Description
John Greaves Nall was not an East Anglian. He was born in Bakewell Derbyshire in 1826 and later lived in Bedford and London, but he came to love the eastern counties through visits to Norfolk and Suffolk where he might be seen talking o farmers, fishermen and market traders, collecting examples of their local speech. With prodigious energy and enthusiasm he acquired a phenomenal knowledge of local dialects throughout the kingdom. As James Hooper says in his article, reprinted int he introduction:
“Amater word-hunters and would-be students of East Anglian language will deserve to go astray as long as they remain ignorant of the glossary of John Greaves Nall.”
The original volume, published in 1866 was titled ‘Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft: a handbook for visitors and residents’ and was divided into two parts: the first with chapters on archaeology, natural history, and a history of the herring fishery; the second part contained the glossary reproduced in this volume and a ‘disquisition on East Anglian Dialect and Provincialisms’. The glossary is thorough and for most words provides not only a definition, but examples of use and suggestions of the origins of the word based on the author’s wide knowledge of languages and dialects.
This edition has corrected many mistakes and type-setting errors in the original thanks to the work of Thomas, Susan and David Yaxley at Larks Press.
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