Poetry > Ballads in the Cumberland dialect

NOTES.
in the neighbourhood of Carlisle, where onr warlike
Edward died on an expedition that was to decide the
fate of Scotland. The prize was a silver cup, given
by Lord Lowther, which, besides its intrinsic value,
£50, conferred an honour on the winner, equal at
least to the garland of wild olive worn by the victors
at the Olympic games.
Note 46, p. 89.
There was, ‘ How fens te, Tommy V Jsc.
When an honest Cumbrian rustic meets an ac¬
quaintance, he addresses himself to him by the warm
interrogatory, ‘How fens teV i. e., How fares it with
you in respect to health ? If the person to whom the
question is addressed be in a good state of health,
the reply is, ‘I’s gaily;’ i. e., I am in good health
and spirits.
Note 47, f. 90.—Man thysel, Jemmy.
Before the company depart from country horse¬
races, a stubborn contest with fists usually com¬
mences, in which the rustic warriors are animated
by the praises of their sweethearts. Sometimes a
courageous rural dame takes an active part in the
battle, and brings succour to her fainting lover, by
directing, with the vigour of an Amazon, a few
desperate blows against the nose of his antagonist.
Note 48, p. 91.
I peep’d through the window, dec.
The windows of many farm-houses in Cumberland
are without shutters, and some of them without
curtainsso during a winter night, while the fire is
cheerfully blazing, the whole family, and every part
of the kitchen and furniture, are revealed to the sight
of every idle eaves-dropper. The honest sweetheart,