---

C J Dennis - Old Town Types No. 3 - Mrs Dibbs
Work rating: Low

Mrs Dibbs, the washerwoman, coming down the street,
Shabby old "elastic-sides" on her funny feet
   As she toddles by the pub, the loungers nudge and smile,
   "Twig the cut of this," they say.  "There`s a bit of style."
But Mrs Dibbs is thinking about a wayward son;
Since he went away from home, twenty years have run.
   "Jimmy was a one," says she, "a proper one for rovin`;
   But awful good he was to me before he went a-drovin`."

Mrs Dibbs, the washerwoman, standing at a tub,
Washing other people`s clothes -- rub, rub, rub,
   "The moleskins is the worst," she says.  "Chafes yer knuckles bare,
   An` well I minds the moleskin ones Jimmy used to wear.
A natty boy about his clothes, oh, quite the fancy touch
Must have this, and won`t have that.  Not that I minded much.
   But when his father ups and dies, he gets this craze for rovin`,
   An` nothin` else would do him but he had to go a`drovin`."

Mrs Dibbs, Polly Dibbs, shopping at the store.
"Lawks -- a -- mercy me," she says.  "I can`t afford no more.
   Times is hard since Jimmy went.  A body has to learn
   To pinch a bit, and save a bit; for money`s hard to earn.
When Jimmy was a little lad, he used to say to me,
`Silk dresses, Ma, is what you`ll have when I grow up,` sez he.
   My Jimmy was a lovin` lad, for all he took to rovin`,
   There`s good times comin` yet for me when he comes back from drovin`."

Mrs, Dibbs, Mother Dibbs, clad in rusty black,
Talking ever while she works of Jimmy coming back.
   Poor old shrunken form, warped and out of shape;
   Poor old skinny hand, crinkled up like crepe.
Well folk know where Jimmy is; but hide it without fail;
Seven years for cattle duffing in a northern jail.
   "Cheer up, Mother Dibbs," they say.  "He`ll soon be done with rovin`.
   You`ll be the Queen of Sheba then, when Jimmy comes from drovin`."
Source
The script ran 0.001 seconds.