Wordsmiths and Warriors: The English-Language Tourist's Guide to Britain

437 Pages·2013·33.56 MB·English

by  David Crystal

Introduction
WORDSMITHS
& WARRIORS
This page intentionally left blank
Wordsmiths
& Warriors
The English-Language Tourist’s
Guide to Britain
David Crystal
Hilary Crystal
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries.
© David and Hilary Crystal 2013
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
First Edition published in 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,
or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate
reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction
outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,
Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover
and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
ISBN 978–0–19–966812–0
Typeset by Sparks—www.sparkspublishing.com
Printed in the UK by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
Contents
Contents
Introduction 1
  1 1 Pegwell Bay: arrival 5
  22 Caistor St Edmund: the earliest known English word 13
  33 Undley Common: the fi rst recorded English sentence 21
  44 Jarrow: Bede and the origins of English 27
  55 Lindisfarne: glossaries and translations 37
  66 Ruthwell: the fi nest runic inscription 43
  77 Stourton and Edington: King Alfr ed and the birth of English 49
  88 Maldon: the ultimate warrior wordsmith 57
  99 Winchester: the fi rst standard English 65
1010 Cerne Abbas: Ælfr ic and the fi rst English conversation 71
11 11 Ely: Wulfstan and Old English style 77
1212 Peterborough: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 83
1313 Batt le and Normans Bay: the French connection 89
1414 Bourne: Orrm and English spelling 95
1515 Areley Kings: Layamon’s English Chronicle 101
161 6 Chester and Berkeley: Higden, Trevisa, and the rise of English 109
171 7 Rhuddlan: the English language in Wales 117
181 8 Manorbier: litt le England beyond Wales 123
191 9 Dunfermline: the birth of Scots English 131
2200 Talbot Yard, London SE1: Chaucer and Middle English 139
221 1 Canterbury: fr om ancient to modern 147
2222 Cursitor Street, London EC4: Chancery and standard English 153
2233 Tothill Street, London SW1: Caxton and printing English 157
2244 St Albans: Juliana Berners and collective nouns 163
Contents v
2255 Paston: a family of lett ers 169
2266 Lutt erworth: John Wycliff e and Bible translation 179
2277 North Nibley: William Tyndale and the English Bible 185
2288 Chichester: William Bullokar and the fi rst English grammar 191
2299 Suff olk Lane and St Paul’s, London EC4: Richard Mulcaster
and the status of English 197
3300 Stratford-upon-Avon: Shakespeare and English idiom 203
331 1 Park Street, London SE1: Shakespeare and linguistic innovation 211
3322 Oakham: Robert Cawdrey and the fi rst dictionary 217
3333 Willoughby: John Smith and new Englishes 225
3344 East India Dock, London E14: the East India Company
and global English 231
3355 Hampton Court Palace: King James and his Bible 237
3366 Black Notley: John Ray and English proverbs 245
3377 Aldwincle: John Dryden and an English Academy 251
3388 Old Broad Street, London EC2: the Royal Society
and scientifi c English 257
3399 Rochdale: Tim Bobbin and local dialect 263
4400 Lichfi eld and London: Johnson and the dictionary 271
441 1 Old St Pancras Church, London NW1:
John Walker and pronunciation 279
4422 York: Lindley Murray and English grammar 287
4433 Alloway: Robert Burns and Scots 293
4444 Peebles and Edinburgh: the Chambers brothers
and encyclopedic English 301
4455 Grasmere: William Wordsworth and poetic language 311
4466 West Malvern: Roget and the thesaurus 319
4477 Bath: Isaac Pitman and English shorthand 325
4488 Oxford: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary 333
4499 Winterborne Came: William Barnes and speech-craft 341
5500 Higher Bockhampton: Th omas Hardy and Wessex dialect 347
551 1 Saltaire: Joseph Wright and English dialects 355
5522 Hinton St George: Henry Fowler and English usage 361
5533 Ayot St Lawrence: George Bernard Shaw and spelling reform 367
vi Wordsmiths and Warriors
5544 Laugharne: Dylan Th omas and Welsh English 375
5555 Tilbury: the Empire Windrush and new dialects 383
5566 University College London, WC1:
Daniel Jones and English phonetics 391
5577 University College London, WC1: the Survey of English Usage 397
Regional Grouping 403
Sources and Acknowledgements 407
Index of Places 409
General Index 417
Contents vii
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction
Introduction
‘What happened here?’ It’s a natural question to ask when we visit
somewhere for the fi rst time. It might be the physical character of the place
which prompts the question—a ruin, a wall, a statue—or a curious place
name or spelling. Oft en we already know that something happened—a
batt le, a treaty, a wedding, a fi lm—and we take pains to seek out the
location.
People spend a signifi cant part of their lives visiting places they fi nd of
particular interest. If your interest is history, you might go to batt lefi elds.
If architecture, cathedrals. If fl owers, nature reserves. So, what could you
visit if you have a fascination with the history of the English language in
Britain? As a fairly well-travelled language enthusiast, I have oft en found
myself in a place where the name rings a linguistic bell. Sometimes the bell
rings loud and clear: so-and-so was born here, or died here, or lived here,
or worked here. Sometimes it is muffl ed: I have a vague sense of something
happening, but can’t remember exactly what. And now I realize—as a
result of writing this book—I’ve passed through places where I had no idea
a linguistic bell was ringing at all.
Wordsmiths and Warriors, then, is about the English linguistic heritage of
Britain as encountered through the places which shaped it. Th e two terms
in the title overlap. In the early days of English, warriors are conspicuous,
with invading regimes causing political or cultural change that had far-
reaching linguistic consequences. In later days, wordsmiths predominate,
with poets, commentators, translators, scholars, reformers, and enthusiasts
engaging with the language, and through their work giving the language
its historical character. But some warriors, such as King Alfred, were
wordsmiths; and some wordsmiths, such as George Bernard Shaw, were
defi nitely warriors, in the way they fought for a linguistic cause.
Th e book relates a real journey. Hilary and I went to each place ourselves,
and my text refl ects what we encountered on the day of our visit, conveying
personal impressions as well as providing an explanation of why I chose it.
Each chapter covers one topic, ordered to refl ect the broad chronology of
Introduction 1