Tek a deek ut oor dialect in action.
Az ah wreet this, its just afore Mischief Neet. Backend oft'year is on us und neets ur getting langer. If meuns oot und thus hed ower much peeve, thu might liek tyale ahs got fur thu fra Wigton aboot Twe Farmers.
Fur oor wordhord, ahs got a laal bit mer fra Dialect fra Hundreds of Lonsdale. Thu can ken mer aboot hoo fowk fra abeun sands tark.
Divvent mislikken thut we hev a pyage tu lairn thu new Cumbrian words like laallekkie fur Mobile Phone.
TWO hamely old farmers that neighbour'd each ither,
On the horse fair day were gaun hame together.
Baith weel fou o' drink and wid heeds light and giddy,
They linked arm in arm to keep ilk ither stiddy
An they blether'd and gaped as they stakker'd alang,
About t old friends they'd met, an how t horses did gan;
About hamely affairs, and the laws o' the nation,
The rents they had paid, and local taxation;
Then they grew quite excited, an' cared nut a fig,
About neither Radical, Tory, or Whig,
For inspired by the drink, their notions were grand,
In framing out laws for the guid o' the land;
For sec men as Gladstone, Earl Granville, and Bright,
Fell far short o' the standard they raised that night;
And there never was twee chaps, in awt country side,
Like old Matthew Bell and old Jobby Kirkbride.
And they stakker'd alang, widout any discord,
Till they reach'd where t' Waver crosses the road.
Then they made a full stop, for ilk of them saw
The muin shinin' breet in the water below.
Now when a man's fou o' drink, he's fou o delusion,
An' his e'e labours under the glare of illusion
An' when near the water peer old Matthew said
(The noble idea hed got into his head),
“I'll tell the wat, Jobby, we wad nut be teh blame,
If we baith gat on the muin, an' had a ride hame,
For I think I can manage its course for to steer,
An` we'll slip nicely doon when it gans by our deer.”
“Aw reet Matthew, reet, surely wid thee I'll agree,
Thou kens mair 'bout t' heavenly bodies than me,
For thou's cliver Matthew, cliver, oor neighbours alloo,
At ringing a pig, or at blistering a coo;
At building a midden, or at hingin' a yet,
Wid thy marrow, dear Matthew, I never have met;
And if thou can manage the muin's course to steer,
Then loup on the front, an' thou'll be engineer.”
Then Matthew stepp'd back for to tak a good loup,
And on t' far side o' t' beck his old body did coup,
But he very suin fan 'at he'd made a mistak,
For he fell on a cobble wid t' sma o' his back,
An' he lay there quite stunn'd for a minnit or twe,
Then he shootd o Jobby some help for teh gee,
“For oh, Jobby, oh, Jobby, I teuk owr big a stride,
An' loup't clean th' muin, and fown down on this side.”
But, Jobby, peer fella, was t' war o' the twe,
An' nut a bit help to old Matthew could gee;
For when Matthew loup't in, he was sure aw was reet,
An' he thought it was time he was taking his seat,
For t' shadda o' a tree that was growin' abuin,
He took to be Matthew astride o' the muin.
Sae he tuk a stride forward, but he tumbl'd right in
And fell on his knees, wid water up till his chin;
Then he shout'd, “Matthew, wid a sad death I've met,
Ah's drooning now, me vary sark's getting wet.
When I stepp'd on the muin, quite dizzy I grew,
For t ruif on 't gave way, an' I tumbled clean, through;
An' O, Matthew, Matthew, seck a road I never seed,
I was first on me back, and then on my heed,
Then o'ertails flew, like a leaf in the blast,
An' noo I mun droon at the bottom at last!
An' meyn thou tells t' auld wife, we'll ne'er meet abeun,
For her old Jobby's lying at the bottom o' the muin;
And when she sees a dark spot, wid water at ilk side,
Mind thou tells her that's her peer old Jobby Kirkbride.”
But Matthew by this time had partly cum roon,
An' he didna want peer auld Jobby ta droon,
Sae he gat on his feet though he hardly could stan,
An' grappled till he gat hold o' Jobby be t han';
Then he lifted him up, though he hed a tough bout,
An' wid a greet deal ta dee, they beath scraffl'd out,
Then they stepp'd on till t' road, an' a lang sigh they drew,
(For beath o' t old fellows were main sober now),
They looked at the water, and then they looked abeun,
Then they shak'd their old heeds, at the daft trick they'd deun;
Then shivering wid cold, and dripping wid wet,
The silly old farmers off homeward they sot.
Barfin - A horse collar. A grand thing is a barfin ta gurn throo. (see Braffam - Braugham below)
Brim - Top
Brossen-full - Hed mair to eat than’s easy er good.
Dowin - Lunch, ten o’clock.
Aye! aye! thoo allus manishes ta land up aboot dowin time.
Gallases - Braces ta hod yan’s britches up.
Gurn - Gurn, an’ bide ’t. It’s good philosophy when ye ca’t run away frae ’t. Ah yance saw a fella gurnen throo a barfun fer a pun o’ bacca, an’ he gat it.
Haver - Oats.
That field o’ haver liuks weel.
Howk - To scoop out;
howk a whol; howk t’ inside oot.
Kisened - To dry out (and I've heard kissend being used for burnt too).
As kisened as a kill stick. Noo Ah nivver saw a kill stick, but it’s summat varra dry wi’ neea natur left in’t, acos owt ’at’s kisened’s mortal near withoot any sap er owt worth niamen.
Lick-pot, Lang-Man - The first and second fingers.
Roke - Scratch.
That barn’ll roke ivvry mortal thing i’ t’hoose wi’ that nail if tho’ll let it, ’at will ’t.
Shive - Slice
A slice of bread. To cut a neat swathe.
Braffam, Braugham - A collar for a horse.
Clev. bargam. Referred by Wedgwood with much probability to the same origin as the word hamberwe, or hanahorough, a coarse horse-collar, made of reed or straw, from beiwe or borough, protection from the hames, the two words of the compound being in this case reversed. (See Barfin above).
Hag - To chop
Dutch:hakken, Old Norse: hiacka, Swedish: hagga, German hacken, to chop, hack.
Kizzent - adj. Parched or shrivelled.
Crav. kizzened. I think the author of the Crav. Gloss, is right in taking the word to be the same as guizened, which Ray gives as applied to tubs or barrels that leak through drought. The origin, then, is evidently to be found in Old Norse gisinn, leaky (of tubs and vessels.) (see Kisened above).
Lick - To beat.
Welsh llachio, to beat, cudgel, Suio-Goth, laegga, to strike.
Lonnin' - A country lane
Frisian Lona, Laan a lane or narrow passage. Perhaps from Old Norse leyna, to hide.
Mislikken - To neglect or forget.
Dut. misselick, ambiguus, dubius, in quo errare, aut de quo dubitare potest.
Poddish - Porridge of oatmeal.
In common use throughout the agricultural districts, especially for breakfast, and though irreverently compared by Dickens to "diluted pin-cushions without the covers," a very wholesome article of diet. Welsh potes, Manx poddash.
Smeeth - Smooth
Ang.-Sax. smzthe, smooth.
Teanel - A Basket (West and Cumberland Dialect)
Ang.-Sax. teanel, a basket, from tan, a twig.
Similarly swill, (contraction of swigel,) from Old Norse svigi, a twig.
Waits - Nightly musicians who used to play in the streets at Christmastide.
"Wayte, waker, vigil" Old Norse vakta; Old High German wahten; German wachten - to watch or keep awake.
Brek - Fun; a practical joke. A good story, generally of the sporting type; an amusing incident.
Curly kue - G. a flourish in writing, &c.
Fash - G. trouble ; inconvenience.
Fasten eve - Shrove Tuesday evening or the eve of the feast before Lent.
'At Fasten eve neet
Ceuks find cannel leet.'
After this night the cooking is to be done by daylight for the season, or the cooks must provide candles.
Frosk - The Frog (back in 1878 the author noted that the word was nearly obsolete!)
Gowpin - A handful; or the two hands full
Lang-end - The final end.
Pissibeds - The flowers of the dandelion plant.
Rossel,
(1) v.t. to heat, to roast. "To rossel one's shins."
(2) vi. To bask over a fire.
Thible,Tibel
n - a stick to stir porridge
(this is an interesting variation to me. In Billy Brannan, a tyale fra t'Abbey Holme Billy used Thivel).
Yalla Pumps
n - very young calve; so called from their hoofs being yellow when calved.
Yallow-yowring
n. the yellow-hammer
Beckie - (Workington) A water bailiff who makes sure that the fisherfolk have permission to tickle the trout and salmon!
Brossenful - (sometime Brussenful) To be pleasantly full after after your meal.
Blackite - A bramble, A blackberry.
(Efter picking this yer' crop, ah telt the t'Cumberland Blackite Broonie Recipe)
Button Sticks - (Whitehaven) At the start of the Industrial Revolution poor country folk coming to work in the mines may have used sticks rather than buttons to hold their clothes together.
Chittering - Cold. Linked to shivering or trembling.
Kaylieghed - Supped ower much. Inebriated
Kersmas - Christmas
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