Scott Dobson (26 December 1918 – 22 January 1986) was an English art teacher, art critic and writer. His works were influential in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authori ...

Life

He was born Edward Scott Dobson on 26 December 1918 in

Blyth, Northumberland Blyth () is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has a population of about 37,000, as of 2011. The port o ...

, the only child of a local government officer and a teacher. Very soon after his birth, the family moved to

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

where Scott attended Rutherford School. He excelled in art and won junior competitions. He studied art at

King Edward VII College Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

in Newcastle, at

Freckleton Freckleton is a village and civil parish on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England, to the south of Kirkham and east of the seaside resort of Lytham St. Annes. In 2001 the parish had a population of 6,045, reducing to 6,019 at the 2011 Census. ...

and at

Leeds College of Art Leeds Arts University is a specialist arts further and higher education institution, based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a main campus opposite the University of Leeds. History It was founded in 1846 as the Leeds Schoo ...

. After joining the Territorial Army, Dobson served in the army in France and India during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After being demobilised he trained as a teacher, teaching art at a number of schools including

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a free grammar school next to Manchester Parish Church, it moved in 1931 to its present site at ...

and St Aloysius in Newcastle upon Tyne. His painting followed a number of different paths including abstract art. He was also involved with two art galleries in Newcastle in the 1960s - the Westgate Gallery and then the Side Gallery - the latter with the photographer Jim Perry, who died in March 2012. In the 1960s and 1970s, after moving out of teaching, he published his first Geordie dialect book, ''Larn Yersel Geordie'', which became the definitive work on the dialect. This was followed up by several more books in the series. They were definitely not "politically correct" but yet full of wit and humour. His materials were also much used (together with songs from Eric Boswell) on the BBC's ''Geordierama'', a radio programme and later an annual stage show as part of the Newcastle Festival, which presented songs and sketches mainly in dialect and featured Mike Neville, George House and guests including Bobby "The Little Waster" Thompson and Dick Irwin. Dobson semi-retired to the

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

island of

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...

, where he died on 22 January 1986 and is buried in the cemetery. His headstone is inscribed "Gan Canny".

Selected works

These include: * ''Larn Yersel Geordie'' (1969) * ''Hist'ry o' the Geordies'' (1970) * ''Advanced Geordie Palaver'' (1970) * ''Hadrian and the Geordie Waall'' * ''Stotty Cake Row'' (1971) * ''Supergeordie'' (1971) * ''Aald Geordie's Almanack'' (1972) * ''Geordie at the Match'' (with Len Shackleton) * ''A light hearted guide to Geordieland'' (Newcastle, 1973) * ''New Geordie Dictionary (Newcastle, 1974) * ''The Geordie Joke Book'' (with Dick Irwin) (1970) * ''The Blackpool Book'' (Newcastle, 1971)

References

External links

Wor Geordie songwriters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Scott 20th-century English writers English male comedians People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district) 1918 births 1986 deaths Geordie songwriters 20th-century English musicians 20th-century English comedians Comedians from Tyne and Wear

Life

Selected works

See also

References

External links