Songs of the Ridings by F. W. Moorman: Fieldfares

Songs of the Ridings

Fieldfares

Fieldfares, bonny fieldfares, feedin' 'mang the bent,
Wheer the sun is shinin' through yon cloud's wide rent,
Welcoom back to t' moorlands,
Frae Norway's fells an' shorelands,
Welcoom back to Whardill, now October's ommost spent.

Noisy, chackin' fieldfares, weel I ken your cry,
When i' flocks you're sweepin' ower the hills sae high:
Oft on trees you gethers,
Preenin' out your feathers,
An' I'm fain to see your coats as blue as t' summer sky.

Curlews, larks an' tewits, all have gone frae t' moors,
Frost has nipped i' t' garden all my bonny floors;
Roses, lilies, pansies,
Stocks an' yallow tansies
Fade away, an' soon the leaves 'll clutter doon i' shoors.

Here i' bed I'm liggin', liggin' day by day
Hay-cart whemmled ower, and underneath I lay;
I was nobbut seven,
Soon I'll be eleven;
Fower times have I seen you fieldfares coom an' flee away.

You'll be gone when t' swallow bigs his nest o' loam,
April winds 'll blaw you far ower t' saut sea foam;
You'll not wait while May-time,
Summer dews an' hay-time;
Lang afore our gerse is mawn your mates 'll call you home.

Fieldfares, liltin' fieldfares, you'll noan sing to me.
Why sud you bide silent while you've crossed the sea?
Are you brokken-hearted,
Sin frae home you've parted,
Leavin' far frae Yorkshire moors your nests i' t' tall fir tree?

Storm-cock sings at new-yeer, swingin' on yon esh,
Sings his loudest song when t' winds do beat an' lesh;
Robins, throstles follow,
An' when cooms the swalloww,
All the birds 'll chirm to see our woodlands green an' nesh.

Fieldfares, bonny fieldfares, I'll be gone 'fore you;
I'm sae weak an' dowly, hands are thin an' blue.
Pain is growin' stranger,
As the neets get langer.
Will you miss my face at whiles, when t' owd yeer's changed to t' new?

Notes (arranged alphabetically)

At whiles : from time to time
Bent : tough, wiry grasses
Bide : stay, remain
Bigs : builds
Chackin' : imitative sound
Chirm : cry or sing out, chirp
Clutter : huddle (M)
Dowly : miserable, poorly
Esh : ash tree
Fain : glad
Floors : flowers
Gerse is mawn : grass is mown: hay is made
Ken : know
Lesh : lash
Liggin' : lying
Liltin' : light-hearted (M)
Loam : mud and straw
'mang : among
Nesh : soft
Noan : not
Nobbut : only (nought but)
Ommost : almost
Saut : salt
Sin : since, because
Storm-cock : the missel thrush
Stranger : stronger
Tewits : peewits (M); lapwings
Throstles : song thrushes
Whardill : Wharfedale (M)
Whemmled ower : upset (M)
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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