Product Description

This book combines dialect vocabulary and literature as a way to explain the North Sea coast and its social development a history-by-vocabulary approach. Fishing and Folk is the only book to bring together subjects as challenging as the coast itself; scenery, weather, wildlife, boats and fishing traditions, smuggling, communities and people. Bill Griffiths, the foremost scholar of northern English dialect was a genuine polymath. A former Hells Angel who spent some time at Brixton Prison he trained as a classical pianist; had a History degree; a doctorate in Saxon literature; was a member of the Society of Archivists and an internationally acclaimed poet. This rich background gave him an ear for the rhythm of language, a deep etymological range, a strong sense of time and place plus a fastidious attitude to accuracy. His range of skills and enormous enthusiasm for the language of ordinary northerners is clearly evident in Northumbria University Press successful Wor Language series, which includes the books Stotty n Spice Cake and Pitmatic: The Talk of the North East Coalfield.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #678303 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-22
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .60" h x 8.20" w x 8.20" l, 1.50 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
"Fishing and Folk is a detailed work that draws together history, etymology and socio-linguistics to produce an original and interesting perspective on communities which have changed almost beyond recognition over the past few decades." --The Mariner's Mirror (Journal of the Society for Nautical Research).

About the Author
Bill Griffiths was born in Middlesex but settled in Seaham, County Durham in 1990, in a sad decade for traditional trades and communities. Sometimes it seemed that only dialect was left as evidence of the centuries of hard work and social commitment that shaped the North East. He has produced a number of books on the history, dialect and place names of the North East and become involved with the Durham and Tyneside Dialect Group in 1998.