English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 124 pages of information about English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day.

English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 124 pages of information about English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day.

    The Harnet and the Bittle.

  A harnet zet in a hollur tree—­
  A proper spiteful twoad was he;
  And a merrily zung while he did zet
  His stinge as shearp as a bagganet;
    Oh, who so vine and bowld as I? 
    I vears not bee, nor wapse, nor vly!

  A bittle up thuck tree did clim,
  And scarnvully did look at him;
  Zays he, “Zur harnet, who giv thee
  A right to zet in thuck there tree? 
    Vor ael you zengs so nation vine,
    I tell ’e ‘tis a house o’ mine!”

  The harnet’s conscience velt a twinge,
  But grawin’ bowld wi’ his long stinge,
  Zays he, “Possession’s the best laaw;
  Zo here th’ sha’sn’t put a claaw! 
    Be off, and leave the tree to me,
    The mixen’s good enough for thee!”

  Just then a yuckel, passin’ by,
  Was axed by them the cause to try;
  “Ha! ha!  I zee how ’tis!” zays he,
  “They’ll make a vamous munch vor me!”
    His bill was shearp, his stomach lear,
    Zo up a snapped the caddlin’ pair!

    Notes.—­Observe z and v for initial s and f; harnet,
    hornet; bittle, beetle; zet, sat; proper, very; twoad,
    toad, wretch; a, he; stinge, sting; bagganet, bayonet.

    Thuck, that; clim, climb; giv, gave; zet, sit; ael, all.

    Th’ sha’sn’t, thou shalt not; mixen, dung-heap.

    Yuckel, woodpecker; axed, asked; vamous munch, excellent
    meal; lear, empty; caddlin’, quarrelsome.

SOUTHERN (Group 3):  ISLE OF WIGHT.

The following colloquy is quoted in the Glossary of Isle of Wight
Words
, E.D.S., 1881, at p. 50.

I recollect perfectly the late Mr James Phillips of Merston relating a dialogue that occurred between two of his labourers relative to the word straddle-bob, a beetle....  At the time of luncheon, one of them, on taking his bren-cheese (bread and cheese) out of a little bag, saw something that had found its way there; which led to the following discourse.

  Jan. What’s got there, you?

  Will. A straddlebob craalun about in the nammut-bag.

  J. Straddlebob?  Where ded’st leyarn to caal ’n by that neyam?

  W. Why, what shoud e caal ’n?  ’Tes the right neyam, esn ut?

  J. Right neyam?  No!  Why, ye gurt zote vool, casn’t zee ’tes a
  dumbledore?

  W. I know ’tes; but vur aal that, straddlebob’s zo right a
  neyam vor ’n as dumbledore ez.

  J. Come, I’ll be blamed if I doant laay thee a quart o’ that.

  W. Done! and I’ll ax Meyastur to-night when I goos whoam, bee’t
  how’t wool.

  Accordingly, Meyastur was applied to by Will, who made his decision
  known to Jan the next morning.

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English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.