Excerpt from Contributions to the History of the Durham Dialects: An Orthographical Investigation The present work was begun some ten years ago, and in 1913 a preliminary sketch of the subject was presented as an examination essay. Work on the enlarging and completion of this has been repeatedly interrupted by circumstances beyond my control. The protracted period of preparation and the long interruptions have caused in consistencies both in the general treatment of the material at hand and in various accessories, which latter, I hope, will be deemed to be of minor importance. It gives me great pleasure to express my respectful and sincere thanks to my teacher in English, Professor E. Ekwall, at whose suggestion this piece of research was undertaken and who has kindly encouraged me and given me much valuable advice, especially during the earlier stages of my work. My gratitude is further due to my friend. Dr. E. O. Holmqvist, of Stockholm, for bringing to my knowledge some recent publications bearing on the subject of my researches. I have also to acknowledge my obligation to Mr. F. J. Fielden, M. A., Lektor at the University of Lund, who has revised my manuscript from the point of view of style. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.