This site is a record of the life and writings of James Hugh Smythe (a.k.a. “Barrowsgate”). The site was compiled by Barrowsgate’s grandson, Steve Smythe. Barrowsgate was passionate about preserving the Doric language and, mainly through his various newspaper columns, he contributed a sizeable body of literature. Very little of this is now available to the general public (even on the British Newspaper Archive) so this site aims to remedy that.
As well as serving an academic purpose, it is hoped that readers will find some entertainment by reading what is here.
Hearty thanks are due to Alison Baxter, Steve’s second cousin, who provided numerous photos, letters and newspaper cuttings. Alison has published a biography of Barrowsgate’s sister, Jean Smythe. Better known by her married name, Jean Baxter, she was the dedicatee of Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
Thanks also to David Smythe, who scanned many of the documents you see on the site and Peter Sharp, who helped collate and interpret Barrowsgate and the 10th Battalion’s military files.
A note about dates
On this site, verses, bitties and stories are dated with the first-known publication date. It the decade is known, but not the year/month/date, the date shown is 01 Jan 19yy, where yy is 30, 40 or 50. If only the year is known, the date shown is 01 Jan 19yy, where yy is the year. If only the year and month is known, the date shown is 01 mmm yyyy, where mm is the month and yyyy is the year. If the article was unpublished or if the publication date or date of writing is currently unknown, a “modern” date is shown (e.g. 18 Dec 2024).