Activities

The Reed Neet is held on or near 30th April. the birth date of the late Fred Reed, FNLS, internationally acclaimed dialect poet and the Society's first Vice-President, who did so much to bring the Northumbrian tongue to public attention. Preceded by the Society's annual meeting, the Reed Neet is a celebration of the life and work of Fred Reed, featuring the traditional pie & peas supper, the Muckle Stotty Cyek, formal toasts and informal entertainment.

Merry Neats & daytime meets include the Yule Meet, the Society's Christmas get-together; themed events, involving music, poetry, stories and festive fare; and the annual Roland Bibby Memorial Lecture. commemorating the Society's founding chairman.

Branch Meetings are held in Newcastle and Hexham every month or so, with guest speakers and performers (details from the Hon. Secretary).

The Hot Trod Roadshow is an evening of songs, stories, history, music and verse, presented by Society volunteers, sometimes at the invitation of other organizations, to increase awareness of the language and recruit new members, besides providing an enjoyable entertainment. The Dialect Survey is an on-going study of the nature, origins and health of the features of the Northumbrian language and its local variations. Research is carried out by district volunteers -- more are always very welcome!

Competitions for dialect reciting, story telling and writing dialect poetry and prose, by adults and children, are run in conjunction with the annual Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering. Entries are heard at the Gathering Dialect Recital on the Saturday after Easter.

Northumbriana Magazine, issued twice a year, publishes the results of the Dialect Survey and many entries to the Morpeth Gathering writing competitions. It also features articles on the language, history, crafts, music, folklore, landscape, buildings and people of Northumberland. 

Publications and Other Projects include "Meyk an' Moas", a dialect version of the classic children's tale; a bibliography of manuscripts and books in and about Northumbria, future production of booklets, greetings cards, a modern Northumbrian dictionary, a schools' activity pack and an edition, including facsimile pages, of the 1910 Moody Book, a beautifully handwritten glossary of the mid-Northumberland dialect together with detailed notes and drawings in two colours, 684 pages long. 

The Society is now the sole supplier of the books and recordings of both Robert Allen and the late Fred Reed, two of the Northumbrian language's greatest poets. Robert Allen FNLS, one of our founding members, has very generously given all his publications to the Society. His book 'Canny Bit Verse' (£6) with illustrations by the late Henry Brewis, contains the texts of all three of his recordings, but only the third tape is still available, 'The Lang Pack,' (£5) featuring his narrative poem of the Bellingham legend of the same name and fifteen other pieces. We hope to be able to reissue the earlier recordings at a later date. The Iron Press have had warehousing difficulties, leading to their no longer handling a number of titles, including our co-production Fred Reed's poetry book 'The Northumborman', (£7.99) and so all stocks of that have passed to us.

Our newly issued CD recording 'Northumbrian Voice' (£10) is a re-mastered version of Fred Reed's original LP from the 1970s, but with extra tracks recorded recently by his son Raymond Reed - 35 tracks in all. (Our other co-production with Iron has now sold out. The book/CD 'The Wund an the Wetter' , a collaboration between poet Katrina Porteous and piper Chris Ormston, celebrates the fishing community of Beadnell and Seahouses. We are investigating the possibility of a second > edition, but meanwhile there may still be copies in local shops including Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum and Alnwick's new Bailiffgate Museum.)All our books and CDs will be on sale at Society events, various shows, or by mail (plus 10% postage) from Kim Bibby-Wilson at Westgate House, Dogger Bank, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 1RE.