GE to William Allingham, London, 8 March 1877
Title
GE to William Allingham, London, 8 March 1877
Title
GE to William Allingham, London, 8 March 1877
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
William Allingham
Date(s)
- 1877-03-08
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to William Allingham, London, 8 March 1877
MS: Privately owned. Published: Cross, III, 303-305.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
March 8. 77.
Dear Mr. Allingham
Mr. Lewes feels himself innocent of dialect in general and of Midland d[ialect] in especial. Hence I presume to take your reference on the subject 618 as if it had been addressed to me. I was born and bred in Warwickshire, and heard the Leicestershire, North Staffordshire and Derbyshire dialects during visits made in my childhood and youth.
These last are represented (mildly) in [Adam Bede.] The Warwickshire talk is broader and has characteristics which it shares with other Mercian districts.
Moreover dialect, like other living things, tends to become mongrel, especially in a central fertile and manufacturing region attractive of migration: and hence the Midland talk presents less interesting relics of elder grammar than the more northerly dialects.
Perhaps unless a poet has a dialect ringing in his ears, so as to shape his metre and rhymes according to it at one jet, it is better to be content with a few suggestive touches, and I fear that the stupid public is not half grateful for studies in dialect beyond such suggestions. I have made a few notes, which may perhaps be not unacceptable to you, in the absence of more accomplished aid.
We hope soon to hear that Mrs. Allingham is as flourishing as Baby.
Mr. Lewes is pretty well again, and for the last fortnight I have been taking his place as the household invalid.
Yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
The vowel always a double sound -- the y sometimes present, sometimes not: either a'e4l or ya'e4l. Hither not heard except in C' moother addressed to horses.
Thou never heard. In general the 2d pers. sing. not used in W. except occasionally to young members of a family and then always in the form of thee i.e. 'ee. Can't pron. Cawn't. For the emphatic nominative Yo, like the Lancashire. For the accusative Yer, without any sound of the r.
Not year but 'ear. On the other hand with the usual [compensation] head is pronounced yead.
"A gallows little chap as e'er yer see."
Heres to yer, Ma'e4ster. Sa'e4me to yo.
Never V.
The demonstrative those never heard among the common people (unless when caught by infection from the parson etc.).
Self pron. Sen.
The f never heard in of, nor the n in in.
Perhaps, however, these imperfect indications may only determine you to reject all but the faintest signs of dialect in your well-to-do farmers who have been to London.
MS: Privately owned. Published: Cross, III, 303-305.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
March 8. 77.
Dear Mr. Allingham
Mr. Lewes feels himself innocent of dialect in general and of Midland d[ialect] in especial. Hence I presume to take your reference on the subject 618 as if it had been addressed to me. I was born and bred in Warwickshire, and heard the Leicestershire, North Staffordshire and Derbyshire dialects during visits made in my childhood and youth.
These last are represented (mildly) in [Adam Bede.] The Warwickshire talk is broader and has characteristics which it shares with other Mercian districts.
Moreover dialect, like other living things, tends to become mongrel, especially in a central fertile and manufacturing region attractive of migration: and hence the Midland talk presents less interesting relics of elder grammar than the more northerly dialects.
Perhaps unless a poet has a dialect ringing in his ears, so as to shape his metre and rhymes according to it at one jet, it is better to be content with a few suggestive touches, and I fear that the stupid public is not half grateful for studies in dialect beyond such suggestions. I have made a few notes, which may perhaps be not unacceptable to you, in the absence of more accomplished aid.
We hope soon to hear that Mrs. Allingham is as flourishing as Baby.
Mr. Lewes is pretty well again, and for the last fortnight I have been taking his place as the household invalid.
Yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
The vowel always a double sound -- the y sometimes present, sometimes not: either a'e4l or ya'e4l. Hither not heard except in C' moother addressed to horses.
Thou never heard. In general the 2d pers. sing. not used in W. except occasionally to young members of a family and then always in the form of thee i.e. 'ee. Can't pron. Cawn't. For the emphatic nominative Yo, like the Lancashire. For the accusative Yer, without any sound of the r.
Not year but 'ear. On the other hand with the usual [compensation] head is pronounced yead.
"A gallows little chap as e'er yer see."
Heres to yer, Ma'e4ster. Sa'e4me to yo.
Never V.
The demonstrative those never heard among the common people (unless when caught by infection from the parson etc.).
Self pron. Sen.
The f never heard in of, nor the n in in.
Perhaps, however, these imperfect indications may only determine you to reject all but the faintest signs of dialect in your well-to-do farmers who have been to London.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to William Allingham, London, 8 March 1877, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/94174