Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/67

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
HAY-MEAKEN.
51

 O’ zunzet in the west;
An’ let’s stroll here vor half an hour,
Where hangèn boughs do meäke a bow’r
Above theäse bank, wi’ eltrot flow’r
 An’ robinhoods a-drest.

HAY-MEAKEN.

’Tis merry ov a zummer’s day,
Where vo’k be out a-meäkèn haÿ;
Where men an’ women, in a string,
Do ted or turn the grass, an’ zing,
Wi’ cheemèn vaïces, merry zongs,
A-tossèn o’ their sheenèn prongs
Wi’ eärms a-zwangèn left an’ right,
In colour’d gowns an’ shirtsleeves white;
Or, wider spread, a reakèn round
The rwosy hedges o’ the ground,
Where Sam do zee the speckled sneäke,
An’ try to kill en wi’ his reäke;
An’ Poll do jump about an’ squall,
To zee the twistèn slooworm crawl.

’Tis merry where a gaÿ-tongued lot
Ov haÿ-meäkers be all a-squot,
On lightly-russlèn haÿ, a-spread
Below an elem’s lofty head,
To rest their weary limbs an’ munch
Their bit o’ dinner, or their nunch;
Where teethy reäkes do lie all round
By picks a-stuck up into ground.
An’ wi’ their vittles in their laps,
An’ in their hornen cups their draps
O’ cider sweet, or frothy eäle,
Their tongues do run wi’ joke an’ teäle.