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
'Why, but aw dooant know nowt varry gooid abaat him, nobbut he can cure
a bit o' bacon dacently.'
'Niver heed, tha mun say all tha thinks he owt to ha done, it'll do just
as weel.'
Kana wor wonderin all th' time what he'd have to say, soa he called
Jonas o' one side an' axed him.
'Oh, thy pairt's easy enuff. Tha mun thank 'em all, an' say it's th'
praadest day o' thi life; but dooant say owt abaat thi own ten shillin,
coss it willn't do for iverybody to know that; an' then as tha's nowt to
booast on thisen, put in a word or two abaat thi father. Owt tha says
obaat thi father is sure to goa daan.'
'Order! order!' shaated two or three as Jacob gate ready to spaik.
'Feller citizens, an' citizenesses, under this bed quilt is a statty
erected to th' memory of Kana, an' it's put here asteead o'th' pump. You
all know Kana. He's a daycent sooart ov a chap, an' we thowt he owt to
have a statty. At onyrate, we wanted a statty, an' it mud as weel be
Kana's as onybody's else. He's a varry daycent chap, as aw sed befoor,
an' upright--varry upright--as upright--as upright as a yard o' pump
watter. An' aw've noa daat he's honest; aw niver knew him trusted wi'
owt, but varry likely if he wor he'd stick to it. He's a gentleman, th'
bit ther is on him, an' he allus pays his rent. Aw could say a gooid
deeal moor, but th' least sed is th' sooinest mended, an' as yo all want
to see what's under this quilt, aw'll say no moor but show yo at once.'
Off coom th' quilt, an' ther wor th' statty, but it didn't stand on its
feet, for it wor raised on a powl, an' turned raand like a weathercock.
Worn't ther a shaat when they saw it! Didn't they swing ther hats raand!
Niver mind!
'Well,' sed Jacob, 'tha's made a gooid job o' that, Simeon; it's as nice
a bit o' wood as aw've seen for a long time, but what made thi have it
to turn raand?'
'Eea, it's a bit o' nice wood, an' them buttons 'at aw put in for his
een cost me sixpence a-piece. Aw thowt it wor noa use puttin a nooas on,
for tha sees it ud be sure to get brokken off, an' th' reason aw made it
to turn raand is becoss aw thowt it wor hardly fair 'at fowk 'at live o'
one side o' th' fowld should have his face to luk at allus, an' tother
side his back; soa nah we con have it lukkin one way one day an' another
th' next. But whisht! Kana's baan to spaik.'
'Kind friends, aw just stand up to spaik a few words hopin to find yo
all weel as aw am at present. If onybody had tell'd my fayther 'at his
son wod iver have a statty like that, aw think it wod ha brokken his
heart. This is a praad day for me, an' aw shall niver see this work o'
art withaat thinkin abaat what it cost. My father wor a gooid man, an'
awm his son, an' this is my statty, an' aw thank yo one an' all, soa noa
moor at present, throo yours truly, Elkanah.'
When he'd done ther wor some moor shaatin, an' then one o'th' wimmen sed
shoo'd a word or two to say.
'Silence for Mary o' Sarah's!'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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