Author:William Barnes/Index of first lines

A

 * A happy day, a happy year,
 * A happy day at Whitsuntide,
 * A maïd wi’ many gifts o’ greäce,
 * A Maÿtide’s evenèn wer a-dyèn,
 * A new house! Ees, indeed! a small
 * A plague! theäse cow wont stand a bit,
 * Above the leafless hazzle-wride
 * About the tow’r an’ churchyard wall,
 * Above the timber’s bendèn sh’ouds,
 * After many long years had a-run,
 * Ah! don’t tell o’ maïdens! the woone vor my bride
 * Ah! ev’ry day mid bring a while
 * Ah! good Meäster Gwillet, that you mid ha’ know’d,
 * Ah! how the looks o’ sky an’ ground
 * Ah! I do think, as I do tread
 * Ah! Jeäne, my maïd, I stood to you,
 * Ah! Jimmy vow’d he’d have the law
 * Ah! John! how I do love to look
 * Ah! mam! you woonce come here the while
 * Ah! Meäster Collins overtook
 * Ah! naïghbour John, since I an’ you
 * Ah! sad wer we as we did peäce
 * Ah! then the grassy-meäded Maÿ
 * Ah! there’s a house that I do know
 * Ah! they vew zummers brought us round
 * Ah! they wer times, when Nanny Gill
 * Ah! when our wedded life begun,
 * Ah! when the wold vo’k went abroad
 * Ah! yesterday, d’ye know, I voun’
 * Ah! yesterday, you know, we carr’d
 * Ah! you do seem to think the ground,
 * The aïr to gi’e your cheäks a hue
 * All up the down’s cool brow
 * An’ after that we met wi’ zome
 * An’ then we went along the gleädes
 * An’ while I went ’ithin a traïn,
 * An’ while I zot, wi’ thoughtvul mind,
 * An’ zoo o’ Monday we got drough
 * An’ zoo’s the day wer warm an’ bright,
 * An’ zoo you didden come athirt,
 * And oh! the jaÿ our rest did yield,
 * A-swaÿèn slow, the poplar’s head,
 * As clouds did ride wi’ heästy flight,
 * As I, below the mornèn sky,
 * As I come by, zome years agoo,
 * As I wer out in meäd last week,
 * As I wer readèn ov a stwone
 * As in the cool-aïr’d road I come by, / —in the night,
 * At last Jeäne come down stairs, a-drest
 * As evenèn aïr, in green-treed Spring,
 * As I at work do look aroun’
 * As I do zew, wi’ nimble hand,
 * As light do gleäre in ev’ry ground,
 * At Easter, though the wind war high,
 * At eventide the wind wer loud
 * At Lindenore upon the steep,
 * At night, as drough the meäd I took my waÿ,
 * At peace day, who but we should goo
 * At the feäst, I do mind very well, all the vo’ks
 * At Woodcombe farm, wi’ ground an’ tree
 * Avore the time when zuns went down
 * Avore we went a-milkèn, vive
 * Aye, a sad life his wife must ha’ led,
 * Aye, at that time our days wer but vew,
 * Aye, aye, the leäne wi’ flow’iy zides
 * Aye, aye, vull rathe the zun mus’ rise
 * Aye, back at Leädy-Day, you know,
 * Aye, the girt elem tree out in little hwome groun’
 * Aye, Meäster Collins wer a-blest
 * Aye, vull my heart’s blood now do roll,

B

 * Back here, but now, the jobber John
 * The beäten path where vo’k do meet
 * The bright-tunn’d house, a-risèn proud,
 * The brook I left below the rank
 * By the brow o’ thik hangèn I spent all my youth,
 * By time’s a-brought the mornèn light,

C

 * “Can all be still, when win’s do blow?
 * The church do zeem a touchèn zight,
 * Come, bring a log o’ cleft wood, Jack,
 * Come down to-morrow night; an’ mind,
 * Come, Fanny, come! put on thy white,
 * Come here an’ zit a while below
 * Come let’s goo down the grove to-night;
 * Come, let’s stroll down so vur’s the poun’,
 * “Come on. Be sprack, a-laggèn back.”
 * Come out o’door, ’tis Spring! ’tis Maÿ
 * Come out to the parrock, come out to the tree,
 * Come, run up hwome wi’ us to night,

D

 * Dan Dwithen wer the chap to show
 * Dear lilac-tree, a-spreadèn wide
 * Dear Yarrowham, ’twer many miles
 * The dock-leaves that do spread so wide
 * Don’t try to win a maïden’s heart,
 * The drevèn scud that overcast

E

 * Ees, last Whit-Monday, I an’ Meäry
 * Ees: now mahogany’s the goo.
 * Ees; uncle had thik small hwomestead,

F

 * The Frome, wi’ ever-water’d brink,

G

 * The gather’d clouds, a-hangèn low,
 * The girt woak tree that’s in the dell!
 * The girt wold house o’ mossy stwone,
 * The girt wold waggon uncle had,
 * Good Meäster Collins! aye, how mild he spoke
 * Good Meäster Collins heärd woone day
 * Good morn t’ye, John. How b’ye? how b’ye?
 * The grass mid sheen when wat’ry beäds
 * Green mwold on zummer bars do show
 * The ground is clear. There’s nar a ear
 * Guy Faux’s night, dost know, we chaps,

H

 * Heigh! heigh! here. Who’s about?
 * Here did swaÿ the eltrot flow’rs,
 * Here, Jeäne, we vu’st did meet below
 * His aunt an’ uncle,—ah! the kind
 * The house where I wer born an’ bred,
 * How b’ye, then, John, to-night; an’ how
 * How dear’s the door a latch do shut,
 * How happy uncle us’d to be
 * How merry, wi’ the cider cup,
 * Hurrah! my lads, vor Do’set men!

I

 * I born in town! oh no, my dawn
 * I do mind when there broke bitter tidèns,
 * I do seem to zee Grammar as she did use
 * I do veel vor ye, Thomas, vor I be a-feär’d
 * I don’t want to sleep abrode, John,
 * I got two vields, an’ I don’t ceäre
 * I took a flight, awhile agoo,
 * I went hwome in the dead o’ the night,
 * If I had all the land my zight
 * If I’ve a-stream’d below a storm,
 * If mem’ry, when our hope’s a-gone,
 * If souls should only sheen so bright
 * If theäse day’s work an’ burnèn sky
 * I’m out, when, in the Winter’s blast,
 * I’m thankvul I be out o’ that
 * In brown-leav’d Fall the wheat a-left
 * In church at Grenley woone mid zee
 * In happy days when I wer young,
 * In happy times a while agoo,
 * In leäne the gipsies, as we went
 * In the common by our hwome
 * In stillness we ha’ words to hear,
 * In zummer, leäte at evenèn tide,
 * In zummer, when the sheädes do creep
 * In zummer, when the knaps wer bright
 * ’Ithin the woodlands, flow’ry gleäded,
 * I’ve a-come by the Maÿ-tree all times o’ the year,

J

 * Jean ax’d what ribbon she should wear
 * John Bleäke he had a bit o’ ground
 * John Bloom he wer a jolly soul,

L

 * Last Easter Jim put on his blue
 * Last night below the elem in the lew
 * Last night the merry farmers’ sons,
 * Last week the Browns ax’d nearly all
 * Last week, when we’d a haul’d the crops,
 * Let en zit, wi’ his dog an’ his cat,
 * Let me work, but mid noo tie
 * Lik’ souls a-toss’d at sea I bore

M

 * Meäry-Ann wer alwone wi’ her beäby in earms,
 * My days, wi’ wold vo’k all but gone,
 * My hwome wer on the timber’d ground
 * My love is good, my love is feäir,
 * My love is the maïd ov all maïdens,

N

 * News o’ grief had overteäken
 * No! I don’t begrudge en his life,
 * No, I’m a man, I’m vull a man,
 * No! Jenny, there’s noo pleäce to charm
 * No; mind thy father. When his tongue
 * No, no, good Meäster Collins cried,
 * No, no! I ben’t a-runnèn down
 * No, no, why you’ve noo wife at hwome
 * No: where the woak do overspread,
 * Noo soul did hear her lips complaïn,
 * Now day by day, at lofty height,
 * Now, Fanny, ’tis too bad, you teazèn maïd!
 * Now the light o’ the west is a-turn’d to gloom,
 * Now the sheädes o’ the elems do stratch mwore an’ mwore,
 * Now the yollow zun, a-runnèn
 * Now the zunny aïr’s a-blowèn

O

 * O, aye! they had woone child bezide,
 * O, I be a carter, wi’ my whip
 * O jaÿ betide the dear wold mill,
 * O Jenny, don’t sobby! vor I shall be true;
 * O Lizzie is so mild o’ mind,
 * O! Meäry, when the zun went down,
 * O mother, mother! be the teäties done?
 * O Poll’s the milk-maïd o’ the farm!
 * O’ small-feäc’d flow’r that now dost bloom
 * O spread ageän your leaves an’ flow’rs,
 * O the wings o’ the rook wer a-glitterèn bright,
 * O when our zun’s a-zinkèn low,
 * O when theäse elems’ crooked boughs,
 * O wild-reävèn west winds; as you do roar on,
 * O zummer clote! when the brook’s a-glidèn
 * Oh! aye! the spring ’ithin the leäne,
 * Oh! Bob the fiddler is the pride
 * Oh! I be shepherd o’ the farm,
 * Oh! I vu’st know’d o’ my true love,
 * Oh! if my ling’rèn life should run,
 * Oh! no, I quite injaÿ’d the ride
 * Oh! no, Poll, no! Since they’ve a-took
 * Oh! the wood wer a-vell’d in the copse,
 * Oh! thik Gammony Gaÿ is so droll,
 * Oh! there be angels evermwore,
 * Oh! when the friends we us’d to know,
 * Ov all the birds upon the wing
 * Ov all the chaps a-burnt so brown
 * Ov all the cows, among the rest
 * Ov all the housen o’ the pleäce,
 * Ov all the meäds wi’ shoals an’ pools,
 * Ov all the roads that ever bridge

P

 * Pentridge!—oh! my heart’s a-zwellèn
 * Poor Jenny wer her Robert’s bride
 * The primrwose in the sheäde do blow,

R

 * The rick ov our last zummer’s haulèn
 * The rook’s nest do rock on the tree-top

S

 * The sheädeless darkness o’ the night
 * Since I noo mwore do zee your feäce,
 * Since we wer striplèns naïghbour John,
 * The sky wer clear, the zunsheen glow’d
 * The snow-white clouds did float on high
 * The stream-be-wander’d dell did spread
 * Sweet Be’mi’ster, that bist a-bound
 * Sweet Woodley! oh! how fresh an’ gaÿ

T

 * That’s slowish work, Bob. What’st a-been about?
 * There be the greyhounds! lo’k! an’ there’s the heäre!
 * There Liddy zot bezide her cow,
 * There lovely Jenny past,
 * There the ash-tree leaves do vall
 * There’s noo pleäce I do like so well,
 * There’s thik wold hag, Moll Brown, look zee, jus’ past!
 * There’s what the vo’k do call a veäiry ring
 * They do zay that a travellèn chap
 * This is a darkish evenèn; b’ye a-feärd
 * The thissledown by wind’s a-roll’d
 * Though cool avore the sheenèn sky
 * Though ice do hang upon the willows
 * ’Tis merry ov a zummer’s day, (Haÿ-Meäken)
 * ’Tis merry ov a zummer’s day, (Haÿ-Carrèn)
 * ’Tis true I brought noo fortune hwome
 * ’Tis zome vo’ks jaÿ to teäke the road,
 * To morrow stir so brisk’s you can,
 * ’Twer at night, an’ a keen win’ did blow
 * ’Twer good what Meäster Collins spoke
 * ’Twer Maÿ, but ev’ry leaf wer dry
 * ’Twer out at Penley I’d a-past
 * ’Twer when the busy birds did vlee,
 * ’Twer when the vo’k wer out to hawl
 * ’Twer where my fondest thoughts do light,
 * ’Twer where the zun did warm the lewth,

U

 * Upon the hedge theäse bank did bear,
 * Upon the slope, the hedge did bound
 * Upon theäse knap I’d sooner be
 * Upzides wi’ Polly! no, he’d vind

V

 * Vier, Aïr, E’th, Water, wer a-meäde
 * Vor all the zun do leäve the sky,
 * Vorgi’e me, Jenny, do! an’ rise

W

 * We Do’set, though we mid be hwomely,
 * We now mid hope vor better cheer,
 * We thought you woulden leäve us quite
 * We took the apples in last week,
 * We zot bezide the leäfy wall,
 * Well, aye, last evenèn, as I shook
 * Well here, then, Mister auctioneer,
 * Well, here we be, then, wi’ the vu’st poor lwoad
 * Well, I do zay ’tis wo’th woone’s while
 * Well! thanks to you, my faïthful Jeäne.
 * Well, Tom, how be’st? Zoo thou’st a-got thy neäme
 * Well, you mid keep the town an’ street,
 * When dewy fall’s red leaves do vlee
 * When evenèn is a-drawèn in,
 * When evenèn sheädes o’ trees do hide
 * When high-flown larks wer on the wing,
 * When hot-beam’d zuns do strik right down,
 * When I led by zummer streams
 * When I wer still a bwoy, an’ mother’s pride,
 * When in the evenèn the zun’s a-zinkèn,
 * When in happy times we met,
 * When, leäte o’ nights, above the green
 * When leäzers wi’ their laps o’ corn
 * When mornèn winds, a-blowèn high,
 * When music, in a heart that’s true,
 * When out below the trees, that drow’d
 * When Pentridge House wer still the nest
 * When sheädes do vail into ev’ry hollow,
 * When skies wer peäle wi’ twinklèn stars,
 * When snow-white clouds wer thin an’ vew
 * When starbright maïdens be to zit
 * When sycamore leaves wer a-spreadèn,
 * When the warm zummer breeze do blow over the hill,
 * When vu’st along theäse road vrom mill,
 * When vu’st the breakèn day is red,
 * When hillborne Paladore did show
 * When our downcast looks be smileless,
 * When we in mornèn had a-drow’d
 * When weakness now do strive wi’ might
 * When wind wer keen.
 * When wintry weather’s all a-done,
 * When zummer’s burnèn het’s a-shed
 * Where the bridge out at Woodley did stride,
 * Where cows did slowly seek the brink
 * Where the western zun, unclouded,
 * While down the meäds wound slow,
 * The while I took my bit o’ rest,
 * While now upon the win’ do zwell
 * While zome, a-gwaïn from pleäce to pleäce,
 * While zuns do roll vrom east to west
 * Why ees, aunt Anne’s a little staïd,
 * Why, his heart’s lik’ a popple, so hard as a stwone,
 * Why woonce, at Chris’mas-tide, avore
 * Why, raïn or sheen, or blow or snow,
 * Why thik wold post so long kept out,
 * Why tidden vields an’ runnèn brooks,
 * Wi’ smokeless tuns an’ empty halls,
 * The windless copse ha’ sheädy boughs,
 * The winter clouds, that long did hide
 * The woaken tree, a-beät at night
 * The woaken tree, so hollow now,
 * Woone’s heart mid leäp wi’ thoughts o’ jaÿ
 * Wull ye come in eärly Spring,

Y

 * You’ll lose your meäster soon, then, I do vind;

Z

 * The zilver-weed upon the green,
 * Zoo after supper wer a-done,
 * Zoo here be your childern, a-sheärèn
 * Zoo then the leädy an’ the squier,
 * Zoo you be in your groun’ then, I do zee,
 * The zun can zink, the stars mid rise,
 * The zun’d a-zet back tother night,
 * The zun, O Jessie, while his feäce do rise
 * “The zunny copse ha’ birds to zing,