GAME NOTES AND FOLK-LORE. 203 



selves their own ancient tongue and ancient 

 ideas, their traditions, and belief in the 

 occult. Perhaps this very reservation tends 

 to keep up the past among them. There is 

 thus a double life — the superficial and the 

 real. The labourer has disused the ' z ' 

 openly, but still remains and will remain 

 distinct from the inhabitants of other coun- 

 ties. It is a distinction of race that cannot 

 be removed by the printing press. The 

 men of Eed Deer Land are ethnographically 

 separate from those to the east of them, and 

 they cannot be taught out of their racial 

 peculiarities. 



A tendency to slur their words is still 

 apparent ; they run the consonants of several 

 words together, and an unaccustomed ear 

 cannot divide the sounds. The letter ' r ' 

 is rolled and doubled ; thus, for work they 

 say ' wurruk,' ' Burrle ' for Barle ; beach, 

 again, is spoken ' bache,' and wheat is 

 ' wait ; ' bushes are ' booshes ; ' Dulverton 

 is ' Dilverton.' Many old words remain in 



