Referring to the wide area over which the dialect of the North and East Ridings is spoken, granting without questioning slight variation in pronunciation, the addition of new words, and the loss of familiar ones as we pass along, we find that practically the same dialect exists amongst the country folk inside the following rough boundary line. Draw right-lines commencing at Boston Spa, Lincolnshire, and connecting the following places, Doncaster, Harrogate, Lancaster, along the coast-line to Carlisle, thence to Darlington, Stockton, Middlesborough[115], and along the north-east coast. By so doing you wall in what may be aptly termed, ‘the north-east folk-speech,.’ But far over this imaginary line, in certain directions, the dialect is understood and appreciated. This is not surprising when we remember the same races overran and peopled the whole of the country from the Wash to the Tyne and thence north-westward.
They may be easily traced by their place-names—the by’s, thorpes, cliffs, wicks, dales, &c.
But if we compare the folk-speech of the district so walled in, with that of the Danes and their kinfolk, then its Norse origin is seen at a glance. E.g. take the few following words—scores of the like could have been given:—
| North and East Riding. | Cumberland and Westmoreland. | Danish. | Scotch. | Standard English. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mowdywarp | Mowdywarp | Muldvarp | Moudie | Mole |
| Beck | Beck | Bæk | ... | A small stream |
| Lake | Lake | Lege | ... | Play |
| Beeal | Beel | Bjæle | ... | Bellow |
| Bield | Bield | Bylja (Swedish) | ... | A shelter |
| Gah, gan | Ga, gang | Gaae | Ga | Go |
| Neeaf | Neif | Næve | Neive | Fist |
| Bink | Bink | Bænk | Bink | Bench |
| Gliff | Gliff | Glippe | Gliff | Quick glance |
| Gesling | Gezling | Gjæsling | Gesling | Gosling |
| Gloor | Glower | Glo | Glower | Stare |
| Skrike | Skrike | Skrige | Skreich | Scream |
| Teeam | Teem | Toomme | Toom (to empty) | Pour out |
| Feck, n. ability | ||||
| Feckless, adj. | Feckless | Fik is the past tense of faa, to get[116], imp. tense, feck | Feckless | Incapable of providing for oneself |
The Danish, Norwegian, Lowland Scotch, and north-east folk-speech are closely allied. We must not, however, compare the spelling, but the general sound of the words. Take the two first lines of the Danish national song—
Danish. Kong Christian stod ved hoien mast.
North Riding. King Christian steead byv t’ heegh mast.
Danish. I’ Rog[117] og damp.
North Riding. I’ roke an’ reek.
Again, take two lines from a poem in Modern Friesic published in 1834. The centre lines are from the poem, with the modern North Riding dialect above and standard English below.