Dialect Double Bill
Are you a mort or a gadgy? Can you
tell your galluses from your gallowas? Is it polite to bowk?
Whether or not you know the answers, Morpeth Town Hall is the
place to be on the afternoon of Saturday 14th October
at Morpeth Town Hall, when the distinctive dialect of
Northumberland features in two special events – a book launch
and a musical lecture.
The first is the launch of A
Northumbrian Wordhoard, the most definitive up-to-date
dictionary produced by the Northumbrian Language Society in its
forty years of existence. It contains not only 1,250 of the
commonest Northumbrian dialect words with their meanings, a
reverse list of Standard English items translated into
Northumbrian and a brief history of the language, but also a
handy list of the basic 140 words needed to get by in
Northumbrian today. The eyecatching front cover is designed by
leading illustrator Jonny Hannah, combining a colourful
modernity with a tribute to the traditional woodcut skills of
the great Joseph Crawhall. Details on the background to the
publication and extracts from the dictionary will be delivered
by members of the Society, including that fine pitmatic speaker
Ian Lavery MP, the former miner who proudly gives an airing to
our local language in Parliament and on the national stage.
Copies will be available at £10 on the day, and for those unable
to attend the Wordhoard is also on sale at Morpeth
Chantry TIC, certain bookshops and online.
The launch will be followed by
prize-winning singer songwriter Graham Bell delivering
the 24th annual Roland
Bibby Memorial Lecture, held in memory of the Society’s founding
chairman. The talk’s title Aroond the Rugged Rock is
described as a songwriter’s journey
through the cornfields and coalfields of Northumberland.
A prolific songwriter in the tradition of such greats as Joe
Wilson, Geordie Ridley and Johnny Handle, Graham puts his own
slant on historical or contemporary topics, displaying a deft
use of dialect, amazing feats of memory and his distinctively
incisive and often hilarious content. Society Vice President Kim
Bibby-Wilson says: “Graham is always welcome back in Morpeth,
where he began his working career as a farmer, and where he
headlined events at this year’s Northumbrian Gathering - though
his recent run of three consecutive wins required us to
implement the age-old rule barring him from entering the song
writing competition, just to allow others to have a chance!”
Admission is free to the general
public, with doors opening at 1 pm for a chance to browse the
publications and merchandise stall, before the book launch takes
place at around 1.20 and the lecture at 2 pm. The event will be
fully accessible, taking place in the Corn Exchange on the
ground floor of Morpeth Town Hall, which is situated in the
centre of the town overlooking the Market Place with free disc
parking nearby. (Please note the venue change from some early
publicity.)
Further details from Kim Bibby-Wilson on 01670
513308.
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Lectures for 2023/24
All are welcome to come along to Morpeth Antiquarian
Society’s in-person local history talks
at 7.15 pm on the last Friday
of the month (excepting July, August and December) at St
James Centre in Wellway, NE61 1BN.
We ask for a small donation at the door (members £1;
visitors £3); there's a raffle to help with our museum
collection rental; tea/coffee/biscuits will be served from
6.45 pm before the lecture starts. Hope to see you there!
Please click here for full programme details
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Merchandise: Mugs & Polo
Shirts are available.
Please contact the
Chairman for details ►
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MORPETH'S HERITAGE
NEEDS A HOME
Morpeth Antiquarian Society is
looking for a place to use its heritage collection of artefacts,
pictures and documents to tell the stories of the town’s
history.
After 32 years in the Chantry building the
Society's local history museum was obliged by the borough
council to go into store in the Town Hall in 1997.
In 2010 management changes at the building
forced another move and now the museum collection is in
temporary store outside the town at a costly rent.
Meanwhile, cataloguing, research work and
fund-raising have continued, with an annual exhibition staged
each summer, shop window displays provided for Heritage Open
Days and artefacts brought to community groups. It is
the Society's intention to raise awareness and develop a vision
for the future use of the collection. Anyone wishing to help at
our regular volunteer "hands-on" sessions or who has ideas for
future premises, strategy and funding, please contact the
secretary.
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