[JohnW]

Ah'll never forget mi early life, when ah were up theer livin' i' Bash,
Mi mum and dad were workin' folks we never 'ad no mounds o' cash,
But there were aullas coal for't fire and right good food on our owd table,
I were aullus clothed in gradely stuff but never owt wi a fancy label.
Wi ad some fun in them owd days especially me and my mate Ratty,
Alec McKnight, Melvyn Yates and Leslie Berry (wi called him 'fatty').
Ah fell in love when ah were six, wi Valerie Wise, she were a smasher,
A real grand lass who were born in't village a proper down-t'-earth real Basher.
When ah were ten we moved away and went to Southport town to live,
Ah can remember every minute, though now mi memory's like a seive.
Southport's flat, and for many a year I missed all th' hills and fields and streams,
I missed the Laund and down't Shoe Mill, but always kept 'em in mi dreams.
As soon as ah were owd enough to pedal far enough on't bike,
Ah'd go and stay wi Uncle Bob i' Nuttall Street any time ah'd like,
Ah'd stay for weeks in't summertime when school were out and days were great,
An' ah'd pedal that bike up Manchester Road te spend some time wi my owd mate.
Course, now ah lives in Florida four thousand bloody miles away,
But ah wouldn't miss comin' o'er to Bash when ah come flyin' o'er te stay
When ah were theer some weeks ago, ah met up in't village wi Ratty and Val,
It were great te see em theer a't church, my best mate and my best gal,
Wi never forget where wi were born, the roots 're buried far and deep,
Ah'm a Basher, born and bred, that's summat ah can aullus keep.