sowt after. Awm net sewer
whether ther wor ivver an owd-fashioned kursmiss withaat a snowstorm,
but aw should think net; but as aw have to tell yo what happened one
kursmiss when ther wor nawther frost nor snow, but when th' sun wor
shinin, an' th' fields wor lukkin as fresh an' green as if it wer May
asteead o' December, aw shall be foorced to call this a tale ov a
new-fashioned kursmiss. Kursmiss Day wor passed an' ommost forgotten,
but still th' fowk 'at live i' th' neighborhood o' Bingly or Keighly
nivver think it's ovver until th' new year's getten a start. Abaat a
duzzen sich like had been to Bradforth (as ther wives had been gien to
understand on business, but as yo'd ha fancied if yo'd seen 'em, on
pleasure), an' they'd set off to walk hooam, but they called so oft on
th' way, wol what wi' th' distance an' what wi' th' drink they wor rare
an' fain to rest thersens when they gate to th' Bingley Market Cross. It
wor a grand neet, an' th' mooin wor shinin ommost as breet as if it wor
harvest time; an' as ther purses wor empty an' ther pipes full, they
argyfied it wor a deeal moor sensible to caar thear an' have a quiet
smook nor to waste ther time in a public haase. Th' warst on it is wi'
sich like, 'at they know soa mich abaat one another an' soa little abaat
onybody else 'at it isn't oft 'at when they oppen ther maath owt new
falls aght, an' unless ther's a stranger i' th' company things are apt
to grow varry dull.

Amang this lot 'at aw'm tellin abaat ther didn't happen to be a
stranger, an' soa th' owd tales wor tell'd ovver agean, an' altho' some
on 'em wor ommost asleep, they allus laft at th' reight spot, for if
they didn't hear a word 'at wor sed, they knew th' time when it owt to
come in. In a bit one on 'em let his pipe tummel an' mashed it all i'
bits, an' as nubdy had one to lend him, an' he'd nowt else to do, he
sed: 'Did any on yo ivver hear tell abaat Owd Dawdles?'

'Nay,' they sed, 'they didn't know 'at they had.'

'Why, but he wor a queer owd chap, wor Owd Dawdles, an' they didn't call
him Dawdles for nowt, soa aw'l tell yo summat abaat him wol yo finish
yor bacca. He wor a chap 'at thowt he wor full o' sense, an' th' way he
winked his left e'e after givin vent to one o' his cliver speeches,
showed plain enuff 'at whether it wor satisfactory to other fowk or net,
it wor quite soa to him. But if he hadn't a varry heigh opinion o' th'
fowk he met, yet he worn't withaat pity for 'em, an' he generall