Songs of the Ridings by F. W. Moorman: A Song of the Yorkshire Dales

Songs of the Ridings

A Song of the Yorkshire Dales

A song I sing o' t' Yorkshire dales,
That Winnd frae t' moors to t' sea;
Frae t' breast o' t' fells, wheer t' cloud-rack sails,
Their becks flow merrily.
Their banks are breet wi' moss an' broom,
An' sweet is t' scent o' t' thyme;
You can hark to t' bees' saft, dreamy soom
I' t' foxglove bells an' t' lime.

Chorus

O! Swawdill's good for horses,
an' Wensladill for cheese,
An' Airedill fowk are busy as a bee;
But wheersoe'er I wander,
My owd heart aye grows fonder
O Whardill, wheer I'll lig me down an' dee.

Reet bonny are our dales i' March,
When t' curlews tak to t' moors,
There's ruddy buds on ivery larch,
Primroses don their floors.
But bonnier yet when t' August sun
Leets up yon plats o' ling;
An' gert white fishes lowp an' scun,
Wheer t' weirs ower t' watter hing.

O! Swawdillls good...

By ivery beck an abbey sleeps,
An' t' ullet is t' owd prior.
A jackdaw thruf each windey peeps,
An' bigs his nest i' t' choir.
In ivery dale a castle stands -
Sing, Clifford, Percy, Scrope! -
They threaped amang theirsels for t' lands,
But fowt for t' King or t' Pope.

O! Swawdillls good...

O! Eastward ho! is t' song o' t' gales,
As they sweep ower fell an' lea;
And Eastward ho! is t' song o' t' dales,
That winnd frae t' moors to t' sea.
Coom winter frost, coom summer druft,
Their watters munnot bide;
An' t' rain that's fall'n when bould winds soughed
Sal iver seawards glide.

O! Swawdillls good...

Notes (arranged alphabetically)

Airedill : Airedale
Aye : ever
Beck : brook, stream
Bigs : builds
Bould winds soughed : strong winds sighed
Clifford, Percy, Scrope! : noble families
Cloud-rack : wind driven mass of cloud
Druft : probably drought, perhaps draught: breeze
Fell an' lea : Hill and meadow
Gert : great
Lig : lie
Lowp : leap (M)
Munnot bide : must not stay: seem too busy to linger
Ower t' watter hing : hang, or stand, above the stream
Plats o' ling : plots, or areas, of heather
Scun : dart away (M)
Soom : hum (M)
Swawdill : Swaledale
Threaped : disputed, constantly and aggressively
Thruf each windey : through every window
Ullet : owl
Wensladill : Wensleydale (a type of cheese); Yordale
Whardill : Wharfedale
Winnd : wind: wend their way, wander, stretch out

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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