Edwin Waugh History by Alan Southworth Edwin Waugh was born in Rochdale, Lancashire in 1817, he was the son of a shoemaker and after some schooling, was apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of twelve. Waugh read eagerly, and in 1847 became assistant secretary to the Lancashire Public School Association and went to work in Manchester. By 1860 he was able to become a full-time writer, but in 1881 he was in poor health and was granted a civil List pension of £90 p.a. Throughout his writing career, Waugh was passionate about Lancashire dialect and wrote and composed many poems, many of which were penned during his wanderings on the moors above his hometown. Here is one of my favourites:
Yon moorlan' hills are bloomin' wild At th' endin' o' July; Yon woodlan' cloofs, an valleys green,— The sweetest under th' sky; Yon dainty rindles, dancin' deawn Fro' th' meawntains into th' plain;— As soon as th' new moon rises, lads, I'm off to th' moors again!
I've Worn My Bits o' Shoon Away I've worn my bits o' shoon away, Wi' Rovin' up an' deawn, To see yon moorlan' valleys, an' Yon little country teawn: The dule tak' shoon an' stockin's too! My heart feels hutchin'-fain; An', if I trudge it bar-fuut, lads, I'll see yon teawn again!
There's hearty lads among yon hills, An' in yon country teawn; They'n far moor sense than prouder folk,— I'll uphold it for a creawn; They're wick an' warm at wark an' fun, Wherever they may go,— The primest breed o' Iads i'th world,— Good luck attend 'em o'!
It's what care I for cities grand,— We never shall agree; I'd rayther live where Th' layrock sings,— A country teawn for me! A country teawn, where one can meet Wi' friends an' neighbours known; Where one can lounge i'th market-place An' see the meadows mown. - 52 -
