Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ayuh, Been Theyah
Maine Humor
In addition to its spectacular scenery and pristine wilderness Maine has
also earned a reputation as a homeland for quirky characters born with
quick wits and extraordinarily dry senses of humor. Combined with the
famous Down East accent, (basically substitute “ah” for “er” or “or”) it
forms the foundation for a truly original experience.
Marshall Dodge
The late Marshall Dodge, who was part of a team that produced
the famous
Bert and I
recordings, took Maine humor main-
stream. Dodge liked to say that the difference between Western
humor and Eastern humor is that out West, the storyteller
laughs at the audience for believing a tall tale. Back here in the
East, the audience laughs at the storyteller's wit and homespun
wisdom, with the punch line often aimed at deflating the pomp-
ous and skewering the stuck-up.
Bert & I
recordings are sold at
giftshops and bookstores throughout the state.
A good example of this difference is when a wind-bag rancher
brags that “my ranch in Texas is so big it takes three days to drive
around it in my car.”
A Maine farmer would counter, according to Dodge, “Ayuh, back
on my fahm in Maine we gottah cah just like that.”
Visitors to Maine often expect to find such colorful characters at every
turn. In fact, Governor Angus King once said if he could just strategically
position a suitably crusty yet benign “Mainah” on the porch of every gen-
eral store or end of every lobster wharf, giving people asking for direc-
tions the standard reply of “You can't get theyah from heyah,” tourism
revenue would triple.
Still, there's a good chance if you ask some fisherman-type “Have you
lived here your whole life?” he'll respond matter-of-factly “not yet.”
