[From Manx Melodies, 1922]

THE LIL OUL' GHOST

A lil oul' ghos' was used to go
About the roads an' to an' fro,
An' sighin' in a lonely place
With long coul' breath upon your face,
An' little shifty noises at him !
Close behind your footsteps, drat him;
The stick goin' twitchin' from your hen'
An' follerin' sobbin' if you ran.
Aw well, he never hurted me
A fair considerate ghos' was he.

What was he coin' urrov his bed,
Puttin' decent folk in dread ?
Why couldn' he lie an' be takin' his res'
An' a fine new stone at him cut with the bes'
High-minded, its like that he wouldn' stay
With the neighbours roun', respectable clay.
Aw no, the poor fella, but scratchin' his head
To see what he'd do when the scrolls would be read

An' the worl' through-others an' all upset,
An' him so held that he couldn' get,
An' sobbin' an' sighin'
An' peekin' an' spyin'
To see could he meet with an' oul' pair of shears;
Aye, so it appears,That's the for he was carryin' on
An' sniffin' about when the light was gone,
Aw well, the poor falla, aye, whisper it close,
You see, there was knots at the ghos'!

The lil oul' ghos' got tejus though,
An time they said that he must go
Twix bark an' bole, an' some were sayin
'These ghoses should be goin' a-layin'
By Romish Priests, for th' anncient Faith
Will not be bet by butch or wraith,
An' plenty Romans coming here
For change an' holly every year
( Them buoys that's larnt at Stonyhurst)
So let them send an' find the first
That for a crown would do it for 'em
An' fix the ghos' in the billey gorrym.

Aw then there was talkie', an' writin' an' jowin'
An' askin' advice from them that was knowin';
An' a passer of Romans agreed for to try
For sake of the practice to put him by_
But would you believe it, the lil oul' ghos'
Was scandalous vext to be druv to a pos';
An' behoul ye nex' everin' when all was ready
An' lights in their fisses burnin' steady
With all in procession and lookin' so "ran'
An' the Latin goin' rowlin' like tunes on the ban',
He took an' defied them, an' flippin' and flyin'
He puffed out the lights with his sobbin' an' sighin'.
An' gabblin' the Latin a line ahead
They couldn catch up with him, fast as they read.

But one boul buoy was among them though
That kep' his cannel safe aglow,
An' he took an' he threw it, droppin' with talla
Right into the mids of the lil oul' fella,
Or into the place where he heard bairn sigh,
An' I wouldn' be so rude as to tell you a lie.
Then over the Latin he tore like blazes,
Pishag as gabberash, desperat' phrases,
Hebrew an' Greek an' Gaelic an' ,",
Till the lil' oul' ghos' begun for to crawl
Over the road, an' goin' an goin'
With the buoy-bogh follerin' jowin' an' howin',
Till sniffin an' sighin'
An' sobbin' an' cryin'
He got him tucked up in th' oul' billey-gorrym,
An' for seven long years was the grayshdoint for him.

Well, well, is it thinkin' of movie' you are
An' deed but the daylight will not be far.
The way an' oul' falla like me gets talkin
An' keepin' you here when you should have been walkin',
What is it you're askin' - how long ago ?
(My word, but the night is so black as a crow).
An' I wouldn' be so rude as to tell you a lie,
Seven years this night they were puttin' him by