The following two pieces were in the 1891 magazine under the title of 'Dialect, Wit and Humour'. It is interesting to see what made the folk of Mid and North Devon laugh 115 years ago but also, what is maybe more interesting, is the fact that the article also included a couple of pieces with parodied negro dialect, which might be taken as offensive these days (although the content is not). Why is it that the two pieces that make fun of the supposed Cornish and Irish dialects will just be seen as quaint now, but not bring down the wrath of the Race Relations Board? Answers, particularly from Kernow, on an e-mail please!

DIALECT WIT AND HUMOUR.

Advertisement over a Village Shop in Cornwall .-ROGER GILES, Surgin, Parish Clark, Skulemaster, Groser, and Hundertaker, respectably informs ladys and gentleman that he drors teef with wateing a minit, applys laches every hour, blisters on the lowest tarms,and visicks for a penny a peace. He zells Godfather's kordals, kuts korns, bunyons, doktersh osses, klips dunkies wance a munth, and undertakes to luke arter every bodies nayls by the ear. Joesharps, penny wissels, brass kanelsticks, fryingpans, and other moozikal hinstruments hat grately reydooced figers. Young ladys and gentlemen larnes their grammur and langeudge in the purtiest manner, also grate care taken off their morrels and spellin. Also zarm-zinging, tayching the base-vial, and oil other zorts of vancy-work. Squadrills, pokers, weazels, and all country dances tort hat home and abroad hat perfekshun. Perfumery and snuff in all its branches. As times is crul bad, i begs to tell ee that i as just beginned to zell oil zorts of stashionary ware, cox, hens, vouls, pigs, and oil other kinds of poultry: Blackin-brishes, herrins, coles, scrubbin-brishes, traykel, and godley bukes and bibles, mise-traps, brick-dist, whisker-seed, morrel nokkerankerchers, and oil zorts of swatemaits, zich as taters, sassages, and other gardin stuff; bakky, zizars; lamp-oyle, tay-kittles, and other intoxzikatin likkers; a dale of vruit, hats, zongs, hare-oyle,pattins, bukkits, grindin-stones, and other aitables; korn and bunyon salve, and oil hardware. I as layd in a large azortrnent of trype, dog's-mait, lollipops, ginger beer; matches. and other pikkles, zich as Hepsom zalts, hoysters, Winzer zoap, anzetrar: Old rags bort and zold yer and nowhere else; newlayde heggs by me, Roger Giles; zinging burdes keeped zich as howles, dunkies, paykox, lobstirs, crikkets, also the stock of a zelebrated brayder. Agent for zelling gutty-porker souls. P.S.-i tayches gography, rithmetic, cowsticks, jimnasticks, and other Chynees tricks.

A Miracle.

An Irish priest on miracles a sermon one day preached;

And on his way from the church, before his home he reached,

Was overtaken by a man whose name was Patrick Kent,

Who wished a miracle explained; he didn't know what one meant.

"A miracle, is it?" said the priest. "You want me to explain,

So when I say a miracle, you'll know just what I mane?

Well, thin, walk on forninst me now: come, hurry and be quick."

The man walked on: the priest walked up, and gave Pat quite a kIck.

"Och!" roared the sufferer, feeling sore, "an' sure phy did ye that?"

"An' did ye fale it?" asked the priest. "Begor I did," said Pat.

"Ah, ah! ye felt it then, ye did,-ye felt the kick ye got?

Well, sir, 'twould been a miracle if ye had felt it not. "