Yorksher Puddin': A Collection of the Most Popular Dialect Stories from the Pen of John HartleyHartley, John
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Yorksher Puddin': A Collection of the Most Popular Dialect Stories from the Pen of John Hartley
Hartley, John
English language -- Dialects -- England -- Yorkshire; Yorkshire (England) -- Fiction
Some chaps i'th' village gate to hear abaat Joa's drivin an' fallin
asleep, soa they thowt they'd have a bit ov a marlock on, an abaat a
duzzen on' em went to th' Cemetary gates, an tho' it wor dark they faand
th' heears an' th' horse just as it had been drawn up, and Joa fast
asleep. One on 'em at had an old white hat changed it varry gently for
Joa's black 'en, an' then they hid thersen at tother side o'th' wall.
One on 'em set up a whistle at wakkened Joa, an' as sooin as he began to
rub his een an' wonder whear he wor, they begun singin th' Old Hundred.
"Bith' heart!" he said, "they tell'd me at tha'd a varry hard deeath
Nancy, an' it seems tha'rt having a varry hard burrin. Aw declare awve
been asleep, an' its as dark as a booit. Awm hauf starved stiff wi
caarin here, but aw should think they'll nooan be long nah, for they
sewerly dooant mean to stop thear singin all th' neet." Th' chaps waited
vary still for a while wol he began grumblin agean. "Aw dooant see ony
use i'me caarin here ony longer. Ther'll nubdy want to ride inside. Aw
may as weel be off hooam." Just then th' chaps sang another verse, an'
he thowt he'd better stop a bit longer, soa he put up his coit collar to
keep th' wind aght of his neck, an' wor sooin fast asleep agean. As
sooin as they fun it aght they varry quitely tuk th' horse aght o'th'
shafts an' turned it into a field cloise by, an' lifted th' gate off th'
hinges an' propt it up between th' shafts asteead o'th' horse, an' hung
th' harness ovver it; then they teed th' appron strings fast soa as he
could'nt get off his seeat, an' waited wol he wakkened agean. They
hadn't long to wait before he gave a gape or two, an' then he sed, "Awm
nooan baan to caar here ony longer! Aw nobbut agreed to come to th'
burrin, aw didn't bargain to stop wol they lettered th' gravestooan! Gee
up!" An' he started floggin th' horse for owt he knew, but it nivver
stirred. "Ger on wi' thi! or else awl bury thee an' all!" an' he slashed
away wi' th' whip, but th' heears nivver moved. Next he tried to get
daan to see if he could leead it, but he couldn't lause th' appron at
wor across his legs, soa he had to creep aght as he could an' climb onto
th' top, an' as th' top wor smooth an' polished he slipt off, an' sat
daan ith' middle o'th' rooad wi' sich a bang at if he worn't wakkened
befoor ther wor noa fear on him bein' asleep after that.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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