lettrr to flie altar.
THE NORTHUMBERLAND BURR.
Newcastle, 10th August 1859. SIR—Ill your review of Mr. Walter White's work, Northumberland and tlw Border, you quote his observations on the burr observable in the speech of the natives of this locality. Mr. White, like all strangers who attempt to explain or imitate it, fails to convey it with accuracy. It is the common mistake to say that Northumbrians pronounce it as " baw-ies " for " berries." More correctly he might have said it was pronounced baiTice. The r is always in pronunciation thrown backwards into the throat, and generally when it is preceded by any of the vowels the vowel is pronounced as a.
Mr. White disputes the authority of Dr. Smiles that "the burr is a sign of robust energy of character," and he theorizes that most probably the isolation of the inhabitants and their carelessness in their rugged speech produced the defect. So far as Mr. White's suggestion as to isolation goes I agree with bins, but I think it is more probable that the burr was originally introduced by the sailors of the northern nations of Europe, whose intercourse with the inhabitants led to the adoption of the foreign pronunciation. To this day the burr is similarly pronounced by the merchant from Hamburg, Den- mark, and Norway, and the "porter pokemen" on the quay side; The burr, like all good institutions here, is fast dying out. Every rail- way train takes it out for an airing, and the genuine native on hie, return brings with him a contempt for his robust speech.
Your obedient servant, Lsoo-Cnigtne.
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