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Recent Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, and Articles. 



says: "Unless our historical experts shall find some other way of 

 explaining Clarendon's suggestion, or prove it to be wholly unfounded, 

 we must own that Cromwell is left standing at the bar with a very ugly 

 case against him. Clarendon's direct assertion that Cromwell was privy 

 to all that was going on throws fresh light . . . and lends additional 

 force and new probability to the inferences which Sir Reginald draws 

 from them." 



The Dialect Of PeWSey (Wiltshire), by John Kjederquist, 

 Ph. D., Pocent in the University of Lund. Printed for the Philological 

 Society by Stephen Austin & Sons, Hertford. 1902. 8vo, wrappers, 

 pp. 60. 



This is a highly important study of the dialect of Wiltshire. Dr. 

 Kjederquist selecting Pewsey as the likeliest neighbourhood in which to 

 study the central or typical phase of the Wiltshire tongue, came from 

 Sweden and settled down there for some weeks with the object of 

 mastering the pronunciation and sound-system of the dialect, and spent 

 his whole time in conversing with the natives and scientifically noticing 

 the exact means by which their pronunciation was produced. The 

 headings of the chapters will give some idea of the contents of the paper : 

 Pronunciation.— The Consonants. — The Middle and Old English Equiva- 

 lents of the Pewsey Vowels in Accented Syllables. — The Vowels of 

 Accented Syllables. Of his method of procedure the author says : " To 

 obtain a general view of the sound-system of the dialect, I took pains to 

 examine the pronunciation of speakers of various ages, For that purpose 

 I visited old people whom I knew to be natives of the place, and spent 

 many hours with the old men in Pewsey Union. Then at the National 

 Schools, especially those of Pewsey and Oare, but also those of Great 

 Bedwyn, Woodborough, and Upavon, I had the worst speakers among 

 the children — for my purpose, however, the best — put at my disposal." 

 " My chief helper was a middle-aged workman, John Cripps." The result 

 is seen in these 60 pages crammed with observations and the equivalents 

 in "Glossic" of Wiltshire words and sounds. It is, however, right to 

 say that the paper is not written for the vulgar, and that unless you are 

 already an expert philologist and a master of " Glossic," you will derive 

 exceedingly little information from its pages. 



Wiltshire Notes and Queries. No. 39, Sept., 1902. 



The editor begins an article on " Paul Bush, the last Kector of Edington 

 and first Bishop of Bristol," with an excellent reproduction of 

 the portrait now hanging in the Bishop's Palace, at Bristol. It is, 

 however, doubtful whether this really represents Bush at all, as the 

 person depicted wears the robes of the Garter, and there is no evidence 

 that Bishop Bush ever had anything to do with the order. His surrender 

 of Edington Monastery is printed in full with a cut of the seal, and his 

 will is also given at length. Bratton Kecords include a number of 

 abstracts of Whitaker wills. Quaker Birth Becords are continued, also A 

 Calendar of Feet of Fines for Wiltshire, and Notes on the name "Painter " 



