to keav in." Ma}-k Lonsdale. The Upshot. Keek, S and C, to peep. " He that keeks through a keyhole may see what will vex him. " — Proverb. "She conquers mair nor Bonnypart "Whene'er she keeks aroun'." Anderson. The Thursby Witch. i8S Ken, S and C, know. "Ken yersel an' yere neighbours 'ill no va\%-ken ye." Proverb. Kirk-garth, C, church-yard. "They tak meear pastime e what they see i' th' kirk-garth nor what they hear i' th' kirk." — Mrs. Wheeler. Dialogues. Kit, C, a small tub or bucket. " A riddlin' — a riddlin', an oald wife striddlin', A kit full o' cunning things in a coald morning." An ancient conundrum. Kimmer, S, a familiar designation for woman — something like gossip. The young women who assist at christenings are called "maiden kinimers." " How do ye, kiintner ? An' how do ye thrive — An' how monie bairns ha'e ye ? Kimmer I I ha'e five." Song — A' Noddin'. Knowe, S, knoll, hillock. " His gear may buy him glens an' knowes." Burns. To Daunton me. L Lafter, C, a brood of chickens, etc. ; also a setting of eggs. " I hevn't a ne'bour 'ill lend me a lafter of eggs." Said by a farmer's wife. Laik, C, play. " But laiks at wate-not-whats within O' Sunday efterneun." Relph. After Horace. Laikins, C, playthings, toys. "Here's babby-ZaZ/^/wj — rowth o' spice, On sto's an' stands extended." Stagg. Rosley Fair. Lait, C, seek. " Lads i' t' dark meade rampin' wark Or cloaks an' clogs were laitit." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Lal, C, (in the northern and southern parts, Lile) little. "I /a/ thowte fasts sec fearful things to bide." Relph. St. Agnes' Fast. Lap, C, wrap. "Zrt/V my cranky neckcloth round his held." Graham. Gwordie and Will. Lave, S, the rest, remainder. " When a' the lave gang to their bed, I wander dowie up the glen." Song — Heelan' Harry* Lawin, S, a public house reckoning. " Gude wife, count the lawin. An' bring a drappie mair." Burns. Song. Leal, or Leil, S, true, pure, loyal. "O gi'e me a token o' love, sweet May — A led love-token true." A. Cunningham. The Mermaid. Leane, your leane, his leane, etc., S and C, lone, solitary. "An' when, sweet lassie, you're ye' re leane. This heart o' mine wad joy to know." Miss Blamire. The Toiling Day. Leath, C, a barn. " Why ne had thou put the capel in the lathe." Chaucer. The Reeve's Tale. Ley, C, a scythe. linter new, bass-bodd -stanes for new leasts Slagg-. Rosley Fair. "Clogs, splinter new, bass-boddom'd chairs, An' lea-si.3.nes for new leasts. " Lightly, S, to make light of. "The lass that lichtlies may lament." — Proverb. i87 Lilt, S and C, a lively tune or song ; or, as a verb, to sing merrily. " Now haste ye turn King David owre, An' lilt wi' holy clangour. " Burns. It means also to rise on the toes in walking. Diomed's walk had a lilt in it, as described by Ulysses, thus — "I ken the manner of his gait, He rises on the toe : that spirit of his In aspiration lifts him from the earth." Shakspeare. Troilus and Cressida. LipPEN, S, to trust. "Ye'U deceive nane but them that lippen to ye." — Proverb. LiRK, S and C, a wrinkle or fold. " Sup sum poddish, an' tak' t' lirks oot o' thy skin." Said to a rustic convalescent, LiSH, C, active. ' ' When I was a lish laughing lass o' sixteen. " Anderson. Auld Robby Miller, Loan, S ; Lonning, C, lane. "The kye stood rowtin' in the loan.'''' Burns. The Twa Dogs. "The lads an' the lasses i' t' lonning Wer' pairin' like sparrows i' t' spring." Anon. Raffles Merry-Neet. Lock, C, a number or quantity. "A gay lock o' fwok hed gedder't up i' time to gang till't kurk, an' away they struttit. " — Dickinson. Lamplugh Club. LOFE, C, a chance of anything, an opportunity. " Yance I hed t' lofe an' I'd luck to say no, an' I niver hed t' lofe agean." — Said by an elderly spinster. LONTER, C, lounge, or loiter, '■'■Lonteriti! fwoke's ola's lazy fwoke." — Proverb, Loon, S, rogue. " I tint my curch an' baith my shoon ; Ah ! Duncan, ye're an unco looji. " Duncan Gray— Old Version. 1 88 Loot, S, stoop. "He lootit doon her lips to kiss, O kiss foreboding woe." C. K. Sharpe. The Murder of Carlaverock. Lowe, S and C, a flame. " To touch the glass her hand hes touch'd It sets tliem in a lowe.''^ Anderson. The Thursby Witch. LowN, or LowND, S and C, calm, still. " Your chamber's very dark, fair maid, The nichte is wondrous lown. " Ballad — Sir Roland. Lowp, S and C, leap. " Lozup off the steed, says false Sir John, Yere bridal bed ye see. " Ballad— May Colean. " My heart keeps such a rout. It lowps an' loivps as if it wad lowp out." Ewan Clark. Costard's Complaint. LowPY-BACK, C, leap-frog. " Ye've been laikin at lowpy-back o' t' rwoad heam." Part of a scolding. Lugs, S and C, ears. "I'll lay my lugs in Pindus' spring, . And invocate Apollo. " Ramsay. " Kursty, souple gammerstang, Ned Wilson brong his lug a whang. " Anderson. The Worton Wedding. LuM, S, chimney. " Sic reek as is therein maun come out at the lum's top." Proverb, Laigh, S, low. " .She lookit hiche to the bodynge hill, An' lai(jhe to the darklynge deane. " Telfer. I'he Gloamin' Bucht. iSg M Maddle, or Maffle, C, to talk or act in a silly manner. " O, niafflin Gwoidie, t'ou's been feulish lang." Graham. Gwordie and Will. Maizelt, or Maiz't, C, stupified. " We war fairly maizeFt wi' t' cald." Betty Yewdale. T' terrible Knitters i' Dent. " Whyte maiz'd wi' loungin' on i' th' neuk." Stagg. Auld Lang Syne. Maizlin, C, a simpleton. " Banton lads grew parfet guffs, An' Thursby lasses maizlins ." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Mak, C, sort, kind. " It taks o' maks to mak ivery mak." Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. Map'ment, C, imbecility ; compounded of mope and ment, like manage-ment, etc. " He toked for iver sa lang, but he toked a deal o' maap- ment.^' — Ibid. Mattie, C, the mark at quoits or pitch and toss. Shifting his mattie is proverbially used for shifting position or changing policy or course. Maukin, S, the hare. " The fuddlin' bodies nowadays Rin mauki)i-m2id i' Bacchus' praise." Fergtison. Caller Water. Maunder, S and C, to think, talk, or act dreamily. "Aw wish this wanderin' wark were o'er. This maunderin^ to and fro." Edwin Waugh. Sweetheartin' Gate. Meat-heal, C, very able to eat. "He's beath meat-heal an' drink-heal. Ther' can't be mickle t' matter wid him." — Said of a Hypochondriac. 190 Mell, C, meddle. "Gangin' frae house to house hearin' news an' mellin e ther nebbors." — -Mrs. Wheeler. Dialogues. Mell, S, a mallet ; the prize that used to be given to the last in a race. "Winning the MelV in any contest is figu- ratively equivalent to taking the wooden spoon in the Cambridge examinations for honours. Mense, S and C, propriety, creditable behaviour. "I've seav't beath my meat an' my mensem Proverb, used when proffered hospitality is declined. Messan, S and C, a small dog of indefinite breed. " We hounds, slew the hare, quo' the bleer'd messan.'''' Proverb. "A little black messet danced sae like old Jenny." Miss Blaviire. Sec a IDurdum. Mirk, S, dark. " It fell about the Martinmas, When nichts were lang an' mirk.''^ Old Ballad— The Wife of Usher's Well. Mischanter, S and C, misadventure. ' ' Thou'rt welcome, wean, mischajtter fa' me. " Burns. Mittens, S and C, gloves. " He coft me a rokelay o' blue. An' a pair o' mittens o' green." Macneil. I lo'e ne'er a laddie but ane. " Twee yards o' red ribbon to wear for his seake, Forbye ledder j?iittens he bowte me." Anderson. First Luive. Mowdie, S ; Mowdie-warp, C, the mole. " The mowdie powler't oot o' the yirth, An' kyss't the synger's feet." Telfer. The Gloaming Bucht. "An' teeak us intil lile hooals under t' grand, ameeast like mowdie-warps." — Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. 191 Mud, C, the past tense of must. " He thowte 'at he mud treat ye." Miss Blamire. The Meeting. Mutch, S, a woman's cap. " She aff wi' her apron, put on a silk goon, A mutch wi' reed ribbons, an' cam' awa' doon." Lady Nairn. The Laird o' Cockpen. N Nab, C, a promontory in a lake. "It's o' nahs an' neuks is Windermer' Watter." Said by a Coniston Man. Neb, S and C, nose, beak. " Gae tak this bonnie neb o' mine, That picks amang the corn. An' gi'e't to the Duke o' Hamilton, To be a touting horn." Old Song — Robin Redbreast's Testament. Neaf, C, the nave of a wheel. "T' fells spreead oot fray a centre like t' spooaks of a wheel fray t' neaf.'" — A Langdale Statesman. Neif, or Neive, S and C, the hand, or fist, " Sweet knight I kiss thy neif.''^ Shakspeare. King Henry IV. "What's a goupen o' glaur? It's just twa neive fu's o' clarts !" — Wilson. Noctes Ambrosianae. Nick't i' t' heid, C, non compos mentis. "Toakin sike mafflement ! Ye mun be nicUt z' /' keead !" A Coniston landlady to a chattering guest. No'but, C, nothing but, only. " He's but a simplish sooart of a body, 'At thinks there's no'but ya kind o' shoddy. " W. Bowness. Brough Hill Fair. Nowte 'at DOWE, C, nothing of ability, fit for nothing. " In o' her flegmagaries donn'd. What is she? — nowte ^at doweV Anderson. Betty Brown. 192 o OoMER, C, shade. " Howay wi' the', an' lig down i' t' owmer o' t' trees till I've time ut tak' the' afooar Mr. Machell." Said by a farmer at Colton to an idle servant. Oald-folk's nekt, C, an assembly for feasting, dancing, and card-playing, held at the rural public houses ; once, probably, confined to married people, but now open to, and attended by, young and old. Paddock-rud, or rid, or ridding, C, frog spawn. " Auld Grizzy the witch, as some fwoke say, M.2L&S, paddock-7-ud o\Vi\xa^vi\. for sair e'en." Anderson. The Witch Wife. Pang, C and S, to cram. " An' some there wer could scarcely speak. Their thropples wer s&t pang' t." Stagg. The Bridewain. " It kindles wit, it waukens lair, \\. pangs us fu' o' knowledge." Burns. The Holy Fair. Parlish, C, remarkable, worth speaking of. " Kvi parlish pranks 'mang Silloth banks They hed as they were comin'." Stagg. The Bridewain. " A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone, A parlous knock. " Shakspeare. Romeo and Juliet. Said to be a corruption of perilous, which is certainly not its meaning in Cumberland. Pash, C, to dash or thrust down forcibly. " Barne ! \ pasKt them doon." — Said by Wm. Jackson, of Kinnyside, to a neighbour's daughter after his first victory at the Flan wrestling. 193 Pauchtie, S, proud, supercilious. ' ' Pmuhtie damsels, bred at courts, Wha thraw the mou' an' tak' the dorts." Ferguson. The Gowdspink. Pawkie, S, sly. " A thief sz.e pawkie is my Jean." Burns. Peerie, S, a peg-top. In Cumberland called a Cas'ley, " He sleeps as soon' as ome J>eerie." — Common saying. Phraise, S, smooth or fondling talk. " He's ta'en her in his arms twa, Wi monie a kiss an' phraise. " Ballad — Young Huntin. Pigs, S, pots, crockery. "Where i\\e. pig's brocken there let the sherds lie." Proverb. Plack, S, the smallest coin of the old Scottish currency. " He'll never male his plack a bawbee." — Proverb. •Pleen, C, complain. " Thou's spoil't for o' manner o' wark, Thou no'but sits peghan 2Si' pleenait." Mark Lonsdale. Love in Cumberland. Plumb, C, (in Furness, &c., pron. Plowmb) perpendicular. The old landlady at the boat house on Ennerdale water said of a neighbouring doctor who had visited her, and who carries his head well back, •' He was mair nor plumb!" PoAP, C, to walk aimlessly. " Sxim poapan aboot as if they'd be hoaf dazed." Rev. T. Clarke. T' Reysh Beearin'. PowE, S, head, poll. " There's little wit within his powe That lichts a candle at the lowe." Proverb. 13 194 Free, S, to taste. " An' aye he preed the lassie's mou' As he gaed but an' ben, O." Old Song. "I p'eed her mou'." The Scotch think this phrase a poetical way of saying "I kissed her." Its literal translation into common English, "I tasted her mouth," doesn't sound like poetry; while its Cumbrian form, "I teastit her feace," sounds like anything rather than poetry ; and their different versions of the same phrase illustrate rather happily the differ- ence of character on the two sides of the Border. Proddle, C, poke, or stir up. ^' Proddlht' up the smudderin' embers." Stagg. PUBBLE, C, plump. "At Michaelmas di. pubble goose — at Kersmas, standin' pie." Old Saying. PuTTEN DOWN, C, put to death. ' ' That nane may ken that ye are clerks. Till ye hepiitten down. Ballad — The Clerk's Twa Sons, PuzzEN, C, poison. "The doctor he's a parfit plague, An' hauf the parish /j^^z^;;^. " Anderson. The Village Gang. R Rack UPS, C, a game at marbles where the loser has to place his knuckles on one side of a hole to be " fired" at with the taws of the winners. " He inun stand his 7-acknps''' is a proverb implying the necessity of accepting the consequences of misconduct, defeat, or miscarriage of plans. Rakin, C, wandering far or wildly. "They ga rakin aboot widoot ayder errand or aim." Said of pedestrian tourists by a dalesman. Rantin', Ranty, S and C, wild, riotous. " The ranthC dog the daidie o' 't." Bums. Song. 195 Ratch, C, to search vigorously, to ransack. " Ratch as ye will, ye'll mak nowte out." Said to hunters in a wood. Reek, S, smoke. "The death o' deevils, smoor'd in brimstone I'eek." Bur9ts. The Twa Brigs. Riggin', S and C, the roof (probably from Ridging primarily). "Ane may like the kirk weel aneuch without aye riding on the riggin^ o' 't." — Proverb. Rogers, C, (or rather Furness and Westmorland) oars. " Why do you call them rooers?" "'Coase they ivxrooers.'''' "They call them oars elsewhere." "They may co' them what they will, but if they j'oo wi' them, they're rooers.'" Conversation on Esthwaite lake. RoosE, S, praise, exalt. "Roose the ford as ye find it." — Proverb. Rowp, S, auction ; Rowp-crier, auctioneer. " I canna pay't an' ye 7-owJ> me at the cross." Said by a hopeless debtor. RowiH, S, abundance. " Rich fouk ha'e rowth o' frien's." — Proverb. ROWE, S, roll " Where Cart rins rowm^ to the sea." Burns. The Gallant Weaver. Sackless, C, silly (originally, innocent). " Our parson sweers a bonnie stick Amang thur saMess asses. " Ajiderson. The Village Gang. Sairy, C, sorry. "A sairy wife I trowe she'd mak 'At cudn't muck a byre." Ibid. Betty Brown. 196 Sark, C and S, shirt (male or female). •'She won't mend a sark, but reads novels, proud brat." Anderson. Elizabeth's Burthday. " Our women are nowadays a' grown sae braw, Ilk maun ha'e a sark, an' some maun ha'e twa." Ross. The wee pickle tow. Sarra, C, serve. "The witch wife begg'd i' our back-side, An' went nnsarrcid away i' the pet." Anderson. The Witch Wife. Sauch, S, willow. "Whereby the glancing waves o' Clyde Through sauchs an' hangin' hazels glide." Old Song— Bothwell Bank. ScRAFFLE, C, scramble. "We scraffelt on i' this fashion, an' it was quite dark afooar we gat till Ammelside yatt." Betty Yewdale. T' terrible Knitters i' Dent. Screes, C, sloping banks of fragmentary stone under preci- pices. " Whoariver there's screes There's mair steans nor trees." Old Rhymes. Scrimp, S, pinch, reduce. " For lack o' thee I scrimp my glass." Burns. On a Bank Note. ScROWE, S and C, a lot of children, etc., rough or numerous. "There's sic a scrowe o' Irishmen come ower frae Skin- burness."' — Said at Annan. Scunner, S, shuddering disgust — noun and verb. "An' yill an' whiskey ga'e to cairds. Until they sctintter." Btirns. Ep. to Smith. Sec, C ; Sic, S, such. " Feegh ! sec a yen we've hed at Codbeck, As niver was under the sun." Anderson. The Codbeck Weddin"-. "Sic as ye gie, sic will ye get." — Proverb. 197 Shap, C, to seem likely, or tend to. "They're shappin to gang beam wid empty pockets." Said of two losing whist players at a Merry Night. Shinny, C ; Shinty, S, a rough game played with knobbed or round ended sticks— called in the south of England, I believe, hocky. '^Shinny's weel aneuf if shins wer' seaf." — Old saying. SiNSYNE, S, since then. " She charm'd my heart an' aye sinsyne, I canna think o' onie ither." Song — O'er the Main Skeich, S, shy, distant. "Maggie coost her held fu' heich, I^ook'd asklent an' unco skeich." Burns. Duncan Gray. Skirl, S, scream. ' ' White and bludy puddings rowth To gar the doctor skirl wi' drowth." Fej'gtcson, St. Andrews. Skreich, S ; Skrike, C, shriek. "It's time aneuch to skreich when ye're strucken." Proverb. Skurl, C, slide. ^'Skurl, skurl the' doon — I'll kep the', come thy vi^ays, " I'll leuk ahint me — niver mind thy claes." Ewan Clarke. Slake, C, a slight smear as of grease, etc. " Let's tak' slake an' slake aboot till it's done." Said in licking out a treacle pot. Slape, C, slippery. "I mun tell her fadder when I see him — she's gittin' varra slape, " old John Howe of Branthwaite Hall called out when he witnessed, by chance, a meeting of sweethearts on a lonely road. Slare, C, to walk slowly. "He may be a sharp worker, but he's a slarin^ walker." Said by a farmer's wife of a new come man servant. 19^ Slashy, C, sloppy. " It was beginnin' to thowe, an' was varra slashy an' cald." Betty Yewdale. T' terrible Knitters i' Dent. Slatter, C, slop. " Wi' jaws o' yell some durty beuts Pat loft seun in a slatter.^' Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Sleekie, or Sleekit, S, sly, smooth. " O we were sly, sly ! O, we were sly an' sleekit. " Song. Slipe, C, to slip away, to "hook it." "Sli/e, my lad, while thou's weel. Sll/'e, I say, an' let neabody see the' gang." — Said to a youth in a row. Slocken, S and C, to slake thirst. "Ha'e ye any clippin' drink left?" "No !" "Ha'e ye any common yall?" "No!" "Ha'e ye any smo'beer?" "No!" "Why than, hang it — ha'e ye any pig-stuff? I mun be slacken' t wi' summat ! " — John Kendall at Hawkshead Hall the day after the sheep-shearing feast. Smaik, S, a small boy, or other small animal. " He's but a smaik, but he's a man at the books." Said of a schoolboy. Smittal, C, infectious. "As smittal as t' smo'-pox." — Said of a successful male animal kept for breeding purposes. Snape, C, snub, also blight. "Yet tho' sec bruolliments galwore Oft snaift the whyet of our days." Stagg. Auld Lang Syne. Sneck, C, latch. ' ' The Buckabank chaps are reet famous sweethearters, Their kisses just soimd like the sneck of a yett." Anderson. Bleckell Murry-Neet. Sneck-posset, C. When a man has the door shut in his face, figuratively or literally, he gets a sneck-posset. "Glooar'd at me a bit, an' than clyash't dewar i' mi feeace — He g'e ma a faer sneck-posset." Rro. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. 199 Snell, S, cold and cutting. " There cam' a wind oot o' the north, A sharp wind and a snell." Ballad — Young Tamlane. Snirrup, or Snirp, C, to curl up the nose, etc. " As seun as she fund I depended on labour, She snirft up her nose an' nae mair leuk't at me." Anderson. The Lasses o' Carel. Snirt, or Snurl, C, the sound of imperfectly suppressed laughter. " But seckan toke ! nin could tell what aboot, I stop't my lugs for fear o' snurtiii oot." Graham. Gwordie and Will. Snod, S and C, smooth, neat. " Her cockermonie snoddit up fu' sleek. Her haffet locks hung wavin' owre her cheek." Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. "You're making this road rough !" "Ey, but we'll mak it snod zHoox we're deun wi' 't." Reply of the road surveyor at Hawkshead. Snowk, C, to snuffle audibly. ^'Snowki7t^ like pigs at a sow." — Common saying. Snug (as a verb), C, to nestle. " We snugg't in togidder." — Ibid. SoNSiE, S, comfortable looking, also lucky. ' ' Tall and sonsie, frank and free, Lo'ed by a', an' dear to me." Lady Nairne. Kind Robin lo'es me. " Whistlin' maids an' crawin' hens are no so7isie.'' — Proverb. SoRN, S, to live on others, to sponge. "'Soman frae place to place, As scrimp o' mainners as o' sense or grace." Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. Soucn, S, the sound of gentle wind or breath. "Hark how the westlin' win' soiichs through the reeds." Ibid. ioo Spang-hew, S and C, to fling to the winds. Spang-hewing is a cruel mode practised by school-boys of putting birds, frogs, etc., to death. A stick is laid across a block, the victim placed on one end and the other struck sharply, throwing the poor animal high into the air, killing, and generally, mutilating it. Spats, S and C, abbrev. of spatterdashes — gaiters. " Their stumps, erst used to philabegs, Are dight in j/a^'/erdashes. " Ferguson. Leith Races. Speel, S, climb. " Monie a time, Wi' you I've speeVd the braes o' rhyme." Ferguson. My Auld Breeks. Speir, S, ask, enquire. "A feul may speir mair questions than a doctor can answer." Proverb. Spretty, S, covered with Sprett, a kind of coarse grass. " Till spretty knowes wad rair't an' risket, An' slypet owre." Burns. The Auld Mare Maggie. Sp ROGUE, C, a pleasure ramble. " I've been to t' top o' Knock ]\Iurton." " What took ye there ?" "I just went for a sprogue." Part of a conversation in Arlecdon. Squab, C, a long low seat with a back. " Sit on t' squab till I bring ye summat to sup on." — Said to me once when I reached a farm house exhausted from struggling through a snow storm. Stammer, or Stummer, C, to stumble. " Oft wittingly I stummer t, oft I fell." Relph. Kursty and Peggy. 'Statesman, C, landed proprietor — estatesman. " It is a bonnie job, if gentlemen an' gentlemen's servants is to ower-ride us steats fooak." Said by an old lady at Coniston after a vestry meeting. Stayvel, or Stayver, S and C, to walk in a listless manner. "Ther was hundreds o' fwoke stayvelan aboot." Ritson. The Borrowdale Letter. iol Stoore, S and C, dust. "This day the kirk kicks up a stoore^'' Burns. The Ordination. "The Bible hgs stoory abeun the door heid." Anderson. Caleb Crosby. Stound, S and C, ache or pang. "An' aye the stound, the deidly wound, Cam frae her e'en sae lovely blue." Burns. A waefu' gate yestreen, " It stoundif sare, an' sare it swell'd." Relph. After Theocritus. Straddel't, C, brought to a stand. ' ' I think oald P was varra nar straddeVt i v his savmon. ' ' Heard at the door of a Wesleyan chapel after service. SuMPH, S and C, a fool. " An' onie sumph that keeps up spite, In conscience I abhor him." Rcv. y. Skinner. TuUochgorum. "I sit like a sumph, nea mair mysel'." Anderson. Barbary Bell. Swap, S and C, exchange. " I trowe we swappii for the worse, Ga'e the boot an' better horse." Song — Carle an' the King come. "' Lai Sim's geane an' swapped the black cowt. " Anderson. Nichol the Newsmonger. Swat, C, sit down, squat. " Come, Cuddy, swat an' tak' a whiff." Anderson. The Cram. SwEiR, S, loath, unwilling. "Forsooth they cried, anither gill, For sweir we're aye to gang awa'." MacPhail. Song. T Taggelt, C, a scamp. "He mud know they wor o' arrant taggelts an' taistrels." Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. ioi Taistrel, C, a good for nothing. " Yae son proved a taistrel an' brak up i' Lunnon." Anderson. The Twee Auld Men. Taws, S, a strap of thick leather slit into several tails ; an implement of punishment in Scottish schools. "Never use the taws when a gloom 'ill do the turn." Proverb. Tawtie, or Tawtit, S, roughly matted (applied to hair or wool). " Nae ta^itit tyke, though ne'er sae duddy." Bicrns. The Twa Dogs. Teem, C ; Toom, S, empty, pour out. "About her lank and all o'er teemed loins." Hamlet. " And there toom thy brock skin bag." Ballad — The Fray of Suport. Teul, C and S, a bad one (probably from devil). " Let women deu what gud they can, Thur wicked teuls 'ill lee." Jwohnny and Jenny. Tew, C, harass, fatigue. "An' while they skevv't an' teiift an' swet, Wi' monie a weary sidle." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. Theek, S, thatch. "An' wi' a lock o' his yellow hair, We'll theek our nest when it blows bare." Ballad — The Twa Corbies. Thir, S; Thur, C, these. "An' sad an' silent was the niclit That was atween thir twa." Ballad — Clark Saunders. " Thiir taxes ! i]inr taxes ! Lord help us, Amen !" Eiuan Clark. Ballad. Thole, S, endure. "He that has gude crops may thole some thistles. " — Proverb. Thowless, S and C, soft, inapt. "Fortune aye favours the active an' bauld, But ruins the wooer that's thowless an' cauld." Ramsay. The Widow. 263 Threep, S and C, to aver, or argue, insistingly. " An' fowk wad threep that she did green For what wad gar her skirl An' skreich some day. Ramsay. Cln-ist's Kirk on the Green. "Some thi-eep 'at the times 'ill get better." Anderson. Carel Fair. Throssle, C, the thrush. "The throssle, when cauld winter's geane, Aye in our worchet welcomes spring." Anderson. The Lass abeun Thirty. Throughly, C, corpulent. ^''Throughly? ey, a gud yard through an' mair !" Said of Hannah Page, who sold toffy in Whitehaven. Thyvel, C, a porridge stick. "She'll lick a lean thyvel 'at weds thee." Said to a poor Schoolmaster at Workington. Tine, S, lose ; Tint, lost. "'Tine thimble, z'^wd- thrift. " — Proverb. "O have ye tint at tournament Your sword or yet your spear ? " Ballad — The Gay Goss Hawk, Tip, S and C, a ram. " She was nae get o' muirlan' tit's, Wi' tawtit ket an' hairy hips." Burns. Puir Maillie. TiPE, C, to drink off. ' ' Tipe it up an' hev anudder. " — Common fuddling invitation. Toozle, S and C, to rub up, to ruffle or make untidy. "I ance was abused i' the kirk For toozling a lass i' my daffin." Burns. The Jolly Beggars, TOP-SARK, C, an over-shirt, generally made of coarse woollen cloth. "We cannot bed ye o', but we can lend ye top-sarks." — Said to a weather-bound party at Cockley Beck in Seathwaite. 204 Towp, C, capsize. "Tlie leevin surs ! she tojop't her ower Or yen cud say, 'Od bHss her." Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot. ToYTLE, C and S, totter. " Tak care thou doesn't toytle intil t' beck." Said to a top-heavy neighbour at Branthwaite. Tryste, S, an appointed meeting, also to appoint a meeting. " Crack tryste, crack credit." — Proverb. " I daurna tryste wi' you, WilUe, I daurna tryste ye here, But I'll meet wi' you in heaven, Willie, i' the spring-time o' the year." Aytoun. Annie's Tryste. Tyle, C, to distress, as with pain or fatigue. "I's ty led to deeth wid this kurn. I've been kurning iver sen mwornin', an' I seem as far off butter as iver." A farmer's wife. u Unco, S ; Unket, C, strange, remarkable. "A hungry care's an tatco care." — Proverb. " What, is there owte unket i' your country side?" Anderson. Brufif Peaces. Up-bank, C, upwards. "Till watters run iiphanh an' trees they grow down-bank, We niver can leuk on his marrow agean." Anderson. Kit Craffet. \v Waistrel, C, an unthrift, a useless fellow. The late Sergeant Wilkins, in reply to the Court, once defined zvaistrel as "something spoiled in the manufacture, and sold at half price in the Lowtber Arcade." Wale, S, choose, choice. ' ' For sake o' gaar Ane wales a wife as he wad buy a meear." Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd. "The king o' gude fellows an' 7vale o' auld men." Song— Auld Rob Morris. 205 Wankle, C, weakly, flaccid. " As wankle as a wet seek." — Common saying. Wanter, C, one wanting a wife or husband. " lie leeves aw his leane, but he's seerly to bleame, Wlien a waitter like me's to be hed sa near heame. " Anderson. Auld Robbie Miller. Wanwauchtie, S, unable to drink freely (wan— un, and waucht — a hearty draught). ' ' He's unco wantvaii-chtie that scunners at whey. " — Proverb. War-day, C, work-day — so distinguished from the day of rest. " She cheerfu' wrowte her warday wark, Than sat down at her wheel. " Rayson. Ann o' Ilethersgill. Ware, S and C, spend. "Jockey and Jenny they went to the fair, Jockey gave Jenny a penny to wa7'e." Children's Rhyme. Wat, S, know. " She's a wise wife that wafs her ain weird." — Proverb. Waukrife, S, wakeful, or preventing sleep. " Fleas and a girnin' wife are waukrife bedfellows." Proverb. Weird, S, fate, destiny. "After word comes weird, fair fa' they that ca' me madam." Proverb. Welch, C, saltless, insipid. "What foats may poddish hev ? They may be sooar, seiity, sodden, an' savvorless, scat, welsh, brocken, an' lumpy !" "Mally Bad-poddish." Whang, C and S, a strip of leather, a piece cut off anything. "The mergh o' his shin bane has run down on his spur leather whang." The Fray of Suport. " Wi' sweet milk cheese i' monie a whang." Burns. The Holy Fair. 206 Whick, C, alive, quick. " Sec fashions I'll not follow while I's whick, Lang as plain grogram and thur locks please Dick." Ewan Clark. The Faithful Pair. Whiles, S, sometimes. " Wha does the utmost that he can May whiles do main" Burns. Ep. to Dr. Blacklock. Whins, C ; Whuns, S, furze, gorse, " When t' whins is oot o' blossom kissin's oot o' fashion." Proverb. Whunstane, S, a kind of hard dark stone. " Wha's ragin' flame an' scorchin' heat Wad melt the hardest ivhun-stane.''^ Burns. The Holy Fair. Whuddering, S and C, shuddering or tremulous in sound. "Whiidder avva' thou bitter, biting blast." RIactaggart. Mary Lee's Lament. WiDDERFUL, C, looking withered or unthriven. "That barne leuks as widJerful z.s if it was its oan gran'- fadder." — Said of an unhealthy child. Wimple, S, to curl and wheel as running water. "But ril big a bower on yon green bank sae bonnie. That's laved by the waters o' Tay wiviplin' clear." Song— Bonnie Dundee. Win, S, to make way, to get to. "Ye maunna think to loin through the world on a feather bed." — Proverb. WiNNOCK, S, diminutive of window. "At yon farmer's winnock, nichtly, Still he taks his eerie stan'. " John Johnstone. Bodkin Ben. Winsome, S, winning, attractive. "She is a winsome wee thing. That sweet wee wife o' mine. " Burns. Song. 207 WizzENT, C, withered, shrunk. " He keeps a lad's heart in his ivizzent akl skin." Stanyan Bigg. Granfadder Jones. Won, S, to exist, to dwell. " Kissing has ivomH d i' the w'orld Sin iver there were twa. " Old Song. WoRCHET, C, orchard. " Our meadow snd be a girt ivorcliet, An' growe nowte at o' but big plums." Anderson. King Roger. Wrowke, C, to disturb roughly, or stir up. " I ola's liked John, but I cared sa lal for Grace 'at I cud ha' tean her an' wrow/it t' fire wid her." A Cumberland lady, about her children. WuDDE, S, mad. "I've ridden a horse baith wild an' wudde." Ballad — Kinmont Willie. WuMMEL, C, to enter in a sinuous manner, as an auger bores. " Ile'll witniniel his-sel' intil t' creuktest rabbit wlioal i' Siddick."- — Said of a terrier. Y Ya, Yan, C, one ; Ae and YiN in Dumfriesshire. Ya is iTsed when the noun indicated is named — yan, when it is understood; thus — "How many fwoke was theer?" "Yan!" "No'but>'«« .«"" "No'but ya man!" ^i? and yin are used in the same way. The use of the first is illustrated in the conversation without consonants which is said to have come off in a shop in Dumfries. Customer, referring to some cloth, asks, "A' 'oo?" Shopman assents, "Ou aye, a''oo!" Customer again, "A' ae 'oo?" Shopman, " Ou aye, a' ae 'oo!" That is, "All wool?" "O yes, all wool!" "All one (or the same) wool?" "O yes, all one wool !" Yabble, C, wealthy (literally, able). "A N^xxz. yabble man i' heeh life was wantan ta simma." _, Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard. 208 Yammer, S and C, to articulate quickly and indistinctly from any feeling. "Fareweel to the bodies that ya/umer an' mourn." Song — Bide ye yet. "There's been a \a.ng yammer in t' papers last week." Dickinson. Scallow Beck Boggle. Yewl, C, to weep. "A lal thing male's a barne ytwl, an' a lal thing mak's it laugh. " — Proverb. YoAD and Yad, S and C, a mare. " Frae Tindal-fell twelve pecks she'd bring — fcjhe was a yad fit for a king." Anderson. My bonnie Black Meer's Deed. Yoke, S and C, to engage with, to set to, to put a horse to a vehicle, etc. ' ' At length we had a hearty yokia At sang about." Burns. Ep. to Lapraik. "An' they _yca^'/ it agean an' laid at it wi' t' whup." Dickinson. The Ore Carter's Wife. Yowl, S and C, to howl. "A dog winnaji'czc'/ an' ye hit him wi' a bane." — Proverb. G. AND T. COWARD, THE WORDSWORTH PRESS, CARLISLE,