‘Yah daay yan o’ them girt beears gat hissen sadly tenged wi’ a bee. He wer seea _despe’t_ly ho’tten was t’ beear at he wer wahld ommeeast. Noo, they’re a varry _lungeous_ thing is a beear, an’ seea ti mak ’em think on t’ next tahm, he maks nowt ti deea bud he off ti t’ _gardin_ an’ clicks t’ beeskep ower wi sikan a bat. Noo, by that, mun, ther was a bonny ti-deea; t’ bees was sairly putten aboot, an’ seea they all com at t’ beear, an’ leeted on him; an’ he wer that tenged all ower, whahl it leeaked agin they wer boun ti rahve him i’ bits; an’ he wer hard set ti ger awaay frev ’em wick. ‘Varry seean he was swidgin’ an’ warkin’ awhahl he could hardlins bahd; bud, hooivver, he set hissen doon upo’ t’ grund an’ started ti beeal, an’ he shakk’d his heead an’ scratted his lugs an’ sike leyke. Eftther he’d gotten sattled doon a bit, thinks he tiv hissen, ah mebbe mud as weel ae tae’n neea _noatis_ eftther t’ fo’st bee tenged ma, as ti a’e meead sikan a _durdam_ amang t’ others, awhahl they were fit ti modther ma; an’ it wer all ti neea use at t’ _finish_.’ All the long French words have disappeared, and in the whole account only five French words and one Latin word are used. The difference is striking, and the reason for the difference is not far to seek. The language of the former version is that which has come down to us from the Court, and the Court language was for centuries Norman-French. The words used by the East Yorkshire farm-labourer are those of his humble forefathers who knew no _bewk-larning_, and who learned their English tongue by word of mouth, picking up here and there only an occasional French word. In other words, the language of the farm-labourer is almost exactly the same as that used by his ancestors four or five centuries ago. In fact, as Mr. Morris puts it, ‘if old Tommy Smith who died in 1500, aged 80, and old Willie Ward who died in 1900, aged 80, could come to life again and hold converse with one another, they would understand each other perfectly.’ XXIX. HOW THE EAST RIDING GOVERNS ITSELF. Every ten years a census is taken of the people inhabiting the British Isles. The latest counting of the people took place in 1911, when it was found that there were living in the East Riding of Yorkshire 432,804 persons. This large number of people is made up of men, women, and children who live in groups or communities very greatly varying in size. The number of persons living in the great city of Hull was 278,024; the number living in the little village of Wilsthorpe was only one. [Illustration: ANCIENT ARMS OF BEVERLEY. ]