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-Het Came! why d'ye drean zaw?—hum, hum, hum ;-you da make a naise like a spinnin turn, or a dumbledore-âll in one lidden-hum, hum, hum.-You'll niver lorn ta read well thic fashion. -Here, Pal, read theäze vesses vor yer zister. There now, Het, you mine how yer zister da read, not hum, hum, hum.-Eese you ool, ool ye?— I tell ye, you must, or I'll rub zum rue auver yer hons-what d'ye thenk o't?-There, be gwon you Het, an dwon't ye come anuost yer zister ta vessy wi' er till you a got yer lessin moor parfit, or I'll gee* zummet you on't ax me vor. Pally, you tell yer Gramfer Palmer that I da zâ Hetty Came shood lorn ta knitty; an a shood buy zum knittin nills and wusterd vor er; an a shood git er zum nills and dird, vor er ta lorn ta zawy too.

Now Miss Whitin, tha dunces be a gwon, let I hire how pirty you can read.-I âlways zed that Pâson Tuttle's grandâter ood lorn er book well.

* I'll gee ye zummet. I will give you something or somewhat. There is a strong disposition to omit the pronoun after such words as gee and wi'. Thus, it is very common, indeed, to say I'll goo wi', for I'll go with you this originates, I apprehend, from the great similarity of the vowel sounds in wi’, gee and ye.

*

Now, Miss, what ha ye a got there ?-Valentine an Orson.-A pirty storry, bit I be afeard there's naw moril to it.-What be âll tha tuthermy books you a got by yer goodhussey there in tha basket? Gee's-zee-'em, nif you please, Miss Polly.-Tha Zeven Champions-Goody Two Shoes-Pawems vor Infant minds.-Theäzamy here be by vur tha best. There is a moril ta mooäst o'm; an thâ be pirty bezides.-Now, Miss, please ta read thic-Tha Notorious Glutton.Pal Came! turn tha glass! dwont ye zee tha zond is all hirnd out;-you'll stâ in school tha longer vor't nif you dwon't mine it.-Now, âll o' ye be quiet ta hire Miss Whitin read.-There now, what d'ye zâ ta jitch radin as that?-There, d'ye hire, Het Came! she dwon't drean-hum, hum, hum.—I shood like ta hire er vessy wi' zum o' ye; bad radin ood spwile her good.

OUT O' BOOKS!

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CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.

I HAVE alluded, in the Preface, to a late excursion which I made in the West. That excur

sion has, I am happy to say, contributed not a little to renew and enlarge my acquaintance with some of the dialects of my native county-Somersetshire. It has also procured for me an introduction to Miss HAM, a lady, whose poetical talents are of no mean order. I cannot, perhaps, better close this work, than by presenting to the reader Miss HAM's observations, in a letter to me, on these dialects.

The lines, of which I desired a copy, contain an exemplification of the use of utchy or ichè, used contractedly [see UTCHY in the Glossary] by the inhabitants of the South of Somersetshire, one of the strong holds, as I conceive, of the Anglo-Saxon dialect.

In our polished dialect, the lines quoted by Miss HAM, may be thus rendered

Bread and cheese I have had,

What I had I have eaten,

More I would [have eaten if] I had [had] it.

If the contractions be supplied they will stand thus:

·-

Bread and cheese ichè have a had
That ichè had ichè have a eat

More ichè would ichè had it.

Sir;

Clifton, Jan. 30, 1825.

I have certainly great pleasure in complying with your request, although I fear that any communication it is in my power to make, will be of little use to you in your curious work on the West Country dialect. The lines you desire

to have are these:

Bread and cheese 'c' have a had,

That 'c' had 'c' have a eat,

More 'ch wou'd 'c' had it.

Sounds which, from association no doubt, carry

with them to my ear the idea of great vulgarity;

but which might have a very different effect on that of an unprejudiced hearer, when dignified by an Anglo-Saxon pedigree. The Scotch dialect, now become quite classical with us, might, perhaps, labour under the same disadvantage amongst those who hear it spoken by the vulgar only.

Although I am a native of Somersetshire, I have resided very little in that county since my childhood, and, in my occasional visits since, have had little intercourse with the aborigines. I recollect, however, two or three words, which you might not, perhaps, have met with. One of them of which I have traditionary knowledge, being, I believe, now quite obsolete. Pitisanquint was used in reply to an inquiry after the health of a person, and was, I understand, equivalent to pretty well, or so so. The word Lamiger, which signifies an invalid, I have no doubt you have met with. When any one forbodes bad weather, or any disaster, it is very common to say Don't ye housenee. Here you have the verbal termination, which you remarked was so common in the West, and which I cannot help thinking might have been originally used as a sort of diminutive, and that to milkee, signified to milk a little.

As my knowledge of these few words is merely oral, I cannot answer for the orthography; I have

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