A voice over recorded in my Northumbrian / Northumberland accent & dialect, including Pitmatic, can be as rich and as varied as our beautiful seascapes, landscapes & people. I can provide a translation of your script ready for a full blown Northumbrian dialect rendition – replacing “Standard English” words and grammar with our regional ones as appropriate.
A scripted line such as :-
“My wife asked me to go to the shops“
when “translated into Northumbrian” would be read as :-
“Wor lass sent ‘is a message“
– Or –
I can dial it back to retain the “standard British English words” & give only a “Northumbrian feel” with just a hint of the “Northumbrian burr“. This ensures a broader National or International appeal & more widespread comprehension.
When asked, 9 out of 10 Southern’ers said their ears preferred this ;- )
An example of this toned down version of my Northumberland accent is below – as provided for advertising the Natural England King Charles III England Coast Path section for Bamburgh to the Scottish Border & including Holy Island.
The “Northumbria” of old – originally spanned the whole width of the UK. Stretching from “North of the Humber” (Aye, the clue’s in the name see) all the way up to, and including Edinburgh, & across to Stranraer – but my vocal focus concentrates more on the much smaller modern day Northumberland & it’s latter (1974) breakaway metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear (which starts at the bottom of wor street) & encompasses both Newcastle & North Tyneside.
Growing up back in the 1970’s the Northumbrian accent & Northumberland Pitmatic dialect was in widespread use throughout the region – yet also localised down to the villages & sometimes even the pits that it grew from.
Speech patterns and words were constantly being learned & reinforced via the voices of the family, friends, and colleagues that you spent your life with – whether at work or play.
The world was a much larger place back then, & often the voices that I listened to as a child had only ever left the area for a week or two’s holiday, (barring national service); & even then hadn’t travelled much further than public transport or the local coach company could take them.
These were the voices of the Pitmen, and the associated industries that sprang up in the surrounding towns and villages. – Steel works, Brick Works, Shipyards, Farriers, Blacksmiths, etc. These businesses were the industrial backbone of my home county & are what put us in the North firmly on the industrial map.
Spending time at the weekends with my grandparents, I got to visit the bowling greens, “bookies”, pigeon crees, & working men’s clubs of Cramlington, Ashington & Blyth – as frequented by my Grandad & his cronies in their flat caps, shirts & waistcoats. Yes, some even had a whippet in tow or a racer (racing pigeon) in a cardboard box under their arm.
Often shushed away into a corner, or under, a table with a glass of pop & a “poke”, or “twist of bullets” or claggum (a greaseproof paper cone containing sweets or home made toffee). I’d listen intently to how these “old men” spoke and interacted with each other, & began to imitate it myself – often much to their amusement.
“A’reet Jack – what fettle? Did ya Nag finish runnin afore the bookies shut then or whaat?”
This wasn’t quite the greeting they expected from the reasonably well spoken “snotty snecked yungun” with a pocket full of “muggies, boodies” and a “catty” stuck in his waistband. Especially as back then the rules for children were :-
“Bairns should be seen & not hoard!”
&
“Yee’ll speak when you’re spurken tee, & not afore”
Repeated infringements of these rules were often accompanied by a “clip” or “dad of the lug“, or a slap to the back of a bare leg. An introduction to the “slippa”, or the “cat” was mainly reserved for more serious or repeat “offences”.
One afternoon, having returned from watching Grandad play “Old men’s marbles” at Concordia (that’s bowls for any non locals) I proudly demonstrated my Northumbrian & broad Geordie “voice acting prowess” to my Grandma. –
“whey, that sent a’ reet up a’ height! – & a’ hord them fayteful words“
“If a’ hea yee dee that agayn, a’ll tek the side reet off ya feyece!
Noo tek a tellin!
Yee’ll nivva mek nowt o’yasell if yee gan aboot tarkin lyke that!
Ferks ill think ya simple man! are ye’ soft in the heed or whaat?”
Hilda Walker – Circa mid-late 1970’s
From that point onwards I reserved my Northumbrian & Geordie voice acting demonstrations strictly for those who would appreciate them, or practised them in secret.
Back then anyone in authority, or the media was always “Well spoken”, & presenters on TV and Radio were much posher than their listeners. It was generally accepted that speaking with a “Southern” or “RP Accent” conveyed a level of education, authority, & class. Even the presenters on the local regional TV station’s, whilst undeniably “Northern”, were only ever those that sounded “a bit posh” & “less broad Geordie”
Thankfully the push back eventually came – with grass roots authenticity & localisation featuring the voice of the common man rising to the fore wherever appropriate.
Given my chosen profession now, I often wonder what Grandma would “mek” of the people paying me to record spoken word in the authentic Northumbrian accent learned from way back then.
“Wey a’h nivver – Are the’ reet in the heed?”
Would probably be her response :- )
What authentic Northumberland Dialect voice over services can I help you with for your next project, advertisement, or film?