Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/98

 82 Collectanea,

cos they was goin' to 'ave some singin' down at the ' Boat ' ; but Sarah, she said, ' Thee shassent go down theer ; thee'st better stay at 'ome 'an 'ave thee's supper.'

"Well, Tom, 'e would'nt stay, so she said, 'If thee goes down theer, thee bis'nt comin' 'ome to-night.' An' she began to curse an' swear, an' say she wished the devil 'ud run off with 'im if 'e went down, but still 'e went.

"Well, 'e was a comin' up again, about ten, with old Jacob Jones, an' Jacob was a little way in front ; 'e was a tellin' me about it arterwards. 'E said, ' It's as true as my hand's there,' 'e said, ' I felt myself goin' up, up, an' it took me breath away, it was so swift, an' I went up right over the hedge.' It were one of those 'igh 'edges all over dog-briars an' blackberry branches. An' 'e went right over, sheer down into the meadow the other side. Presently 'e 'eard some 'un swearin' close by, an' 'e said, ' Tom, is that thee? What t' devil art doin' theer?' An' Tom said, 'Jacob is that thee ? What t' devil art doin' heer ? '

" An' then they tried to get out, but they couldn't, an' they was all scrat about, an' bruised, an' cut, an' try as they might they couldn't get out, they was so buried in briars an' brambles. They lay there swearin' an' talkin' to one another till half-past five in the mornin', when they 'eard Dan an' Tom, their two boys, comin' up home from the tinworks. Then Jacob 'e called out ' Lor' bless thee, Dan, is that thee ? Coom an' get us out o' this ! '

"An' them two boys 'ad the greatest difificulty in gettin' 'em out, they was so stuck in them briars an' things. But at last they got out, an' when they got 'ome, there was old Sally boilin' the kettle, an' she said, ' I telled thee, Tom, thee oosn't come 'ome, an' thee didn't.'

" There's another story I've just remembered about a witch," said Mrs. Briton ; " I'll just tell you about it.

" There was an old witch used to live 'bout here, an' she had a daughter. Now there was a young man very fond of this girl, and wanting to marry her, but her mother hated him, and would have liked to have put him out of the way if she could.

" One day he came up to see his sweetheart, and there was her mother a brewin' somethin' in a saucepan on the fire. She says, ' Tom, do 'ee take t' kettle an' bring me some water from the well.' But the girl called out, ' Don't 'ee go, Tom. Oh ! don't 'ee go.' ' You be quiet, ye interfering hussy,' says the old 'ooman. ' Here, Tom, take t' kettle.'