[lit-ideas] Re: Pictish Vocatives

  • From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 12:04:22 EST

 
 
In a message dated 2/4/2005 1:22:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
Following t'advice, "If tha knows nowt, say nowt an appen nob'dy  'll
notice," ah'm shootin' oop.  But tha could do worse'n visit this  site:

_www.yorkshire-dialect.org_ (http://www.yorkshire-dialect.org) 


-----
 
And then there's the 'final vocative', EIEIO, in Pictish.
 
JL
 
-----
 
 
Ancient Pictish song found in peat bog
 

Sensational new discoveries have been made at an archaeological dig at the  
site of a Roman army camp near Hadrian's Wall. When the legions were evacuated, 
 orders were sent out to destroy all valuable military records. However, in 
the  far-flung camps, lazy army bureaucrats simply pitched all the files into 
the  nearest bog. Now archaeologists are recovering all the records, preserved 
in the  highly tannic bog water.


Among the latest discoveries is what appears  to be a Latin translation of a 
Pictish folk-song. No doubt the lonely  legionaries on sentry duty on the wall 
heard the melodic strains drifting on the  wind from the Pictish encampments 
to the north. Roman soldiers must have learned  this traditional Pictish 
melody, which is the earliest folksong recorded in the  British Isles.


Of particular interest is the chorus of syllabic  vocables, remarkably 
similar to the Gaelic walking song which is not found in  written records until 
almost 1000 years later. In fact, a remarkable similar  chorus of vocables: I\ 
aigh i\ aigh o\ can be found in a walking song from Skye,  "Tha baile aig 
sean-Mhac a' Domhnuill", in the Frances Tolmie  collection.


Following is a transcription of the original  manuscript:


Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et in ille  fundum habebat porces, EIEIO
Cum oink oink hic, oink oink hoc
Oink hic,  oink hoc, ubique oink oink
Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum,  EIEIO


Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et in ille fundum  habebat boves, EIEIO
Cum moo moo hic, moo moo hoc
Moo hic, moo hoc, ubique  moo moo
Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO


Senex Macdonaldus  habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et in ille fundum habebat oves, EIEIO
Cum baa baa  hic, baa baa hoc
Baa hic, baa hoc, ubique baa baa
Senex Macdonaldus  habebat fundum, EIEIO


Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et  in ille fundum habebat anates, EIEIO
Cum quack quack hic, quack quack  hoc
Quack hic, quack hoc, ubique quack quack
Senex Macdonaldus habebat  fundum, EIEIO 


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