57 



of Cumberland, we remarked that such irregularities were no obstacle in 

 the way of conversation, but to any one attempting to write in the dialect 

 it is very different. In composition (even in the dialect,) a writer is 

 obliged to pay some attention to the laws of grammer, and consequ.ently is 

 prevented from writing many of the most common and striking phrases 

 exactly as they are sjjoken ; and although the pronunciation may, as a 

 general rule, be pretty cleax'ly indicated by means of phonetic spelling, 

 there are some words in use the sound of which it would be impos- 

 sible to give a correct idea of on paper by any combination of letters. 



It may perhaps be asked, " But what is the use of writing in the 

 dialect at all 1 If people will write, why not Avrite in ordinary English 1 " 

 Well, perhaps it is fancy as much as anything. Tastes differ so much, that 

 it is said there is no accounting for them. Talents differ very much, too. 

 Peoj)le who do write ordinary English have very different ideas. One 

 writes prose, another poetry. One truth, another fiction. One songs, and 

 another sermons. But there may also be utility in dialect-writing. If, 

 as we surmised at the beginning, the Cumbrian mode of speech is destined 

 to die out in the course of two or three generations, it may be desirable to 

 preserve as many specimens of it as we can, from which onr grandchildren 

 and greatgrandchildren may see the rough and homely garb in which their 

 forefathers were wont to clothe their ideas. And further, the peculiar 

 manners, traits, and above all the humour of Cumbrians may be far more 

 forcibly depicted in the dialect than in any other way. If any one wishes 

 to know about the manners and customs of the people who lived in 

 this county towards the latter end of the last and beginning of the present 

 century, he will do well to read, not Nicholson and Biirn's or Hutchinson's 

 History of Cumberland, but the dialect writings of Anderson, Stagg, and 

 others. From the songs and ballads of these writers, one may get a far 

 better insight into the pecular traits and rough manners of the Cumbrians 

 of that time than from any other source whatever. 



Our old border county has-been peculiarly rich in native writers. 

 Not to speak of Woi-dsworth and others, who have distinguised themselves 

 in the higher walks of literature, Cumberland has never, for the last one 

 hundred and fifty years, been without its dialect writers ; many of whom 



