Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/52

36 An’ there, among the many cries &emsp;O’ sheep an’ lambs, my dog do pass A zultry hour, wi’ blinkèn eyes, &emsp;An’ nose a-stratch’d upon the grass;

But, in a twinklèn, at my word, &emsp;He’s all awake, an’ up, an’ gone Out roun’ the sheep lik’ any bird, &emsp;To do what he’s a-zent upon.

An’ I do goo to washèn pool, &emsp;A-sousèn over head an’ ears, The shaggy sheep, to cleän their wool &emsp;An’ meäke em ready vor the sheärs.

An’ when the shearèn time do come, &emsp;Then we do work vrom dawn till dark; Where zome do shear the sheep, and zome &emsp;Do mark their zides wi’ meästers mark.

An’ when the shearèn’s all a-done, &emsp;Then we do eat, an’ drink, an’ zing, In meäster’s kitchen till the tun &emsp;Wi’ merry sounds do sheäke an’ ring.

Oh! I be shepherd o’ the farm, &emsp;Wi’ tinklèn bells an’ sheep dog’s bark, An’ wi’ my crook a-thirt my eärm, &emsp;Here I do rove below the lark.

heart mid leäp wi’ thoughts o’ jaÿ In comèn manhood light an’ gaÿ When we do teäke the worold on Vrom our vore-elders dead an’ gone;