CROWDS gathered in Ffwrn in Fishguard on Friday to witness the launch of a new book which aims to raise our understanding of the local dialect.

The Pembrokeshire Dialect project comprises of a booklet and DVD which has been put together by Menter Iaith Sir Benfro.

It has been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is the product of two years of work involving local school pupils, youth and community groups.

The booklet and DVD looks into the linguistic heritage of our county, which spans almost a thousand years, and is an interesting tale of warfare and compromise between the Celts and the various settlers who arrived to co-habit here.

Hedydd Hughes from Menter Iaith Sir Benfro said: “The book is the culmination of quite a bit of fun work we’ve done within the county looking at the dialect in both languages.

“We’ve got our own character, we’ve got our own way of speaking using dialect, and it’s fascinating for people who come to Pembrokeshire for the first time.

“If we don’t look after the dialect by just using it, then it is in danger of dying out. It’s a very colourful part of our history that’s very neglected."

Hedydd added: “Dialect is not a subject that is on the curriculum in schools, but children are interested in it. Very often they will say things like ‘I remember gran using that word’.”