A Lot o' Maidens A-Runnen the Vields
"Come on. Be sprack, a-laggen back.""Oh! be there any cows to hook?""Lauk she's afraid, a silly maid,"Cows? No, the cows be down by brook."O here then, oh! here is a lot.""A lot o' what? what is it? what?""Why blackberries, as thickAs ever they can stick.""I've dewberries, oh! twiceAs good as they; so nice.""Look here. Theaese boughs be all but blueWi' snags.""Oh! gi'e me down a vew.""Come here, oh! do but look.""What's that? what is it now?""Why nuts a-slippen shell.""Hee! hee! pull down the bough.""I wish I had a crook.""There zome o'm be a-vell."(One sings)"I wish I was on Bimport HillI would zit down and cry my vill.""Hee! hee! there's Jenny zomewhere nigh,A-zingen that she'd like to cry."
(Jenny sings)"I would zit down and cry my villUntil my tears would dreve a mill.""Oh! here's an ugly crawlen thing,A sneaeke." "A slooworm; he wont sting.""Hee! hee! how she did squal an' hop,A-spinnen roun' so quick's a top.""Look here, oh! quick, be quick.""What is it? what then? where?""A rabbit." "No, a heaere.""Ooh! ooh! the thorns do prick,""How he did scote along the groundAs if he wer avore a hound.""Now mind the thistles." "Hee, hee, hee,Why they be knapweeds.""No." "They be.""I've zome'hat in my shoe.""Zit down, an' sheaeke it out.""Oh! emmets, oh! ooh, ooh,A-crawlen all about.""What bird is that, O harken, hush.How sweetly he do zing.""A nightingeaele." "La! no, a drush.""Oh! here's a funny thing.""Oh! how the bull do hook,An' bleaere, an' fling the dirt.""Oh! wont he come athirt?""No, he's beyond the brook.""O lauk! a hornet roseUp clwose avore my nose.""Oh! what wer that so whiteRush'd out o' thik tree's top?""An owl." "How I did hop,How I do sheaeke wi' fright.""A musheroom." "O lau!A twoadstool! Pwoison! Augh.""What's that, a mouse?""O no,Teaeke ceaere, why 'tis a shrow.""Be sure don't let en comeAn' run athirt your shoeHe'll meaeke your voot so numbThat you wont veel a tooe.""Oh! what wer that so loudA-rumblen?" "Why a clapO' thunder. Here's a cloudO' rain. I veel a drap.""A thunderstorm. Do rain.Run hwome wi' might an' main.""Hee! hee! oh! there's a dropA-trickled down my back. Hee! hee!""My head's as wet's a mop.""Oh! thunder," "there's a crack. Oh! Oh!""Oh! I've a-got the stitch, Oh!""Oh! I've a-lost my shoe, Oh!""There's Fanny into ditch, Oh!""I'm wet all drough an' drough, Oh!"
Jack-o'-lent, a man-like scarecrow.The true Jack-o'-lent was, as we learn from Taylor, the water poet,a ragged, lean-like figure which went as a token of Lent, in oldentimes, in Lent processions.
Plesh, (2) Plush (a hedge), to lay it.To cut the stems half off and peg them down on the bank where theysprout upward.To plush, shear, and trim a hedge are sundry handlings of it.
Plow, a waggon, often so called.The plough or plow for ploughing is the Zull.
Words in this poem
- sprack a.
- Quick; lively' alert. [Cf. Icel. spækr sprightly, dial. Sw. spräk, spräg, spirited, mettlesome; or Gael. spraic vigor.]
- vell n.
- The salted stomach of a calf, used in making cheese; a rennet bag. [Cf. L. vellus the skin of a sheep with the wool on it, a fleece, a hide or pelt, or E. fell a hide.]
- vill n.
- A small collection of houses; a village. [OF. ville, vile, a village, F. ville a town, city. See Villa.]
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- funny a.
- Droll; comical; amusing; laughable. Funny bone. See crazy bone, under Crazy. [From Fun.]
- thunderstorm n.
- A storm accompanied with lightning and thunder.
- scarecrow n.
- Anything set up to frighten crows or other birds from cornfields; hence, anything terifying without danger.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- plesh n.
- A pool; a plash.
- plush n.
- A textile fabric with a nap or shag on one side, longer and softer than the nap of velvet. [F. pluche, peluche (cf. It. peluzzo), fr. L. pilus hair. See pile hair, and cf. Peruke.]
- sundry a.
- Several; divers; more than one or two; various. [OE. sundry, sondry, AS. syndrig, fr. sundor asunder. See Sunder, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Lot o' Maidens A-Runnen the Vields is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, Project Gutenberg ebook #21785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Barnes, A Lot o' Maidens A-Runnen the Vields, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/a-lot-o-maidens-a-runnen-the-vields.html, id L02359.
Form and metre
A Lot o' Maidens A-Runnen the Vields is 91 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A--BBCC---ADEDAE-FFGG back · hookA · maid · brookA · lot · what · thickB · stickB · twiceC · niceC · blue · snags · vew · lookA · nowD · shellE · boughD · crookA · vellE · sings · hillF · villF · nighG · cryG
- 2 -AABBCCD--DEEF-FGHGHIJIJKLLKMMNOON---PPQ-Q-RSRSTTU-U----- sings · villA · millA · thingB · stingB · hopC · topC · quickD · where · heaere · prickD · groundE · houndE · heeF · knapweeds · beF · shoeG · outH · oohG · aboutH · hushI · zingJ · drushI · thingJ · hookK · dirtL · athirtL · brookK · roseM · noseM · whiteN · topO · hopO · frightN · lau · augh · mouse · noP · shrowP · comeQ · shoe · numbQ · tooe · loudR · clapS · cloudR · drapS · rainT · mainT · dropU · hee · mopU · oh · oh · oh · oh · oh
- 4 A--A itA · they · upward · itA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Come on. Be sprack, a-laggen back." | 8 | ········ |
| "Oh! be there any cows to hook?" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Lauk she's afraid, a silly maid," | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Cows? No, the cows be down by brook. | 8 | ········ |
| "O here then, oh! here is a lot." | 8 | ········ |
| "A lot o' what? what is it? what?" | 8 | ········ |
| "Why blackberries, as thick | 6 | ·/·˘·· |
| As ever they can stick." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "I've dewberries, oh! twice | 6 | ·/·˘·· |
| As good as they; so nice." | 6 | ······ |
| "Look here. Theaese boughs be all but blue | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' snags." | 2 | ·· |
| "Oh! gi'e me down a vew." | 6 | ······ |
| "Come here, oh! do but look." | 6 | ······ |
| "What's that? what is it now?" | 6 | ······ |
| "Why nuts a-slippen shell." | 6 | ······ |
| "Hee! hee! pull down the bough." | 6 | ······ |
| "I wish I had a crook." | 6 | ······ |
| "There zome o'm be a-vell." | 6 | ······ |
| (One sings) | 2 | ·· |
| "I wish I was on Bimport Hill | 8 | ········ |
| I would zit down and cry my vill." | 8 | ········ |
| "Hee! hee! there's Jenny zomewhere nigh, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| A-zingen that she'd like to cry." | 8 | ········ |
| (Jenny sings) | 3 | /˘· |
| "I would zit down and cry my vill | 8 | ········ |
| Until my tears would dreve a mill." | 8 | ········ |
| "Oh! here's an ugly crawlen thing, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A sneaeke." "A slooworm; he wont sting." | 8 | ········ |
| "Hee! hee! how she did squal an' hop, | 8 | ········ |
| A-spinnen roun' so quick's a top." | 8 | ········ |
| "Look here, oh! quick, be quick." | 6 | ······ |
| "What is it? what then? where?" | 6 | ······ |
| "A rabbit." "No, a heaere." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "Ooh! ooh! the thorns do prick," | 6 | ······ |
| "How he did scote along the ground | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| As if he wer avore a hound." | 8 | ········ |
| "Now mind the thistles." "Hee, hee, hee, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Why they be knapweeds." | 5 | ····· |
| "No." "They be." | 3 | ··· |
| "I've zome'hat in my shoe." | 7 | ······· |
| "Zit down, an' sheaeke it out." | 6 | ······ |
| "Oh! emmets, oh! ooh, ooh, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A-crawlen all about." | 6 | ······ |
| "What bird is that, O harken, hush. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| How sweetly he do zing." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "A nightingeaele." "La! no, a drush." | 9 | ········· |
| "Oh! here's a funny thing." | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Oh! how the bull do hook, | 6 | ······ |
| An' bleaere, an' fling the dirt." | 6 | ······ |
| "Oh! wont he come athirt?" | 6 | ······ |
| "No, he's beyond the brook." | 6 | ······ |
| "O lauk! a hornet rose | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Up clwose avore my nose." | 6 | ······ |
| "Oh! what wer that so white | 6 | ······ |
| Rush'd out o' thik tree's top?" | 6 | ······ |
| "An owl." "How I did hop, | 6 | ······ |
| How I do sheaeke wi' fright." | 6 | ······ |
| "A musheroom." "O lau! | 6 | ······ |
| A twoadstool! Pwoison! Augh." | 6 | ······ |
| "What's that, a mouse?" | 4 | ···· |
| "O no, | 2 | ·· |
| Teaeke ceaere, why 'tis a shrow." | 6 | ······ |
| "Be sure don't let en come | 6 | ······ |
| An' run athirt your shoe | 6 | ······ |
| He'll meaeke your voot so numb | 6 | ······ |
| That you wont veel a tooe." | 6 | ······ |
| "Oh! what wer that so loud | 6 | ······ |
| A-rumblen?" "Why a clap | 6 | ······ |
| O' thunder. Here's a cloud | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O' rain. I veel a drap." | 6 | ······ |
| "A thunderstorm. Do rain. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Run hwome wi' might an' main." | 6 | ······ |
| "Hee! hee! oh! there's a drop | 6 | ······ |
| A-trickled down my back. Hee! hee!" | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "My head's as wet's a mop." | 6 | ······ |
| "Oh! thunder," "there's a crack. Oh! Oh!" | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Oh! I've a-got the stitch, Oh!" | 7 | ······· |
| "Oh! I've a-lost my shoe, Oh!" | 7 | ······· |
| "There's Fanny into ditch, Oh!" | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| "I'm wet all drough an' drough, Oh!" | 7 | ······· |
| Jack-o'-lent, a man-like scarecrow. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The true Jack-o'-lent was, as we learn from Taylor, the water poet, | 17 | ··········/˘·/˘/˘ |
| a ragged, lean-like figure which went as a token of Lent, in olden | 18 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘···/˘ |
| times, in Lent processions. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Plesh, (2) Plush (a hedge), to lay it. | 7 | ······· |
| To cut the stems half off and peg them down on the bank where they | 15 | ··············· |
| sprout upward. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| To plush, shear, and trim a hedge are sundry handlings of it. | 14 | ········/˘/˘·· |
| Plow, a waggon, often so called. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The plough or plow for ploughing is the Zull. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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