RUSTIC SPEECH

AND

FOLK-LORE

BY

ELIZABETH MARY WRIGHT

HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO
MELBOURNE BOMBAY
1913

OXFORD: HORACE HART
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

PREFACE

My aim in dealing with the linguistic side of my subject has been to show that rules for pronunciation and syntax are not the monopoly of educated people who have been taught to preach as well as practise them. Dialect-speaking people obey sound-laws and grammatical rules even more faithfully than we do, because theirs is a natural and unconscious obedience. Some writers of literary English seem to enjoy flinging jibes at dialect on the assumption that any deviation from the standard speech must be due to ignorance, if not to vulgarity besides. Since I wrote the last chapter of this book, I read in a criticism of Stanley Houghton’s Play Trust the People, this sentence describing the Lancashire ‘father an old mill-hand and the homely mother to match’: ‘They are both drawn, you feel, to the life, and talk with ease, not to say gusto, that curious lingo which seems to an outsider mainly distinguished by its contemptuous neglect of the definite article’, The Times, Friday, Feb. 7, 1913. Now the definite article in north-west Lancashire is t, in the south-west and south t, or th, and in mid and south-east Lancashire th. When this t stands before a consonant, and more especially before a dental such as t, d, it is not by any means easy for the uninitiated to detect the difference in sound between the simple word and the same word preceded by the article, between, for example, table and t table, or dog and t dog. But this is not ‘contemptuous neglect’ on the part of the Lancastrian! It would be nearer the mark to say that the Lancashire dialect is characterized by its retention of a form of the definite article very difficult to pronounce in certain combinations.

Further, I have endeavoured to show by means of numerous illustrations, how full the dialects are of words and phrases remarkable not only for their force and clearness, but often also for their subtle beauty, that satisfying beauty of the thing exactly fitted to its purpose.

I have also drawn up lists showing the numbers of old words and phrases once common in English literature, still existing in the dialects. Occasionally writers of modern verse seek to restore some of the words of this type to their former position in literary English, thereby causing the reviewer to stumble dreadfully, though he thinketh he standeth. I quote the following from a literary periodical dated May 2, 1913: ‘He [the poet] debates if he shall make “a nest within a reedy brake”, or, failing this delectable situation, offers himself a quaint alternative,

We had always supposed in our ignorance that “paddock” was a term applied to green fields or pastures. How Mr. ... could have seen a paddock “lope” we do not know, and perhaps it would not be kind to ask him to explain.’ The majority of educated people are familiar with the word paddock, a toad, or a frog, from its occurrence in the opening lines of Macbeth, and in Herrick’s Child’s Grace, but it will probably never again take its former place in the standard speech, though it may remain very common in the dialects.

In the chapters devoted to folk-lore I have not attempted to do more than chronicle certain superstitions and popular beliefs, leaving to my readers the fascinating pursuit of tracing superstitions to their sources, and of bringing to light hidden grains of truth in apparently silly beliefs. There is here plenty of scope both for scholarship and imagination. I once happened to mention at a dinner-party the superstition that it is a sure presage of a parting for an engaged couple to stand as fellow sponsors at a baptism. My neighbour, who was a clergyman, immediately explained the reason for this idea by telling me that in pre-Reformation days godparents were not allowed to marry each other. The Church recognized a sort of spiritual affinity between such persons, which precluded lawful marriage. It is strange to think that while joining in a Protestant service to-day, members of the Church of England are still swayed by an old law they never heard of except as it exists in the word ‘unlucky’.

In dealing with popular customs I have selected those that are less well known, and others concerning which I have myself collected information, and have omitted many which are readily accessible in works such as Hone’s Year Book and Chambers’s Book of Days.

I may mention that in collecting my material from very many miscellaneous sources, printed and oral, I have not felt justified in normalizing the orthography of the dialect quotations, especially where these have been taken from glossaries. This accounts for a certain amount of inconsistency in the orthography.

At the end of the table of contents will be found a select list of the works which I have found most useful in writing this book.

ELIZABETH MARY WRIGHT.

Oxford,
  July, 1913.

CONTENTS

SELECT LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

Couch, Thomas Q.—The History of Polperro, a fishing town on the south coast of Cornwall: being a description of the place, its people, their manners, customs, modes of industry, &c. by the late Jonathan Couch. Truro, 1871.

Courtney, M. A. and Couch, Thomas Q.—Glossary of Words in use in Cornwall. West Cornwall by Miss M. A. Courtney. East Cornwall by Thomas Q. Couch. E.D.S. 1880.

Cunliffe, Henry.—A Glossary of Rochdale, with Rossendale Words and Phrases. Manchester, 1886.

Darlington, Thomas.—The Folk-Speech of South Cheshire. E.D.S. 1887.

Dartnell, George Edward, and Goddard, Edward H.—A Glossary of Words used in the county of Wiltshire. E.D.S. 1893.

Dickinson, W.—A Glossary of the words and phrases pertaining to the dialect of Cumberland. Re-arranged, illustrated, and augmented by quotations by E. W. Prevost, Ph.D., F.R.S.E. London, 1899.

Ducange, C. D.—Lexicon manuale ad Scriptores Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis, ex glossariis C. D. D. Ducangii et aliorum in compendium accuratissime redactum. Par W.-H. Maigne D’Arnis. Paris, 1866.

Easther, Alfred.—A Glossary of the dialect of Almondbury and Huddersfield. Compiled by the late Rev. Alfred Easther. Ed. from his MSS. by the Rev. Thomas Lees. E.D.S. 1883.

Ellwood, T.—Lakeland and Iceland: being a glossary of words in the dialect of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and North Lancashire which seem allied to or identical with the Icelandic or Norse. E.D.S. 1895.

Elworthy, Frederic Thomas.—The West Somerset Word-book. A glossary of dialectal and archaic words and phrases used in the West of Somerset and East Devon. E.D.S. 1888.

English Dialect Dictionary, The. Edited by Joseph Wright. 1896-1905.

Evans, Arthur B.—Leicestershire Words, Phrases, and Proverbs, ed. with additions and an introduction by Sebastian Evans. E.D.S. 1881.

Ferguson, Robert.—The Dialect of Cumberland, with a chapter on its place-names. London, 1873.

Five Original Glossaries. Series C. English Dialect Society. Edited by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat, M.A. London, 1876.

Five Original Glossaries. Series C. English Dialect Society. London, 1881.

Fletcher, J. S.—Recollections of a Yorkshire Village. London, 1910.

Friend, Hilderic.—A Glossary of Devonshire Plant Names. E.D.S. 1882.

Gibson, Alexander Craig.—The Folk-Speech of Cumberland and some districts adjacent. London, 1869.

Godefroy, F.—Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXᵉ au XVᵉ siècle. 1881- .

Gomme, Alice Bertha.—The traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, collected and annotated by Alice Bertha Gomme. London, 1894.

Gregor, Walter.—Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland. Folk-Lore Soc. vii. 1881.

—— The Dialect of Banffshire: with a glossary of words not in Jamieson’s Scottish Dictionary. Trans. Phil. Soc. London, 1866.

Hammond, Joseph.—A Cornish Parish: being an account of St. Austell, town, church, district, and people. London, 1897.

Harland, John.—A Glossary of Words used in Swaledale, Yorkshire. E.D.S. 1873

Harland, John, and Wilkinson, T. T.—Lancashire Folk-Lore: illustrative of the superstitious beliefs and practices, local customs and usages of the people of the County Palatine. London, 1867.

Hatzfeld, A., Darmesteter, A., et Thomas, M. A.—Dictionnaire général de la langue française du commencement du XVIIᵉ siècle jusqu’à nos jours. Paris [n. d.].

Heslop, R. O.—Northumberland Words. A Glossary of Words used in the County of Northumberland and on the Tyneside. E.D.S. 1892-94.

Hewitt, Sarah.—Nummits and Crummits, Devonshire customs, characteristics, and folk-lore. London, 1900.

—— The Peasant Speech of Devon. And other matters connected therewith. 2nd ed. London, 1892.

Holland, Robert.—A Glossary of Words used in the County of Chester. E.D.S. 1886.

Inwards, Richard.—Weather Lore; a collection of proverbs, sayings, and rules concerning the weather. London, 1893.

Jackson, Georgina F.—Shropshire Folk-Lore, edited by Charlotte Sophia Burne from the Collections of Georgina F. Jackson. London, 1883. See Burne.

—— Shropshire Word-book, a glossary of archaic and provincial words, &c., used in the county. London, 1879.

Jago, Fred. W. P.—The ancient language, and the dialect of Cornwall with an enlarged glossary of Cornish provincial words. Truro, 1882.

Johnson, Samuel.—A Dictionary of the English Language. London, 1755.

Kirkby, B.—Lakeland Words. A collection of dialect words and phrases, as used in Cumberland and Westmoreland, with illustrative sentences in the North Westmoreland dialect. Kendal, 1898.

La Curne de Sainte-Palaye.—Dictionnaire historique de l’ancien langage françois ou glossaire de la langue françoise depuis son origine jusqu’au siècle de Louis XIV. Niort, 1882.

Leigh, Egerton.—A Glossary of Words used in the Dialect of Cheshire. London, 1877.

Levins, Peter.—Manipulus Vocabulorum. A dictionary of English and Latin words arranged in the alphabetical order of the last syllables [1570]. Ed. H. B. Wheatley. Camden Society, 1867.

Littré, É.—Dictionnaire de la langue française. Paris, 1878.

Long, W. H.—A Dictionary of the Isle of Wight dialect, and of provincialisms used in the island. London, 1886.

Lowsley, B.—A Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases. E.D.S. 1888.

Lucas, Joseph.—Studies in Nidderdale: upon notes and observations other than geological, made during the progress of the Government geological survey of the district, 1867-72. London, c. 1882.

Moisy, Henri.—Glossaire comparatif anglo-normand donnant plus de 5,000 mots aujourd’hui communs au dialecte normand et à l’anglais. Caen, 1889.

Morris, M. C. F.—Yorkshire Folk-talk, with characteristics of those who speak it in the North and East Ridings. London, 1892.

Nevinson, Rev. Thomas K. B.—Local Provincialisms, being a MS. collection made by the Rev. Thomas K. B. Nevinson, Medbourne Rectory, Market Harborough.

New English Dictionary, A, on historical principles. Ed. J. A. H. Murray, H. Bradley, W. A. Craigie. Oxford, 1884-.

Nicholson, John.—The Folk Speech of East Yorkshire. London, 1889.

Nodal, John H., and Milner, George.—A Glossary of the Lancashire Dialect. E.D.S. 1875.

Northall, G. F.—A Warwickshire Word-book, comprising obsolescent and dialect words, colloquialisms, &c., gathered from oral relation, and collated with accordant works. E.D.S. 1896.

—— English Folk-Rhymes. A collection of traditional verses relating to places and persons, customs, superstitions, &c. London, 1892.

Ormerod, Frank.—Lancashire Life and Character. Rochdale, 1910.

Palsgrave, Jehan.—Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse. 1530.

Parish, W. D.—A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect and collection of provincialisms in use in the County of Sussex. Lewes, 1875.

Patterson, William Hugh.—A Glossary of Words in use in the Counties of Antrim and Down. E.D.S. 1880.

Peacock, Edward.—A Glossary of Words used in the Wapentakes of Manley and Corringham, Lincolnshire. 2nd ed., revised and considerably enlarged. E.D.S. 1889.

Promptorium Parvulorum sive Clericorum, Lexicon Anglo-Latinum princeps, auctore fratre Galfrido Grammatico dicto, e predicatoribus Lenne episcopi, Northfolciensi, A.D. circa 1440. Camden Society, 1843-65.

Robertson, J. Drummond.—A Glossary of Dialect and Archaic Words used in the County of Gloucester. Ed. by Lord Moreton. E.D.S. 1890.

Robinson, C. Clough.—A Glossary of Words pertaining to the dialect of Mid-Yorkshire; with others peculiar to Lower Nidderdale. E.D.S. 1876.

—— The Dialect of Leeds and its neighbourhood. London, 1862.

Robinson, F. K.—A Glossary of Words used in the neighbourhood of Whitby. E.D.S. 1876.

Rye, Walter.—A Glossary of Words used in East Anglia. Founded on that of Forby. With numerous corrections and additions. E.D.S. 1895.

Taylor, Francis Edward.—The Folk-Speech of South Lancashire: a glossary of words which are, or have been during the last hundred years, in common use in that portion of the County Palatine situate between Bolton and Manchester. Manchester, 1901.

Tusser, Thomas.—Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. The ed. of 1580 collated with those of 1573 and 1577. Together with A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie, 1557. Ed. W. Payne and S. J. H. Herrtage. E.D.S. 1878.

Wright, Joseph.—The English Dialect Grammar. 1905.