13 20 th century Scottish renaissance Todays session 1 T he 20 th century renaissance 2 Close reading a Scots poem Mythologising the renaissance Poets Pub by Alexander Moffat ID: 759387
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Slide1
Scotland: Reimagining a Nation
13 20
th
century Scottish renaissance
Slide2Today’s session
1. The 20th century renaissance2. Close reading a Scots poem
Slide3Mythologising the renaissance
Slide4Poet’s Pub by Alexander Moffat (1980)
Norman MacCaig, Sorley Maclean, Ian Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown, Edwin MorganHugh MacDiarmid, Sydney Goodsir Smith and Robert Gariochhttp://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/M/241/artist_name/Alexander%20Moffat/record_id/2762
Slide5A polylingual non-hegemonic poetry
Hugh MacDiarmid: cultural activist, Scottish nationalist, reviver of Scots as a literary language (‘
Lallans
’)
Edwin Muir: poet and critic, rejects Scots as the medium of poetry. Prefers English
Sorley
Maclean: revives Gaelic as a modernist literary medium. Writes of lost love and doomed politics (Spanish civil war)
Slide6J. Logie Robertson (‘Hugh Haliburton’) 1846-1922
‘On the Decadence of the Scots Language, Manners and Customs’ from
Horace in Homespun
(1925)
They’re
wearin
’ by, the
guid
auld times
O’ Scottish rants and
hamet
rhymes,
In ilka
biggin
’ said or sung
In the familiar mither tongue
When lads and lasses were
convenin
’
Roun
’ the wide ingle at the
e’enin
’.
Slide7J. Logie Robertson (‘Hugh Haliburton’) 1846-1922
They’re
wearin
’ by, the
guid
auld days
O’ simple faith an’ honest phrase
Atween
the
maister
an’ the man
In ilka corner o’ the
lan
’
When
faithfu
’ service was a
pleasour
,
An’
faithfu
’ servants were a
treasour
.
[…]
Slide8J. Logie Robertson (‘Hugh Haliburton’) 1846-1922
Gude
keep my
Southlan
’
freen’s
fra
’
hearin
’
A
rouch
red-headed Scotsman
swearin
’
But
wha
would
hae
audacity
To question its capacity?
The mither
croon’d
by cradle side,
Young
Jockie
woo’d
his
blushin
’ bride,
The bargain at the fair was driven,
The solemn prayer was
wing’d
to heaven.
The
deein
’
faither
made his will,
In
gude
braid Scots
- A language still!
Slide9J. Logie Robertson (‘Hugh Haliburton’) 1846-1922
[…]
But what avails this
lang
oration,
This
pleadin
’ an’ expostulation?
Oh, Ichabod! The better plan
Were just to end as I began –
To note the
waefu
’ change and cry
The
guid
auld times are a’
gane
by
!
Slide10C.M Grieve (‘Hugh MacDiarmid’)
From an article in the series ‘Contemporary Scottish Studies’, featured in the
Scottish Educational Journal (
5th Feb 1926). Grieve quotes ‘a writer’ in the TLS (7
th
Jan 1926):
“Unhappily Scots has kept humble company so long that it has not only suffered impoverishment in its vocabulary but contracted associations too homely, too trivial, sometimes too vulgar for high poetry. If it is to be used again for that purpose, at least on a grand scale, it must break these low associations and form new.”
Slide11C.M Grieve (‘Hugh MacDiarmid’)
In other words, he who aspires to reform Scots poetry must first do what Spenser did for English; he must create a new poetic diction.” […]
He [
ie
the TLS writer
] goes on to show that the only way is to, quite arbitrarily, create a synthetic Scots, founding on the traditional Lothian Scots, but admitting good Scots words from any quarter.
Slide12C.M Grieve (‘Hugh MacDiarmid’)
[
Continues quoting from TLS writer
]:
“Obsolete words revived have at first neither meaning nor associations except for the scholar; yet if they are good words they may take root and blossom afresh; there is nothing for it but time and use.” […]
In these sentences he has penetrated to the heart of the whole issue.
Slide13The birth of ‘Lallans’
Renaissance manifesto:
Revive Scots diction ‘from any quarter’
Extend the expressive resources of Scots
Break with the past
Create new associations for old words
Slide14Strategies for reviving and enhancing Scots diction
1. Translation of prestige literature into Scots
2. Reviving archaisms, possibly by 'dictionary dredging'
3. Creating neologisms (
ie
the creation of new words)
Slide151. Translation of prestige literature: Lallans to today
MacDiarmid embeds versions of Alexander Blok, Zinaida Hippius and Else Lasker-Sch
üler in
A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle
(1926)
William Soutar translates Russian poets Pasternak and Yesenin
William Montgomerie translated Rilke
JK Annand translates French and German poets
Robert Garioch translates Italian poets, most successfully Guiseppe Belli
Slide16Douglas Young translates classical poetry and drama (eg Aristophanes)
Sydney Goodsir Smith translates Alexander Blok’s ‘The Twelve’ amongst other poems
Tom Scott translates Dante, Villon, Sappho, Baudelaire
William Tait translates Villon, Ronsard, Brassens, and others
Hamish Henderson translates Cavafy and other Italian poets
Slide17Robert Kemp initiates a slew of Moli
ère translations, and is followed by Hector Macmillan, Victor Carin, Liz Lochhead and others
Liz Lochhead translates
Medea, Thebans
Bill Findlay and Martin Bowman translate the plays of French Canadian, Michel Tremblay, amongst others
Peter Arnott translates Brecht
Slide18Edwin Morgan translates
Mayakovsky
into Scots and a host of other poets into English; translates drama into Scots (
Cyrano de Bergerac,
Ph
è
dre
,
a scene from
Macbeth
)
William Neill translates
Cavalcanti
Alastair Mackie translates
Giacomo
Leopardi, Anna
Akhmatova
,
Osip
Mandelstam and others
Robin
Lorimer
, David
Purves
translate separate versions of
Macbeth
Matthew
Fitt
translates/
versionises
Led Zeppelin, Ovid, Roald Dahl (
The Eejits
)
Slide19MacDiarmid’s use of bridging texts
Deutsch and
Yarmolinsky’s
translation of Else
Lasker-Sch
üler’s
‘Sphinx’:
She sits upon my bed at dusk, unsought,
And makes my soul obedient to her will,
And in the twilight, still as dreams are still,
Her pupils narrow to bright threads that thrill
About the sensuous windings of her thought…
Slide20MacDiarmid’s use of bridging texts
MacDiarmid’s version of Deutsch and
Yarmolinsky’s
translation of Else
Lasker-Sch
üler’s
‘Sphinx’:
The
Mune
sits on my bed the
nicht
unsocht
,
An’
maks
my soul obedient to her will;
And in the dumb-
deid
, still as dreams are still,
Her pupils
narraw
to
bricht
threids
that thrill
Aboot
the sensuous
windin’s
o’ her
thocht
…
Slide21MacDiarmid’s use of bridging texts
MacDiarmid’s version of
Deutsch and
Yarmolinsky’s
translation of Else
Lasker-Sch
üler’s
‘Sphinx’:
The
Mune
sits on
my bed
the
nicht
unsocht
,
An’
maks
my soul obedient to her will;
And in the dumb-
deid
,
still as dreams are still,
Her pupils
narraw
to
bricht
threids
that thrill
Aboot
the sensuous
windin’s
o’
her
thocht
…
Slide22The uses of translation…
Challenges the Scots poet to find words to express novel concepts (
eg
the symbolic vision of the thistle ‘
breenging
’ between moon and the narrator’s heart)
Allies the Scots poet to foreign poetry that he or she finds ideologically or aesthetically attractive
Provides material to be appropriated, adapted and transformed by the Scots translator…
Slide232. Reviving archaisms…or ‘dictionary dredging’
Abordage
o’ this
toom
houk’s
nae
mowse
.
It
munks
and’s ill to lay
haud
o’,
As gin a man
ettled
to ride
On the
shouders
o’ his ain shadow.
Slide24Jamieson’s Etymological Dictionary
Slide25Abordage
o’ this
toom
houk’s
nae
mowse
.
It
munks
and’s ill to lay
haud
o’,
As gin a man
ettled
to ride
On the
shouders
o’ his ain shadow
.
Embarking on this empty hulk’s no
joke
.
It
swings away
and is ill to lay hold of
As if a man tried to ride
On the shoulders of his own shadow.
Slide26From Jamieson’s Dictionary
See http://www.scotsdictionary.com/
Slide27Issues about reviving archaisms
Invites accusations of ‘artificiality’
Invites accusations of obscurity
New associations are with particular poems/poets (can anyone now use the term ‘watergaw’ and
not
allude to MacDiarmid?)
On the plus side, archaic vocabulary can be very suggestive…
Slide28Dictionary as stimulus
1825
Jamieson’s Etymological Dictionary of the Scots Language:
''
That
steen
stands very
eemis
'‘
that stone has not a proper bottom
1926
H.
McDiarmid
Sangschaw
23:
The
warl
' like an
eemis
stane
Wags
i
' the lift.
Slide293. Inventing new words: coinages
New Scots words tend to be of four types (McClure 1981):
compounds such as
ayebydand
("always-remaining");
figurative or metaphorical extensions of existing words, such as
ice-flume
("ice-river" or "glacier");
words based on sound symbolism such as
flichterie-fleeterie
(which sounds like other words meaning light, quick activity,
eg
flicht
, flit, fleet);
and calques,
ie
words modelled on compounds or idioms in another language,
eg
yearhunder
("century",
cf
Ger.
jahrhundert
).
Slide30It is important to keep contact with the living racy spoken language of all sorts and conditions of Scots, but no literary creator in English, Russian, or French would restrict himself to words heard. Words read may be as good as words heard, and even a Methuselah would never hear all the words which are still used. I even adopt words read in a dictionary, or words I make up for myself from Scots and kindred roots by old Scots principles, such as my words
"Ice-flumes"
for glaciers.
- Douglas Young (1946)
"Plastic Scots" and the Scottish Literary Tradition
Glasgow: William
McLellan
Slide31And a last rebuke to the critics…
Whan scrievin Scots is near a crime,
"There's no one speaks like that," they fleer,
-- But wha the deil spoke like King Lear?
-
Sydney Goodsir Smith, "Epistle to John Guthrie"
Slide32Close reading a Lallans poem
‘Moonstruck’ by Hugh MacDiarmid
When the warl’s couped soon’ as a peerie,
That licht-lookin’ craw o’ a body, the moon,
Sits on the fower cross-win’s
Peerin’ a’ roon.
She’s seen me – she’s seen me – an’ straucht
Loupit clean on the quick o’ my hert.
The quhither o’ cauld gowd’s fairly
Gi’en me a stert.
Slide33Close reading a Lallans poem
An’ the roarin’ o’ oceans noo’
Is peerieweerie to me.
Thunner’s a tinklin’ bell: an’ Time
Whuds like a flee.
Slide34Nine ways of attacking the vocabulary of Lallans
Does the word in the text have direct Scots/English equivalents,
eg
use/
yaise
ear/lug,
etc
?
If so, look up both terms in good Scots and English dictionaries,
eg
Dictionary of the Scots Language Online (
www.dsl.ac.uk
) and the Oxford English Dictionary (
http://www.oed.com/
)
Slide35When the warl’s couped soon’ as a peerie,
That licht-lookin’
craw
o’ a body, the moon,
Sits on the fower cross-win’s
Peerin’ a’ roon.
Slide36Slide37DSL - SND1
CRAW
,
CRA(A)
,
Kra(a)
,
n
.1 Sc. forms of Eng.
crow
(see P.L.D. § 34.1), in Eng. generally applied to the carrion crow,
Corvus corone
, but in Sc., as in Ir. and n.Eng., usually applied to the rook,
Corvus frugilegus
. Also used for the hooded crow,
Corvus cornix
, esp. in Sh. where the carrion crow is unknown (Sh. 1885 C. Swainson
Brit. Birds
86,
craa
). The Eng. form
crow
is illustrated only in combs. peculiar to Sc. The word is often extended jocularly or derisively to human beings
Phrases not found in St.Eng.:
1
.
a craw
(
in one's throat
), a strong craving for drink, esp. that induced by a night's debauch;
2
.
to sit like craws in the mist
, ``to sit in the dark'' (Sc. 1825 Jam.2); known to Bnff.2, Abd.2, Ags.17 1940.
Slide38Slide39A bird of the genus
Corvus
; in England commonly applied to the Carrion Crow (
Corvus Corone
), ‘a large black bird that feeds upon the carcasses of beasts’ (Johnson); in the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland to the Rook,
C. frugilegus
; in U.S. to a closely allied gregarious species,
C. americanus
.
Slide40Nine ways of attacking the vocabulary of Lallans
Is the denotation of the terms the same? That is, do they have the same basic literal meaning(s)?Answer: No, they are different kinds of crow… Carrion crow Scottish Rook
Slide41Nine ways of attacking the vocabulary of Lallans
3. Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
connotations
of the terms , that is, what they are
sometimes
associated with? How do the connotations compare?
Slide42DSL Connotations of ‘craw’
“The word is often extended jocularly or derisively to human beings […]”
Slide43OED Connotations of ‘crow’
c.
slang.
A derogatory name for a girl or woman, esp. one who is old or ugly; freq. in phr.
old crow
.
1925
‘H. H. RICHARDSON’
Way Home
(1930) vi. 477 It makes me feel a proper old crow.
1938
RUNYON
Take it Easy
27 She is by no means a crow. In fact, she is rather nice-looking.
1957
R. C. SHERRIFF
Telescope
II.
i
. 56
Mayfield.
There's an old lady named Miss
Fortescue
...
Ben
(
laughing
). Coo! I know
that
old crow.
Slide44Nine ways of attacking the vocabulary of Lallans
Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
register
of the terms? That is, are they restricted to certain
domains
,
ie
areas of activity, topics,
etc
?
When the
warl’s
couped
soon’ as a
peerie
,
That
licht-lookin
’ craw o’ a body, the moon,
Sits on the
fower
cross-win’s
Peerin
’ a’
roon
.
Slide45DSL Definitions
PEERIE
,
n
.1 Also
peery
,
pearie
,
-y
(Jam.),
pierie
,
peri
(Rxb. 1921
Kelso Chron
. (11 Nov.) 4),
pery
,
perrie
,
pirie
,
-y
. Dim. forms of
PEER
,
n
.1, q.v. [ piri]
1
. A child's spinning-top
PEER
,
n.
2
. A pear-shaped spinning top, gen. of wood, with a horizontal groove near the top to take the cord with which it is set spinning. More freq. in dim. form
PEERIE
,
q.v
.
*Abd.
1851
W. Anderson
Rhymes
195:
But little I cared aboot Meg or her gear, I thocht mair o' my bools, o' my tap, an' my pear.
*Abd.
1936
Abd. Univ. Review
(July) 198:
Trock peers an' skalie, an' wi' steekit han' At nivie-nivie-nick-nack mak' a dail.
[O.Sc.
peyr
, a pear,
fig
. as something of little value,
c
.1420, lit., 1491.]
Slide465. Do
the dictionaries tell you anything about the
register
of the terms?
Is
information given about their
tenor
eg
if they are formal, informal, slang?
peerie
:
Scots-only term for spinning top; domain = childhood activity. Diminutive of
peer,
suggesting informality, familiarity.
Slide47couped soon’ as a peerie
COUP
,
COWP
,
v
.1,
tr
. and
intr. Coup
is the most common spelling, but
cowp
represents the most gen. pronunciation. Rarer spellings are
cope
,
coap
,
coop
,
kup
,
cup
. Also found in n.Eng. dial. [k up Sc., but Uls. + kop; kop s.Arg.; kup, k p I.Sc.]
I
.
tr
.
1
.
To upset, overturn, capsize
; of a plough: to turn over (the ground); used
fig
.:
to lay low, to ruin
; also used with
o'er
,
aff
, etc. Gen.Sc. Ppl.adjs. (1)
coupin'
, upsetting, worrying; (2)
coupit
, ''confined to bed from illness of any kind'' (Lth., Rxb. 1825 Jam.2; 1923 Watson
Rxb. W.-B
., obs.).
Slide48DSL - DOST
Sound
,
Soun
,
adj
. Also:
sounde
,
sownd
,
sonde
,
sund
,
soon
. [ME and e.m.E.
sund
(Orm),
sounde
(
c
1290),
sond
(Cursor M.),
sownde
(Trevisa), OE
esund
sound, healthy.]
1
. Of persons, their bodies, etc.:
a
. Free from disease or ill-health; healthy, fit, robust.
b
. Free from injury; unharmed, unscathed.
c
. In respect of one's mental faculties: Sane, rational. Also
transf.
, of the faculties themselves.
Slide49DSL - SND1
SOUND
,
adj
.,
adv
.,
n
.2,
v
.2 Also
soun
,
soon(d)
,
sune
, ¶
soum
. Sc. forms and usages of Eng.
sound
, in good condition, solid. [sun(d)]
I
.
adj
.
1
. Smooth, even, level (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1904
E.D.D.
, Cai. 1971).
2
. In comb.
roun(d) soun(d)
, whole, complete (Kcb. 1971).
II
.
adv
. Smoothly, steadily.
III
.
n
. A smooth, flat surface on which certain games such as chuck-stones can be played (Lnk. 1962, obsol.).
Slide50couped soon’ as a peerie
= tilted/upset/overbalancedBUT= safe/secure/steady as a child’s spinning top
Slide51It is useful to look up English words too…
She’s seen me – she’s seen me – an’ straucht
Loupit clean on the
quick
o’ my hert.
OED
4. a.
the quick
: The tender or sensitive flesh in any part of the body, as that under the nails or beneath callous parts; the sensitive part of a horse's foot, above the hoof; also, the tender part of a sore or wound. Usu. in phr.
to the quick
. Also without article (quot. 1562). Also
attrib
Slide52Summary so far…
1. Does the word in the text have direct
Scots/English equivalents
, eg
craw/crow,
etc? If so, look up both terms in good Scots and English dictionaries.
2. Is the
denotation
of the terms the same? That is, do they have the same basic literal meaning(s)?
3. Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
connotations
of the terms , that is, what they are
sometimes
associated with? How do the connotations compare?
Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
register
of the terms? First of all, are they restricted to certain
domains
, ie areas of activity, topics, etc?
Is information given about their
tenor
eg if they are formal, informal, slang?
Slide53Nine ways of attacking the vocabulary of Lallans
6. Is there anything indicated about the mode (are the terms usually spoken, written or both?)
When the
warl’s
couped
soon’ as a
peerie
,
That
licht-lookin
’ craw o’ a body, the moon,
Sits on the
fower
cross-win’s
Peerin
’ a’
roon
.
She’s seen me – she’s seen me – an’
straucht
Loupit
clean on the quick o’ my
hert
.
The
quhither
o’
cauld
gowd’s
fairly
Gi’en
me a
stert
.
Slide54What does ‘quhither’ mean?
WHIDDER
,
v
.,
n
. Also
whudder
,
hwider
(Jak.),
whither
,
whuther
,
whother
; ¶
whutter-
;
arch.
quhidder
,
quhithir
; and, with alternative freq. ending
whiddle
.
n
.
1
.
A sudden gust of wind; a whirlwind
(Sh.
a
.1838 Jam.
MSS
. XI. 228, 1908 Jak. (1928),
hwider
, Sh. 1974,
whidder
).
*Slk.
1847
W. Crozier
Cottage Muse
17:
Winter's winds wi' fearfu' whother.
2
.
A whizzing or rushing noise
(Sc. 1825 Jam.,
whudder
); ``a curious kind of noise'' (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart
Gallov. Encycl
. 473,
whudder
).
3
.
A quick darting movement, a scurry, implying sound as well as movement.
*Gall.
1824
MacTaggart
Gallov. Encycl.
473:
A hare starts from her den wi' a whudder.
*Dmf.
1803
W. Wilson
Poems
I. 22:
Straught to the nest, I wi' a whidder, Did fetch it hame.
Slide557.
Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
collocation
of the term,
ie
words or phrases that it might be found with?
Slide56Comb
.
whitherspale
,
whuther-spale
,
wither-spale
,
-spail
; (1)
a child's toy
, consisting of a thin notched slat of wood 7-12 inches long, attached to a piece of cord, by which it is whirled round, producing a booming sound (Rxb. 1825 Jam.), later,
a tin or zinc disk
with two holes bored in the centre, through which a loop of string is threaded. The ends of the string are held in either hand and the disk rotated to twist the string. By pulling each end the disk can be made to spin at a high velocity, causing a humming or whizzing sound (Rxb. 1923 Watson
W.-B.
); used
fig
. to typify something very light, as straw or down (Rxb. 1825 Jam.);
specif
. goose-grass,
Galium aparine
(Ib.); (2)
transf
. ``a thin lathy person'' (
Ib
.);
an easily influenced person, one of inconstant opinions
(
Ib
.).
Slide57Nine ways of attacking the vocabulary of Lallans
8. Is
there other useful information not covered by the above,
eg
about the
currency
of the terms (are they obsolete), are they specific to a particular
region
, what is their
etymology
,
etc
?
An’ the
roarin
’ o’ oceans
noo
’
Is
peerieweerie
to me:
Thunner’s
a
tinklin
’ bell: an’ Time
Whuds
like a flee.
Slide58DSL - SND1
PEERIE
,
adj
. Also
peeri
,
peery
,
pierie
,
pirie
(Ork. 1891 Harvie-Brown and Buckley
Fauna Ork
. 23),
pir(r)i
(Jak.);
perrie
(Sh. 1918 T. Manson
Peat Comm
. 187), phs. a misprint.
Cf
.
PEEDIE
. [ piri]
1
. Small, little, tiny (Sh., Ork. 1808 Jam.; Fif., Lth. 1825 Jam.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Rxb. 1923 Watson
W.-B.
; I.Sc., Cai. 1965).
Reduplic. forms
peerie-weerie
(Ork., Ayr. 1825 Jam.; Sh., Ork. 1866 Edm.
Gl
.), also used as a
n
.,
a tiny creature
(Ayr. 1825 Jam.; Sh., Per. 1965);
peerie- (weerie)-winkie
,
-wunk
(Sh. 1825 Jam., 1866 Edm.
Gl
.), extremely small, ''teeny-weeny'',
also sim. used as a
n
. (Edb. 1876 J. Smith
Archie and Bess
3,
-wunk
). See also
2
. (14).
Slide59Slide60Nine ways of attacking the vocabulary of Lallans
9.
Is the word
slang
, or a
neologism
; is it based on metaphor, sound-symbolism, or an expression in another language?
Slide61An’ the roarin’ o’ oceans noo’
Is peerieweerie to me:
Thunner’s a tinklin’ bell: an’ Time
Whuds
like a flee.
Slide62DSL - SND1
WHID
,
n
.1,
v
.1 Also
whud
,
hwid
(Jak.). For freq. forms see
WHIDDER
. [ Id]
I
.
n
.
1
. A squall, gust of wind (I.Sc. 1974). Only in deriv. adj.
whiddy
, used of a wind that changes direction (Ork. 1825 Jam., Ork. 1974).
2
. (1) A rapid, noiseless movement, a quick darting motion, a gambol, spurt (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Bnff., Rxb.
c
.1930), often used of small animals, esp. the hare. Phr.
to play whid
, to frisk, dart about, of hares. Hence ¶
whiddie
, a hypocoristic name for a hare.
Slide63Etymology of ‘whid/whud’ (DSL)
[O.Sc.
quhyd
, a squall, gust of wind, 1590, prob. O.N.
hviða
, id., also a fit (
cf
.
I
.
5
.), related to O.E.
hwiða
, a breeze;
quhid
, to strike, 1656,
poss. mainly imit
.]
Slide64Etymology of ‘whid/whud’ (OED)
Sc.
[? a. ON.
hviða
squall = OE.
hwi
a
.]
1.
A squall, blast of wind.
Obs.
1590
J. BUREL
in Watson
Coll. Sc. Poems
II. (1709) 24 The wind, with mony quhyd, Maist bitterly thair blew.
2.
A quick noiseless movement, esp. of a hare.
in
or
wi' a whid
, in a trice.
1719
RAMSAY
2nd Answ. to Hamilton i, Wi' a Whid,..She'll rin red-wood.
1785
BURNS
To W. S*****n xii, Jinkin hares, in amorous whids.
1788
R. GALLOWAY
Glasgow Fair II. vi, He lent a blow at Jonny's eye, That rais'd it, in a whid.
Slide65Summary…
1. Does the word in the text have direct
Scots/English equivalents
, eg
craw/crow,
etc? If so, look up both terms in good Scots and English dictionaries.
2. Is the
denotation
of the terms the same? That is, do they have the same basic literal meaning(s)?
3. Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
connotations
of the terms , that is, what they are
sometimes
associated with? How do the connotations compare?
Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
register
of the terms? First of all, are they restricted to certain
domains
, ie areas of activity, topics, etc?
Is information given about their
tenor
eg if they are formal, informal, slang?
Slide66Summary…
6
. Is there anything indicated about the
mode
(are the terms usually spoken, written or both?)
7. Do the dictionaries tell you anything about the
collocation
of the term,
ie
words or phrases that it might be found with?
8. Is there other useful information not covered by the above,
eg
about the
currency
of the terms (are they obsolete), are they specific to a particular
region
, what is their
etymology
,
etc
?
9. Is the word
slang
, or a
neologism;
is it based on metaphor, sound-symbolism, or an expression in another language?
Slide67The language of Hugh MacDiarmid’s ‘Moonstruck’
Combines language of childhood games and rhymes with cosmic and elemental references (
peerie, quhither, peerieweerie vs warld, moon, cross-win’s, oceans
)
Takes language from ‘all quarters’: from the contemporary language of the playground to the archaic language of the manuscript (
peerieweerie>quhither
). But there is a certain northern (possibly Shetlandic) quality to many of the terms used.
Slide68Structure of poem…
The first stanza characterises the moon as a ‘
craw
’ (in Scots a
rook
, but, as in English, easily personified, often as
an ugly old woman
).
The central stanza has the moon ‘
loupin
’ on
the quick o’ my hert
’.
The final stanza has a series of transformations of perception of scale:
ocean
to
a tiny creature
,
thunder
to a
bell
, and
time
to
a darting fly
…
Slide69Ambiguous diction…
The key to the transformations in the final stanza depends on our understanding of: ‘Quhither’ is usually glossed as ‘beam’.Our own surfing of online dictionaries suggests a whooshing noise, associated with a children’s game in which slats of wood or discs of metal are rubbed together …Which reading do you prefer?
The
quhither
o’
cauld
gowd’s
fairly
Gi’en
me a
stert
.
Slide70Thank you!
Final three lectures:
19 November: The Prime of Miss Jean
Brodie
26 November: Edwin Morgan and the international
avant
garde
03 December: Between referenda – into the 21
st
century