Moorman, F. W. (Frederic William), 1872-1919 / 2008-06-03 00:00:00
EBOOK MORE TALES OF THE RIDINGS ***
Produced by David Fawthrop and Alison Bush
More Tales of the Ridings
by
F.W.Moorman, 1872 - 1919
Late Professor of English Language, Leeds University.
Editor of "_Yorkshire Dialect Poems_"
London, Elkin Mathews, Cork Street 1920
Contents
Melsh Dick
Two Letters
A Miracle
Tales of a grandmother
I. The Tree of Knowledge
II. Janet's Cove
The Potato and the Pig
Coals of Fire
Melsh Dick
Melsh Dick is the last survivor of our woodland divinities. His pedigree
reaches back to the satyrs and dryads of Greek mythology; he claims
kinship with the fauns that haunted the groves of leafy Tibur, and he
lorded it in the green woods of merry England when
The woodweele sang and wold not cease,
Sitting upon the spraye,
Soe lowde he wakened Robin Hood
In the greenwood where he lay.
But he has long since fallen upon evil days, and it is only in the most
secluded regions of the Pennines, where vestiges of primeval forest
still remain and where modern civilisation has scarcely penetrated, that
he is to be met with to-day. Melsh is a dialect word for unripe, and the
popular belief is that Melsh Dick keeps guard over unripe nuts; while
"Melsh Dick'll catch thee, lad" was formerly a threat used to frighten
children when they went a-nutting in the hazel-shaws.
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Parts:
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