of Man. 5. S. Yorkshire; to the S.W. of
the Wharfe. 6. Most of Cheshire, N. Staffordshire. 7. Most of
Derby. 8. Nottingham. 9. Flint, Denbigh. 10. E. Shropshire,
S. Stafford, most of Warwickshire, S. Derby, Leicestershire.

(_c_) Five groups: 1. Cambridge, Rutland, N.E. Northampton.
2. Most of Essex and Hertford, Huntingdon, Bedford, Mid Northampton.
3. Norfolk and Suffolk. 4. Most of Buckingham. 5. Middlesex,
S.E. Buckingham, S. Hertford, S.W. Essex.

N.B. S.W. Northampton is Southern; see (_e_), 4.

(_d_) Two groups: 1. W. and S. Shropshire (W. of Severn). 2. Hereford
(except E.), Radnor, E. Brecknock.

(_e_) Ten groups. 1. Parts of Pembroke and Glamorgan. 2. Wiltshire,
Dorset, N. and E. Somerset, most of Gloucester, S.W. Devon. 3. Most
of Hampshire, Isle of Wight, most of Berkshire, S. Surrey, W. Sussex.
4. N. Gloucester, E. Hereford, Worcester, S. Warwick, N. Oxford,
S.W. Northampton. 5. Most of Oxford. 6. N. Surrey, N.W. Kent.
7. Most of Kent, E. Sussex. 8. W. Somerset, N.E. Devon. 9. Most of
Devon, E. Cornwall. 10. W. Cornwall.

CHAPTER XII

A FEW SPECIMENS

There is a great wealth of modern dialect literature, as indicated
by the lists in the _E.D.D._ Some of these dialect books are poor
and inaccurate, and they are frequently spelt according to no
intelligible phonetic principles. Yet it not unfrequently happens,
as in the works of Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, that the
dialectal scraps indicate the pronunciation with tolerable fidelity,
which is more than can be said of such portions of their works as are
given in the normal spelling. It is curious to notice that writers in
dialect are usually, from a phonetic point of view, more careful and
consistent in their modes of indicating sounds than are the rest of
us. Sometimes their spelling is, accordingly, very good. Those who are
interested in this subject may follow up this hint with advantage.

It is impossible to mention even a tithe of the names of our better
dialect writers. In Scotland alone there is a large number, some of
the more recent bearing such well-known names as those of R.L.
Stevenson, George Macdonald (Aberdeen), J.M. Barrie (Forfarshire), and
S.R. Crockett (Galloway). Dean Ramsay's humorous _Reminiscences of
Scottish Life and Character_ must not be passed over. For Ireland we
have William Carleton's _Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry_,
and the novels by Lever and Lover. Cumberland has its de