Mickey Thump (Wigan)

As Ah wur goin dahn Traycle Lehn,
Ah met me swate-art, Mickey Thoomp.
Ee sez, Art coomin tut fur to-neet?
An Ah thowt a bit,
An Ah thowt a bit,
An Ah sez, Aye, Ah will.

Eee, an it wur a fur.
But naw Mickey Thoomp turnt oop.
So Ah went whom.
Sooden laak cooms a nok at door.
Th' owd Lad himself, Ah thinks.
An ee sez,
Coom quick -- they swate-art's deein!
Eee, an ee wur deein.

-- recalled by Joan Sarah Deakin Marks (born in Wigan, Lancashire, 1921, died in Melbourne, 2003)


As I was going down Treacle Lane,
I met my sweet-heart, Mickey Thump.
He says, "Are you coming to the fair tonight?"
And I thought a bit,
And I thought a bit,
And I said, "Yes, I will."

O, and it was a fair.
But no Mickey Thump turned up.
So I went home.
Suddenly there comes a knock at the door.
"The Old Lad himself," I think.
And he says,
"Come quickly, your sweet-heart's dying!"
O, and he was dying.

The glossary in Folk Songs & Ballads of Lancashire, compiled and edited by Harry & Lesley Boardman (London: Oak, 1973) gives the following:
Th' owd Lad = The Old Lad = The Devil.


Some months after I posted this piece (in early January 2006), I received another version of this folk rhyme, from Nev Young, whose mother grew up in Bolton, and who taught it to Nev. Notice the differences in the two versions.
Mickey Thump (Bolton) here.

Listen to yet another version being spoken on YouTube:
here.

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