THE "BESSES” AND SANDY

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2014, 25 February 1907, Page 4

THE "BESSES” AND SANDY

“I wis seein' tlio ‘Bosses’ whin ye wis awa, Janot.” “You wore what?” “Aye ; seem’ tho ‘Bosses.’ I didna miss you sao much when you wont for yor holiday tao Clyde. Na? I wont near every liiclltl Whit aro ye glowering at?” “A lino tiling for an old man like you to ho doing when your wife’s away 1” “Jmpli’m. Aw, hut they’re splendid —ji.st beautiful—fair lovely! I never enjoyed muse! sao much I” “Oil, indeed I And might I ask whose Bossies they wore? Perhaps you moan old Peter Peorie’s long, spindle-shanked, red-faced, dowdy dauglitor, and that cousin o’ hers — if her name’s Bessie too. 1 thought hotter of you, I ” “Whoosht, wheesht, wummin I Ye’re gottin’ glaikot! Div ye mean that ye didna hear o’ the Besses when ye were awa?” “I did not. 1 had more to interest mo than the galivantins of an old man like you. But men aro a’ alike. They’re sugar an’ cream when .you’ro tliero, hut when you’re hack’s turned it’s, Out of sight, out of mind.’ I know them I”

“Div ye think I’m daft cneuch and sao faur forfoclien as tae traik aboot auld Peerie’s lassies? No me ! It’s a Baun, wummin 1”

“A what?” “Ayo, a Brass Bauil! Bessies of the Barn they ca’ it.” “A fine thing! Are they all lasses? What with lassie lawyers and doctors and—pull your teeth folks, what d’ye caall them ? —aye, dentists, and the like, and now a woman’s Brass Band, it beats all!” “Easy, Janet, oasy 1 The Besses aro men.”

“Mon! How ? Isn’t Bessie a woman’s name? Any excuse will do!” ‘Janot, it’s the greatest Brass Baun in the world! And they come frae Lancashire or Yorkshire, or some ither place whore they hivna sense tao gio them decent names.” “The ‘greatest’? That’s a big thing to say.” “Well, Janot, it wis as great as ‘Cock o’ the North Tea,’ and that’s aboot it—hoid an’ shouthers ovor a’ tho rest o’ its like.” “Indeed?”

“Ayo; an’ whiles, when they cam’ dash, dash wi’ the big trumpets, thinks I, that’s like the fine strength o’ Hondai-Lanka I Then comes the woe, delicate ‘deedle-deedles’ and ‘twirly-whirlios’—thinks I, that’s like tho sweet an’ fragrant an’ mellow flavor that’s in the ‘Cock o’ the North.”

“You’ro a funny man, Sandy; but it’s quite true that ‘Cock o’ tho North’ is a great tea. It saves us many a shilling, it’s so rich and goes so far. Como on!”

“Tho ‘Bessies’ lassies! Oh, my, Janet, but you’re a jealus ane 1” “Be quiet, will you I”—Southland Daily News.