Classic Poem

Iss, there she is — so purty a craft
As ever there could be.
Smart as a lady, safe as a church
Stand any amount of sea.
Her name? Well, iss, I've thought about that —
Somebody said The Unique ,
I don't know, I'm sure, what language 'tis,
Latin, I s'pose, or Greek.

Old Michael do know some French, and so
I ask the meaning of he, —
He said I didn't pernounce it right
And called it U-ni-que.
Said he'd a-seed 'em in foreign parts,
Beasts with a great long horn,
And the nighest he could make of it,
Was a female unicorn.

So I gived that up. But I found the name
In chapel last Sunday night.
The sermon was all about Mordecai, —
If I mind his name aright;
What was the king to do to the man
That he wanted for to honour?
Then all of a sudden it come to me,
The name that I'd put upon her.

The very thing, I says to myself,
I'll take his name for the craft;
That king of old put his man 'pon a horse,
And then I sort o'laughed;
If I put my man 'pon a horse's back,
He'd only come tumbling down;
And he wouldn't be able to walk about
Dressed up in a great long gown.

He'd feel at home on the stern of a craft,
So I'll call her his name, says I,
The Moses Dunn , and I'll have a chance
Of telling the folks for why.
Is he livin'? Iss. Thank God he is that.
I reckon such folks as he
May be fine and plentiful in heaven —
They're terrible scarce with we.

Us had been fishing away up North —
After the herrin, you know,
'Twas wisht poor speed, heavy hearts on deck
And an empty hold below;
'Twas when we was coming home again
That Moses happened one day
To put out his nets to have a try —
'Twas up there Sunderland way.

A drunken skipper come tearing by,
He saw that the nets was there;
He never so much as turned her head,
But laughed and began to swear;
Out with his knife and leaned over the side,
And hacked and hewed with a slash,
And every swish of the knife I knew
Was leaving a terrible gash.

Pounds worth of damage the fellow did,
Cursin' at every stroke;
And Moses sat there in his little boat
And never so much as spoke.
I would have gone for the fellow myself
If Moses had said the word;
But the chap went on with his devilry,
And Moses, he never stirred.

At last he was clear of the nets and gone;
I tell 'ee I could have cried
For to see they nets all spoiled like that —
Then Moses come alongside;
He coiled the nets in the stern of the boat,
So quiet as he could be,
Without so much as an angry word —
I never saw none like he.

'Twas two days after, by Sunderland pier —
'Twas blowin' a hurricane;
You could scarcely see across the place
For the beat of the spray and rain;
But Moses he got a wonderful eye, —
The minute that he come near
He saw a craft that had lost her hold
Would be dashed against the pier.

He turned to a fisherman at his side —
" That boat will be lost, " says he.
Says the chap, " Can 'ee mind who cut your nets? "
Well, that craft belongs to he;
'Twill serve him right, a fellow like that,
So free with his tongue and knife;
And beside, if you're going to save that boat,
You'll have for to risk your life. "

Then Moses sprang in a little boat,
Pulled over the tumbling sea,
Right out to the craft, and jumped aboard —
'Twas something I tell 'ee to see
The way he brought her round in the wind —
The fellows gave him a cheer
When he laid her up in a sheltered place,
And come again to the pier.

The skipper was in the public house
When in come one of his men —
" Your craft, I tell 'ee, is lost 'pon the pier,
You'll never see her again. "
And when he saw the craft lying there,
So safe as a craft could be,
The fellow turned round with a terrible oath,
" Who saved my boat? " says he.

" 'Twas Moses Dunn, " says a man close by,
" That you served so cruel bad.
There isn't another living soul
But what would just have been glad
To see 'ee punished for doing en
Such a terrible bit of spite.
If your boat had been lost with all her gear,
'Twould have served 'ee perfectly right. "

" He saved my boat, and I cut his nets! "
Then he come to Moses Dunn —
The face of the skipper was black as night,
But Moses' shone like the sun.
" Here, what do 'ee mean I should like to know?
They tell me you saved my craft. "
Says Moses, " Iss, o' course I did, "
And he looked at the man and laughed.

" But here, " says the man, " I can't make you out,
Do you know who I am? " says he,
" Do you know that I cut your nets to bits? "
Says Moses, " What's that to me?
He looked at Moses from head to foot,
" Well, I can't tell what to say —
I cut your nets and you saved my boat,
And I got no money to pay.

" What do 'ee call yourself, Moses Dunn? —
I tell 'ee I never knew
That there was living upon the earth
A man that could do like you. "
" Call myself? Well — a Christian I s'pose. "
" I don't think much of they, "
Says the chap, " but I'd be a Christian myself
If I could be one your way.

" Here, Moses Dunn, " and his voice it choked.
" Will 'ee please to shake hands with me?
You've saved my boat, but I'll tell 'ee what
You've a broke my heart. " says he.
And now a kinder and better man
I don't think the world could show
Than the drunken fellow that cut the nets
That day two years ago.

So that's the story, and now you see
Why 'tis that I want to honour
The fellow that did so brave a thing,
And the name I'll put upon her.
The Moses Dunn : so I'll paint it large,
That's the very name, says I,
And when I can I'll take the chance
Of telling the folks for why.