I got another old copy of The Countryman today (spring 1948). This wonderful piece of Devon dialect was in it:
'I'll baste thy hide vur thee e thee dissent come intu th'ouse dreckly minit!' exclaimed the old lady to her five year old grandson. 'What with yurr mumbudgetting an' trapsying roun' th' drangway, yu'll be rinnedaver.' When she caught sight of me, she crooned, ''Aw, me dear sawl, how 'ee be grawn zince I zeed 'ee last! Come in an' zit yersel down, midear!' Little Archie followed us into the cottage where a fire burned cheerfully in the 'bodley'. Giving the boy a playful clip over the head, his grandmother said, 'It vair makes me biver tu zee littul Arch, the way 'e du so love a drap o' dirt. 'E's wors'n 'is farthur were at 'is age. An' 'ave 'ee zeed 'Aryot Webb's littul maid zince 'er comed back vrom schule?' she rambled on. 'Er's a praper maid right enuv. 'T'ath adued 'er gude gwaine away.' (Michael Blackmore submitted this piece.)
2 comments:
Mumbudgetting indeed! It sounds like a sort of mindless pottering about--something I do well. I am fascinated by dialect. I find that we apparently have more "Yankee" expressions than I ever noticed as sometimes these interior westerners ask us to define a word or phrase. There is such satisfaction in choosing just the right word from a personal lexicon to express a nuance of meaning. Occasionally someone will accuse me of "big words"--its not a matter of multi-syllabic terms--my daughter and I suspect it is the difference between those who have read voraciously and widely and those who have not. We aren't intending to be precocious.
These dialect pieces put me in mind of The Archers which I listened to for years on Canadian radio. There was an old codger with a speech as thick as mud--[Ned?] was it Yorkshire--Somerset?
praper jaab! Love this.
another one - is eyes doin eet prently.
or even my "farthersa", favourite saying "thaa's nice benit"
it took me years to explain to friends when the asked What did you dad say?..
translation is, I'm doing it presently, (as in making a cup of tea in a moment).
and you would show him a picture you did and school and he would say "thaas nice benit". That is nice, be it not?
Great post!
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