Fishing and Folk: Life and Dialect on the North Sea Coast

by Bill Griffiths (Compilation)

With enormous enthusiasm for the language of ordinary northerners, this scenic portrait of coastal peoples combines history, etymology, and recollections to record a folk culture that strives to survive against current worldwide trends of uniformity. The examination delves deep into the boat and fishing traditions that shape this small angler community, including smuggling, the scenery, and the surrounding wildlife. The increasing threat that globalization poses to these sea populations makes this an important preservation--as well as an excellent source of factual information and reference material about those who live on the North Sea.

304 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Born as Brian William Bransom Griffiths, was a poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar associated with the British Poetry Revival.

Reviews

[Gary Dolman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good review from me because I read it for specific research purposes and it was an excellent fit for that. Full of fascinating insights into past fisheries, the insular social history of Northumbrian fishing villages and good analysis.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard of Bill Griffiths in Ian Sinclair’s London Orbital, where he is remembered as a prolific and eclectic poet, writer and scholar.
I was moved by Sinclair’s admiration for Griffiths, both his humanity and vast literary output. Taking Sinclair’s word for it and given my own fascination with the North, I felt compelled to explore Griffiths’ ‘Wor Language’ series by Northumbria University Press.

I was not disappointed by ‘Fishing and Folk’, which I would describe as a ‘narrative dictionary’.
Chapters start with lists of terms, which include definitions, etymology, references to place origin, uses in spoken language, as well as the author’s own considerations on context.
Entries can be a few words long, or take up half a page. The terms are grouped in chapters, according to geographical Coastal features, Boats and the Fishing industry and community.
The strictly dictionary-like sections at the beginning of each chapter are then followed by extended descriptions, quotes and excerpts from old documents, literary works, poems and songs, newspaper articles and transcribed conversations and oral accounts.
Some chapters also feature several photographs and, towards the end of the book, are mostly discursive with no world lists.

I found this an accessible and engaging read, far from being solely a dictionary and not at all dry.
It is written with a lot of respect for the communities described, offering a window into a nearly lost way of life, while never falling into sentimentality and often handling the subject matter with a fresh sense of humour.

This is a book that I will dip into again, especially when next visiting the Yorkshire and Northumberland coasts.