Songs of the Ridings by F. W. Moorman: The Miller by the Shore

Songs of the Ridings

The Miller by the Shore

The miller by the shore am I,
A man o' despert sense;
I've fotty different soorts o' ways
O' addlin' honest pence.
Good wheat and wuts and barley-corns
My mill grinds all t' day lang ;
Frae faave 'o t' morn while seven o' t' neet
My days are varra thrang.

Chorus

I mill a bit, I till a bit,
I dee all maks 'o jobs,
Frae followin' ploos and hollowin' coos
To mendin' chairs and squabs.
Oh! folks they laugh and girn at me,
I niver tak it ill;
If I's the Jack 'o ivery trade,
They all bring grist to t' mill.

I tend my hunderd yakker farm,
An' milk my Kyloe kye.
I've Lincoln yowes an' Leicester tups
An' twenty head 'o wye.
I've stirks to tak to Scarbro' mart,
I've meers for farmers' gigs;
And oh! I wish that you could see
My laatle sookin' pigs.

I mill a bit. ...

When summer days graws lang an' breet,
Oot cooms my "Noah's Arks,"
Wheer city folk undriss theirsels
An' don my bathin' sarks.
An' when they git on land agean,
I rub' em smooth as silk;
Then bring' em oot, to fill their weeams,
My parkin ceakes an' milk.

I mill a bit. ...

I pike stray timmer on the shore,
An' cuvins on the scar;
I know wheer crabs 'll hugger up,
I know wheer t' lobsters are.
I've cobles fishin' oot i' t' bay,
For whitings, dabs and cods,
I've herrin' trawls and salmon nets,
I've hooks and lines and rods.

I mill a bit. ...

On darksome neets, back-end 'o t' yeer,
I like another sport;
I row my boat wheer t' lugger lies,
Coom frae some foreign port;
A guinea in a coastguard's poke
Will mak him steck his een;
So he says nowt when I coom yam
Wi' scent and saccharine.

I mill a bit. ...

Notes (arranged alphabetically)

Addlin' : earning
Back-end : indeterminate period before the onset of winter
Cobles : type of fishing boat used along the NE coast
Cuvins : periwinkles (M)
Gigs : two-wheeled carriages
Girn : grin (usually excessive and often derisive)
Grist to t' mill : corn for grinding; metaphorically, anything that can be turned to advantage
Hollowin' coos : calling cows
Hugger up : crowd together (M)
Kyloe kye : cows, of a small, long-haired, Scotch breed
Laatle sookin' pigs : small milk-fed pigs, suitable for roasting whole
Maks : makes: kinds, sorts, types
Meers : mares, female horses
"Noah's Arks," : bathing machines
Parkin ceakes : oatmeal and ginger cakes
Pike : pick up (M)
Ploos : ploughs
Poke : pocket
Saccharine : sugar
Sarks : shirts (M)
Scar : reef
Squabs : settles (M); a type of long seat with a high, straight back
Steck his een : shut his eyes
Stirks : cows, usually bullocks, sometimes heifers, between one and two years old
Stray timmer : driftwood
Tups : rams, male sheep
Varra thrang : very busy
Weeams : bellies, stomachs (wombs)
While : until
Wuts : oats
Wye : heifers (M)
Yakker : acre: a land measure (0.4 hectare)
Yam : home
Yowes : ewes, female sheep

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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