"And," sez I, for I WAZ full of my subject, and kep him down to it all I could, "Ralph S. Robinson has spread the Gospel over acres and acres of land, and brung in droves and droves of sinners into the fold without the help of church or steeple, let alone bells, and it seems es if he ortn't to be tortured to death now by 'em."
"Samantha Among the Brethren, Part 6."
Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)
"Lucky for thee," said Bill Blacksmith, "as thee bee'st so shart and fat, Jan Dree on us wor a gooin' to shutt 'ee, till us zeed how fat thee WAZ, Jan" '"Lor now, Bill!"
"Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor"
R. D. Blackmore
I don't know ez they WAZ wuth it, he added in gloomy retrospect; but I've got to get rid of 'em, I reckon, somehow, afore I work over to Deadman's Gulch again.
"Susy, A Story of the Plains"
Bret Harte
