Songs of the Ridings by F. W. Moorman: The Two Lamplighters

Songs of the Ridings

The Two Lamplighters

I niver thowt when I grew owd
I'd tak to leetin' lamps;
I sud have said, I'd rayther pad
My hoof on t' road wi' tramps.
But sin I gate that skelp i' t' mine,
I'm wankle i' my heead;
So gaffer said, I'd give ower wark
An' leet town lamps atsteead.

At first, when I were liggin' snug
I' bed, warm as a bee,
'T were hard to rise and get agate
As sooin as t' clock strake three.
An' I were flaid to hear my steps
Echoin' on ivery wall;
An' flaider yet when down by t' church
Ullets would skreek and call.

But now I'm flaid o' nowt; I love
All unkerd sounds o' t' neet,
Frae childer talkin' i' their dreams
To t' tramp o' p'licemen' feet.
But most of all I love to hark
To t' song o' t' birds at dawn;
They wakken up afore it gloams,
When t' dew ligs thick on t' lawn.

If I feel lonesome, up I look
To t' sky aboon my heead;
An' theer's yon stars all glestrin' breet,
Like daisies in a mead.
But sometimes, when I'm glowerin' up,
I see the Lord hissen;
He's doutin' all yon lamps o' Heaven
That shines on mortal men.

He lowps alang frae star to star,
As cobby as can be;
Mebbe He reckons fowk's asleep,
Wi' niver an eye to see.
But I hae catched Him at his wark,
For all He maks no din;
He leaves a track o' powder'd gowd
To show where He has bin.

He's got big lamps an' laatle lamps,
An' lamps that twinkles red;
Im capped to see Him dout 'em all
Afore I'm back i' bed.
But He don't laik about His wark,
Or stop to hark to t' birds;
He minds His business, does the Lord,
An' wastes no gaumless words.

I grow more like Him ivery day,
For all I walk so lame;
An', happen, there will coom a time
I'll beat Him at His game.
Thrang as Throp's wife, I'll dout my lamps
Afore He's gotten so far;
An' then I'll shout - "I've won my race,
I've bet Him by a star."

Notes (arranged alphabetically)

Aboon : above
Agate : on the way, active, busy
Atsteead : instead
Capped : outdone, surpassed (often signifying a degree of surprise)
Childer : children
Cobby : active (M)
Dout, doutin' : do out: extinguish, putting out
Flaid, flaider : frightened, more frightened
Gate : got
Gaumless : heedless, witless
Glestrin' breet : twinkling brightly
Gloams : becomes twilight (before sunrise or after sunset)
Hissen : himself
Laik about : play around at
Lig, liggin' : lie, lying (possibly prone, but not to)
Lowps alang : lopes along, bounds along
Skelp : blow (M), knock
Skreek : screech
Thrang as Throp's wife : Busy as... (proverbially)
Track o' powder'd gowd : the Milky Way (M)
Ullets : owls
Unkerd : strange, eerie (M)
Wankle : unsteady (M)

Explanations marked (M) are from Professor Moorman's original footnotes. Wherever possible, meanings have been checked in Dr Arnold Kellet's The Yorkshire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore (obtainable from the YDS), The Chambers Dictionary, and The Oxford English Dictionary. We have attempted at all times to be guided by context and to convey all probable intended meanings. We have not explained those words which differ only slightly in pronunciation and spelling from modern standard English.

Songs of the Ridings

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