An Eisteddfod for Yorkshire? Professor Moorman and the Uses of Dialect

Abstract

Frederic W. Moorman joined the academic staff of the Yorkshire College, soon to become the University of Leeds, in 1898, and eventually became Professor of English Language. Devon-born, he described himself as a 'naturalised Yorkshireman'. He joined the Yorkshire Dialect Society in 1904 and became a member of its council and its editorial secretary. He was a prolific writer and editor of dialect poetry and prose. He wished to encourage the revival of Yorkshire vernacular culture among its 'peasants and artisans' and argued that the county should mount its own eisteddfodequivalents. He died at the age of forty-seven in a drowning accident in the Dales. Several of his volumes of dialect material were published posthumously. Moorman is a marginal literary figure but significant for his serious espousal of a pan-Yorkshire culture and identity rooted in traditions such as dialect poetry and the late medieval miracle plays.

Keywords:

• YORKSHIRE
• DIALECT
• POETRY
• DRAMA
• CULTURE
• EISTEDDFOD
• MOORMAN
• UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS