Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect/Gwain to Feäir

by William Barnes

GWAIN TO FEÄIR.

To morrow stir so brisk’s you can,
An’ get your work up under han’;
Vor I an’ Jim, an’ Poll’s young man,
 Shall goo to feäir; an’ zoo,
If you wull let us gi’e ye a eärm
Along the road, or in the zwarm
O’ vo’k, we’ll keep ye out o’ harm,
 An’ gi’e ye a feäirèn too.

We won’t stay leäte there, I’ll be boun’;
We’ll bring our sheädes off out o’ town
A mile, avore the zun is down,
 If he’s a sheenèn clear.
Zoo when your work is all a-done,
Your mother can’t but let ye run
An’ zee a little o’ the fun,
 There’s nothèn there to fear.