PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 4
My Grandfather Robert Dale McWilliams, my grandmother Virginia Margaret
McWilliams and my mother Sherill May McWilliams Skelley all came from a small
town, farming community of Barnesville, Ohio. They uses different words than I
learned in school. As a boy, I was embarassed by their country talk. As an
adult, I learned that their dialect had a very historic background.
They didn't say "umbrella." They said "bumbershoot." No
one else I knew ever said bumbershoot. Later I learned that bumbershoot was
another name for umbrella used mainly in the late 1800's.
Grandma and Grandpa never said "sofa." They always said
"davenport." I din't know anyone but them that called a sofa a
davenport. Later, I learned that davenport is a synonym for sofa, especially in
the Midwestern United States, in New York state, in the Adirondack Region
especially amongst those born before World War II.
Grandpa, Grandpa and Mom never said "wash." They always added an
r to make it sound like "warsh." They'd say, "We need to warsh
the dishes."
I didn't know that they had been taught what is called Midland English
where an r is added to many words. This branch of the English language
originated from Scot, Irish and Welsh immigrants to the USA who settled in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and
Oklahoma.
I shouldn't have been embarassed by my family's unique pronunciations.
Their language was not the language of country bumpkins. It was the language of
proud Scots, Irish and Welsh who came to the New World!
Your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great
grandfather Abraham McWilliams was born in Scotland in 1720. He relocated to
Pennsylvania. His son Samuel fought for independence from England in the
Revolutionary War. He served in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania Militia.
I love you, Connor, Bryson and Archer,
Pawpaw
