John Collier

Dialect of South Lancashire or Tim Bobbin's Tummus and Meary John Collier

John Collier was an English caricaturist and satirical poet known by the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin. His first and most famous work, A View of the Lancashire Dialect, or, Tummus and Mary, appeared in 1746, and is the earliest significant piece of Lancashire dialect to be published He died in 1786 leaving the sum of £50 and was buried in the churchyard of Rochdale Parish Church, St. Chad's. He wrote his own epitaph 20 minutes before he died, "Jack of all trades. . .left to lie i'th dark" which is inscribed upon his gravestone. He had also written a number of other humorous epitaphs for graves, a number of which can still be seen in St. Chad's churchyard. This 1850 edition also includes an enlarged and ammended gloassary of Lancashire Dialect compiled by Samuel Bamford.