174 1kin0s of tbe 1Rofc, tRifle, an& (Bun 



ower eb'm ov his back i' t' watter with a splash. Then 

 there was a girt cry " Eh, Mr. Wilson's i' t' watter ! " 

 an' yan click't, an' annudder click't, but nean o' them 

 could get hod on him, an' there was sic a scrowe as 

 niver. At last yan o' them gat him round t' neck as 

 he popped up at teal o' t' boat, an' Wilson taad him 

 to kep a good hod, for he mud happen slip him agean. 

 But what, it was nowt but yan ov his bit pranks, he 

 was snurkin' an' laughin' all t' time. Wilson was a 

 fine, gay, girt-hearted fellow, as strang as a lion, an' 

 he hed sic antics as nivver man hed. Whatever ye 

 sed tull him ye'd get yowr change back for it gaily 

 soon. . . . Aa remember, there was a " Murry Neet " 

 at Wastd'le Head that varra time, an' Wilson and t' 

 aad parson was there among t' rest. When they'd 

 gotten a bit on, Wilson med a sang aboot t' parson. 

 He med it reight off o' t' stick end. He began wi' 

 t' parson first, then he gat to t' Pope, an' then he 

 turned it to t' devil, an' sic like, till he hed 'em falling 

 off their cheers wi' fun. T' parson was quite astonished, 

 an' rayder vex't an' all, but at last he burst out laughin' 

 wi' t' rest. He was like. Naabody could stand it. . . . 

 T' seam neet there was yan o' their wives cum to fetch 

 her husband heam, an' she was rayder ower strang i' 

 t' tung wi' him afore t' heal comp'ny. Well, he took 

 it all i' good pairt, but as he went away he shouted 

 oot t' aad minister, "'Od dang ye, parson, it war ye 

 'at teed us two tegidder ! "... It was a' life an' murth, 

 amang us, as lang as Professor Wilson was at Wastd'le 

 Head.' " 

 When I was in the Lake country in 1860 I met a 



