Dalesman’s Litany

Its hard when folks cant get their work where theyve been bred and born
When I was young I used to think Id bide my time mid the roots and the corn
But Ive been forced to flee the town so heres my litany
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
When I was courting Mary Anne the auld squire he said one day
Ive got no room for wedded folk choose to wed or stay
I could not leave the girl I loved so town we had to flee
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
Ive worked in Leeds and Huddersfield where Ive addled honest brass
In Bradford, Keightley, Rotherham, Ive kept my bairns and lass
Ive travelled all three ridings round and once Ive been to sea
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
Ive been through Sheffield lanes at night twere just like being in hell
The furnaces thrust out tongues of flame that roared like wind oer the fell
Ive sammed up coal in Barnsley pit with muck up to my knee
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
Ive seen grey fog creep oer Leeds Brig as thick as Bastille soup
Ive been where folks are stowed away like rabbits in a coup
Ive seen snow fall on Bradford Beck as black as ebony
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
But now my children all have flown to the country Ill go back
Therell be forty miles of heathery moor twixt me and the coal pit slack
And oft at night as I sit round the fire Ill think of the misery
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good lord deliver me