yorkshire_accent

Advice from a married workmate to an unmarried workmate.
If tha gets thysen married nomatta what she gis thee for snap dun't ever say tha likes it. Me missis gid me cheese sandwiches once and when she asked if ah enjoyed em, ah said ah. That wa tweney years sin and ave had bloody cheese sandwiches everyday sin.

A WORD ON YORKSHIREMEN
I have often had it said to me that Yorkshiremen do not seem to get excited about anything, and I always explain it thus:- Yorkshire people do not like a whole lot of hype and fuss and they don't waste words, so while others may shout out fantastic, terrific, and heap praise on someone or something, the Yorkshireman will say 'IT'LL DO' [ It will do ] or TOREET, [ Its alright ] or THAT'S A GOOD 'UN. So if a Yorkshireman say's 'IT'LL DO' he is really thinking that was fantastic, terrific, out of this World. [ Trust me, I am a Yorkshireman ]

The Yorkshire character is often misinterpreted and has often been a discussion topic through the ages. Here is how it was described by John Beddoe in "The Races of Britain" (1885) http://www.people.virginia.edu/~dnp5c/Victorian/racesbrit.html

"In few parts of Britain does there exist a more clearly marked moral type than in Yorkshire. To that of the Irish it has no affinity; but the Scotchman and the Southern Englishman alike recognise the differences which distinguish the Yorkshire character from their own, but are not so apt to apprehend the numerous respective points of resemblance. The character is essentially Teutonic, including the shrewdness, the truthfulness without candour, the perseverance, energy and industry of the Lowland Scotch, but little of their frugality, or of the theological instinct common to the Welsh and Scotch, or of the imaginative genius, or the more brilliant qualities which sometime slight up the Scottish character. The sound judgment, the spirit of fairplay, the love of comfort, order, and cleanliness, and the fondness for heavy feeding, are shared with the Saxon Englishman; but some of them are still more strongly marked in the Yorkshireman, as is also the bluff independence -- a very fine quality when it does not degenerate into selfish rudeness."

YORKSHIREMEN OF FAME

Cap't James Cook,

Was a Yorkshire Farmers son, who became perhaps the greatest sailor of all. A true Yorkshire legend. It was his Yorkshire stubbornness that helped him make repeated attempts to discover " The great southern Continent" each attempt was foiled when he encountered the outer ice pack of what is now known as Antarctica. His Yorkshire common sense made him realize that to beat scurvy, a supply of fresh fruit was required, and to his credit was a three year voyage in which he lost only three crew members. This was an amazing feat at a time when the deaths of crew members due to scurvy was common.

He discovered many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean as well as circumnavigating Australia.
John Doxey

Robert Thompson
The stubbornness of Yorkshire folk can often lead to legends being born, in a time of mass production and loss of quality, a few men who would have been thought of as stubborn and foolish in their lifetime ignored the new trend. Such men believed in the old artistic craftsmanship of their forebears. They had a belief in quality in their work, a belief in producing goods that would not only look artistic but would also last longer than a lifetime, one of these men was the legendary Mouseman.

Robert Thompson was born in Kilburn, Yorkshire in 1876 and died in 1955. Robert began his trade as a wheelwright in the village of Kilburn . He developed a skill in carving furniture, his signature was a carved mouse on each piece of furniture and he became known as ‘The Mouseman of Kilburn’ . Robert followed the tradition of medieval woodcarvers and became famous throughout England in his time. He not only produced the Church furniture found in many Churches in England, he also produced domestic pieces. So the next time you visit a Church have a little look and see if you can find the trademark of the Mouseman.

There is a Museum in Kilburn called The Robert Thompson Visitor Centre. To learn more of this man and his life visit this page http://www.robertthompsons.co.uk where you can also enquire about purchasing real English Furniture made by fine traditional craftsman in the style of Robert Thompson a ' reight stubborn Yorkshire legend.'

[ Many thanks to Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd. for allowing us to use their Mouse trademark here on these pages ]
Recommended reading.
" The Tale of the Mouse" by Patricia Lennon
Published by Great Northern Books
Midland Chambers, 1, Wells Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire LS29 9JB TEL. 01943 604027
A beautiful well written insight into the life of the Mouseman with photo's of the man and his work. Not content with showing the man and his work the book has some marvellous information and photo's of the surrounding area of Kilburn, and a complete listing of all the Churches containing the work of Robert Thompson. If you are from Yorkshire you will love this book, if you are not from Yorkshire you will love it anyway.
If you are visiting Kilburn the book is available at The Robert Thompson Visitor Centre.

BEN THOMPSON

(1843-1884) Knottingley born Old West Gunfighter and Austin City Marshall.

Never mind Wyatt Earp, Butch Cassidy, John Hardin, and other legends of the wild west, apparently according to Bat Masterson tow'd Ben from Yorkshire wa best on em all. So follow the link and learn of a Yorkshire lad who was a real legend. Ben Thompsons story http://www.imagesofyorkshire.co.uk/famous_people/ben_thompson/ben_thompson.htm

THE LOST ART OF LIP READING

I remember as a child when Women discussed things with each other, when it got to the part they considered unfit for children's ears they would mouth the words. Now I used to find this very funny and like a lot more children I learned to lip read very well.

I used to love any words starting with 't' because the ritual of mouthing these words involved extending the tongue to such an extent, that in my early observations I thought the women were having an Adams Apple licking contest. A lot of the time some of the women for some reason could not suppress the vocal chords, and a loud whisper came fourth. This of course took all the fun out of guessing what was being discussed. During this silent conversation a lot of head nodding and shaking was done, along with some clucking noises plus plenty of tut tut's and the dreaded long intake of breath which was a sure sign of something terrible. Sometimes the vow of silence was broken after this long intake of breath by the immortal words that conveys to the storyteller that they have indeed impressed the listener. The immortal ' EEEE I SAY ''WHODA THOUGHT IT '

Today of course children are deprived of this entertaining experience because nothing is seemingly unfit for children's ears anymore, and the old adage 'Not in front of the children ' is as dead as the Dodo.

TO SPEAK POSH OR NOT TO SPEAK POSH !

It has to be said that not all people from the North of England spoke with what is termed " A Broad Accent ". A lot of people who shall we say were a little higher up the social scale than the rest of us spoke quite differently.

Now without wishing to offend anyone some people were raised to speak the Queens English and it sounded quite natural, but others would try to emulate this way of speaking which did not sound so natural. The T/V comedy show about Mrs. Bouquet is based on this. Some people had to lose their accent in work involving communicating with others, and that was called
" Speaking in a posh voice." This is also evident when some Yorkshire people answer the telephone.

I must confess that during my time here in Australia I have had to modify my Yorkshire accent. On my last visit to England I remember going for a drink with Jimmie Doran whom I have always regarded as a great friend and like a young brother [ He lived next door to me on St. Leonard's Ave.] So we approached the bar and I ordered two pints, turning round I observed Jimmie looking at me with a worried expression on his Face. " What tha talking in a posh voice like that for, ?" asked Jimmie. I realized then how much I had changed my accent so that the people here in Australia can understand me. Despite my modification here in Australia I still get asked " which Country were you born in " on the odd occasion.

The Yorkshire dialect also found its way to America as can be seen from this site
A gathering of almost 3,000 descendents of Yorkshire settlers was held in the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia border area in August, 2000. The event is past, but the legacy lives on. To find out more, click below.
http://heritage.tantramar.com/index.html

In England accents change with every village and this is very obvious in Yorkshire. Yorkshire is the main area in England where Celtic two wheeled vehicles have been uncovered, and of course the language of the celts is evident in the local dialect of Thrybergh as it is throughout Yorkshire. In fact close to a thousand words used in the English language had their origins in Yorkshire.

During the last one hundred and fifty years the heavy industrial areas in Yorkshire saw a huge influx of people from surrounding counties, and a lot of their dialects were adapted into the Yorkshire Dialect, and likewise in Lancashire.

As examples of the dialect we will look at the sentence 'Have you been there ' In Lancashire this would be ' Have ya not bin thur' Whereas in Yorkshire it would be ' Tha' bin theer ' A Yorkshire comedian used to say that the Japanese language was invented in Yorkshire, because he overheard two Yorkshire women talking in a Laundromat about one of their friends being seen out on the town the night before, and one of the women asked the other 'whowashewi ?, washewihersen ?'. Which of course to anyone other than a Yorkshire person would indeed sound like Japanese. Translation is ' Who was she with, Was she with herself

There are some surprises in the many dialects for instance I always thought the word BAIRN meaning child was only used in Scotland, but it is used around the Barnsley area of Yorkshire. There are quite a few words meaning a footpath from one road to another, here are some I came across. Ginnell, Gennall, Snickett, Passageway, Alleyway. I am sure more words could be added to describe a footpath. So if you know one or any phrases not here please send them in.

THE PHRASES

Like the old dry stone walls of Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire some of these phrase's have withstood the test of time, and the wit of some of them can be as dry as the walls. As to where each phrase originated, well I am not going to enter that argument here. Some of them are obvious in origin.

One of the things you learn about the people of Northern England is that they have a terrific sense of humour and can also in a few words speak volumes. There are no actual swearwords contained on these pages, though often they would be inserted. Its a funny thing but in my younger days, despite the fact we lived in a working class area, we were never allowed to swear in the house , or in front of adults , and never in front of a female. Listening to the young folks of today how sad it is hear the bad language, and how sad that we are not allowed to belt them round the ears to learn them manners. It never did us any harm and we learned our manners well.

It will be seen that dependant of the intonation of the voice used in some phrases they can imply several meanings. Take the simple expression 'ah' This can mean 'yes' or ' I don't know' or 'I agree' and also a retaliation to a threat sometimes 'oh is added ' oh ah'. as in " OH AH, THEE N WHOSE ARMY ' Whole sentence's are merged seemingly into one word, words are shortened, and of course many of the oldest words in the English language are still used. Phrases like " Thou art " are pronounced " THART " . " THA" and "THEE " are used instead of YOU.

The dialects of Northern England are of course century's old and add to the enchantment of England and its History. You may ask why the sayings of other counties on a Yorkshire Village page, Well a lot of the people in Thrybergh, Dalton , and Ravenfield have their origins from all over the U.K. They brought their sayings with them.
So here they are, the list of phrases and words I call :

101 Damnations

©John Doxey

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This site is the result of over 7 years research, and compilation, should you wish to use any of the content for publication of literature please contact me. The poetry and life of James Ross, the story of St. Leonard's Cross, and other items on this site were compiled, and first published on this site in their present context as a study of Thrybergh. If you use this site as a source, out of courtesy, please give credit where it is due as I have done on this site where appropriate.
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