Norman Abbey; A Tale of Sherwood Forest. By a Lady. In Three Volumes.
Author Details
Surname:Cursham
First Names:Mary Anne
Gender:Female
Anonymous:No
Publication Details
Publisher:James Cochrane and Co., 11, Waterloo Place, Pall Mall.
Place:London
Date:1832
Novel Details
Genre:Courtship; domestic; historical; inheritance/identity; manners/society; travel
Setting:Abbey; London; Nottinghamshire
Period:1651-1750 (1680s)
Plot
Assumed to be a thinly-veiled account of the life of Lord Byron, but with a happy ending. Lord Evelyn Fontayne (Byron?) unexpectedly inherits Norman Abbey and other properties in the Sherwood Forest, falls in love with Bertha (unrequited), travels the world, returns, lives in London and enjoys London society for a time before returning to Norman Abbey. Lord Evelyn is figured as a tortured, angry, and often depressed, poet / philosopher. During his long absences, the narrative focuses on the lives of those left behind. Interestingly, in addition to friends and family, the lives and stories of many of the Abbey's domestic staff feature (although the Scottish housekeeper's son, Andrew, is rumoured to be the lovechild of Fontayne's father). Another narrative strand in this complex tale concerns Evelyn's father's first marriage overseas, and the 'new' family that appears after this discovery.
Overview of the Dialect
Most of the domestic staff, and some other local characters have Nottinghamshire dialects accorded to them, and some are more marked than others. The elderly housekeeper, Mattie, has very densely marked Scots dialect, and this is sustained over long sections of dialogue (16 pages of almost uninterrupted, very densely marked dialogue as she relates the circumstances of her son, Andrew's, birth). There are some other quite sustained examples: musicians, for example (although not so marked). Occasional metalinguistic commentary and some glossing of dialect words in farmer's (Notts.) dialogue.
Speaker #1:Peter - Woodman- 'a member of that useful community of "hewers of wood and drawers of water"' (vol 1, p. 4)
Individual or Group:Individual
Primary Identity:Woodman
Gender:Male
Age:Adult - elderly
Narrative Voice:3rd person
Role:Peripheral
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Social Role
Social Role Description:Woodman- 'a member of that useful community of "hewers of wood and drawers of water"' (vol 1, p. 4)
Social Role Category:Servant
Speaker's Origin
Place of Origin Description:Assumed local to setting - Nottingham (Sherwood Forest)
Place of Origin Category:Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, Midlands England, England
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
"Good lack-a-day!" said the old man as he turned his ear from the storm without, to watch the movements of a band of merry minstrels, who were, just at that moment, crossing the hall on their way to the banqueting-room, where a number of guests were assembled to partake of the annual festivities given in commemoration of the return of Richard de la Fontayne to the seat of his ancestors-- "Good lack-a-day!" repeated he, in a louder tone, "what a storm 's brewing o'er Shirland Hills! it's better to keep this huge bonfire a-going, than to herd with the foxes in Grassmoor cover. God help the poor wayfaring traveller, whom business or necessity sends forth on such a night as this! I'd not change places with him, no--not to be King Charles himself!--But stay," thought honest Peter, whose conscience began to upbraid him for his self-complacent boasts, "I don't know why I should be better served than my neighbours! 'Who made thee to differ,' as Master Jeremiah Faithful said in his last text, 'or what hast thou, which thou hast not received?'
"But I reckon," continued he, glancing at the tuneful choir, now stationed against one of the inner arches, "the storm may rage on for aught those wassailers at the other end of the abbey know or care o' the matter. They've lights enow to turn midnight into noon-day, and music and revelling enough to deafen the winds, and flagons o' costly wines to drive away care;-- alack ! alack !" and old Peter shook his grey locks ominously.
(Vol. 1,p. 4-5)"But I reckon," continued he, glancing at the tuneful choir, now stationed against one of the inner arches, "the storm may rage on for aught those wassailers at the other end of the abbey know or care o' the matter. They've lights enow to turn midnight into noon-day, and music and revelling enough to deafen the winds, and flagons o' costly wines to drive away care;-- alack ! alack !" and old Peter shook his grey locks ominously.
Speaker #2:Margery - Housekeeper
Individual or Group:Individual
Primary Identity:Mistress Margery, the housekeeper
Gender:Female
Age:Adult - middle aged
Narrative Voice:3rd person
Role:Peripheral
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Vocabulary
Social Role
Social Role Description:Housekeeper
Social Role Category:Servant
Speaker's Origin
Place of Origin Description:Assumed local to setting of text - Nottingham (Sherwood Forest)
Place of Origin Category:Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, Midlands England, England
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Vocabulary
"More simpleton he!" said the housekeeper, with a knowing toss of her head; "they may well say 'A fool and his money are soon parted!' Now if I was my lord, I'd never waste it o' this fashion. Why doesn't he keep up the old place a little, and save something for a rainy day, besides paying off the old servants, an' making 'em a bit comfortable in their old age?"
"Nay, I 've no fault to find with my lord," said the old man ; "the Fontaynes are a true an' honourable house."
" Well , but," returned the peace-marring Mistress Margery, "it's hard when folks have stuck by 'em thick and thin, not to be considered, that's all I have to say: it's o' no manner of use to talk of honour, an' all that, when the means is gone . Now , suppose the Fontaynes spend all their substance in riotous living, what will you, or Peter, (I say nothing about Mattie, she's feathered her nest, I'll be bound for it ,) or Ralph, or me, do in the next generation?-- Eh, Master Lenthal?--I should like to know that ."
"Why, to be sure, if they go on as they've begun, it 's like they'll be ate up," replied old Francis.
"Gracious preserve us!" suddenly exclaimed the housekeeper, "what a yule block Peter's laid on the grate! I declare it's the root of an hundred year oak: we shall have the abbey burnt down. There again for ye , Master Lenthal, if I'm not here, there, and every where, things go to sixes and sevens. Move that log away, I say," turning sharply to Peter, "and don't sit crowdling there like an old hare in a thunder-storm."
"The Lord be good unto us!" screamed she, as the fire blazed with tenfold fury under the application of Peter's rigorous efforts to detach the ponderous log. "Let it alone, let it alone; you'll only make it burn the faster: look what a bonfire you've kindled! Lack-a-daisy ! one would think you hadn't a grain of sense." And on went the restless clapper of Mistress Margery, scolding and rating for a fault she had herself occasioned, and laboriously endeavouring to prove it an unpardonable offence.
(Vol. 1,p. 16-18)"Nay, I 've no fault to find with my lord," said the old man ; "the Fontaynes are a true an' honourable house."
" Well , but," returned the peace-marring Mistress Margery, "it's hard when folks have stuck by 'em thick and thin, not to be considered, that's all I have to say: it's o' no manner of use to talk of honour, an' all that, when the means is gone . Now , suppose the Fontaynes spend all their substance in riotous living, what will you, or Peter, (I say nothing about Mattie, she's feathered her nest, I'll be bound for it ,) or Ralph, or me, do in the next generation?-- Eh, Master Lenthal?--I should like to know that ."
"Why, to be sure, if they go on as they've begun, it 's like they'll be ate up," replied old Francis.
"Gracious preserve us!" suddenly exclaimed the housekeeper, "what a yule block Peter's laid on the grate! I declare it's the root of an hundred year oak: we shall have the abbey burnt down. There again for ye , Master Lenthal, if I'm not here, there, and every where, things go to sixes and sevens. Move that log away, I say," turning sharply to Peter, "and don't sit crowdling there like an old hare in a thunder-storm."
"The Lord be good unto us!" screamed she, as the fire blazed with tenfold fury under the application of Peter's rigorous efforts to detach the ponderous log. "Let it alone, let it alone; you'll only make it burn the faster: look what a bonfire you've kindled! Lack-a-daisy ! one would think you hadn't a grain of sense." And on went the restless clapper of Mistress Margery, scolding and rating for a fault she had herself occasioned, and laboriously endeavouring to prove it an unpardonable offence.
Extract #2 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Vocabulary
"Ah! that's what I say," replied the self-sufficient Margery: "it 's an evil conscience; so long as one does nobody any harm, what need one be afraid? 'Alse,' says I , to the poor scaddled wench , 'how dost think folk can get away out o' the t'other world? If they're gone to a good place, they don't want to come back again; and if they're gone to a bad one they can't " and pleased with the favourable interpretation which Peter's words seemed to cast upon her constitutional hardihood, she drew near him, and added in a whisper, "I 'm not surprised, however, the servants don't like sleeping in that room, for nobody gets their rest properly, and they're all in the same tale, that's certain."
Extract #3 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Vocabulary
She muttered a thousand curses upon "meddling folks --wished the young gentlewoman had kept where she was--there were plenty to wait on besides visitors. I declare it's enough to try one's patience out," said the patient Margery, as she walked towards the door;-- "old Peter's but just off my hands, an' Mattie so helpless, I 'm forced to let one of the wenches look after her a bit, or there'd be a pretty hue and cry with my lady, for she makes a bigger fuss nor ever with the crazy old soul. It passes my wit now to find out what they see in a poor creature as sits rockin' herself day after day, gutterin' an' mutterin' about what's nought. Well , it's clear she's enough to reflect on. I wouldn't be in her place for a deal ."
(Vol. 3,p. 51)Speaker #3:Mattie - Domestic
Individual or Group:Group
Primary Identity:Old housekeeper (retained)
Gender:Female
Age:Adult - elderly
Narrative Voice:3rd person
Role:Minor
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Social Role
Social Role Description:Domestic
Social Role Category:Servant
Speaker's Origin
Place of Origin Description:Scottish
Place of Origin Category:Scotland
From early habit, Miss Dunmore had grown accustomed to her dialect; and Mattie, to whom her old tongue was endeared by pleasant associations, loved to talk with Rose, because "she did not," as she said " fash her about speaking English fashion, which she did na like ."
(Vol. 3,p. 190-1)Extract #2 dialect features: Grammar, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
" dinna clatter o' things ye ken naething about," replied the old woman, who after an absence of thirty years from the 'Land o' Cakes,' retained such a predilection for her early acquired tongue, as made her cleave to it pertinaciously in defiance of absence, time, and the constant hearing of another dialect.
(Vol. 1,p. 72)Extract #3 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
"Ohon! it's a weary thing to see anes sell drapping awa' by inches like the leaves o' autumn; but it is na the thing to be maundering about neither; it's a matter o' necessity; we maun a' drap aff at the fa' o' the leaf. Aweel! aweel!" continued she, endeavouring to shake off the melancholy thoughts which were stealing over her, "Heaven be praisit! there are things that bide for ever an' aye . Time canna dunt 'em, nor the winter's wind whistle them awa'; but they're green an' caller frae ane year's end to anither . Yon braw ivy, now, flaughterin ' aboon the window sill, suld teach me a better lesson than to be doited at the dispensations of Providence, wha aye kens what is best for us, an wha testifieth, by his written word, that these light tribulations, (though I canna but say they're a great weight just nou ,)" added the simple old woman, " wark out for us an exceeding weight of glory!"
(Vol. 3,p. 2-3)Extract #4 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Scotland was my hame . My kinswoman, ye mind , was married to the Earl o' Dalkeith's bailiff, an' they livit on the lands o' Dalkeith abread the was o' the castle, and a braw castle it was. Ay! mony 's the time I've daundered by the braeside on a clear moonlight e'en , wi' the stars twinklin' aboon me, an' the green grass o' the park under my feet, watchin' the high towers of the castle peepin' amang the tall trees, an' the yellow light frae the windows flickerin' upo' the branches, an' the bonnie deer lyin' under the trees, an' the air sae caller , and nae sound stirrin' but aiblins the fairy folk aneath the aik tree, dancin' to the canty sang o' the grasshopper. Ohon! thae were pleasant days," sighed the old woman, "for I was a blythe lassie , an' a gude ane . I kent nane o' the warld's deceit. I was nae warklume for ither folk's sinfu' devices. I could gang merrily about the house, an' lilt a tune wi' the best o' 'em . I was up wi' the laverock , an' down wi' ' the lamb, an' a' folks ca'd me a sonsie lassie . They could na say mair , ye ken , for the yerl's dochter was ca'd the bonnie flowre o' Enbrugh ( an' Dalkeith is but the matter of four or five miles frae the great city). Alack! alack! she 's gane lang syne , an' I 'm left an auld wither'd stump without leaf or branch forbye that crabbit blastie , Andrew, puir fallow ! I maun forgive him' said Mattie, in a self-convicting tone, "he's a thorn i' the flesh, sent to bring my sins to remembrance. I maunna withstand the rod that dunts me. It's aye for the gude o' the saul . Weel , as I was sayin', " continued she, "I dinna forget bonnie Scotland for a' the weary years I 've been awa' ; nor do I forget the auld countess, or the young leddy . I ken na muckle o' the yerl ; he was a douse man, but snell withal, and married his lady of a strange fashion! Auld wives wad whiles crack about it, and the story ran thus.
(Vol. 3,p. 192-3)Speaker #4:Davie plus others unnamed - Musicians
Individual or Group:Group
Primary Identity:Musicians
Gender:Male
Age:Adult - unspecified age
Narrative Voice:3rd person
Role:Peripheral
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Social Role
Social Role Description:Musicians
Social Role Category:Trade or craft
Speaker's Origin
Place of Origin Description:Assumed local to setting of text - Nottingham (Sherwood Forest)
Place of Origin Category:Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, Midlands England, England
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Speakers: All , Davie plus others unnamed
" Dost hear that?" said the man to the blind Orpheus, when the king was gone; "it's a nice look-out for thee , Davie; it's well to be born wi' a silver spoon i' one's mouth. By'r leddy! it 'ed bin a fine time afore I'd getten sich luck. Oi wunder who it is now--some great lord or duke t'on?"
"I don't care whether he's a lord or duke, returned David conceitedly. "I'd no more care playin' afore the king his own sen than note . He is but a man after aw ; an' they say he loikes a bit o' good music as well as ony lad or lass at a wake. Howsome'er this chap's not much amiss for that ; oi couldn't see him, to be sure, but I heard him gi' a grunt when thou mis't hafe a bar, an' th' counter run a thought too flat."
" It 's a greet lie, now then, Davie; an' if I hed thee downstairs, I 'd gi' thee a good threshing ; it wor thysen as wor hafe a bar too fast, an' thou mun lay it to me ! Loo' thee yonder ," said he, with a malicious grin, " there 's thy fine friend laughing an' makin' faces as he pints to thee . He no but made gam' on thee , when he ax'd thee to go to Lon'on. "
The rival performer never discovered the bull which his jealousy had elicited, till his eye caught the sightless orbs of David upturned, as he bent his head down to his instrument, to ascertain its correctness of tone, drawing his bowstring across with the confident air of a dilettante . The sight disarmed him instantly. " Oi say, Davie, man ," resumed he, coaxingly, " thou mo'nt care about what I sed just now; I wor but in a passion; there's note as raises me loike hearin' folks brag o' their cleverness, I reckon it woss nor a cow drinkin' her own milk."
(Vol. 1,p. 103-5)"I don't care whether he's a lord or duke, returned David conceitedly. "I'd no more care playin' afore the king his own sen than note . He is but a man after aw ; an' they say he loikes a bit o' good music as well as ony lad or lass at a wake. Howsome'er this chap's not much amiss for that ; oi couldn't see him, to be sure, but I heard him gi' a grunt when thou mis't hafe a bar, an' th' counter run a thought too flat."
" It 's a greet lie, now then, Davie; an' if I hed thee downstairs, I 'd gi' thee a good threshing ; it wor thysen as wor hafe a bar too fast, an' thou mun lay it to me ! Loo' thee yonder ," said he, with a malicious grin, " there 's thy fine friend laughing an' makin' faces as he pints to thee . He no but made gam' on thee , when he ax'd thee to go to Lon'on. "
The rival performer never discovered the bull which his jealousy had elicited, till his eye caught the sightless orbs of David upturned, as he bent his head down to his instrument, to ascertain its correctness of tone, drawing his bowstring across with the confident air of a dilettante . The sight disarmed him instantly. " Oi say, Davie, man ," resumed he, coaxingly, " thou mo'nt care about what I sed just now; I wor but in a passion; there's note as raises me loike hearin' folks brag o' their cleverness, I reckon it woss nor a cow drinkin' her own milk."
Extract #2 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Speakers: All , Davie plus others unnamed
" Oi say, Davie," said the before-mentioned performer to the blind harmonist, " thou wa'nt so much off o't mark, when't talk'd o' playin' afore t' king, for I heard that foine chap wi' a fule's cap cry out, 'majesty,' to one o' O'd Noll's sogers ."
"By'r ledd!" cried a raw-boned youth, " hed he a crown on?"
"Crown!" repeated David, contemptuously, "they don't wear their crowns i' th' house; dost think, now, they go dizen'd out o' that fashion? they no but wear 'em when they go to Parliment , loike , or sit i' their thrones on a set day, loike King Herod."
"By Guy! if it should be the king, though!" said one. "Oi niver thote o' that, lad. If they'd hed twenty crowns o' their yeds , I shud no but ha' thote it hed bin sham."
"Nor me, nother ," said another; " loike plow -bullocks or morris-dancers."
"You may be mistaken, either way," said the dapper serving-man, before alluded to, looking mysteriously.
" Yo mane right one way, Mister Maurice; he mun be aither t' on or t' other."
"If it wa' the king," cried one, " oi saw the queen."
"There is never a queen," answered one of the househould.
" Oi know better nor that," replied the musician, sturdily; "th' king 's as mony woives as Solomon, or concuboines t' on."
"More fule he!" said old David, who was cursed with an uneasy rib; "one at a time's enough for ony body."
"Oi know who wa' t' queen o' em aw , though," put in the youngster; "it wa' our young missis. Moi eye how grand it wa' !"
" Sich a power o' foine folks," echoed another, " an' yet t' wa' but child's play after a' ."
"Well, now," exclaimed a young wiseacre, whom the wits of the village had christened Philosopher Sam, "I see note at a' in it. To be sure there wa' a soight o' goodly company an' rustlin' o' silks an' satins. An' some look'd merry, one can't help sayin' ; but then, agen , it wa' all gone, loike the cracklin' o' thorns under a pot, as the wise man says. An' there wa' a black-looking chap, stridin' up an' down th' room, jist for aw the world as if he'd come out on a charnel-house."
"Thou 'rt quoite right, Sam," added another, "it's not hafe so much fun as dancin' round the May-pole, or Punch at a fair."
"Or a gam' at long-stick," said the youth.
"Does thou ring th' pancake-bell, next Shrove Tuesday?" inquired the last-mentioned speaker.
"No," answered he, "Dick Halliday 's the biggest 'prentice."
"Ah? I thote thy time wa' out next month, an' Jack Gibbs, the blacksmith's lad, th' week after."
(Vol. 1,p. 135-7)"By'r ledd!" cried a raw-boned youth, " hed he a crown on?"
"Crown!" repeated David, contemptuously, "they don't wear their crowns i' th' house; dost think, now, they go dizen'd out o' that fashion? they no but wear 'em when they go to Parliment , loike , or sit i' their thrones on a set day, loike King Herod."
"By Guy! if it should be the king, though!" said one. "Oi niver thote o' that, lad. If they'd hed twenty crowns o' their yeds , I shud no but ha' thote it hed bin sham."
"Nor me, nother ," said another; " loike plow -bullocks or morris-dancers."
"You may be mistaken, either way," said the dapper serving-man, before alluded to, looking mysteriously.
" Yo mane right one way, Mister Maurice; he mun be aither t' on or t' other."
"If it wa' the king," cried one, " oi saw the queen."
"There is never a queen," answered one of the househould.
" Oi know better nor that," replied the musician, sturdily; "th' king 's as mony woives as Solomon, or concuboines t' on."
"More fule he!" said old David, who was cursed with an uneasy rib; "one at a time's enough for ony body."
"Oi know who wa' t' queen o' em aw , though," put in the youngster; "it wa' our young missis. Moi eye how grand it wa' !"
" Sich a power o' foine folks," echoed another, " an' yet t' wa' but child's play after a' ."
"Well, now," exclaimed a young wiseacre, whom the wits of the village had christened Philosopher Sam, "I see note at a' in it. To be sure there wa' a soight o' goodly company an' rustlin' o' silks an' satins. An' some look'd merry, one can't help sayin' ; but then, agen , it wa' all gone, loike the cracklin' o' thorns under a pot, as the wise man says. An' there wa' a black-looking chap, stridin' up an' down th' room, jist for aw the world as if he'd come out on a charnel-house."
"Thou 'rt quoite right, Sam," added another, "it's not hafe so much fun as dancin' round the May-pole, or Punch at a fair."
"Or a gam' at long-stick," said the youth.
"Does thou ring th' pancake-bell, next Shrove Tuesday?" inquired the last-mentioned speaker.
"No," answered he, "Dick Halliday 's the biggest 'prentice."
"Ah? I thote thy time wa' out next month, an' Jack Gibbs, the blacksmith's lad, th' week after."
Speaker #5:Narrator (third person) - Individual
Individual or Group:Individual
Primary Identity:Narrator (third person)
Gender:Unknown
Age:Child
Narrative Voice:3rd person
Role:Central
Dialect Features:Grammar, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Social Role
Social Role Description:
Social Role Category:
Speaker's Origin
Place of Origin Description:
Place of Origin Category:Unspecified
Extract #1 dialect features: Metalanguage
"And wherefore should it have no language at all, ma belle soeur? " said he, smiling at his sister's broken English, and curious inversion of sentences, which, to avoid the appearance of affectation, we forbear to transcribe literally.
(Vol. 3,p. 159) From early habit, Miss Dunmore had grown accustomed to her dialect; and Mattie, to whom her old tongue was endeared by pleasant associations, loved to talk with Rose, because "she did not," as she said " fash her about speaking English fashion, which she did na like ."
(Vol. 3,p. 190-1)Extract #3 dialect features: Metalanguage
Speakers: All , Narrator (third person)
'cock-shut eve' [to footnote: 'Twilight']
(Vol. 3,p. 226)Extract #4 dialect features: Grammar, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
" dinna clatter o' things ye ken naething about," replied the old woman, who after an absence of thirty years from the 'Land o' Cakes,' retained such a predilection for her early acquired tongue, as made her cleave to it pertinaciously in defiance of absence, time, and the constant hearing of another dialect.
(Vol. 1,p. 72)