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CAROLS FROM THE COAL-FIELDSi AND OTHER SONGS AND BALLADS. BY JOSEPH SKIPSEY. All Rights Reserved. LONDON : WALTER SCOTT, 24 WARWICK LANE. PATERNOSTER ROW. 1886. INSCRIBED TO ROBERT SPENOE WATSON, Esq., LL.D.. OP NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, AS A TOKEN OF SINCERE REGARD AND AFFECTION, BY THE AUTHOR. Avg. 1886. 870391 ERRATA. Page 48, line 4, for And, read That. Page 97, line 12, for inay yet control, read can not control. Page 169, line 11, for no, read nor. Page 197, line 3, for blood-rose, read blood-dyed rose. _. ;.: r*^"..".:".: vr5»^T&.'; ■ V-i ^^■^■■li^^y-^-^'fc-t^^S^': 1*^ ^j;^':^-^ CONTENTS. • ^pp lAGF. Lo, A Fairy ..... 1 My Merry Bird . 2 Mother "Wept 3 Thistle and Nettle 4 Mary of Crofton . 16 The Star and The Meteor 17 Willy and Jinny 17 Hey Robin 18 Polly and Harry . 19 Young Fanny 20 The Hartley Calamity . . 21 The Proud One's Doom . 25 Annie Lee 26 Bereaved .... 27 The Wilted Leaf . 36 Dora Dee . 37 VI CONTENTS. The Lad of Bebside Meg Goldlocks Poor Rose Eosa Rea . Undeceived The Three Maidens The Breezelet The Fatal Errand The Ring . Stanzas Lo, the Day The Hell Broth . The Reign of Gold Daffodil and Daisy A Lullaby The Collier Lad . The Seatcn Terrace Lass Wonder- Bound Kit Clark . My Loved One The Seer . Titfor-Tat Annie Away to the Well Sympathy . Nanny to Bessy CONTENTS. vii PAGE Love without Hope . . . . • .83 The Stars arc Twinkling • • 4 90 The Question • 91 The Dance 94 The Spell . 4 95 The Angel Mother 1 96 Robin Eedbreast . • « 100 Arachne . 101 The Theft 1 106 Lost at the Fair .. « 107 -ir " Get Up " 4 108 The Bridal Gift . t 109 The Mystic Lyre . » 111 The Dewdrop 113 Away to the Fair 114 Music 117 The Butterfly > 119 Slighted . ■ 120 The Modest Maid ■ 122 The Outcast Flower 123 The Moth 1 125 The Toast . 126 Two Hazel Eyes . . 127 Omega 9 . 123 The Oracle • . 131 All is Vanity • . 132 VUl CONTENTS. The Parties The Social Glass A Word of Good Cheer My Little Boy . The Stained Lily The Violet and the Rose The Resolve God and the Right The Brooklet Uncle Bob Bubble-Blowing . The Vision I'm A-weary The Two Visions The Songstress She is not Fashioned The Crushed Aspirer The Mysterious Rider An Error Becky Sharp — L The Ditty n. Consolation III, The Precious Pearl IV. The Toast Misfortune . lo Psean . CON TENTS. • IX PAGE Little Anna .... . 169 Cruel Anna . 171 Baloo 173 The Ruin . 174 Life and Death 175 The Summer Breezelet . 176 Alas ! . . . 177 Lotty Hay 178 Dolly Dare - 180 Lilly and Willy . 182 Barbara Bell 184 The Death of Cleopatra 186 The Charmer . . . 190 The Broken Spell 191 The Fairies' Adieu • < 192 THE MAGIC GLASS. L The Inner Harp . 193 II. The Fair Rower . 193 in. The Lucky Hour . 194 IV. The Assurance . . 194 V. The Secret . 195 VL The Bugle-Horn . 195 VII. The Pearl . 196 X CONTENTS. PAGE VIII. The Two-fold Surprise . 196 IX. The Return 197 X. The Bee and the Rose . 197 XI. The Rose's Complaint . 198 XII. The Echo . 198 XIII. The Minstrel . 199 XIV. The Seen and the Unseen 199 XV. The Fair Thief . . 200 XVI. The Two Mirrors . 200 XVII. The One Solace . 201 XVIII. The Syren . 201 XIX. The Cloud . 202 XX. The Songstress . . 202 THE GOLDEN BOWL. I. The Bowl . 203 IL The Right Thing . 203 III. The Tower . 204 IV. Too True . 204 V. Not Jealous . 205 VI. Jack the Rover . . 205 VII. Extreme Kindness . 206 VIII. Steeds and their Riders . 206 IX. Uncouth Things . 207 X. What Else? . 207 CONTENTS. xi PAGE XI. Hag Night 208 XII. Just the Way . . 208 XIII. The Witch-Glass . 209 XIV. Not the Bird . . 209 XV. Dame Malice . , . 210 XVI. Rumour .... . 210 XVII. The Critics . 211 XVIII. The Petition . 211 XIX. Billy Taylor . 212 XX. Just So . . 212 THE POSY-GIFT. I. You quite mistake the sprite you chase II. He giggled at the thought, and had . III. Another stave I'll never rave . IV. Ha, ha ! last night I served you right V. These jewels left her very hand VI Come, pretty flowers, and drink my tears VII. What fancies throng into the mind VIII. One fancy kicks another's heel . IX. Once more, sweet Muse, a fancy choose X. Go, Musie, go ! you like, I know XI. These flowers that so reflect the grace . XII. All things of beauty seek to draw . 213 . 213 . 2U . 214 . 215 . 215 . 216 . 216 . 217 : 217 . 218 , 218 xu CONTENTS. XIII. Come, let me smell thee, lily-bell XIV. These lovely blooms, their rich perfumes XV. Blind as the wretch who niock'd my flowers XVI. 0, dear, dear, dear ! what shall I do ? XVII. Ha, ha ! at last you're fetter'd fast XVIII. With Common Sense one might dispense XIX. 'Tis quite a treat, as singer knows XX. My Song must end ; and now I'll send A Cry for Poland .... A Golden Lot ..... To a Startled Bird .... PSYCHIC POEMS. I. The Vital Spark II. The Downfall of Mammon III. The Riddle Read IV. The Mission V. Behind the Veil VI. What is Man 1 VII. The Soul's Hereafter VIII. The Inner Conflict IX. The Thought Toiler X. The Guardian Angel Note THE SINGER. W/iai tho\ in bleak Northumbrians mifies, His better part of life hatkjlown, A planefs shone on htju, and slmtes, To Fortiint's darlings seldom known; And while his outer lot is grim, His soul^ with light and rapture fraught. Oft will a carol trill, or hymn In deeper tofies the deeper thought. Carols, SonG0, an^ Ballads* LO, A FAIRY. Lo, a fairy on a day Came and bore my heart away : But as she secured her prize, Sweetest smiles illumed her eyes. And, hey, lerry ! From that moment my career Lay thro' dells and dingles, where Pleasure blossom'd out of pain — Where Joy sang her golden strain, Hey, hey, lerry ! MY MERRY BIRD. .[ HAD a merry bird Who sung a merry song, And take it on my word, The day it was not long In presence of my bird with its merry, merry song. Did fortune strew ray way With crosses, which, to bear, Had rendered me a prey To sorrow or despair — My birdie trilled its lay, and they vanished into air. And thus went things with me, Till lo, with sudden sweep, Death came across the lea And laid my bird asleep ; And ever since that hour I've done nought but sigh and weep. > MOTHER WEPT. Mother wept, and fathei' sighed ; With delight a-glow Cried the lad, " To morrow," cried. " To the pit I go." Up and down the place he sped, — Greeted old and young, Far and wide the tidings spread, — Clapt his hands and sung. Came his cronies some to gaze Wrapt in wonder ; some Free with counsel ; some with praise Some with envy dumb. " May he," many a gossip cried, " Be from peril kept; " Father hid his face and sighed, Mother turned and wept. THISTLE AND NETTLE. 'TwAS on a night, with sleet and snow From out the north a tempest blow When Thistle gathered nerve to go The little Nettle's self to woo. Within her father's cottage soon He found the ever-dreaded maid ; She then was knitting to a tune The wind upon the window played His errand known, she, with a frown, Up from the oaken table sprung, Down took the broom and swept the room. While like a bell her clapper rung. *' Have I not seen enough to be Convinced for ever, soon or late, The maid shall rue the moment she Attendeth to a wooer's prate ? "How long ago since Phemie Hay To Harry at the Mill fell wrong 1 How long since Hall a prank did piny On silly Nelly Brown 1 — how long 1 / THISTLE AND NETTLE. 5 " How long ago since Adam Smith Wooed Annie on the Moor, and left The lassie with a stain 1 yea, with A heart of every hope bereft 1 " But what need instance cases 1 lo ! Have I not heard thee chaunt the lay, ' The fraud of men was ever so Since summer first was leafy V eh.1 " When men are to be trusted, then, — But never may that time befall ; Of five times five-and-twenty men, There's barely five are men at all. " Before the timid maid they'll fall, And smile and weep and sigh and sue, Till once they get her in their thrall. And then she's doomed her lot to rue. " For her a subtle snare they weave, And when the bonny bird is caught, Then, then they giggle in their sleeve ; Then laugh to scorn the ill they've wrought. ' ' As other weary winds, they woo The bloom its treasures to unfold ; Extract its wealth — their way pursue, And leave her pining on the wold. THISTLE AND NETTLE. " When poppies fell like lilies smell, When chei'ries grow on brambles, when— AVhen grapes adorn the common thorn, Then women may have faith in men. " Then may we hear what they may swear ; Till then, sir, know I'm on my guard, And he, the loon that brings me down, He, he'll be pardoned, on my word." Thus for an hour her tongue was heard ; By this, her words grown faint and few, She raised the broom at every word. And thumped the floor to prove it true. In ardent words the youth replied : — "Dread hollow-hearted guile thou must; But deem not all of honour void, Nor punish all with thy mistrust. " A few, not all, the lash have earn'd, Let but that few the lash assail ; The world were topsy-turvy turned, Did not some sense of right prevail. " Destroy the weed, but spare the flower ; Consume the chaff, but keep the grain ; Nor harry one who'd die befoi'e He'd give thy little finger pain." THISTLE AND NETTLE. On hearing this, she sat her down, Took up her needlework again, And tho' she strove to wear a frown, Made answer in a milder strain. " Forego thy quest. Deceitful words May yet, as they have been, may be, A fatal lure to lighter birds ; They'll never prove the like to me. "Still by my chastity I vow, As I have kept the cheat at bay, So, should I keep my senses, so I'll keep him till my dying day. " The best that man can do or say, The love of gold or rubies rare, — Not all that wealth can furnish, may Once lure to leave me in a snare. " So end thy quest." He only prest His ardent suit the more, while she At every word he uttered, garr'd Her fleeing needles faster flee. " INIy quest by honour's justified ; I long have eyed and found thee still The maid I'd like to be my bride ; Would I could say the maid that will. 8 THISTLE AND NETTLE. " Iladst thou but been a daffodil That with the breezes sport and play, For all thy suitor valued, still Thou so hadst danced thy life away. " But thou so fair art chaste." Thus he Unto her answer answers e'er, And that too in a way that she Must will or nill his answer hear. And then a chair he'd ta'en, his chair Unto her side he nearer drew ; Ptecurr'd to memories sweet and rare, And in a softer key did woo. " Must all the passion which I've sought So long to hide be paid with scorn ? A heart with pure affection fraught Be doomed a hopeless love to mourn 1 •* And must thou still its homage spurn ? And must thou still my suit reject 1 And be to me this cruel thorn ? Reflect upon the past, reflect ! " A time there was, and time shall pass To me ere that forgotten be. When side by side from tide to tide We played and sported on the lea. THISTLE AND NETTLE. 9 "Ay, then have I not chased the bee From bloom to bloom — oft chased and caught. And having drawn its sting in glee, To thee the little body brought 1 " Then when a bloom of rarer dyes Into my busy fingers fell, To whom was reached the lucky prize ? Can not thy recollection tell 1 " As oft away as summer went. Who pulled with thee the haw, bright, brown — Brown as thy own bright eyes — and bent For thee the richest branches down ? " With blooms I've graced thy yellow hair, With berries filled thy lap, thy hand, — That hand as alabaster fair — Had every gift at my command- •' Nay, tho' to others dour, yet meek I ever was to thee, and kind. And when we played at hide-and-seek, I hid where thou would'st seek to find " Upon the play-ground still unmatched Was I, unless my loved one played ; And then it seem'd to those who watched. My failures were on purpose made. 10 THISTLE AND NETTLE. "As sure as e'er a race began, The palm was mine unless she joined, And then I always was out-ran. For still with her I lagged behind. " The ball I drove to others, mocked Their efforts to arrest its flight ; But when my ball to her was knocked, It would upon her lap alight. " None, up and down so well I bobbed, To skip the rope with me would try ; Did she attempt % my skill was robbed ; Another skipped her out — not I. " At play thus was't ; but childhood past, And e'er the lasses reach their teens. At ween them and the lads a vast Mysterious distance intervenes. " They seldom on the green appear In careless sport and play ; and if They join the throng erect they wear Their head, and still their air is stiff — " They ail they know not what. And such The change that on my lassie fell ; Then would she shrink my hand to touch. And I half feared her touch as well. THISTLE AND NETTLE. 11 " Had I changed too 1 This, I can tell, — That touch o'er me a spell would cast ) And did I pass her in the dell. With slow and snail-like pace I pass'd. " Her voice had lost its former ring. Yet, in that voice such power was flung, 1 better liked to hear her sing, Than when of old to me she sung. " Her touch, her tone, would make or mar My bliss, and tho' with all my skill I strove to please, and please but her, I in her presence blundered still. " When by the hearth she sewing sat, Did I to thread her needle try 1 Still, still my heart played pit-a-pat, And still I miss'd the needle's eye. " As with the needle-threading, so We with the skein a-winding fared, And Auntie's dreaded tongue would go Before the dancing end appeared. " ' What ails the lass ? ' she often said — 'She's sound asleep !' once said, and flew, And snatched and snapt the tangled thread, While I — I know not how — withdrew. 12 THISTLE AND NETTLE. " Away, too, fled those hours ! Alack ! They came and went like visions rare, To mock the heart, delude and wrack, And leave the gazer in despair. " Ah, less — tho' sun-illumed — less fair The blobs that dance adown the burn, And let them burst they'll re-appear Ere those delightsome hours return, " Yet they may live in thought, and could They live in Nettle's thought again, "Would she not change her bearing 1 would— Would she not change this bitter strain ? " Would she her lover still disdain 1 Would she continue thus to gall And put him to this cruel pain ? — Recall to mind the past, recall ! " Thus onward, on, his ditty flows. Until — her ruffled brow is sleek, — Till, lo ! the lily drives the rose, The rose the lily from her cheek. And now the iron, sparkling hot. Around with might and main he swingr. And down upon the proper spot With bang on bang the hammer brings THISTLE AND NETTLE. 13 " 0, be my suit but undeniecl, And, ere the moon is on the wane, A knot shall by the priest be tied, The priest shall never loose again. " In heart and hand excell'd by none, Henceforth I'd front the ills of life ', And every victory I won Should be a jewel for my wife. '* So should the people of the dell, When they convened to gossip, say For harmony we bore the bell — And bore it with a grace away. " Nay, lift thy head, be not ashamed, If thus to feel — and thus, and : — As matters sinful might be blamed. Our saints were sinners long ago." Deep silence here ensued. The cat, That lately to the nook had crept To mark the sequel of their chat, Came forth — lay on the hearth and slept. The needles bright, that left and right, As if with elfish glee possest, Had gleamed and glanced, and frisked and danced, In quiet on her apron rest. 14 THISTLE AND NETTLE. In concert with the storm within, The storm without forbears to blow ; And 'tween the sailing clouds, begin The joyous stars to come and go. O'er all delight and silence brood. While to her wooer's bosom prest, Poor Nettle's heart beats, beats aloud The tune that pleases lovers best. And Thistle's pleased and Thistle's blest, And Thistle's is a joy supreme ; Aye ! now of Nettle's smiles possest, He revels in a golden dream. Dream on, brave youth : — An hour like this Annuls an age of cark and strife, And turns into a drop of bliss The bitter cup of human life. The tear is by a halo gilt. The thorns of life are turned to flowers. The dirge into a merry lilt. When love returned for love is ours. " I've heard," in language low and soft, Now Nettle's heart begins to flow ; — " I've heard of honey'd tongues full oft, But never felt their force till now. THISTLE AND NETTLE. 15 " Still would I fume, as day by day I've seen the lasses bought and sold By some I'd scorn'd to own, had they Outweighed their very weight in gold, " My hour of triumph's o'er. In vain Did I my fellow-maids abuse ; I've snatched the cup, and drank the bane Which sets me in their very shoes ; " That turns a heart of adamant To pliant wax ; and, in my turn, Subjects me to the bitter taunt. The vanquished victor's ever borne : " That leaveth Nettle satisfied To leave her kith and kin, and by Her ever-faithful Thistle's side. To shelter till the day they die." 16 MARY OF OROFTOK Ah ! a lovely jewel was Mary of Crofton, And now she is cold in the clay, We think of the heart-cheering image as often As we pass down the old waggon way. Her air was a magical air, and the very Stone heart of the stoic entranced ; While her wee, wee feet beat a measure as merry As ever by damsel was danced. Her accents enchanted ; her lay — but the silly Bit linnet to vie it would seek ; And the rose in her hair was a daflfadowndilly Compared with the rose on her cheek. Sue, Bessy, and Kitty still ornament Croftonj And rich are the charms they display ; But we miss the sweet image of Mary as often As we pass down the old waggon way. 17 THE STAR AND THE METEOR Directed by a little star, I paced towards my own loved cot, When rushed a meteor from afar. And I my little guide forgot. Bedazzled was I, and amazed, When out the meteor flashed, and I Had never more my threshold paced. Had not that star still gleamed on high. -^^WILLY TO JINNY. Duskier than the clouds that lie 'Tween the coal-pit and the sky, Lo, how Willy whistles by Right cheery from the colliree. Duskier mic;ht the laddie be Save his coaxing coal-black e'e, Nothing dark could Jinny see A-coming from the colliree. 18 HEY ROBIN. t {The first two lines are old.) Hey Robin, jolly Robin, Tell me how thy lady doth 1 Is she laughing, is she sobbing, Is she gay, or grave, or both 1 Is she like the finch, so merry, Lilting in her father's hall ? Or the crow with cry a very Plague to each, a plague to all. Is she like the violet breathing Blessings on her native place ? Or the cruel nettle scathing All who dare approach her grace 1 Is she like the dew-drop sparkling When the morn peeps o'er the land? Or the cloud in mid-air darkling, When a fearful storm's at hand 1 Tut, to count the freaks of woman. Count the pebbles of the seas j Rob, thy lady's not uncommon, Be or do she what she please 1 19 POLLY AND HARRY. Merry, lark-like, merry, At the break of day, Polly meeteth Harry Coming down the way • And her lips, they quiver, When her eyes discover Smiles that speak — ah never Peace unto the May. Merry, blythe and merry, 'Neath the noontide ray, Polly meeteth Harry Coming up the way ; And his accents put her Fond heart in a flutter — And no tongue can utter What her looks betray. Merry, yet so merry, At the close of day, Polly spyeth Harry Wooing Ely Gray ! And when this she spyeth, Lo ! her reason dieth, And her heart rent, cryeth "Woe, and well-a-day ! " 20 YOUNG FANNY. A CHANGE hath come over young Fanny, Tlie yellow-hair'd lass of the Dene— Erewhile she look'd cosy and canny, But now — now, what aileth the queen ? Erewhile she'd the bearing which blesses The heart of the weary and worn, Now all Percy Main she distresses, And burdens the air with her scorn. Erewhile she was sweet as the lily. And mild as the lamb on the lea, Now sour as the docken, and truly More fierce than a tiger is she. Erewhile she would play with the kitten, Averse to contention and strife, Now Tab on the house-top is sitting And dare not come down for her life. •' What aileth the jewel ? " Quoth granny ; " What aileth the winds when they blow ? When the reason's no secret to Fanny, The reason we mortals may know." 21 ^ THE HARTLEY CALAMITY. The Hartley men are noble, and Ye'll hear a tale of woe ; I'll tell the doom of the Hartley men — The year of Sixty-two. 'Twas on a Thursday morning, on The first month of the year, When there befell the thing that well May rend the heart to hear. Ere chanticleer with music rare Awakes the old homestead, The Hartley men are up and off To earn their daily bread. On, on they toil ; with heat they broil, And streams of sweat still glue The stour unto their skins, till they Are black as the coal they hew. Now to and fro the putters go. The waggons to and fro, And clang on clan