Page:The ancient language, and the dialect of Cornwall.djvu/76

5G The following speecH -said to have been made at a farmer's dinner not far from Wadebridge will serve as an illustration. Whether it referred to landlords, or to tenants, is not certain, perhaps to both. " Eff yiew wur te dew, as yiew oft te dew, yiew wud dew a guddel bettur then yiew dew dew." Compare this with the miners' dialect as in this sentence : ^^ That's awnly paart uv et, 'tes my belief thee doan't knaw whan thee'rt wale awf. In the Cornish dialect we find ordinary English words, a large number of old English words, many of which seem spoken as in the time of Chaucer, and as before noticed a great number of names of places, persons, &c., derived from the old Celtic language of Cornwall. The following is a specimen of the dialect in a form which is fast becoming disused : — "A es pinnikin, palchy, an totelin, a es clicky, an cloppy, an a kiddles, an quaddles oal daa, — Tes wisht." which, turned into the ordinary English, means, " He is little, weakly, and imbecile, he is left-handed and lame, and he fidgets idly about all the day long. Tis sad." It is not the object of the writer to explain to any great extent, the origin of such words, such a task is very wil- lingly left to the practical philologist, who certainly has a wide field for his exertions in dealing with the dialect of Cornwall. That there are many common word^ and even