An’ ‘Mucky stee Tom,’ an’ ‘Hopplin’ Bill’;
Ther’s ‘Mary wi’ t’ scar’ an’ ‘Au’d Muther Dill’;
Ther’s ‘Tommy wi’ t’ warts,’ an’ ‘Sticker Bull Coo,’
An’ ‘Sniftering Tom lass,’ an’ ‘Ugger-a-boo’;
Ther’s ‘Snouty’ an’ ‘Corker,’ an’ ‘Annie fra Gayle,’
Wheeas legs caan’t be matched iv all Wensleydale.
The symmetry of Annie’s legs must have been quite phenomenal, as my informant gravely told me that ‘A chap cam all t’ waay fra Lunnon ti tak t’ pattern on ’em fer a statta’ (i.e. statue) ‘he war makking fur sumbody.’
Nicknames are quite common in Yorkshire. Take the following (some I do not know the surnames of, though well knowing the persons):—Jamma, Mucaduck, Midge, Boxer, T’ au’d bo’d, Blash, Tarra, Au’d Willie, Bunks Canary, Black Jack, Coy Duck, Calcraft, Fishy, Tankard, Trucky, Radden, Shut, Moudy, Tramp, Slackbags, Jump a Bush, Dog Tom, &c.
A COMPARISON OF TWO LANGUAGES AS SPOKEN AT THE PRESENT DAY.