A WELL-KNOWN champion of the Yorkshire dialect has died at the age of 83.

Dr Arnold Kellett, a former mayor of Knaresborough, was the president of the Yorkshire Dialect Society for ten years.

Before he retired he was head of languages at King James School, Knaresborough and was an expert on the county’s dialect and traditions.

In his book, the Yorkshire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore, published in the 1990s, he claimed that dialect was disappearing fast and that not enough attention was being paid to regional accents.

And in 1988, he re-wrote the history books to win the Yorkshire History Prize with an essay, King John in Knaresborough: The First Known Royal Maundy.

The essay reported on research demonstrating that King John performed the first Royal Maundy ceremony in the town in 1210, three years before an event at Rochester which was previously believed to be the earliest such occasion.

He was also a Methodist preacher who had been a finalist in the Times Preacher of the Year competition.

He died peacefully in Harrogate District Hospital. His widow Pat said he had suffered five heart attacks over the last 30 years, the first 30 years ago and the last two while in hospital recently.

The funeral will be held at Gracious Street Methodist Church, Knaresborough, next Tuesday at 12.30pm, followed by interment at Knaresborough cemetery.