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The Dialect of Cornwall in Conjunction with Brian Stevens Recorder of Dialect
Dialect Poetry
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Click on title to be taken to the poem Ole Bood The Taaty Pasty The Fox Carn Brea Cathedral Ole Bood (From an incident at Waterloo StationI went to London and Mother too. Us zeed the Thames. the Tower, the Zoo, Us did'n knaw then what more ver do, So us traapsed away to Waterloo By Morgan Antony*
(Published in Old Cornwall April 1926)
Now touch your pipe comrades says I And niver be too hasty, And I will make a footch to rhyme about a Tatty-Paasty
There’s mait enuf of iv’ry sort All fillin like and taasty; But. For a Carnish miners mait, Give me a Taaty-Paasty.
Good-Lor1-What lots of em I’ve carr’d To bal when I were little- Baaked ‘pon the brandis long with furse, En baaker and en kittle!
Iss slabs es handy, I deer saay- Theres piles of new things maaken- But give me Mawther’s baaker, soas! That theer’s the thing for baaken!
Slabs, kitcheners, and what besides- I’d fooch awaay them trade; No pasties iver was sa good As them that Mather made!
The fire-ook in her hand, a-footchen ‘bout the burnen sticks, And doin’ pasties grand!
An then she’d saay, “Tey’er ready, ‘bleeve!” Jist as the fit would take her, And slip a knife right in between The bake-ire and the baaker.
“Aw, they’re done beautiful!” she’d saay. “Fauwl wan se burnt a bit- Well niver mind-‘tes luch I s’pose; We take what we can git!
Now maidens, taake they paasties up, An’ put en all you’ve got; A pass’l o’ hungry grawen booys Well ait a braa big lot!”
Et may not ba sa very rech, Nor yit sa very shawy; But nawthen’s like a pasty, soas, To feed a grawen booy!
An ‘ then they aren’t like pie or stew, Or brath, or fish-an-tates, Or fried petates; for they you must Have baasins, dishes plates.
An’ knives and farks, an’ spoons an’ things An’ table, to be sure; But for a pasty hands an’ jaws Will do, weth nawthen moore.
Jist drap’n en your handkercher, Wan carner sticken out; Then bite an’ chow which way you mind, You’re right enough, no doubt.
You needn’t have et en no room, Nor set upon no cheer ; Jist choose a spat of handy grass An’ setty down right theer.
Or lean your back agin a hedge, Or quatty ‘pon a board, An’ then you wudn, ef you cud, Chaange denners weth a loor!
So good luck to the pasty, booys, The aiter, and the maker; And good luck to the baaken-ire, The brandis, and the baaker-
Good luck to all the Carnish booys, That niver yit was baiten; A pasty may they niver want Nor Stummick for to ait’n!
By
WM.
TRESIDDER.
GOOD
friend, when down in "Barbary," The land of Cornish folk, I mean,
Beware lest they retort on thee With native wit, so true and keen. 1
Among
the men of north " St. Ann's,"
Famed
for their one-time futile labour,'
There
lived one of our " Foolish Jans,"
Though
not so much behind his neighbour.
One
day in hunting-time, near Yule,
A
luckless Nimrod rode and pondered,
Our
Jan he spied, and bawled, " Here, fool,
Canst
say which way the fox has wandered?"
"
Aw, Maaster! you ded frighten me ;‑
But
gents, they doon't luk down 'pon we,—
"What
soort o' crayter do 'ee mane ?
Was'
sumfin like a lil small dog;
Wan
minnet looken fur a drain,
Then
dugglen awver field and bog?"
"Au
bra' way back the dogs ded yowl
A
rig'lar drilgy 'twas to hear—
They
say he stawl the farmers's fowl
Then
to kill 'e they thoft was feer.
"Shut
up, you fool, I cannot stay,"
With
upraised whip the hunter cries,
As
Jan, in his own stuttering way,
Talked
of his tail and " cunnen' eyes.
"Mind
you doon't 'it me weth that tool!
You'm
in some por to git away;
Quitty
for quotty, you called me fool,
I
b'leve I seed
en—t'other
day."
1
Of
hedging-in the guckoo. A Gothamite tale which they
share with
many other places.
by Bert Thomas
Ded I tell ‘ee ‘bout Cam Brea Cathedral An’ ‘ow it all come about? Well you’ll want t’ knaw a bit ‘bout tha Bishup An’ awlsoa tha Dean I’ve no doubt. Tha Bishup was built short an’ stuggy Weth a ‘ead which was shinny an’ bald An noun’ reddish chacks an’ a smile on ‘is faace ‘ee dedn seem t’ ‘ave no wernies ‘t all. Tha Dean ‘ee was tall an’ ‘s thin ‘s a raake Uv good ‘umour ‘ee dedn ‘ave no lack But ‘ee wouidn’ shaw ut, not less ‘ee ‘ad to, ‘Ee seemed t’ ‘ave th’ ole wend on ‘is back. Black ‘aired an’ dark featured an’ stoopin’ ‘Ee looked like a prophet uv owld; But ‘ee’d laff like a pisky when ‘ee ‘ad ‘nuf whisky (Which ‘ee ‘ad ‘t ‘ave t’ keep out tha cowld); Fer ‘tes braa ‘m cowld on Cam Bnea some evenin’s
When th’whole piaace es shrouded in fog An’ tha winds blaw tha drizzle right up from St. Ives, ‘Tedn fit fen man, woman, ‘n dog. You got t’ ‘ave somethin’ t’ warm ‘ee An’ though some git ‘long weth their tea The Dean claimd that people sh’d drink what they fancied; An’ it ‘ad t’ be whisky fen ‘ee. Tha Bishup dedn mm’ what ‘ee drank ‘t awl; Tay, wines, coffee, spirits ‘r beer ‘Ee dearly liked t’ ‘ave ‘is pint down at that ‘Lion’ ‘Ee c’d chat to ‘is people down theen An ‘ear ‘bout then troubles an’ give ‘is advice In a way that was neelly perfeshnal, An’ so many people turned up Fnidy nights That sum called et tha Bishup’s Confeshnal. Sometimes, uv an evenin’ tha Dean went down tha Cam T’ call in at th’ owld “Oss an Cart” An’ chat t’ tha neglars an’ visiters then, An tha Dean thnawed a pretty good dart. They dedn ‘ave no dart board in tha Cathedral An’ ‘is werk kep’m busy awl day Soa ‘ee dedn ‘ave a lot a’ time fer t’ practise But ‘ee ‘adn’t fengot ‘ow t’ play. An’ many a visiter who took’n on An’ played ‘n fen pints ‘r fer tots Found the Reverend gentleman better than they Though losin’ was far from theen thawts, Fen Deans aren’t s’posed t’ be any good At gaames like shove-haapny ‘r darts An’ t’ be beat fair ‘n square by this solmn ol’ man Was jist like a knife t’ then ‘earts. But it gov’m respect fen Religion An’ fer th’ ol’ Dean uv Cam Brea An’ tha Dean dedn mm’ winnin’ a tot ‘n two ‘Twas like ‘avin’ untaxable pay. ‘mong tha regular congnegaashun Was a man called Sammy Tneloar An’ ‘ee went t’ sleep evry sermon ‘Caws ‘ee thawt that’s wat sermons was for T’ gib’m a rest b’tween singin’, Fer ‘ee gave th’ oi’ hymn tunes bell-tink An’ if you stood near to un when ‘ee was in full spaate Shock waves from ‘is voice maade ‘ee blink When they come t’ th’ end of th’ hymn tune ‘Ee sat down agen in ‘is pew An’ wud doaze off ‘gen till th’ argan ded start An’ then ‘ee’d come up right on cue. That angan was jist like a ‘larm clock to un,
No other soun’ woake’n ‘t all; People said ‘ee wud sleep if tha C’thedral failed down Ef ‘ee dedn git that ol’ argan call. Tha Bishup said, “What can ‘ee do weth tha man? ‘Ee doan’t ‘ear a wend that es sed! ‘Ee doan’t ‘ear no ‘nnouncements, no prayers n’r no sermns, N’r no lesson, ‘oever tes read.” The Dean sed “Me ‘ansum, now leave’n aloan An’ be thankful t’ God ‘ee doan’t snoar. Then’s sum wot caan’t understand awl we d’ say Ef they could, they wouldn cum ‘ere no moan. They d’ think ‘Thass anuther new ‘at Many Richards ‘as got on An’ I abm seen ‘m in that dress befoam. Awl tha money in that ‘ouse d’ goa on ‘em back Caws ‘em oI’ man an’ kids d’ look poor’. An’ sum d’ sit quiet an’ think bout then garden An’ ‘ow then p’taties ‘r grawin’ An’ whether tes time fen t’ put in sum unyuns Or wether tha groun’s might fer sawing. Ef you caan’t understand et you just ‘s well sleep through et As let y’n mm’ wander ‘bout things. Es doan’t do no ‘arm t’ nobody else. Sam d’ worship wen ‘ee d’ sing; An’ ‘ee’Il awiways ‘elp ef then’s sum job t’ do T’ kape this oald buiidin’ like new.” Tha Bishup sed “Dean, I’d bleeve that y’r right, An’ I’d knaw weth sum people tes true, Ef they d’ like then hymn singing better than pnaichin’ Then edn much that I c’n do.” The Dean sed, “Sum people d’ take in things better Ef you talk t’ them when they’re asleep, Tes th’ hypnotic effect that the Doctors d’ use When then patients es sleepin’ quite deep.” Sed tha Bishup, “Me ‘andsome, I d’ knaw you mean well You d’ awlways ‘elp me a lot, Come down-long weth me t’ th’ ol’ ‘Oss ‘n Cart” An’ I’ll play ‘ee at darts fer a tot.
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