User:Bruno Lancashire

The word Gradely

Gradely

Pronounced grade-ly is a word still used in parts of Northern England, mainly in the Lancashire Yorkshire area. The definition of "Gradely" means grand, great, wonderful or a overall good thing. An example is "Its nice area and a Gradely spot for a picnic". These days the word is not often heard and generally only used by local people who still have a strong association with Lancashire or Yorkshire accents.

The words of the poem was used by Eddie Crotty a member of "The Fivepenny Piece" in a poem called " A Gradely Prayer" which appeared on one of their albums called "Making Tracks" released in 1969. Fivepenny Piece was a five piece band plus a drummer the band was from Northern England and performed in the sixties and seventies and hailed from the Ashton-under- Lyne and Stalybridge areas of Lancashire, now Tameside Greater Manchester, although Stalybridge was historically part of Cheshire. The band often used Lancashire dialect words on their recordings. The author of the dialect poem "Gradely Prayer" was Teddy Ashton, his real name was Charles Allen Clarke (Teddy Ashton1863-1935) an English working-class humorist, novelist, journalist and social investigator from Lancashire

A Gradely Prayer (Lyrics in Lancashire dialect) Give us, Lord, a bit o' sun A bit o' work an' a bit o' fun Give us all in t' struggle an' splutter, Our daily bread an' a bit o' butter. Give us health, our keep to make, An' a bit to spare for poor folk's sake. Give us sense (there's some of us duffers), An' a heart to feel for all that suffers. Give us, too, a bit of a song, An' a tale an' a book to help us along. An' give us our share o' sorrow's lesson, That we may prove how grief's a blessin' Give us, Lord, a chance to be Our very best; brave, wise an' free. Our very best for oursels an' others, Till all men learn to live as brothers.