Wave Maker: Down-east Hew-muh

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Thursday, May 19, 2005

Down-east Hew-muh

The welcoming of Weekend Pundit prompts me to attempt a daring experiment.

I have developed, over the course of many years, a sometimes-endearing impulse to tell stories that reflect the New England dry wit, charm and humor. Some might describe them as Yankee tales; I prefer the term "Down-east hew-muh." It all stahtid when my father exposed my brothers and I to the very first "Bert & I" record, probably as long ago as the 1960's (around the same time he introduced us to the recordings of Bill Cosby and Bob Newhart). For the uninitiated, "Bert & I" represents a collection of Down-east Maine tales told by Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan with their imitable Down-east drawls and dry yankee wit.

As time went on, my father assembled his own repertoire of stories, borrowing from the folklore of the times, based around his own character, whom he dubbed "Pervis Webbah." My oldest brother and I soon got into the practice as well, each of us developing our own escapades for the ineffable Pervis.

Of course, these stories are best told orally, so as to convey not only the dialect, but the timing and inflection that are the essences of storytelling. But I am wondering if they can be related in print, with the careful employment of spelling to convey the dialect.

So I am going to try it out. Please feel free to provide me with your frank critiques of this effort, as it unfolds. I will attempt a first post in the coming days.

Posted by: Wave Maker / 9:41 AM/ |