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
"Tha sees, awr Harriet Ann wor as gooid a lass as iver stept till shoo
began o' coortin', an th' furst warnin' aw had wor th' last draw day,
for asteead o' givin' me two paand ten, shoo nobbut gave me thirty
shillin', an when aw axed her hah it wor shoo sed aw mud try an mak it
do, for shoo wanted to buy a two-o'-three bits o' things, for shoo'd
made up her mind to get wed. Tha could ha fell'd me wi a bean when shoo
sed that, for if ther wor owt i' this world 'at aw wor anxious abaat it
wor 'at shoo'd ha moor sense nor to get wed, soa aw axed her who it wor,
but shoo nobbut laft an sed aw should varry likely know him when aw saw
him. Nah, tha knows, Nanny, it wor nivver my way to goa abaat pryin'
into other fowks' consarns, but aw couldn't do but ax one or two ov her
comrades an try to get to know who he wor, but all awve fun aght soa far
is 'at he's a young gooid-fer-nowt, 'at nawther is owt nor nivver will
be, an he wants her for nowt i' this world but to work to keep him, wol
he spends his days drinkin' an dog feightin an pidgeon flyin', an' after
all th' trouble 'at aw've been at to bring her up in a respectable way,
awm sewer it's enuff to braik th' heart ov a stooan. Shove that teah pot
on here agean, for awm reight daan faint."
"Sup lass, for aw can sympathise wi thee, an if it 'ad been a paand
tha'd wanted to borra tha should ha had it. But tha hasn't all th'
trouble to thisen, for aw've getten a share as weel as thee. Awl tak a
drop o' that if tha'll hand th' teah pot this way. But mine's a deeal
war nor thine, for awr Alick (a better lad nivver wor born--aw used to
say when he wor a babby 'at he'd nivver live, for when he wor varry near
doubled up wi th' ballywark he'd ligg in his creddle an hardly mak a
muff) he's gooin to mak a fooil ov hissen an all, for he's pickt up some
idle trolly, an he's savin' up his brass to ware it o' her, an he's aght
two or three neets ith wick, an _if_ aw ax him owt he says, "Yo'll find
it aght in a bit," an if he doesn't find it aght it'll cap me, for his
fayther tell'd me 'at he saw him walkin' abaat last Horton Tide wi a
woman hook'd ov his arm, an what maks it war is aw've heeard at shoo's
nooan to gooid, an he's as simple as a cauf, an shoo can just twist him
raand her little finger. When aw wor puttin' his Sunday clooas away last
wick aw fan a thimmel an a hairpin, an a mintdrop 'at had been hauf
suckt (an aw know awr Alick niver aits spice) in his britches pocket, an
when he coom hooam he wor ommost ranty wol he knew what had come on 'em,
an when aw gave 'em him he lapt 'em up i' paper an lukt as suited as if
he'd fun a fortun."
"Th' teah-pot's empty if it means owt, but aw wor just gooin to say 'at
tha knows we can nivver put old heeads onto young shoolders, an awm
sooary to hear 'at yor Alick's noa moor wit, but still it isn't as bad a
case as mine, for tha sees if a chap gets wed he's th' maister, but a
lass has to do as shoo can."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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