Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/25

12 S. I. JAN. 1, 1916.1

NOTES AND QUERIES.

19 (11 S. xii. 481).—An artist named William Beetham nourished about the time indicated by your correspondent. He exhibited sixteen pictures in the Royal Academy, all of which were portraits, between the years 1834-53 from three different addresses in London. Among them were Hon. Reginald and Randolph Capel (1842), 'Group of Portraits' (1844), and Mrs. W. Beetham (1852).

(US. xii. 442).—"And that red earth runs from Devonshire right up to Cumberland, and wherever you find red earth you find apples." This remark was made to me, years ago, by an elderly gentleman having association with Devonshire. I give it for anything it may be worth, on the chance of its being of interest to.

"JERRY-BUILDER" (11 S. xii. 482). Colloquially " Jerry-builder " is certainly older than the late " sixties." I lived in Liverpool from 1862 to 1866, and was familiar with it, I may say, for the whole of that time, though I never heard any ex- planation of it. My recollection is that it was accepted as a well-understood word that needed no explanation, though to me it was quite new. C. C. B.

Lowland Scotch, as Spoken in the Lower Strathearn District of Perthshire. By Sir James Wilson, K.C.S.I. With Foreword by W. A. Craigie, LL.D. (Oxford University Press, 5s. net.)

THAT branch of Northern English which is known as Lowland Scotch is gradually losing its function as a medium of intercourse, and is tending to wane into desuetude. At one time it had universal sway in the middle and south of the country; and less than a century ago it was spoken, and even written, by people of culture and position. Some still living can recall how it was used, vigorously and with sure grip of idiom, within the learned purlieus of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Now, for various reasons, notably the more direct and larger intercourse with England and fuller educational advantages than existed of yore, all this has undergone and is undergoing a radically transforming change. English vocabulary and phraseology are now fashionable as they used not to be ; and, as Lowland Scotch is not generally taught in schools, it is gradually losing its hold as a colloquial factor, and begins to have literary value as an exceptional feature, and sometimes merely as an experiment. Thus the poems of Burns and the vernacular dialogues in the Waverley Novels are less generally understood in Scotland than they once

were, and readily yield their full significance only to experts and such as have not quite lost hold of the national tradition.

Forty years ago the late Sir James Murray realized that the disintegrating process was at work ; and, when he published his ' Dialects of the Southern Counties of Scotland,' he expressed the hope, as Sir James Wilson now recalls, that " a omplete dictionary of the northern variety of English speech would be compiled." Jamieson's book, which is a century old, was a remarkable achievement for its time ; but, while it maintains standard value as a storehouse of reference, it naturally contains less than the modern student requires. Materials are now being prepared for the production of such a work as was adumbrated by Sir James Murray, and meanwhile Sir James Wilson, in his systematic and minutely elaborated volume, does yeoman service by delineating the folk-speech of his native district. Familiar with this in his youth, he now gives it a literary Sitting, aided by local experts whom he distinguishes as his authorities in a photographic frontispiece. He explains that he takes responsibility only for the speech prevalent in the parish of Dunning, and he adds, " When I describe words or ex- pressions as ' Scotch,' I mean Scotch as at present spoken in the Lower Strathearn district of Perth- shire." Concerning himself only with forms and sounds, he proffers a \vell-arranged and interesting record, fully warranting Dr. Craigie's compliment on finding that the study " has been car/ied out with so much thoroughness, and presents so complete a survey of its special theme." Choosing a comparatively simple system of pronunciation, he adopts the grammatical method, and, after fully illustrating the uses of vowels and consonants, proceeds seriatim through the various parts of speech. Then he gives an attractive Series of word-lists, following these with proverbs, idio- matic expressions, and so forth, and closing with illustrative riddles and different types of verse. In the issue he produces a compact and fairly exhaustive presentment of his engaging subject.

Rigidly applying his scheme of pronunciation, Sir James Wilson is occasionally constrained to give forms that outwardly differ from their literary equivalents. " Ane " meaning one, for instance, as we find it in the best authors, has to appear as " ain," which besides causes it to conflict with the possessive adjective " ain " for own. On the author's plan the contracted form " ae " has to be written " ay," which makts ib clash with the affirmative interjection. A famous idiom in consequence becomes " aw ayoo," which looks strange. Then the incautious reader may become bewildered over " bray " for brae, " caanay " for canny, " coal " for cole, a, haycock,- " gouun " for gowan, " ruil " for rule, " unkul " for uncle, and other peculiarities, all of which are to be regretted, even if they are inevitable. One dislikes also " haim " in the sense of home, and recalls Sir Walter Scott as he murmured in his distress, " Hame, hame, hame ! " Sir Jarres Wilson says that in Lower Strathearn " hoakh " (hough) means thif/h, which seems odd. Both in text and glossary " staig " is defined as stallion, whereas elsewhere in Scotland (even just over the Ochils) the staig is an unbroken colt or filly. Obviously, as the author says, one thing to be learnt from this valuable book is that " the indigenous speech of the people varies consider- ably from district to district."