gert stone an' kept my een
on her. First of all shoo crept down to t' watter an' put her feet intul
it, an' gat agate o' splashin' t' watter all ower her, just like a bird
weshin' itsel i' t' beck. Then shoo climmed up to t' top o' t' nab that
were hingin' ower t' fall an' let t' watter flow all ower her face an'
showders. I could see her lish body shinin' through t' watter an' her
yallow hair streamin' out on both sides of her head. Efter a while shoo
climmed on to a rock i' t' beck below t' fall an' gat howd o' t' bough
of an esh. Shoo brak off t' bough an' shaped it into a sort o' a wand
an' started wavin' it i' t' air.

"Now I ought to have telled you that up to now iverything i' t' cove
were as whisht as t' grave. I could hear t' cocks crowin' up at our
house, but all t' wild birds were roostin' i' t' boughs or on t' grund.
But no sooiner did t' lass wave her wand ower her head than t' larks
started singin'. T' meadows an' cow-pasturs were full o' sleepin' larks,
an' then, all on a sudden, t' sky were fair wick wi' em. I harkened tul
'em, ay, an t' lass harkened an' all, an' kept wavin' t' wand aboon her
head. I doubted 'twere t' lass that had wakkened t' larks an' gotten 'em
to sing so canty. Efter a while shoo lowered t' wand a bit an' pointed
to t' moors, an' then, by t' Mess! curlews gat agate o' singin.' Soom
fowks reckons that t' song o' t' curlew is dreesom an' yonderly, but I
love to harken to it i' t' springtime when t' birds cooms back to t'
moors frae t' sea. An' so did t' lass. When shoo heerd t' curlews shoo
started laughin' an' dashed t' watter about wi' her foot.

"An' all t' while shoo kept beatin' t' time to t' song o' t' birds wi'
her wand. Soomtimes shoo pointed to t' curlews aboon t' moor; then,
sudden-like, shoo lowered t' wand, while it were pointin' into t' hazel
shaws an' rowan bushes by t' beck-side; and afore I knew what were
happening t' blackbirds wakkened up an' started whistlin' like mad. I
niver heerd sich a shoutin' afore. It were fair deafenin', just as if
there were a blackbird in ivery bush alang t' beck. They kept at it for
happen fower or five minutes, an' then t' lass made a fresh motion wi'
t' wand. What's coomin' next, I wondered, an' afore I'd done wonderin',
sure enough, t' robins gat agate an' tried to shout down t' blackbirds
an' all. You see I'd niver noticed afore that when t' birds start
singin' i' t' morn they keep to a reg'lar order. It's just like a
procession i' t