Songs of the Ridings by F. W. Moorman: The Bells of Kirkby Overblow

Songs of the Ridings

The Bells of Kirkby Overblow

Draw back my curtains, Mary,
An' oppen t' windey wide;
Ay, ay, I know I'm deein',
While to-morn I'll hardlins bide.
But yit afore all's ovver,
An' I lig cowd as snow,
I'll hear once more them owd church bells
O' Kirkby Overblow.

Mony a neet an' mornin'
I've heerd yon church bells peal;
An' how I've threaped an' cursed 'em
When I was strong an' weel!
Gert, skelpin', chunterin' taistrils,
All janglin' in a row!
Ay, mony a time I've cursed yon bells
O' Kirkby Overblow.

When you hear yon church bells ringin',
You can't enjoy your sin;
T' bells clutches at your heart-strings
I' t' ale-house ower your gin.
At pitch-an'-toss you're laikin',
Down theer i' t' wood below;
An' then you damn them rowpy bells
O' Kirkby Overblow.

An' when I've set off poachin'
At back-end o' the year,
Wi' ferret, bag an' snickle,
Church bells have catched my ear.
"Thou's takken t' road to Hell, lad,
Wheer t' pit-fire's bumin' slow;"
That's what yon bells kept shoutin' out
At Kirkby Overblow.

But now I'm owd an' bed-fast,
I ommost like their sound,
Ringin' so clear i' t' star-leet
Across the frozzen ground.
I niver mell on parsons,
There ain't a prayer I know;
But prayer an' sarmon's i' yon bells
O' Kirkby Overblow.

Six boards o' gooid stout ellum
Is what I'll want to-morn;
Then lay me low i' t' church-yard
Aneath t' owd crooked thorn.
I'll have no funeral sarvice
When I'm browt down below,
But let 'em touzle t' bells like mad
At Kirkby Overblow.

I don't know wheer I'm boun' for,
It hardlins can be Heaven;
I've sinned more sins nor most men
'Twixt one an' seven-seven.
But this I'll tak my oath on:
Wheeriver I mun go,
I'll hark to t' echoes o' yon bells
O' Kirkby Overblow.

Notes (arranged alphabetically)

Aneath : beneath
Back-end : indeterminate period before the onset of winter
Bide : live, endure
Chunterin' : grumbling (M)
Gert : great
Hardlins : hardly, barely, scarcely
Laikin' : playing
Lig : lie
Mell on : meddle with (M); mix with, mingle with
Mun : must
Nor : than
Ommost : almost
Rowpy : hoarse (M)
Sarmon : sermon, homily
Six boards o' gooid stout ellum : six good planks of elm: a coffin
Skelpin' : unwieldy (M)
Snickle : snare (M)
Star-leet : starlight
Taistrils : rascals (M)
Threaped : moaned at, rebuked
Touzle : handle or pull roughly (tussle)
While : until

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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