CHAPTER XI
SOME CHARACTERISTIC YORKSHIRE SAYINGS
Kindly contributed by the Rev. M. C. F. Morris, B.C.L., M.A., Author of Yorkshire Folk-Talk.
There is a saying current among us in the East Riding that ‘it takes a Yorkshireman to talk Yorkshire’; the very form of the expression smacks of the county; and if this be true, as true it is, of the mere pronunciation of the dialect, it is no less true with regard to those other linguistic features—the idioms, phraseology, and way of putting things, which in this, as in every other folk-speech, go to a great extent to make up the vernacular. We might even advance a step beyond the statement just quoted, for by no means the majority even of those who have lived in the county all their lives can tongue the speech aright, and many not at all. It is far from uncommon to hear an accurate pronunciation of the dialect from the lips of those who are supposed to speak it well, and to find at the same time that the speaker wholly lacks an appreciation of those modes of thought, those turns and peculiarities of expression in which the Yorkshire dialect is peculiarly rich, and without which it sounds by comparison only tame and feeble. As between dogLatin and the well-turned and polished, though often long-winded, sentences of Cicero, so is it in some sort between the two styles of dialectical Yorkshire to which I refer. The one grates upon the ear, while the other rings true. Over and above idiomatic usages strictly so called, there are many sayings more or less familiar which, though they cannot be brought under any rules of speech, like those of grammar, yet seem to possess a certain raciness all their own, and at the same time bring before us something of the Yorkshireman’s force and character. To some of these I will here direct attention, though it must be understood that what are here cited are but a few disconnected specimens of many more which might be given.
We are most of us, no doubt, aware that in all his dealings and matters of business the Yorkshireman is pre-eminently of a strongly practical turn of mind. We ‘reckon nowt’ of a man who is not that.
It would be untrue to say that sentiment is a state of mind absolutely unknown to his nature; but its presence is so rare, and its hold upon him so feeble, that it need hardly be taken into account in considering his character. There may, no doubt, be times when such feelings are brought into play, but the strange thing is that when we might most reasonably look for them, we look in vain.
Those attractive personal charms of the gentler sex which with ordinary mortals are generally supposed to have their effect at times when a young man is seeking a partner for life, weigh but little for the most part with the matter-of-fact Yorkshireman who regards his intended from a severely practical point of view. What, we may ask, would the sentimentalist of the highly strung poetical temperament think of this piece of advice which was once given to a youth at an interesting period of his life? ‘Leeak at a lass’s han’s when thoo’s laatin’ a weyfe; deean’t be daffled wiv ’er feeace!’ It was said in the olden days that the lass who churned ‘wi’ buckles on her shoon’ was to be lightly esteemed, but for sheer practicality the manual test could hardly be surpassed. I well remember, many years ago, the case of a man who was twice married. His first wife proved herself an excellent one in every way, and the couple lived happily together. When she died, and he proceeded to look out for a successor, his choice fell on one who also turned out a no less industrious and tidy woman, though her personal attractiveness was not of a specially pronounced character. On being asked by a neighbour what led him to make his selection in the way he did, he made answer to the effect that his sole reason for doing so was because his second wife’s ’carcase’ reminded him so strongly of that of his first; she was a lithe, active woman, and he thought, no doubt, that she looked like work.
Despite these purely utilitarian considerations in matters matrimonial, the saying we have heard that the ‘sweetness of a posy mainly hings on fra wheear yan gits it,’ indicates that some at least of our country-folk, under certain favouring conditions, can say pretty things, though it must be confessed such elegancies are few and far between. The ordinary village gossip who neglects her household duties for the sake of ‘having a crack’ with her neighbours, has from ‘prehistoric times,’ no doubt, come in for much plain-speaking, of which this may be given as an example: ‘T’ weyfe ’at can ho’d her au’d man up wi’ t’ news oot o’ t’ toon, meeastlins bakes bo’nt breead.’ Such wives as these are not the ones to pay much heed to principles of domestic economy. Nevertheless, considerations of this kind are as a rule carefully thought out by our country-folk, if not scientifically, at least in a way that makes a shilling go as far as possible. It may be said, indeed, speaking generally, that domestic affairs receive, on the part of the Yorkshire wife, an amount of attention that is highly commendable, and adds not a little to the happiness of the family, and in no part of England do the people understand the meaning of the word ‘comfort’ better than they do in Yorkshire.
Cleanliness is a virtue for which our people have long been conspicuous, though even here extremes will sometimes meet, and excessive scrupulousness in this respect will at times be something of a burden to the household rather than a joy.
It was once said of a ‘gudewife’ whose washings, scrubbings, polishings, and brushings were performed with more than ordinary frequency and vigour, ‘Sha scrats an’ tews fra morn whahl neet; sha werrits an’ natters an’ grummels t’ daay lang.... There’s neea comfort i’ t’ hoos; an’ ther nivver is wheear t’ kettle’s breet all ower.’