Wordn fir gwain?—was he not going, may compete with any language for its energetic brevity.
Zino, has the force and application of an interjection, and has sufficient of the ore rotundo to appear a classical dissyllable; its origin is, however, simply the contract of, as I know, and it is usually preceeded in Somersetshire by no. Thus, ool er do it? no, zino! I thawt a oodn. Will he do it? no, as I know! I thought he would not. These words, Twordn, Wordn, and Zino, may be thus exemplified:
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
I cannot, perhaps, better close this work, than by presenting to the reader the observations of Miss HAM, (a Somersetshire lady of no mean talents), in a letter to me on these dialects.
The lines, of which I desired a copy, contain an exemplification of the use of utchy or ichè, used contractedly [see UTCHY in the Glossary] by the inhabitants of the South of Somersetshire, one of the strongholds, as I conceive, of the Anglo-Saxon dialect.
In our polished dialect, the lines quoted by Miss HAM, may be thus rendered—
Bread and cheese I have had,
What I had I have eaten,
More I would [have eaten if] I had [had] it.
If the contradictions be supplied they will stand thus:—
Bread and cheese ichè have a had
That ichè had ichè have a eat
More ichè would ichè had it.
CLIFTON, Jan. 30, 1825
Sir:
I have certainly great pleasure in complying with your request, although I fear that any communication it is in my power to make, will be of little use to you in your curious work on the West Country dialect. The lines you desire are these:
Bread and cheese 'e' have a had,
That 'e' had 'e' have a eat,
More 'ch wou'd 'e' had it.
Sounds which, from association no doubt, carry with them to my ear the idea of great vulgarity: but which might have a very different effect on that of an unprejudiced hearer, when dignified by an Anglo-Saxon pedigree. The Scotch dialect, now become quite classical with us, might, perhaps, labour under the same disadvantage amongst those who hear it spoken by the vulgar only.
Although I am a native of Somersetshire, I have resided very little in that county since my childhood, and, in my occasional visits since, have had little intercourse with the aborigines. I recollect, however, two or three words, which you might not, perhaps, have met with. One of them of which I have traditionary knowledge, being, I believe, now quite obsolete. Pitisanquint was used in reply to an inquiry after the health of a person, and was, I understand, equivalent to pretty well, or so so. The word Lamiger, which signifies an invalid, I have no doubt you have met with. When any one forbodes bad weather, or any disaster, it is very common to say Don't ye housenee. Here you have the verbal termination, which you remarked was so common in the West, and which I cannot help thinking might have been originally vised as a sort of diminutive, and that to milkee, signified to milk a little.
As my knowledge of these few words is merely oral, I cannot answer for the orthography; I have endeavoured to go as near the sound as possible, and I only wish it were in my power to make some communication more worth your attention. As it is, I have only my best wishes to offer for the success of your truly original work.
I am, Sir, your most obedient,
Elizabeth Ham.
I have only one or two remarks to add to those of Miss Ham in the preceding letter.
It will be seen, by reference to the exemplifications of the dialect, that occasional pleonasm will be found in it, as well as, very often, extraordinary contraction. I have adone, I have a had, are examples of the first; and 'tword'n, gup, g'under, banehond, &c. [see Banehond in the Glossary] are examples of the last. Pitisanquint appears to me to be simply a contracted and corrupted mode of expressing Piteous and quaint, [See Pitis in the Glossary.]
Don't ye houseenee is Do not stay in your houses. But the implied meaning is, be active; do your best to provide for the bad weather which portends. In Somersetshire, most of the colloquial and idiomatic expressions have more or less relation to agriculture, agricultural occupations, or to the most common concerns of life, hence such expressions have, in process of time, become figurative. Thus, don't ye housenee, would be readily applied to rouse a person to activity, in order that he may prevent or obviate any approaching or portending evil.
I am still of opinion; indeed I may say, I am quite sure, that the verbal terminations, sewy, Tcnitty, &c., have no relation to diminution in the district East of the Parret.
Upon the whole, it is evident that considerable care and circumspection are necessary in committing to paper the signs of the sounds of a language, of which we have no accredited examples, nor established criterion. In making collections of this work, I have not failed to bear this constantly in mind.