'Zurry!' Lottery saves old dialect

The National Lottery, often criticised for some of its more bizarre donations, has delighted the people of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire by putting its money where their mouths are.

Its Heritage Lottery Fund has stumped up £89,000 for a project aimed at preserving the forest's ancient dialect, a mix of musically expressive Welsh and West Country.

As part of a programme to record the memories of older members of the community, their way of life and language, the Dean Heritage Centre in Cinderford will use the money over the next two years to ensure the dialect survives.

The forest has a community of 120,000 people, many of whom farm. It is thought that much of the dialect, known locally as "forest", has changed little since the 17th and 18th centuries.

One of the dialect's speakers, James Blanch of Cherry Orchard Farm in Newland, welcomed news of the donation. "Zurry, these be a good'un, oi," he said. "'Tis good'nuff fur owr kids fur yurs ta cum. Oi'll 'av a pint ta these yer Lott'ry."

Which, roughly translated, means: "I say, this is good news. It is a splendid development, especially for our children, who will benefit for years to come. I will raise a glass to those chaps at the National Lottery."