Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect by William Barnes. First Collection. Fourth Edition |
 |
|
|
|
POLL'S JACK-DAW. |
|
|
 | Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect |  |
94
POLL'S JACK-DAW.
Ah! Jimmy vow'd he'd have the law
Ov ouer cousin Poll's Jack-daw,
That had by day his withy jaïl
A-hangèn up upon a naïl,
Ageän the elem tree, avore
The house, jist over-right the door,
An' twitted vo'k a-passèn by
A-most so plaïn as you or I;
Vor hardly any day did pass
'Ithout Tom's teachèn o'm zome sa'ce;
Till by-an-by he call'd em all
‘Soft-polls’ an' ‘gawkeys,’ gre't an' small.
Ov ouer cousin Poll's Jack-daw,
That had by day his withy jaïl
A-hangèn up upon a naïl,
Ageän the elem tree, avore
The house, jist over-right the door,
An' twitted vo'k a-passèn by
A-most so plaïn as you or I;
Vor hardly any day did pass
'Ithout Tom's teachèn o'm zome sa'ce;
Till by-an-by he call'd em all
‘Soft-polls’ an' ‘gawkeys,’ gre't an' small.
An' zoo, as Jim went down along
The leäne a-whisslèn ov a zong,
The saucy Daw cried out by rote
“Gre't Soft-poll!” lik' to split his droat.
Jim stopp'd an' grabbled up a clot,
An' zent en at en lik' a shot;
An' down went Daw an' cage avore
The clot, up thump ageän the door.
Zoo out ran Poll an' Tom, to zee
What all the meänèn o't mid be;
“Now who did that?” zaid Poll. “Who whurr'd
Theäse clot?” “Gre't Soft-poll!” cried the bird.
The leäne a-whisslèn ov a zong,
The saucy Daw cried out by rote
“Gre't Soft-poll!” lik' to split his droat.
Jim stopp'd an' grabbled up a clot,
An' zent en at en lik' a shot;
An' down went Daw an' cage avore
The clot, up thump ageän the door.
Zoo out ran Poll an' Tom, to zee
What all the meänèn o't mid be;
“Now who did that?” zaid Poll. “Who whurr'd
Theäse clot?” “Gre't Soft-poll!” cried the bird.
An' when Tom catch'd a glimpse o' Jim,
A-lookèn all so red an' slim,
An' slinkèn on, he vled red hot,
Down leäne to catch en, lik' a shot
But Jim, that thought he'd better trust
To lags than vistes, tried em vu'st.
An' Poll, that zeed Tom woulden catch
En, stood a-smilèn at the hatch.
An' zoo he vollow'd en for two
Or dree stwones' drows, an' let en goo.
A-lookèn all so red an' slim,
95
Down leäne to catch en, lik' a shot
But Jim, that thought he'd better trust
To lags than vistes, tried em vu'st.
An' Poll, that zeed Tom woulden catch
En, stood a-smilèn at the hatch.
An' zoo he vollow'd en for two
Or dree stwones' drows, an' let en goo.
| Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect | |