From the Gazette & Herald edition of May 21, 1954 (From Gazette & Herald)

From the Gazette & Herald edition of May 21, 1954

A New Yorkshire Dialect Anthology: Henry Walker (Leeds), 2s

Still another anthology from the Yorkshire Dialect Society is an indication of this society's determination to keep the folk speech of Broadacres from losing its grip under the onslaught of BBC and standard English. This latest publication, with the usual glossary at the end, is a mixture of verse and prose, the prose being largely little tales. Students of dialects can find interest in the word variations of different parts of the Ridings - Yorkshire has not one, but several dialects. Among the poems is a sweet little thing by J Irving Parke, of Malton, one of the best exponents of the North Riding speech, entitled "Tiv oor Bairn." Here it is:

Thoo's nobbut a lahtle 'n thoo knaws, me lass;

'Bout height o' six pennorth o' copper;

Bud thoo's taen sike hod o' wer haarts - me an' t'weyf's -

Wer puffed up wi' prahd o' tha, proper!

Thoo can toddle aboot a bit noo, thoo knaws,

Bud thoo hes t' be hugged varry seean;

An' thoo's walked thi ways intiv twea lahves, mi lass,

'At thoo'll niver walk oot on ageean.

Thoo chatters away like a magpie mi lass;

Thof thi meeaning's nut good ti be had;

An' we've nea gurter joy i' this wo'ld - me an' t'weyfe -

Than ti hear thi saay "Mammy" an' "dad".

Dorothy Una Ratcliffe has three poetic contributions, and other names familiar in this side of the county are Irene Sutcliffe, Gwen Wade, and Stanley Umpleby, who died last year, and whose first published dialect poem appeared in the Yorkshire Gazette.

In the prose section J Fairfax-Blakeborough has one of his village life stories, with some more repartee between Lizzie Leckonby and Mary Thompson, and there is work by T C Calvert and F A Carter, among others.

Previous anthologies have long been out of print. For this, edited by W J Halliday and F W Moody, most of the material has been written since the war.

Updated: 09:42 Monday, May 24, 2004