Hoosta gittin' on? Ahs put tugidder this updyate just afore Miserie Sundah. Nut lang til Easter noo. Divvent mislikken tu keep back thu onion skins riddy tu mek pache eggs.
Int' Easter updyate ah'll feature Pache Egg recipe und dumping rules. Fur fowk thut gar tu Kirk ah'll ratch oot a Gospel reading in oor myak ov tark as wh'eel.
Last y'eer ah wuz traipsing ont' trod ower be Rowrah und fund this Dialect Styan. Wid a bit o'help ahs got ful piece on oor Featured pyage.
Its still gae thrang at moment. Oor fust git tuggider is on Satduh 14th ut Marchesi Centre. Mebbe see thu theer eh?
Words by Watter featured a presentation by Sue Wilkinson, wid reading fra her marras fra oor Society, ont' Grasmere Dialect plays.
Ah'll put wreet up oft' Spring Meetin' und Words by Watter ont' News pyage nixt week.
Come and join us at the Marchesi Centre in Windermere as Mike Green presents on the Life and Underrated work of TW Thompson.
Thompson was born in 1888 in Burneside near Kendal, and is a teacher, researcher, writer and community member of things Cumbrian including our local dialect.
Thompson co-published a Lafter of Farleys, of folk tales in dialect, with M Denwood.
This is a free event and open to non-members. As is tradition we have tea and cake, and a raffle after the meeting.
For more events, please see our Diary page.
Our Cumbrian Word Cloud Merchandise is now available in many different colours and two styles of Hoodie.
In the picture above the Grey hoodie is the AWD one @ £25 each and the blue is the Russell Athletic @ £30 each.
The cards are available in packs of 6 @ £5 per pack.
News - 11th December 2025
To see Jean's translation of Psalm 121 as read at Bishop Rob's enthronement in Carlisle this November.
Featured - 13th March 2026
Dialect Stone poem, Pache Eggs and next 4 pages of the Dialect of the Hundred of Lonsdale.
Diary - 18th January 2026.
Our 2026 Programme is out now! We even have a calendar file (ics) for you to download. I've updated with a link to the Words by the Water festival for the Grasmere Dialect plays presentation.
When I update the website I'll put a note out @Workytown on Chunter (Twitter / X). Next update is due by the 2nd April 2026.
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.
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.
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
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, Ireby
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!
Secretary: Mr Phillip Gate, Workington
Email: pg-cumbria@gmx.com
Journal Editor: Mrs Louise Green, Ireby
Phone: 01697371710
Email: louise.green2608@gmail.com
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