Old English Words.Standard English Words.East Yorkshire Words.
(IN USE A.D. 912).(IN USE A.D. 1912).
AFYRHT (pron. afeert)afraidAFEEARD
GIFifGIF
GRAFAN (pron. grahvan)to digGRAAVE
HAGOLhailHAGGLE
HRYCG (pron. hrig)back or ridgeRIG
LICGAN (pron. liggan)to lieLIG
SETLseatSETTLE
SWELANto gutter (of a candle)SWEEL
THAEC (pron. thak)thatchTHAK
WANCOLunsteadyWANKLE

At Beverley there are three very interesting examples of the survival of old English words, which have elsewhere dropped entirely out of use. The Beverley Frith-Stool has preserved its name unchanged from the days when the word which meant peace was frith. The street known to-day as Toll Gavel preserves memories of the time when gafol meant a tax or toll, and it is clear that tolls continued to be paid in it long after the original meaning of this word had become forgotten. Similarly the Hurn, or freemen’s pasture which was once a corner of Beverley Westwood, has kept its name from the days when hyrne meant a corner.

Another example of how the original meaning of a word may be kept in one instance only occurs in the descriptive name which is so commonly applied to England’s largest shire. Yorkshire is known far and wide as the ‘Land of the Broad Acres.’ But to how many who use this expression does it convey any meaning? Are the acres in Yorkshire ‘broader’ than they are elsewhere in Britain? If they are not, what sense is there in the expression?

As a matter of fact, the expression is a most suitable one. But it is so only if we know that the word aecer (pronounced akker)[[69]] originally meant not a certain area of land, but merely a ploughed field. Yorkshire is still the ‘Broad-acred Shire,’ for in no other part of our country shall we find fields of waving corn that measure as much as a hundred acres in extent.

In Chapter VIII. we read how the fierce Northmen settled in our land, and on pages [59–61] it was shown how numerous are Danish place-names in the East Riding of Yorkshire. But it is not only in the place-names of the district that we find proofs of the presence of the Northmen. There are in common use among the inhabitants of the East Riding scores of words that are purely Danish words, handed down from father to son, almost or quite unchanged during more than a thousand years. Some are as follows:—

Words used by the Norsemen 1000 Years ago.[[70]]Modern Standard English.Words used in East Yorkshire to-day.
ATthat (conjunction)AT
BANDstring, cordBAND
BARNchildBA’AN or BARN
BELJAto cry, shout outBEEAL
BUINNreadyBOON
DALIGRdismal, lonelyDOWLY
DENGJAto strikeDING, DENG
FLYTJAto change one’s abodeFLIT
FRAfromFRA
GARTHRyardGARTH
GATAroad, wayGATE
GAUKRcuckooGOWK
GYMBRfemale lambGIMMER
HLAUPAto leapLOWP
HNEFIfistNEEAF
KETLINGRkittenKITLIN
KJARRlow-lying landCARR
KLEGGIhorse-flyKLEG
LEIKAto playLAIK
MEGINveryMAIN
MOLDVARPAmoleMOODIEWARP
MUNUmustMUN
REYKRsmokeREEK
SKAELAto overturnSKEL UP
SKJAPPAbasketSKEP
SLAKKIhollowSLACK
SLEIPRslipperySLAAPE
STIGIladderSTEE
THETTRwatertightTHEET
THRONGRbusyTHRONG

Other proofs of the great influence of the Old Norse tongue on the language of East Riding folk are seen in their liking for the sound of K where modern standard English demands that of CH. The words benk (or bink), birk, breeks, caff, kirk, kist, pickfork, and thack, are commonly heard used in place of the Southern English forms bench, birch, breeches, chaff, church, chest, pitchfork, and thatch. So also hask or ’ask is the East Riding pronunciation of harsh, and brig is universally used for the different meanings of the word bridge.

In the Rev. M. C. F. Morris’s history of Nunburnholme the author gives an amusing example of the East Riding Folk-Speech. But it is really something more than this. For we can see from it very clearly how much truer English is spoken by the East Yorkshire farm-labourer than by the fine fellow who prides himself on his knowledge of the English language.