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Folk-Speech of Cumberland and Some Districts Adjacent / Being Short Stories and Rhymes in the Dialects of the West Border Counties cover

Folk-Speech of Cumberland and Some Districts Adjacent / Being Short Stories and Rhymes in the Dialects of the West Border Counties

Chapter 8: LAL DINAH GRAYSON.
By Alexander Craig Gibson
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About This Book

A collection of short stories and rhymes rendered in the vernacular of the West Border counties, chiefly the old Norse–rooted Cumbrian dialect with additional pieces in neighboring varieties. The pieces range from comic rural anecdotes and folk tales to pastoral reminiscences and printed versions of local speech, preserving pronunciation, idiom, and regional humour. The volume pairs narrative and lyrical items with explanatory remarks and a glossary to assist readers in understanding dialect terms, offering a varied snapshot of local customs, landscape incidents, and conversational mannerisms from Cumberland, Furness, and adjacent districts.

LAL DINAH GRAYSON.

AL Dinah Grayson’s fresh, fewsome, an’ free,
Wid a lilt iv her step an’ a glent iv her e’e;
She glowers ebbem at mé whativer I say
An’ meàstly mak’s answer wid “M’appen I may!”
“M’appen I may,” she says, “m’appen I may;
Thou thinks I believe the’, an’ m’appen I may!”
Gay offen, when Dinah I mannish to meet
O’ Mūndays, i’t’ market i’ Cockerm’uth street,
I whisper “Thou’s nicer nor owte here to day,”
An’ she cocks up her chin an’ says, “M’appen I may!
M’appen I may, my lad, m’appen I may;
There’s nowte here to crack on, an’ m’appen I may!”
She’s smart oot o’ dooars—she’s tidy i’t’ hoose;
Snod as a mowdy-warp—sleek as a moose.
I’ blue goon, i’ black goon, i’ green goon or grey,
I tell her she’s reeght, an’ git “M’appen I may!”
“M’appen I may,” she’ll say, “m’appen I may,
Thou kens lal aboot it, but m’appen I may!”
There’s nūt mickle on her,—we ken ’at gud stuff
Laps up i’ lal bundles, an’ she’s lal aneuf;
There’s nowte aboot Dinah were better away
But her comical2 ower-wūrd “M’appen I may.”
“M’appen I may,” it’s still, “m’appen I may.”
Whativer yan wants yan gits “m’appen I may!”
An’ it shaps to be smittal; whoariver I gang,
I can’t tell a stwory—I can’t sing a sang—
I can’t hod a crack, nay!—I can’t read nor pray
Widout bringin’ in her dang’t “M’appen I may.”
“M’appen I may,” it cūms, “m’appen I may;”
Asteed of Amen, I say “m’appen I may.”
But she met me ya neeght aside Pards’aw Lea yatt—
I tock her seàf heàm, but I keep’t her oot leàt,
An’ offen I said i’ my oan canny way,
“Will t’é like me a lal bit?”—“Whey,—M’appen I may!
M’appen I may, Harry—m’appen I may;
Thou’s rayder a hoaf-thick, but m’appen I may!”
I prist her to wed mé—I said I was pooar,
But eddlin aneuf to keep hung-er frayt’ dooar.
She leuk’t i’ my feàce, an’ than, hoaf turn’t away,
She hung doon her heid an’ said “M’appen I may!
M’appen I may”—(low doon)—“m’appen I may,
I think thou means fairly, an’ m’appen I may.”
We’re hingin’ i’t’ bell reàps3—to t’ parson I’ve toak’t,
An’ I gev him a hint as he maffelt an’ jwoak’t,
To mind when she sud say “love, honour, OBEY,”
’At she doesn’t slip through wid her “M’appen I may.”
M’appen I may, may be—m’appen I may,
But we moont put up than wid a “m’appen I may.”