The surviving literature of Fingallian consists of two satirical or humorous poems, the short "Fingallian Dance" and the much longer Purgatorium Hibernicum. Both poems are anonymous and are thought to be humorous parodies of Fingallian by non-native speakers, so their value from a linguistic point of view may be limited.
Fingallian was spoken in the region of Fingal, traditionally the part of County Dublin north of the River Tolka. It was spoken in the area near the northern border. The name "Fingal" is from the Irish Fine Gall, or "territory of foreigners", probably a reference to a Norse settlement in the area. Linguist Alf Sommerfelt proposed the idea of a Norse influence on the Fingallian dialect, though later scholars have found no evidence of such a connection.[2]
Like the Yola dialect of Forth and Bargy in County Wexford, Fingallian is thought to have derived from Middle English, which was introduced by "Old English" settlers after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. Middle English was well established in southeastern Ireland until the 14th century, when the area was re-Gaelicized and English was displaced. As such, the Yola and Fingal dialects would have been the only attested relicts of this original English variety in Ireland.[3]
The Fingallian Dance
The poem most likely to have been composed by a native speaker of Fingallian is The Fingallian Dance, a brief, three-stanza poem written between about 1650 and 1660.[4] It is a mildly indecent poem about a man going to see dancers at a bullring (bull fighting was practised in 17th century Ireland). Although the poem is likely to have been standardised when written down, it gives a flavour of Fingallian, particularly forms like fat for "what" or fen for "when". Other words that need explanation are ame for "them", plack-keet for "placket" (a slit at the top of a petticoat, here used to mean a vulva), and abateing for "abutting, bordering on".[5]
The Fingallian Dance c.1650
On a day in the Spring, As I went to bolring To view the jolly Daunciers, They did trip it so high (Be me shole!) I did spee [By my soul, I did spy] Six Cunts abateing Seav'n hairs.
But wondering on 'ame, Fat make 'em so tame [docile, tractable], Fen de catch at their plack-keet, The maids of y-yore Wou'd y-cree, and y-rore, And y-make o foul Rac-keet.
But fire take 'ame, [to hell with them!] They made me ashame, And when I went home to me weef And told her the Chaunce [chance, here meaning "account"] Of the Maids in the Daunce, 'Peace thy prateing', say'd shee, 'for dee [thy] Leef!' ["Keep quiet, for goodness' sake!"]
Purgatorium Hibernicum
The Purgatorium Hibernicum is a humorous and bawdy burlesque or travesty on the Roman poet Virgil's Aeneid. It exists in three versions: the original manuscript (Purgatoriam Hibernicum), another manuscript entitled The Fingallian Travesty: the Sixt Book of Virgill's Aenoeids a la mode de Fingaule (1670–5), and a printed version called The Irish Hudibras or The Fingallian Burlesque (1689).[4][6]
Virgil's prince Aeneas and his noble lover Dido are transformed into a bumbling young Fingallian called 'Prince' Nees and a coarse ex-nun Dydy. The names of all the characters are converted into mock 'Irish' forms and the places mentioned in Virgil's text become places in Fingal. Part of the humour for the Anglo-Irish readers of the poem is that Nees and Dydy converse with each other in broad Fingallian. Although the intention is supposedly to mock their speech, it is rendered with such vitality and wit that the effect is actually to give the reader an appreciation of its richness.[citation needed]
The short extract below provides a good example of Fingallian. In it Nees encounters Dydy again and seeing her look pale and unwell realises that he may have been responsible for giving her the 'flame' or venereal disease. A few features need explanation: 'V' is used instead of 'W' in Fingallian; 'suggam' is a kind of straw rope'; Ful dea ro is derived from Irish fuil Dé, a rogha 'God's blood, my sweetheart':
'Sure, Sure!' sayes Nees, 'dis me old vench is!'
But when he drew more neare her quarters,
And know her by her suggam garters,
'Ful dea, ro, dou unlucky jade,
I'll chance upon dee! Art thou dead?
Fat devill vas be in dee, vench?
Vas he soe hot is cou'd no quench
De flame?' Indeed, oh no! but Nees chief
Occasion is of all dis mischeif'.
Nees continues with an attempt to sweet talk Dydys and asks her for a 'pogue', but his fears are justified and Dydy is having none of it. She tells him that if he think he can have another 'bout' with her, he can think again – after he has play'd the vagge (been a wag) with her and given her the bagge (rejected her) she will vatch de vales ('watch the walls', be on guard) and foil his plan:
'I, Nees', sayes she in mighty snuffe,
'and be! is tink is varm enough,
If dou cam shance but to find out
Dee old consort to have a bout –
and den, fen dou has play'd de vagge,
to give me, as before, de bagge!
Butt I will vatch de vales, Nees,
And putt foile on dee by dis chees,'
Then Dydy goes on her way in high dudgeon.
Letters from Ireland
In John Dunton's Letters from Ireland (1698) he writes that in Fingal "they have a sort of jargon speech peculiar to themselves, and understand not one word of Irish, and are as little understood by the English". Dunton gives a sample of the language; a lamentation that a mother made over the grave of her son, who was a keen fisher and hunter. Note that a roon and moorneeng are from the Irish a rúin "(secret) love" (vocative) and múirnín "love" (lit. "little trust"):
Ribbeen a roon Ribbeen moorneeng Thoo ware good for loand stroand and mounteen For rig a tool and roast a whiteen Reddy tha taakle Gather tha baarnacks Drink a grote at Nauny Hapennys
This is roughly translated as:
Robin my love Robin my dear Thou wast good for land, strand and mountain Good with a tool and [at] roast[ing] a whiting Ready the tackle Gather the bannocks Drink a groat at Nanny Halfpenny's [alehouse]
Modern Fingal English
Traditional cottage, Knocknagin, Fingal. The cottage would have been originally thatched
Although Fingallian is no longer spoken, a large number of dialect words unique to Fingal have survived, especially in traditional Fingal towns and villages such as Swords (now a very large suburb of Dublin), Skerries, Rush, Lusk, Donabate, Garristown, Oldtown, Balrothery, Portrane and Naul. Major sources for these include glossaries in an article in the folklore Journal Béaloideas by J. J. Hogan and Patrick O'Neill and a book on Fingal lore entitled Fair Fingall by Patrick Archer.
Examples from Archer's Glossary include:
Cinnit (pronounced with hard 'C') – a dodger, trickster
Cloustered – covered up in clothes
Dalk – a thorn, Ir. dealg
Dawney – delicate, weak
Glauming – groping
Lawneyday – an exclamation of surprise or regret, Ir. Láine Dé
Mullacking – working or walking in mud
Possing – sopping wet
Rossie – robust, blustering female
Scut – a short, mean person, a wren
Examples from Hogan and O'Neill's Glossary include:
Barney – a quarrel, a row
Bunched – ruined, finished
Buthoon – a bad blunder, Ir. Botún
Clift – an idiot, especially a normally sensible person who has done something stupid
Cobby – cunning, worldly wise
Dugging – prodding or punching a person, fighting
Foopah – a blunder, Fr. faux pas
Gollockers – eyes (contempuously)
Go-boy – a sly fellow who goes about doing harm in secret
Launa-wallya – something to think about 'a bellyful', Ir. Lán a' mhála (meaning 'bagful'[7])
Malavogue – to beat or maul
Moggy – a fat lazy person
Randyvoo – a house where people meet for a chat or mischief, Fr. rendez-vous
Raucie – a girl given to gadding about
Simmy-saumy – a foolish-looking person
Squib – a word used to address a stranger, esp. a boy e.g. 'hey, squib'
Some words and expressions from Skerries, north Co. Dublin
Marks, Bernadette, 'Lawneyday', – article about Fingal words at swordsheritage.com
January 13, 2023
fingallian, gaelic, athletic, association, club, fingal, dialect, extinct, anglic, language, formerly, spoken, fingal, ireland, thought, have, been, offshoot, middle, english, which, brought, ireland, during, norman, invasion, extinct, 19th, century, although,. For the Gaelic Athletic Association club see Fingallians GAA Fingallian or the Fingal dialect is an extinct Anglic language formerly spoken in Fingal Ireland It is thought to have been an offshoot of Middle English which was brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion and was extinct by the mid 19th century Although little is known of Fingallian it is thought to have been similar to the Forth and Bargy dialect of County Wexford 1 FingallianFingallianNative toIrelandRegionFingalExtinctMid 19th centuryLanguage familyIndo European GermanicWest GermanicNorth Sea GermanicAnglo FrisianAnglicFingallianEarly formsProto Indo European Proto Germanic Old English Middle EnglishLanguage codesISO 639 3None mis Glottologeast2834fing1234The surviving literature of Fingallian consists of two satirical or humorous poems the short Fingallian Dance and the much longer Purgatorium Hibernicum Both poems are anonymous and are thought to be humorous parodies of Fingallian by non native speakers so their value from a linguistic point of view may be limited Contents 1 History 2 The Fingallian Dance 3 Purgatorium Hibernicum 4 Letters from Ireland 5 Modern Fingal English 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksHistory Edit Ireland left and County Dublin right with Fingal in light green Fingallian was spoken in the region of Fingal traditionally the part of County Dublin north of the River Tolka It was spoken in the area near the northern border The name Fingal is from the Irish Fine Gall or territory of foreigners probably a reference to a Norse settlement in the area Linguist Alf Sommerfelt proposed the idea of a Norse influence on the Fingallian dialect though later scholars have found no evidence of such a connection 2 Like the Yola dialect of Forth and Bargy in County Wexford Fingallian is thought to have derived from Middle English which was introduced by Old English settlers after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 Middle English was well established in southeastern Ireland until the 14th century when the area was re Gaelicized and English was displaced As such the Yola and Fingal dialects would have been the only attested relicts of this original English variety in Ireland 3 The Fingallian Dance EditThe poem most likely to have been composed by a native speaker of Fingallian is The Fingallian Dance a brief three stanza poem written between about 1650 and 1660 4 It is a mildly indecent poem about a man going to see dancers at a bullring bull fighting was practised in 17th century Ireland Although the poem is likely to have been standardised when written down it gives a flavour of Fingallian particularly forms like fat for what or fen for when Other words that need explanation are ame for them plack keet for placket a slit at the top of a petticoat here used to mean a vulva and abateing for abutting bordering on 5 The Fingallian Dance c 1650On a day in the Spring As I went to bolring To view the jolly Daunciers They did trip it so high Be me shole I did spee By my soul I did spy Six Cunts abateing Seav n hairs But wondering on ame Fat make em so tame docile tractable Fen de catch at their plack keet The maids of y yore Wou d y cree and y rore And y make o foul Rac keet But fire take ame to hell with them They made me ashame And when I went home to me weef And told her the Chaunce chance here meaning account Of the Maids in the Daunce Peace thy prateing say d shee for dee thy Leef Keep quiet for goodness sake Purgatorium Hibernicum EditThe Purgatorium Hibernicum is a humorous and bawdy burlesque or travesty on the Roman poet Virgil s Aeneid It exists in three versions the original manuscript Purgatoriam Hibernicum another manuscript entitled The Fingallian Travesty the Sixt Book of Virgill s Aenoeids a la mode de Fingaule 1670 5 and a printed version called The Irish Hudibras or The Fingallian Burlesque 1689 4 6 Virgil s prince Aeneas and his noble lover Dido are transformed into a bumbling young Fingallian called Prince Nees and a coarse ex nun Dydy The names of all the characters are converted into mock Irish forms and the places mentioned in Virgil s text become places in Fingal Part of the humour for the Anglo Irish readers of the poem is that Nees and Dydy converse with each other in broad Fingallian Although the intention is supposedly to mock their speech it is rendered with such vitality and wit that the effect is actually to give the reader an appreciation of its richness citation needed The short extract below provides a good example of Fingallian In it Nees encounters Dydy again and seeing her look pale and unwell realises that he may have been responsible for giving her the flame or venereal disease A few features need explanation V is used instead of W in Fingallian suggam is a kind of straw rope Ful dea ro is derived from Irish fuil De a rogha God s blood my sweetheart Sure Sure sayes Nees dis me old vench is But when he drew more neare her quarters And know her by her suggam garters Ful dea ro dou unlucky jade I ll chance upon dee Art thou dead Fat devill vas be in dee vench Vas he soe hot is cou d no quench De flame Indeed oh no but Nees chief Occasion is of all dis mischeif Nees continues with an attempt to sweet talk Dydys and asks her for a pogue but his fears are justified and Dydy is having none of it She tells him that if he think he can have another bout with her he can think again after he has play d the vagge been a wag with her and given her the bagge rejected her she will vatch de vales watch the walls be on guard and foil his plan I Nees sayes she in mighty snuffe and be is tink is varm enough If dou cam shance but to find out Dee old consort to have a bout and den fen dou has play d de vagge to give me as before de bagge Butt I will vatch de vales Nees And putt foile on dee by dis chees Then Dydy goes on her way in high dudgeon Letters from Ireland EditIn John Dunton s Letters from Ireland 1698 he writes that in Fingal they have a sort of jargon speech peculiar to themselves and understand not one word of Irish and are as little understood by the English Dunton gives a sample of the language a lamentation that a mother made over the grave of her son who was a keen fisher and hunter Note that a roon and moorneeng are from the Irish a ruin secret love vocative and muirnin love lit little trust Ribbeen a roon Ribbeen moorneeng Thoo ware good for loand stroand and mounteen For rig a tool and roast a whiteen Reddy tha taakle Gather tha baarnacks Drink a grote at Nauny Hapennys This is roughly translated as Robin my love Robin my dear Thou wast good for land strand and mountain Good with a tool and at roast ing a whiting Ready the tackle Gather the bannocks Drink a groat at Nanny Halfpenny s alehouse Modern Fingal English Edit Traditional cottage Knocknagin Fingal The cottage would have been originally thatched Although Fingallian is no longer spoken a large number of dialect words unique to Fingal have survived especially in traditional Fingal towns and villages such as Swords now a very large suburb of Dublin Skerries Rush Lusk Donabate Garristown Oldtown Balrothery Portrane and Naul Major sources for these include glossaries in an article in the folklore Journal Bealoideas by J J Hogan and Patrick O Neill and a book on Fingal lore entitled Fair Fingall by Patrick Archer Examples from Archer s Glossary include Cinnit pronounced with hard C a dodger trickster Cloustered covered up in clothes Dalk a thorn Ir dealg Dawney delicate weak Glauming groping Lawneyday an exclamation of surprise or regret Ir Laine De Mullacking working or walking in mud Possing sopping wet Rossie robust blustering female Scut a short mean person a wrenExamples from Hogan and O Neill s Glossary include Barney a quarrel a row Bunched ruined finished Buthoon a bad blunder Ir Botun Clift an idiot especially a normally sensible person who has done something stupid Cobby cunning worldly wise Dugging prodding or punching a person fighting Foopah a blunder Fr faux pas Gollockers eyes contempuously Go boy a sly fellow who goes about doing harm in secret Launa wallya something to think about a bellyful Ir Lan a mhala meaning bagful 7 Malavogue to beat or maul Moggy a fat lazy person Randyvoo a house where people meet for a chat or mischief Fr rendez vous Raucie a girl given to gadding about Simmy saumy a foolish looking person Squib a word used to address a stranger esp a boy e g hey squib Tamboo a shebeen a miserable looking house Whack nothing nobody Ir faicSee also EditHistory of the English language Hiberno EnglishNotes EditArcher Patrick 1975 Fair Fingall An Taisce reprint Hogan J J O Neill Patrick C 1947 A North County Dublin Glossary Bealoideas 17 pp 262 283 Kerrigan John 2008 Archipelagic English Oxford University Press p 64 ISBN 978 0 19 818384 6 McCrum Robert Cran William MacNeil Robert 1993 The Story of English Penguin Non classics p 182 ISBN 0 14 015405 1 References Edit Bliss Adam James Spoken English in Ireland 1600 1740 pp194ff Hickey Raymond 2005 Dublin English Evolution and Change John Benjamins Publishing pp 196 197 ISBN 90 272 4895 8 Hickey Raymond 2005 Dublin English Evolution and Change John Benjamins Publishing p 197 ISBN 90 272 4895 8 a b Hickey Raymond 2005 Dublin English Evolution and Change John Benjamins Publishing p 198 ISBN 90 272 4895 8 Carpenter Andrew 2003 Verse in English from Tudor and Stuart Ireland p 310 ISBN 9781859183731 Carpenter Andrew Verse in English from Tudor and Stuart Ireland pp 411 16 Irish translation of bagful www focloir ie External links EditSome words and expressions from Skerries north Co Dublin Marks Bernadette Lawneyday article about Fingal words at swordsheritage com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fingallian amp oldid 1127839358, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
