Plenty to enjoy at dialect double bill in Morpeth

Whether or not you know the answers, the Corn Exchange of Morpeth Town Hall (ground floor) is the place to be on the afternoon of Saturday, October 14 when the distinctive dialect of Northumberland features in two special events – a book launch and a musical lecture.

The first is the launch of A Northumbrian Wordhoard, the most definitive up-to-date dictionary produced by the Northumbrian Language Society in its 40 years of existence.

It contains not only 1,250 of the commonest Northumbrian dialect words with their meanings, a reverse list of Standard English items translated into Northumbrian and a brief history of the language, but also a handy list of the basic 140 words needed to get by in Northumbrian today.

Details on the background to the publication and extracts from the dictionary will be delivered by members of the society, including Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery who will be helping to launch it by reading a poem in dialect written by Raymond Reed of Ashington.

Copies will be available at £10 on the day and for those unable to attend, the Wordhoard is also on sale at Morpeth Chantry TIC, certain bookshops and online.

The launch will be followed by prize-winning singer songwriter Graham Bell delivering the 24th annual Roland Bibby Memorial Lecture, held in memory of the society’s founding chairman. The talk’s title, Aroond the Rugged Rock, is described as a songwriter’s journey through the cornfields and coalfields of Northumberland.

A prolific songwriter in the tradition of such greats as Joe Wilson, Geordie Ridley and Johnny Handle, Graham puts his own slant on historical or contemporary topics, displaying a deft use of dialect, amazing feats of memory and his distinctively incisive and often hilarious content.

Society Vice President Kim Bibby-Wilson said: “Graham is always welcome back in Morpeth, where he began his working career as a farmer and where he headlined events at this year’s Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering.”

Admission is free to the general public, with doors opening at 1pm for a chance to browse the publications and merchandise stall before the book launch takes place at around 1.20pm and the lecture at 2pm.