In a message dated 12/09/2005 21:45:20 GMT Standard Time, olive.cookson@btinternet.com writes: Can you speak other languages apart from English now, or is all this forgotten? I can still speak French but my vocabularly kind of stopped at age 15, but my gran only spoke in Flemish when she was annoyed with my Granddad, must have instinctly known that most of this was not for my ears. I put my little brother in a cement mixer once, good job he was found pretty quickly. I was very much in trouble that day. In fact, I was very much in trouble a lot. My baby brother was a nerdy little swot. Still is and now runs his own computer company....perhaps i should have tried harder. Gay Gay J Oliver, Stalybridge, Cheshire www.members.aol.com/victoroly/genealogy.htm www.members.aol.com/gayjoliver/Tameside.htm _www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm_ (http://www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm) _www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk_ (http://www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk/)

I have a lovely book that includes the "Welcome, bonny brid" poem as well as many others related to work, home, family, etc.: "Songs of the People" Lancashire dialect poetry of the industrial revolution Edited by Brian Hollingsworth Printed by Manchester University Press 1977 ISBN 0 7190 0612 0 If you can get your hands on a copy, it is well worth reading. Katie Ontario

Hi Ian, Yes have heard of Tim Bobbin and Ben Brierley. The hill up to Dukinfield is still called 'Dukky Brew'. Lanky doesn't necessarily sound beautiful, but the sentiment in Bonny Brid is achingly warm. Sorry, but my kids talk more broad than me and my husband did, even though he came from the"fur coat and no knickers" posh bit of Stalybridge. best wishes, GAY Gay J Oliver, Stalybridge, Cheshire www.members.aol.com/victoroly/genealogy.htm www.members.aol.com/gayjoliver/Tameside.htm _www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm_ (http://www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm) _www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk_ (http://www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk/)

In a message dated 12/09/2005 19:06:51 GMT Standard Time, i.winterbottom@ntlworld.com writes: "Golden Syrup butties" And Treacle butties. Anybody remember going on picnics with your friends with a bottle of 'Corporation Pop' and tyring to make it into lemonade by crushing a lemfizz tablet and shaking it in the bottle. Or, the 'penny tray' in the sweetshop on the way home from school. Vimto Lollies. There is still a sweet shop in Ashton Market that sells all the old sweets and I bought a whole load of them for my husband's 60th birthday, plus old fashioned kiddies toys likes, marbles (merps! and dobbers!), a catapult, a cowboy outfit with a sherrif's badge and cuffs, and bows and arrows with suction cups at the end. I also recorded lots of 50s children's TV and Radio theme tunes. Try this site for pure nostalgia: _http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/index.htm_ (http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/index.htm) He had a fabulous birthday (glad he did - it was his last) Yes, I think all these memories make me sound older than my 58 years. very best wishes, GAY Gay J Oliver, Stalybridge, Cheshire www.members.aol.com/victoroly/genealogy.htm www.members.aol.com/gayjoliver/Tameside.htm _www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm_ (http://www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm) _www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk_ (http://www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk/)

Thank you Alan, As one of the "deprived" who lives in a world of inches and pounds, I am grateful for your recipe. And as one who has no artistic bent at all, I need all the help I can get. Here in the states, we have our own peculiar sayings as well. Many, I suspect, inherited from Great Britain. But some of them confuse me. I'm wondering if this saying from my childhood had a British root. When I would ask my father, where he was going, he would always say, "To get cat's fur to make kitten britches!" Does that mean anything to anyone on the list? Now I know where my father got the phrase, "You make a better door than a window" when he wanted me to move from in front of the TV! Thank you! Kathy in Missouri, USA

In a message dated 12/09/2005 21:10:51 GMT Standard Time, treeclimber@sympatico.ca writes: "Grandma, when you were in England, did you know how to speak English?" Absolutely Wonderful :) I started off in Belgium learning English from my Irish Dad and French, from my Mum, complicated by two grans, one with the broadest Irish brogue and the other in Flemish. I used to 'talk proper' before I came to Stalybridge, but the accent is quite broad here. My children still call each other 'R Kid', I've overheard my son telling people on the phone "A'm at me Mam's", "A'm goin' down t' 'Bridge(Stalybridge)". I've learnt everything Lanky from my friend's parents. GAY Gay J Oliver, Stalybridge, Cheshire www.members.aol.com/victoroly/genealogy.htm www.members.aol.com/gayjoliver/Tameside.htm _www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm_ (http://www.fhsc.org.uk/fhsc/dukinfield.htm) _www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk_ (http://www.tamesidehistoryforum.org.uk/)

Littlmum@aol.com wrote: >how about round and round the garden one, and this little mouse lived right >there and if anybody touched it it ran right up there and you tickled them >under their arm. > > I still play them with my grandchildren - and I thought everyone called their toes piggies. ;-) My grandmother used to play one ... will try and describe as best I can. Does this ring a bell with anyone? She would touch the top of each finger, starting with the baby finger, and say "Jolly". Between the index finger and thumb she would slip down and say "Whoops", hit the thumb with "Jolly", slide back again to the index with another "Whoops" and finish off back to the baby. I've never seen anyone else play this so it may have been her own invention, but I was wondering if maybe it has its roots with her home. Katie Ontario

Thank you Veronica for that. This proves that all this talk about words and food etc. has not been in vain. My daughter is always asking me why "cobwebs", this will be great to have an answer now. Olive

My father came to Canada as a young boy with his parents and grandparents. Although he mostly spoke "like a Canadian" for all of my life he could quite easily lapse into dialect when the mood took him. I was accustomed to hearing it coming very strong from great-grandparents (does that make me bilingual? ;-) ) who lived into their 90s. My Dad's brothers were all born here in Canada (the next to him is 11 years younger). When they were small they would be quite puzzled by my great-grandmother who generally spoke broader the angrier she got - and you can imagine her dealing with her brood of young grandsons. One day one of my uncles actually got the nerve to ask her, "Grandma, when you were in England, did you know how to speak English?" He is well into his 70s now and still chuckles at her going after him down the street with the broom. ;-) Katie Ontario

Hi Darren. I have sent the title and authors to you privately because I am not sure of copyright and so on. Veronica in Ontario...

My father's memory of this saying - from Oswaldtwistle - is: "Red cap and red socks, no knickers" the term for a "lady of the night" Cheers Linda Visman Wangi Wangi NSW Oz ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Price" <mp014g7491@blueyonder.co.uk> To: <LANCSLIFE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 3:08 AM Subject: RE: [LANCSLIFE] Sayings > Variation on this: > > Red hat...no knickers > > > Mick > > -----Original Message----- > From: Littlmum@aol.com [mailto:Littlmum@aol.com] > Sent: 10 September 2005 17:32 > To: LANCSLIFE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [LANCSLIFE] Sayings > > > what about "fur coat no knickers!" > > ______________________________

how about round and round the garden one, and this little mouse lived right there and if anybody touched it it ran right up there and you tickled them under their arm. I was playing all these little games with the baby belonging to a junior member of staff, and she looked blank, they never played those games with babies where she came from. Eileen

I am distantly related to Ammon Wrigley. and my grandpa Chadwick only spoke in the dialect when I was young - he was also a clog maker used to make the ones for the clog dancers and decorate the leather tops with studs and cutout work . My very first toy was his workbench, I loved it. He used to ask me what would he be left with if he took all the nails out I had hammered in. B*****y sawdust was his answer. Eileen

_Mrs O'Malley's | mrsomalleys.co.uk | sweets | confectionery | chocolates | chocolate | candy | bubblegum | sweet shop | store.._ (http://www.mrsomalleys.co.uk/osc/eshop/allprods.php) _Sweeties Old Favourites_ (http://www.sweetiesoban.co.uk/acatalog/oldfavourite.html) Eileen

Well, three days back they were saying the List was "dead"...listen to it now! My ears pricked up at the mention of schoolboys eating in the street. I went to what some said was a "mildly posh" school in south Manchester and, at lunchtime, we'd buzz off to the bakers, buy a loaf of bread and eat the centre out of it (in bits) while waiting in line at the chippy. When we got our threepence-worth of chips we'd stuff them inside the hollow loaf, go outside and open our mouths to the widest you've ever seen and take a bite of the whole bloomin' lot! And, if we got caught in school uniform, all hell would break loose. Posh? Hmmm! Now, regarding sayings: Sometimes when I asked what was for tea (ie the main evening meal), m' Mum would say "duck and lashout"...and it took me a long time to realise what she meant. Anyone else remember this? Finally, at the risk of antagonising the whole List because I bet not one of us will agree, I'll pass on MY recipe for Potato Pie to those who asked. (And note I'm the sort of cook who doesn't give exact amounts of ingredients - after all, it's ART, not CHEMISTRY!) Potato Pie To serve 8 modern "cuisine minceur" eaters ... or 2 or 3 who really love their food, like me! Also apologies to the deprived part of the world that still works in inches and pounds :-) About 500g of CHEAP cut of lamb or beef (you decide which is best...but the cheap cuts are MUCH tastier) 4 big potatoes 2 big carrots (or turnip, parsnip etc) 1 big onion seasonings (salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce etc etc) about 4 standard (250ml) cups of SR flour about 1 cup of suet (or cooking marg if you must...but the suet is great!) 1. Make a standard pastry with the last two and water and put in fridge in a ball 2. Chop up the meat (about 2cm cubes) and brown off in a hot pan (to seal in the juices) 3. Add the chopped onion and chopped carrots and "caramelise" them slightly too. 4. Add boiling water, salt, pepper and Worcesterhire sauce (L&P of course!) and stew until meat nearly tender (1-2hrs) 5. Add chopped potato (big pieces) and keep cooking until potato tender. 6. Pour off SOME of any excess gravy into another small pan as your "gravy on the side" and put rest in a deep casserole dish. (Say about 25cm diameter and 20cm deep.) It's important that the dish be nearly filled so that the crust can touch the "wet stuff" underneath. 7. Roll out pastry and put a THICK crust on top. (Best if at least 2cm in thickness.) Brush with milk if you want to be a bit "poncy" :-) 8. Bake at about 160 ('C) until crust is golden brown Seve with the extra gravy and any of: pickled onions red cabbage piccalilli raw onion in vinegar Worcestershire sauce chutney etc etc and, of course, a pint or two of good English (or Australian!) beer Cheers Alan

I buy two bags of Clarnico (now taken over by Bassetts) mint creams every Saturday. and I don't eat them all myself at 10.00 pm on the dot two little dogs appear and sit in front of me so I can't miss them for half of a Peppermint Cream. the rest are for the two sons and me between us. ~Eileen

Eat Bubble and Squeak regularly love it. not so fond of Colcannon though. We love Potato cakes about an inch thick baked in the oven served with bacon chops and grilled tomatoes. Yummmmy Eileen

"Ah cud eyt a buttered frog"- I'm hungry "Ah'm fur clemt! Weers mi jackbit?" - I'm quite hungry. Where did I leave my packed meal? " Ah wurr cawd goin't'shops burra forgeet" "It was my intention to go to the shops but I forgot" "Ah'm bown't faw owt wi' thee, lad" - "I am bound to fall out with you young man" "'As't purrup mi snap?" - Have you prepared my sandwiches, for work? "Bin mon bin mon?" - Probably from Wigan - "Has the Dustbin man been?" "Bread etten is soon forgetten"Said about an ungrateful person "Con'ta lend a hond mon" - "Can you please help me" "Don't stand on'th edge o't'cut, mon, th'art teed faw in"- Don't stand on the edge of the canal, my friend, you are certain to fall in "Ees fair bowlegged wi brass" - "He's very rich" "Faitin dogs come limpin whoam" -(Fighting dogs come limping home)Don't quarrel" "It's a luvly shade o' black o'er t'mother-in-laws" It's about to rain "Jow thee fat yed" - "Shut up, you always think you're right" "Keep yer 'and on yer haupney" Warning to young ladies "Don't let young men take liberties) "Mi belly thinks mi throats bin cut" - I'm very hungry "Monny sondy greaunders" - Reference to natives of Blackpool or Southport (Sandy beaches) "Once every Preston Guild" Not strictly dialect, but a phrase that means "Not very often" (Preston Guild occurs every 20 years) "Pigs wain't follow an empty bucket" - "People will not work for nothing" " Put Th'wood in'th'ole" - (Put the wood in the hole) - "Close the door" "Stondin theer like one a' Burtons dummies" description of an idle person "Tha's bin aytin vinnigger offa knife" - a response to a sharp phrase or scolding remark "Tha's no oyl in thi' lamp" said to a 'fool' "Thick enough t'chowk a donkey" A reference to a wad of notes in a rich mans wallet. "Tintintin"- It is not in the metal container "Mi belly thinks mi throoats cut" I am ready for something to eat "Yer weren't made at Pilks" A St Helens term for "You are obstructing my view" (Pilks - Pilkingtons Glass Works) "Wertibenfur" Where are you bound for or "wurt ti gewin" "Tha meks a betta doower than a winda" You are obstructing my view (usually the TV). "Bet tha cud eyt an appul thro a beard wire fence" My you have got big teeth "Thaz a face like a line a wet weshin" Stop sulking "Sawreetferthee" It is all right for you "Standin theer leyke cheese at fourpence" Hanging around - Having nothing better to do. "'Es spat is dummy out" He is angry (childish like tantrum). "Tha **** sto a pig in a ginnel" You are very bowlegged "Thes getten a face leyk a bulldog chompin a wassap" God you're ugly

we used to get "get up the dancers or the bogie man will get you" Also, Grandpa Chadwick used to say "Get the'sen off woam" Eileen

they have just brought Jubbly's out again I bought a box at Tesco's on Saturday for Number one son. Eileen