pitmatic

While Pitmatic was spoken by miners throughout the Great Northern Coalfield {{emdash}} from Ashington in Northumberland to Fishburn in County Durham {{emdash}} sources describe its particular use in the Durham collieries.{{cite news|newspaper=The Times|title=The New Electorate|date=21 August 1885|issue=31531|at=p. 4, col. 6. (At the Oakenshaw pit in County Durham): "[A]fter a few minutes delay in the overman's cabin, thronged with men talking an unintelligible language known, I was informed, as Pitmatic, we took our places"}}{{cite book|title=Pit-Yacker|first=George|last=Hitchin|date=1962|chapter=Chapter IV: 'The People Who Walked in Darkness'|at=p. 70 (Seaham Colliery, {{circa}} 1910): "I was also acquiring a new language. This was 'pitmatic'. It was a mixture of the broadest dialect of Durham and a number of words (often of foreign origin) used exclusively by pitmen when below ground"|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/pityacker0000geor/page/70/mode/1up?q=pitmatic|publisher=Jonathan Cape|location=London|oclc=3789510|via=Internet Archive}}{{cite book|title=English Journey|first=J. B.|last=Priestly|author-link=J. B. Priestley|date=1934|chapter=Chapter Ten: To East Durham and the Tees|pages=265{{endash}}266|quote=The local miners have a curious lingo [...] which they call 'pitmatik.' It is [...] a dialect within a dialect, for it is only used by the pitmen when they are talking among themselves. The women do not talk it. When the pitmen are exchanging stories of colliery life, [...] they do it in 'pitmatik,' which is Scandinavian in origin, far nearer to the Norse than the ordinary Durham dialect.|publisher=Harper & Brothers|location=New York|oclc=69655102|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/englishjourney0000jbpr_p8g3/page/254/mode/2up|chapter-url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive}} Pitmatic is distinct from the traditional agricultural speech of the Wear and Tees valleys in County Durham, which is classified as part of the 'West Northern' dialect group.

According to Bill Griffiths, the emergence of Pitmatic in County Durham is closely tied to the historical spread of heavy industry southward from the lower Tyne, beginning in the northern and western parts of County Durham and subsequently extending into the eastern districts. As industrialisation progressed, the speech of Tyneside, associated with the 'North Northern' dialect group, functioned as a superstrate, particularly among mobile industrial workers and in urbanised mining communities. This Tyneside superstrate came into contact with the older County Durham substrate, resulting in a series of contact varieties.{{cite book |last1=Griffiths |first1=Bill |title=North East Dialect: Survey and Word List |date=1999 |publisher=The Centre for Northern Studies |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |isbn=9780951147245 |pages=17-39 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/North_Eastern_Dialect/gZEdAQAAIAAJ?hl |access-date=6 May 2025}}

Although he did not use the term "Pitmatic", Alexander J. Ellis's seminal survey of English dialects in the late nineteenth century included the language of "Pitmen",{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/OnEarlyEnglishPronunciationWithEspecialReferenceToShakspereAnd/|title=On Early English Pronunciation, with Especial Reference to Shakspere and Chaucer : Part V, Existing Dialectical as Compared to West Saxon Pronunciation|last=Ellis|first=Alexander J.|author-link=Alexander John Ellis|date=1889|publisher=Trübner for the Philological Society, the Early English Text Society, and the Chaucer Society|location=London|access-date=13 July 2024|via=Internet Archive|quote-page=641|quote=Var. iv, se.Nb. [...] This variety contains the speech of the Pitmen, and is most characteristic of Nb. But the mere writing of this speech conveys very little notion of its peculiarities of intonation, [...].The singsong and musical drawl of the pitmen must be heard to be understood. It is this variety to which the numerous dialectal books, annuals, comic stories, and songs usually refer.}}{{rp|637–641}} focusing on the region "between rivers Tyne and Wansbeck" and drawing on informants from Humshaugh, Earsdon, and Backworth.{{rp|674}} Dialect words in Northumberland and Tyneside, including many specific to the coal-mining industry, were collected by Oliver Heslop and published in two volumes in 1892 and 1894 respectively.{{cite book|title=Northumberland Words. A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Northumberland and on the Tyneside|first=Richard Oliver|last=Heslop|author-link=Richard Oliver Heslop}} [https://archive.org/details/northumberlandw01heslgoog Volume I] (A to F) (1892). Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & co. for the English Dialect Society{{snd}}via Internet Archive. [https://archive.org/stream/northumberlandw00heslgoog Volume II] (G to Z) (1894). Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press for the English Dialect Society{{snd}}via Internet Archive.

A dictionary of East Durham Pitmatic spoken in Hetton-le-Hole, compiled by Rev. Francis M. T. Palgrave, was published in 1896{{cite book|title=A List of Words and Phrases in Every-Day Use by the Natives of Hetton-Le-Hole in the County of Durham, Being Words not Ordinarily Accepted, or But Seldom Found in the Standard English of the Day|first=Rev. Francis Milnes Temple|last=Palgrave|date=1896|publisher=Henry Frowde for the English Dialect Society|location=London|url=https://gredos.usal.es/handle/10366/122533|format=pdf, doc|oclc=163056065|access-date=24 June 2024}} Via [https://www.thesalamancacorpus.com/ The Salamanca Corpus Digital Archive of English Dialect Texts] and reprinted in 1997.{{cite book|title=Hetton-le-Hole Pitmatic Talk 100 Years Ago: a Dialect Dictionary of 1896|first1=Rev. Francis Milnes Temple|last1=Palgrave|first2=David (foreword)|last2=Ridley |date=1997|orig-date=1896|publisher=Johnstone-Carr|location=Gateshead|isbn=978-0-953-14020-6|oclc=41358108}} The heritage society of nearby Houghton-le-Spring produced a list of words and phrases in 2017 collected over the preceding five years.{{cite web|url=http://www.houghtonlespring.org.uk/articles/pitmatic_guide_book.pdf|title=We're Not Mackems: A Pitmatic Dictionary|date=January 2017|website=Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Society|access-date=6 September 2024}} Harold Orton compiled a corpus (dataset) of dialect forms for 35 locations in Northumberland and northern Durham, known as the Orton Corpus.{{cite journal|first=Kurt|last=Rydland|date=January 1992|title=The Orton Corpus. A collection of dialect material from the north-east of England|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/angl.1992.1992.110.1/html|journal=Anglia. Journal of English Philology|volume=1992|issue=110 |pages=1{{endash}}35|doi=10.1515/angl.1992.1992.110.1|access-date=28 June 2024|url-access=subscription}}{{cite book|title=The Orton Corpus: a Dictionary of Northumbrian Pronunciation 1928-1939|first=Kurt|last=Rydland|date=1998|publisher=Novus forlag|location=Oslo|isbn=978-8-270-99306-2|oclc=40847001}} Vol. 10 of Studia Anglistica Norvegica, {{ISSN|0333-4791}}.

Pit Talk in County Durham, an illustrated, 90-page pamphlet by Dave Douglass, a local miner, was published in 1973.{{cite web|url=https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/museums-archives-heritage/history-workshop-pamphlets-10/|title=Pit Talk in County Durham: A Glossary of Miners' Talk together with Memories of Wardley Colliery, Pit Songs and Piliking|first=Dave|last=Douglass|author-link=David John Douglass|date=1973|publisher=History Workshop|location=Oxford|oclc=990097|access-date=25 June 2024}} In 2007, Bill Griffiths produced a dictionary of Pitmatic where each entry includes information on a word's etymology;{{cite book|title=Pitmatic: The Talk of the North East Coalfield|first=Bill|last=Griffiths|author-link=Bill Griffiths (poet)|date=2007|publisher=Northumbria University Press|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|isbn=978-1-904-79425-7}} it was well reviewed.{{Cite web|date=2007-07-30|title=Lost language of Pitmatic gets its lexicon|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jul/30/books.britishidentity|access-date=22 August 2021|website=The Guardian|last=Wainwright|first=Martin|quote=His new book reveals an exceptionally rich combination of borrowings from Old Norse, Dutch and a score of other languages, with inventive usages dreamed up by the miners themselves.}} In an earlier work,{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of North East Dialect|first=Bill|last=Griffiths|author-link=Bill Griffiths (poet)|date=2004|publisher=Northumbria University|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|edition=first|chapter=Historical introduction|pages=xvii{{ndash}}xviii|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnort0000grif/page/n19/mode/1up|chapter-url-access=registration|isbn=978-1-904-79406-6|via=Internet Archive}} Griffiths cited a newspaper of 1873 for the first recorded mention of the term "pitmatical".{{cite news|newspaper=Newcastle Weekly Chronicle{{snd}}Supplement|title=Amongst the People|author=A Man on the Streets|date=19 April 1873|at=p. 4, col. 6|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000865/18730419/012/0012|url-access=registration|quote=A great many of the lads, especially from the Durham district, [...] [used] the purest 'pitmatical', shouted across the streets, [...].|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

Pitmatic words and expressions include:

{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|style=width: 600px|

• alreet*{{snd}}alright, how are you?
• bairn*{{snd}}child
• bait{{sup|†}}{{snd}}meal eaten underground
• blaa*{{snd}}blow
• breed*{{snd}}bread
• browt*{{snd}}brought
• byuk*{{snd}}boot
• byut*{{snd}}boot
• cannet*{{snd}}cannot, can't
• canny*{{snd}}nice
• chods*{{snd}}lumps
• clag*{{snd}}to stick
• cyak*{{snd}}cake
• clarts*{{snd}}mud
• dee*{{snd}}do
• dinnet, dint *{{snd}}don't
• duds*{{snd}}clothes
• dunch*{{snd}}crash, bang together
• fyace*{{snd}}face
• gan canny owwer the greaser{{sup|†}}{{snd}}mind how you go{{refn|group=lower-roman |The greaser was a mechanism installed between the rails of the mine railway that lubricated the wheels of coal-carrying tubs.}}
• ganning*{{snd}}going
• gansey*{{snd}}have a go
• had yer hand*{{snd}}hold on a minute
• heed*{{snd}}head
• hoggers*{{snd}}shorts worn by miners
• hose{{sup|†}}{{snd}}pipe conveying compressed air
• hoss*{{snd}}horse
• howk*{{snd}}to remove or extract
• hoy*{{snd}}to throw
• hyem*{{snd}}home
• impittent*{{snd}}impudent
• jesting*{{snd}}joking
• jigger{{sup|†}}{{snd}}vibrating trough for cleaning coal
• jowling{{sup|†}}{{snd}}tapping the wall or ceiling of a mine to check its condition
• keep had young'un*{{snd}}take care
• kets*{{snd}}sweets
• knaa*{{snd}}know
• lektrishun{{sup|†}}{{snd}}electrician
• lass*{{snd}}girl
• lugs*{{snd}}ears
• maingate{{sup|†}}{{snd}}principal roadway in a mine
• marra*{{snd}}mate, friend, work-mate
• myak{{snd}}make
• nee*{{snd}}no (determiner)
• netty*{{snd}}toilet
• nivver*{{snd}}never
• oot-by{{sup|†}}{{snd}}direction towards the mineshaft
• ower*{{snd}}over
• plodge*{{snd}}to walk through mud or water
• rammel{{sup|†}}{{snd}}worthess stone mixed with coal
• rapping{{sup|†}}{{snd}}transmitting signals
• rive*{{snd}}to tear or rip off
• shul*{{snd}}shovel
• skeets{{sup|†}}{{snd}}guides for cages{{refn|group=lower-roman |A cage suspended on a wire rope is a conveyance used for moving workers and supplies below the surface of a mine.}} going up or down a mineshaft
• spelk*{{snd}}splinter
• spuggy*{{snd}}bird, sparrow
• spyun*{{snd}}spoon
• syam*{{snd}}same
• syek*{{snd}}sake
• tadger{{sup|†}}{{snd}}electric drill
• tak{{sup|*}}{{snd}}take
• tak had{{sup|†}}{{snd}}take hold, steady yourself (in the cage)
• thee*{{snd}}your
• windy pick{{sup|†}}{{snd}}pneumatic pick
• winnet*{{snd}}won't
• wrang*{{snd}}wrong
• whee*{{snd}}who
• ye're gettin yersel aheed o the buzzer{{sup|†}}{{snd}}getting above your station, being forward
• yummer*{{snd}}bad mood

}}

* from Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Society (2017)
{{sup|†}} from Griffiths (2007)

In 2000, Melvyn Bragg presented a programme about Pitmatic on BBC Radio 4 as part of a series on English regional dialects.{{Cite episode|title=Pitmatic|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/storysofar/programme3_1.shtml|access-date=27 June 2024|series=The Routes of English|first=Melvyn|last=Bragg|author-link=Melvyn Bragg|network=BBC Radio 4 |date=23 November 2000|series-no=3|via=}}

Pitmatic is heard in parts of the second episode of Ken Loach's 1975 series Days of Hope,{{cite episode|title=1921|series=Days of Hope|series-link=Days of Hope|first=Ken|last=Loach|author-link=Ken Loach|date=18 September 1975|network=BBC One|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHOONUfDUm0|access-date=27 June 2024|via=YouTube}} which was filmed around Esh Winning in Durham; the cast included local actor Alun Armstrong.

The poet, singer-songwriter and entertainer Tommy Armstrong worked mainly in Pitmatic and Geordie.{{cite news

|newspaper=Darlington & Stockton Times

|date=10 December 2010

|title=Detective work reveals the true coalfield bard

|url=https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/8732200.detective-work-reveals-the-true-coalfield-bard/

|access-date=6 September 2024

}} British comedian Bobby Thompson, popular across North East England, was famous for his Pitmatic accent.{{cite news|newspaper=Chronicle Live|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/theatre-news/review-bobby-thompson-story-theatre-1748489|title=Review: The Bobby Thompson Story, Theatre Royal Newcastle|date=12 June 2013|first=Young|last=Reviewer|access-date=6 September 2024}}

Marla Hill Ducks (Tommy Armstrong, Durham Coalfield, 19th century)

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

Pitmatic

:Noo if ye'll pay attention a moment or two,

:Aa'll tell ye a story Aa knaa te be true.

:In a smaal coll'ry village tha caal Marla Hill,

:For te tell the syame story there's men livin still.

:It's aboot twenty ducks that went oot for te play,

:Upon an aad pastor one fine summer's day;

:But the farmer espied them, an' teuk them whalesale,

:An' fund them fresh lodgings in Marla Hill Jail.

:Noo the pastor tha played on was worthless an' bare;

:There wasn't a blade o' green grass growin there;

:Tha had been trespassin, an' couldn't deny'd.

:But like other pris'ners, tha should have been tried.

:Wivoot judge or jury, he teuk them away;

:He never once axed if tha'd owt for te say;

:If he'd gien them a chance, tha wad aal getten bail,

:But he teuk hem as pris'ners te Marla Hill Jail.

:For days tha were locked up baith hungry an' dry;

:But te break the door oppen tha thowt tha wad try;

:Wi' their nebs an' their claas tha seun made a road through,

:When the hind was at wark wi' his hosses an' ploo.

:Sixteen o' the Twenty got nicely away,

:Tha quaaked an' tha shooted, as much as te say,

:”O liberty's sweet!” an kept waggin their tail,

:An' that's hoo tha got oot o' Marla Hill Jail.

:There was still fower left in this mis'rable den.

:The twenty belanged te three diff'rent men;

:So tha met an' tha thowt the best way for te dee;

:'Twas for them te gan doon the Land Steward te see.

:Tha went, an' was welcomed; he tret them se kind;

:He laid aal the blame on the Marla Hill hind;

:While tellin their story the Steward grew pale

:When that towld him their ducks was in Marla Hill Jail.

:When leavin, the Steward te them he did say,

:Tell the hind the ducks must be aal set away.

:Tha thowt 'twas aal reet when the Steward tha seed,

:But the next news tha had te pay ninepence a heid.

:There'll be ducks on the pastor when Steward an' hind

:Is laid doon belaa, like the rest of mankind;

:They'll be sent tiv a place for te weep an' te wail,

:Baith the gov'nor and turnkey of Marley Hill Jail.

{{col-2}}

Translation

:Now if you’ll pay attention a moment or two,

:I’ll tell you a story I know to be true.

:In a small colliery village call Marley Hill,

:There are men still living who tell the same story.

:It’s about twenty ducks that went out to play

:Upon an old pasture one fine summer's day;

:But the farmer saw them and took them wholesale,

:And found them fresh lodgings in Marley Hill Jail.

:Now the pasture they played on was worthless and bare;

:There wasn’t a blade of green grass growing there.

:They had been trespassing, and couldn't deny it,

:But like other prisoners they should have a try.

:Without judge or jury, he took them away—

:He never once asked if they'd anything to say.

:If he’d given a chance, they’d all have got bail,

:But he took them as prisoners to Marley Hill Jail.

:For days they were locked up both hungry and dry;

:So to break the door open they thought they would try.

:With their beaks and their claws they soon made a way through,

:While the hind was at work with his horses and plough.

:Sixteen of the twenty got nicely away—

:They quacked and they shouted as if they would say:

:‘O liberty's sweet!’ and kept wagging their tail

:And that’s how they got out of Marley Hill Jail.

:There were still four left in this miserable den.

:The twenty belonged to three different men;

:So they met and they thought the best thing to be done

:Was to go down and see the Land Steward at once.

:They went, and were welcomed; he treated them so kindly;

:He laid all the blame on the Marley Hill hind.

:While telling their story the Steward turned pale

:When they told him their ducks were in Marley Hill Jail.

:When leaving, the Steward to them he did say:

:‘Tell the hind the ducks must all be set free.’

:They thought it was settled when Steward they’d seen,

:But the next news they had to pay ninepence a head!

:There’ll be ducks on that pasture when Steward and hind

:Are laid down below, like the rest of mankind—

:They’ll be sent to a place to weep and to wail,

:Both the governor and turnkey of Marley Hill Jail.

{{col-end}}

Other Northern English dialects include:

• Cumbrian and Northumbrian dialects
• Geordie (spoken in Tyneside); see also Geordie dialect words
• Mackem (spoken in Wearside)
• Smoggie (spoken in Teesside)
• Yorkshire and Lancashire dialects
• Scouse (spoken in Merseyside)
• Mancunian (Spoken in Manchester)

• {{annotated link|English language in Northern England}}
• {{annotated link|Northumbrian dialect}}

{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}

{{reflist}}

• {{

cite book

|first=Katie

|last=Wales

|title=Northern English: A Social and Cultural History

|location=Cambridge

|publisher=Cambridge University Press

|date=2006

|chapter=Chapter 4: Northern English after the Industrial Revolution (1750–1950)

|pages=115–159

|isbn=978-0-521-86107-6

|oclc=271787609

}} Describes the socioeconomic roots and cultural context of northern dialects of English, with Pitmatic mentioned on pages 124-125.

• [https://www.dencutts.co.uk/pitmatic.html Den Cutt's list of "Old Words & Phrases, Commonly Known as Pitmatic"], from County Durham
• [https://www.indigogroup.co.uk/durhamdialect/pitmatic1966.htm Fred Wade's Pitmatic word list], from South Moor, and [https://www.indigogroup.co.uk/durhamdialect/mcpitmatic.htm Georgie McBurnie's "Pitman's Glossary"], from Washington, hosted by the [https://www.indigogroup.co.uk/durhamdialect/index.html Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kKTaOCJROc "Yam", a poem in Pitmatic read by its author, Douglas Kew]{{snd}}via YouTube
• [https://vimeo.com/138917212 "Jowl, Jowl and Listen"]: film of miners from the Durham and Northumberland coalfields talking in dialect about their work and lives{{snd}}via Vimeo

Category:Northumberland

Category:County Durham

Category:North East England

Category:English language in England

Category:Working-class culture in England

Category:Coal mining in England