“Well, you’ve putten me one on to mi waistcoit.”

“Tak it off, lad, for tha doesn’t need it!  Tha doesn’t know hah thankful aw am, for when aw wor tawkin’ to thi maister yesterday he sed tha wor troubled wi’ witches, an’ aw sewed t’horseshoe on to scare ’em.”

“Which whiches did he mean?”

“Which witches witch?”

“Aw can’t tell which is which.”

“Nivver heed which it is, Sammy, soa long as it isn’t a witch.  If it’s nobbut a difference ov a letter or two aw can’t see ’at it means owt.  Goa thi ways to bed, an’ dooant let me have to call on thee for a clock haar before tha frames to get up.”

Hard to Pleeas.

“Aa, well!  Wonders’ll nivver cease!  Come thi ways in!  Whativver’s browt thee here ov a day like this?  It isn’t fit to turn a dog aght ot door.”

“Noa lass, an’ if awd been a dog aw dooant think awst ha turned aght, but bein’ a poor widdy woman my life’s war nor a dog’s life onny day ith wick.”

“Tak thi bonnet an shawl off an creep up to th’ range.  Awm sure awm fain tha’s com’d, for aw wor gettin’ reight looansum, for my felly an booath oth lads have gooan to th’ taan, an they’ll nooan be back afoor neet.  But what is it ’at’s made thee turn aght ov a day like this?”

“Tha may weel ax, but aw hardly dar tell thee Nanny, for aw knaw varry weel ’at them ‘at goa a borrowin’ goa a sorrowin’, an to mak a long stooary short, awve come to see if tha can leean me ten shillin’ wol awr Harriet Ann’s next draw day, for awm behund hand wi mi rent, an tha knows what sooart ov a chap awr landlord is, for although we’ve lived i’ yond haase aboon twenty year, he’d think noa moor abaat puttin’ th’ bums in, if we were an haar behund wi th’ rent, nor he wod o’ spittin’ aght.”

“Why, Jenny, tha knows hah awm fixed, Aw’ve nooan too mich to stir on, for yond lads’ bellies tak moor fillin’ nor onnybody’d believe, an’ that felly o’ mine smooks moor bacca nor aw do believe ud fill a seck.  He’s nivver th’ pipe aght ov his maath nobbut when he’s aitin or else asleep, an not allus then, an as times is it’s ommost a wonder to see a shillin’ or two, an’ aw’ve nivver had a new cap sin last Mikelmas, an ther’s noa signs ‘at aw see on, for awr Alick’s naggin’ at me ivvery day for a new this or a new that, wol mi life’s a looad to me; but awl see what aw can do for thee, but goodness knaws awm poor enuff.”

Soa Nanny went to th’ little corner cubbord, an after clatterin’ th’ cups an plates abaat, shoo managed to find ten shillin’, an shoo caanted ‘em aght one bi one, an’ then wi a sigh ’at wor ommost a sob, shoo sed, “Thear it is, an aw hooap tha’ll net forget to let me have it back as sooin as tha can.  But hah is it tha’s managed to run short?”

“A’a, lass!  It’s th’ same old tale.  It matters little what yo do for a child at this day, yo’re niver onny better thowt on, and when they’ve takken th’ bit aght o’ yer maath, they’d have yor teeth if they could mak onny use on ’em.  Aw think awr Harriet Ann ’ll bring mi grey hairs wi sorrow to th’ grave.”