England 55

Listen to England 55, a 91-year-old woman from Greetland and Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 91

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 1912

PLACE OF BIRTH: Greetland, West Yorkshire

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: N/A

OCCUPATION: N/A

EDUCATION: N/A

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject spent her entire life living near Calderdale, West Yorkshire, including time in the villages of Greetland and Stainland.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/01/2004

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Well, I was born at Greetland, down what they call Brian Royd [Lane], down on a little terrace house on, uhh, Brook Row, and from there we went to down to Martin Green [Lane], which is at Greetland, and from Greetland I went to Stainland to Victoria Cottage up Beestonley Lane, and from there I got married in 1939 from there, and we went to live up what they call Beestonley Fold, wasn’t it? And then when Elizabeth was 18 months old, uhh, we went to live at Stainland, up at Stainland mechanics there. And we lived there while you were about 16, didn’t we? And then we went on to Laurel Terrace down Stainland, and there we lived, I lived 42 years; my husband died in ’82, 1982. And I lived there until 2000, didn’t I?  Sold me house; Elizabeth and Philip sold theirs, and we all came to live here in 2000. And here we are.

I, I can read you some broad Yorkshire if you want; oh yes, I’ll read you this now: I’m very well, thank you; there’s nothing the matter with me; I’m as healthy as can be. I have arthritis in both knees, and when I talk, I talk with a wheeze. Me pulse is weak, and me blood is thin, but I’m awfully well for the shape I’m in. Arch supports I have for me feet or I wouldn’t be able to be out on the street. Sleep is denied me night after night, but every morning I find I’m all right. My memory’s failing, my heart’s in a spin, but I’m awfully well for the shape I’m in. The moral is this as my tale I unfold that for you and me who’re getting old. It’s better say, “I’m fine with a grin,” than to let folks know the shape we’re in. How do I know that my youth is all spent?  When my get-up-and-go has gone up and went. But I really don’t mind when I think with a grin of all the grand places my got-up has been. Old age is go-, old age is golden, I’ve heard it said, but some sometimes I wonder as I get into bed when me years are in the drawer, my teeth in a cup, me specs on a table, until I get up.  Ere sleep overtakes me, I say to myself. “Is there anything else I could lay on the shelf?” When I was young, my slippers were red. I could click my heels right over my head. When I was older, my slippers were blue. But I still could dance the whole night through. Now I’m old; my slippers are black. I walk to the shop, and I puff me way back. I get up each me morning and dust off me wits and pick up the paper and read the obits. If me name is still missing, I know I’m not dead, so I have my breakfast and I go back to bed.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Cassidi Stuckman (with emendations by Jack Taylor)

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 11/02/2008

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

You will hear a rich Yorkshire dialect in the speech of this working-class woman, especially in her reading of Yorkshire poetry, requiring “Broad Yorkshire,” which she effects with ease. To learn more about the Yorkshire dialect, visit PaulMeier.com.

COMMENTARY BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/01/2004

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.
• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.
• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.
• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

 

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