Yola

Well you learn something new every day! Today's revelation from Slugger O'Toole is that there was a language called Yola spoken in Wexford, along the South-East Coast of Ireland until the 19th century. It was a varient of Middle English, and was introduced with the Norman invasion of the 12^th Century. Apparently, 'Yola' means 'old,' presumably implying 'the old tongue,' or the like. More grist to the mill for people who bang on about Norman Davies comments in The Isles that, until very recently, the sea was the conduit around which larger cultural entities were built, not a barrier to outsiders. According to comments in this paper (pdf), there might be more information in McCrum et al's The Story of English.