Hi Arthur,

Very evokative of time and place. After initial stumbles over the dialect I
enjoyed it very much and felt it would come truly to life when spoken aloud
by a native.



bw
James




>From: Arthur Seeley <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: New Sub: Tales at my mother's knee: Mi Fust Doll
>Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 16:49:52 -0000
>
>Tales at my mother's knee: Mi Fust Doll.
>
>
>
>Sometimes things wuh really hard
>
>like the time yuh Granma wuh having our Leonard.
>
>Yuh Grandad wuh outa wuk agen,
>
>so our Albert and me wuh teken
>
>and put in a home, just for a while,
>
>till yuh Grandma wuh well agin.
>
>
>
>They dint bother about us in them days
>
>an' we wuh put in different homes.
>
>Albert wuh 8 and Ah wuh 6
>
>Oh, they wuh nice enough. Clean,
>
>a bit holy and a bit bossy
>
>and we got fed and looked after.
>
>Though Ah missed me Mam and our Albert.
>
>Ah never saw much of mi Dad anyroad
>
>so that wuh no loss.
>
>
>
>It wuh close to Chrismus
>
>an this lady cem and assed me
>
>wot I wanted fuh Chrismus.
>
>I wuh speechless.
>
>Ah'd niver been assed afore,
>
>no, nor given nowt nawther.
>
>Chrismus, we wuh lucky
>
>to have a fire in't grate
>
>never mind stockings hung up.
>
>Anyroad I just blurted out, sudden like,
>
>'A doll, please'.
>
>
>
>Nowt more wuh sed
>
>but cum Christmas morn,
>
>there wuh me stockin',
>
>wi' a doll in it, arms and head stuck out like,
>
>an' an orange, an' a new penny,
>
>reet dahn in't toe.
>
>
>
>Ah wuh fair clemmed up.
>
>Ah wuh that 'appy ah cried
>
>Mi fust doll!
>
>
>
>A little nurse wi' a white pinny, shi wa,
>
>and a hat wi' a red cross on it.
>
>It wunt pot nor owt like that,
>
>she wuh stuffed, wi' painted eyes,
>
>and a queer pinched-in  nose
>
>and a bright red mouth.
>
>
>
>Ah called her Anna and she wuh luvly.
>
>
>
>Ah loved that doll, do yuh knaw,
>
>She wuh nowt special really
>
>but she wuh mine and ah coomed 'er 'air.
>
>even though it wuh just a bit stuck on wi gloo.
>
>Ah coomed it and coomed it
>
>an' sang to her
>
>until ah think thuh wuh only three 'airs left at finish up,
>
>but mi comb ran through 'em, smooith as silk.
>
>
>
>Ah took 'er wi me
>
>when mi Dad cem fuh mi to tek me home
>
>an' ah kept her mony a year
>
>but lost her when we moved up to Ogden Foot.
>
>Got misplaced in't flittin', ah suppose.
>
>
>
>Ah've 'ad other dolls since then, lots on 'em
>
>an' I suppose shi wuh an ugly little thing
>
>to other fowk's eyes, mi fust doll,
>
>but she wuh bootiful to me.