Frederic William Moorman Black Poems

• 1. A Dalesman's Litany
  From Hull, Halifax, and Hell, good Lord deliver us.
  A Yorkshire Proverb.
  
  
  ...
• 2. Telling The Bees
  On many Yorkshire farms it was perhaps still is the custom to tell the bees when a death had taken place in the family. The hive had to be put into mourning, and when the arval, or funeral feast, was held, after the return from the grave, small portions of everything eaten or drunk had to be given to the bees in a saucer. Failure to do this meant either the death or departure of the bees.
  
  
  Whisht! laatle bees, sad tidings I bear,
  ...
• 3. The Courting Gate
  There's dew upon the meadows,
  An' bats are wheelin' high;
  The sun has set an hour sin',
  An' evenin' leet's i' t' sky.
  ...
• 4. The Local Preacher
  Ay, I'm a ranter, so at least fowks say;
  Happen they'd tell t' same tale o' t' postle Paul.
  I've ranted fifty yeer, coom first o' May,
  An' niver changed my gospil through 'em all.
  ...
• 5. The Flower Of Wensleydale
  She leaned o'er her latticed casement,
  The Flower of Wensleydale;
  'Twas St Agnes Eve at midnight,
  Through the mist the stars burnt pale.
  ...

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