CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
I cannot, perhaps, better close this work, than by presenting to the reader the observations of Miss HAM, (a Somersetshire lady of no mean talents), in a letter to me on these dialects.
The lines, of which I desired a copy, contain an exemplification of the use of utchy or ichè, used contractedly [see UTCHY in the Glossary] by the inhabitants of the South of Somersetshire, one of the strongholds, as I conceive, of the Anglo-Saxon dialect.
In our polished dialect, the lines quoted by Miss HAM, may be thus rendered—
Bread and cheese I have had,
What I had I have eaten,
More I would [have eaten if] I had [had] it.
If the contradictions be supplied they will stand thus:—
Bread and cheese ichè have a had
That ichè had ichè have a eat
More ichè would ichè had it.
CLIFTON, Jan. 30, 1825
Sir:
I have certainly great pleasure in complying with your request, although I fear that any communication it is in my power to make, will be of little use to you in your curious work on the West Country dialect. The lines you desire are these: