Yorkshire Dialect Poems (1673-1915) and traditional poems

Elphi Bandy-legs(1)

     Traditional

     Elphi bandy-legs,
        Bent, an' wide apart,
     Nea yan i' this deale
        Awns a kinder heart.
     Elphi, great-heead,
        Greatest iver seen,
     Nea yan i' this deale
        Awns a breeter een.
     Elphi, little chap,
        Thof he war so small,
     War big wi' deeds o' kindness,
        Drink tiv him yan an' all.
     Him at fails to drain dry,
        Be it mug or glass,
     Binnot woth a pescod,
        Nor a buss(3) frae onny lass.

     1. Written in an old cook-book and signed "J. L. 1699";
     from Gordon Home's 'The Evolution of an English Town, p208.

     2. Is not worth.   3. Kiss