It was very good news to hear from you and I am delighted that the Dialect Society has picked up on the Mary Powley trail. I do hope members of your group can take part in our event.
To summarise, planning so far: we have been able to arrange to have the church in Langwathby for Monday 4th July, the bi-centenary of Mary Powley's baptism; we expect the morning to be pretty informal, with displays and discussion; in the afternoon we will have a more clearly defined programme, with different people giving little lectures on different aspects of her life and work. We think this will be an open event for all-comers, no booking required. There will be a collection for church funds.
At present I am expecting my own piece in the afternoon programme to concentrate on her poetry. If it would suit you and/or others in the society to read one or two of her dialect poems within my talk, that would be excellent. Alternatively, we would be happy to look at a separate presentation by yourselves, talking about dialect poetry of the period and particularly featuring her work, with readings, if this is what you would prefer. We are a little restricted financially, but I am sure we could make copies of a suitable example poem. Please let me have your suggestions when you have had the chance to discuss our venture with key members. I will also let you know how our own plans are firming up too. Our next meeting is on 20th May.
I hope you will be able to spread news about this event. I will try to keep you up to date so that you can inform your members. Let me knowi f therefore any deadlines 1 should aim for, if you have a newsletter going out, for example. Nearer the date there will be full details in The C&W Herald as well as in the parish magazine.
I thought you would be interested to have a list of the five dialect poems in Echoes of Old
Here they are:
Difference of Opinion about our Mudder Tongue ("A grey-haired dweller ...")
"Ah nivver rued butyence " ("Nae time or service blunts the sense ...")
Cumberland Thanksgiving Song ("The blast frae dark fells ...") [I really like this one!]
The Brokken Statesman ("Aye, I yence was the heir ...")
"To see oursels as ithers see us " ("As time the bloom frae life is stealing ...")
There are 30-odd poems in conventional English and a further 20-odd in translation (mainly from the Danish).
This was some fine woman!
Robin Acland.