Listen to Arthur Machen! (He makes a lot of sense.)

[Extollager]

 

[BAYLOR]

Thanks Extollager.

 

[Extollager]

Can any of our British Chrons people comment on the way Machen's voice sounds? Its natural timbre, if that's the word, is pleasant, but I refer to the question of "where he sounds like he's from." As everyone who knows anything about Machen knows, he grew up in Gwent in Wales, but became a Londoner. Do you hear either or both of those elements in his voice?

 

[hitmouse]

That is interesting. The Gwent accent is almost completely effaced by Received Pronounciation. Bear in mind he was sent away to an English boarding school when he was young. My wife, who is Welsh, thinks that his rolled Rs are a vestige. South Wales accents are quite regionalised over a short geographical space. I would link some examples if I wasnt typing this on my phone. For comparison Look up on Youtube Richard Burton or Dylan Thomas reading Under Milk Wood. They are from Swansea/ Port Talbot, 60 miles to the west of Gwent.

 

[hitmouse]

South Wales accents. These vary quite a lot depending on socioeconomics as well as geography

Newport, Gwent:

Estuary, West of Cardiff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vCy6DYSMG0
Port Talbot

Swansea

Loughor

 

[althea]

That is so interesting,hitmouse. My best friend is from the South Wales valleys and still has a strong accent,which I find delightful.
Here in North Wales the accents vary so much from region to region too, but are much less recognisable as Welsh.

 

[farntfar]

I could certainly hear the Welsh in Arthur Machen's accent before reading your entry to say that he was Welsh, or knowing that he was. But certainly it has been well softened from what I expected.

Wales, like most of Britain, has a wide variation of accents.
In Liverpool, for instance, where I spent many years, I could have told you in which part of the city someone was brought up by their accent.
Liverpool is a fairly special case though. London is the only other city I know of that has as wide a range of accents.

Having lived for years now in France, I've probably lost that ability.

 

[Dave]

Liverpool is a fairly special case though. London is the only other city I know of that has as wide a range of accents.

Geordie accents have a wide variety too. I would expect that everywhere else does too. My wife and kids are from South London and they don't think they have any accent, but they do, and it is quite different to Essex or Kent. I'm from Gateshead, though it has softened from moving into the suburbs and then to London. Gateshead and Northern Durham accents are very different to South Northumberland accents. Mid-Northumberland and North Northumberland accents are mixed between Geordie and Scottish. The Southern Durham accent is mixed between Geordie and Yorkshire. South Shields (sand-dancers) and Sunderland have a different accent too. Some urban Cumbrians sound like Geordie too, but it is different.

We were on holiday in North Wales last Summer and the waiter/barman in the rural pub was a Geordie. My brother-in-law asked him if he was from Byker. (He could tell the part of Newcastle just from the accent.) The waiter was most put out. I think he thought he was incognito. He said, "Ah bet yee knar wot street ahm from an'aal!"

 

[Phyrebrat]

He said, "Ah bet yee knar wot street ahm from an'aal

Howay bonny lad!

pH

 

[Extollager]

Here's the same Machen audio selection, but this time with a transcription.

Word and Voice

Word and Voice: The Sound of Arthur Machen Introduction Every writer, great or small, creates not only the voices for the characters of his imagination, but lends his own voice for the discernment …

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