Just before Christmas last year, I managed to make a trip to London and met up with a friend whose acquaintance I made in Devon. Before I left he said, amongst other things, that he always enjoys catching up with Devon friends because there's that whole 'Devon thing' that the world at large doesn't know about, believing, as they do, the Devon accent to consist in farmers chewing straws, saying, "Ooh, arr!"
This reminds me of another little fragment of conversation that must have occurred at a party in London when, many members of the Devon posse all happening to be there at once, some urbanite or other remarked that there was a considerable and largely unobserved Devon diaspora in the UK, and possibly in the world at large.
Google 'Devon diaspora', and the most enlightening thing you'll find is probably this, which is as it should be. Nonchalance, Socratic irony, leaving-be-ness, general inability to take oneself seriously, animal-tracking and invisible omnipresence are some of our main weapons in the conspiracy to drink more cider in haystacks.
Famous things from Devon? There are few. Cream teas. Agatha Christie. Sir Francis Drake. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Tarka the Otter. Part of the shared life of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. Cider. (Not The Wurzels, who are, I believe, mainly from Somerset.) Chris Martin. The geological Devonian era. Sir Walter Raleigh. Lorna Doone. Donald Sinden. The United States of America. Johnny Kingdom.
That might, in fact, be exhaustive.
Good things that are not (yet) famous from Devon, there are perhaps somewhat more. Of these, I now present the poetry of Mark McGuinness, who, if he resembles anything at all on the list above, perhaps most closely resembles Donald Sinden Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Hello.I looked at a few links on the Devon accent before choosing yours. I thought it was good. I linked it under ‘farmers chewing straws’ because you mentioned some of these cliches, and I’m afraid that Johnny Kingdom trumped you for the ‘Devon accent’ spot. I almost used this clip:http://youtube.com/watch?v=cABKeWShe4M&feature=relatedWhich was very funny. I know Devon maids like these.Anyway, cheers m’dears.
Graduate Apprentice writes:
Hey!Not quite sure what to make of your post really… I mean I appreciate the link to my post about Devon, and as a fellow Durham Graduate, am glad to see that the word spreading about just what a fantastic place Devon is to live!There may not be as much happening down in Devon as other places, but thats what gives the place its charm. Things happen a little slower, its the way of life, and some things don’t happen at all. Sure Devon gets a reputation for being full of farmers, but so what… I like it that way, it gives me something to talk about, to tell people they are wrong and encourage a visit.So thanks for the link, I hope that more people click though and take a look at what Devon really has to offer.
The following comment from Mark McGuinness, who didn’t manage to get past captcha security:Churz! Proper job.