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Surtees himself came from landed gentry, and the representation of the aspirant
cockney is from this perspective perhaps rather snobbish.
The question of class is central to the book. There is an ongoing discussion about
whether Mr Jorrocks can be considered a gentleman or not. In ―Surrey shooting:
Mr. Jorrocks in trouble‖, for example, the case for the defence argues that he is
described as a ―gentleman‖ [p. 49] but the case for the prosecution describes him
as ―This cockney grocer – for after all he is nothing else – who I dare say hardly
knows a hawk from a hand-saw‖ [p. 52]. Elsewhere the narrator notes ―There is
nothing a cockney delights in more than aping a country gentleman‖ [p. 43].
Interestingly a Yorkshireman (who is referred to only as ‗the Yorkshireman‘ or
‗Mr York‘) is not represented as speaking with a Yorkshire accent, despite the
fact that the author (Surtees) came from Durham county. This might imply that
accent is being used here only to denote class not region.
p. 151 ff. humorous attempts of Jorrocks to speak French. Footnote: ―For the
benefit of our ―tarry-at-home‖ readers, we should premise that Madame de
Genlis‘s work is arranged for the convenience of travellers who do not speak any
language but their own; it consists of dialogues on different necessary subjects,
with French and Italian translations opposite English.‖
Chapter 11 pp. 205-214 takes the form of a letter written by Jorrocks, but uses all
the established conventions for representing his spoken English.
Bullough Collection No. 458 Helbeck of Bannisdale, by Mrs Humphry Ward
1. Publication details
Author: Mrs Humphry Ward
Author dates: 1851-1920
Title: Helbeck of Bannisdale
Publication: London: Smith Elder, 1898 (2 nd edn.)
First published:
Library reference: 200351042
2. Genre / subgenre
Literary fiction; vehicle for theological debate
3. Brief Synopsis
Heroine, Laura Fountain, atheist daughter of an anti-religious scientist father, meets
and eventually falls in love with, Helbeck of Bannisdale, a pious practising Catholic
aristocratic-fallen-on-hard-times landowner. Tension between faith and non-faith;
practising religion and not practising religion with particular focus on Catholicism.
Laura commits suicide after agreeing to ‗convert‘ in order to marry Helbeck.
4. Overview of varieties / dialects
Set in ‗Flent Valley‘ which is believed to represent Westmoreland. Local workingclass
characters speak with marked regional dialect.
5. Variety #1: Reuben, described as ‗old labourer‘ and ‗roadsweeper‘ (p.3)
5a. Sample of dialect
"Noa--" said the man. "Theer's been none this last hour an more—nobbut carts, an t'
Whinthrupp bus."
[…]
"Aye, it's a bit clashy," said the man, with stolidity, stopping to spit nto his hands a
moment, before resuming his work.
[…]
"But you don't see any good in grumbling--is that it?"
"Noa--we'se not git ony profit that gate, I reckon," said the old man, aying his scraper
to the mud once more.
[…]
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