[lit-ideas] Myles na Gopaleen
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:50:45 EDT
In a message dated 6/18/2009 3:17:40 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> I was told there is a crazy man in Ireland who was taught Gaelic as a
first-language and almost died in the attempt.
This would doubtless be because of the ruthless and murderous suppression
of Gaelic learning by the English. (Or perhaps the learning was accompanied
by murderous drinking sessions).
---- I quote:
His name is
Brian O'Nolan (Flann O'Brien/Myles na Gopaleen)
and he was brought up speaking only Irish.
His father was an enthusiastic nationalist who
learned Irish at night school and when he was fluent he banned English
from the house.
Brian and his brother learned English from reading
comics that they sneaked into the house. He did not go to school until
he was about thirteen.
It has often been said that his prose reads like
that of a brilliant linguist writing in a second language, and this seems
to be the reason. He wrote (as Myles na Gopaleen) his Irish Times
column at first only in Irish, then would alternate between Irish and
English, except occasionally when he wrote it in Latin.
Eventually he stayed with English.
The 'Keats and Chapman' stories would be
difficult in Latin anyway because of the puns, but he does assume a
level of Latin knowledge with some of them, e.g. the one where Keats
saves Chapman from being run through by his opponent's sword while
fighting a duel by throwing a small portable gas-fuelled camping stove
between the duelists just as the opponent strikes. Yes, 'Primus inter
parries!'.
---- end cited passage.
"This is a different case," Geary notes, from the baby by that
Vatican nun who taught him to speak only Vatican Latin
until she realised she didn't have the Latin for 'diaper'"
Geary, "The Pope's Son"
JLS
B. A., Argentina
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