West is east: the Irish Saracens in 'Of Arthour and of Merlin'

Among the more striking episodes in the Middle English poem Of Arthour and of Merlin is an invasion of England by, amongst others, an army of gigantic Irish pagans. Adapted from the French Estoire de Merlin, the English poem’s depiction of the Irish represents one of the more intriguing points of divergence between the two versions. Of Arthour and of Merlin paints the Irish in a highly negative light and repeatedly refers to them as ‘Saracens’. The French text, by contrast, depicts the Irish as gigantic, but it does not suggest that they are ignoble or pagan. Although, the term ‘Saracen’ was sometimes applied to non-Islamic enemies of England, such as the Vikings, this appears to be its only application to a historically Christian people dwelling west of England. This paper argues that the depiction of the Irish in the poem reflects a complex of ideas about Ireland in circulation in England in the period. In particular, the influential writings of Gerald of Wales lay great emphasis on supposed Irish heterodoxy and repeatedly link the Irish Occident with the Orient as the furthest extremities of the world, abounding in marvels but rendered barbaric by their isolation

Linguistic relativity and dialectical idiomatization: language ideologies and second language acquisition in the Irish language revival of Northern Ireland

A considerable number of Irish Catholics in West Belfast, originally native English speakers, have started learning the Irish language throughout the Northern Irish conflict in order to feel more Irish. Many of these have developed a strong conviction that the Irish language contains a different worldview from the one embodied in English. However, rather than constituting a plausible representation of relevant differences embodied in the languages themselves, this article puts forward the hypothesis that such a neo-Whorfian endorsement of linguistic relativity might rather be the product of dialectical idiomatization, following from the interplay of prevailing language ideologies and effects of second language acquisition.

Language ideologies: the formation and legitimisation of New Zealand English

New Zealand English first emerged at the beginning of the 19th century as a result of the dialect contact of British (51%), Scottish (27.3%) and Irish (22%) migrants (Hay and Gordon 2008:6). This variety has subsequently developed into an autonomous and legitimised national variety and enjoys a distinct socio-political status, recognition and codification. In fact, a number of dictionaries of New Zealand English have been published1 and the variety is routinely used as the official medium on TV, radio and other media. This however, has not always been the case, as for long only British standard norms were deemed suitable for media broadcasting. While there is some work already on lay commentary about New Zealand English (see for example Gordon 1983, 1994; Hundt 1998), there is much more to be done especially concerning more recent periods of the history of this variety and the ideologies underlying its development and legitimisation. Consequently, the current project aims at investigating the metalinguistic discourses during the period of transition from a British norm to a New Zealand norm in the media context, this will be done by focusing on debates about language in light of the advent of radio and television. The main purpose of this investigation is thus to examine the (language) ideologies that have shaped and underlain these discourses (e.g. discussions about the appropriateness of New Zealand English vis à vis external, British models of language) and their related practices in these media (e.g. broadcasting norms). The sociolinguistic and pragmatic effects of these ideologies will also be taken into account. Furthermore, a comparison will be carried out, at a later stage in the project, between New Zealand English and a more problematic and less legitimised variety: Estuary English. Despite plenty of evidence of media and other public discourses on Estuary English, in fact, there has been very little metalinguistic analysis of this evidence, nor examinations of the underlying ideologies in these discourses. The comparison will seek to discover whether similar themes emerge in the ideologies played out in publish discourses about these varieties, themes which serve to legitimise one variety, whilst denying such legitimacy to the other.

Ballads and songs of Indiana,

Some of the songs have unaccompanied melodies.

Penny readings for the Irish people.

Mode of access: Internet.

Sixty Irish songs : for high voice /

For high voice and piano.

The ballad literature and popular music of the olden time : a history of the ancient songs, ballads, and of the dance tunes of England, with numerous anecdotes and entire ballads; also, a short account of the minstrels /

An expansion of his Collection of national English airs, pub. in 1838-40. Recast by H. E. Wooldridge and pub. in 1893 as Old English popular music.

Merry songs and ballads, prior to the year 1800 /

Head and tail pieces.

The poets and poetry of Munster; a selection of Irish songs by the poets of the last century.

First and second editions (1849 and 1850) edited by John O'Daly.

The Spanish ballads.

"This Chronicle of the Cid is wholly translation, but it is not the translation of any single work."--Pref. to the Chronicle.

Irish literary gazette. : A weekly journal of national literature, criticism, fiction, industry, science, and art. ...

Subtitle varies.

The Yorkshire anthology, a collection of ancient and modern ballads, poems and songs, relating to the county of Yorkshire.

"Impression ... limited to one hundred and ten copies, ten copies being printed on very thick paper", signed by the printer.

The tea-table miscellany: a collection of choice songs, Scots and English. Reprinted from the 14th ed.

Comprises four vols. first pub. in 1724, 1725, 1727, and 1732; it is doubtful whether Ramsay collected or edited the fourth vol.