Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/385

Rh ’Twer Jessie Lee J. L. did meän, T. D. did stan’ vor Thomas Deäne; The “L” I scratch’d but slight, vor he &emsp;Mid soon be D, at Meldonley.

An’ when the vields o’ wheat did spread Vrom hedge to hedge in sheets o’ red. An’ bennets wer a-sheäkèn brown, &emsp;Upon the down at Meldonley, We stroll’d ageän along the hill, An’ at the hawthorn-tree stood still, To zee J. L. vor Jessie Lee, &emsp;An’ my T. D., at Meldonley.

The grey-poll’d bennet-stems did hem Each half-hid letter’s zunken rim, By leädy’s-vingers that did spread &emsp;In yollow red, at Meldonley. An’ heärebells there wi’ light blue bell Shook soundless on the letter L, To ment the bells when L vor Lee &emsp;Become a D at Meldonley.

Vor Jessie, now my wife, do strive Wi’ me in life, an’ we do thrive; Two sleek-heäired meäres do sprackly pull &emsp;My waggon vull, at Meldonley; An’ small-hoof’d sheep, in vleeces white, Wi’ quickly-pankèn zides, do bite My thymy grass, a-mark’d vor me &emsp;In black, T.D., at Meldonley.