The Dalesman's Litany (Trad.)

Its hard when folks can't find the work, wheer they've been bred an' born,
When I were young I allus thowt, I'd bide 'midst royits and corn,
But I've been forced to work in t' towns, so here's my litany,
From Hull and Halifax and Hell Good Lord deliver me.....


When I were courtin' Mary Jane, young squire he says one day,
I've got no room for wedded fowks, choose wilt ta go or stay,
I couldn't leave the lass I loved, so to town we had to flee,
From Hull and Halifax and Hell, good lord deliver me....


I've worked in Leeds and Huddersfield,I've addled honest brass,
In Bradford, Keighley, Rotherham, I've kept me bairns and lass,
I've travelled all three Ridings round and once I went to sea
From forges, mills and sailing boats, good lord deliver me....


I've walked at neet through t' Sheffield loy-ins, 'twere t'same as being in hell,
Wheer furnaces thrust out tongues of flame, an roared like winds on t' fell,
I've sammed up coils in t' Barnsley pits, wi muck up to me knee,
From Sheffield Barnsley, Rotherham, Good Lord deliver me....


I've seen fog creep across Leeds Brig as thick as Bastille soup,
I've lived wheer men's been stowed away like rabbits in a coop,
I've seen t'snow float on Bradford Beck as black as ebony,
From Hunslet, Holbeck and Wibsey Slack, Good Lord deliver me.....


An' nah when all us childers fled, to t'country we've come back,
Thers forty mile of heathery moor twixt us an' t' coil pits slack,
An as I sit by t' fire at neet, I laugh and shout with glee,
From Hull and Halifax and Hell the Lord delivered me.......


TRADITIONAL YORKSHIRE

This (rather long) song from the industrial tradition is a reworking of the old mediaeval ‘Thieves Litany’ which referred to the summary justice once meted out to thieves in Hull and Halifax. The song lives out the horrors of Yorkshires industrial revolution in all its black and grimy detail –but there is a happy ending to our album!

Jim Jarratt. Mytholmroyd. 2006

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Copyright Jim Jarratt. 2006