Spondon Village

A Village Remembered

The Voices of Spondon

The Saxon and Danish roots of the villagers were quite apparent to those who visited us from the outside world, but as children we were completely unaware that we had any unusual accent or dialect, or that some of the words in our local language did not appear in any English dictionary. Our world was limited to the walking radius from our homes, say three miles at the most, unless we were prepared to miss a meal, and that was almost unthinkable. That explains why people who lived two miles away, in Borrowash say, or Chaddesden, spoke with a slightly different accent which we could detect and make fun of. This classification of others was inherent and instinctive from the way they spoke. Our attitudes would subtly but unavoidably reflect our response. Many words such as "grizzle" for whimpering or whining gave the language a character all its own. Thinking back, I now realize that there was often a truncation of several words into one. This made for great economy of speech, but might appear as rudeness to strangers from other parts. "Do not" appeared as "dunna". "Is not" was "isna"."Going was "Gueing" and "I'm going to" became " ahmgutta" or "ahmgunna". "Want to" became "wanna". Make and take were 'mek' and 'tek'. My and by were 'mi' and 'bi', you was "yuh", shut up was "shurrup". "I am" was "ahm". Also the language of the Middle Ages in the King James version of the Bible, (including most of the four-letter words), remained in familiar use by locals and relatively undisturbed, except that the old personal pronouns of I, thee, thy and thine when adjusted for local idiom became "ah", "tha", "thay" and "thain".

By way of example, "Ah dunna wanna gutta skuell" can be easily interpreted as a childish request to avoid a much-needed education. "Yacanna mek me!" would likely be answered by "Yessacan" and emphasised by a fast, open-handed smack to any exposed portion of the anatomy.Gradually, aided by voracious reading habits, my vocabulary expanded as I progressed in English grammar and composition, and also acquired a growing awareness of other and different voices from the educated conversation of school teachers. As an avid reader and learner of new things I was sometimes complimented on being well-spoken. But the home grown dialect could not be changed without appearing affected to friends or snobbish in some way. As G.B.Shaw once put it, "An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him"

Sam Auckland was our local expert in the dialect of Derbyshire villages, and often gave monologues in Church concerts and other local entertainments that to us were hilarious performances. All he had to do was mimic the accents and dialects of Belper or Ilkeston with a simple tale or two to draw laughter at their expense. Of course I didn't realise that he also travelled to those places and got a similar result from our own Spondon peculiarities. Sam sang behind me in the church choir for many years, and also performed on regional radio programs. He was a a popular attraction with his dry wit and humour. My cousin-in-law, Don Edwards, tells a true tale of a teatime visit to relatives at the village of Heage or thereabouts where the 'a's and 'e's are always transposed. Uncle Jim tastes his cup and says to his wife,"Yo anna put enny shugger in this tay" She replies "I ay". He says "Yo anna" She repeats "I ay". He says "Well, yo anna stirr'd it then". She says "I ay". He then has to have the last words, "Well, yo anna stirr'd it dape inuff!"

The farthest distance away from Spondon that I had traveled by myself until the age of fourteen was about ten miles by bicycle, and as a result, when I first appeared as an apprentice at Rolls Royce, just four miles away, my native language was so purely evident that other workmen were sometimes prompted to make conversation with me for the sheer delight of listening to another language. Thus I gradually became aware that my dialect was somehow different from many of the other apprentices and workmen. When, as an office boy at Rolls-Royce, I was exposed to the Oxford accents of some of the higher management people, I came to realise how a cultured voice could sometimes be mistaken for competence, and so I began to take a keener interest in my own pronunciation.

At the University of St. Andrews in Fife, as an eighteen-year old, once again my Derbyshire dialect stood out against the Scottish and southern English accents, and there, isolated from my roots and daily reinforcement, began the slow metamorphosis to the mid-Atlantic language I speak today. However, there is still a juvenile pleasure in returning to Spondon, and once again hearing and speaking the old familiar phrases of my boyhood. And with the remembrance, people hardly recalled to memory for half a century also reappear in my mind's eye, opening gates and doors, speaking a welcome and passing again down the long corridors of the years

---The Village of Spondon in Derbyshire ---Saint Werburgh's Church ---Wars and Tumults ---The Derwent and the Canals ---The Farmers ---Victorian Spondon ---The Willowcroft ---The Schools ---The Inns and Public Houses ---Spondon Voices ---A Spondon Family ---A Child's Christmas in Spondon, 1935 ---Epilogue ---Images of Spondon ---