Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/276

260 When the zun, in the Fall, wer a-wanderèn wan, &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;An’ haws on his head &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;Did sprinkle en red, Or bright drops o’ rain wer a-hung loosely on, To the tips o’ the sprigs when the scud wer a-gone.

An’ when, in the winter, the zun did goo low, &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;An’ keen win’ did huffle, &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;But never could ruffle The hard vrozen feäce o’ the water below, His limbs wer a-fringed wi’ the vrost or the snow.

skies wer peäle wi’ twinklèn stars, An’ whislèn aïr a-risèn keen; An’ birds did leäve the icy bars To vind, in woods, their mossy screen; When vrozen grass, so white’s a sheet, Did scrunchy sharp below our veet, An’ water, that did sparkle red At zunzet, wer a-vrozen dead; The ringers then did spend an hour A-ringèn changes up in tow’r; Vor Lydlinch bells be good vor sound, An’ liked by all the naïghbours round.

An’ while along the leafless boughs O’ ruslèn hedges, win’s did pass, An’ orts ov haÿ, a-left by cows, Did russle on the vrozen grass, An’ maïdens’ païls, wi’ all their work A-done, did hang upon their vurk, An’ they, avore the fleämèn brand, Did teäke their needle-work in hand, The men did cheer their heart an hour A-ringèn changes up in tow’r;