HAPPIN and happerin - that surely got the memories working again for several folk. I was amazed at the number of folk who knew and used those words from years gone by, and yet it had escaped me completely. Ena Hammond, born at Rosedale and now living at Kirkbymoorside, knew all about it. Now in her late 70s, she remembers it from ages ago, when it was an everyday word. We chatted on for ages about the old word, not knowing the etymology of it. But when the word 'steg' came up, for a male goose, we had no doubts that this must be of Scandinavian descent. David Rank, of Wold Newton, who is secretary (or is it chairman?) of the East Riding Dialect Society, rang to tell me that it was a 'covering' and often used in the context of bedclothes. From Levisham, a call from Tony Lea also confirmed that happin was a covering, which embraced several conditions, and Peggy Smedley (nee Hall), who lived at Birdsall, later Kirkham, and now Malton, told me it was common parlance at Birdsall. I'd also heard that it was used with regularity in Acklam, which made me wonder if it was of East Riding origin. Should a couple of children be sleeping together, as was often the case in days gone by, and one of them had all the bedclothes, next time mum or dad came in to see they were all right, the comment would be: "You've got all the happin, let your sister have some."

By now, I'm beginning to get the gist of this expression. And John Croft, who lived at Ryton, but now resides at Rudston, explained how, if on the farm a potato pie had been opened up, and needed recovering with soil, he might have been told to "go and hap up yon pie". Having made a good job of this, he would then have 'happed it in', or the comment might have been "you've done a good happer-in". Two words, which said quickly, produced what Vera Goodwill, who started all this, told to me as happerin.

Now that was an interesting excursion, and I chatted with several lovely folk which made for an informative and enjoyable research.

John Croft came up with another word which related to when someone might not be quite sure which of two things, or persons, were the one in question. For instance: one might be describing something, saying it was either red or blue, not quite sure, but one or the other. One or t'other became 'tearn', which meant exactly that. But, shame on me, I can't quite remember how it was used in the expression.

And a slight diversion from happerin, I can well remember my old gran who, when giving me something to take home, might well say "I'll just lap it up for you", meaning, of course, that she'd wrap it up. Some connection somewhere!

I'd been trying to find out the date of the demolition of Russells' last tall chimney and had a call from Marjorie Sollitt, whose hubby John had come across a Gazette & Herald supplement which gave its height at 130 feet and its demolition date as 1984. So far that date and month haven't been established, but I've no doubt it will be by the time this appears in print. A phone call from Mick Snowden, of Amotherby, put me in touch with his friend 'Gus' Walker of Norton - but not before I had a wrong number with mistaking the final digit as a 6 instead of a 3. This, inadvertently, put me in touch with John Loseby, who, at eight o'clock at night, was still at work in his factory at Malton. Despite the lateness, he was pleased to have a chat as soon as we recognised each other's voices.

I chided him for overworking, and he told me he was shortly to have a break. It seemed that his 40th wedding anniversary was coming up on April 4. When he and Jennifer got married, she'd commented how nice it would have been to have spent their honeymoon in Venice. It wasn't quite possible at that time, but happily John was now able to make up for that and, 40 years later, they were going to have a few days there to put things right, and spend an hour on the old Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal. There they could watch their memories flow slowly by below them, and I hope those two lovely folk have the journey of a lifetime, which by the time this appears will be yet another memory.

The Lions Life Line is sponsoring a brilliant idea where they will supply you with a plastic 'bottle' in which is stored your personal and medical details so that they can be easily found in an emergency. You complete the details and put the bottle in your fridge - that's the brilliant bit, too. A small sticker behind your front door tells that it is there, as does another on the fridge itself. Could save your life. You can get one at chemists or a surgery. This is a real peace-of-mind insurance, and it's free.

Advice: Asked, when 80, the secret of longevity, "Keep breathing". Sophie Tucker (1884-1966).

Updated: 12:32 Wednesday, April 14, 2004