Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/369

Rh An’ then the childern, wild wi’ fun, &emsp;An’ loud wi’ jaÿvul sounds, Sprung in an’ cried, “We had a run, &emsp;A-plaÿèn heäre an’ hounds; But oh! the cowslips where we stopt &emsp;In Maÿcreech, on the knap!” An’ vrom their little han’s each dropt &emsp;Some cowslips in her lap. Cried Grammer, “Only zee! &emsp;&emsp;I can’t teäke strolls, &emsp;&emsp;An’ little souls Would bring the vields to me. Since ’tis God’s will, an’ mus’ be well That I should bide ’ithin a wall.”

“Oh! there be prison walls to hold &emsp;The han’s o’ lawless crimes, An’ there be walls arear’d vor wold &emsp;An’ zick in tryèn times; But oh! though low mid slant my ruf, &emsp;Though hard my lot mid be, Though dry mid come my daily lwoaf, &emsp;Mid mercy leäve me free!” Cried Grammer, “Or adieu &emsp;&emsp;To jaÿ; O grounds, &emsp;&emsp;An’ bird’s gaÿ sounds If I mus’ gi’e up you, Although ’tis well, in God’s good will, That I should bide ’ithin a wall.”

“Oh! then,” we answer’d, “never fret, &emsp;If we shall be a-blest, We’ll work vull hard drough het an’ wet &emsp;To keep your heart at rest: To woaken chair’s vor you to vill, &emsp;For you shall glow the coal,