My Piece is O’ Bu’ Woven Eawt
by Richard Rome Bealey
My "piece" is o’ bu’ woven eawt,
My wark is welly done:
Aw’ve "treddled" at id day by day,
Sin’ th’ toime ‘ut aw begun.
Aw’ve sat i’ th’ loom-heawse long enough,
An’ made th’ owd shuttle fly;
An’ neaw aw’m fain to stop it off,
An’ lay my weyvin’ by.
Aw dunnot know heaw th’ piece is done;
Aw’m fear’d it’s marr’d enough;
Bu’ th’ warps weren’t made o’ th’ best o’ yarn,
An’ th’ weft were nobbut rough.
Aw’ve been some bother’d neaw an’ then
Wi’ knots an’ breakin’s too;
They’n hammper’d me so mich at toimes
Aw’ve scarce known what do do.
Bu’ th’ Mester’s just, an’ weel He knows
‘Ut th’ yarn were none so good;
He winna "bate" me when He sees
Aw’ve done as weel’s aw could.
Aw’se get my wage – aw’m sure o’ that;
He’ll gi’e me o’ ut’s due,
An’, mebbe, in His t’other place,
Some better wark to do.
Bu’ then, aw reckon, ‘tisn’t th’ stuff
We’n gettn t’ put i’th loom,
Bu’ what we mak’ on’t good or bad,
‘Ut th’ credit on’t ‘ll come.
Some wark i’ silk, an’ other some
Ha’e cotton i’ their gear;
Bu’ silk or cotton matters nowt,
If nobbut th’ skill be there.
Bu’ now it’s nee’ to th’ eend o’ th’ week,
An’ close to th’ reckonin’ day:
Aw’ll tak my "piece" upon my back,
An’ yer what th’ Mester’ll say:
An’ if aw nobbut yer His voice
Pronounce my wark "weel done,"
Aw’ll straight forget o’ th’ trouble past
I’ th’ pleasure ‘ut’s begun.