rOLK SPEECH OF YORKSHIRE AND NEW 

 ENGLAND. 



BY H. M. BROOKS, 



Some two or three years ago Mr. William Andrews, 

 the noted Antiqiiary of Hüll, England, sent me a book 

 on the "Folk speecli" of East Yorkshire.i 



Upon an examination of this volume I was striick with 

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

 ings, Said to have originated in, or to have been in nse in 

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

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

 culiar dialect of old Yorkshire but merely to note some of 

 the words and phrases that we nse in common every day 

 conversation, which wonld appearto havecometo ns from 

 Y^orkshire original ly. 



Among the conmion East Riding Yorkshire similes, I 

 will mention the following which it will be seen are more 

 or less in nse 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 



iThe Folk speech of East Yorkshire.— By John Nicholson (Hon. Librarian Hüll 

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



