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PEGGY.
O may we better houses get than thar,
Far larger dishes, doublers brighter far;
And ever mair delighted may wee bee,
I to make Cursty fine, and Cursty me.
CURSTY.
Reit aft at schuil I've spelder'd owr thy raws,
Full many a time I've faughten in thy cause;
And when in Winter miry ways lett in,
I beur thee on my back thro' thick and thin.
PEGGY.
As suin as e'er I learnt to kest a loop,
Warm mittens wrapp'd thy fingers warmly up;
And when at heels I saw thy stockings out,
[I] darn'd them suin, or suin sett on a clout.
CURSTY.
O how I lik't to see thee on the stear,
At spowrts, if I was tryer to be [s]ear;
I recah'd the fancy ruddily to thee,
For nin danc'd hawf sae weel e Cursty's e'.
PEGGY.
O how I swet, when for the costly prize
Thou grip'd some lusty lad o' greater size;
But when I saw him scrawlin on the plain,
My heart aw' slackert fort, I was sae fain.
CURSTY.
See owr the field the whirlin sunshine whiews,
The shadows faft the sunshine fair pursues;
From Cursty thus oft Peggy seem'd to hast,
As far she fled, he after her as fast.
PEGGY.
Ay laddy seem'd indeed, but truth to tell,
Oft wittingly I summer'd, oft I fell;
Pretendin some unlucky wramp or strein,
For Cursty's kind good-natur'd heart to meen.
CURSTY.
Sweet is this kiss, as smell of dwallow'd hay,
Or the furst primrose on the furst of May;
Sweet to the taste as pears or apples moam,
Nay, Sweeter than the sweetest honey-comb.
PEGGY.
But let us rise,- the sun's owr Carrick-Fell,
And luik whae's yon 'at's walking to the well;
Up, Cursty up; for God's seak let me gang,
For fear the master putt us in a sang.
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These rustic games once produced a remarkable combat, which
may serve as a specimen of the sentiments of our villagers
concerning fighting. Mr Andrew Huddlestone, (who from his
uncommon stature and strength was commonly called Great
Andrew,) was very much delighted with these exercises: he
was, however, at one of these wrestling matches overthrown
by one Thomas Harrison of Blencoyn, who was equally
conspicuous for bulk and strength. Finding himself
overmatched at this exercise, he proposed to Harrison to
take a bout at boxing: the proposal was immediately accepted
and the combatants were preparing for the onset, when a
Presbyterian clergyman lately come to Penruddock interfered,
and endeavoured to reconcile them. The country people have a
great respect for the sacred function, and as such, he was
patiently heard by both parties: he even succeeded so far as
to engage them to go and take a tankard of ale with him;
during the drinking of the ale he endeavoured by every
persuasive power he could use to reconcile them, and thought
he had been suc-
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