Written on 17/02/16 by Paul Oldham

Cumbrian Dialect

I was idly looking through some of the photos on our site today. We've got a lot now, over 3,000, the vast majority taken by Beth while she's out researching new walks for you. While doing so I came across this one:

A picnic on Hartsop Above How summit
A picnic on Hartsop above How summit

It is featured on our walk The Dovedale Round: Hartsop above How, Hart Crag, High Hartsop Dodd and it's clearly a lovely day to be out fell walking. Shame the cloud is just touching the tops of the fells but at least there's some gaps to let the sun through.

Beth's description of the photo, which you can see on the photo's page read:

This couple were having their bait and then heading back down the ridge. Hart Crag is beyond and Fairfield somewhere over to the right in the cloud.

And that brought me up short: "bait"? Surely she meant "bite"? So I asked and I was wrong, she did mean "bait". It's a Cumbrian dialect word for food. Here's its entry in the really rather excellent The GonMad Cumbrian Dictionary and Phrasebook:

bait
1.(noun. bayt) food, particularly packed lunch. e.g. Am just mekkin me bait. = I am just packing these sandwiches, which I know will be rancid by lunch time, and this banana, and this chocolate biscuit, and this munch bunch strawberry flavoured yoghurt in this old margarine/ice cream tub to take to work/school with me to provide sustenance during my lunch break.

So, that's that explained then (and I added a link to the photo's page for other people who were as slow as me). But I then started to read down the dictionary. Here's some of my favourites. For example I think we all know where they're going with this one ...

arrished
1.(verb. arrisht) Motivated, or bothered. e.g. I can't be arrished lowping ower t'yat today = I do not have the motivation required to perform gate jumping today.
(Note: No conjugation. Always used in the negative. No one can ever be arrished, regardless of whether thay are first, second or third person...)

And my only thought for this one is "ouch":

cleppets
1.(noun. pl. kleppurtz) testicles, e.g. Ah knack'd me cleppets when ah landed on yon yat = I caused some injury to my under-carriage as I landed incorrectly when jumping the gate.
Note: Possibly very localised slang from the Pica area.

There is a lot in there to explore: some the examples of usage are particularly fine. Like this one with seemed strangely familiar:

bowk
1.(verb. bowk) to vomit, e.g. I had a few pints last night, but it must have been a bad pint that med us bowk = I did drink a little last night, but I think one of the drinks must have been out of condition as I vomited.
(I bowk, you bowk, he bowks, they bowk).

Anyway, I recommend it. It's fun. Start here.


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