THE DIFFERENCE

TEUN- "The Harp that once."

JUST see the drunkard, mean an' starved,
Gan trailin throo the street,
Appealin wiv his bleary eyes
For ye te stand him treat.
A lazy, dorty, creepin thing,
A man but i' the nyem
A sot that cares for nowt but drink,
A stranger tiv a' shem.

Despised for spungin, there he'll stand,
An' shiver heed te fut;
Sumtimes adorned wi' blackened eye,
Or else sum ugly cut,
That myeks him mair repulsive like
Yor forced te turn away,
An' wunder hoo he hes the cheek
Te turn oot throo the day.

Then see the brisk teetotal man
Gan sharply throo the street,
Wi' heed erect ;-he gains respect
Frae ivry one he'll meet.
His plissure is a bissey life,
He knaws it suits him best;
An' when relieved frae daily toil,
Thor's cumfort in his rest.

He'd like te better a' mankind
That's gyen, or led, astray;
He'd kindly tyek the drunkard's hand
Te lead him the reet way;
An' show te him the greet mistake,
In drink thor is ne gain;
That life can be a
Paradise, If he will but abstain.


-Source: Joe Wilson, (author) Songs and Drolleries, 1890