More Tales of the RidingsMoorman, F. W. (Frederic William)
General
More Tales of the Ridings
Moorman, F. W. (Frederic William)
Yorkshire (England) -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
At this point in the story alertness of mind was depicted on the face of
every listener. Joe Moon's tongue, as agile as a lizard's, had up to now
been revolving like a windmill round the lower half of his face,
questing after treacly crumbs which had adhered to his cheeks; but at
the mention of the girl by the waterfall it ceased from its labours, and
the tightly closed mouth and straining eyes showed that he was not
losing a word.
"Queerest thing about t' lass were this," Grannie continued, "shoo were
nakt, as nakt as ony hen-egg, an' that at five o'clock on a frosty April
morn. Eh! but it made me dither to see her stannin' theer wi' niver a
shift to her back. Well, I crept close to t' gert stone an' kept my een
on her. First of all shoo crept down to t' watter an' put her feet intul
it, an' gat agate o' splashin' t' watter all ower her, just like a bird
weshin' itsel i' t' beck. Then shoo climmed up to t' top o' t' nab that
were hingin' ower t' fall an' let t' watter flow all ower her face an'
showders. I could see her lish body shinin' through t' watter an' her
yallow hair streamin' out on both sides of her head. Efter a while shoo
climmed on to a rock i' t' beck below t' fall an' gat howd o' t' bough
of an esh. Shoo brak off t' bough an' shaped it into a sort o' a wand
an' started wavin' it i' t' air.
"Now I ought to have telled you that up to now iverything i' t' cove
were as whisht as t' grave. I could hear t' cocks crowin' up at our
house, but all t' wild birds were roostin' i' t' boughs or on t' grund.
But no sooiner did t' lass wave her wand ower her head than t' larks
started singin'. T' meadows an' cow-pasturs were full o' sleepin' larks,
an' then, all on a sudden, t' sky were fair wick wi' em. I harkened tul
'em, ay, an t' lass harkened an' all, an' kept wavin' t' wand aboon her
head. I doubted 'twere t' lass that had wakkened t' larks an' gotten 'em
to sing so canty. Efter a while shoo lowered t' wand a bit an' pointed
to t' moors, an' then, by t' Mess! curlews gat agate o' singin.' Soom
fowks reckons that t' song o' t' curlew is dreesom an' yonderly, but I
love to harken to it i' t' springtime when t' birds cooms back to t'
moors frae t' sea. An' so did t' lass. When shoo heerd t' curlews shoo
started laughin' an' dashed t' watter about wi' her foot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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