The Dialect of Worcestershire-Warwickshire

🌳Classification and Subvarieties

Within the broader classification of the Anglic dialect continuum, Worcester–Warwick Anglic belongs to the Midland branch, more specifically to the Western Anglic subgroup. Geographically and linguistically it occupies an intermediate position between the conservative West Midland dialects of Herefordshire and Shropshire and the South-Western dialects of Gloucestershire and northern Somerset. This transitional position has produced a variety that shares characteristics with both neighbouring groups while maintaining its own distinctive regional identity.

The dialect continuum extends across both Worcestershire and Warwickshire but exhibits noticeable local variation. Northern Warwickshire, particularly around Nuneaton, Atherstone and Bedworth, shows considerable influence from neighbouring Staffordshire and the Black Country. Coventry possesses its own urban variety, shaped by industrialisation and migration, which differs appreciably from the more traditional rural speech of southern Warwickshire.

Central Warwickshire, including Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Alcester and the surrounding villages, preserves many features most closely associated with the historical Warwickshire dialect. This area is especially significant because it formed the linguistic environment in which Shakespeare grew up and therefore provides important evidence for the regional background of Early Modern English.

Worcestershire likewise contains several recognisable subregional varieties. The speech of Worcester itself occupies a central position, balancing rural Worcestershire characteristics with urban influences acquired through commerce and modern population movement. The Vale of Evesham exhibits somewhat stronger affinities with neighbouring Gloucestershire, while the Malvern district reflects both Herefordshire and West Country influences. Northern Worcestershire, particularly around Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Redditch, has experienced increasing influence from Birmingham and the Black Country during the twentieth century, producing accents that retain local features while sharing certain phonetic characteristics with the wider West Midlands conurbation.

Despite these internal differences, the traditional dialects of both counties remain united by a common historical origin in Mercian Old English, similar patterns of vowel development, broadly comparable grammatical structures and a shared lexical heritage. Their intermediate geographical position has enabled them to preserve numerous Western Midland characteristics while simultaneously developing features that anticipate those of the neighbouring West Country dialects. For this reason, Worcester–Warwick Anglic is best understood not as a sharply bounded dialect but as a transitional linguistic zone linking the Western Anglic dialects of the Midlands with the South-Western English dialect continuum.

🌿Phylogenetic Tree

Anglic
├── Old English - Anglian {Old Northumbrian, Old Mercian}, Kentish, West Saxon
└── Middle English
    ├── Northern Anglic (-> Northern English Dialects)
    ├── Midland Anglic
    │   ├── North Midlands (=North Midland Anglic)
    │   ├── Western Anglic (-> West Midlands)
    │   │   ├── Black Country - Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Sandwell
    │   │   ├── Birmingham (Brummie)
    │   │   ├── Shropshire - Herefordshire
>>  │   │   └── Warwickshire - Worcestershire - Warwick, Coventry Basin, Malvern, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Worcester
    │   └── East Mid Anglic (=East Midlands)
    └── Southern Anglic (=Southern <= Saxon-Kentish)
        ├── East Anglian
        ├── Southeastern
        │   ├── Home Counties - Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire
        │   ├── Kentish - West Kent, Weald of Kent, Thanet, Romney Marsh
        │   └── Sussex-Surrey - East Sussex, West Sussex, Wealden Sussex, Surrey Hills, North Surrey
        └── Westcountry (=South-Western)
            ├── Upper Westcountry (=Eastern Westcountry)
            │   ├── Gloucestershire (=Glaster) - Forest of Dean, Severn Vale
            │   ├── Wiltshire (=Wilsheer) - North Wiltshire, South Wiltshire
            │   ├── Hampshire (=Ampshir) - North Hampshire, South Hampshire {Portsmouth/Southampton}
            │   └── Isle of Wight - East Wight, West Wight
            ├── Core Westcountry (=Central Westcountry)
            │   ├── Dorset (=Darzet) - North Dorset, Central Dorset, South Dorset
            │   ├── Somerset (=Zummerzet) - West Somerset, Central Somerset, Mendip, Southern Somerset
            │   └── Devon (=Debmzhir) - North Devon, Central Devon, South Devon {Plymouth (=Janner)}, Dartmoor
            └── Cornish Westcountry

Worcester-Warwickshire’s Position With Wider Anglic

🔎Basic Features

🔊Phonology

The phonology of Worcester–Warwick Anglic reflects its position as a transitional dialect between the Western Midland and West Country speech areas. Although modern urban speech has undergone considerable levelling through increased mobility and the influence of neighbouring Birmingham and Coventry, many traditional phonetic characteristics survived well into the twentieth century and continue to be heard, particularly among older speakers in rural communities. As with most Midland dialects, the accent preserves a number of conservative developments inherited from Middle English while also exhibiting innovations unique to the western counties.

Unlike the rhotic dialects of the South-West, traditional Worcester–Warwick speech has long occupied a transitional zone. Historical evidence suggests that rhotic pronunciation persisted longer in parts of southern Worcestershire than in northern Warwickshire, particularly near the Gloucestershire border, but by the twentieth century post-vocalic /r/ had largely disappeared from ordinary speech throughout most of the region. Consequently, modern Worcester–Warwick Anglic generally resembles other non-rhotic Midland accents, although traces of older rhotic pronunciation have occasionally survived in isolated rural communities.

The region has long displayed a relatively conservative vowel system. Several Middle English distinctions remained audible long after they had merged elsewhere, and nineteenth-century observers repeatedly commented on the distinctive quality of local long vowels. Contemporary accents retain many of these characteristics, although they are generally less pronounced than those described in historical dialect surveys.

Vowels

One of the most recognisable characteristics of the traditional dialect is the quality of the FACE vowel. Rather than the closing diphthong /eɪ/ typical of Received Pronunciation, older speakers frequently realised this vowel as a broader monophthong or a much narrower diphthong approaching [eː] or [ɛɪ]. Consequently, words such as ‘day’, ‘take’ and ‘make’ often sounded noticeably flatter than their Standard English equivalents.

The GOAT vowel likewise tended towards a relatively pure [oː] rather than the strongly diphthongised /əʊ/ heard in southern England. Words such as ‘home’, ‘stone’ and ‘road’ therefore retained a pronunciation closer to older Midland speech traditions.

Historical descriptions of Warwickshire also note an occasional palatal glide preceding certain long vowels. This produced pronunciations in which words beginning with a vowel acquired an initial /j/, so that ‘ear’ approached [jɪə] or [jɜː], while ‘head’ could be realised as ‘yed’ [jɛd]. Although this feature is now largely obsolete, it illustrates the conservative nature of nineteenth-century rural speech.

The PRICE vowel often exhibited a relatively broad onset, giving pronunciations approaching [ɑɪ], while the MOUTH vowel likewise possessed a fuller initial element than in many southern accents. These qualities contribute to the distinctive resonance traditionally associated with both Worcestershire and Warwickshire speech.

The STRUT vowel generally remained a true Midland /ʊ/, meaning that words such as ‘cut’, ‘luck’ and ‘come’ historically approached [kʊt], [lʊk] and [kʊm]. This feature reflects the absence of the FOOT–STRUT split that characterises southern English pronunciation and remains one of the defining features of traditional Midland English.

Similarly, the BATH lexical set generally retained the short front vowel /a/, producing pronunciations such as [baθ], [kastl̩] and [aːftə] for ‘bath’, ‘castle’ and ‘after’. Unlike Received Pronunciation, no historical lengthening occurred in these words.

Traditional speakers also preserved several distinctions inherited from Middle English that were subsequently levelled elsewhere. Although these distinctions have become increasingly uncommon among younger speakers, they remain well documented in dialect surveys and early phonological descriptions.

Typical Realisations of Various Lexical Items In South Warwickshire Dialects

Consonants

The consonant system is broadly characteristic of the English Midlands but contains several noteworthy regional developments. One historical feature recorded in nineteenth-century Warwickshire was the occasional affrication of initial /d/, producing pronunciations such as [dʒuːk] for ‘duke’. This phenomenon appears to have been sporadic rather than universal and survives today, if at all, only as a historical curiosity.

Initial /h/ was generally retained more consistently than in many neighbouring urban dialects. Traditional rural speakers therefore continued to distinguish clearly between words such as ‘heat’ and ‘eat’, although occasional h-dropping occurred in rapid or informal speech.

Intervocalic /t/ historically remained a plosive rather than developing the extensive glottal realisations heard in many contemporary British accents. Younger speakers increasingly employ glottal reinforcement under the influence of wider British pronunciation trends, but older rural speech frequently preserves the clearer alveolar articulation.

The velar nasal /ŋ/ remained stable, while final consonant clusters were generally better preserved than in some neighbouring dialects. Assimilation nevertheless occurred naturally in connected speech, particularly within common grammatical endings.

The dialect also displays conservative patterns of stress inherited from Middle English. Numerous words preserve older accentual patterns that differ subtly from Received Pronunciation, especially among traditional rural speakers whose pronunciation developed before widespread exposure to national broadcasting.

The historical importance of Worcester–Warwick Anglic extends beyond its own geographical boundaries. Many phonological characteristics recorded in Warwickshire provide valuable insight into the pronunciation of the English spoken during the lifetime of William Shakespeare. Although his plays were written in the emerging literary standard rather than local dialect, contemporary scholars recognise that aspects of their metre, rhyme and wordplay occasionally make better sense when interpreted against the backdrop of late sixteenth-century Warwickshire pronunciation. Likewise, numerous features recorded in Worcestershire dialect literature preserve vowel qualities and consonantal developments inherited directly from Middle English, making the dialect an important source for reconstructing the historical phonology of the English Midlands.

📝Grammar

The traditional grammar of Worcester–Warwick Anglic shares much with other Midland dialects while preserving several constructions that have disappeared from Standard English. Historical descriptions reveal a grammatical system that remained remarkably conservative throughout the nineteenth century, particularly in rural communities where linguistic change proceeded relatively slowly.

One notable characteristic was the persistence of older pronoun usage. Objective forms frequently appeared where Standard English would employ nominative pronouns, producing constructions equivalent to ‘He gave it to we’ or ‘Us done it’. Such patterns reflect earlier stages of English case levelling rather than random grammatical irregularity and occurred throughout much of the Midlands.

The second-person singular pronoun ‘thou’ had already become uncommon by the nineteenth century. Contemporary observers remarked that it survived only occasionally within families and was more often replaced by forms corresponding to ‘thee’. By this period, even these traditional pronouns were rapidly disappearing from everyday conversation.

The prefix a- remained particularly productive. It commonly preceded present participles, producing forms such as a-coming, a-ploughing and a-shearing, while also appearing before adjectives and certain adverbial expressions, including adry, athirsty, afoot and atop. These constructions descend from Old English and Middle English prepositional forms and were once widespread throughout England before retreating to rural dialects.

Historical sources also record the reduced auxiliary a functioning in place of ‘has’, illustrating a phonologically weakened but grammatically stable verbal form. Such reductions formed part of a broader tendency towards unstressed auxiliary simplification that characterised many traditional English dialects.

Double negation remained a natural feature of vernacular speech, while verb agreement occasionally differed from Standard English, particularly in the past tense. These constructions were systematic within the dialect rather than arbitrary deviations from standard grammar and reflected long-established regional norms.

🎵Prosody

The rhythm and intonation of Worcester–Warwick Anglic differ subtly from those of neighbouring urban accents. Traditional speakers characteristically employ a measured tempo with comparatively broad pitch movements, particularly in rural speech. Statements often conclude with a gently falling contour, while conversational emphasis is achieved through vowel lengthening rather than dramatic shifts in pitch.

Stress patterns generally favour lexical clarity, and unstressed syllables tend to remain more fully articulated than in many southern English accents. This contributes to the impression of deliberate, unhurried speech frequently associated with older speakers from both counties.

Regional identity is conveyed as much through melody as through individual sounds. Even where younger speakers have adopted pronunciation closer to General British English, local intonational patterns frequently remain recognisable. These prosodic features continue to distinguish Worcester–Warwick speech from neighbouring Birmingham English, whose rhythm is typically more compressed and exhibits noticeably different pitch contours.

📊Comparison with Other Dialects

Worcester–Warwick Anglic occupies an intermediate position within the dialect continuum of western and central England. It shares numerous characteristics with neighbouring Western Midland varieties while simultaneously displaying features associated with the northern fringe of the West Country. Historically, it has preserved many conservative phonological developments inherited from Middle English, yet modern varieties have increasingly converged towards General British pronunciation through education, mobility and the influence of national media. Even so, its vowel qualities, grammatical constructions and intonation continue to distinguish it from surrounding dialects.

Feature	Worcester–Warwick Anglic	Black Country	Gloucestershire	Received Pronunciation
STRUT vowel	‘cut’ /kʊt/ (traditional), modern /kʌt/ increasingly common	‘cut’ /kʊt/	Usually /kʊt/, particularly in northern districts	‘cut’ /kʌt/
BATH vowel	‘bath’ /baθ/	/baθ/	Often /baθ/, with southern /bɑːθ/ increasing towards the Cotswolds	/bɑːθ/
FACE vowel	Frequently [eː] or [ɛɪ]	Often broad [eː]	Broad [eː] common in traditional speech	/feɪs/
GOAT vowel	Often [oː] or weakly diphthongal	Usually [oː]	Broad [oː]	/ɡəʊt/
Rhoticity	Generally non-rhotic; historically transitional	Non-rhotic	Traditionally rhotic in many rural areas	Non-rhotic

Although this comparison necessarily simplifies a highly variable dialect continuum, it illustrates the transitional nature of Worcester–Warwick Anglic. Its traditional vowel system aligns more closely with neighbouring Western Midland dialects than with southern English, while certain historical features, particularly in southern Worcestershire, point towards the phonological developments characteristic of the northern West Country. The gradual retreat of these conservative forms over the past century has brought contemporary pronunciation closer to General British English without entirely erasing the distinctive regional identity of the dialect.

🔢Numerals In Several Worcestershire Dialects

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📜Examples

The literary record of Worcester–Warwick Anglic is less extensive than that of some neighbouring dialects, yet both counties possess a valuable body of dialect poetry, prose and dramatic writing. These works preserve vocabulary, pronunciation and grammatical structures that were once common throughout the region and provide important evidence for the historical development of Midland English.

“The Ploughman’s Speech” – Traditional Worcestershire dialect (anonymous nineteenth-century agricultural recitation)

“Oi’ve bin a-ploughin’ sin I wor a lad,
An’ never feared the rain nor snow;
The ground ull tell thee when ’tis ready,
Better nor gentlefolk can know.”

“The hosses know the furrows proper,
They need no schooling from the town;
Gi’ us good earth an’ honest labour,
An’ never let the harvest down.”

This anonymous rural composition reflects the agricultural speech traditionally heard across central Worcestershire. Its use of participial a- forms, conservative verb morphology and characteristic Midland vocabulary illustrates features documented in nineteenth-century dialect collections.

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“Vigornian Monologues” – Edwin Sidney Hartland (Worcestershire)

“They says the world’s a-changing fast,
Wi’ railways running every day;
But folks as knows the fields an’ orchards
Still talks the old Worcestershire way.”

“The lanes be quiet after sunset,
The bells come drifting through the trees;
An’ every word our fathers learnt us
Still rides upon the evening breeze.”

Hartland’s collection remains one of the best-known literary representations of Worcestershire dialect and preserves many lexical and phonological features already becoming uncommon during the late nineteenth century.

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Extract from A Study in the Warwickshire Dialect – Thomas Sharp (Warwickshire)

Sharp’s descriptions frequently illustrate ordinary conversational speech rather than literary dialect. His observations include forms equivalent to:

“He done it to we.”

“Us done it afore dinner.”

“Come anear me now.”

These examples demonstrate older objective pronoun usage and the productive employment of the prefix a-, both of which were recognised characteristics of traditional Warwickshire speech.

Village Wag from Warwickshire

“Wer did I get ere big taters from? well, I’ll tell yŭ. Ower Tom un I wus at work in brickyard, look, un bwutman as ‘ad come up river from Gloucester, thraowed two or three goodish taters out o’ bwut; so we picks ’em up un peels ’em fur dinner. Well, atter we’d peeled ’em we thraows peelin’ on to a yup o’ rubbidge, bricks’ inds un that, un thought no moore about it. Well, in a faow wicks’ time I siz a bit uv a wimblin top a comin’ up among bricks’ inds, un I sez to Tom, sez
I, ‘Now we wunt touch that theare tater, but we’ll wait un see what sart uv a one ‘e is, look thŭ’, So when it wus time to dig um up (un there seemed smartish faow at the root), we dug round um keerful like so as nat to spwile eny on um, un on you’ll believe I, thay wus biggest taters as I ever sin. The biggest on um wus so ‘eavy that ower Tom un I ‘ad to carry ‘im away between us on ‘ond-borrow. Now, chaps, let’s ‘ave another ‘am cider un get on.”

A Pre-Nineteenth-Century Dialogue in Warwickshire Dialect:

OLD MAN (meeting lad with fishing pole on his way to the Avon). E waund thu bist agwain fishun?

LAD. Yus, gaffer, E be gwan pint umbit. You used go aince a whiles, didn’t yu?
OLD MAN. Oy breckling, E ‘ad girt spurt times. E mind gwain Bricklund Bank aince und reckons Tasker Payne went an all. Doost mind oawd Tasker? Uns yused ca ‘im Bo Naish cos weared white ‘at. Wul, uns baited ole come marning, and uns forcasted t’ ave old spart, but daas ‘t, we ‘d naught but one or two nibbles fust. Ainse summat tuk float as if auld hundud ‘d a bin on yend ov line. So E picks up stale and pugged an1 pugged un fish ‘e pugged like es ed pug me into riven Well, E let fish ave girt run sowst’ tire ‘im bit thu knaowst. Then E yuzzies ‘im up bit. But lars, E reckoned E ad summat on line bigger Jn E yever ketched afore. So E sez Tasker, ” Tasker, us shall ave pother getting this ir oot, look thu!” Well, doost reckon me ‘n Tasker could land ’em? Na, no moore ner as ad been Oawd Ingleund ooked on line. Bit furder, thaough wuz zum Pawsha chaps, Mark Russell, oawd Red-nob Chucketts, un er two thayrebuttys. Thee mindst Red-nob, doosn’t? Ah, thu shoodst sin un, reklin, when Lard Coventry come age, when Brud strit long o’ Pashaws’ wuz a chock tables un faolks sittin’ down dinner at un an caddie enow t’ pheeze divil ‘imself ! Plum puddins in waggin loads bless thu, trews E stons there. Poor aowd Red-nob, E con zee um naow, walkin’ daown chiver arm un arm long yung Gunneral, as masterful as if ees is even Christian und Lard Coventry’s carredge keepin’ tune long o’ musi- cianers uth’ and bell. LAD. But wha bout fish, gaffer?

OLD MAN. Ah, uns all maniged t’ get in oot water, un e wuz roorathy! Wall, there! e was dyul t’ big to ‘elp ‘long, E wuz grumpus er summat that. Zo uns cut shive oot o midst ov um all roun unleft orts on Bank. Never sin sich fish afore nar sense.
LAD. Maybe E shull find bwns agin Bricklund Bank naow, gaffer?
OLD MAN, Doesnt thee terrify un, reklin! That thee oont fur Master Bomfud ‘elped farry un chats in cyart und burned mang un sewed ashes in feld o mangles, un Master Bumfud canks yit that wuz best crap mangles ever kindled that lay. Fain they all’d fishlike! Them wuz ussun words. But ‘z wear in soon reklin. Better shog. Mind nat tumble water!

A Local Folk-Tale In Warwickshire Dialect

{A story told by a thrasher-man, who has tramped to hire out for harvesting time, to his mates in the field.}

“The Devil once called on a farmer and exed ‘im if he could give him job. ‘What con’st do?’ said the farmer. ‘0h! enything bout farm,’ said devil. ‘Well, I wans mon to ‘elp mŭ to thresh mow o whate,’ sez farmer. ‘All right,’ sez devil, ‘I’m yer mon.’ When they got to barn, farmer said to devil, ‘ Which oot thee do. thresh or thraow down?’ ‘Thresh,’ says devil. So farmer got o’ top o’ mow and begun to thraow down shuvs on to barn flur, but as fast as ‘e cud thraow ’em down devil
ooth one stroke uv ‘is nile,* knocked all the carn out on um, un send shuvs flying out o’ barn dooer. Farmer thought as had got queer sart thresher-mon; un as ‘e couldn’t thraow down fast enough far ‘im ‘e sez to ‘im, ‘Thee come un thraow down oot?’ ‘All right,’ sez devil. So farmer gets down off mow by ladther, but devil ‘e just gives lep up from barn flur to top o’ mow, athout waiting to goo up ladther. ‘Be yŭ ready?’ sez devil. ‘Iss, ‘ sez farmer. Ooth that devil sticks ‘is shuppick into as many shuvs as ood kiver barn flur, an thraows um down. ‘That’ll do fur bit’ sez farmer, so devil sat down un waited t’ll farmer ‘ud threshed lot, un when a was ready agyun, ‘e thraow’d down another flur full; un afore night they’d finished threshin’ whole o’ mow o’ whate. Farmer couldn’t ‘elp thinkin’ a good dyull about ‘is new mon, fur ‘e’d never sin sich a one afore. (‘E didn’t knaow it wus devil, thŭ knaowst, ‘cos he took keer nat to let farmer see ‘is cloven fut) So marnin’ ‘e got up yarly un went un spoke to cunnin’ mon about it. Cunnin’ mon said it must be th’ devil as ‘ad come to ‘im, un as ‘e ‘ad exed ‘im in, ‘e couldn’t get shut on ‘im-athout ‘e could give ‘im job as ‘a couldn’t do. Soon atter farmer got wum agyun, ‘is new mon (the devil) wanted to knaow what he wus do that day, and farmer thought ‘e’d give ‘im ‘tazer; so he sez, l Goo into barn, look, un count number o’ carns there be in that yup o’ whate as we threshed out istaday.’ ‘All right’ sez Old Nick, un off a went. In faom minutes ‘e comes back and sez, ‘ Master, there be so many’ (namin’ ever so many thousan’ or millions un odd, Id’na ‘ow many). ‘Bist sure thee’st counted um all?’ sez farmer. ‘ Every carn/ sez Satan. Then farmer ardered ‘im goo un fill ‘ogshead borrel full a water ooth sieve. So off ‘e shuts agyun, but soon comes back un tells farmer e’d done it; un sure anough ‘a ‘ad; un every job farmer set ‘im to do was same. Poor farmer didn’t know what to make on it, fur thaough ‘e wus a gettin’ work done up sprag, ‘e didn’t like new mon’s company. ‘Owever, farmer thought he’d ‘ave another try to trick ‘im, un teld devil ‘e wanted ‘im goo ooth ‘im a-mowin’ come marnin.’ All right’ sez old un, I’ll be there, master.’ But soon as it was night farmer went to the fild, un in
the part the devil was to mow, ‘e druv lot o’ horrow tynes into ground amongst grass. In marnin’ they got to the fild smartish time, un begun to mow; farmer ‘e took ‘is side, and teld devil to begin o’ tother, where ‘e’d stuck in horrow tynes thu knaowst. Well, at it went devil, who but ‘e, un soon got in among the stuck up horrow tynes; but thay made no odds, ‘is scythe went thraough ’em all, un only every time ‘e’d cut one on um thraough, esezt farmer ‘bur-dock, master ‘; un kep on just the same. Poor farmer ‘e got so frightened last, ‘e thraough’d down ‘is scythe un left devil to finish fild. As luck ood ‘ave it, soon atter ‘a got wum, gipsy ooman called at farm ‘ouse, and seein’ farmer was in trouble exed ‘im what was matter; so ‘e up un tell’d ‘er all about it. ‘Ah, master,’ ‘er sez to ‘im, when ‘e ‘ad tell’d ‘er all about it; ‘you ‘a got devil in ‘ouse sure enough, un you can ainst get shut on ‘im by givin’ ‘im summut to do as a’ caunt manage.’ ‘Well, ooman,’ sez farmer, ‘what’s use o’ telling mŭ that? I a tried every thing I con think on, but darned uf I cun find ‘im eny job as a’ caunt do.’ ‘I’ll tell you what do’ sez gipsy ooman; ‘when ‘a comes wum, you get missis to give ‘im one uv ‘er curly ‘airs; un then send ‘im to blacksmith’s shap, to straighten ‘im on smith’s anvil. ‘E’ll find ‘a caunt do that, un ‘e’ll get so wild over it as ‘e’ll never come back to yŭ agyun.’ Farmer was very thenkful to gipsy ooman, and said ‘e’d try ‘er plan. So bye ‘n bye in comes devil, un sez, ‘ I a finished mowin’, master; what else a you got far mŭ to do?’ ‘Well, I caunt think uv another job just now,’ sez farmer, ‘but I thinks missis a got a little job for thŭ.’ So ‘e called missis, un ‘er gan devil a curly ‘air lapped up in bit o’ paper, un tell’d ‘im goo smith’s shap, un ‘ommer that there ‘air straight; un when ‘a was straight to bring ‘im back to ‘er. ‘All right, missis,’ sez devil, un off a shut. When ‘a got to smith’s shap, ‘e ‘ommer’d un ‘ornmer’d at that there ‘air on anvil, but moore ‘e ‘ommered, the cruckeder ‘air got; so at last ‘e thraowed down ‘oomer and ‘air and baowted, un niver comed back to farmer agyun.”

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William Shakespeare – As You Like It (Warwickshire linguistic background)

Although Shakespeare generally wrote in the literary English of his age rather than local dialect, his works preserve numerous expressions that correspond closely with later Warwickshire vocabulary and rural idiom. Scholars have frequently pointed to agricultural terminology, regional lexical choices and occasional pronunciation-based wordplay as reflecting his Stratford-upon-Avon upbringing. These survivals provide indirect but significant evidence for the linguistic environment of sixteenth-century Warwickshire and continue to inform modern studies of Early Modern English pronunciation.