Lakeland Dialect Society

Founded in 1939

Welcome to the Lakeland Dialect Society

How deue? We hed a grand tyam, ut oor Autumn git tugitther ower ut Selside. Oor speaker telt uz al' aboot wuk he wuz deun ont'dialect at skeul. Ah'l tel thu mer aboot it ont' News pyage.


Noo oor Dialect dictionaries ur mainly fra back ower a hundet yer agar, afore teles, car und sec like. Sa ah ask'd oor speeker tu hev a craic wid his students, und see what noo wurds we shud be using. Thu can see results here ont' New Words pyage.


Divvent mislikken tu git thusell ower to Silloth fur the Rotary Club Dialect competition ont'5th October.


As farmers hev got harvest in, ahs put t'poem Harvest ont' Featured pyage alang wid Reed Squirrel.

Divvent mislikken thut we hev git tugitthers throout yer. Nixt up belowe.


Tek a deek at oor Diary pyage fur mer details. Mebbe see thu theer eh?

What We Do

Updates


News - 23rd September 2024

With a note on our Autumn get together and the talk on Dialect Research in Schools.


Featured - 23rd September 2024

The poems Harvest and the Red Squirrel, as we're getting toward the backend of't yer.


I've also added a New Words page, as provided by the students of our Guest speaker at Selside!


Diary - 26th June 2024

This has been updated with part of the flyer for the National Dialect Festival over in Newcastle this October.


When I update the website I'll put a note out @Workytown on Chunter (Twitter / X). Next update is due on 25th October.

How We Began

Formed in 1939, the Lakeland Dialect Society came about out of a series of "Merry Neets", entertaining get-togethers at which  town and country folk talk, sing and recite poetry, in the dialect of the Lakeland region: Cumberland, Westmorland and the Furness district of Lancashire, now all in the modern county of Cumbria in the English Lake District.

The first Lakeland Dialect Society committee met at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle on June 10, 1939.

Members agreed that the aims of the society would be to preserve and celebrate the ancient speech of the region.

Promoting, preserving and celebrating the dialect of Lakeland

From the outset the Society was dedicated to the academic study of the Cumbrian dialects and to fostering the dialect speech and writing.

The constitution states: The objects of the Society shall be to encourage interest in the writing of Dialect Verse, Prose and Drama; to stimulate the publication of Dialect Literature and the production of Dialect Plays; to study the origins and history of Dialect, Folk-lore, Folk Songs and Local Customs and Traditions. The Society shall endeavour to bring together lovers of dialect so as to develop interest therein. If possible it shall make tape recordings of the various dialects within the area. These remain our aims today.

Despite difficulties in the years following 1939, the Society got established and flourished. Membership is currently around 250. Members live not only in the Lake District but also throughout the UK, and the rest of the World—all united in a love of “oor mak o’ twoak”!

The Society meets at roughly quarterly intervals, on Saturday afternoons at venues throughout Cumbria. Prospective members or casual visitors are always warmly welcomed, and a good “crack” is always guaranteed! A church service conducted in dialect is held biennially and there are occasional public performances. A Journal, published annually, is free to all members.

To join, contact a member of the society at the email address below, or telephone.


What is the Lakeland Dialect Society?

I'll tell the'

We're nut stuck up er prood i't mooth

Fer t'main on us was bred in't fells,

We're nobbut wiet, yammly, fwoak

Off t'seeam switch as yersels.


An' like yersels, we clag tight tull

0't bits o'country ways an' looar;

We like ta hod a crack aboot

T'auld dale-fwoak' at hev gone afooar.


Mi fadder, (an' nea doot he's reet),

Sez t's main o't' fell fwoak er o't seame

They "Hawk tagidder" on a drag,

Till Foxy's brush is hung on t'beame.


He sez 'at t' interest (like t' auld Fox)

Is rousan 'noo fer thee an' me,

Soo join, yersels, an git yer kin

Ta join oor own Society.


From The Works of Lance Porter - Lakeland Treasury

Compiled and edited by Ted Relph and Published by the Society

See if ye can git alang tae yan uv oor meetens


​Have a look at our latest programme - we'll be meeting around the county from March until November and we'd love to see you there for some discussion and enjoyment of dialect and our rich heritage.


President: Mrs Jean Scott-Smith, Gale View, Main Street, Shap, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 3NH. Phone: 01931 716386

Email: lakespeak.jean@gmail.com


Journal Editor: Mrs Louise Green, Overdale, Ireby, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 1EQ. Phone: 01697371710

Email: louise.green2608@gmail.com


Secretary and Website: Phillip Gate, Workington

If you prefer to send a letter or speak by phone, please use our contact form and I'll get back to you.

Email: pg-cumbria@gmx.com


 
 
 
 

If you request a reply by email, and haven't heard back, please check your junk mail folder.