Day time is weary, and I caw' dusk dreary,
For lasses in missels are rakin the hay.
When kye come for strippin' and ewes come for clippin',
We think on our soldiers now gone right away.
The courtin gate's idle, no lad flings his bridle
Over the yoke stoup and comes seekin' may.
Wae's heart, but we misses our lads' softest kisses:
The flowers o' the forest have gone right away.
At Martinmas hirin' no ribbon, no tirin',
Where God's penny's earned, and the time's come for play.
No cheapjacks, no prancin', wi' teamster clogs dancin':
The flowers o' the forest have gone right away.
Plough lads from Pannal have crossed o'er the Channel;
Shepherds from Fewston have taken King's pay;
Thackrays from Dacre have sold every acre;
You'll no' find a delver from Haverah to Bray.
Many a lass now is weepin for her man that lies sleepin,
No wrap for his corpse but the cold Flanders clay.
He'll ne'er lift his limmers, he'll ne'er wean his gimmers:
The flowers o' the forest have gone right away.
For lasses in missels are rakin the hay.
When kye come for strippin' and ewes come for clippin',
We think on our soldiers now gone right away.
The courtin gate's idle, no lad flings his bridle
Over the yoke stoup and comes seekin' may.
Wae's heart, but we misses our lads' softest kisses:
The flowers o' the forest have gone right away.
At Martinmas hirin' no ribbon, no tirin',
Where God's penny's earned, and the time's come for play.
No cheapjacks, no prancin', wi' teamster clogs dancin':
The flowers o' the forest have gone right away.
Plough lads from Pannal have crossed o'er the Channel;
Shepherds from Fewston have taken King's pay;
Thackrays from Dacre have sold every acre;
You'll no' find a delver from Haverah to Bray.
Many a lass now is weepin for her man that lies sleepin,
No wrap for his corpse but the cold Flanders clay.
He'll ne'er lift his limmers, he'll ne'er wean his gimmers:
The flowers o' the forest have gone right away.
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Strofa 1
caw' = call
missels (mistals) = cowsheds
kye = cows
strippin' = milking
clippin' = shearing
Strofa 2
yoke stoup (yat stoup) = gate post
may = flowers of the hawthorn; greenery for May Day
wae's heart = woe is the heart; waly, waly
Strofa 3
Martinmas: Traditionally, the hiring fairs for farmhands and servants were held at Martinmas, in mid-November. In Yorkshire, they were called the “stattis,” or statutes, after the labour-laws framed in the reign of Edward III. Lads and lasses seeking work would stand in the market place, wearing tokens (the ribbons and tirings of the song) in their hats or buttonholes; farmers and their wives would walk up and down and choose among them. On coming to terms for the year's wages, they would seal the bargain with a fastening penny, which, by the time of the song, was half-a-crown. Then to the pleasures of the fair!
From early in the Middle Ages, Martinmas was a time of feasting and of slaughter, when all the beasts that could not be overwintered on their scant hay were slain and salted or eaten up. The feast of St. Martin, November 11, took on a new and poignant meaning after 1918.
tirin = attiring, adornment
God's penny = earnest-money; a small sum given to a servant when hired.
cheapjacks = travelling hawkers, with a brisk line of patter
Strofa 4
have taken King's pay = enlisted as soldiers
delver = quarryman
I thought at first “Thackerays” might be “thackers” (thatchers), but in both versions I have, it's sung as “thack'ries.” Thackeray is a good Yorkshire surname—perhaps this is a reference to a local family?
Strofa 5
limmers (limbers) = cart shafts
gimmers = young female sheep that have not yet lambed