East Anglia Dialect

A follow-up to the video I posted on the Yorkshire dialect. This clip, also from The Story of English, deals with the speech of East Anglia.

[@814912]

I love these old accents so much - it's honestly heartbreaking how more and more people, in south England especially, are just growing up with standard London accents nowadays. It's a real loss of culture. I reckon we need to get as many older people recorded as possible while we still can. Either that, or invent a time machine.

[@joeyrb4509]

A lot of city folk have moved down here in recent years

[@gjfkhvjzjsxbq]

I love rhotic accents

[@lets-all-love-lain]

Yeah I'm half norfolk but have grown up in the south, I've only ever heard recordings of old southern country ascents but never heard them in real life.

[@yeshaya24]

💋

[@RJDANKZ]

I’m from norfolk and in the country and I agree with you, but idk how to change my accent mate

[@hedgehogzilla]

I live in norwich and I always love hearing people with really strong local norfolk and suffolk accents, you dont hear them so commonly nowadays

[@Lookatmeshine]

slime_pixie unfortunately not. My favourite localism is "boy" when greeting other men, that one is still going strong.

[@ben1210]

angelstouch92 pronounced booo-ey. As in roight booo-ey.

[@JazzyBabe56]

yes - "boi" in the Maritimes/Newfoundland in Canada...

[@Replevideo]

Oi tork Norridge. Thart rime with porridge.

[@sparrow2931]

The 'boy' you're hearing is actually 'bour', a shortening of neighbour.

[@alexcapon3620]

Even as a young Suffolk Native today, I understood virtually 99% of what these old boys were saying.

[@JacksonNomad]

I'm from east Essex and can understand them reasonably well too. Lot of the old country folk around here speak a very similar dialect..

[@alexcapon3620]

I can understand why that would be the case. I would assume what we now consider an 'Essex' accent is probably the result of Londoners moving away from the city after the Second World War, bringing their dialect with them.

[@hilltopcresent]

This is crazy, I never knew English dialects could be so impossible to understand. I truly cannot understand them even with the subtitles. This is from a New Zealander. Truly sad if these accents disappear.

[@Sophie.S..]

I originate from a small town in Norfolk, and although I have moved to another area, I understood every word - I think childhood memories stay with you forever.

[@ben1210]

hilltopcresent the amount of regional dialects is just astonishing. Proper locals can tell the difference from someone 10 or 20 miles away in some spots. I suppose these accents had a lot of time to grow roots before we had the internet/telegrams/printing/pigeons/domesticated horses.

[@johnwinthrop2702]

this east Anglian is where the original Boston accent is from. the delict that the pilgrim's spoke. faceting stuff great footage of a small village in England.

[@paulthurston2883]

I was born and raised in Lowestoft. My uncles and aunts (now all in their late 70s) all have a very strong Norfolk/Suffolk accent. I can slip back into it too anytime I want. Even though I've lived in Australia for 51 years. I will return one day soon to live my last days out in my beautiful home town. I miss it so much.

[@chrisburn7178]

"Luowstuff"

[@ellrick]

Crazy how close this sounds to my older relatives from the farmlands of Maine. We are all from loyalist dragoons that escaped the revolution, and were resettled in Canada.. only to have that later changed to America (Maine) as well. As of the early 1900's they still considered themselves British Subjects, and their kids, my grandparents all sounded like this with a bit more Irish thrown in. (forgive me, I just spent a lot of time digging through my genealogy).

[@kayrogers4022]

Queens Rangers under Simcoe, by chance?

[@justinholmes5614]

I'm Norfolk born and bred, but lost my accent growing up in an overspill town. My grandmother still has her Norwich accent and it's delightful

[@Epicrandomness1111]

We have to get our dialects back

[@TP-mv6en]

The Epic Random Dude That’s gonna be practically impossible

[@jaif7327]

@@TP-mv6enshame

[@lizpower8854]

I'm pleased to say there are still old boys in rural Suffolk who speak like this.

[@marcwoodward850]

My family is from a remote island called Beals in Maine, USA. Sounds just like the older generation there.

[@user-bh4rx8mf8g]

That doesn't surprise me Marc- a lot of people out in that bit of America speak pure East Anglian, even today. It's very striking! Thank you for sharing it.

[@kindiduk4298]

@@user-bh4rx8mf8g"Pure East Anglian" is an odd way of looking at it to me (I live in the middle of EA). The (old) accents/dialects of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk are different enough to be distinguished although it a gradual change from south (Essex) to north (Norfolk). Sadly, very few of these accents are left.

[@user-bh4rx8mf8g]

@Kindid uk I agree, the accents of the three counties are not homogenous, but they are very similar in type and, when you hear someone from abroad who sounds like it, I wouldn't say exactly 'that sounds like an old east Suffolk accent' but it might be unmistakably East Anglian. Ditto, many Canadians sound to me like Scotsmen. You could retort that there is no such thing as a single Scots accent, but nonetheless there is a recognisable and identifiable family of accents to which it belongs.

[@kindiduk4298]

@@user-bh4rx8mf8g This is indeed is true. Scotland has very varied accents. Comparing Glasgow & Edinburgh shows some major difference. Again, I probably have an ear for EA differences... Because I live here. Only some of the older folks or their, now quite old, children really speak with much of a local accent. In the town I'm from it's mostly a London derived accent. Which, interestingly, is disappearing from London too!

[@PiousMoltar]

@@kindiduk4298 I hate how London accents have taken over East Anglia. In no small part because many Londoners moved to the area a few decades ago. I'm from near Thetford, that place is in many ways a mini London now. A sad fate for the former capital of the Kingdom of East Anglia.

[@another90daystochangethis34]

So this is the region for Britain's colonial Anglo exports. I can recognize the similarities with New England accents, as well as the derivations that other parts of the Anglosphere have. Quite interesting!

[@PiousMoltar]

Abraham Lincoln's father was from Norfolk I believe

[@diezdarbo5633]

Sadiq Khan has betrayed the English natives,just look at London,the majority are not even English,just dark skinned 3rd worlders that don't even fit up to the tasks that our govonours claimed,we also never asked or were included to vote or have a say in our own nation,we are simply ignored and shunned at as we decrease;die out

[@scottutting2729]

No it wasn’t cockney at all. What a ridiculous thing to say. The New England accent is heavily related to Norfolk/Suffolk dialect and to a lesser extent Irish

[@thesenate5291]

I won't lie, most criminals sent to penal colonies were from norfolk, as we are known as the British Alabama/Hills have eyes country despite being a flat wasteland

[@newmanj8690]

@@PiousMoltar no he wasn't, he was born in Virginia

[@armchairsociologist7721]

I so wish more was done to document not only the awesome accent, but also the dialect. The old Kingdom of East Anglia is an iconic place as it is where the English language was born. I don't hail from The Fens, but i imagine internal and external migration has changed the character of the area, including the accent.

[@TankManHeavy]

Depends where you go, really. You'll find less of it in the bigger towns and cities but there's still a solid accent in the countryside

[@kfwfb534]

​@@TankManHeavyspeaking from your experience? Are you east Anglian?

[@TankManHeavy]

@@kfwfb534 I am, yeah. My family has lived in the same place In Suffolk for well over 100 years.

[@kfwfb534]

@@TankManHeavy is this common in the very small villages or everywhere in east Anglia besides the big cities - say Ipswich, Norwich? I ask because east Anglia is where the Anglo Saxons first arrived in England after coming from Jutland in Denmark

[@TankManHeavy]

@@kfwfb534 So typically its more common in the more rural areas, at least in recent years the "afro-carribean" accent from London has influenced the larger towns/cities especially amongst the younger generations (I remember also reading a study on this). The rural areas, like the one I live in is still very much alive with the East Anglian/Suffolk accent. Its not uncommon to walk into my local on a weekend evening & hear the words; "Mind how y'go, boy" "Alright 'en buh" And various other words missing the letter "A" for instance: "Tuesdy". Norfolk is similar, albeit a very minor difference in accent. As stated, I didn't notice it very much in Norwich Centre but in the rural areas the accent is still broad. The areas surrounding Ipswich i.e Saxmundham, Leiston, Sproughton, Capel St. Mary, Stowmarket to name a few also are prevalent. In summary: Areas that are less prone to cultural influence still carry on the dialect.

[@deshaunx776]

The subtitles are a major cheat code! I finally get the rhythm and inflection patterns. It also helped to hear the accent in natural dialogue. It’s rare to hear it in movies or tv shows. When you do, it’s only one weirdo character like a creepy groundskeeper who speaks a few lines of gibberish and disappears.

[@IpswichRobert]

God bless the old suffolk accent buh

[@craiggradidge8228]

too royt boi

[@philipians1635]

yis orl bwee

[@theroundestboi2762]

Aye boy

[@dominicgrandon5903]

And the aud Yorkshire leid baht London words. Divn't leik them words, lad

[@Burgermeister1836]

The New England Yankee accent is the direct descendant of this one.

[@alexcapon3620]

When I listen to my grandparents, I'm reminded of that 'Bostonian' accent in Good Will Hunting.

[@TJStellmach]

Not for nothing, Boston Massachusetts and the adjoining coastal areas are called Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex counties.

[@diezdarbo5633]

Yeah,they are referred to as Cockneys,it is a native dialect however we don't have a flat nasal as we pronounce words like Americans do,majority of England and Midland have a Cockney 'accent'

[@wayinfront1]

@@diezdarbo5633 You could only be a true Cockney if you were born and lived within earshot of Bow bells.

[@codyderbyshire8634]

@@wayinfront1 Dark age doesnt refer to race,it is called dark age due to the fact that everything involved wars throughout Euroasia for many reasons and it was a dark era,many wars and death has happen,many has lost

[@norfolkbroadsreview1529]

So rare to find examples of true East Anglian accents, thanks for the upload!

[@CutWing]

The fact is, the whole of England has already seen so many dialects and accents. England will always be the epicentre of modern English language because it’s so diverse and has so many language inputs from all corners of the world. The English language hasn’t been truly English for a long time.. but then which language has??

[@Roadtripmik]

Obviously because english was formed there… but there is more language diversity in eastern USA

[@AdenMcIsaac]

Usually, when languages and dialects evolve, they diverge, not converge. That's the sad part.

[@racutis]

My grandparents lived outside of King's Lynn and would visit them every summer from Canada. I can understand every word these gentlemen are saying.

[@jamiewilson8253]

Hello from Kings Lynn!😀👍

[@Rikitocker]

This is wonderful thank you for posting this up. I grew up in Maldon Essex and my Grandparents and Great Uncles and Aunts still spoke with the original rural Essex dialect so I was lucky enough to hear enough of it that I can speak it and remember the sayings. It is very sad that today the London spill over/Thames Estuary accent has started to dominate Essex, particularly amongst the youth but that's progress. I always thought that the Essex Rural Dialect was very similar to West Country dialect so was pleasantly surprised when they compared the East Anglian here to West Country with minor differences. The accents of the two gents in this clip are again different to the Essex Rural Dialect I grew up hearing - not hugely, but enough that I'd know they weren't from our part of East Anglia.

[@ozzy194870]

Essex isn't part of East Anglia! East Anglia is Suffolk, Norfolk and Eastern parts of Cambridgeshire. Look up the Kingdom of East Anglia. East Anglia=East Angles and Essex=East Saxons. So Essex is Saxon and East Anglia is Angle.

[@thevelointhevale1132]

​@ozzy194870 In the old definitions of the original Kingdoms, yes. But these definitions shifted with time. Wikipedia also recognises this shift ... "East Anglia is an area in the East of England.[1] It comprises the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, with Cambridgeshire and Essex also included in some definitions.[2][3] The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in what is now Northern Germany. "

[@mikegb667]

it's really Australian sounding in rhythm and vowel sounds. I expect that the Aussie accent is a mixture of the accents from south east England as they were in the 1800s, but the hot sun and sea voyage gave it the true Aussie twang! Do you know where and when in suffolk this was filmed?

[@Da1Dez]

Me and my mates are from Suffolk, when we went to Liverpool a few years ago someone there heard us talking and asked if we were Australian 😂

[@yvonnewalesuk8035]

It's really English East Anglian sounding in rhythm and vowel sounds, a "true twang" which then travelled to Australia.

[@stephenmatthews861]

Font Whatling playing accordion and stepdancing. Used to play with him years ago. Clifford Arbon also played and sung a lot of good songs. I think Geoff Ling was sitting to the left of the bearded yank. All gone now and them days are now gone.

[@neilwhat]

stephenmatthews861 Font Whatling was my Grandfather and I have very fond memories of the tunes he played, and I am glad he made others happy as well with his unique self taught music and playing.

[@micbak2000]

I remember my grandparents speaking with this accent and they were from West Essex just 20 miles from North London.

[@vladskiobi]

I was born in Norwich but grew up in North Suffolk. Everyone around that area still talks like this.

[@jcoker423]

Here's a good book about it. (I have no financial interest) Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America is a 1989 book by David Hackett Fischer that details the folkways of four groups of people who moved from distinct regions of Great Britain (Albion) to the United States.

[@kayrogers4022]

Just began reading this last night! "A little light summer beach reading" at 898 pages, lol.

[@jcoker423]

@@kayrogers4022 Enjoy, a good book for a lock down in the sun. Something else I found fascinating is the podcast by Keven Stroud - the History of English from the Indo-Europeans to 1400 (ATM) which explains the languages appalling lack of phonetic spelling. But be warned.... once you start it's hard to put it down and read a book.

[@donaldtrumpgaming7668]

That book is what brought me here. Good stuff.

[@JohnnyKy9]

+1 on Albion’s Seed. Best book on British Isles immigration to America I’ve ever read. Very systematic and easy to follow. A must for anyone who’s interested.

[@ArcofNeptune]

The subtitles for the old boy at the end read 'he said' even though what the old boy actually says was ' 'e say'. A true Suffolk boy knows this!

[@jamescollins1693]

I'm from Bristol and thought the West Country accent was difficult to understand, but I literally have no idea what these men are saying without those subtitles

[@1946nimrod]

It's got the same cadence as Australian - I've often wondered if there's a connection.

[@timflatus]

There is, yes.

[@jonhodder363]

It does indeed. As a native East Anglian if I had a quid for every time I'd been asked "oh...where are you from?" and then told, after my reply "oh....I thought you were Australian......." I'd probably be a rich bloke.

[@folkwayspodcast]

Many of my relatives sound like this! Barely understood them as a child. Wonderful video document.

[@THINKincessantly]

Hello from Texas brothers and sisters! Best kind of documentary-nice n old fashioned--Big warm smile 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 😊

[@saratheairhead]

Sounds really dumb but after my grandad and his brothers died sometimes I come here to this video just to listen to the two lads in the flat caps at the end. It reminds me of them. It breaks my heart that their accent is dying away.

[@crazyforcoffee5950]

It sounds like these accent variations in England, Scotland and Wales are dying off. I even travelled to the West Country and not as many as I thought sounded like a pirate

[@hispaniolan9327]

+The Terminator very sad but true, especially when technology the media and schools now being so accessable

[@Guitcad1]

+Felix Jimenez The same is happening everywhere. Price of progress and instant communication.

[@RichardABW]

Defensor Rationis You're right. Maybe the BBC could be more regionalised and required to employ only local people with the correct regional accent. 😄

[@Picnicl]

The West Country, alas, is now full of Londoners.

[@PiousMoltar]

@@Picnicl As is the East

[@social0inertia]

I live in the Fens (though I'm not originally from there) and sadly I can only think of a handfull of people with this accent. It's sort of like a mix of Norfolk and Lancashire with some cockney and Australian sounds. It's so unique but it's fading fast.

[@TheYopogo]

You should meet... Well, everyone in my family over 45!

[@TheRedRuin]

Lena Y, I'm from Norwich and I've been asked if I was Australian by a person in Florida and a cockney by a someone in Norway. I don't talk with the strong accent of the guys in the video but I didn't need subtitles for the last two blokes haha.

[@sparkyroyal78]

I'm Australian and I'm blown away by how much of what that bloke says sounds Australian. The way he pronounces his vowels and stretches certain vowels out.

[@jaggass]

@@sparkyroyal78 Alot of the Aussie dialect originates from East Anglia.

[@420_24seven]

I live in suffolk , born and bred.... the old boys still sound like this

[@PoshboyRoy]

Moi mate said to me 'ere wots an hospice'? I said 'bout bucket an a half'.

[@ILoveDawko]

I grew up near Peterborough - and realised after watching this that I still say 'that's cold in here' without even realising it!

[@PiousMoltar]

That is bloody cold in 'ere though ent ut?

[@jaggass]

I quite like the Fenland dialect and do hear it alot in towns like Wisbech, Spalding, March etc. The Fens is a lovely part of the country. Very peaceful.

[@kh22912]

The linguistic ancestor of the Bahston accent

[@vivek28patil]

This accent is so similar to that in the southern US!

[@Bella-fz9fy]

About 80% of English immigrants to the Southern US states were indentured servants,who were probably poor country people with this accent,same as 70% of Appalachian people were English and I suspect had a similar accent to this.

[@WingChunMindForce]

Bloody hell those blokes sound deadset Aussie! The older generation of WW2 coves and before sound just like them beside the words like 'risbun' ( though thats how we say Brisbane. Rural Aussies of my generation, born in the 50's, are probably the last to really sound like this. Gives me chills to hear em. This is where the early ships and crews came from.

[@moonknight4053]

Australian accent derives a lot from cockney though

[@karamia1392]

My grandad, who died before I was born, was from Ipswich. I love to hear how he probably sounded ❤

[@claireb9127]

I'm a from east Suffolk and often get asked if I'm Australian!

[@vladskiobi]

I'm from north Suffolk, we sound like Norfolk people up here.

[@PiousMoltar]

I went to uni in Middlesbrough, there was a girl there from Essex who often got mistaken for Australian, and it's happened to me a couple of times, once in Boro and once on the train going up north (I'm from south-west Norfolk and my parents are from west Suffolk)

[@jaggass]

Great Yarnouth 11 miles up the road from Lowestoft sounds like London now due to the Cockney invasion.

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

Presumably you are asked that question by people who've never spoken to an Australian.

[@frooty_frog]

When I went to Canada everyone asked what part of Australia I was from lol

[@Beowulf-eg2li]

I'm a Norwich lad who's got a little bit of East Anglian in my otherwise received pronunciation accent, I say "Oi" instead of "I" lol

[@HollyTree_]

This absolutely made my day. I said the word pumpkin, to someone the other day, and they (not from Suffolk), said cor! I can really hear your Suffolk accent when you say pumpkin… I was so proud. :)

[@jakezywek6852]

I believe this accent exists because the Vikings ignored the fenlands and travelled further in land to settle the East Midlands, where the land was more preferable, so what we get here is an Anglo-Saxon Derived dialect, not really influenced much by the Danes.

[@ne270]

There’s many unique accents around England, not just in east anglia

[@vide-yo3336]

Says the brilliant linguist. Where did you get your facts from? Netflix?

[@jakezywek6852]

@@vide-yo3336 No from the same alleyway you were conceived in.

[@chrisburn7178]

I grew up in Suffolk in the 80s and listening to these fellas is just wonderful. My mum occasionally comes out with East Anglian dialect, although she's from Norwich (Naarruch) so it's a little different in subtle ways. Very nostalgic and a little sad that this kind of community in the pubs is gone. My dad remembered going to the pub when we moved villages in around 1986 (the pub opened when the first person knocked on the door in the evening) and being greeted with stares of distrust, not being from the village. He was served, but it took a few weeks of returning before he was considered one of the locals.

[@slljarvis]

That is beautiful! I've lived in suffolk 20 years but I can't speak it praaply yet. Thanks for uploading it.

[@PhyllisJay]

Just to clarify, Suffolk is NOT in the Fens.

[@PhyllisJay]

A tiny bit reaches Suffolk. It covers Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. It's not known for the reach in Suffolk - it is for the other counties I mention.

[@PhyllisJay]

Well of course. 'Tis the Mecca of all things!

[@tallthinkev]

You go careful in them Fens, they still worship fire in Manea!

[@PiousMoltar]

No, Suffolk is not in the fens, but some of the fens are in Suffolk. I should know, I'm from just outside the fens, on the Norfolk / Suffolk border. Same for Norfolk. Much more fenland than Suffolk but still a tiny part of the county.

[@malfunctioninggoon5292]

I live in Maine and these old fellows sound like some of the older dudes I work with

[@nickco777]

Love it. It reminds me of my Grandad and Uncle Edgar, both Sudbury, Suffolk boys. I grew up in Colchester, only 15 miles away, but sometimes when my Grandad and Uncle got going, I couldn't understand a word they were talking about. :)

[@TheCavale40]

delightful and sounded lyk dutch or plattdeutsch. even e anglian ppl luk different frm otha types of brits.

[@NigelFortune]

Along with Scottish, Irish & West Country English, the East Anglian accent is a major component of the American accent.

[@JohnSmith-nx2bl]

Scottish has not impacted the American accent

[@campfortson4387]

​@@JohnSmith-nx2blScottish is a huge factor in the southern accent, or at least the "hillbilly" accent

[@Bella-fz9fy]

@@campfortson4387Still,people don’t realise,70% of Appalachian people were English in origin.

[@hilltopcresent]

I think it is truly sad that these accents are going. Grateful that they were at least saved on film.

[@boyobane1590]

My grandfather spoke a stronger Suffolk than anyone in this video. He needed a translator if he spoke to anyone from further than 3 miles from Sprougton.

[@lewistillett206]

3:09 sounds just like my Grandad, he’s from around Colchester Essex

[@awestruckbeaver3344]

Living in East Anglia it's sad that this accent is on the major decline. Only the real oldies speak something similar to this.

[@davidmckenna5751]

The real Essex accent can still be heard in a few places in north Essex I still speak it

[@LondonGooner]

Essex is massive though someone from Woodford would of always had a london sounding accent so what's a real essex accent?

[@DavidMckenna-wl9do]

Your right there’s a few different accents in Essex depending where you’re from I meant north Essex similar to Suffolk

[@LondonGooner]

@DavidMckenna-wl9do essex is so big beautiful part of the country in some areas some have become nasty, Kent is also beautiful love going there I've only ever lived in Islington or Enfield.

[@kfwfb534]

How would you define northern Essex in this context - what modern counties?

[@patrick9876]

It’s similar to the Carolina Brogue (Hoi Toider dialect) found on the North Carolina Outer Banks.

[@Christopher-ii6tr]

Yeah the days are now too gone after all my old folks died out with their different accents and various dialects that come from all over the U.K. I am from the state of Tennessee in America raised in Northeast part my mom's family were all mostly mountain folk. I miss hearing my grandparents voices and dialectal phrases.

[@cazfloss1990]

It used to make me chuckle when I was younger, when an older relative would say do he? Instead of does he.

[@neilwhat]

My Granda is the chap dancing and step dancing. Often get told my accent sounds Australian

[@gatheringleaves]

I have a distant 18th century ancestor named Robert Copping who I discovered was born in Worlington, Suffolk

[@CelestialWheels]

I can really hear the origins of the Boston/New England accent in this dialect. There are def similarities between the East Anglian dialect and the old Boston accent, which is also sadly dying off. My Grammie had an old Boston accent and I miss hearing her speak so much!

[@pauldurkee4764]

I can understand that, I know a lot of place names in Massachusetts derive from places in the UK, I found that out doing some family history research. I had ancestors who were married in Ipswich, Massachusetts, which I think from memory is in Suffolk County.

[@diezdarbo5633]

One of the creators of Australian and New Zealand English

[@raosprid]

I love it, great to hear and I hope it lasts.

[@neilwhat]

Also that’s the Blaxhall Ship which is not in the Fens but near Orford on the East Coast

[@marioa-b5345]

Quite a tune- up, on the ocassion of a piss up🤣

[@jaggass]

A little bit of the Aussie dialect came from East Anglia.

[@jaggass]

Well actually quite alot.

[@PiousMoltar]

The "educated Australian" accent eg. the Kennedy's from Neighbours have a closer accent to my own than RP Although I'll admit the two are basically the same anyway Or maybe I only think that because I sound like that...

[@jaggass]

@@PiousMoltar To me the majority of the Aussie accent is from East Anglia and the south east of England

[@diezdarbo5633]

@@jaggass Aussie and Kiwi English comes from England and was expanded more by Cockneys..

[@Namsomnia]

the normal greeting was weahip buh, even charlie haylock never says this, it was very common in 50/60s, well, in my village of Thurston near Bury,,

[@iceomistar4302]

Probably from Old English We sath ye hal

[@iceomistar4302]

Actually edit, We saþ ġē hāl

[@MandyJMaddison]

He said Fenland. Notice that he starts buy saying "The flat cold Fens of East Anglia". The Fens are areas of marshland, many of which have been drained to create flat, low-lying agricultural land.

[@mackenziewhethers1257]

New England's mother accent

[@diezdarbo5633]

Father*,the natives that developed it are Germanic and are purely tribes of men

[@richardpoole9793]

@@diezdarbo5633 What are you on about, you learn language mostly from your mother, that's why your first language is called your "Mother's tongue".

[@PiousMoltar]

Them days are gone :(

[@starboy832]

I've found out what the word "Lydger" meant! it was an alternative name for a 'Bowyang' which is a bit of cord or strap that a worker would wear around the lower leg in order to squat or bend without one's trousers falling down it was actually referred to as an elijah, which makes the subtitles slightly off in this film, the defenition is given: 'String tied around labourer’s trousers, just below the knee.'

[@PumpkinHoard]

As a Norfolk native, I must say it tickles me seeing subtitles to these guys talking.

[@johno5605]

0:30 anyone know the name of this accordion song?

[@bitinback2825]

Suffolk only has a small part of the fens in it the only places that are real fenland are like Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. This accent I hear a lot in the Soham and Ely regions as well. Luckily I still got my one slightly.

[@VampireNewl]

Yeah I tend to find that when I live outside the fens my accent dissapears mostly into generic southern english.

[@Epicrandomness1111]

Try and keep your old accents chaps

[@nerthus4685]

That pub song sounded like something Frodo and Sam would sing at the Prancing Pony.

[@Liz66bee]

If you want to hear the true origins of the East Anglian dialect, listen to a video of an old Plattdeutsch speaker kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnTXcqWXpZmaaJI This an old 'low German' dialect spoken in what was the homeland of the Anglo Saxons. Although the language is quite different (similar to Old English) the accent is identical - you can imagine somehow both parties could make themselves understood over a pint!

[@johnsmith-nx9ne]

My Grandad was a Dutchman who came over to Suffolk in the 1950's and developed a reasonably thick Suffolk accent up until his passing. After watching the video of this German dialect, its almost like im hearing his voice again. The resemblance is uncanny

[@jointgib]

interesting

[@hughc023]

I was born in Stradishall, in the married quarters of the old RAF base. Didn't spend that much time there, as dad got posted to Germany, Cyprus & Malta. We returned to East Anglia in 66 but this time, just outside Norwich. Only there for 5 years before emigrating to Australia, in late 71. Nice to hear that accent again . . .

[@guinevereinthefield176]

3:00 Sounds almost Australian!

[@Da1Dez]

That's always interesting to hear, since I've lived in North Suffolk all my life and everywhere I go up north they ask if I'm Australian 😂 But I love it!

[@curtisderbyshire1541]

Australians did get their accents from Cockney and they aren't just found in East London,they are found in Sussex, Essex, Birmingham, Norwich, Manchester,a few in Yorkshire, Derbyshire as well

[@FulmenTheFinn]

Thanks for the informative reply.

[@artythekot]

I'm from the Suffolk countryside and don't hear accents like these very much now.

[@rogermoore27]

It sounds very close to the American Southern accent

[@chrisstone8210]

Gotta keep a-hold a that.......sounds just like my Norfolk grandmother.

[@jackdoesstuff6203]

Everyone in the comments section saying the accent is dying, I'm 21 from Norfolk and I definitely speak with a Norfolk twang, it's not super strong but it's there.

[@quarkwrok]

Fenland village - a village in the fenland, or land full of fens. A fen is a reclaimed bit of the sea or former marsh, a bit like the polders of Holland - very flat.

[@gmfutube]

1970 we had just arrived in Great Yarmouth. We got lost in town and asked directions back to our hotel. Everyone was kind, and gave us directions. Each time we looked at them and said "huh?" Two American kids who had no idea what had just been said.

[@iceandale7621]

East Maine dialect in the states sounds almost exactly the same

[@stanleyknife1967]

Sounds exactly like my grandfather, but ever so slightly more understandable!

[@roncheetham673]

Be there a b&q in lowestoft ? !oi dunno , but there be 2 c's in beccles

[@ellalalalalala1420]

Ron Cheetham nah used to be by post office

[@CooCuMbEr]

B n Cue

[@Jefff72]

I was stationed at RAF Lakenheath back in the 90s. In the beginning, I felt like I needed a translator. By the end, I could understand people a lot better.

[@childoftheuniverse4131]

Having watched both this, and the Yorkshire Dialect video, I'd love to see the whole thing if it's from the same programme. Do you have the full thing or any information on what the programme is called?

[@8teillumin]

My mother was born in kings Lynn and when ever she “goes home” it takes her a day or so and she’s back to her old not midland accent

[@maxwellfan55]

Grandmother was a Nethersall, from Lowestoft. From boatbuilders.

[@JG-lt5mb]

Very similar to some of the older blokes living in a traveler site near Peterborough

[@kwinters9898]

Its the sound of my grand parents. 😊 ♥

[@stephenmatthews861]

I ha bin a readin these here comments, and Oi reckon some o you talk a lot a owd squit and some o you a mite a sense. I bin living in Norfolk man and boy, and I ha sin times change. You oont hear anyone callin a ladybird a bishee no more, nor a heron a harnser. Do you hear yer neighbour, recently moved up from Romford, give yer the sele of the day? Do he know what a Dickey is? Would he know when haysel toime is? He don't know nawthen. Mowd way a" life is a gorn. My owd mawther she say a me, "you don't want to git all worry gutted about what ha bin and wot be a comin, you can't do nawthen about it." I say to har, "paps your right owd gal. But suffin be a missin from this here world now. Thars no place in it for the likes a you and me." "You duzzy headed ole fule" she say, "how'd your row and be a doin suffin useful". Oh, well. Cheerio tigether.

[@PiousMoltar]

I think it sucks how various northern accents and dialects have survived and are accepted whilst Norfolk has basically died out and is still mocked.

[@wmjrnichols]

Bishy banabee .... and I would use it ... Still I'm over 60!!

[@windyworm]

By the way, they're not saying "boy", but "bor". In some parts of Suffolk and Norfolk they just say "ba".

[@jacktainsh3733]

From the Cambridgeshire Fenlands. Sadly, although many of the older generation (including in my family) speak like this, I find it difficult to understand sometimes. With my uncle, it's like we're speaking two separate languages entirely. It's really cool, and part of me wishes that I'd grown up with it a little bit more

[@Bexyboo88]

We are in Cambridgeshire too, near Wisbech. :) I grew up in Northamptonshire and the Hertfordshire for secondary and college years so I did have to read the subtitles haha

[@kfwfb534]

Do any people in your part of Cambridgeshire have strong regional accents these days?

[@mrfixit2788]

My grandfather was Suffolk country boy. Used pronounce Shirt as Shut and Church as Chuch

[@OUTBOUND184]

I can't bear to think of what we've lost.

[@dickmiles6639]

Font Watling doing the dance.