The Dialects of the East Midlands are more closely related to those of Yorkshire than they are to the West Midlands. All of the Midlands to the East of Watling Street (The A5) were once controlled by the Danish Kings, and many Nordic influences remain in the Dialects of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. This gives the dialects of the East Midlands a more 'Northern' sound than their counterparts in the West, and natives of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire often get fed up of being asked which part of Yorkshire they're from!
During the time of the Danelaw, where much of Eastern England from East Anglia to Northumberland was under direct Viking Rule from Jorvik (York) the West Midlands remained under the control of the Saxon kings of Wessex, in Winchester. This thousand year old partition is reflected in the traditional dialects and modern accents of the Midlands in the twentyfirst century.
The most prominent writer in this dialect is without doubt the romantic English Novellist, DH Lawrence, who wrote many poems in the dialect of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Coalfield. Some of Lawrences characters in novels such as 'Son's and Lovers' and 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' have speech represented in a written dialect form.
Title: Tahn o' me both
Author: Ernest Holland
Tahn o' me both,
Me stee worna long enough,
To mark t' local istry boek,
Me peerents worna frum thee,
An' me childer sull non walk in tha failds,
As ah done in a blink o' thine eyes,
What sempt an etairnal childhood,
A bond ah thoet unbrekable,
Were brok terdee.
Title: Wommin it.
Author:
When’t corsi’s snidered airt wi’ folk
An’ non as ceers tha neem,
An’ tha’s ed enough o’ baein dahn’t smoke,
Then lad, cum wom ageen.
When tha’s peed thrae pairnd f’r a pint of ale,
As may’s well fell as reen,
An’ evry bogger’s frit ter spaek,
Then lad cum wom ageen.
Cus London’s weer thi pee thee well,
Aye, an trap thee jus’ the seem,
An yo’ll gie it back on snap and rent
So lad cum wom ageen.
I’s soft as grease is ge’ r’ in airt,
But gerrin’ backs a bigger peen,
Tha s’ll sae as rairnd aers none so bad,
If tha’ wants ter cum wom ageen.