FOLK SPEECH OF YORKSHIRE AND NEW 

 ENGLAND. 



BY H. M. BROOKS. 



Some two or three years ago Mr. William Andrews, 

 the noted Antiquary of Hull, England, sent me a book 

 on the "Folk speech" of East Yorkshire. 1 



Upon an examination of this volume I was struck with 

 the fact that there were a great number of words and say- 

 ings, said to have originated in, or to have been in use in 

 Yorkshire, which are common in New England. My pres- 

 ent purpose is not to make particular reference to the pe- 

 culiar dialect of old Yorkshire but merely to note some of 

 the words and phrases that we use in common every day 

 conversation, which would appear to have come to us from 

 Yorkshire originally. 



Among the common East Riding Yorkshire similes, I 

 will mention the following which it will be seen are more 

 or less in use in our Folk speech. 



As black as a Craw (crow). 



As blind as a bat. 



As bright as a button. 



As cawd (cold) as ice. 



As clean as a whistle. Clean here means complete, 

 perfect or clear, and refers to the sound and not to the 



lf The Folk speech of East Yorkshire. By John Nicholson (Hon. Librarian Hull 

 Literary Club. 12mo. London. Simpkin Marshall & Co. 1889. 



