I wonder how many of these speech patterns go back to the Scots-Irish
settlers along the mountains, vs the west English speech in the
Piedmont and along the coast?
I remember some years ago a garden club group from Richmond visited
western England, to see and study the gardens there. The Richmond
newspaper had a write-up; they were amazed, the countryside, the
garden styles, the housing styles, the country lanes, were so much
like Virginia they almost felt they were still IN Virginia. It didn't
look "foreign" at all.
Some years ago we were at the Grandfather Mountain (NC) Highland
Games, having an evening get-together at the house of someone who
lived nearby. People from the Ramsay Clan, from all over the US, were
there, mostly from various areas of the south. Coastal and mountain
NC, Virginia, inland Georgia, SC, Alabama, Mississippi. My husband
and I were sitting there, enjoying the stories that were being
shared, as southerners love to do, and this couple from Ohio was
quietly sitting next to us. Finally the husband leaned over and
whispered to me "Can you understand what they're saying?" I nodded
and said a quiet "yes." He straightened up, shook his head, and said
"I can't understand a thing they're saying!" I politely stifled a
laugh. Poor man. He also once asked me how we in the south can stand
the heat and humidity. I said you should have tried it pre-air
conditioning. In Scotland once, where I was doing research, I got a
taxi and the young guy who was driving asked where I was from, we
chatted, and he mentioned a visit he took to Spain. How hot and humid
it was, and he said, in that cute accent, when he stepped outside his
hotel there, "You could'na BREATHE!"
Nancy
-------
I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
--Daniel Boone
On Jan 7, 2007, at 9:44 AM, Mildred Fournier wrote:
> Or I'm "a-goin'" That's what my Grandfather said to my Grandma 12
> times per
> day when she was trying to get him to run some errand for her.
>
> Mildred "Mickey" Fournier
> 1730 SE County Rd 252
> Lake City, FL 32025-1703
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of cagney
> Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 3:21 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Jordan's Journey
>
> I really enjoy studying the etymology of Southern speech patterns.
> "Albion's Seed" is an excellent source. Two other great sources
> are McCrum,
> MacNeil & Cran's "The Story of English" and MacNeil & Cran's follow-
> up, "Do
> You Speak American."
>
> I grew up hearing my Alabama-raised grandmother saying that she was
> "a-walkin'" somewhere, or "a-totin'" something -- straight out of
> Elizabethan England! (On the other hand, my Virginia grandmother
> had that
> distinctive "oot" and "aboot" in her speech!)
>
> Jean
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sunshine49" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 11:14 PM
> Subject: Re: Jordan's Journey
>
>
>> There is an awful lot of the old speech and customs that have
>> continued on in the south, along the coast, and in Virginia in
>> particular; customs and fashions that died out and were replaced in
>> England, but here, in the isolation of the colonies, they were
>> maintained. Words like shuck and tote and others, for ex., which are
>> straight from the 17th century. The book "Albion's Seed- four British
>> folkways in America" is a fascinating exploration of this topic. When
>> the Irish traditional music group The Chieftans visited Appalachia,
>> they were amazed that they recognized many of the traditional
>> Appalachian folk tunes as the same old songs that were still played
>> in Ireland.
>>
>> Nancy
>>
>> -------
>> I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
>>
>> --Daniel Boone
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 6, 2007, at 11:10 PM, Mildred Fournier wrote:
>>
>>> I am Alabama born and bred and Jordan is JERR den there, too. I
>>> didn't know
>>> it was Elizabethan, though. I assumed it was just a Southern thing.
>>>
>>> Mildred "Mickey" Fournier
>>> 1730 SE County Rd 252
>>> Lake City, FL 32025-1703
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sunshine49
>>> Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 11:07 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: Jordan's Journey
>>>
>>> Some of the places along the coast, the Outer Banks of NC, etc. that
>>> retain that Elizabethan speech still pronounce it "JERR den". I may
>>> be mis-remembering, but President Carter had a fellow Georgian on
>>> staff, Hamilton Jordan, and I think they pronounced that "JERR den",
>>> too.
>>>
>>> Nancy
>>>
>>> -------
>>> I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
>>>
>>> --Daniel Boone
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jan 6, 2007, at 8:07 PM, Connie Lapallo wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Neil,
>>>>
>>>> I wrote a novel (Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky)
>>>> based on
>>>> Joan Peirce and her daughter Cecily Reynolds. Cecily's second
>>>> husband was
>>>> Samuel Jordan of Jordan's Journey. Samuel was a character in the
>>>> book, but
>>>> will play a more important role in the sequel. I'm writing the
>>>> sequel now,
>>>> which will largely focus on Cecily's life, including her
>>>> marriage to
>>>> Samuel and the development of Jordan's Journey. I'm a descendent of
>>>> Cecily
>>>> from her first marriage to a Bailey.
>>>>
>>>> My research for the sequel is still in progress, but I can tell you
>>>> that
>>>> you're correct that there's no definitive proof (that I'm aware of)
>>>> that
>>>> Samuel was a passenger on the Sea Venture. However, he received a
>>>> land
>>>> grant on 10 December 1620 which listed him as a "an ancient planter
>>>> who
>>>> hath abode ten yeares compleat in this Colony." From this, we
>>>> know he
>>>> either came on the Patience and Deliverance (with the Sea Venture
>>>> survivors) or on De La Warr's ships in June 1610. He appeared to
>>>> have a
>>>> strong military background (suggested by how well-fortified
>>>> Jordan's
>>>> Journey was and the similarity of its structures to those of an
>>>> Irish
>>>> bawn.) I believe he was probably in the group of mercenaries left
>>>> without
>>>> work when a truce was called in the Lowlands in 1609. His
>>>> (probable)
>>>> distant cousin Silvester was definitely on the Sea Venture, and his
>>>> first
>>>> cousin's (Joan Peirce's) husband was also on there. I think the Sea
>>>> Venture is a sound assumption, though not definite.
>>>>
>>>> The name "Beggar's Bush" was probably a corruption of "Biker's
>>>> Bush." The
>>>> neighboring land was that of William Biker, and there is a Bicker's
>>>> Creek
>>>> on present day maps near there as well. Please see W&M Quarterly,
>>>> April
>>>> 1941, p.180-181 for a more detailed explanation.
>>>>
>>>> Samuel would have pronounced his name "JERR-den." His ancestors
>>>> probably
>>>> came to England from France after the Hundred Years war. This
>>>> distinct
>>>> pronounciation survived in Virginia for many years, and is
>>>> distinguishable
>>>> from the ancient family of English Jordans who pronounce it more
>>>> as we
>>>> would expect: "JOR-den". Given that, "Jordan's Journey" was much
>>>> more
>>>> alliterative than it appears on paper!
>>>>
>>>> I love the charcter of Sam Jordan and am eager to do more research
>>>> on him.
>>>>
>>>> Best of luck. I hope this helps.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>> Connie Lapallo
>>>> author of DARK ENOUGH TO SEE THE STARS IN A JAMESTOWN SKY
>>>> www.ConnieLapallo.com
>>>>
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