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Ashwell
Ayston

Barleythorpe
Barrow
Barrowden
Beaumont Chase
Belmesthorpe
Belton-in-Rutland
Bisbrooke
Braunston-in-Rutland
Brooke
Burley

Caldecott
Clipsham
Cottesmore

Edith Weston
Egleton
Empingham
Essendine
Exton

Glaston
Great Casterton
Greetham
Gunthorpe

Hambleton
Horn

Ketton

Langham
Leighfield
Little Casterton
Lyddington
Lyndon

Manton
Market Overton
Martinsthorpe
Morcott

Normanton
North Luffenham

Oakham

Pickworth
Pilton
Preston

Ridlington
Ryhall

Seaton
South Luffenham
Stoke Dry
Stretton

Teigh
Thistleton
Thorpe by Water
Tickencote
Tinwell
Tixover

Uppingham

Wardley
Whissendine
Whitwell
Wing


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Rutland's dialect

The way of speaking in Rutland during the nineteenth century was distinct from Leicestershire speech. Rutland has more in common with Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire dialects and accent. And that's significant because there are some key differences between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire pronunciation. Indeed, there is a significant dialect divide between East Midlands dialects, such as Leicestershire, and South Midlands dialects, such as Northamptonshire. Although the Rutland dialect was unique in mixing across that divide there has been only one study by an academic dialectologist and that was in the 1950s.

But, to confuse things, the Rutland way of speaking was spoken in a significant part of Leicestershire, almost as far as Leicester itself. Imagine a triangle straddling the A47 pointing towards Leicester with the wide end covering Rutland. People living in the area from Thurnby, though Billesdon, into Uppingham spoke more like the main part of Rutland than they spoke like the rest of Leicestershire. The reason is fairly obvious – people were working, seasonally or otherwise, in places along or close to what is now the A47 and travelling to Leicester or Uppingham as the need arose. People would marry partners from nearby villages and at least one of them would then have to move.

And the oddest thing about the Rutland dialect is that most people who live in Rutland now don't speak it! Since the 1950s people have moved to Rutland from elsewhere, bringing in either a different regional pronunciation or speaking with a 'socially-approved' enunciation. Until the 1990s that would be 'Received Pronunciation' (RP), otherwise known as a 'public school' accent or 'BBC English.' Such clipped 'prestigious' accents were ridiculed when Cockney-influenced 'Estuary English' became fashionable. Currently, in 2025, 'Southern Standard English' (SSE) is now favoured by the upper- and middle-class sort of folk who can afford to live in Rutland. But when in Rutland listen to shop keepers and hospitality staff. Some of the older ones may still be speaking in a softened version of Rutland's distinct variation on East Midlands accents.

Correct pronunciation of all East Midlands dialects is difficult for non-native speakers as the emphasis on syllables is opposite to southern pronunciation. So someone at, say, Heathrow Airport will talk about 'AIRcraft CAPtains.' Whereas their counterpart at, say, East Midlands Airport will say 'airCRAFT capTAINS.' East Midlands dialects all tend to drop 'h's whereas SSE (more so than traditional southern pronunciation) tends towards hypercorrection of 'h's.

This applies to place-names too. Southern Standard English has 'OAKam' whereas Leicestershire people will say 'oakUM.' Traditionally Rutland pronunciation was 'OokEM.'

Even when part of the name is elided, as with Glaston, local pronunciation still stresses the truncated syllable i.e. 'glaysUN.'

When RP or SSE speakers pronounce 'Uppingham' they distort the opening phoneme to 'EPPingham' or APPingham' (the 'A' here being the schwa vowel-sound substituted for almost all other vowels in SSE) and will tend to elide the medial 'g' while emphasising the 'h' giving 'EPPin'ham' or APPin'ham' Locals traditionally referred to the town as 'uppin-g-AM' with the 'u' and 'g' clearly enunciated, and the 'h' elided.

accent and dialect

For convenience 'dialect' is often used to mean 'accent and dialect.' But I am trying to keep them distinct on this web page. 'Accent' is how you pronounce words. 'Dialects' are the words you use. And the meanings you give some words – which may be entirely different to standard English or other nearby dialects. When someone brought up in Rutland says 'The roses are in bottle' they do not mean what you might think. Standard English would have 'The roses are in bloom.'


If accent and dialect are 'your thing' then two decades ago I wrote about Leicester(shire) accent and dialect at the start of this free PDF.


accent

The most distinctive aspect of the Rutland accent is pronouncing words such as 'beans', 'heap', 'leaves' 'meat', 'oats', 'spread' or 'wheat' as disylables. So 'be-ans', 'he-ap', 'le-aves', 'me-at', 'o-ats', 'spree-ad' (usually contracted to 'spreed') and 'whe-at.' Similarly 'suppose' becomes 'soopo-ase.'

Words such as 'accept', 'acceptable' and 'vacinate' become 'assept', 'asseptable' and 'vassinate.' 'Chance' becomes 'chanch.' 'Come' is pronounced 'coom.' 'Pretty' is pronounced with an 'e' not as if 'pritty.'

Rutland accent is less 'lazy' than the Leciester city way of speaking as middle ('medial') consonants are rarely dropped. But medial vowels are less likely to be retained. So 'reg'lar' for 'regular' in both Rutland and Leicestershire.

So it was said…

In 1902, six men and twelve horses started to move a large ash tree from the Dingle at Lyndon Park. 'The tree was raised by skidders [props] on the drug [wooden waggon] but it wembled [toppled] over. When opposite the Hall the wheels sank up hub [18 inches] so off was rolled the log to the Manton road which was more rampered [firm].'


dialect

Back in 1980 A.R. Traylen edited and published a slim booklet called Dialect in Rutland. The following examples are taken from it; there are plenty more in the booklet.

As someone brought up by parents who pronounced words the Leicester way (although shunned most dialect words and phrases) and has lived in Leicestershire for about twenty years of my life (not continuously, but in three different 'tranches') when compiling the following I was struck by how utterly unfamiliar all the expressions were. Pronunciation was more familiar, although not the same as in most parts of Leicestershire.

 

an' all added for emphasis as in 'We had a reg'lar good holiday an' all.'

all as is everything imaginable.

along of because of.

anew or enew enough.

arn learn.

as that. As in 'The last time as ever I see him.'

ax ask. This is the pronounciation used in Lincolnshire into East Anglia but not in Leicestershire.

backen retard. As in 'These frosts hev backened the roses a bit.'

bad behindhand. As in 'She got a quarter bad in her rent.'

badge botch. As in 'It's a badging job.' Cf. bodge.

badge beg; pretend to be hawking.

battling dirty. As in 'Them battling boys.'

being Standard English would use 'seeing.' Rutland usage follows Leicestershire in expressions such as 'Why shouldn't you use it, being as it's your turn.'

belching bragging; empty wind-bag.

bis is. As in 'She bis fifteen year old.'

bodge botch; patch up.

boon to help someone in expectation of a reciprocal good turn. As in when getting in hay saying 'we've come a-booning.'

bottle bloom.

brogging pushing e.g. a Dutch hoe.

bully tadpole (as in 'bull's head'?).

bunch mouth; jaw. As in 'Hold your bunch!'. Possibly a contraction of 'bunch of teeth'?

bunter disreputable woman. As in 'She stood at the gate and called me a bunter.'


cayz'd variant pronunciation of 'cast' as in 'There's a cayz'd sheep in the pasture' (i.e. turned on its back).

charm several combined noises, not necessarily melodious.

chats sticks and twigs for fuel.

cheer variant pronunciation of 'chair'.

chelp chatter. As in 'Hold your chelp!' Probably from chirping like birds.

chimly variant pronunciation of 'chimney'.

chit to sprout. As in 'His potatoes were more chitted than ourn.'

chopping turning over. As in 'The medicine will keep my guts from chopping.'

chorch variant pronunciation of 'church'.

chump thick log of wood. Used metaphorically for a sturdy child, as in 'He were a great chump of a boy.'

churching any church service (not just the Thanksgiving of Women).

clagging cutting off matted and/or dirty fleece. As in 'He's clagging the sheep.'

clap to lay, place or cast. As in 'Clap a loomp o' coal on the foire.'

clat a piece of dirt or filth. Variant pronunciation of 'clod' and 'clot.'

cliff-man stake used to support a (hay)stack. So called because they came from King's Cliffe.

clip amount of wool shorn in one season from one flock.

cloddy thick; stupid. As in 'They're cloddy pigs.'

closen pronounced 'clozen.' Plural of 'close', a small enclosed field.

coarse stormy. As in 'It's a very coarse day.'

consarn variant pronunciation of 'concern.'

contend get on. As in 'They know how to con-tend one another.'

content settle down. As in 'She began to con-tent herself.'

contrive used as a mild expletive.

convenience to accomodate. As in 'The chamber's not convenienced by a fireplace.'

crap Variant pronunciation of 'crop.'

craw throat.

cree / creed boil.

crew-yard farmyard.

crookle curly.

crowdie medicinal gruel made with flour, water and grated fat.

cubby house / cubby hutch coop or hutch for chickens, rabbits, etc.

cudgel manage. As in 'I can't cudgel it nohow.'


dahn variant pronunciation of 'dawn.'

darvil / davel devil.

day In the expression 'My neighbour just passed the time of day' meaning to give a short greeting.

deadly superlative, as in 'I was always deadly soft-hearted, I was.'

denial privation. As in 'Deafness is a great denial.'

dike used as both a noun ('ditch') and verb, as in 'He can hedge, and dyke, an' all sorts.'

ding / dung scolding. As in 'I don't want to be dung to death.'

dingle variant pronunciation of 'tingle.'

disannul abolish. As in Leicestershire this is used in everyday speech not just in formal agreements.

dither shiver, either from cold, fright or excitement.

docity / dossity / odocity ability. As in 'He had lost all his docity.'

dock withold part of wages.

doited dazed, stupid.

dote / doted rot, rotten, rotted.

dowk droop.

drug timber wagon.

dummel dull, foolish

durnst variant pronunciation of 'dare not.'


earnest customary payment of first-fruits.

eddish second crop or 'aftermath'.

Edie customary local pronunciation of name 'Edith', as in 'Edi Wesson' for 'Edith Weston.'

elver to grow soft.

eyable pleasant to the eye.


fallings windfall apples.

false / fause sly, cunning, knowing (not necessarily with any adverse connotations).

feast parish wake. As in 'She'll be thirteen come Glas'on feast .

feck / feckt antonym of 'feckless.' As in 'He's not quite feck't' ('not quite all there').

feelth feeling, sensation.

fettle to make fit, settle down. As in 'It's a nice fettling day after the storm.' Presumably a variant pronunciation of 'settle' combined with the normal usage of Middle English 'fettle', adopted widely in manufacturing industries with the sense of 'manually trim.'

fezzle litter of pigs.

field a parish or lordship. This is the pre-Enclosure usage of 'field.' Note that Wing takes its name from the Old Scandinavian vengi '(large) field.'

fill horse variant pronunciation of 'thill horse', or 'thiller' i.e. the horse between the shafts (thills) of a carriage or cart.

firk irritation, fret. As in 'She were all in a fidget and a firk.'

fistle variant pronunciation of 'thistle.'

flack in rake hay into a long row; cf. 'hack'.

flapper duckling.

fleak wattle hurdle.

flit to transport baggage. Also used with the implied wider sense of 'move home unexpectedly.'

flit to tether.

float levelling off, as in sowing a lawn.

floating plough breast plough for cutting turf.

flushing general sense of wet as in 'It it comes a flushing spring the grass comes quick.'

flusker variant pronunciation of 'fluster', especially of feathers. As in 'The hens want the ashes to flusker in.' Also with the sense of 'confused, agitated.'

fly fashionable.

form orderly. As in 'You've got the tackle all in no form, my lad!'.

freebarrow a man who cleans ditches.

frem fresh, vigorous.

frit variant pronunciation of 'frighten'; shared with Leicestershire.

frizzle / frizzled variant pronunciation of 'fried.'

frobbled confused. As in 'I get frobbled when I'm busy.'

frumety variant pronunciation of 'furmety', a dish of wheat, flour, raisins, etc.


gaffer the master; literally 'grandfather.' As in 'He's hoeing turnips for the gaffer.'

gain handy, possibly with connotation of 'cheap, inexpensive.' As in 'I will do the job as gain as I can.'

gawming lanky, ragged. As in 'Them flowers in that border, they looks so gawming.'

giffs / giffses variant pronunciation of 'gifts'.

glent past tense of 'glean'.

go used in place of preposition before place-names. As in 'They hev to go Uppin-g-ham.'

goal variant pronunciation of 'gaol'.

gooding 'Going a gooding.' Known in Standard English as 'Thomasing' i.e. begging for doles on St Thomas's Day (21st December).

goodish moderate number. As in 'A goodish few.'

good year! Expletive used when astonished.

gotten past tense of 'get'; Standard English would use 'had got.'

govel / gover variant pronunciation of 'gable'.

grace / grase / gress variant pronunciation of 'grass'.

graves sediment of tallow, sold as dog food.

graving bury. As in 'They've finished graving down the potatoes.'

great / gret 'By the gret' is equivalent to 'piece work' (as opposed to being paid by the hour or day).

grip surface drain.

guides tendons. As in 'The pains all in my guides and sinners ('sinews').'


hack rake hay into a long row. cf. 'flack in.'

hacker cough. As in 'Sometimes she seems to hacker like.'

hades variant pronunciation of 'heads' referring specifically to the headlands of ploughed fields where the plough needs to be turned.

had ought variant pronunciation of 'ought'.

hagways narrow paths in woodland; cf. 'haghog.'

hames part of a horse collar.

hance money paid to confirm a contract, otherwise known as 'earnest money' or a 'handsel'.

haghog hedgehog.

handful large quantity, possibly with the connotation of 'encumbrance' or 'challenging.' As in 'He's quite a handful!.'

happen on to meet by chance.

has often used when Standard Enlish would use 'is.' And vice versa..

haves used when Standard Enlish would use 'has.' As in 'She haves two rooms to clean.'

head best. As in 'The head way' i.e. the best method.

heap large quantity. Pronounced 'he-ap.'

heit instructing a horse to go on.

hern / hisn hers / his.

hessled dried.

hewing cry hue and cry.

higgler huckster i.e. peddlar with a cart, such as a 'coal higgler.'

hilter-wilter / hiltha-witha come what may, no matter what risk.

hoase / hoast / hoasty cough; variant pronunciation of 'hoarse' and 'husky.' As in 'I can't get shoot of my hoast' i.e. 'I can't get rid of my cough'; 'shoot of' is a variant pronunciation of 'shot of', widely used in Leicestershire as well as Rutland.

holjer instruction to 'hold off' e.g. asking someone loading a cart to stop. Standard English might have 'Hold it there.'

holpen past tense of 'help'.

holt variant pronunciation of 'hold.' As in 'Ketch holt!'.

hopper seed basket used when hand-sowing.

hot to heat. As in 'I hot her a few broth.'

house best kicthen or living room in a farmhouse. As in 'Joost step into the house' (said after the visitor has already entered).

housen houses.

hozzy nozzy getting drunk; squiffy.

hull primary sense to 'hurl' or 'throw' but also used to refer to vomiting (where Standard English would use 'throw up') and felling a tree (where Standard English would use 'topple').

hunch lump. As in 'A hunch o bread.'


ill-convenience / ill-convenient inconvenience / inconvenient.

impert impertinent, saucy. As in 'I don't think I was at all impert to him.'

improve to learn as an 'improver' (apprentice). As in 'He's no but an improver.'

indenters variant pronunciation of 'indentures'.

indulge fond of strong drink. As in 'Doos shay indoolge now?' ('Does she drink too often now?').

indite compose (music).

infarnal variant pronunciation of 'informal' but used where Standard English would use 'formal.'

intermit variant pronunciation of 'admit' or 'intromit' ('introduce').

intrust variant pronunciation of 'interest' (financial).

Irishman working on the hay harvest (used for all workers, even ones who are not Irish). cf. 'Paddy'.

is has. As in 'I am wonderful bad' i.e. 'I have been very ill.'

ivory variant pronunciation of 'ivy'.


jag small load. Presumably related to obsolete Standard English 'jagger' (carriers or peddlers who used packhorses) with the connotation that a 'jag' is the size of a packhorse load, so quite small for a horse and cart.

jib cup; portion; serving. As in 'He comes in here for a jib of tea.'

justly exactly. As in 'Ah doon't joostly know.'


keep provender (dry food or feed for livestock, such as hay or oats).

kid a faggot (bundle) of fire wood

kindell oblong washing tub.

kitlin kitten.

kittle to produce young (of cats and rabbits).

kiver variant pronunciation of 'cover'.

know to to know of a thing; knowledge. As in 'He knows to how bad it were.'


lap wrap (as with a scarf).

lather / lether variant pronunciation of 'ladder'.

lead carry hay or corn by cart; pronounced 'leed.' As in 'They are leading today.'

leason plural of 'ley', a field of grass.

lether variant pronunciation of 'leather' but used in the sense 'I'll lether you' i.e. hit you with a leather belt or strap. The etymology refers either to the use of the leather belt/strap or to the sense of 'tanning your hide'; plausibly both senses are invoked.

lief willing, willingly, soon. As in 'I'd as lief work for you as for him.'

life rogue, impish. As in 'You young life, you!' (said to a naughty child).

limb contraction of 'limb of Satan.' As in 'You young limb!' (said to a naughty child).

logerams balderdash; foolish.

lollop loll, sprawl.

lompers swellings on the gums.

lopper sour. Standard English would have '(the milk's) gone off.'

lordship parish or manor. Once Standard English but elsewhere obsolete.

lumber gossip with the sense of 'talking rubbish' giving 'lumber' the secondary sense of 'physical rubbish' (other dialects have 'rammel').


main very. As in 'I be main sorry.'

Martlemas variant pronunciation of 'Martinmas', 11th November – the day farm servants changed.

match to manage, master, comprehend. As in 'I think I can match it.'

maul harasss, fatigue. As in 'I'm clean maul'd out.'

me archaic use as pronoun as in 'me seems… ' and 'me thinks… '.

mebby variant pronunciation of 'maybe'.

mess quantity. As in 'A tidy mess of people' (and not used ironically).

mess predicament. As in 'When I was over my mess of Mary' ('birth of Mary').

meze variant pronunciation of 'maze', specifically the one at Wing.

milestone inspector tramp

mimmocking tiny. Presumably derived from 'minikin.' Usually used in reference to a delicate baby.

minch variant pronunciation of 'mince.' As in 'I won't minch it' ('I won't mince matters').

moither to keep on and on and on. Comparable to Standard English 'naggging' but presumably a variant pronunciation of 'mither' ('pester').

molluck to injure or mess up. Seeming used when about to pick up an animal or object which is delicate.

morfist sultry.

mortaring messing about.

most-in-general usually.

mother yeast necessary for beer to develop into vinegar. A small amount of this yeast needs to be sustained with sugar and water until the next batch of vinegar is required. Akin to a 'sourdough starter.'

mould / mouldy warp / molly wasp mole (the animal, not a large freckle). .

moulter to moult.

mowed congested.

mulfering close atmosphere e.g. before a thunder storm.


name to christen.

native home. As in 'Edie Wessons my native.'

nessen / nesses nests.

never no more never again.

nip move quickly. As in 'Yew nip off!' Realated to Standard English 'nippy.'

nodding type of shortbead.

nointed variant pronunciation of 'annointed'.

noising annoying. As in 'She's allus noising me.'

noist variant pronunciation of 'nice'.

noper a good hit; unclear whether usage is cricket or handicrafts.

notches runs at cricket, from an archaic way of keeping score using marks on a stick.

notified famous.

not well unwell.

nowt / owt variant pronunciation of 'naught' or 'nought' widely used where Standard English usage is 'nothing'.

oddly now and then (either time and/or place). As in 'You only see hares in the fields now oddly.'

of on, upon. As in 'Up ov a wagon.'

off of, from, off of. As in 'I bought it off Mr Brown.'

old ancient antiquated, very old.

onked awkward. As in 'It's the onkiest road as you ever see.'

oudacious variant pronunciation of 'audacious.' As in 'Them oudacious boys!'.

own to admit; confess.


pad variant pronunciation of 'path'.

Paddy used to refer to farming tasks such as mowing i.e. tasks usually done by hired, typically Irish, labour. As in 'I cut my finger when I was doing a bit of Paddy (mowing).' cf. Irishman.

passer / nail passer gimlet, bradawl.

peakin pining. As in 'A poor peakin little thing.'

peert lively. Possibly variant pronunciation of 'perky.' As in 'I felt quite peert this morning.'

pept variant pronunciation of 'peeped.' As in 'She just pept in at the window.'

pen hen-coop. Note that Rutland dialect did not use 'coop' or '(rabbit) hutch.'

picknickle wattle fence. As in 'He's picknickling today.'

pig / sow woodlouse.

piggle pick, especially lifting potatoes by hand.

pill variant pronunciation of 'peel.' As in 'they took some pilling they did.'

pingle small field. This differs from Leicestershire dialect where 'pingle' is an alleyway.

plaum to create ruts in a road or path.

plazen places.

plim 1) to plump up, fill out .

plim 2) to create ruts in a road or path.

poke bag, pocket. Also a cow's 'milk pokes.'

prick out push out, lengthen. As in 'The days begin to prick out already (in January).'

proud inflamed. As in 'His wound had a lot of proud flesh.'

puckatary drunk.

punch short, stumpy figure. As in 'He were sooch another little poonch.'

pumptial variant pronunciation of 'punctual'.


quocken choke.


logo

Raddled ewes. And what seems to be a raddled tup.


Raddleman / Ruddleman a digger of 'raddle', red iron pigment. Traditionally all residents of Rutland were termed Raddlemen or Ruddlemen.

rammil removing rushish, tidying. This is different to more northerly dialects where 'rammel' is a noun not a verb and refers to the 'rubbish' or 'junk.'

ramper / ramperway highway.

rauchy pronounced 'rorky', raw cold. As in 'It's very rauchy an' cold this marning.'

rave mess. As in 'The workmen are making a rave in the house.'

rear spit.

reckling runt.

rig / rig tree variant pronunciation of 'ridge (of a roof)'.

rightle alter, adapt, improve. As in 'I'll rightle it oop for the children's rabbits.'

rip term of criticism. As when standing by the grave of someone marked with R.I.P. and saying 'He wur an old rip, that he were!'.

roarin crying.

rogue-handled swindled, defrauded.

runlet drain.


sad heavy, especially of undercooked cakes, or badly-cooked potatoes, also stiff, heavy soil.

sammy sappy (e.g. referring to hay).

sarve variant pronunciation of 'serve'.

saw'd seen. As in 'I would like to have saw'd it.'

scheme contrive. As in 'I don't joost see how you scheme it.'

scrat scramble along. As in the expression 'We must make shift to scrat along.'

sen self. As in 'mysen' ansd 'hersen.'

senners / sinners sinews.

shack worthless, idle man. Also shacking As in 'He's a shacking chap.'

shackle knock over standing corn. As in 'After that rain the corn is so shackled that you cannot reap it.'

shale variant pronunciation of 'shell.' As in 'I've shaled the beans.'

sharp strict(ly).

shear hog teg; a full-grown lamb after its first shearing.

sheps variant pronunciation of 'shapes'.

shedder variant pronunciation of 'shudder'.

shimmy variant pronunciation of 'chemise'.

ship variant pronunciation of 'sheep'.

shoot / shool mend a rope.

shuft gust of wind.

sin variant pronunciation of 'since'.

sit In the expression 'The moon begins to sit', i.e. the moon's past full and rising later.

sizes variant pronunciation of 'assizes'.

skidders lengths of wood for getting timber onto a drug.

slabby soaked (referring to wet soil).

sleery variant pronunciation of 'slithery'; slippery (and probably muddy).

sloomy slovenly.

slope variant pronunciation of 'elope' with wider sense of 'leave stealthily'.

slorm rub.

slush / slushways slanting. As in 'Is that slush enow?'

sluthering walking slowly.

snatch on start suddenly. As in 'The horse did snatch on.'

snib variant pronunciation of 'snub'.

soggy thick. As in 'They're nice soggy pigs.'

soil to strain liquids.

solid solemn, stolid.

something better convalescing.

soodling shy, hesitant. Probably variant pronunciation of 'sideling.'

sparrowgrass asparagus. Not specific to Rutland as, during the seventeeth to nineteenth centuries, the folk-etymology 'sparrowgrass' was in widespread use because 'asparagus' was considered to have 'an air of stiffness and pedantry.'

speak after Used in the expression 'It doesn't do to speak after her' with the sense she gives unreliable information and anything she says shouldn't be passed on.

spectable variant pronunciation of 'respectable.'

spelch splinter.

splunge variant pronunciation of 'plunge'.

spur / spurrings the banns of marriage.

squandering straggling.

squench variant pronunciation of 'quench'.

stail handle for broom, hoe, etc. Variant pronunciation of 'tail.'

stall to hinder, to set fast. Originally with wider application than modern usage re engines stopping.

standard an old inhabitant.

stattis variant pronunciation of 'statute fair'.

staubens / stawbens brushwood from coppiced trees.

staunch thick, stout.

steer steep. Used to refer to hills and roofs.

sticking picking up sticks for firewood.

still sober, peaceable, respectable. As in 'Her husband's a still quiet man.'

stint written agreement about grazing rights on common land.

stock cattle.

storven swell. As in 'The o-ats don't storven out.'

stouk variant pronunciation of 'stook'; note pronounced as a disyllable 'sto-uk.'

strame to stride, specifically to measure by pacing.

strike bushel. Etymology is any excess produce in the measuring container had been 'stricken off' level.

strinkling variant pronunciation of 'sprinkling'.

stunt short-tempered, stubbon.

supper variant pronunciation of 'supperate'.

supper evening feed for horses.

suppose used to express doubt. As in 'I suppose he'll be back a-Friday.'

for sure / you're sure used to express confidence. Now part of Standard English but originally not commonly used.

swailings wax dripping from a candle.

swallow pit eddy or whirlpool in a river.

swee variant pronunciation of 'sway'.


take up the weather has cleared up.

tane / taen variant pronunciation of 'taken'.

tarrier variant pronunciation of 'terrier' (whether dog or survey of an estate).

tawer currier (leather-dresser); see also 'whittire'.

tear tear down, demolish.

teem to pour down with rain.

telegraft variant pronunciation of 'telegraph.' Before electrical telegraphs used to refer to beacons.

tennis to rebound into something.

thack variant pronunciation of 'thatch', especially the covering of a bee hive (otherwise called a 'hackle').

that… as 'so… that' in Standard English. As in 'She were that drenched as you might have drawn water from her apurn.'

they those.

throm variant pronunciation of 'from'.

throng crowded (used as adjective not noun).

thurrow variant pronunciation of 'furrow'.

(not the) ticket not as right as might be.

tidd fond.

tiddy tiny.

till while. And 'while' is used for Standard English 'till.'

tipe variant pronunciation of 'tip' (e.g. empty a load from a cart).

tistle variant pronunciation of 'thistle'.

to for. As in 'I's nobbut dry bread to my dinner' or 'Will you take any mustard to your beef?'

token foretell. As in the expression 'It tokens rain.'

toting peep or spy, pronounced 'tooting.' As in 'She came to tooting in at the window.'

trade trouble. As in 'She made such a trade of it.'

tray wattle hurdle.

trig narrow path in a wood.

trowse rubbish.

turps variant pronunciation of 'turnips'.

tushes variant pronunciation of 'tusks' but probably referring to 'teeth'.


up of upon.


wankling weakling.

warrand variant pronunciation of 'warrant'.

was went away, have been gone. As in 'I never was from Thorpe to Stahmford afoor.'

washing tray wooden laundry tub.

we / weer / wer our. As in 'We'm not 'ed weer lunch.'

welt seam.

welt to beat.

wemble topple over.

wesh variant pronunciation of 'wash'.

while / whiles / whilst until.

whingeling whining, fretful.

whippet thin, slightly-made person.

Whissuntide / Whissun variant pronunciation of 'Whitsun(tide)'; Standard English now contracts to 'Whit.'

whittire variant pronunciation of 'whittower' i.e. harness-maker who used 'whit-leather' ('white leather').

whittle clasp knife.

who whose. As in 'Who be them ship ('sheep')?'

whull / whully variant pronunciation of 'whole'.

whum variant pronunciation of 'home'.

windmill an illiterate person's 'X' signature.

windore variant pronunciation of 'window'.

wire / wyre variant pronunciation of 'weir'.

woh variant pronunciation of 'who' with the 'h' aspirated.

wools weevils.

worrit variant pronunciation of 'worry'.

wrispun cuffs.

wuts variant pronunciation of 'oats'.


yah variant pronunciation of 'you'.

yate variant pronunciation of 'gate'.

yokings amount of water that could be carried using a yoke (with 'six yokings' considered a lot).

yourn variant pronunciation of 'yours.' As in 'It bisn't yourn.'


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