Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...

Monday, 17 September 2018

Tuesday Talk Like A Pirate Day by Helen Hollick

www.helenhollick.net

19th September, is Talk Like A Pirate Day, a bit of fun and nonsense for all - grown-ups and non-grown-ups - who like a bit of fun and nonsense. There'll be a lot of 'Arring' and 'shiver m'timbering' and 'ahoy me 'earties-ing' tomorrow. Please do enter into the fun of the thing!

But where did the notion that pirates go around talking like this come from?
Simple answer (as is often the case with anything to do with history)... from here...

Hollywood Hollywood Sign Los Angeles Calif

Or to be accurate, this chap:

Robert Newton originated from the West Country and when playing Long John Silver in the 1950 version of Treasure Island he reverted to his West Country dialect, which, of course, has a lot of rolling rs and clipped vowels. The movie was a massive hit and the accent became synonymous as a pirate way of speech. Add to this fact, many sailors of the 1600-1800s did come from Cornwall, Devon and the Bristol area, Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh were both from Devon, so in part the West Country accent is sort-of genuine. The ‘arrr’ appeared for the first time in the earlier 1934 version of the film, starring Lionel Barrymore.

If you really want to spend some time as a (fun) pirate (yes we know real pirates were a monstrous lot) mark September 19th in your diary and learn some Devonish:

‘Arrr, shever m’timbers, bud did’n be ye knowim’ tha’ jist un’er ‘alf o’Bartholomew Roberts’ crew bist vrom Kernow, Devom an’ Zummerzet?’

‘S’ becomes a ‘Z’ sound and ‘F’ becomes more like ‘V’, so ‘Zummerzet’ and ‘var’ and ‘vire’ instead of Somerset, far and fire. Rs, especially at the end of a word are stressed (hence the pirate ‘Arrr’.) There are also distinct grammar differences. The male gender is used to describe objects, ‘’e is in the barn’, instead of ‘it is in the barn’, and ‘put ‘e over there,’ instead of ‘put it over there’, or ‘they boots,’ instead of ‘my boots’.

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a – as in jam
aa – a long sound a bit like a sheep bleating but without the quiver
ai – as in gain
d – instead of th: datch, not thatch
e – if the first letter of a word, pronounced as i so ivery instead of every, but in the middle of a word as ai, as in gain
f – as v, virst: first or vew, few
h – often added to a word to give it emphasis: hover instead of over, or m’hornin’ (morning)
i – instead of u or oi: jidge (judge) and jist (just)
m – is often used instead of an n, so Devom, (Devon) and dem (den)
o – sounds like an a, so Garge instead of George
oo – similar to the Scot’s ui in guid (good)
r – a peculiar one. It often changes places with the letter after it, so red is erd, run is urn, great is gurt
s – z
t – occasionally replaces d,
th – is often dropped is’n ‘at (isn’t that)
u – I or ou joug (jug)

How about these? (You can almost hear the pirate can’t you?)
‘Ark a’ee’ – listen to him.
‘Yer tiz’ – here it is.

Or try slipping these into a conversation:

Aid – head
Anzum – handsome
Arken – harken (listen)
Awl – hole
Back along – some time ago
Bain’t it? – isn’t it?
Bissle – to make dirty (daw’n ‘ee bissle yersel’,’)
Blimmer – a mild swear word
Boddle – bottle
Chillern – children
Crackin’ – chatting
Crame – cream
Dashels – thistles
Dimpsey – murky, poor daylight
Drang-way – narrow way, an alley
Drekly – directly
Erbons – ribbons
Fan-tag (in a) – in a huff, cross
Flibberts – pieces
Grockle – a tourist.
Gurt – big or great
G'woam – going home.
How be on? – how are you?
Jonnick – correct, honest
Kerping – finding fault
Long-tailed rabbit – a pheasant!
Lustree – to bustle about
Maunderin’ – grumbling
Maized – mad ‘yu’m maized as a brish’: you are as mad as a brush.’
Muxy – muddy
On-cum-verable – uncomfortable
Oozle – whistle
Piskies – pixies
Popple-stones – pebbles
Rucksel – noise, disturbance
Shevvers – small pieces
Skat – shower of rain
Thurdle-gutted – thin
Upperds – upwards
Viddy – fitting, proper
Vuzlin’ – fussing
Wha' be gwain 'ave? – what are you going to have (to drink or eat)
Wommle – wobble
Yullery – yellow
Zyder – cider.

Finally, longer vowels are for words like beautiful – bootiful…
And arrr of course… yes

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come back Friday for our next
Novel Conversations

Thursday, 13 September 2018

Novel Conversations... with Sharon Dwyer and Katelin

In conjunction with Indie BRAG

a new series - posted every Friday
#IndieBragNovConv

To be a little different from the usual 'meet the author'

let's meet a character...

Katelin

from

Q: Hello, I’m Helen the host of Novel Conversations, please do make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee, wine – something stronger? You’ll find a box of chocolates and a bowl of fruit on the table next to you, please do help yourself. I believe you are a character in S L Dwyer’s novel The Fantasmagorical Forest. Would you like to introduce yourself? Are you a lead character or a supporting role?

A: Thank you, but I had some burrie berries before I left Suweiland. My name is Katelin and the stories from the fantasmagorical forest pretty much centre around me and my “impulsive nature” (finger quotes in the air). Everyone thinks I just, like, rush into a situation without thinking about the consequences. But that’s not really true. You can’t think about things so much. When you do, you end up doing nothing and that’s, like, totally boring.

Q: [thinks: I wonder what 'burrie berries' are?] What genre is the novel and what is it about?

A: Everything from the fantasmagorical forest, by the way, my brother named it, is contemporary fantasy for teens and adults. I’ve even heard adults like the stories from both books because they can relate to my so called attitude. I don’t think adults really understand how teens think. But in the first book, I have to learn again what family means when my Nana gets kidnapped. Attitude aside, I had to grow up. Of course in the second book, I not only grow up, but I fall in love. Not that it was easy as we were running for our lives from a, like, really nasty faery who used dark magic and wants to control all the good and dark magic in all of the land of faeries.

Q: No spoilers, but are you a ‘goody’ or a ‘baddie’? (Or maybe you are both!)

A: Definitely not a goody, at least for most of the time. A baddie? Hmm, not so sure about that either. Can a person be sorta good and bad? I mean, if you care about other people but don’t listen when you’re told something for your own good, does that make you bad? If you put yourself in situations that could, like, kill you, does that make you bad? I guess you would have to get to know me and decide for yourself.

Q: [smiles] That's a fair enough answer. Tell me about another character in the novel – maybe your best friend, lover or partner … or maybe your arch enemy!

A: There are so many great people and faeries and birds and other animals. It’s hard to pick one. I would say Anion only because he’s gorgeous and makes my insides feel like jello, not to mention, I love him. But the one who has been by my side and never leaves me, is Piney. Now don’t gross out, but he’s a mole. A smart one, but still a mole. He’s my conscious, my sounding board, and best of all, no matter what, he never judges me

Q: Is this the only novel you have appeared in, or are there others in a series?

A: I’ve been in books one and two and I’ll be in book three. After all, the stories about the Fantasmagorical Forest are about me and the forest. I think I like book three the most because I get to spend so much time with Anion. OMG, he is so sweet. Even Nana likes him. [whispers]That’s probably not saying much since she likes everyone.... even the bad guys.

Q: What is one of your least favourite scenes you appear in?

A: OMG, nothing was worse than being tied up in a tent that smelled so bad I had to stick my nose between some sticks in the wall to breath fresh air, and even that was nasty, nasty. Give me a bad guy to fight, or a seriously mean sea creature out to kill everyone, or mean faery, or even a spooky cave with trolls, but don’t put me in a nasty smelling stick tent and tie me up. Nooo way. Not going to happen again if I have anything to say.

Q: And your favourite scene?

A: In the private palace garden where Anion kisses me. And I’m not saying anything else about it.

Q: Tell me a little about your author. Has she written any other books?

A: S L Dwyer? Well, she’s, like, always writing. Even her list of things to do look like short stories. She has 5 books out there and I hear people like reading them. I heard several have won awards. I wouldn’t know since there isn’t any way for me to get copies in Suweiland. Try giving a delivery address in the land of faeries. Duh, no mail there.

Q: [Laughs] Even our British Royal Mail can't always find my address! Is your author working on anything else at the moment?

A: Yes, yes, yes. The final book in the fantasmagorical trilogy. Now that story is, like, really exciting. This is my best and scariest adventure yet. I can’t wait for you all to read it. And, of course, there’s the next book she is making her notes for. There are so many characters and their stories in her head waiting to get out. I know I had to, like, really annoy her until she wrote my stories. So good to be out of all that noise in her head.

Book Two

Q: How do you think indie authors, such as your author, can be helped or supported by readers or groups? What does your author think is the most useful for her personally?

A: I really think that there should be indie writers forming groups in their own towns and getting together and maybe having writing panels for others at their local libraries or schools. Or maybe asking some writing magazines to do a short feature on indie writers each month. My author, well, she likes talking to everyone about books. Go figure, a writer talking about books, even their own. She gets excited talking about her books and before you know it, someone goes and buys three of her books at the same time. There’s always face book and all the new people you meet and conferences.

Q: Finally, before we must bid adieu, the novel you appear in has been awarded a prestigious IndieBRAG Medallion, does your author find this helpful, and is there anything else she would like IndieBRAG to do to help indie authors receive the recognition they deserve?

A: They already do so much just by being there for indie writers. That gold seal goes a long way when advertising a book. I just got an idea. Maybe have, like, small dues and indie Brag could advertise in magazines. Just a thought.

Helen: Thank you so much Katelin it was a pleasure talking to you. Would your author like to add a short excerpt below, and I'm afraid I haven't got any of your special juice, but I can offer Ribena if you'd like some of that? [pours some but adds a dash of gin to her own...]

Salute! Here’s to being a successful Brag Medallion Honouree!

READ AN EXCERPT:
“Hey, Katelin. Glad you decided to wake up.” Simon rose and rushed over to her. “You scared me for awhile when Bluie carried you in. I didn’t know if you got hurt or what.”
Katelin stared up at him, a scowl on her face. She stood and said, “Are you nuts? I might have been like, killed in those tunnels all because you wandered off and didn’t tell anyone where you were going.” She dusted herself off, slapping at the dust and dirt covering most of her backside and hair, eager to rid herself of any vermin who happened to be residing in the disgusting furs. A sticky cobweb stuck to her fingers as she ran them through her hair and she shrieked again, dancing around, swiping at her head.
“Katelin, stop screaming. You’re gonna scare them and I don’t know what they’ll do.”
“Scare them? Scare them? What about them scaring me?” She grabbed her brother’s hand. “Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
Simon jerked his hand away. “No. I’m not going anywhere. These guys are way cool. Well, once you get to know them. The one who carried you here is named Bluie. Well, I call him Bluie. See, his nose is kinda blue. Anyway, I can’t pronounce his name. Why does everything around here have funny sounding names?”
“These things have names?” Movement brought Katelin’s attention back to the group of beasts whose eyes were all focused on her. While she had been arguing with Simon, several in the group began to move toward them.
“Yup. That really big guy over there...” Simon pointed to a beast all the others crowded around. He stood taller than the rest. He had dark hair instead of brown, with deep set eyes almost obscured by bushy eyebrows. He was built like a stack of rocks−very big rocks. His lower lip almost touched his chin and his bulbous nose lay flat against his face. Pointed ears flapped over on top and stuck out from the mass of matted hair. His eyes were locked on Katelin. “That’s Watsomz. That’s what it sounds like, anyway.” Simon shrugged. “I call him Chunk.”
He pointed out a smaller version. “This is Droblin, I think. I call her Dobie.”
“You have nicknames for these…these things?” Katelin shuddered.