Wiltshire in the latter part of this work.
In my return to my western progress, I passed some little part of
Somersetshire, as through Evil or Yeovil, upon the River Ivil, in
going to which we go down a long steep hill, which they call
Babylon Hill, but from what original I could find none of the
country people to inform me.
This Yeovil is a market-town of good resort; and some clothing is
carried on in and near it, but not much. Its main manufacture at
this time is making of gloves.
It cannot pass my observation here that when we are come this
length from London the dialect of the English tongue, or the
country way of expressing themselves, is not easily understood–it
is so strangely altered. It is true that it is so in many parts of
England besides, but in none in so gross a degree as in this part.
This way of boorish country speech, as in Ireland it is called the
“brogue” upon the tongue, so here it is called “jouring;” and it is
certain that though the tongue be all mere natural English, yet
those that are but a little acquainted with them cannot understand
one-half of what they say. It is not possible to explain this
fully by writing, because the difference is not so much in the
orthography of words as in the tone and diction–their abridging
the speech, “cham” for “I am,” “chil” for “I will,” “don” for “put
on,” and “doff” for “put off,” and the like. And I cannot omit a
short story here on this subject. Coming to a relation’s house,
who was a school-master at Martock, in Somersetshire, I went into
his school to beg the boys a play-day, as is usual in such cases (I
should have said, to beg the master a play-day. But that by the
way). Coming into the school, I observed one of the lowest
scholars was reading his lesson to the usher, which lesson, it
seems, was a chapter in the Bible. So I sat down by the master
till the boy had read out his chapter. I observed the boy read a
little oddly in the tone of the country, which made me the more
attentive, because on inquiry I found that the words were the same
and the orthography the same as in all our Bibles. I observed also
the boy read it out with his eyes still on the book and his head
(like a mere boy) moving from side to side as the lines reached
cross the columns of the book. His lesson was in the Canticles, v.
3 of chap. v. The words these:- “I have put off my coat. How
shall I put it on? I have washed my feet. How shall I defile
them?”
The boy read thus, with his eyes, as I say, full on the text:-
“Chav a doffed my cooat. How shall I don’t? Chav a washed my
veet. How shall I moil ’em?”
How the dexterous dunce could form his month to express so readily
the words (which stood right printed in the book) in his country
jargon, I could not but admire. I shall add to this another piece
as diverting, which also happened in my knowledge at this very town
of Yeovil, though some years ago.
There lived a good substantial family in the town not far from the
“Angel Inn”–a well-known house, which was then, and, I suppose, is
still, the chief inn of the town. This family had a dog which,
among his other good qualities for which they kept him (for he was
a rare house-dog), had this bad one–that he was a most notorious
thief, but withal so cunning a dog, and managed himself so warily,
that he preserved a mighty good reputation among the neighbourhood.
As the family was well beloved in the town, so was the dog. He was
known to be a very useful servant to them, especially in the night
(when he was fierce as a lion; but in the day the gentlest,
lovingest creature that could be), and, as they said, all the
neighbours had a good word for this dog.