Friday, November 2, 2018

10:00 I spend the morning leafing through the first approx. 200 lines of "Brus", which was written around1375 in Scots-English. The poem is about the well-known Scottish hero, "Robert the Bruce", ie Robert the 1st of Scotland, and about the role he played in the Scottish War of Independence . Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group is holding its regular monthly meeting on Friday, and the Brus poem is the group's current project.

I can understand these first 200 lines for the most part, but I have some problems here and there. Fortunately, I find a good online Scots-English dictionary online, which helps a lot. Scots English is similar to the Middle English dialect that's characterized by the kind of English used by people in England's northern counties, but Scots English has even more words that originate from Old Norse because of the large numbers of Nordic immigrants who settled in Scotland.

11:00 While I'm concentrating on understanding this nearly 750-year-old Scots-English poem, Lois goes for a walk round the local football field, wearing her brand new dark-pink coat we bought the other day for her in Outfit / Dorothy Perkins.

Lois in her brand new winter coat. How cute she looks!

I could eat her up - yummmmy !!!

12:00 Lois comes back. I hurry into the kitchen and make two servings of poached egg on toast. After lunch I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap.

13:30 I take the bus into town and I have some spare time before Lynda's group gets together in the theatre bar. So I sit down in the theatre's ground floor cafe and have a piece of cake and a cup of coffee. At 2:30 pm I go up the stairs to the bar, where Lynda's monthly group meetings takes place.

There are only 5 of us this month, but we have a new member, Cynthia. She has a bachelor's degree in English and she was working in Kuwait when Saddam Hussein invaded the country, which was bad luck. She was repatriated to England, but her career was over. She decided to try to get a PhD, and she chose "French suffixes in Middle English" as her subject, and in particular words that end with "-ence" or "-ance".

It was a bit of an unusual and academic choice of subject, to say the least - she admits that now without hesitation. While she was combing through Shakespeare's works to find examples of words with the -ance suffix or the -ence suffix (in the days before the internet made such things easy), she suddenly realized that here she was, reading some of the world's finest literature, just for the purpose of listing words with certain suffixes.

All this reminded me of Danny Kaye's song in "Hans Christian Andersen".

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Eight and eight are sixteen

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two

Inch worm, inch worm

Measuring the marigolds

You and your arithmetic

You'll probably go far

Inch worm, inch worm

Measuring the marigolds

Seems to me, you'd stop and see

How beautiful they are

Hans Andersen, the famous Danish author, was very interested in inchworms, who in the classic Danny Kaye movie seem to be counting binary-style using the powers of two, as they crawl over a load of marigolds in the local school garden just in front of the school's biggest window: by chance, the students were having a math lesson just when Hans was passing by, which was lucky.

Two and two are four, four and four are eight etc ....

15:45 We use the last 15 minutes of the meeting to decide what the group's next project should be. I suggested that we choose another extract from the same poem because everyone enjoyed it so much. I ask Lynda whether we can concentrate on the part of the poem, where Robert is sitting in a cave: he is on the run from King Edward and the English, and is watching a spider trying repeatedly to climb the wall of the cave: Every time he falls to the ground, the spider gets up again and has another attempt. The spider's determination encourages and inspires Robert to resume his fight against the English invaders.

We group members are all old crows in our 60s and 70s, and we were all brought up on the story of Robert the Bruce and the spider.

We unsettle the bar's other customers with our shouting and laughing when the subject turns to spiders. There is an English dialect wordd, "attercop", similar to the Danish equivalent, "edderkop". Tolkien's "Hobbit" includes a song which Bilbo sings in a section of the book where he was distracting a bunch of spiders:

Old fat spider spinning in a tree

Old fat spider can't see me

Attercop! Attercop!

Won't you stop.

Stop your spinning and look for me.

The word attercop is still used in the county of Yorkshire. It also means someone that tends to moan and whinge (like me have ha): and the corresponding Dutch word "etterkop" is used in the same way apparently.

The English word resembles the Danish "edderkop", but it actually originated from the old Anglo-Saxon language. "Atter" meant poison, and "cop" meant head. It was sometimes shortened to just "cop", and that;s why we have the word "cobweb" (originally "copweb").

Isn't language totally fascinating? Who would want to study anything else?

16:00 The meeting ends with speculation about how big Robert's spider actually was. Some of us think he was probably looking at a massive one. But that's something the jury's still out on.

I take the bus back to Prestbury. Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit on the couch. Lois has spent afternoons in the local library to help the staff organize and lead the library's weekly "Baby Bounce and Rhyme" session for young mothers and their young children. She says today there were 3 sets of twins taking part in the session - good grief, the whole world's gone mad! Why have so many couples suddenly decided to have twins? Sheer madness !!!!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. An old episode of Top of the Pops is on, from August 21, 1986.

This episode brings a lot of memories back because the songs were the ones which Yvonne, Dusty and I were constantly hearing during our business trip to Cyprus, on our rental car's radio and in the restaurants and clubs we spent time at.

Flashback to September 1986: I'm in the distance wearing shorts,

on the steps of a giant ancient Greek amphitheater in Cyprus.

I studied the ancient Greek language for 6 years at high school,

but Cyprus was the closest I ever came to Greece itself

- my god, what a shame!

my two work colleagues, Dusty and Yvonne

at a Cypriot restaurant with me

The song I most remember from the trip, sung by

Jimmy Sommerville and Sarah Jane Morris (and the other Communards)

The business trip took place in a period when airplane hijackings had become frequent in the Middle East, and there were many jokes in the office before we started the journey, jokes about, for example, how nice the weather was in Beirut at that time of the year. I also recalled that I was searched by a fearsome policeman at Larnaca airport when we were about to fly back to England.

Scary times !!!!

20:30 We continue to watch some television. An interesting documentary is on, all about Cary Grant, the famous Hollywood star.

This program proves to be much more interesting than I expected. I had characterised Cary in my head as a poor boy from Bristol, who developed a successful career in the United States as a matinée idol, thanks to his flair for comic and romantic acting and his good looks, end of story.

I have a slightly vague personal connection with Cary by virtue of the fact that he went to the same school as my late brother, Steve (although Cary was there 50 years previously ha ha) so I decide to look at the program.

It is, however, very interesting to hear about his unhappy childhood: his parents did not have a good relationship to put it mildly. His mother was perfectly sane and healthy, with "all her marbles", but her husband, Cary's father, got her committed to the local mental asylum where she lived for 20-30 years. Cary's father moved in with a new girlfriend in Southampton and the couple had a son together. Cary was then raised by his grandmother.

Cary did not know why his mother suddenly disappeared and he had issues with trusting women the rest of his life - he married several times. Underneath his suave exterior he actually remained a really insecure man.

His childhood was a sad period, but one day he happened to be behind the scenes at the local Hippodrome theater, a theater that I know well. He met a group of actors and entertainers who seemed to have a happy and carefree life, always on tour somewhere in the country, and he realised immediately that this was the life for him. He joined the troupe and when they visited New York on a short tour, Cary went along, but when the tour ended and the troupe traveled back to England, Cary decided to stay in New York. And the rest is history.

Fascinating!

22:00 We go to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow. We have an appointment at 9 am at the local doctor's office to get the NHS's flu shop for old crows. Yikes - zzzzzzz - yikes - zzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation

10:00 Jeg bruger formiddagen på at blade igennem de første ca. 200 linjer af Brus, der blev skrevet ca. 1375 på skotsk-engelsk. Digtet handler om den kendte skotske held, ”Robert the Bruce”, dvs Robert 1. af Skotland, og om rollen han spillede i den skotske uafhængighedskrig. Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppe holder sit regelmæssige månedlige møde på fredag, og Brus-digtet er gruppens nuværende projekt.

Jeg forstår disse første 200 linjer for det meste, men jeg har nogle problemer her og der. Heldigvis finder jeg et godt online skotsk-engelsk ordbog på nettet, hvilket hjælper meget. Skotsk-engelsk ligner den middelengelske dialekt, der karakteriserede den slags engelsk , som folk i Englands nordlige grevskaber brugte, men skotsk engelsk har endnu flere ord, der stammer fra oldnordisk, på grund af de store mængde nordiske indvandrere, der slog sig ned i Skotland.

11:00 Mens jeg koncentrerer mig om at forstå dette snart 750 år gamle skotsk-engelske digt, går Lois en tur på den lokale fodboldbane, iført sin spritnye mørkepinke frakke, vi forleden købte i Outfit/Dorothy Perkins.

Lois i sin spritnye vinterfrakke. Hvor ser hun dog sød ud!

Hun er lige til at spise – yummmm!!!

12:00 Lois kommer tilbage. Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to portioner pochet æg på toast. Efter frokost går jeg i seng og tager en kort eftermiddagslur.

13:30 Jeg tager bussen ind i byen og jeg har lidt fritid før Lyndas gruppe samles. Jeg sætter mig ned på teatrets café – jeg spiser et stykke kage og drikker en kop kaffe. Kl 14:30 går jeg op ad trappen til teatrets bar, hvor Lyndas månedlige gruppemøder plejer at finde sted.

Vi er kun 5 denne måned, men vi har en ny medlem, Cynthia. Hun har en bachelorgrad i engelsk og arbejdede i Kuwait, da Saddam Hussein invaderede landet, hvilket var uheldigt. Hun blev repatrieret til England, men hendes karriere var slut. Hun besluttede at prøve at få en ph.d, og hun valgte ”franske suffikser i middelengelsk” som hendes emne, for eksempel ord, der ender med ”-ence” eller ”-ance”.

Det var lidt af et usædvanligt og akademisk valg, for at sige mildt – det indrømmer hun nu uden at tøve.  Mens hun var i gang med at blade igennem Shakespeares værker for at finde eksempler på ord med ance-suffikset eller ence-suffikset (før man kunne bruge internettet til at søge hurtigt), pludselig faldt hende ind, at hun var i gang med læse nogle af verdens fineste litteratur, bare med det formål af liste ord med visse suffikser.

Hendes ord mindede mig om Danny Kayes sang i ”Hans Christian Andersen”.

Two and two are four
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two

Inch worm, inch worm
Measuring the marigolds
You and your arithmetic
You'll probably go far

Inch worm, inch worm
Measuring the marigolds
Seems to me you'd stop and see
How beautiful they are

Hans Andersson, den berømte danske forfatter, interesserede sig meget for målerlarver, der i den klassiske Danny Kaye-film, ser ud til at regne ved hjælp af potenser af to, mens de kravler over en række morgenfruer i den lokale skolens have, lige foran skolens største vindue:  tilfældigvis var eleverne i gang med en matematisk lektion, da Hans kommer forbi, hvilket var heldigt.

To og to er fire, fire og fire er otte osv....

15:45 Vi bruger mødets sidste 15 minutter på at beslutte hvad gruppens næste projekt skal være. Jeg foreslårt, at vi vælger en anden afsnit i det samme digt, eftersom alle nød det så meget. Jeg beder Lynda, om at vi kan koncentrere os på den del af digtet, hvor Robert sidder i en hule, han er på flugt fra Edward og englænderne, og han kigger på en edderkop, der prøver gentagende gange at klatre op ad hulens mur: hver gang han falder på jorden, rejser  han sig op igen og gør et andet forsøg. Edderkoppens determination opmuntrer og inspirerer Robert at genoptage kampen mod de engelske invaderende.

Vi er alle gamle krager i 60’erne og 70’erne, og vi blev alle opdraget med historien af Robert og edderkoppen.

Vi foruroliger barens andre kunder med at snakke og grine lidt, når emnet skifter til edderkopper. Der er et engelsk dialektord, ”attercop”, der ligner det danske ekvivalens, ”edderkop”. Tolkiens ”Hobbit” indeholder en sang, som Bilbo synger i et afsnit af bogen, da han var i gang med at distrahere en flok edderkopper:

Old fat spider spinning in a tree

Old fat spider can’t see me

Attercop! Attercop!

Won’t you stop.

Stop your spinning and look for me.

Ordet attercop bruger man stadig i grevskabet Yorkshire. Det betyder også én, der har tendens til at jamre og pibe (ligesom mig ha ha): og det tilsvarende hollandsk ord ”etterkop” bliver brugt på samme måde.

Det engelske ord ligner det danske ”edderkop”, men det stammer faktisk fra det gamle angel-saksiske sprog. ”Atter” betød gift, og ”cop” betød hoved. Det blev nogle gange forkortet til bare ”cop”, og derfor har vi ordet ”cobweb” (oprindeligt ”copweb”).

Er sprog ikke helt fascinerende? Hvem ville ønske at studere noget andet?

16:00 Mødet ender med spekulationer om, hvor stor Roberts edderkop faktisk var. Nogle tror, han kiggede på en massiv. Men det er juryen stadig ude om.

Jeg tager bussen tilbage til Prestbury. Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen. Lois har tilbragt eftermiddagen i det lokale bibliotek, for at hjælpe personalet med at organisere og lede bibliotekets ugentlige ”Baby Bounce and Rhyme” session for unge mødre og deres små børn. Hun siger, at der i dag var 3 sæt tvillinger, der deltog i sessionen – du godeste, hele verden er gået gal ! Hvorfor har så mange par besluttede pludselig at få tvillinger ? Ren vanvid!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra den 21. august 1986.

Dette afsnit bringer en masse minder tilbage, fordi sangene var dem, Yvonne, Dusty og jeg hørte konstant under vores forretningsrejse til Cypern, i vores lejebil og i restauranterne og klubberne vi tilbragt tid på.

Tilbageblik til september 1986: mig i det fjerne, iført shorts,

på trinene af et gigantisk antik græsk amfiteater på Cypern.

Jeg studerede det antikke græske sprog i 6 år på højskole,

men Cypern var det tætteste jeg nogensinde kom på selve Grækenland

– du godeste, sikke en skam!

mine 2 arbejdskollegaer, Dusty og Yvonne

på en cypriotisk restaurant

Den sang, jeg bedst husker fra rejsen, med

Jimmy Sommerville og Sarah Jane Morris

Forretningsrejsen fandt sted i en periode, da flykapringer var blevet hyppige i mellemøsten, og der var mange vittigheder på kontoret, før vi begav os på rejsen, vittigheder om eksempelvis, hvor dejligt vejret var i Beirut på den tid af året. Jeg mindes også om, at jeg blev kropsvisiteret af en frygtindgydende politimand på Larnaca-lufthavn, da vi var ved at flyve tilbage til England.

Skræmmende tider !!!!

20:30 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Cary Grant, den kendte Hollywood-stjerne.

Dette program viser sig at være meget mere interessant, end jeg forventede. Jeg havde karakteriset Cary i mit hoved som en drenge fra byen Bristol, der udviklede en succesfuld karriere i USA som matinéidol, på grund af sin sans for komisk og romantisk skuespil og sit gode udseende, og sådan er det.

Jeg har en lidt svag personlig forbindelse med Cary i kraft af, at han gik i samme skole som min afdøde bror, Steve (selvom det var 50 år tidligere ha ha), så jeg beslutter at se på programmet.

Det er imidlertid meget interessant at høre om hans ulykkelige barndom: hans forældre havde ikke et godt forhold for at sige mildt. Hans mor var psykisk talt helt sund og rask, med sine fulde fem, men hendes ægtemand, Carys far, fik hende indlagt på det lokale sindssygehospital, hvor hun boede i 20-30 år. Carys far flyttede ind med en ny kæreste i Southampton og parret fik en søn. Cary blev opdraget af sin farmor.

Cary vidste ikke, hvorfor hans mor pludselig forsvandt, og han havde svært ved at stole på kvinder resten af sit liv – han blev gift flere gange.

Hans barndom var en trist periode, men en dag tilfældigvis befandt han sig bag scenen i det lokale Hippodrome-teater, et teater jeg kender godt. Han mødte en gruppe skuespillere og underholdere, der syntes at have et lykkeligt og sorgløs tilværelse, altid på turné et eller andet sted i landet, og han opdage med det samme, at dette var liveg for ham. Han trådte ind i truppen og da de besøgte New York på en kort turné, tog Cary med, men da turnéen endte og truppen rejste tilbage til England, besluttede Cary at forblive boende i New York. Og resten er historie.

Fascinerende!

22:00 Vi går i seng. Vi skal stå tidligt op i morgen. Vi har aftale kl 9 hos det lokale lægehus for at få sundhedssystemets influenzaskud til gamle krager. Yikes – zzzzzzz – yikes – zzzzzzz!!!!