Isn't it weird that English has become the world's no.1 language? [Is it? - Ed] It's something that would never have been predicted back in the 15th century when the British Isles were the backwater and the backwoods of Europe, with the English language being rivalled even in these islands by other languages, and where even in England and lowland Scotland, there were still half a dozen or so dialects of English, not always 100% mutually comprehensible.
What a crazy world they lived in, back in the 15th century!!!
"Then" just wasn't like nowadays, was it.
Only today, I read on the influential Danish news website, Zealand News (Sjælandske Nyheder), that young people (and anybody else who wants to) can now prepare themselves for confirmation in the Danish Lutheran Church entirely in English, and, when ready, go through an entirely English ceremony of confirmation in their local parish church.
this morning's news on the influential Danish news website
Sjælandske Nyheder (Zealand News)
Parish priest Betina Vejegård from Helleruplund Church,
who will be in charge of confirmation teaching in English.
Lois and I still "keep tabs" on the news from the Danish island of Zealand, and in particular from the Copenhagen suburb of Gentofte, because our daughter Alison and her family lived there between 2012 and 2019, and we visited the area several times, both to see our daughter and family, and also to experience life in Denmark.
flashback to February 2013: mine and Lois' first visit to Copenhagen,
pictured here, in the central Nyhavn harbour area, with Rosalind, one of
Alison and Ed's three children, then only 5 years old - awwwww !!!!!
There was a different situation from that, even in the British Isles, not so long ago, as became apparent from a TV programme we watched last night. It was this week's edition of Antiques Roadshow, the series where members of the public bring along treasures and heirlooms from their attics to some local stately home, and have them discussed, and valued, by antiques experts in the field. This week's edition of the programme was filmed in the Alexandra Gardens in Cardiff.
It's hard to believe nowadays, but there was a time when traditional Welsh music was frowned on officially, even by some Welsh people, and the language was in some circles even suppressed, as recently as the 19th century.
Patrick starts by showing Fiona a collection of Welsh traditional songs.
Fiona asks Patrick about historical suppression of the Welsh language, and its revival during the Industrial Revolution of the early 19th century, thanks to the spread of the phenomenally successful Methodist movement, led by the teaching of John Wesley (1703-1791).
By holding its services in the Welsh language, the Methodist Church became the main channel for preserving the language and preventing its suppression in favour of English.
There was a downside to this dominance of Methodism in the country's religious life, however, because Methodists famously didn't like anything that was remotely associated with fun - oh dear, what a pity! And traditional Welsh folksongs, music and dancing all had to "to underground" for decades.
But what madness !!!!
My own mother was born in Bridgend, Glamorgan, in 1919, and grew up speaking English. She learned Welsh as a foreign language when she started going to school in the 1920's.
flashback to the late 1920's: my mother (seated, front), aged about 10,
on Southerndown Beach, Glamorgan, with her parents and 3 of her siblings
But my mother herself had a kind of a mixed heritage, both linguistically speaking, and socially. Her mother - my maternal grandmother - came from a long line of Welsh-speaking pub-managers and hotel-managers, while her father - my maternal grandfather - came from a long line of English-speaking "intellectuals", teachers and journalists etc.
My mother's father's brother, Uncle Willy, reported on the Boer War (1899-1902) for British newspapers from his home in Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa. He later became ill during the Boers' siege of the town, and died there a couple of years later.
flashback to the 1880's: my Great-Uncle Willy in happier times,
in Bridgend, Glamorgan: pictured are my great-grandfather John
and his wife Elizabeth, with their 8 children.
Willy is at the back on the right, and my grandfather Sidney
is seated on the rug at the front on the left, with his arms folded:
some body language going on there, no doubt!
flashback to 1898: my Great-Uncle Willy, the journalist,
pictured here in Maritzburg, South Africa, with his wife
Alice, son Jack, and two servants: my goodness!!!!
the British Empire in 1886
Just before the end of tonight's edition of Antiques Roadshow from Cardiff, a woman from the University called Sara brings along an interesting old book to show programme presenter Fiona Bruce.
Some example phrases like this one, "Take the lady into a private room!"
There are also numerous other useful phrases: "Shave my beard!", and suchlike. And they're all fairly peremptory, accompanied by a sense of urgency and command. And you have to wait till page 75 before there's any mention of the word "diolch" (Thank you). And "please" comes even later, it seems.
What madness !!!!
me aged 14, in my Bristol Grammar School uniform,
on the beach at Weston-super-mare, with my little sister Jill (2)
Christmas Steps, Bristol, a steep cobbled street dating from 1669
On one of my boyhood expeditions to these bookshops, I found one language book from the late 1800's / early 1900's, for "Up-Country Swahili", a book published "for the Soldier, Settler, Miner, Merchant and their Wives and For All who Deal with Up-country Natives Without Interpreters".
Upcountry Swahili, was, of course, to be sharply distinguished from Coastal Swahili, needless to say!!!
my second-hand book on Upcountry Swahili
In the book the phrases taught were just like the ones in "The Welsh Interpreter": in this case, all very redolent of bossy white British people throwing their weight about among "the natives" - British men, for example, were always addressed in the book as "sahib" - you know the kind of thing.
And the British women were always "Memsahib". I didn't realise till recently that the "mem-" on the front of "sahib" was a corruption of the British word "ma'am".
What a madness it all was, the British Empire !!!!!
One of my greatest regrets in mine and Lois' recent downsizing experience, when we moved to Malvern in October 2022, was the fact that I had to "ditch" most of my old books, including these old phrase books from my Bristol days. At least I can say that they went for charity, via the Red Cross Bookshop on the Bath Road in Cheltenham. So some good has come of them all. But all the same - damn and blast!!!!
18:00 I've got my hip replacement operation coming up on Wednesday - yikes !!!!! But at least I can say tonight that "the condemned man ate a hearty meal" haha! Courtesy of M&S Foods and Lois's lovely little additions, and "twists".
What can I say, but "Yum yum!!!!" haha !!!!!
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