Out A-Nutten
Last week, when we'd a haul'd the crops,We went a-nutten out in copse,Wi' nutten-bags to bring hwome vull,An' beaky nutten-crooks to pullThe bushes down; an' all o's woreWold clothes that wer in rags avore,An' look'd, as we did skip an' zing,Lik' merry gipsies in a string,A-gwain a-nutten.
Zoo drough the stubble, over rudgeAn' vurrow, we begun to trudge;An' Sal an' Nan agreed to pickAlong wi' me, an' Poll wi' Dick;An' they went where the wold wood, highAn' thick, did meet an' hide the sky;But we thought we mid vind zome goodRipe nuts among the shorter wood,The best vor nutten.
We voun' zome bushes that did feaeceThe downcast zunlight's highest pleaece,Where clusters hung so ripe an' brown,That some slipp'd shell an' vell to groun'.But Sal wi' me zoo hitch'd her lagIn brembles, that she coulden wag;While Poll kept clwose to Dick, an' stoleThe nuts vrom's hinder pocket-hole,While he did nutty.
An' Nanny thought she zaw a sneaeke,An' jump'd off into zome girt breaeke,An' tore the bag where she'd a-putHer sheaere, an' shatter'd ev'ry nut.An' out in vield we all zot roun'A white-stemm'd woak upon the groun',Where yollor evenen light did strik'Drough yollow leaves, that still wer thickIn time o' nutten,
An' twold ov all the luck we hadAmong the bushes, good an' bad!Till all the maidens left the bwoys,An' skipp'd about the leaeze all woysVor musherooms, to car back zome,A treat vor father in at hwome.Zoo off we trudg'd wi' clothes in slentsAn' libbets, jis' lik' Jack-o'-lents,Vrom copse a-nutten.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- trudge v. i.
- To walk or march with labor; to jog along; to move wearily. [Perhaps of Scand. origin, and originally meaning, to walk on snowshoes; cf. dial. Sw. truga, trudja, a snowshoe, Norw. truga, Icel. þruga.]
- 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.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- nutty a.
- Abounding in nuts.
- nanny n.
- A diminutive of Ann or Anne, the proper name. Nanny goat, a female goat.
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Out A-Nutten 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, Out A-Nutten, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/out-a-nutten.html, id L02090.
Form and metre
Out A-Nutten is 45 lines in 5 stanzas of 9 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCCDD- cropsA · copseA · vullB · pullB · woreC · avoreC · zingD · stringD · nutten
- 2 AABBCCDD- rudgeA · trudgeA · pickB · dickB · highC · skyC · goodD · woodD · nutten
- 3 AA--BBCC- feaeceA · pleaeceA · brown · groun · lagB · wagB · stoleC · holeC · nutty
- 4 AA--BB--- sneaekeA · breaekeA · put · nut · rounB · grounB · strik · thick · nutten
- 5 AABBCCDD- hadA · badA · bwoysB · woysB · zomeC · hwomeC · slentsD · lentsD · nutten
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Last week, when we'd a haul'd the crops, | 8 | ········ |
| We went a-nutten out in copse, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' nutten-bags to bring hwome vull, | 8 | ········ |
| An' beaky nutten-crooks to pull | 8 | ········ |
| The bushes down; an' all o's wore | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wold clothes that wer in rags avore, | 8 | ········ |
| An' look'd, as we did skip an' zing, | 8 | ········ |
| Lik' merry gipsies in a string, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| A-gwain a-nutten. | 5 | ····· |
| Zoo drough the stubble, over rudge | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' vurrow, we begun to trudge; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| An' Sal an' Nan agreed to pick | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Along wi' me, an' Poll wi' Dick; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| An' they went where the wold wood, high | 8 | ········ |
| An' thick, did meet an' hide the sky; | 8 | ········ |
| But we thought we mid vind zome good | 8 | ········ |
| Ripe nuts among the shorter wood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The best vor nutten. | 5 | ····· |
| We voun' zome bushes that did feaece | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The downcast zunlight's highest pleaece, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Where clusters hung so ripe an' brown, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That some slipp'd shell an' vell to groun'. | 8 | ········ |
| But Sal wi' me zoo hitch'd her lag | 8 | ········ |
| In brembles, that she coulden wag; | 7 | ······· |
| While Poll kept clwose to Dick, an' stole | 8 | ········ |
| The nuts vrom's hinder pocket-hole, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| While he did nutty. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| An' Nanny thought she zaw a sneaeke, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' jump'd off into zome girt breaeke, | 8 | ········ |
| An' tore the bag where she'd a-put | 8 | ········ |
| Her sheaere, an' shatter'd ev'ry nut. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' out in vield we all zot roun' | 8 | ········ |
| A white-stemm'd woak upon the groun', | 8 | ········ |
| Where yollor evenen light did strik' | 9 | ········· |
| Drough yollow leaves, that still wer thick | 8 | ········ |
| In time o' nutten, | 5 | ····· |
| An' twold ov all the luck we had | 8 | ········ |
| Among the bushes, good an' bad! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Till all the maidens left the bwoys, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' skipp'd about the leaeze all woys | 8 | ········ |
| Vor musherooms, to car back zome, | 8 | ········ |
| A treat vor father in at hwome. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Zoo off we trudg'd wi' clothes in slents | 8 | ········ |
| An' libbets, jis' lik' Jack-o'-lents, | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom copse a-nutten. | 5 | ····· |
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