Nah Then! by Ian Dewhirst, Dalesman, £9.99 "A woman ’at nivver finds fault is as scarce as a man who nivver committed one. Aw nivver met awther on em.’ This Yorkshire dialect quotation comes from the pages of a book packed to the gills with hundreds of amusing sayings from the different parts of our county, ‘Tears can be dried gen’rally much eeasier wi a bank nooat than a han’kecher,’ still holds true today, as do many of the quotations: ‘More wimmin long to be bonny than what long to be gooid’; ‘We think ivverybody’s bairns is spoilt, except ahr awn’; ‘When poverty cums in a t’winder, luv flees hoot t’door.’ This comprehensive collection of Yorkshire dialect quotations has been compiled by acclaimed local historian Ian Dewhirst from the dialect almanacs which were popular between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. The retired Keighley reference librarian is well-qualified to produce this wealth of wisdom and wit, having over the last half-century given several thousand talks, and written books including A History of Keighley, Yorkshire Through The Years and Keighley In The Second World War.

Nah Then! A Treasury Of Yorkshire Dialect Quotations is crammed with the sorts of hard-to-understand but very true sayings, many of which have survived through the generations.

I’ve heard many such things on the North York Moors where I grew up, where people in neighbouring valleys use different dialect.

That’s one of the downfalls with this book – it would have been more interesting to learn from what part of Yorkshire the sayings originate. For some it is clear, but not the majority.

And the few photographs of general scenes from the past don’t have much relevance to the subject matter. Humorous illustrations may have been better.

The hardback is divided into handy themed sections, including home and family, love and marriage, work and leisure and great ideas, with sub-sections among each of them.

Many of the sayings can be applied to 21st century life. One in particular, dated 1903, troubles me: ‘Muddle at hooam maks t’husband roam.’ If that’s the case, I’d better closely watch my husband.

And, ‘A love at nivver dees e a woman – Her love fer a new bonnet,’ is very true. Only in my case its cardigans.