Yorkshire Dialect Poems (1673-1915) and traditional poems

Play Cricket (1909)

     Ben Turner

     Whativer task you tackle, lads,
        Whativer job you do,
           I' all your ways,
           I' all your days,
        Be honest through an' through:
              Play cricket.

     If claads oppress you wi' their gloom,
        An' t' sun seems lost to view,
           Don't fret an' whine,
           Ask t' sun to shine,
        An' don't o' livin' rue:
              Play cricket.

     If you're i' debt, don't growl an' grunt,
        An' wish' at others had
           T' same want o' luck;
           But show more pluck,
        An' ne'er mak others sad:
              Play cricket.

     If in your days there's chonce to do
        Good deeds, then reight an' fair,
           Don't hesitate,
           An' wait too late,
        An' say you'n(1) done your share:
              Play cricket.

     We've all a row to hoe, that's true,
        Let's do it best we can;
           It's nobbut once
           We have the chonce
        To play on earth the man:
              Play cricket.

     1. You have.