counties differs from that spoken in the eastern; the language in the northern counties differs from that spoken in the southern; while that of the midland counties differs from all. These differences have long existed. VERSTIGAN, more than two hundred years ago, gave three different modes of pronouncing the same sentence. One at London would say, "I would eat more cheese if I had it." The northern man saith, "Ay sud eat mare cheese gin ay had it;" and the western man saith, "Chud eat more cheese an chad it."

SECTION LXXXVI.-SOURCES OF EXISTING DIVERSITIES.

These are to be sought in the diverse origin of the people, or in some of those causes which produce diversities in language generally, as heretofore described in Section XVI. Calling to mind the Celts, the Romans, the Saxons, the Jutes, the Angles, the Danes, the Normans, who were ancestors of those who now dwell in England, we cannot fail to expect diversities in language, as now written and spoken, originating in the languages of those nations and tribes. These existing diversities are evidently diminishing, as they naturally must, in the increased intercourse which is taking place by railroad communication in different parts of the island, in the increasing intelligence of the people, and in the more extensive use of common standards of writing and speaking.

SECTION LXXXVII.-LOWLAND SCOTCH.

The Lowland Scotch is substantially the same as the English, with certain specific differences in its written vocabulary and pronunciation. "Our common language," says ELLIS, says ELLIS," was separately formed in the two countries, and owed its identity to its being constructed of similar materials, by similar gradations, and by nations in the same state of society." It has been supposed that the Scotch was extensively derived from the Danish, as the English was from the Anglo-Saxon. In the popular works of BURNS and of Sir WALTER SCOTT we have such abundant specimens of Scotch peculiarities of dialect that it seems to be hardly necessary to give any in this work.

SECTION LXXXVIII.-DIALECT OF THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.

With many diversities, this is the dialect of Northumberland, which resembles the Lowland Scotch of Cumberland, Durham, and Westmoreland. To these counties might be added York and Lancaster, Derbyshire and Cheshire. They are, in general, remarkable for a broad pronunciation. In some places o is sounded for a; as hond for hand; eow for ou and ow, as keow, theou, for cow, thou. In some places cauf is sounded for calf; caw for call; con for can; foo for full; howd for hold; hawpenny for halfpenny; twoine for twine.

SPECIMEN OF THE CUMBERLAND DIALECT.

What ails this heart o' mine?
What means this wat'ry e'e?
What gars me aye turn pale as death
When I tak' leave of thee?
When thou art far awa'
Thou'll dearer be to me;

But change of place and change o' folk
May gar thy fancy jee.

When I sit down at e'en,
Or walk in morning air,

Ilk rustling bough will seem to say,
I used to meet thee there;
Then I'll sit down and wail,
And greet aneath a tree,

And gin a leaf fa' i' my lap,

for

I's ca't a word from thee.

Here we have e'e for eye; gar for make; jee for crooked; greet weep; aneath for beneath; gin for if; ' for in; monie for many; ilka for each; sic for such; tak for take.

SPECIMEN OF THE LANCASHIRE DIALECT.

From the Introduction to TIM BOBBIN'S "Tawk o' Seawth Lankeshur.”

A tealier i' Crummil time, wur thrunk pooin' turmits in his pingot, an fund an urchon ith' had-loont-ryen; he glendurt at't lung boh cou'd may nowt on't. He whoavt his whisket oe'rt, ran whoam, an towd his neybours he thowt ot he'd funde a thing at God newer mede eawt; for it had nother yed nor tele, hont nor hough, midst nor eend! Loath t' believe this, hawve a duzz'n on em woud goo t'see if they coudn mey shift t' gawm it, bo' it capt em; for they newer o one on um ee'r saigh th' like afore. Then theyd'n a keawnsil, anth' eend ont wur, ot teyd'n fotch a lawm, fawse, owd felly; het an elder, at coud tell oytch think, for they lookn't on him as th' hammil-scoance, an thowtn he'r fuller o' leet than a glow-worm. When theyd'n towd him th' kese, he stroakt his beyrt, sowght, an ordert' th' wheel-barrow with spon-new trindle t' be fotcht. 'Twur dun, an they beawlt'nt him awey to th' urchon in a crack. He glooart at't a good while; droyd his beyrt deawn, an wawtut th' urchon o'er wi' his crutch. "Wheel meh obeawt ogen, oth' tother side," sed he, "for it sturs, an be that it shou'd be whick." Then he don'd his spectacles, steart at't agen, on sowghing sed, "Breether, its summot: beh Feather Adam nother did, nor cou'd kersun it. Wheel me whoam ogen."

Here we have tealier for tailor; Crummil for Cromwell; thrunk for busy; pooin turmits for pulling turnips; pingot for croft or homefield; urchon for hedgehog; i'th for in the; had-loont-ryen for headland-path; glendurt for stared; boh for but; may for make; nowt for nothing; whoavt for threw; whisket for basket; eawt for out; hont and hough for hand and foot; hawve for half; gawm for understand; capt for beat, or outdid; saigh for saw; keawnsil for council; teyd'n for they would; lawm for lame; fawse for cunning; owd felly for old fellow; oytch for every; think for thing; hammil-scoance for the village light, or the village lantern; leet for light; beyrt for beard; sought for sighed; beault for bowled; glooart for stared; droyd for drew; wawtut for turned; abeawt ogen for about again; whick for quick, or alive; summot for something; kerson for christen, or name; whoam for home.

SPECIMEN OF THE YORKSHIRE DIALECT.

DICKY DICKESON's Address to't knawn World; from the first number of the " Yorkshire Comet," published in 1844.

Dear Ivverybody,-Ah sudn't wonder bud, when some foak hear o' me startin' on a paper, they'll say, what in't world hez maade Dicky Dickeson bethink hizzen o' cummin' such a caaper as that? Wah, if ye'll nobbut but hev hauf o't paatience o' Jobb, Ah'll try ta tell ya. Ye mun knaw, aboot six year sin', Ah wur i' a public hoose, where ther wur a fellur as wur braggin' on his larnin', an so Ah axed what he knawed aboot ony knawledgement, an' he said he thowt he'd a rare lump moare information i' his heead ner Ah had i' mine. Noo, ye knaw, Ah sudn't ha' been a quarter as ill mad if ther hedn't been a lot o' chaps in't plaace 'at reckoned ta hev noa small share o' gumption. Soa, as sooin as Ah gat hoame that neet, Ah sware ta oor Bet, 'at as suare as shoo wur a matchhawker, Ah wud leearn all't polishments 'at Schooilmaister Gill could teich ma.

Here we have Ah for I; sudn't for should not; bud for but; foak for folk; o' for of; startin' for starting; hizzen for himself; nobbut for only; hev for have; hauf for half; ya for you; ta for to; knaw for know; 'at for that; aboot for about; sin' for since; wur for were ; wheare for where; fellur for fellow; heead for head; ner for than; hedn't for had not; sooin for soon.

SECTION LXXXIX.-DIALECT OF EAST ANGLIA, OR THE EASTERN

COUNTIES.

Under the term East Anglia are included the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and portions of other counties bounded upon them. The dialect of East Anglia, then, is the peculiar language of what are called "The Eastern Counties." FORBY remarks that "the most general and pervading characteristic of the pronunciation is a narrowness and tenuity, precisely the reverse of the round, sonorous, mouth-filling' tones of Northern English. This narrowness of utterance is, in some parts of this district, rendered still more offensive to ears not accustomed to it by being delivered in a sort of shrill, whining recitative. This has sometimes been called 'the Suffolk whine." 999

6

SPECIMEN OF THE SUFFOLK DIALECT.

Dear Frinnd, I was axed some stounds agon by Billy P——, our 'sesser at Mulladen, to make inqueration o' yeow if Master had pahd in that there money into the bank. Billy P he fare keinda unasy about it, and when I see him in church to-day he say, Jimmy, says he, prah ha yeow wrot. So I keinda wef't um off, and I sah, says I, heent hard from Squire D-- as yet, but I dare sah I shall afore long. So prah writ me some lines, an send me wahd, wutha the money is pahd a' nae. I don't know what to make of our Mulladen folks, nut I; but somehow or another, they are allers in dibles, an I'll be rot if I don't begin to think some on em all tahn up scaly at last; an as to that there fulla, he grow so big and so purdy that he want to be took down a peg; and I am glad to hare that yeow gint it to em properly at Wickhum.

SECTION XC.-DIALECT OF THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES.

This may be considered as embracing the peculiarities of Sussex, Kent, and Hampshire, though there are variations in each. In Sussex, hasp is pronounced hapse; neck, nick; throat, throttle; choke, chock. In East Sussex, day is pronounced dee.

Ow final is

pronounced as er; as window, winder. In Kent, day is pronounced daie; how, who, and who, how.

SPECIMEN OF THE DIALECT OF KENT.

And certaynly our langage now used varyeth ferr from that which was used and spoken when I was borne, for we Englyshemen, ben borne under the domynacyon of the mone, which is never stedfaste, but ever waverynge, waxing one season, and waneth and dyscreaseth another season, and that comyn Englysshe that is spoken in one shyre, varyeth from another, insomoche that in my days happened that certain marchauntes were in a shippe in Tamyse for to haue sayled over the see into Zelande, and fra lacke of wynde thei taryed at Forland, and went to lande for to refreshe them. And one of theym, named Sheffelde, a mercer, cam into an hows and axyed for mete, and specyally he axyd after eggys; and the good wyf answerde that she coude speke no Frenshe, and the marchaunt was angry, for he also coude speke no Frenshe, but wolde have had eggys, and she understood hym not. And then, at laste, another sayd that he wolde have eyren. Then the good wyf sayd that she understood hym wel. Loo, what sholde a man in theyse days now wryte, egges or eyren! Certaynly, it is hard to playse every man, because of diversite and chaunge of langage.-W. CAXON, 1490.

Here we have banes for beans; dat for that; wol for will; summut for something; dem for them; rum for queer; measter for master; 'twon't for it will not; an for and.

SECTION XCI.-DIALECT OF THE WESTERN COUNTIES.

Among these counties Cornwall, Devonshire, and Somersetshire may be particularly mentioned, as having certain peculiarities, ás compared with some other parts of England. In some parts of Cornwall and of some other counties, for to milk they say to milky; for to squint, to squnny; for know, knaw; for horses, hosses; for pictures, picters; for with, weth.

SPECIMEN OF THE CORNISH DIALECT.

The Cornwall Schoolboy.

An ould man found, one day, a yung gentleman's portmantle as he were a going to his dennar; he took'd it en and gived it to es wife, and said, "Mally, here's a roul of lither; look, see, I suppoase some poor old shoemaker or other have los'en; tak'en, and put'en

The

a top of the teaster of tha bed; he'll be glad to hav'en agen sum day, I dear say.' ould man, Jan, that was es neame, went to es work as before. Mally then open'd the portmantle, and found in it three hunderd pounds. Soon after this, the ould man, not being very well, Mally said, "Jan, l'ave saaved away a little money, by-the-by, and as thee caan't read or write, thee shu'st go to scool." (He was then nigh threescore and ten.) He went but a very short time, and comed hoam one day, and said, "Mally, I woin't go to scool no more, 'caase the childer do be laffen at me; they can tell their letters, and I caan't tell my A B C, and I wud rayther go to work agen." "Do as thee wool," ses Mally. Jan had not been out many days afore the yung gentleman came by that lost the portmantle, and said, "Well, my ould man, did'ee see or hear tell of sich a thing as a portmantle ?" "Portmantle, sar! was't that un sumthing like thickey?" (pointing to one behind his saddle): "I found one the t'other day zackly like that." "Where is it?” "Come along; I carr'd'en in, and given to my wife Mally; thee sha't av'en. Molly, where is that roul of lither that I gived tha the t'other day?" "What roul of lither?" said Mally. "The roul of lither I bro't in and tould tha to put'en a top of the teaster of the bed, afore I go'd to scool." "Drat tha imperance," said the gentleman, "thee art betwotched; that was before I were born."-Specimens of the Cornish Dialect, by UNCLE JAN TREENOODLE.

Here we have et for it; gived for gave; los'en for lost; hab'en for have; dear for dare; ould for old; hunderd for hundred; wud for would; thickey for this; sha't for shalt, &c.

SPECIMEN OF THE DEVONSHIRE DIALECT.

JOHN CHAWBACON and his wife MOLL cum up t'Exeter to zee the railway opened,

May 21, 1847.

"Lor, Johnny! Lor, Johnny! now whativur is that,
A urn'ng along like a hoss upon wheels?
'Tis as bright as yer buttons, and black as yer hat;
And jist listen, Johnny, and yer how 'a sqeals!
"Dash my buttons, Moll, I'll be darn'd if I know !

Us was vools to come yere and to urn into danger;
Let's be off! 'a spits vire! Lor, do let us go!

And 'a holds up his head like a goose at a stranger.

"I be a bit vrightened; but let us bide yere ;

And hark how 'a puffs, and 'a caughs, and 'a blows!
He edden unlike the old cart-hoss last yer-
Broken-winded; and yet only zee how 'a goes!"

"'A can't be alive, Jan-I don't think 'a can."

"I baen't sure o' that, Moll; for jist lookee how
'A breathes like a hoss, or a znivell'd old man ;
And hark how he's bust out a caughing, good now!

"I wouldn't go homeward b'm-by to the varm

Behind such a critter: when all's zed and dun,
We've a travell'd score miles, but we never got harm,
Vor ther's nort like a market-cart under the zun.'

1. The LONDONER, or COCKNEY, pronounces w for v, and v for w; weal for veal; vicked for wicked. He seems not to have understood why the consonant u of the Latins, which was not distinguished in writing from the vowel u, should be pronounced v (=bh), while the consonant u of the Anglo-Saxons, which had a distinct character