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to weer hyups; nut a badden nowther, if it keep ther legs
togidder; for ther war sum othem varra bonny; but I waddunt
hev yan othem for a wife un she'd aw Borradell, wi'out they
wad doff their hyups when they gang to bed, for ther as
brayd as enne bed i'Borradell, an thou knows there wad be
nea roum but a top o'them, an what sleep cud yan git a top
ov a whick bed; hang them, theyr aw white-heeded, like our
Weat-Miller lasses, an they tawk an yilp like mice. I wunder
what ta see at fancy seck, but they've nice lile feet, maks
me think they wad pryuv nimmel shipperts ov our brant fells;
an we wad larn them to soav, an clip, an their hyup pockets
wad be varra sutable too put a lam in ov aderside, in a
coald mwornin, i't spring when theyr starvt amyast, an gits
lile milk: But to be shwort, as our Preist ses in his
sarmunt, I hed'nt time to think of aw this when I so't, for
my feet ran wimme throw amang fwok, an owr fwok sea fast, I
freetent them; they thought that oth donnet was imme, they
mud a thought reet, if they'd thought at th' donnet had
setten me forrat, for if they keep seck farlies a purpos to
freeten fwok, there's nea matter how menne othem be trodden
to deeth; but I'll promise the I niver stopt tull I gat tull
a Sea-Nag at com tuv Inglan, an I was seak agyan afwor I gat
hyam, I cud nowder eat nor drink awth time; an if thou so me
now, thou cuddent tell me be a frosk, at had been hung up
byth' heels ith' sunshine, an dryt to deeth, for I's as thin
as lantern leets.
I think thou munnet expect to see me this munth; this is
three days at hyam, an I've a stommack fit to eat t'horse
ehint t'saddle; I git five myals a-day, an a snack when I
gang to bed; I hwop I's git strang agyan or't be lang, and
then I'll cum to sithe. This is nobbut like t'clock when it
gis warnin to strike twelve, to what I'll tell the when I
cum.
My kind lyuv tothe, an may gyud luck keep the fra aw at's
bad, an dunnet be keen o'ganging abrwod for feer the' donnet
git the.
An Attempt to Explain the above.
FRIEND,
I SEND thee this, to tell thee in some fashion what dreadful
fine things I saw in the road to and at Dublin, and the
hardships I have undergone. I set forward on Midsummer-day,
and got to Whitehaven, a great sea-coast town, where
Sea-Horses (1) swallow coals out of
rack-hurries (2) as barrels do ale; (I think Sea
Horses are not very wild, for they winter them in great
folds;) and as I was looking about to go to Ireland, I saw
two dozen of fellows making a Sea-Horses tedder-stake
(3) of iron. I asked one of them if I could get
riding (4) to Dublin? when a man in a three-cornered
hat, who knack'd (5) like rotten sticks, told me I
must go with him, for a thing they call Tide, like the post
upon the land, was going, and would never stay for any body.
Then four men in a little Sea-Horse, (a foal I think,) that
they called a Boat, haltered our horse, and led it out of
the fold; then our horse slipt his halter and run away, but
they hung up a deal of-wind cloathes (6) like
blinder-bridles, (7) with hundreds of ropes for reins. Land
run
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(1) Sea-Horses, ships, which he supposed beasts of burden.
(2) Rack-hurries, the staiths where the coals are poured
down into the ships from the waggons. At Whitehaven staiths
are called Hurries, and seemed to him like the filling a
rack with hay thro' a hole in the chamber above. (3)
Tedder-stake; a stake driven into the ground, to which is
fastened a rope that confines any animal to the bounds
allotted him by his master, hence its application to an
anchor. (4) Riding; conveyance on horse-back, or in any
carriage by land or water, in the phraseology of this
country. (5) Knack; to attempt to speak a genteel dialect;
smart, quick, and pert, as rotten sticks are suddenly broke
with a smart report. (6) Wind-clothes; large sheets of
coarse cloth for winnowing corn upon in the open fields,
here means sails. (7) Blinder-bridles; bridles with a flap
of leather on each side opposite the eye of the horse, to
prevent his having a side-view of objects, which might
frighten him and make him run away.
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