Did you take part in 1950s dialect survey?

snork – neigh
speckles – freckles
squall – scream
flintermouse – bat

Maybe if you’re not from round these parts you will recognise
mash/mass/soak/scald/brew – tea

polly-wag/pot-noddles/penny-wagtails/bull-head – tadpoles

Horam Village Hall is excited be working with Dialect and Heritage Project, a National Lottery funded
project based at the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture with five partner museums across the country, our local partner museum is the Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton. The aim of the project is to spread the word about the Survey of English Dialects which saw a group of field
workers travel around over 300 rural villages in the 1950s in order to capture dialects and record the
traditions of the area. Together they hope to celebrate language – past and present – and bring this
archive collection, full of our dialect heritage, back into communities where it truly belongs.

As part of the project the team is also looking to update the survey and possibly get in touch with descendants of the original participants. Horam was one of the villages which took part in the original survey.
The Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture (housed at Leeds University) holds a wealth of material related to
the Survey and later work into folk culture – you can search the collection for yourself on the Leeds
University Special Collections website if you are interested.

Horam Village Hall will be holding an open day at the hall on Saturday 24th September with a free cream
tea, where the project team will:
· give a talk about the project and findings of the Survey of English dialects that took place in Horam
· encourage participants to contribute their own dialect words and experiences to be stored as part of
the updated survey.
· have a stand with interactive material based on the rich archival material.
· give you the opportunity to record updated responses to the survey

The project leaders are particularly keen to get in touch with anyone who may remember the survey
and/or their descendants. We have the participants names so please do get in touch if you are interested
in finding out more. Please contact us if you are a local historian, care home manager or anyone who feels they can help spread the word to residents of Horam in 1950s. Amy Stone of Dialect and Heritage Project is really keen to meet and speak to as many people/groups from the village as possible, so please get in touch with Amy on 07521059113 / a.stone2@leeds.ac.uk or horamvillagehall@gmail.com.