The Dialect of the West of England; Particularly Somersetshire

James Jennings
The Dialect of the West of
England; Particularly
Somersetshire

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Title: The Dialect of the West of England Particularly Somersetshire
Author: James Jennings
Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7453] [Yes, we are more than

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Edition: 10
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"Goo little Reed! Aforn tha vawk, an vor me plead: Thy wild nawtes,
mâ-be, thâ ool hire Zooner than zâter vrom a lâre. Zâ that thy
Maester's pleas'd ta blaw 'em, An haups in time thâ'll come ta knaw
'em An nif za be thâ'll please ta hear, A'll gee zum moor another
year."--_The Farewell._
THE Dialect of the West of England
PARTICULARLY SOMERSETSHIRE;
WITH A GLOSSARY OF WORDS NOW IN USE THERE; ALSO
WITH POEMS AND OTHER PIECES EXEMPLIFYING THE
DIALECT.
BY JAMES JENNINGS,
HONORARY SECRETARY OF THE METROPOLITAN LITERARY
INSTITUTION, LONDON.
BASED ON THE _SECOND EDITION,_
THE WHOLE REVISED, CORRECTED, AND ENLARGED, WITH
TWO DISSERTATIONS ON THE ANGLO-SAXON PRONOUNS,
AND OTHER PIECES,
BY JAMES KNIGHT JENNINGS, M.A.,
Late Scholar and Librarian, Queens' College, Cambridge; Vicar of
Hagbourn, Berkshire; and Minister of Calcott Donative, Somersetshire.

TO THA DWELLERS O' THA WEST,

Tha Fruit o' longvul labour, years, In theäze veo leaves at last appears.
Ta you, tha dwellers o' tha West, I'm pleas'd that thâ shood be
addresst: Vor thaw I now in Lunnan dwell, I mine ye still--I love ye
well; And niver, niver sholl vorget I vust drâw'd breath in
_Zummerzet_; Amangst ye liv'd, and left ye zorry, As you'll knaw
when you hire my storry. Theäze little book than take o' me; 'Tis âll
I hâ just now ta gee An when you rade o' Tommy Gool, Or Tommy
Came, or Pal at school, Or _Mr. Guy_, or Fanny Fear,-- I thenk you'll
shod vor her a tear) Tha Rookery, or _Mary's Crutch_, Tha cap o' which
I love ta touch, You'll vine that I do not vorget My naatal swile--dear
Zummerzet.
JAS. JENNINGS.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
In preparing this second edition of my relative's work, I have
incorporated the results of observations made by me during several
years' residence in Somersetshire, in the centre of the district. I have
also availed myself by kind permission, of hints and suggestions in two
papers, entitled "Somersetshire Dialect," read by T. S. Baynes in 1856,
and reprinted from the Taunton Courier, in London, in 1861.
During the forty years which have elapsed since the first edition, very
much light has been thrown on the subject of Provincial Dialects, and
after all much remains to be discovered. I consider with Mr. Baynes
that there is more of the pure Anglo-Saxon in the west of England
dialect, as this district was the seat of classical Anglo-Saxon, which
first rose here to a national tongue, and lasted longer in a great measure
owing to its distance from the Metropolis, from which cause also it was
less subject to modern modification.
I shall be happy to receive any suggestions from Philological scholars,
which may increase the light thrown on the subject, and by which a
third edition may be improved.
_Hagbourn Vicarage, August,_ 1869.

PREFACE.
The usefulness of works like the present is too generally admitted to
need any apology for their publication. There is, notwithstanding, in

their very nature a dryness, which requires relief: the author trusts,
therefore, that, in blending something imaginative with the details of
philological precision, his work will afford amusement to the reader.
The Glossary contains the fruit of years of unwearied attention to the
subject; and it is hoped that the book will be of some use in elucidating
our old
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