WEEPIN' AN' WAILIN' (Copyright Ted Edwards)

I'm goin' now, Mary. I'm off down t' pit.
In an hour I'll be at the coal.
I'll be makin' good brass for our Jinny an' thee.
Doust remamber when I were on't dole?
So gi us me tin. Put a smile on thee face.
I'll be back before endin' o' day.
An' don't let it show, love. Let nobody see,
As tha's weepin' an wailin' away.

[CHORUS: see original e-mail]

It's well I remember when I'm at the face
That summer when I courted thee.
We'd walked o'er common an' I'd 'old thee hand.
For an hour or two we'd be free.
Then I'd tak thee to pictures, an' then walk thee whoam,
We'd be feelin' so happy an' gay.
But when t'hooter would blow in the mornin', I'd know
As tha's weepin' an' wailin' away. CHORUS

Me favver were under a big fall o' dirt,
An' he'll never walk proper agin.
An thy favver too, 'e get slag in his eins,
An' both of 'em started full men.
I remember the look in me old lady's eyes
When I went with me Dad that first day.
It wasn't the same as when I went to school.
Ou were weepin' an' wailin' away. CHORUS

They say as the days of the miner are done,
For there's oil an' there's gas from North Sea.
An' now atom power is bein' brought in,
But I think as it's too late for me.
But our Jinny's young lad has just started in pit,
And before he's much older they may
Shut that big iron gate an' stop Jinny from waitin',
An' weepin' an' wailin' away. CHORUS

EINS = EYES
WHOAM = HOME
FAVVER = FATHER
The Lancashire dialect does not make much use of endings to words and I think that with a distinct lack of the letter G.
If you require further info, I'll do my best to help.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 28-Aug-02.