51
Oakley, Peregrine (1824)
Biography; Courtship; Domestic; Fantasy; Manners / Society; Satirical; London;
Dialect Speakers
2.
interlocutor
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Metalanguage, Orthographical Respelling
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Metalanguage, Orthographical Respelling
I overheard the following colloquy between two swarthy looking gentlemen, who had called for the purposes of refreshment. "Well, Monsieur Noyaux," said one of them, "I think you must acknowledge, that this is as good as any of Monsieur Verigo's potage." "Bon, bon !" was the reply of the other, who would not allow himself time to say more, till the soup had vanished from his sight; when he thus began: "It is not de first time I taste it.--When I came from West Indies to this country, I wish to see de novelty, de curiosity of de place. I learned de English language at Martinique--speak, as you hear, like de natif . In de first morning I go to de grand spectacle militaire: evolutions exact--General, I suppose, give de word of command. I ask, Who is dat Officier?--'Monsieur Poplar' they say.
" Ver well! Impatient to see more--peep in at de libraire --take up a pamphlet on political economy--read one, two, tree page .-- Ah, tres bien ! excellent!--Who is de author? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I stroll into de street--Ludgate hill--Cheapside--move on to de Poultry--then to Cornhill-- Ma foi! I stand still--hold my breath--sniff, sniff-- de smell delicieuse ! Stop at dis place--come in--taste de beer, excellent!--try de puff, superlatif ! Ah, le carosse ! de chariot drive furiously up to de door! Un gentilhomme step out--go up de stair. When I say, Who is dat ? They tell me, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well. I take de glass limonade --pay for my puff,--Pray, who is de master of dis shop? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! Lounge about some time--Look in at de Guilt-hall -- Von man in de scarlet robe and gold chain--give good advice to tree bad men that stand before him. Say I, " How you call that Justice on de bench? ' An Alderman. ' " Ah ! but how you call his name? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I go to my dinnere --after, I go to L'Assemblee Nationale , de House of Common .--Orator speaking much to de purpose all about avantage of de debt national. Ask again, "Who is that member on his leg? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I stop von , two half-hour --I go away--drop in at de Teatre --too late for de Comedie --enquire, "What is de Farce?" The Adopted Child . Ah ! but who is its father?. Who is de writer?" They tell me, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" O mon Dieu ! I could stand it no longer.--Here, and there, and every where--from morning till night--nothing but Monsieur Poplar! General--Economy--Soup--Shariot--Alderman--Justice--Member of Parliament--and Father of the Adopted Child ! Ha, ha, ha!--It was too much!
(Vol. 1,p. 36-8)" Ver well! Impatient to see more--peep in at de libraire --take up a pamphlet on political economy--read one, two, tree page .-- Ah, tres bien ! excellent!--Who is de author? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I stroll into de street--Ludgate hill--Cheapside--move on to de Poultry--then to Cornhill-- Ma foi! I stand still--hold my breath--sniff, sniff-- de smell delicieuse ! Stop at dis place--come in--taste de beer, excellent!--try de puff, superlatif ! Ah, le carosse ! de chariot drive furiously up to de door! Un gentilhomme step out--go up de stair. When I say, Who is dat ? They tell me, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well. I take de glass limonade --pay for my puff,--Pray, who is de master of dis shop? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! Lounge about some time--Look in at de Guilt-hall -- Von man in de scarlet robe and gold chain--give good advice to tree bad men that stand before him. Say I, " How you call that Justice on de bench? ' An Alderman. ' " Ah ! but how you call his name? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I go to my dinnere --after, I go to L'Assemblee Nationale , de House of Common .--Orator speaking much to de purpose all about avantage of de debt national. Ask again, "Who is that member on his leg? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I stop von , two half-hour --I go away--drop in at de Teatre --too late for de Comedie --enquire, "What is de Farce?" The Adopted Child . Ah ! but who is its father?. Who is de writer?" They tell me, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" O mon Dieu ! I could stand it no longer.--Here, and there, and every where--from morning till night--nothing but Monsieur Poplar! General--Economy--Soup--Shariot--Alderman--Justice--Member of Parliament--and Father of the Adopted Child ! Ha, ha, ha!--It was too much!
52
Oakley, Peregrine (1824)
Biography; Courtship; Domestic; Fantasy; Manners / Society; Satirical; London;
Dialect Speakers
2.
interlocutor
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
The object of Mr. Gizzard's bounty, on the receipt of it, hastened to the public-house that had been pointed out to her, and asked for some thing which the woman who presided at the bar could not comprehend.
" Toot , woman, I dinna seek ony thing without paying for it. Here's the bit siller ,"--and she held her money up to the light. " Gude guide us. What de I see? The gentleman has made mistak and gien me GOLD instead of a shelling .
"Well, mistress," said the landlady, "I think you are greatly in luck, I'll give you change for it, and then you may have what you want."
" Nae nae , I'll want it a'thegither; siller never do weel with those who dinna come cannily ."
(Vol. 1,p. 114-15)" Toot , woman, I dinna seek ony thing without paying for it. Here's the bit siller ,"--and she held her money up to the light. " Gude guide us. What de I see? The gentleman has made mistak and gien me GOLD instead of a shelling .
"Well, mistress," said the landlady, "I think you are greatly in luck, I'll give you change for it, and then you may have what you want."
" Nae nae , I'll want it a'thegither; siller never do weel with those who dinna come cannily ."
53
Oakley, Peregrine (1824)
Biography; Courtship; Domestic; Fantasy; Manners / Society; Satirical; London;
Dialect Speakers
2.
interlocutor
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling, Vocabulary
"Sit down, sit down; and let me have a little conversation with you. Come, be candid, and tell me your story. I am anxious to know your history and what brought you to London: for, by your discourse, you cannot have been long from the North."
"'Deed, Sir, I have been a gude bit in England; but, somehow or anither , the broad Scotch sticks to the roof o' my mouth, and I maun tell my ane story in my ane mither tongue.
You maun ken , then, Sir, I was yance a sarvant-lassie in Edinbro' , and about tan years agone I war married upon my Sandie, who was a soger and, whan we became acquaint , was quartered in the Pierce Hill Barracks at Porto Bello. He was as bra' a lad as ony you'll see in a simmer 's day, and was sent wi' his regiment to Spain; but they would na let me gang wi' him, you see. So I went awa hame to my mither , and bided there till Sandie cam back. She was a puir frail body and stayed at Kinghorn. It has lately pleased the Lord to tak her to himsel .
I went doon to see my aged parent in her last illness: I gied her a decent burial, and came up to join Sandie at the barracs at Rumford. But, aweel awa! I thought I war nae to haud nor to bind , when I fund he war dead and buried twa days before I arrived. His camrades tauld me, he war na himsel for days thegither , and he did naething but rave for his Jeanie baith night and day. When I heard this, I thought I would hae gane distract a'thegither; for I fancied, if I could hae nursed him mysel , I might hae saved his life-- puir dear Sandie! You dinna ken , Sir, you canna imagine what a tinder heart he had, though he war a soger ! And mony a bludy battle had he been in, beside Waterloo; and the tear would start in his bonnie blue een , when he wad tell me o' the sufferings of the wounded and the dying. And my heart is ready to brak , when I think I war nae wi' him in his last moments, puir fallow ! O Sir, you maun excuse my sobbing sae ; but you dinna ken what it is to lose the lad you loo sae weel ! But, the Lord's will be done! we munna repine. He's gane til a better place.
I hae twa childer , ye ken , and my eldest son, who is named after his father, war wi' him when he died, and the puir callant has scarcely lifted up his head sin . He war an ailing bairn , a stunted wee bit body, amaist nine year auld ; but he's an auld farrant chiel , an' a tinder -hearted laddie , like his faither . I left him at the Spread Eagle i' Romford; but he'll lam nae gude there. I war going yestreen to ca' upon Mistress Euphemia Mac Alister, who is housekeeper's sarvant-lassie at the Duchess of B's. Femmy is a discreet body; mayhap ye may ken her, Sir. Her mither 's gude sister was first cousin to my father's grandmither : and as we are sae near akin, and united thegither by natural blude , I thought she might speak to the Duchess about my lad Sandie. I see you smile, Sir, at my mention o' the Duchess; but she has a kind heart for a' the folks, muckle and sma', frae Scotland: The vary beasts o' the field, and the birds o' the air, wull come at her bidding, and feed out o' her ain hond , as she walks through the policy at the Palace o' D. And when ony o' the puir folk dee in her neighbourhood, this noble lady will be at their bed-side her ainsel , and do a' she can to soften the pangs of affliction at that awsome moment. She has the blessings o' the puir wharever she gaes ; and her gude deeds will live in their breasts lang after she is gane to heaven.
" Weel , weel , as I war saying, Sir, I had walked mony a mile upon the broad stanes till my feet began to blister. I could na mak mysel weel understood, and I lost my road. I war unco weary, and felt mysel faint and overcome; and I sat mysel down on the stair and fell asleep, but the greeting o' the bairn wakened me. I war heart-sick and very despairing like; but 'tis wrong to despair,--for the Lord befriended me in his mercy. I met wi' you, Sir,--and that's the whale o' Jeanie. Mackenzie's waefu' story, you ken ."
(Vol. 1,p. 119-22)"'Deed, Sir, I have been a gude bit in England; but, somehow or anither , the broad Scotch sticks to the roof o' my mouth, and I maun tell my ane story in my ane mither tongue.
You maun ken , then, Sir, I was yance a sarvant-lassie in Edinbro' , and about tan years agone I war married upon my Sandie, who was a soger and, whan we became acquaint , was quartered in the Pierce Hill Barracks at Porto Bello. He was as bra' a lad as ony you'll see in a simmer 's day, and was sent wi' his regiment to Spain; but they would na let me gang wi' him, you see. So I went awa hame to my mither , and bided there till Sandie cam back. She was a puir frail body and stayed at Kinghorn. It has lately pleased the Lord to tak her to himsel .
I went doon to see my aged parent in her last illness: I gied her a decent burial, and came up to join Sandie at the barracs at Rumford. But, aweel awa! I thought I war nae to haud nor to bind , when I fund he war dead and buried twa days before I arrived. His camrades tauld me, he war na himsel for days thegither , and he did naething but rave for his Jeanie baith night and day. When I heard this, I thought I would hae gane distract a'thegither; for I fancied, if I could hae nursed him mysel , I might hae saved his life-- puir dear Sandie! You dinna ken , Sir, you canna imagine what a tinder heart he had, though he war a soger ! And mony a bludy battle had he been in, beside Waterloo; and the tear would start in his bonnie blue een , when he wad tell me o' the sufferings of the wounded and the dying. And my heart is ready to brak , when I think I war nae wi' him in his last moments, puir fallow ! O Sir, you maun excuse my sobbing sae ; but you dinna ken what it is to lose the lad you loo sae weel ! But, the Lord's will be done! we munna repine. He's gane til a better place.
I hae twa childer , ye ken , and my eldest son, who is named after his father, war wi' him when he died, and the puir callant has scarcely lifted up his head sin . He war an ailing bairn , a stunted wee bit body, amaist nine year auld ; but he's an auld farrant chiel , an' a tinder -hearted laddie , like his faither . I left him at the Spread Eagle i' Romford; but he'll lam nae gude there. I war going yestreen to ca' upon Mistress Euphemia Mac Alister, who is housekeeper's sarvant-lassie at the Duchess of B's. Femmy is a discreet body; mayhap ye may ken her, Sir. Her mither 's gude sister was first cousin to my father's grandmither : and as we are sae near akin, and united thegither by natural blude , I thought she might speak to the Duchess about my lad Sandie. I see you smile, Sir, at my mention o' the Duchess; but she has a kind heart for a' the folks, muckle and sma', frae Scotland: The vary beasts o' the field, and the birds o' the air, wull come at her bidding, and feed out o' her ain hond , as she walks through the policy at the Palace o' D. And when ony o' the puir folk dee in her neighbourhood, this noble lady will be at their bed-side her ainsel , and do a' she can to soften the pangs of affliction at that awsome moment. She has the blessings o' the puir wharever she gaes ; and her gude deeds will live in their breasts lang after she is gane to heaven.
" Weel , weel , as I war saying, Sir, I had walked mony a mile upon the broad stanes till my feet began to blister. I could na mak mysel weel understood, and I lost my road. I war unco weary, and felt mysel faint and overcome; and I sat mysel down on the stair and fell asleep, but the greeting o' the bairn wakened me. I war heart-sick and very despairing like; but 'tis wrong to despair,--for the Lord befriended me in his mercy. I met wi' you, Sir,--and that's the whale o' Jeanie. Mackenzie's waefu' story, you ken ."
54
Oakley, Peregrine (1824)
Biography; Courtship; Domestic; Fantasy; Manners / Society; Satirical; London;
Dialect Speakers
2.
interlocutor
Dialect Features:Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling
I had scarcely ceased speaking before this Lady of the Bedchamber , without being at all put out of countenance, turned to me with the affected grace of a French elegante, placing her hand upon my arm with the ease and familiarity of an old acquaintance, and, peering with her little grey eyes full in my face, lisped out, " Pardonnez moi, Monsieur , but don't you think she is rather too petite , too littelle ?"
"No, Mademoiselle, I consider her as the master-piece of nature."
"The chef-d'oeuvre of art, you mean."
"The most artless creature on earth. Her features pourtray every feeling of her mind!"
" O ciel! That's too much for a mere statue."
"A STATUE! She has all the softness of feminine delicacy, blended with the fire of animation!"
"If cold marble can express so much."
"She, cold marble --She has a heart warm and tender as the turtle dove; and, give me leave to tell you, Ma'am, that you have a strange vitiated taste.
" Tout au contraire, Monsieur . Every body of taste agrees with me."
"Pshaw, nonsense! you are no judge."
"No Judge, Sir! I know that the best judges in the world give the preference to my Apollo"
"Your Apollo! and pray who is he?"
"Why, Sir, every body allows that the Venus de Medicis is not so perfect as the Apollo Belvidere ."
"What is it the Apollo Belvidere , then, that you have been talking about all this time?"
"To be sure it is, and were you not speaking of the Venus de Medicis ?"
"Not I, upon my honour! I never had the felicity of seeing her goddess-ship."
" Oh barbare ! Then you know nothing. You have never been at Paris, at least when it was worth while to be there."
"My dear little soubrette, I am more satisfied with the sight of your divine mistress, than I should be with all the goddesses in heaven or earth."
[some dialogue omitted]
This was drawled out, with a vulgar imitation of a true Parisian accent; and I was highly diverted with the little Frenchified amphibious Abigail.
(Vol. 1,p. 158)"No, Mademoiselle, I consider her as the master-piece of nature."
"The chef-d'oeuvre of art, you mean."
"The most artless creature on earth. Her features pourtray every feeling of her mind!"
" O ciel! That's too much for a mere statue."
"A STATUE! She has all the softness of feminine delicacy, blended with the fire of animation!"
"If cold marble can express so much."
"She, cold marble --She has a heart warm and tender as the turtle dove; and, give me leave to tell you, Ma'am, that you have a strange vitiated taste.
" Tout au contraire, Monsieur . Every body of taste agrees with me."
"Pshaw, nonsense! you are no judge."
"No Judge, Sir! I know that the best judges in the world give the preference to my Apollo"
"Your Apollo! and pray who is he?"
"Why, Sir, every body allows that the Venus de Medicis is not so perfect as the Apollo Belvidere ."
"What is it the Apollo Belvidere , then, that you have been talking about all this time?"
"To be sure it is, and were you not speaking of the Venus de Medicis ?"
"Not I, upon my honour! I never had the felicity of seeing her goddess-ship."
" Oh barbare ! Then you know nothing. You have never been at Paris, at least when it was worth while to be there."
"My dear little soubrette, I am more satisfied with the sight of your divine mistress, than I should be with all the goddesses in heaven or earth."
[some dialogue omitted]
This was drawled out, with a vulgar imitation of a true Parisian accent; and I was highly diverted with the little Frenchified amphibious Abigail.
55
Oakley, Peregrine (1824)
Biography; Courtship; Domestic; Fantasy; Manners / Society; Satirical; London;
Dialect Speakers
Dialect Features:Metalanguage
Extract #1 dialect features: Metalanguage
Speakers: All , Gold coin (narrator)
Though unable to write or spell two words of English with correctness, he can speak French and Italian fluently enough to converse with foreigners at the gaming-table .
(Vol. 1,p. 96)
56
Oakley, Peregrine (1824)
Biography; Courtship; Domestic; Fantasy; Manners / Society; Satirical; London;
Dialect Speakers
2.
interlocutor
Dialect Features:Grammar, Orthographical Contraction, Vocabulary
"No, my dear, that is the King's Yerb -woman and her six maids of honour: are not they, Sir?" said the lady, addressing herself to Mr. Wily.-- "As far as any thing I know to the contrary, Ma'am," was the reply.
"My goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Dory, "wonders and wiseacres will never cease! if there ben't the two Aldermen W's marching before the King! And see, see, Jackey! there's your old acquaintance, the Alderman of Portsoken Ward, with all his blushing honours flushing in his face!"
(Vol. 1,p. 238)"My goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Dory, "wonders and wiseacres will never cease! if there ben't the two Aldermen W's marching before the King! And see, see, Jackey! there's your old acquaintance, the Alderman of Portsoken Ward, with all his blushing honours flushing in his face!"
57
Oakley, Peregrine (1824)
Biography; Courtship; Domestic; Fantasy; Manners / Society; Satirical; London;
Dialect Speakers
1.
Maid - Maid
2.
interlocutor
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling
" Lauk , Ma'am ! he is a fine helegant man of fashion."
"Do as you are bid, girl, and don't exhibit any of your Tower-street vulgarity here! "
" Wulgarity , vell , I likes that," --said this highly offended lady's maid, when she bounced indignantly out of the room.
(Vol. 1,p. 406-7)"Do as you are bid, girl, and don't exhibit any of your Tower-street vulgarity here! "
" Wulgarity , vell , I likes that," --said this highly offended lady's maid, when she bounced indignantly out of the room.
58
Barham, Richard Harris (1820)
Courtship; Crime; Domestic; Mystery; Satirical; Coastal town; rectory; country house; prison;
Dialect Speakers
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Metalanguage, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling
Speakers: All , Stephen Whitehead
"For Heaven's sake, Master Clincher," cried the voice of the applicant from below, "make haste down, and light a fire, and get something warm and comfortable like; here be Jack Simmons and I ha found a poor wretch in Hawkins' Wood, almost covered with the snow, and mortal stiff to be sure ; Jack be run across to the cottage at the wood-side, to get somebody to help bring un here, and I ha started off afore , to give ye notice, and get things ready like ; so jump about , wool ye , that's a good soul, and bring down the brandy bottle; it is tedious cold, and I should like a sup o' brandy mysel ."
Masterly and elaborate as this harangue undoubtedly was, like many other elaborate harangues, it contained in itself the seeds of its own discomfiture: by a singular infelicity, the two words which operated most forcibly on the sensorium of the auditor, were precisely those least calculated to produce an impression favourable to the petition of the orator . The term, "poor wretch," was, perhaps, of all others in the language, the one to which Mr. Clincher had the most decided and insuperable aversion; and it is probable that the angry ejaculation, fast rising to his lips, would have been succeeded by the immediate replacing of the fork, and utter occlusion both of the advocate and his protégé
(Vol. 1,p. 13-14)Masterly and elaborate as this harangue undoubtedly was, like many other elaborate harangues, it contained in itself the seeds of its own discomfiture: by a singular infelicity, the two words which operated most forcibly on the sensorium of the auditor, were precisely those least calculated to produce an impression favourable to the petition of the orator . The term, "poor wretch," was, perhaps, of all others in the language, the one to which Mr. Clincher had the most decided and insuperable aversion; and it is probable that the angry ejaculation, fast rising to his lips, would have been succeeded by the immediate replacing of the fork, and utter occlusion both of the advocate and his protégé
59
Barham, Richard Harris (1820)
Courtship; Crime; Domestic; Mystery; Satirical; Coastal town; rectory; country house; prison;
Dialect Speakers
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Idiom, Orthographical Respelling
Speakers: All , Andrew Robinson
"His son? Ah! poor lad--poor young gentleman! it will be a sad loss to him, for his father loved him even better than he did his money; nay, the very day he set out on this last journey, he told me he should soon see his dear Charles; it is now five years since he left home to go to Oxford college, or some sich place, and master has been more near and stingy-like ever since, always scolding and grumbling at me for being wasteful, and saying I should ruin him, and sich like; always a-scraping and scraping, and all for master Charles: a fine lad he was, to be sure, for all he was a little mischievous, and once set my wig afire . I remember he had a brown mole on the tip of his left ear, and that is sure to prognostify--"
(Vol. 1,p. 34-5)
60
Barham, Richard Harris (1820)
Courtship; Crime; Domestic; Mystery; Satirical; Coastal town; rectory; country house; prison;
Dialect Speakers
Dialect Features:Discourse Marker, Grammar, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling
Extract #1 dialect features: Discourse Marker, Grammar, Orthographical Contraction, Orthographical Respelling
Speakers: All , Andrew Robinson
On perceiving his approach, Stephen, for it was himself, retired, civilly touching his hat as he passed, while Andrew, drawing near, with a rueful aspect, exclaimed, in a dolorous tone-- "Bad news, bad news, your honour! Your honour has heard, maybe, what has happened to poor master? well, well, to be sure, all things last but a time! I thought how it would be-- my mind always misgived me, somehow, these Lunnon journeys would do him no good at last, travelling all night a-top o' them coaches, in all sorts of weather, and then three long miles to walk. No, no-- it wasn't for nothing the deathwatch ticked so close to my ear all last night, and the coffin flew out of the fire; besides, I dreamt of water, and to dream of water, you know, sir, always signifies--"
(Vol. 1,p. 34)