From http://about.lyndenlea.info/poem.php

My Orcha'd in Lindèn Lea was written by Dorset writer & poet William Barnes (1801-1886). It was first published in 1859 in Hwomely Rhymes: A Second Collection of Poems in The Dorset Dialect, and was then entitled My Orchet in Linden Lea.

The second edition of this book, published in 1863 as Poems of Rural Life in The Dorset Dialect, Second Collection, saw the title amended with "Orchet" respelled "Orcha'd" and a grave accent added to the "e" in "Linden".

Some changes were also made to the poem itself, the two instances of the word "auver" in Verses 1 and 2 being replaced with the more conventional spelling of "over".

However, although I have used the later version of the title on this page, I have decided to remain loyal to the original text of the poem.

My Orcha'd in Lindèn Lea
William Barnes

'Ithin the woodlands, flow'ry gleäded,
By the woak tree's mossy moot,
The sheenèn grass-bleädes, timber sheäded,
Now do quiver under voot;
An' birds do whissle auver head,
An' water's bubblèn in its bed,
An' there vor me the apple tree
Do leän down low in Linden Lea.

When leaves that leätley wer a-springèn
Now do feäde 'ithin the copse,
An' païnted birds do hush their zingèn
Up upon the timber's tops;
An' brown-leav'd fruit's a-turnèn red,
In cloudless zunsheen, auver head,
Wi' fruit vor me, the apple tree
Do leän down low in Linden Lea.

Let other vo'k meäke money vaster
In the aïr o' dark-room'd towns,
I don't dread a peevish meäster;
Though noo man do heed my frowns,
I be free to goo abrode,
Or teäke ageän my hwomeward road
To where, vor me, the apple tree
Do leän down low in Linden Lea.

The majority of the poem can be understood without needing prior knowledge of the Dorset dialect. One word, however, deserves particular attention. Many will be familiar with the word moot in its various modern usages, and would be forgiven for thinking that "the woak tree's mossy moot" was some sort of woodland meeting place.

But this wasn't Barnes's intention at all. In the Dorset dialect, the word moot is actually taken to mean the bottom and roots of a felled tree - put simply, a tree-stump - a definition that fits much better with the natural tranquility evoked by Barnes's words.

Nevertheless, in 1868 it was deemed necessary to publish a "translation" of Barnes's work, entitled Poems of Rural Life in Common English. This book combined all three collections in the series into one volume, and it is interesting to note that it predated the combined volume in the Dorset dialect by eleven years.

As far as I know, the text of the "Common English" translation is not currently available online; however, I have provided one such translation of My Orcha'd in Lindèn Lea on the following page wherein I describe how, 42 years after it was written, the poem was Set To Music.

William Barnes's poem My Orcha'd In Lindèn Lea was set to music in 1901 by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). At the age of 29, Linden Lea was Vaughan Williams's first publication, marking the beginning of a long career that produced no less than nine symphonies, as well as countless other works.

It is written in the key of G major, and uses a "Common English" translation of Barnes's original Dorset dialect for the lyrics, the full text of which I have reproduced on this page.

Linden Lea
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Words by William Barnes

Within the woodlands, flow'ry gladed,
By the oak tree's mossy moot,
The shining grass-blades, timber-shaded,
Now do quiver underfoot;
And birds do whistle overhead,
And water's bubbling in its bed,
And there for me the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

When leaves that lately were a-springing
Now do fade within the copse,
And painted birds do hush their singing
Up upon the timber-tops;
And brown-leaved fruit's a-turning red,
In cloudless sunshine, overhead,
With fruit for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

Let other folk make money faster
In the air of dark-roomed towns,
I don't dread a peevish master;
Though no man may heed my frowns,
I be free to go abroad,
Or take again my homeward road
To where, for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

There are a couple of differences worth noting between the original poem and this translation:

In Verse 2, the fourth line in the translation reads "Up upon the timber-tops", whereas in the poem the line is "Up upon the timber's tops".

In Verse 3, again the fourth line in the translation reads "Though no man may heed my frowns", but in the poem the line is "Though noo man do heed my frowns".

From Wikipedia

[William] Barnes was ordained into the Church of England in 1847, taking a BD degree from St John's College, Cambridge, in 1851. He served curacies at Whitcombe Church in Whitcombe, Dorset, 1847–52, and again from 1862.

Between 1860–62 he held a curacy at Hooton Roberts in South Yorkshire. He became rector of St Peter's Church, Winterborne Came with Winterborne Farringdon, Dorset, from 1862 to his death.

From Wikipedia

[Hooton Roberts] was home to the Gatty family of Ecclesfield. Nicholas Comyn Gatty, son of the Rev. Reginald Gatty, was born in Bradfield, Sheffield, on 13 September 1874.

He was educated at Downing College, Cambridge and at the Royal College of Music which is where he met and became a lifelong friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, who from the 1900s spent many a summer vacation with the Gatty's at Hooton Roberts.

In September 1902, Williams composed the song Linden Lea sitting in the rectory gardens, where the walls were covered with ivy, and on the lawn were croquet hoops. Williams often played croquet at Hooton Roberts.

http://www.allmusic.com/composition/linden-lea-song-for-voice-orchestra-in-linden-lea-a-dorset-song-mc0002371849

Among his friends at Cambridge were the brothers Nicholas and Ivor Gatty, both musicians, who came from the quiet Yorkshire village of Hooton Roberts.

Vaughan Williams often visited the Gatty brothers there, and it was there that Linden Lea received its first performance on September 4, 1902.