Yorkshire Dialect Poems (1673-1915) and traditional poems

A Charm

     Tak twea at's red an' yan at's blake,(1)
        O' poison berries three,
     Three fresh-cull'd blooms o' devil's glut,(2)
        An' a sprig o' rosemary.

     Tak henbane, bullace, bummlekite,(3)
        An' t' fluff frev a deead bulrush,
     Naan berries shak frae t' rowan-tree,
        An' naan frae t' botterey-bush.(4)

     1.  Yellow.  2. Bindweed.  3. Blackberries.  4. Elder Tree

A  gift(1) o' my finger
     Is seer to linger;
     A gift o' my thumb
     Is seer to coom.

     1.  White speck.

Sunday clipt, Sunday shorn,
     Better t' bairn had niver been born.

A Monday's bairn 'll grow up fair,
     A Tuesday's yan i' grace thruf prayer;
     A Wednesday's bairn has monny a pain,
     A Tho'sday's bairn wean't baade at heame.
     A Friday's bairn is good an' sweet,
     A Settherday's warks frae morn to neet.
     Bud a Sunday's bairn thruf leyfe is blist,.
     An' seer i' t' end wi' t' saints to rist.

A cobweb i' t' kitchen,
        An' feat-marks on t' step,
     Finnd nea wood i' t' yune(1)
        An' nea coals i' t' skep.(2)

     1. Oven.   2. Scuttle.

Snaw, snaw, coom faster,
     White as allyblaster,
     Poor owd women, pickin' geese,
     Sendin' t' feathers daan to Leeds.

Julius Caesar made a law,
        Augustus Caesar sign'd it,
     That ivery one that made a sneeze
        Should run away an' find it.

A weddin', a woo, a clog an' a shoe,
     A pot-ful o' porridge, away they go!

Chimley-sweeper, blackymoor,
     Set o' t' top o' t' chapel door.
     Tak a stick an' knock him daan,
     That's the way to Chapeltaan.