The conjunctions in italics are very rarely used, those in brackets commonly taking their place.
- ‘Ah s’all be theer (an’ all),’ as well.
- ‘(Bud hooivver) thoo mun cum,’ still.
- ‘(Wivoot) Ah cum, deean’t start,’ unless.
- ‘(Ez) stop wiv him, Ah’ll cum,’ rather than.
- ‘Ah’ve cum (for ti) see Tom,’ in order to.
- ‘Deean’t leeave t’ hoss (bidoot) he gi’es tha t’ brass,’ unless.
- ‘Thoo wait (whahl) Ah cum,’ until.
There are many who consider the folk-speech of our country people little better than a mixture of about equal parts of bad grammar and mispronunciation. Such a notion, I feel sure, can only have arisen from either a lack of information or undue haste. From such I would humbly crave a reconsideration of the case.
I can well understand those who know little of the various sources through which the standard English of to-day has come down to us, considering such words as those contained in the following list as being vulgar—backerly, balk, belly-wark, botch, cant, chaamer, clag, cleg, drukken, flacker, flit, fra, lake, lang, leck, lig, lop, lown, luke, mirk, neeaze, owerwelt, raun, roke, rud, scraffle, shive, snite, steg, stob, stower, sump, theeak, thrave, till, &c. Though some words in the list may be new to the reader, they are in common usage amongst our people. And what is much more to their credit, every one of them were doing duty hundreds of years ago. And as in many cases the pronunciation is identical with that of their Danish relations, we have grounds for assuming that not only has the word itself been preserved, but the actual sound in which it was formerly uttered, though the spelling often differs greatly in the two countries. Take, as a single example, the North Riding word ’stower’; the Danish word is spelt ’staver,’ but the pronunciation is exactly the same in both countries. Therefore, as Angus says, if the sound rather than the spelling be taken, the similarity of the languages will be found to be much more striking. A few so-called vulgar words and their respectable relations are given in the following list.
Note.—Scandinavian in this list must be taken in its widest sense, as including Old Norse, Frisian, Swedish, and Danish.
| North Riding. | Scandinavian. | Anglo-Saxon. | English. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backerly | Bagerlig | ... | Late |
| Backstan | Bage-sten | ... | A stone for baking cakes on |
| Balk | Balk | Balca | Beam |
| Band | Baand (O. N.) | ... | String |
| Belly-wark | Bælg-værk | Bælig-wærc | Stomach-ache |
| Bid | Byde | Beōdan | To invite |
| Bor | Borre | ... | Seed of the burdock |
| Blendcorn | Blandkorn | ... | Mixed corn |
| Botch | Bota | Botian | To mend clumsily |
| Brave | Brav | ... | Goodly |
| Brede | Bredde | Bræd | Breadth |
| Cant | Kante, Kanta | ... | To tilt on end |
| Calf | Kalve, v. to calve | ... | Calf |
| Chaamer | Kammer | ... | Chamber |
| Clag | Klæg | Clæg | To stick |
| Clap | Klap | ... | To pat |
| Cleg | Klæge | ... | Horse-fly |
| Clovver | Klaver | Klaver (Dutch) | Clover |
| Clip | Klippe | ... | To clip |
| Drukken | Drukken | ... | Drunken |
| Eaves | Ovs | Efesse | The eaves |
| Fau’k, Folk, Fooak | Folk | ... | People |
| Felt | Fela, fiæle | Feolan | To hide |
| Flacker | Flagre | ... | To flutter |
| Flittermouse | Flaggermus | ... | The bat |
| Flit | Flytte | ... | To remove to another house |
| Fore-elders | Forældre | ... | Forefathers |
| Fra | Fra | Fra | From |
| Gimmer | Gimmer | ... | Ewe lamb |
| Glooar | Gloe | ... | To stare |
| Gob | Gab | ... | Mouth |
| Havermeal | Havre mel | ... | Oatmeal |
| Handsel | Handsel | Handselen | First money received |
| Holm | Holm | ... | Low-lying land |
| Hoos | Hus | ... | House |
| Humble-bee | Humlebi | ... | Humble-bee |
| Kist | Kiste | Cist | A chest |
| Laat, lait | Lait | ... | To seek |
| Lake, laak | Leka | Lacan | To play |
| Lake, laak | Leg, lec | Lac | A game |
| Lang | Læng | ... | Long |
| Leck | Lække | Leccan | To leak |
| Lig | Ligge | Liggan | To lie down |
| Lop | Loppe | ... | A flea |
| Lown | Luun | ... | Calm, still |
| Luke | Luge | ... | To weed |
| Middin | Modding | Midding | A dunghill |
| Mirk | Mork | Mirc | Dark |
| Neeaze | Nyse | Niesan | To sneeze |
| Owerwelt | Awvælt | ... | To lie on the back as a sheep |
| Raun | Rawn | ... | Fish-spawn |
| Riggintree | Rygtræ | ... | The topmost spar in the roof |
| Roke | Rok | ... | A misty rain |
| Rud | Rod[108] | ... | Red ochre |
| Scraffle | Scravle | ... | To walk in a feeble way |
| Shive | Skive | ... | A slice |
| Suite | Snyde | ... | To blow the nose |
| Steg | Steggi | ... | A gander |
| Stob | Stub | ... | The stump of a tree |
| Stower | Staver | ... | A stake, a rung |
| Sump | Sump | ... | Boggy place |
| Theeak | Tække | ... | Thatch |
| Thrave | Trave | ... | A number of sheaves of corn |
| Till | Til | ... | To |
| Yule keeak | Yule kage | ... | Yule cake |
This list might have been greatly extended, but the above suffices for the purpose of proving that many of the words considered vulgar are simply venerable through age. If we inquire a little further, we shall find not only the words, but the form of speech used by our people, which so often seems ungrammatical, is actually that of the best writers of bygone ages. The fact is, as has been already stated, our vocabulary and mode of speech is not of to-day, but belongs to the time of long ago.
From Spenser’s Faerie Queen take as examples the following words and grammatical forms, which are quite common with us to-day:—
That seemed both shield and plate it would have rived.
For to avenge that foul, reproachful shame.