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THE COUNTRYMAN.
TURNWOLD, GA., MARCH 7, 1805.
Yankee Stylo.
Our people are so prone to imitate
the yankees, that they cannot avoid
it, even in the style of their writing.
There is an abominable kind of au
thorship which we ourself have some
times indulged in, a la. Aunt Sally
Poke. Major Downing, we believo,
is tho great prototype of this manner
of writing. It is wrong to indulge in
„ this style, any way. But if we pre
tend to spell words as they are pro
nounced, in this affected style of ig
norance, why not spell them as
southern people pronounco them 1
Why spell them as the yankees pro
nounce them ?
We are brought to consider this
point, by reason of an article which
lately appeared in the Educational
Journal. It is headed “What Hap
pened to Our House,” and gives an
account of the birth of a whole “lit
ter of babies.” Now, in this para
graph, we kav6 nothing to say about
anything but the spelling of the arti
cle. The spelling professes to be that
of an ignorant person of the white
persuasion, at the south. Lot us see
how the author performs his task.
In the first place, he speaks of
“crowdin’ things on to a fellow.”
Now, the southern people never
say on to—that is a yankee expres
sion, in toto. Why then should a
southern author, pretending to write
as southern people talk, make use of
the expression on to, even m a Jack
Dawning style ?
But tho author before us says,
“Hain’t I been a good and dootiful
husband 2”
Only yankees say dootiful. The
eouthron, if he does not say dutiful,
says jutiful. Let us have no more
■dootifuls, from southern authors. The
yankees arc entitled to a monopoly of
dooty (for duty) and its derivatives,
and we hope our people will not again
invade their domain.
Our author says “hadn't orter dun
it.” Does ho not know that no south
ern man talks so, and that he Lin’'
colns—(we mean apes)—the yankees
when he writes thus ?
“ Folded her up gently tu my
heart.”—This is another yankee ex
pression. Tho southron would say
“too," or “toe" my heart. None of
your “tues.”
We are done with tho ~style—and
now about the matter of the article.
Good Heavens ! isn’t it a fine article
for the young ladies of the “Monroo
Female University” to peruse—this
giving, in detail, the account of a wo
man’s having “three babies at a pop V'
As brother Wilkes is not now’connect-
ed with the Journal, we suppose he
cannot be held responsible for its con
tents. Still, being published in the
town where ho “runs" his university,
as Abraham I. would say, we presume
ho takes some interest in keeping the
reading matter of the Journal all
right, and no doubt the contribution
to that paper, of which wo write, pro
ved quite amusing and instructive to
the unsophisticated demoiselles, who
are candidates for university honors
in tho city of Forsyth.
When we were quite a boy, we
published Turner’s Monthly, and in
that journal, we gave our readers an
article on the subject of Love, in
which we held that Love was an ani
mal passion, and said other things
“accordin’.” We meant no harm un
der heaven : but people seemed to
think wo did : and ‘some laughed at,
and ridiculed us, while tho majority
grew quite indignant at us. Among
those who laughed at us, was Bill
Napier. Ho said to us, one day, “Joe,
that was a hot article of yours ou the
subject of Love : but it was a good
one: I saw President Pierce, of the
Georgia Female College, a few days
ago, and he told me to engage 500
copies of Turner’s Monthly, contain
ing your essay on Love, for gratui
tous distribution among the young la
dies of his college, and their friends.”
And then followed one of the laughs
which he alone can give, and which
only his victim can feel.
Now when we read tho essay, ben
fore us, on having “three bahies at a
pop,” we could not help thinking of
what Bill Napier said to us, We
could not help thinking that Pr,
; MJiui- ' '■■''■■ft
Wilkes ought to engage 500 copies
of the Journal, containing tho article,
for gratuitous distribution among the
young ladies of his “university,” and
their friends.
All the latter part of this article is
only “by the way.” What we intend
ed to impress upon our readers, is an
avoidance of tho yankee slang style.
If cur writers ever indulge in slang
at all, let it be southern slang—not
yankee"slang.
We had almost omitted to say that
the yankee idiom is used in the very
heading ot the article before us. In- 1
stead of being, in southern parlance>
‘What happened at our House,’ it is,
in yankee parlance, ‘What happened
to our House.’—Oh ! southern inde
pendence, where is thy blush ? We
have not yet attained independence
even m our slang expressions. The
Countryman is the only journal in the
confederacy that is entirely, and pe*
culiarly southern, in everything. It
is a natural product of the soil—indi
genous in everything, and never ex
otic—though we frequently make it
a little chaotic, to please our chaotic
readers.
Wno Wants a New Hat?—Mr. J. A.
Turner, of Turnwold, Putnam Co., (la.,
an enterprising gentleman, who publishes
a most excellent paper, called The Coun
tryman, at his residence in the country—
a paper containing more valuable reading
matter than any weekly paper we know
of—is also engaged in making hats for
the hatless. He wants rabbit skins,
coon skins, fox skins, otter skins, mink
skins, beaver skins, and all other skins
that have fur on them. He wants them
for making hats, and will give the high
est market price for them, or exchange
hats. Now, boys, if you want a new
hat, Mr. Turner will give you a good rab
bit hat for sixty rabbit skins, a good coon
hat for two dozen coon skins, a good
beavor hat for three beaver skins, and a
good wool hat for two pounds of clean
washed wool. You must get the skins in
winter, and stretch them, before drying
them. If any of our readers want hats,
we will act as agent, and send the skins
to Mr. Turner, and get the hats, and send
to them, in return. Here is a good
chance for a new hat, boys I We also
cheerfully recommend The Countryman
to our older readers, who may see this no
tice : Published weekly by J. A. Turner,
at Turnwold, near Eatonton, Ga., at $5
for three months, or $20 per annum.
Each number contains 16 pages quarto,—
Children's Guide.