“Cheer Up A Bit Longer.” By Samuel Laycock.

CHEER up a bit longer, mi brothers i’ want,
There’s breeter days for us i’ store;
There’ll be plenty o’ tommy an’ wark for us o,
When this ‘Merica bother gets o’er.
Yo’n struggled reet nobly, an’ battled reet hard,
While things han bin lookin’ so feaw;*
Yo’n borne wi’ yor troubles an’ trials so long,
It’s no use o’ givin’ up neaw.
* * * * * * *
It’s hard to keep clemmin’ an starvin’, it’s true;
An’ it’s hard to see th’ little things fret
Becose there’s no buttercakes for ‘em to eat;
But we’n allus kept pooin’ through yet.
As bad as toimes are, an’ as feaw as things look,
One’s certain they met ha’ bin worse;
For we’n getten a trifle o’ summat, so fur, -
It’s only bin roughish, of course.
* * * * * * *
God bless yo, mi brothers, we’re nobbut on th’ tramp;
We never stay long at one spot;
An’ while we keep knockin’ abeawt i’ this world,
Disappointments will fall to eawr lot;
So th’ best thing we can do, iv we meon to get through,
Is to wrestle wi’ cares as they come;
Iv we’re teighert an’ weary, - well, let’s never heed,
We can rest us weel when we get whoam.
Cheer up, then, aw say, an’ keep hopin’ for th’ best,
An’ things’ll soon awter, yo’ll see;
There’ll be oachans o’ butties* for Tommy an’ Fred,
An’ th’ little uns perch’d on yor knee.
Bide on a bit longer, tak heart once agen,
An’ do give o’er lookin’ soa feaw;
As we’n battled, an’ struggled, an’ suffer’d so long,
It’s no use o’ givin’ up neaw.
*Foul, bad.

Title:Cheer up a Bit Longer

Author:Samuel Laycock

Publication:Whittaker & Co.

Published in:Ave Maria Lane, London

Date:1866

Keywords:america, dialect, family, poverty, unemployment

Commentary

The conversational rhythm of this poem is assisted by its slightly lopsided metre and line lengths, with broadly twelve-syllable and eight-syllable lines alternating, and metre shifting between dactyls and iambs. There are four eight-line stanzas in this newspaper version but the original was seven stanzas long (see the full version). The omitted original second and fourth and fifth stanzas are indicated by asterisked lines, but interestingly the first four lines of the last stanza here were also changed in the version published in Laycock’s Warblin’ fro’ an Owd Songster (1894). The original seven stanza piece was collected in Edwin Waugh’s influential Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk During the Cotton Famine. The text of that version went like this:

Cheer up a bit longer, mi brothers i' want,
There's breeter days for us i' store;
There'll be plenty o' tommy an' wark for us o'
When this 'Merica bother gets o'er.
Yo'n struggled reet nobly, an' battled reet hard,
While things han bin lookin' so feaw;
Yo'n borne wi' yo're troubles and trials so long,
It's no use o' givin' up neaw.

Feight on, as yo' han done, an' victory's sure,
For th' battle seems very nee won,
Be firm i' yo're sufferin', an' dunno give way;
They're nowt nobbut ceawards'at run.
Yo' know heaw they'n praised us for stondin' so firm,
An' shall we neaw stagger an' fo?
Nowt o'th soart; ― iv we nobbut brace up an' be hard,
We can stond a bit longer, aw know.

It's hard to keep clemmin' an' starvin' so long;
An' one's hurt to see th' little things fret,
Becose there's no buttercakes for 'em to eat;
But we'n allus kept pooin' thro' yet.
As bad as toimes are, an' as feaw as things look,
We're certain they met ha' bin worse;
We'n had tommy to eat, an' clooas to put on;
They'n only bin roughish, aw know.

Aw've begged on yo' to keep up yo're courage afore,
An' neaw let me ax yo' once moor;
Let's noan get disheartened, there's hope for us yet,
We needn't dispair tho' we're poor.
We cannot expect it'll allus be foine;
It's dark for a while, an' then clear;
We'n mirth mixed wi' sadness, an' pleasure wi' pain,
An' shall have as long as we're here.

This world's full o' changes for better an' wur,
An' this is one change among th' ruck;
We'n a toime o' prosperity, ― toime o' success,
An' then we'n a reawnd o' bad luck.
We're baskin' i' sunshine, at one toime o'th day,
At other toimes ceawerin' i'th dark;
We're sometoimes as hearty an' busy as owt,
At other toimes ill, an' beawt wark.

Good bless yo'! mi brothers, we're nobbut on th' tramp,
We never stay long at one spot;
An' while we keep knockin' abeawt i' this world,
Disappointments will fall to eawer lot:
So th' best thing we can do, iv we meon to get thro',
Is to wrastle wi' cares as they come;
We shall feel rayther tired, ― but let's never heed that, ―
We can rest us weel when we get whoam.

Cheer up, then, aw say, an' keep hopin' for th' best,
An' things 'll soon awter, yo'll see;
There'll be oceans o' butties for Tommy an' Fred,
An' th' little un perched on yo're knee.
Bide on a bit longer, tak' heart once ogen,
An' do give o'er lookin' so feaw;
As we'n battled, an' struggled, an' suffered so long,
It's no use o' givin' up neaw.

- SR.