The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #11483 Message #2745351
Posted By: Sue Allan
13-Oct-09 - 06:39 PM
Thread Name: Yan Tan Tethera - more words in the count?
Subject: RE: Yan Tan Tethera - more words in the count?
The version I know seems to be the Borrowdale one:
Yan, tyan, tethera, methera, pimp, sethera, lethera, overa, dovera, dick, yan-a-dick, tyan-a-dick, tethera-dick, methera-dick, bumfit, yan -a=bumfit, tyan-a-bumfit, tethera-bumfit, giggot.
I learnt it from a book on Cumbrian folklore etc. And every other source I have seen in Cumbrian literature, including dialect books,quotes someone else quoting this. As far as I can tell it's not been used in LIVING memory for about 200 years!
I guess it must have been really used at some point(?) - but it seems to have come down to us essentially as an antiquarian linguistic curiosity. I would love to know if anyone actually knows of someone who has heard someone ACTUALLY USE IT, rather than reading or hearing about it from someone else. A little challenge ...