Briggate on a Sattd'y Neet - Yorkshire Dialect Poem about Leeds

This is my take on John Hartley's 1898 poem, Briggate at Setterd'y Neet as featured in his Yorkshire Lyrics collection. I've updated many of the Victorian references to bring into the 21st century, and have adapted the West Riding Dialect he used to a form that is more similar to my native speech.
An online archive copy of Hartley's Yorkshire Lyrics can be found on the Project Gutenberg site.
Words:
Briggate on a Sattd'y Neet by William Rhodes (Yorkshire Words & Wisdom), adapted from John Hartley's 1898 Briggate at Setterd'y Neet:
Nah, Leeads is a city ‘at puts on grand airs,
But ah'm not ‘ere t’ bother wi' other fowks’ affairs;
Th’ve much to be prahd on ah’ll freely admit,
But ah think there’s some things th’ best alter a bit.
Th've med some reyt buildin’s 'at's worth gawpin’ at,-
Th’re a credit to t' city, there’s no daht o' that;
But there's nowt strikes a stranger s’ much as t’ seet
O' t ' crahd dahn at Briggate on a Sattd’y neet.
Ah've travelled a bit rahnd both cities an tarns,
An ah've oft sin crahds when thev stept aht o' bahnds;-
Well,-excitement’ll sometimes lead fowk astray,
When th’ dun’t meean owt wrong (it’s just lekkin’ an’ play),
But Leeads is a belter,-for feytin’ an din,-
For bullies an’ thugs an’ brussen-faced sin.
Ah defy thi to find me another such street,-
As disgraceful as Briggate on a Sattd’y neet.
Rozzers are aht standin i' twos an i' threes,
But th’ must be bloody blind to what other fowk see;
It must be for t’ laugh ‘at th’ve been put theear,-
It can’t be owt else, cos th’ dun’t interfere.
Young ‘uns reckon it meks 'em seem men
If they ‘ustle an shaht and mek fooils on ‘emsen.
Fowk leeav t' cooarsey for t' middle o’ 't' streeat
For its t' thugs ‘at own Briggate on a Sattd’y neet.
If tha’s got wu’kin lungs, then thi breath it must tek,,
When thi ‘ears th’ fahl gobs an’ what cooarse jests th’ mek;
Yet once they wor decent an’ would be so still,
But th've tekken t' wrong turn,-th’ guin’ dahn ‘ill.
Them lasses, once lovely, just aht o' th’ teens,
Wi' faces an figures 'at's fit for a queen.
What is it th're lekkin’ at? Just watch an tha'll see,
When they're scrawmin’ dahn Briggate on a Sattd’y neet.
Th’ keep chelpin’ abaht bad uns who live overseas,
But we've got tykes at ‘ooam who do as they please:
Just loohk at that crahd at comes traipsin’ along,
Yellin’ aht t’ chorus on a new drinkin’ song;
Old uns an’ young,- wrong uns an’ all,
Rollin’ rahnd streeats like th’re ‘avin’ a ball;-
Th’ seek n’ dark corners, they aht prahd in t’ leet,
Cos this is Briggate,-their Briggate, on a Sattd’y neet.
Is it askin’ too much o’ "t’ powers ‘at be,"
For Leeads’ main streeat from this ‘eeadache be free?
Shall ‘igh-minded ideas be set t’ one side,
Such a market for trouble an’ vice to provide?
Will t’ day ivver come when some poor lass,
Alone, withaht insult, may safely gu past?
It’s time for a change, an ah’m gaspin’ t’ see,-
A smartened up Briggate on a Sattd’y neet.
Them well-meeanin parents, at ‘ooam at their ease,
Are wilfully blind to such dangers as these;
Their sons an their dowters are honest an pure,-
An’ God ‘elp us, let’s pray it may ivver endure.
But once th’re on t’ tarn, and ‘av a few sups bowt,
There’s not many on ‘em who’d spare a second’s thowt.
T’ devil’s dahn layin’ his snares for th’re feet,-
An’ th're swarmin rahnd Briggate on a Sattd’y neet.

[@LUFC_Sweden]

Very interesting, I really appreciate hearing the old accent, me being an anglofil and an Leeds United supporter since childhood. How would you translate lekkin? The Swedish word "lek" springs to mind, it means play, like a child playing with its toys.

[@YorkshireWordsAndWisdom]

@@LUFC_Sweden thanks for the comment! Lekkin' is also sometimes pronounced as laikin'/laiking and means 'playing' - I'd say it also has connotations of specifically children playing. I've always been told that it's one of the words in the dialect that comes from Old Norse, so I think it shares a common root with the Swedish 'lek' and other similar words in the North Germanic languages.
I remember seeing a sign in Norway saying 'Se opp - barn leker', which is extremely similar to the Yorkshire Dialect 'ey up, bairns lekkin''. Hoping to do a video in the future on Yorkshire Dialect words that came to us via Old Norse - there's quite a few of them!

[@LUFC_Sweden]

@@YorkshireWordsAndWisdom Very interesting, I'm very interested in etymology and I'm happy to provide you with some words if you wish so.

[@YorkshireWordsAndWisdom]

@@LUFC_Sweden Thanks very much for the offer! I can see an email address on your UA-cam profile - I'll send a you an email over the next couple of weeks with a list of Yorkshire dialect words and their rumoured Scandinavian etymologies, and if you get chance to have a look at them it'd be great to hear whether you think there might be some truth in there somewhere - speak soon!

[@LUFC_Sweden]

@@YorkshireWordsAndWisdom 👍