Norfolk Dialect

Just like the Norfolk coastline, the Norfolk dialect is under constant attack. However, it's not from the destructive effect of the North Sea but from the spread of 'estuary English'.

The late, great Sidney Grapes: 'Do you mark my words, together?'

Norfolk's relatively isolated location has meant that Norfolk dialect has survived when many other local speech patterns have been subsumed. Yet, since the publication of The Vocabulary of East Anglia by the Rev. Robert Forby in 1830 many Norfolk words have undoubtedly been lost. Fortunately though, Norfolk dialect, or more accurately the Norfolk accent, is still alive and well thanks in large part to champions such as Keith Skipper who helped to found F.O.N.D. (Friends of Norfolk Dialect).

Keith Skipper receiving MBE

The Norfolk accent has also helped to preserve and nurture the county's unique sense of humour. In fact, the Norfolk accent lends itself perfectly to humour and particularly to that shrewd, under-stated type of rural wit. There is a long tradition of Norfolk 'stand-up' comedians and singers. Sidney Grapes - alias 'The Boy John' - was one of its outstanding, if unlikely, stars. A garage owner in Potter Heigham by day - but a popular local entertainer and writer of The Boy John Letters  by night - his work remains  quintessentially 'Norfolk'.

Following in his footsteps have come: 'The Kipper Family' (represented today by 'Sid Kipper') and 'The Nimmo Twins'. However, in the ranks of Norfolk dialect performers, Allan Smethurst, The Singing Postman was probably the most famous. For a short period of time in the 1960s his nostalgic and humorously romantic songs - all written in Norfolk dialect - were enjoyed through out the UK. In particular his song Hev Yew Gotta Loight, Boy? captured the popular imagination.

The Boy Kipper

One of the main problems with being a Norfolk dialect performer is that you are naturally restricting your audience. (It is a well known fact that Sid Kipper doesn't go down well at the Glasgow Empire.) However, in some ways, this only adds to its appeal.

The Boys Nimmo

Here are a few famous Norfolk dialect words:
 

Dialect on Film

Issues relating to the Norfolk dialect have also arisen recently due to its use (or, more accurately, its misuse) in TV and film productions.  Norfolk dialect is often rendered by 'foreign' actors as some kind of demented west country drawl with excessive 'oohs' and 'ahhs' - which causes great consternation to those who are trying to preserve it - namely F.O.N.D. Even in Kingdom - where we have a Norfolk-based production by the Norfolk-based Stephen Fry - there were many complaints to the EDP about inauthentic Norfolk accents. Obviously, when casting for roles in TV and film, it is hard for the directors to find competent actors who can also deliver lines faithfully in the vernacular. (Perhaps we need a Norfolk casting company?)

This is obviously a modern problem, but then Norfolk dialect has always been notoriously difficult to reproduce either in the spoken or written word. Even Norfolk-phile Arthur Ransome did not succeed in rendering the phonetic sound of Norfolk in his books Coot Club and The Big Six. Arnold Wesker tried valiantly in his Norfolk plays such as Roots. However, for a more realistic rendering try David Holbrook's Getting it Wrong with Uncle Tom - published by the Mousehold Press or, of course, go back to the master with The Boy John Letters.

Dialect Goes To College

In recent years the Norfolk dialect has also become the subject of academic study. Prof. Peter Trudgill is one of the foremost academics in this field and has taught at Essex, Reading, Lausanne and Fribourg Universities. David Britain - a lecturer at Essex University - and one-time PhD student of Prof Trudgill has also produced a body of work on the Norfolk dialect. Both are experts in its linguistic origins and phonetic construction. Peter Trudgill is also president of F.O.N.D.

Peter Trudgill

Dialect Poetry

Here is a piece of my own Norfolk dialect poetry which illustrates (hopefully) some of the humour and enjoyment to be had from using the vernacular. This poem was inspired by the Threshing Fair held in the village of Raveningham.
 

Links:

More Norfolk Dialect Photographs

Henry Skipper on Twitter