Concluding Remarks

It is a fact, and one worthy of all commendation, that every Yorkshireman considers the dialect spoken in the immediate locality wherein he was reared, as being not only the best, but the purest. Doubtless in some cases this is quite correct, but not in all. Contiguity to other counties has a deteriorating influence, which naturally extends across both borders, and is sometimes very far-reaching in its effect. Owing to this and other causes, many of my readers will find the pronunciation of some words, as given both in the Glossary and throughout the work, not quite in tune with the sound in which they daily hear such words uttered. This difficulty presented itself at the very commencement of the work. A rule had to be adopted to obtain something approaching uniformity and conciseness. To accomplish this, area has been chosen; i.e. in all cases in which a word has several pronunciations, those given in the Glossary and elsewhere, so far as the writer knows, are the pronunciations most generally in use throughout the riding. It may be noted, as we approach the West Riding and South Lancashire, that the vowel sounds of a, e, and o have a growing tendency to broaden in sound, often becoming u. This, however, should be carefully guarded against in writing the dialect of the North Riding113, as there is ample proof that over a very wide area the original sound of eighty years ago was the same as now used in Cleveland. These gradual local alterations form in time what botanists call sports.

Many words in such places are to-day passing through a transitional stage. E.g. let us compare a few words as spoken eighty years ago in two places I well know, viz. Bedale and Great Ayton. The former is much nearer the West Riding than the latter, and very forcibly shows the gradual alteration in pronunciation some words have undergone since 1800.

Pronunciation.

As used in the North Riding, 1898.	As pronounced in Bedale, 1898.	Meaning.
Chetch	Chŭch	Church
Deear	Doour	Door
To’n	Tŭ’n	Turn
Stor	Sturr	Stir
Fo’st	Fust	First
Ez	Uz	As
Fau’k	Fooak	Folk
Neeaze	Nooaz	Nose
Cleease	Clooase	Close
Ken or Kern	Chen or Chun	Churn
Diz	Duz	Does
Wark	Wurrk	Work
War or Wor	Wuz	Was or were
Ax’d	Ast, Assed	Asked
Clais, Cleeas	Clooaz	Clothes
Deean’t	Dooan’t	Don’t
Fleear	Flooar	Floor
Gahin’ or ganning	Bown Bahn	Going

The Glossary contains many words common to other dialects114, especially the folk-speech of North Lincolnshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, North Lancashire, and East Anglia.

It may be of interest to note over what a wide area the dialect of the North Riding is understood and in the main spoken. As an entertainer, I come in touch with the country people of many places, and I have often been surprised at the quickness with which the various points in my dialect sketches have been seized by those of other counties. Naturally I am able to indulge much more freely, both in dialect and idiom, in some places than in others.

The North and West Riding dialects widely differ not only as to vocabulary, but in drawl and intonation; e.g. take the following sentences:—

North Riding. Noo, mun, wheear’s ta gahin’ teea? Ah’s gahin’ doon t’ toon.

West Riding. Nah, lad, whor’s ta bahn tew? Ah w’ bahn dahn t’ tahn.

Hear each sentence uttered by men of their respective ridings, and my readers will better understand my meaning than from pages of written explanation. There is also another difference. Whilst many titled people, and members of the best families in the North and East Ridings, can, when they have a mind to, speak the dialect fluently, of only a few of the leading families in the West Riding whom I have met am I able to say the same thing. There seems to be a feeling that in some way it would be infra dig. to admit ability to speak a word of their own folk-speech.

Referring to the wide area over which the dialect of the North and East Ridings is spoken, granting without questioning slight variation in pronunciation, the addition of new words, and the loss of familiar ones as we pass along, we find that practically the same dialect exists amongst the country folk inside the following rough boundary line. Draw right-lines commencing at Boston Spa, Lincolnshire, and connecting the following places, Doncaster, Harrogate, Lancaster, along the coast-line to Carlisle, thence to Darlington, Stockton, Middlesborough115, and along the north-east coast. By so doing you wall in what may be aptly termed, ‘the north-east folk-speech,.’ But far over this imaginary line, in certain directions, the dialect is understood and appreciated. This is not surprising when we remember the same races overran and peopled the whole of the country from the Wash to the Tyne and thence north-westward.

They may be easily traced by their place-names—the by’s, thorpes, cliffs, wicks, dales, &c.

But if we compare the folk-speech of the district so walled in, with that of the Danes and their kinfolk, then its Norse origin is seen at a glance. E.g. take the few following words—scores of the like could have been given:—

North and East Riding.	Cumberland and Westmoreland.	Danish.	Scotch.	Standard English.
Mowdywarp	Mowdywarp	Muldvarp	Moudie	Mole
Beck	Beck	Bæk	...	A small stream
Lake	Lake	Lege	...	Play
Beeal	Beel	Bjæle	...	Bellow
Bield	Bield	Bylja (Swedish)	...	A shelter
Gah, gan	Ga, gang	Gaae	Ga	Go
Neeaf	Neif	Næve	Neive	Fist
Bink	Bink	Bænk	Bink	Bench
Gliff	Gliff	Glippe	Gliff	Quick glance
Gesling	Gezling	Gjæsling	Gesling	Gosling
Gloor	Glower	Glo	Glower	Stare
Skrike	Skrike	Skrige	Skreich	Scream
Teeam	Teem	Toomme	Toom (to empty)	Pour out
Feck, n. ability
Feckless, adj.	Feckless	Fik is the past tense of faa, to get116, imp. tense, feck	Feckless	Incapable of providing for oneself

The Danish, Norwegian, Lowland Scotch, and north-east folk-speech are closely allied. We must not, however, compare the spelling, but the general sound of the words. Take the two first lines of the Danish national song—

Danish. Kong Christian stod ved hoien mast.
North Riding. King Christian steead byv t’ heegh mast.

Danish. I’ Rog117 og damp.
North Riding. I’ roke an’ reek.

Again, take two lines from a poem in Modern Friesic published in 1834. The centre lines are from the poem, with the modern North Riding dialect above and standard English below.

North Riding. What be’st thoo, leyfe?
Friesic. Hwat bist dhow, libben?
Standard English. What art thou, life?

North Riding. Fra t’ scepter’d king ti t’ slaave.
Friesic. Fen de scepterde kening ta da slave.
Standard English. From the sceptred king to the slave.

For a list of words common to the English, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages, see Trans. Phil. Soc. part i. 1858.

Much that is written and spoken at the present day is quite over the heads of our country people. Take the following, from one of our best authors:—‘He who performs every part of his business in due course and season, suffers no part of time to escape without profit. And it is well always to regard the quality rather than the quantity of your work, and bear in mind, if you delay till to-morrow what ought to be done to-day, you overcharge to-morrow with a burden which belongs not to it,’ Our country folk would fully grasp the above if put to them something like the following:—‘Him ’at diz a daay’s wark iv a daay, dizn’t waste his tahm, an’ mannishes ti git a bit foor hissel. An’ yan awlus owt ti aim ti deea t’ bit ’at yan diz deea fo’st-class, mair ’an aiming ti clash thruff a seet o’ wark onny road; an’ think on, if ya lig o’ yah sahd whahl ti morn what ya owt ti-deea ti daay, ya saddle ti morn wiv a boddun ’at it’s neea call ti bear.’

Hah am the rose o’ Sharon and the lily o’ the valley.

In a work kindly lent me by my friend Dr. Johnson of Lancaster, and published some years ago for the Philological Society, the author, quoting from Latham on the English Language, gives the above as a specimen of North Riding dialect—nay, more, of Cleveland itself. Surely the writer can never have spent a day in any part of Cleveland, for the sentence given contains but twelve words, seven of which are distinctly not Clevelandic.

The country people, when speaking naturally, rarely use the aspirate, except as an intensive. Otherwise they have little use for it. And when ‘H’ is preceded by the definite article, they do not drop it in the sense generally understood; the fact is they cannot well sound it, for this reason—the definite article is ‘t’, ‘the118’ being but rarely used. They could not say ‘t’ horse,’ ‘t’ house,’ ‘t’ hamper,’ &c.; with them it is, ‘t’ hoss,’ ‘t’ hoos,’ ‘t’ hamper,’ pronounced ‘toss,’ ‘toos,’ ‘tamper.’

‘The horse is yoked,’ ‘the hamper is in the wagon,’ and ‘the whip is under the wheels,’ as spoken, would sound to unfamiliar ears as if the speaker had said ‘toss is yoked,’ ‘tamper’s i’ twagon,’ and ‘twip’s unner tweels.’

The definite article, to those unaccustomed to our folk-speech, seems to be entirely wanting. Certainly before b, m, and n it is only very slightly sounded, and it becomes the merest touch of the tongue against the palate when preceding words commencing with d or t. ‘Shut the door, the bacon and the beans are on the table,’ would sound to a stranger as though the speaker said, ‘Shut deear, bacon an’ beeans is on table’; the speaker having in reality said, ‘Shut t’ deear, t’ bacon an’ t’ beeans is on t’ table.’

To return, however, to the line from Solomon’s Song, given as a specimen of Cleveland dialect. Let us see what the rendering should have been.

Hah am the rose o’ Sharon and the lily o’ the valley.
Ah’s t’ roase o’ Sharon an’ t’ lily o’ t’ valley.

The lower line is North Yorkshire and pure Cleveland, the upper line is said to be so.

It has been remarked that the aspirate is almost unknown—so it is as a letter, but not as an intensive. The aspirate, when misplaced by those speaking naturally, is only used to add greater force. ‘He’s mah henemy foor hivver,’ leaves no doubt that the injury sustained is of an unbridgeable character. Such a sentence, however, holds quite a different place in grammar, too. ‘Hi hallers taike shagar i’ my tea.’ The first example is Yorkshire intensified, minus any adjectives, the first ‘H’ expressing or suggesting some such feeling as implacable, and the ‘hever’ meaning for ever and ever. The latter is the vile and affected speech of the upper circles of Yorkshire flunkeys and maids, who try to improve upon their mother tongue. It holds no place in our folk-speech. It is hateful, and is only indulged in by those of whom the old people say, ‘When they start ti knack an’ scrape ther tungs, what they saay’s nowther nowt na summat,’ i.e. ‘When they begin to talk affectedly, what they say is neither one thing nor another.’

There is one other peculiarity which must be noticed—the possessive case. I should imagine a hundred years ago its disuse was universal in both ridings. My reason for so thinking lies in the fact that in any old books wherein the owners have inscribed their names—and they usually did (books were valued in those days)—the names are never written in the possessive case. It is always ‘Tom Smith book,’ ‘Ann Scott book.’ Even to-day in many places, when speaking, the observance of the case is conspicuous by its absence. E.g. in the Boroughbridge and other districts they would not say ‘Jack Wilson’s dog bit Smith’s calf,’ and ‘Peggy’s cat flew through Nanny’s window,’ but ‘Jack Wilson dog bit Smith cauf,’ and ‘Peggy cat flew throw Nanny window.’ Such sentences as ‘Ho’d t’ hoss heead,’ ‘Pull t’ pig lug,’ and ‘Twist t’ coo tail,’ &c., are still universal in both ridings. The instances in which the possessive is used, and vice versa, are now about equal in the North Riding. The peculiar forms of redundancy are many and curious. ‘Ah nivver at neea tahm sed nowt aboot nowt ti neeabody,’ simply means, ‘I never said anything to any one. I think the following example, which I overheard one Yorkshireman say to another just before the train moved out of Guisborough station, is the finest on record. ‘Whya,’ said he, ‘thoo mun saay what thoo ’ez a mahnd teea, bud think on, thoo knaws, ’at Ah knaw ’at he knaws, ’at thoo knaws ’at Ah knaw, all aboot ivverything ’at’s ivver been deean an’ ‘at’s ivver ta’en pleeace.’ I heard a man say a short time ago, ‘Ah s’ be agate ti git agate ti set agate Tom fo’st thing ti morn at morn’; i.e. ‘Ah s’ be agate,’ I shall be about; ’ti git agate,’ to commence work; ’ti set agate,’ to set Tom to work; ‘fo’st thing ti morn at morn,’ first thing in the morning. Said one to another, ‘Noo Ah’ll tell ya what, hard eneeaf, he war neean ower-suited when he fan oot ’at he’d ’ev ti ’ev ’t ower wi’ ma owther thruff or by. An’ noo when Ah’ve fetched him up ti t’ scrat, he sez ’at he’s putten t’ dog oot o’ t’ road; bud Ah’s satisfied o’ yah thing, t’ dog rave mah britches, an’ Ah s’all leeak ti him ti mak ’em good agaan, foor he ’ez a reet ti owther deea that or ’livver summat up i’ lieu on’t; bud Ah reckon nowt o’ what he sez, an’ that’s t’ len’th on ’t.’ i.e. ‘Noo Ah’ll tell ya what,’ now I assure you; ‘hard eneeaf,’ without doubt; ‘he war neean ower-suited,’ he was not over-pleased; ‘when he fan oot,’ when he discovered; ‘’at he’d ’ev ti ’ev it ower wi’ ma,’ that he would have to talk it over with me; ‘owther thruff or by,’ either one way or the other; ‘an’ noo when Ah’ve fetched him up ti t’ scrat,’ and now when I have made him toe the mark; ‘he sez ’at he’s putten t’ dog oot o’ t’ road,’ he says that he has killed the dog; ‘bud Ah’s satisfied o’ yah thing,’ but I am certain of one thing; ’t’ dog rave mah britches,’ the dog tore my trousers; ‘an’ Ah s’all leeak ti him ti mak ’em good agaan,’ and I shall expect him to replace them; ‘foor he ’ez a reet ti,’ for he ought to; ‘owther deea that or ’livver summat up,’ either do that or give something; ‘i’ lieu on ’t,’ in place of it (them); ‘bud Ah reckon nowt o’ what he sez,’ but I place no confidence in anything he says; ‘an’ that’s t’ len’th on ’t,’ and that is the extent of it.

If the reader masters the abbreviations and elisions facing page 1, the pons asinorum will have been crossed, and the reading of our folk-speech found to be a thing easy of accomplishment and a delightful acquisition.

It will be well to remember, when reading aloud, that a consonant with an elided vowel must be joined either to the word preceding or following, as ’t’ hoss,’ ’t’ hens,’ ‘t’ wax,’ the horse, the hens, the wax, which would be pronounced ’toss,’ ‘tens,’ ‘twax.’ Again, ‘Sha’s i’ t’ sulks’ would be ’shas it sulks,’ and ‘Oot wi’ ‘t, put tane ti t’ ither,’ would be rendered as ’oot wit, put tane ti tither,’ ‘Ah’ve deean noo, t’ ink’s ommaist dhry i’ mah pen, seea this’ll ’a’e ti be

T’ LAP UP ON ‘T.’

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Footnotes

1 ‘Nothing is the same.’

2 Ask.

3 Before retiring to rest the older and more superstitious look round to see if there is a shadowless head thrown on the wall; should any one cast such a shadow, it is held they will die ere next Christmas Eve comes round.

4 In many of our dales on Christmas morn, no one will leave the house until some one brings luck in by crossing the threshold with a bit of green in their hand.

5 Also called Pace-egg. The Danish word is Paaskeaeg.

6 The small stack often seen in our churches at a harvest thanksgiving is a survival of the mell doll.

7 The stang was ridden at Thoralby, Wensleydale, as recently as October, 1896.

8 The pole was a stang or cow-staff.

9 The original was most kindly lent to me by the Lady of the Manor, Mrs. Chaloner.

10 A three-legged race. In this there was nothing unseemly, for a long way into this century the skirts worn came but little below the knee. Bear in mind, both in launching and beaching their husband’s or father’s boat, the women and girls of to-day often rush up to the waist in the sea to lend a helping hand.}

11 Some explanation is needed to make this task understandable. A large basket (probably a wide creel) had a strong pole thrust through the wicker-work or handles improvised for the occasion; each end of the pole was then rested upon some suitable support, leaving the basket free to swing about a foot from the ground. On each support and near to the pole a shell or other light object was placed. The thing to be done would not be easy of accomplishment. Those contending for the prize had in turn to seat themselves astride of the pole with both feet inside the basket; thus seated, and firmly grasping the pole with one hand, they had to knock off the shell with a stick (which in the meantime they used to steady themselves with), then turn round, reseat themselves, knock off the other shell, and then get out without overbalancing. You try it, but have something soft to fall upon. It is marvellous how soon it is the next person’s turn.

12 Thirty years ago it was common.

13 The details of the plate-throwing vary slightly in different localities.

14 In some parts it was customary for the winner, after having removed the garter, to enter the bridal chamber, turn down the bed clothes, and offer to the bride a hot pot as she entered to remove her bridal attire, and then salute her; did he omit the latter, he forfeited the garter.

15 I gather from a diary, dated 1625, which has been kindly sent to me as I am correcting my proof sheets, that originally it was the bridegroom’s duty to tie on the bridal garters.

16 Lusty.

17 Sound of wind.

18 The story was given me by an eye-witness.

19 Only when returning were the guns discharged as a rule.

20 Each in turn slipped the garter over his glass on to his wrist. The garters were nearly a yard long; as used above, the ends were tied together to form a loop.

21 A native of Exelby.

22 It would seem these two often worked their charms in company.

23 I have no knowledge as to the meaning of these two words; their real pronunciation may have been lost, or perhaps they are simply cant words.

24 My own opinion is that ‘R. H.’ was William Hird’s father, though he never admitted it.

25 The garland consisted of two hoops intertwined, decorated with white paper flowers and ribbons, in the centre of which was a white glove, often home-made, of paper or fine linen, upon which was written or worked in some fine stitch the initials or name in full and age of the deceased. According to locality this garland was either carried in front of the coffin by one of the deceased’s dearest companions, or laid upon it. This custom might well have been retained.

26 And many other places in Cleveland.

27 The author is quite aware some other writers state that the fire is never allowed to die out whilst the corpse is in the room. He never knew or heard of such a custom, though possibly such may exist.

28 In the North Riding, about three miles from Ripon.

29 The Gospelles of Distaues, published by Wynkyn de Worde about 1530, contains the following:—‘If it happen that somebody stride over a little childe, know ye for certain that it shall never grow more, but if (unless) they stride backward over it again. Gloss: Certainly, said Sebylle, of such thing cometh dwarfs and little women.’

30 Richard Kirby, who gave me the above and several other stories concerning witches, still lives in Carthorpe, near Bedale.

31 Nanny must have been disguised in some way, at least one would think so, otherwise Mrs. Langstaff would have recognized her at once, both being natives of that part.

32 Inconvenienced, literally ‘cost.’

33 Never accomplished his life’s work, i.e. committed suicide.

34 ‘T au’d un,’ or the old one = the devil.

35 Possibly this meant the longer he waited there, the longer he would remain in the river.

36 Boyes Wetherell lost his wife on the birth of their first child, a boy. Boyes tended his bairn with a mother’s love and care, and when the child was four years old, he tramped all the way to London with the lad on his back. Once they slept in a grave; but the journey is a story.

37 A contemporary of the wise man of Stokesley, but having nothing like the same reputation.

38 An aperient drink.

39 A worral hole is a drain-pipe let in the wall immediately at the back of the fire; this is to afford sufficient draught to burn the sea coal which is daily gathered from the beach.

40 A sucking-pig.

41 A cant phrase of the time is used in the original.

42 The devil.

43 Hand in hand, both touch the floor together. This has already been referred to.

44 Observe the lack of the possessive case.

45 The ground covered would be about twenty miles—not bad.

46 A woman was adjudged the same punishment at Bedale (for a different offence) in the year 1779, also at Thirsk and Northallerton.

47 For other interesting matter concerning Nan Hardwicke, vide Henderson’s Folklore.

48 Observe rice is now being ousted by confetti, which is much better—rice is so dangerous.

49 This statement has nothing to do with his private life, only as that of a wise man. ‘De mortuis nil nisi bonum.’

50 This would be the father of the Mr. Scorer I knew, who for many years lived at Basedale Abbey.

51 I know that Mr. G. Markham Tweddle holds quite contrary views. His idea is that Wrightson was little better than a huge swindler.

52 For other authentic stories of Wrightson, vide Henderson’s Folklore.

53 A small four-legged stool.

54 A hedgehog.

55 I met a man in the train the other day who said he had often seen them sucking.

56 Henry Wilson, of Broughton, was a wise man of some repute after Wrightson’s time.

57 Something like Sadler and Clarke’s method.

58 The usual time was midnight; this case, so far as I know, is unique.

59 Accuse openly.

60 To prepare a ‘hand of glory,’ the hand of a man who had been hanged had to be left for some days in a special kind of pickle; afterwards it was dried in the sun, and then parched in the smoke of certain herbs. A special kind of candle had to be made from certain fats; with this candle lighted and stuck in the dead man’s hand, a hypnotic sleep could be cast upon a whole household. Henderson’s Folklore.

61 There was a marvellous hobman once lived near Ripon, but his deeds some one writing of the West Riding must chronicle.

62 With slight variation the same story is known in other parts of the riding, also in Lancashire, and is as old as the hills throughout Scandinavia.

63 A similar story is told of Sir Francis Drake.

64 See Glossary.

65 ‘Ower,’ prep. over.

66 ‘Ower,’ adv. too; ‘ower’ nearly always takes the place of ‘too.’ ‘Ower mich,’ ‘ower monny apples,’ ‘ower big a load,’ ‘ower larl,’ ‘ower au’d,’ &c.

67 This peculiarity, even amongst many educated Yorkshire people, of repeating the verb is further illustrated in the concluding remarks at the end of the Glossary.

68 Thirsty.

69 Really the same simile, common where otters fish.

70 Snails.

71 The name by which the Grammar School boys were known.

72 I have heard children innocently repeating, as they counted each other out:—
Prest an, pop an,
Cock on t’ spire,
Holy Alice,
Dah mell fire.

Did their parents or teachers but know what the youngsters were really saying, they would be no little shocked.

73 Staggerum buck, or Staggerer Staggera bobtail, is the name of a boys’ game, very commonly played. ‘Philson,’ ‘Valson,’ and ‘Dickson’ are examples of the elision of the possessive case, i.e. Phil’s son, Val’s son, and Dick’s son.

74 ‘Knave-a’ became general during the War of Independence—we were a bit out of favour then.

75 Vide Grimm’s Household Tales.

76 As the children tell the story, they pronounce crooked, ‘crook-ed.’

77 The story in its original form was a prophetic hymn sung by the Jews at the Passover, the animals and elements representing their enemies and deliverers.

78 Henderson’s Folklore.

79 Knotted hair.

80 Both pronunciations are equally common.

81 Walk.

82 Brow.

83 Purse.

84 ‘Trigg’d his wame,’ filled his stomach.

85 ‘Lair,’ a barn.

86 ‘Streahy,’ strawy.

87 ‘Seeat,’ soot.

88 ‘Clais,’ clothes.

89 E is used in the original.

90 Horse.

91 Should be ‘wae’s t’ me,’ lit. ‘woe is to me.’

92 Riding apparel.

93 Well dressed.

94 Designed.

95 Mind.

96 Determined.

97 False.

98 Scythe.

99 ‘Window’ is commonly pronounced winder, winner, and windther.

100 At is often used instead of who, which, and that.

101 The th and dh sound, found in so many East Riding words, is not nearly so marked in the speech of the North Riding.

102 ‘Ya ’evn’t’ and ‘tha ’evn’t’ are not so emphatic as ‘ya’ve nut’ or ‘tha’ve nut,’ &c.

103 Throughout, save in this example, ‘He’ has been so printed, but without exception its utterance approaches nearer to that of ‘a’ or ‘eh,’ e.g. ‘‘Ez he ta’en ’t fra tha?’ would certainly appear as if the speaker had said ’‘Ez a (or eh) ta’en ’t fra tha?’ But to save the reader much needless confusion, he has been retained, though it is rarely heard save at the commencement of a sentence.

104 ‘Divn’t’ is quite a common form of ‘do not.’

105 ‘Uz,’ ‘us,’ is often used for ‘me.’

106 Written gi’en.

107 ‘On,’ prep. ‘of.’

108 Rod = red.

109 The old pronunciations of ‘trashing’ for ‘thrashing,’ ‘trepence’ for ‘threepence,’ ‘trive’ for ‘thrive,’ &c., are frequently heard in Cleveland.

110 Along the borders touching the West Riding ‘Blathery’ is in common use. ‘Bladdry’ it should be.

111 ‘Come’ is always pronounced ‘cum.’

112 The same pronunciation is often used in the sense of ‘to lose.’ Ex.—‘Thoo’ll lowse thisel,’ or ‘Thoo’ll loss thisel;’ ‘It’s been a lowsin’ gaame fra t’ fo’st ti t’ last,’ i.e. ‘It has been a losing game,’ &c.

113 In several instances this rule has been broken, but only to give a correct rendering of the pronunciation as spoken in a particular district to-day.

114 The term ‘dialect’ is used throughout this work for want of a better word, and to avoid tautology. Our folk-speech is not a dialect, it is a language.

115 The map issued with the North-Eastern 1d. Time-table answers well for the purpose.

116 Our dialect word Fick, which is the Fik given, has three distinct meanings: (1) to struggle under some form of restraint; (2) to strive to obtain; (3) to succeed, to get.

Ex.—1. ‘T’ pig ficked that hard whahl Ah c’u’dn’t git it inti t’ cart,’ 2. ‘He made a poor fick on ’t,’ i.e. he made a feeble attempt. ‘He weean’t mak a fick for ’t,’ he won’t strive to do, obtain, or get. 3. ‘He ficked it at t’ finish,’ he got it in the end.

117 ‘Roke’ is the common dialectic word for mist or fog. ‘Reek’ is the North Riding word for smoke. ‘Rog’ is the Danish.

118 ‘The’ is always used before the name of the Deity, and often in conversation of a grave and sorrowful nature.

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