place will shortly prove th’ greatest blessin’ iver witness in ’t city o’ Haworth (Loud applause). Look at th’ export an’ import of th’ city, an’ compare th’ spaven’d horse an’ cart wi’ th’ puffin willyhams an’ all th’ fine carriages. Look at th’ difference between wen it tuk a week to go to Liverpool an’ a month to London in a oud coach, an’ hev to mak wur wills afore we went. (Enthusiastic cheering.) Yes, my friends, we stood good chance o’ bein’ robb’d an’ plundered if net summat war. Besides, wat an immense diff’rence it will mak to Haworth, wen shoo can export her awn manufacturs to all th’ civilised an’ uncivilised world, an’ by means o’ steam find thair way into rejuns niver trod but bi feet o’ wild craturs an’ beasts o’ prey. But to makt story short ah mean to say it will be a grate comfort an’ a blessing to both th’ lame an’ lazey, an’ speshally to th’ latter. But as th’ time wur gettin’ on fastish, as it ollus does wen thare’s owt to be done, so Mr. Ouden finisht his speech as follows:—
Put yor shoulders to work an’ ne’er be danted,
Think yer behint an’ there’s no time to dally,
For na is the time yor assistance is wanted
I’ makkin yor railway along the Worth Valley.
Th’ Spring-head Band then played sum o’ thair favorite tunes, ‘Oud Rosen the bow,’ ‘Jessey’s Pig,’ an’ ended wi’ ‘God save th’ Queen,’ an’ all departed to thair homes wi’ smiling faces.
CHAPTER II.
Double, double, toil an’ trouble.
Nah then lads for wark, nowt but wark’ll do, an’ theas ’at can’t wark mun plan. This wur th’ cry all up an daan Haworth next morning, an’ for weeks all wor vary bizzy. One man made a wheelbarra it’h chamber, but it wor soa big wal it cudn’t be gotten aat withaat takkin th’ haase side daan. Anuther invented a koulin’ machine to koul th’ muck up both sides to save wheelbarras an’ work toils for th’ navvies. Some started a practicin’ for porters a th’ railway, wi’ oppenin’ an’ shuttin’ th’ oven doors wi’ a bang, shaatin’ aat a’th’ same time ‘All aat for Haworth.’ One man wur trying th’ dodge on, an’ th’ cat wur i’th’ ovan, an’ poor thing expectin’ ’at it wur i’th’ wrong place jumpt aat just at th’ time ’at he wur wistling to start, an’ wur catcht bi th’ tail an’ th’ poor thing lost it, for it wur cut off as clean as a wistle. A crookt legg’d pedl’r come fra Keighla one day wi’ winter edges, an’ thay tuk him for a sapper an’ miner ’at hed com to mezhur for th’ railway, an’ mind yo they did mak sammat on him, thay thout ’at th’ winter edges wur th’ apparatus to mezhur by. But hasumever th’ reightens cum at after, an’ a sore disaster thay hed yo mind, for thay laid plan o’th’ railway daan at green swarth an’ a oud kaa belangin’ to Blue Beard swallow’d th’ job, thay tried to save ’em but all i’ vain; a sor do wur this for both folk an’ th’ railway, for it put em a year or two back an’ foak wur ragin’ mad abaat th’ kaa, an’ if it hedn’t a been a wizen’d oud thing thay’d a swallow’d it alive—th’ nasty, greedy oud kaa.
Thay hed a meeting th’ tother neet,
Fair o’th’ top o’ wuthering street,
To see what things thay’d got complete,
Concerning Haworth railway.
Wen Penny Wabbac tuk the chair,
He lukt to be i’ grate despair,
He sez, good foak, are yo’ aware,
Wat’s happened to the railway?
Wi’ persperashun on his bra,
He sez, good foaks, I’ll tell yo’ nah;
Oud Blue Beard’s nasty wizen’d kaa
Hez swallow’d plan o’th’ railway.
Wi’ theas remarks poor Wabbac sat,
Wen Jonny Broth doft off his hat,
His een they blazed like some wild cat
Wi’ vengence for the railway.