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e;¢re. Zâ that thy Maester's pleas'd ta blaw 'em, An haups in time thâ'll come ta knaw 'em An nif za be thâ'll please ta hear, A'll gee zum moor another year."--_The Farewell._
THE Dialect of the West of England
PARTICULARLY SOMERSETSHIRE;
WITH A GLOSSARY OF WORDS NOW IN USE THERE; ALSO WITH POEMS AND OTHER PIECES EXEMPLIFYING THE DIALECT.
BY JAMES JENNINGS,
HONORARY SECRETARY OF THE METROPOLITAN LITERARY INSTITUTION, LONDON.
BASED ON THE _SECOND EDITION,_
THE WHOLE REVISED, CORRECTED, AND ENLARGED, WITH TWO DISSERTATIONS ON THE ANGLO-SAXON PRONOUNS, AND OTHER PIECES,
BY JAMES KNIGHT JENNINGS, M.A.,
Late Scholar and Librarian, Queens' College, Cambridge; Vicar of Hagbourn, Berkshire; and Minister of Calcott Donative, Somersetshire.
TO THA DWELLERS O' THA WEST,
Tha Fruit o' longvul labour, years, In theäze veo leaves at last appears. Ta you, tha dwellers o' tha West, I'm pleas'd that thâ shood be addresst: Vor thaw I now in Lunnan dwell, I mine ye still--I love ye well; And niver, niver sholl vorget I vust drâw'd breath in _Zummerzet_; Amangst ye liv'd, and left ye zorry, As you'll knaw when you hire my storry. Theäze little book than take o' me; 'Tis âll I hâ just now ta gee An when you rade o' Tommy Gool, Or Tommy Came, or Pal at school, Or _Mr. Guy_, or Fanny Fear,-- I thenk you'll shod vor her a tear) Tha Rookery, or _Mary's Crutch_, Tha cap o' which I love ta touch, You'll vine that I do not vorget My naatal swile--dear Zummerzet.
JAS. JENNINGS.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
In preparing this second edition of my relative's work, I have incorporated the results of observations made by me during several years' residence in Somersetshire, in the centre of the district. I have also availed myself by kind permission, of hints and suggestions in two papers,
The Dialect of the West of England; Particularly Somersetshire, page 1
by James Jennings