Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect/Zummer Evenèn Dance

by William Barnes

ZUMMER EVENÈN DANCE.

Come out to the parrock, come out to the tree,
The maïdens an’ chaps be a-waïtèn vor thee;
There’s Jim wi’ his fiddle to plaÿ us some reels,
Come out along wi’ us, an’ fling up thy heels.

Come, all the long grass is a-mow’d an’ a-carr’d,
An’ the turf is so smooth as a bwoard an’ so hard;
There’s a bank to zit down, when y’ave danced a reel drough,
An’ a tree over head vor to keep off the dew.

There be rwoses an’ honeyzucks hangèn among
The bushes, to put in thy weäst; an’ the zong
O’ the nightingeäle’s heärd in the hedges all roun’;
An’ I’ll get thee a glow-worm to stick in thy gown.

There’s Meäry so modest, an’ Jenny so smart,
An’ Mag that do love a good rompse to her heart;
There’s Joe at the mill that do zing funny zongs
An’ short-lagged Dick, too, a-waggèn his prongs.

Zoo come to the parrock, come out to the tree,
The maïdens an’ chaps be a-waïtèn vor thee;
There’s Jim wi’ his fiddle to plaÿ us some reels,—
Come out along wi’ us, an’ fling up thy heels.