Yorkshire Dialect Poems Part 17

Frae t' Brig o' Dreead when thoo mayst pa.s.s, Ivvery neet an' all; To t' fleames o' h.e.l.l thoo'll coom at last, An' Christ tak up thy saul.

If ivver thoo gav owther bite or sup, Ivvery neet an' all; T' fleames 'll nivver catch thee up, An' Christ tak up thy saul.

Bud if bite or sup thoo nivver gav nean, Ivvery neet an' all; T' fleames 'll bon(7) thee sair to t' bean, An' Christ tak up thy saul.

1. The text of this version of the "Lyke-wake Dirge" follows, with slight variations, that found in Mr. Richard Blakeborough's Wit, Character, Folklore, and Customs of the North Riding (p. 123), where the following account is given: "I cannot say when or where the Lyke Walke dirge was sung for the last time in the North Riding, but I remember once talking to an old chap who remembered it being sung over the corpse of a distant relation of his, a native of Kildale. This would be about 1800, and he told me that Lyke-wakes were of rare occurrence then, and only heard of in out-of-the-way places. ... There are other versions of the song; the one here given is as it was dictated to me. There is another version in the North Riding which seems to have been written according to the tenets of Rome; at least I imagine so, as purgatory takes the place of h.e.l.lish flames, as given above." In the Appendix to this volume will be found the other version with the introduction of purgatory to which Mr.

Blakeborough refers. I have taken it from Sir Walter Scott's Border Minstrelsy (ed. Henderson, vol. ii. pp. 170-2), but it also finds a place in John Aubrey's Remains of Gentilisme and Judaisme (1686-7), preserved among the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum. Aubrey prefixes the following note to his version of the dirge: The beliefe in Yorkeshire was amongst the vulgar (perhaps is in part still) that after the person's death the soule went over Whinny-moore, and till about 1616-24 at the funerale a woman came (like a Praefica) and sang the following song." Further information about this interesting dirge and its parallels in other literatures will be found in Henderson's edition of the Border Minstrelsy, p. 163) and in J. C. Atkinson's Glosary of the Cleveland Dialect, p. 595.

Cleveland Lyke-wake Dirge

Traditional Sir Walter Scott's version

From Appendix I of 1st Edition.

This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Every nighte and alle; Fire and sleete and candle lighte, And Christe receive thye saule.

When thou from hence away are paste, Every nighte and alle; To Whinny-muir thou comest at laste; And Christe receive thye saule.

If ever thou gavest hosen and shoon, Every nighte and alle; Sit thee down, and put them on; And Christe receive thye saule.

If hosen and shoon thou ne'er gavest nane, Every nighte and alle; The whinnes shall p.r.i.c.ke thee to the bare bane, And Christe receive thye saule.

From Whinny-muir when thou mayst pa.s.se, Every nighte and alle ; To Brigg o' Dread thou comest at laste, And Christe receive thye saul

(A stanza wanting)

From Brigg o' Dread when thou mayst pa.s.se, Every nighte and alle; To purgatory fire thou comest at laste; And Christ receive thye saule.

If ever thou gavest meat or drinke, Every nighte and alle; The fire shall never make thee shrinke; And Christ receive thye saule.

If meate or drinke thou never gavest nane, Every nighte and alle; The fire will burn thee to the bare bane; And Christe receive thye saule.

This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Every nighte and alle; Fire and sleete, and candle lighte, And Christe receive thye saule.

A Dree Neet(1)

Traditional

'T Were a dree(2) neet, a dree neet, as t' squire's end drew nigh, A dree neet, a dree neet, to watch, an pray, an' sigh.

When t' streeam runs dry, an' t' deead leaves fall, an' t' ripe ear bends its heead, An' t' blood wi' lithin'(3), seems fair clogg'd, yan kens yan's neam'd wi' t' deead.

When t' een grows dim, an' folk draw nigh frae t' other saade o' t' grave, It's late to square up awd acc.o.o.nts a gannin' sowl to save.

T' priest may coom, an' t' priest may gan, his weel-worn tale to chant, When t' deeath-smear clems a wrinkled broo, sike disn't fet yan's want.(4)

Nea book, nea can'le, bell, nor ma.s.s, nea priest iv onny lan', When t' dree neet cooms, can patch a sowl, or t' totterin' mak to stan'.

'T were a dree neet, a dree neet, for a sowl to gan away, A dree neet, a dree neet, bud a gannin' sowl can't stay.

An' t' winner shuts(5) they rattled sair, an' t' mad wild wind did shill, An' t' Gabriel ratchets(6) yelp'd aboon, a gannin' sowl to chill.

'T were a dree neet, a dree neet, for deeath to don his cowl, To staup(7) abroad wi' whimly(8) treead, to claim a gannin' sowl.

Bud laal(9) deeath recks hoo dree t' neet be, or hoo a sowl may pray, When t' sand runs oot, his sickle reaps; a gannin' sowl can't stay.

'T were a dree neet, a dree neet, ower Whinny-moor to trake,(10) Wi' shoonless feet, ower flinty steanes, thruf monny a th.o.r.n.y brake.

A dree neet, a dree neet, wi' nowt neaways to mark T' gainest trod(11) to t' Brig o' Deead; a lane lost sowl i' t' dark.

A dree neet, a dree neet, at t' brig foot theer to meet Laal sowls at(12) he were t' father on, wi' nea good-deame i' seet.

At t' altar steps he niver steead, thof monny a voo he made, Noo t' debt he awes to monny a la.s.s at t' brig foot mun be paid.

They face him noo wiv other deeds, like black spots on a sheet, They noo unscape,(13) they egg him on, on t' brig his doom to meet.

Nea doves has sattled on his sill, bud a flittermoose(14) that neet Cam thrice taames thruf his cas.e.m.e.nt, an' flacker'd roond his feet.

An' thrice taames did a raven croak, an' t' seame-like thrice cam t' hoot Frae t' ullets' tree; doon chimleys three there cam a shrood o' soot.

An' roond t' can'le twea taames there cam a dark-wing'd moth to t' leet, Bud t' thod(15), it swirl'd reet into t' fleame, wheer gans his sowl this neet.

'T were a dree neet, a dree neet, for yan to late(16) to pray, A dree neet, a dree neet, bud a gannin' sowl can't stay.

1, From R. Blakeborough's "Old Songs of the Dales," appended to his T' Hunt o' Yatton Brigg, p. 37, second edition.

2. Gloomy. 3. Thickening.

4. The literal meaning of this line is, When the death-salve bedaubs a wrinkled brow, rites such as these do not fetch (i.e. supply) one's want. The reference is to extreme unction.

5. Window shutters. 6. The hounds of death. 7. Stalk. 8. Stealthy.

9. Little. 10. Wander. 11. Shortest path. 12. That.

13. Stir up memories. 14. Bat. 15. Third. 16. Attempt.

The Bridal Bands

Traditional

From R. Blakeborough's Wit, Character, Folklore, and Customs of the North Riding, p. 97.