48 WITCHCRAFT IN DORSET. 



that may be produced on the rural mind by such a being. I 

 therefore make no apologies for reproducing it here. 



A WITCH. 



" There's thik wold hag, Moll Brown, look zee, jus' past ! 

 I \v ish the ugly sly wold witch 

 Would tumble over into ditch ; 

 I would 'en pull her out not very vast. 

 No, no. I don't think she's a bit belied, 

 No, she's a witch, aye, Molly's evil-eyed. 

 Vor I do know o' many a withren blight 

 A-cast on vo'k by Molly's mutter'd spite ; 

 She did, woone time, a dreadful deal o' harm 

 To Farmer GrulFs vok, down at Lower Farm. 

 Vor there, woone day, they happened to offend her, 

 An' not a little to their sorrow, 

 Because they woulden gi'e or lend her 

 Zome'hat she come to bag or borrow ; 

 An' zoo they soon began to vind 

 That she'd agone an' left behind 

 Her evil wish that had such power, 

 That she did meake their milk an' ea'le turn zour, 

 An' addle all the aggs their vowls did lay ; 

 They coulden vetch the butter in the churn, 

 An' all the cheese began to turn 

 All back age'an to curds an' whey ; 

 The little pigs, a-runnen wi' the zow, 

 Did zicken, zomehow, nobody know'd how, 

 An' vail, an' turn their snouts toward the sky, 

 An' only gie oone little grunt, an' die. 

 An' all the little ducks an' chicken 

 Wer death-struck out in yard a-picken 

 Their bits o' food, an' veil upon their heads, 

 An' flapp'd their little wings an' drapp'd down dead. 

 They coulJen fat the calves, they woulden thrive ; 

 They coulden se'ave their lambs alive ; 

 Their sheep were all a-coath'd* or gied noo wool ; 

 The horses veil aAvay to skin an' bwones, 



*A disease of the liver to which sheep are particularly subject in wet 

 seasons or in ill-drained pastures. 



