Language changes over time. As new words come and go and regional dialects fade from memory, the English we speak today is very different from that spoken 200 years ago.
Dorset History Centre holds an 1856 election poster from Bridport written, for political effect, in the Dorset Dialect:
The author, Jems Mab, says ‘Ich be me own measter an that all o ee da now’ and that ‘Ich wos lected a vew yrs agoo an dun me duti’ which in modern English is ‘I be my own master as all of you know’ and ‘I was elected a few years ago and did my duty’. Jems Mab is James Mabb a ‘hemp hackler’ from Barrack Street [a hemp hackler was someone who combs out raw hemp into longer strands as part of the flax trade].
Mabb states he is no ‘sarvint’, unlike Harri Zaddle, who he describes as his ‘bigest emny’ and that he ‘wol be Mayr’ [will be Mayor]. He goes on to promise:
‘Now min genelman wen tha vust o November do cum agin, Ich wil get in iff da cost I zixty or zeventy pouns, an my fren Varmer Cooms wol git in too if he’ll take fren Thom’s advise, an so a wod thes year tadn ben for Harry Zaddle’
In modern English:
‘Now mind gentlemen that when the first of November comes again, I will get in, if it costs me sixty or seventy pounds, and my friend Farmer Coombs [John Coombs, farmer, Harbour Road] will get in too if he’ll take the advice of friend Thomas, and so I would have this year if it hadn’t been for Harry Zaddle’
Unfortunately for Mabb he did not become Mayor in 1857, but whether it cost him zixty or zeventy pouns we shall never know!
Other records of Dorset dialect in the collections include dialect poems, like those of William Barnes. You can hear Henrietta Taylor of Loders reading Hay-Meaken and Zummer Evenèn Dance by William Barnes via soundcloud, reference DSA/188/1/6.
We wonder what people in a hundred years’ time will think of the language we use today?
Good evening,
Would you be able to help? I would be grateful if you would have any information on Dorset dialect classes or books that teach the Dorset language. I have looked online and there doesn’t seem to be anything of that nature which offers a good learning experience.
Thank you for your help.
Hi Simon, thanks for your message. We have a variety of books relating to Dorset Dialect in our Local Studies Library, and you are welcome to come and have a look at them should you wish to do so. However, these are not ‘teaching’ books, so they may be of limited use to you. We are not aware of anywhere locally that teaches Dorset dialect, but you may want to see if anyone at your local library might know anything different.
Thank you for your help.