All you as be to law inclined,
This leetle story bear in mind;
For if to law you ever gwo,
You'll vind they'll allus zarve'e zo;
You'll meet the vate o' these 'ere two:
They'll take your cwoat and carcass too!
_Chorus_--You'll meet the vate, etc.
From _Wiltshire Tales_, pp. 96-97.
[A phonetic version of this song, representing the Chippenham
dialect, will be found at pp. 28, 29 of Ellis's _English
Dialects--their Sounds and Homes_, where it is pointed out that
_stinge_ (with _g_ soft) appears to have been invented by Akerman for
the sake of the rhyme here.]
_From_ THE VARGESES.