It is not necessary to speak many words in praise of such an excellent
book as “Lakeland Words,” it speaks for itself, and must appeal to any
and every Englishman who loves his country and his native mother tongue.
It has often been said that the vocabulary of the ordinary rustic is
but poor and scanty, and it is just such books as Mr. Kirkby’s which
show how entirely false this statement is. Mr. Kirkby, besides, is
not a mere collector, come down from London with his carpet bag to
spend a few weeks in the north to pick up material for “copy,” but
he has been born and bred in the country of which he writes, and he
knows and understands the dialect as no one from outside could. I have
had innumerable proofs of this from the vast amount of most valuable
material he has contributed to the English Dialect Dictionary. There
is a freshness and naturalness in his material which is not found in
books written by people imperfectly acquainted with the people and the
district.
In these days when the Board Schools teach the children “Standard
English,” and when locomotion is so easy that people readily migrate
from one part of the country to another, dialects are rapidly decaying
and losing their individuality, and it will soon be impossible to
compile local glossaries. It is, therefore, not too much to say that
Mr. Kirkby deserves the hearty commendation and thanks of every lover
of English, for thus handing down to posterity such a faithful portrait
of the language of the Lakeland district, in all its native freshness
and richness.