NOTES ON ESSEX DIALECT AND FOLK-LORE. 73 



in Braintree, Halstead, Gosfield, Wethersfield, and in the vicinity 

 of the Sahngs. In some parts of the county the dialect resembles 

 that of Kent ; in others of Suffolk. The Essex dialect is, however, 

 not generally so broad as either, nor is it spoken with the strong 

 whine of the Suffolk folk. It contains many words from the Anglo- 

 Saxon (this may be accounted for by the fact that in a.d. 530 

 Saxons landed in Essex), Friesic, Dutch, and Belgic, not usually 

 found in other English dialects ; such as ai/s, a/uper, i>igge, hoy, 

 buUii)iony\ cowl, goi/s, hoi/sen, /ugso/ne, mat, mawther, pillow, beer, 

 rumpled, stiver, stump, and snace. And words from the Norman, as 

 foizon, frail, chate, and coppy. 



There is a tendency to transpose letters, as aers ■= ears. Vowels 

 are often lengthened, as maade for made, and niaake for make. A 

 is liable to become O, as ollis for always. E is often changed into 

 A, as rtnough for enough, czrrant for errand, and W(?rse for worse, 

 /has a broad sound, y^/;/6^ = fine, noice =■ nice, smoile = smile. toi)ne 

 = time, twoice —twice, etc. 



becomes U, e.g., fru//i = from, sput = spot, uut = not. 



D is changed into T, as in arrant = errand, ballet = balled. 



i? is often dropped altogether, as suppased = surpassed, hul = 

 hurl. 



There is also the usual tendency to abbreviate words, e.g., aivnias, 

 arst, an to, boarnt, mosly, hnvance, monsiis, for "almost," "asked," 

 "all to," " bonnet," " mostly," "allowance," "monstrous." /T' for 

 V \i common, as ivarse for verse. 



But to their credit, Essex people generally pronounce the letter 

 /7 correctly; this was remarked at the celebrated Ardlamont Trial 

 recently held (see " Law Reports," Dec. 19th, 1893). 



The old plural occurs in some parts, as housen, asseii, shoon, 

 etc. 



The total number of provincial words used in Essex is put down 

 at 589, as compared with Suffolk 2,400, Norfolk 2,500 ; but these 

 figures cannot be implicitly relied upon. 



As a few examples of words used in Essex, we may note the 

 following : 



Bed-steddle — A bedstead. (" Steddle " seems to be a diminutive of the Anglo- 

 Saxon Stede [Danish id.], a place.) 



Be liar — To bellow. 



Bile — To boil. 



Boa — Boy. (" Wa'a yow gowan altogether, boa '; " is common in the rural 

 districts of Essex.) 



