Mr. Fossick, of Carthorpe, kindly gave me the above (and several others). He tells me it was sung when his grandfather was a boy. As Mr. Fossick was born in the early years of this century, I am not in the least antedating it. Though turned eighty, the last time I saw Mr. Fossick, for two hours he recited poetry without having to halt for a single word. It is in a great measure owing to the wonderful memories possessed by our old people that I have been able to collect the matter for this work.
CHAPTER XVI
A FEW SIMPLE HINTS ON THE GRAMMAR OF THE FOLK-SPEECH
The Article.
There is no variation in the usage of the indefinite article, save that it still retains its place before participles and the adjectives few, many, and great many.
Ex.—‘He started a calling o’ ma, an’ Ah started a genning at him, an’ then wa set ti wark a lethering yan anuther,’
Educated people do not nowadays say, ‘I sat a sipping of my tea, and a smiling at the kettle a singing on the hob,’ No, it sounds quaint. And to those who know as little of their Shakespeare as they do of their Bibles, such speech is put down to ignorance, or a lack of education, when in point of fact they are listening to an echo of that old-time speech which was in full swing long before their great grandmothers were born, and used by really quite respectable people; e.g.—
- ‘As he was yet a coming’ (Luke ix. 42).
- ‘I go a fishing’ (John xxi. 3).
- ‘While the ark was a preparing’ (1 Pet. iii. 20).
- ‘His greatness is yet a ripening’ (Henry VIII).
- ‘There is some ill a brewing towards my rest’ (Merchant of Venice, Act ii. Sc. 5).
In such cases, however, ‘a’ cannot be parsed as an article. Many opinions have been given, but perhaps Cobbett, who holds it to be an abbreviation for ‘at,’ meaning ‘without doubt,’ has gained the most supporters. In the Spectator, No. 86, we find, ‘Socrates’ disciples burst out a laughing,’ and in No. 420, ‘The spirits which set the springs a going.’ Such are by no means archaic forms of speech in the North Riding, ‘bud ez common ez pigs a grunting at yan anuther.’
The definite article, as mentioned elsewhere, is ‘t’.’ To this rule there are very few exceptions. Before certain letters it is almost inaudible; nevertheless, it is always there. It may be said, and with truth, that a perfect mastery of the definite article, both in speaking and hearing it spoken, has advanced those desirous of knowing something of our folk-speech—rather more than half of their journey. I know many people who are fluent speakers of the dialect, but who read it, even when in printed form, with the greatest difficulty; others who can read fairly well, but so far as understanding the dialect when spoken, might as well listen to a batch of Chocktaw Indians, as two or three good old Yorkshire dames when fairly letting out.