the middle classes in England in the 

 better days of Queen Elizabeth," 

 wrote Collier Cobb in 1910. "The 

 Raleigh voyagers having counted 

 among their number gentlemen 

 adventurers from all parts of the 

 kingdom, it is not difficult to 

 imagine that these forms were 

 introduced by them." 



Words such as "couthy," 

 "travel" for walk and "may" for 

 maid convinced him of that connec- 

 tion. 



Twenty-three years later, 

 Blanch N. Epler echoed Cobb's 

 words in an article in National 

 Geographic. Even The New York 

 Times got in the act, reporting, 

 "These people speak the nearest to 

 the Elizabethan English of any 

 people anywhere in the United 

 States." 



But the idea that the "pure" 

 English of Queen Elizabeth's time 

 lives on is only a romanticization, 

 which often occurs in physically and 

 socially isolated communities, 

 Wolfram says. 



"That association stems from 

 the fact that there are some reten- 

 tions of older forms which may have 



SNITCHIT ° 

 just a pinch 



CUNER 

 dugout; canoe 



been used in the 1600s and the 

 1700s," such as "h'it's" and "a' 

 goin'," he says. 



With documentable older forms 

 of words, grammar patterns and 

 pronunciations, people think English 

 has been retained in its "pure" state. 



But language is always chang- 

 ing. The dialect may keep some relic 

 forms, but new words and patterns 

 are added. Because it has the new, 

 no one can say any dialect spoken 

 today is the dialect of Old English, 

 he explains. It's too far removed. 



"The only languages that are 

 frozen like that are dead languages," 

 Wolfram says. "So if you want that, 

 go to Latin. This for sure ain't no 

 dead language." 



His reasoning is not necessarily 

 what islanders want to hear. 



"It's a myth that fits comfort- 

 ably with the island ethos," he says. 

 "And if you can do that, you can get 

 prestige. You're looking for the 

 language of Shakespeare, man. 



"It sounds good, and it adds to 

 the island uniqueness," he adds. 

 "But it'd be even better if it were 

 true." 



CA'E BANKS 

 BROGUES 



The myth of the queen's 

 language and many similar relic 

 forms also live on just 20 miles 

 southwest of Ocracoke in Carteret 

 County. 



Only Pamlico Sound separates 

 the barrier islands and this boot- 

 shaped coastal county. Migration 

 between the regions 200 years ago 

 seems as likely as neighbors sharing 

 sugar. 



The Ca'e Bankers, like Outer 

 Bankers and Ocockers, exaggerate 

 their "o's" and "i's" in words such 

 as "house" and "high." They say 

 "far" instead of "fire" and leave the 

 "r's" on ends of words, too. 



But the Ca'e Banks brogue has 

 its own sound, says Jim Willis of 

 Atlantic Beach, and a separate 

 history. 



STUDIMENTS 



No one knows for sure where 

 the first settlers to Cape Lookout 

 came from, but the first who could 

 read and write arrived just before 

 1700, according to Island Born and 

 Bred. Whaling, trade and fishing 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 15 



