Fingallian

{{Short description|Extinct Middle English dialect of eastern Ireland}} {{for|the Gaelic Athletic Association club|Fingallians GAA}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox language | name = Fingallian | states = Ireland | region = Fingal | era = attested from 17th century | familycolor = Indo-European | fam2 = Germanic | fam3 = West Germanic | fam4 = North Sea Germanic | fam5 = Anglo-Frisian | fam6 = Anglic | fam7 = English | ancestor = Proto-Indo-European | ancestor2 = Proto-Germanic | ancestor3 = Proto-West Germanic | ancestor4 = Proto-English | ancestor5 = West Saxon Old English<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hogan |first1=J. J. |last2=O'Neill |first2=Patrick C. |title=A North-County Dublin Glossary |journal=Béaloideas |date=1947 |volume=17 |issue=1/2 |pages=262–283 |jstor=20722840 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20722840}}</ref> | ancestor6 = Early Middle English | iso3 = none | glotto = east2834 | glottorefname = Irish Anglo-Norman | glotto2 = fing1234 | glottorefname2 = Fingallian }} '''Fingallian''' or the '''Fingal dialect''' is an extinct dialect of Early Middle English formerly spoken in Fingal, Ireland. It is thought to have been an offshoot of Early Middle English, which was brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion, {{Citation needed span|and was extinct by the mid-19th century.|date=November 2023}} Although little is known of Fingallian, it is thought to have been similar to the Yola dialect of County Wexford.<ref>Bliss, Adam James: ''Spoken English in Ireland 1600 – 1740'', pp194ff</ref>

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.

==History== {{Main|History of the English language}}

===Origins=== {{further|History of the English language|West Saxon dialect|West Country English|Kildare Poems}} [[File:Ireland map County Dublin Fingal.png|thumb|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. The linguist Alf Sommerfelt proposed Old Norse influence on the Fingallian dialect, but later scholars have found no evidence of such a connection.<ref>{{cite book |last= Hickey |first= Raymond |title= Dublin English: Evolution and Change |year= 2005 |publisher= John Benjamins Publishing |isbn= 90-272-4895-8 |pages=196–197}}</ref>

Like the Yola dialect of Forth and Bargy in County Wexford, Fingallian is thought to have derived from Early Middle English, which was introduced by "West Saxon Old English" settlers after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169, and Leinster Irish. Early 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.<ref>{{cite book |last= Hickey |first= Raymond|title= Dublin English: Evolution and Change |year= 2005 |publisher= John Benjamins Publishing |isbn= 90-272-4895-8 |page=197}}</ref><ref name=Hickey2002>{{cite book |last= Hickey |first= Raymond|title= A Source Book for Irish English |year= 2002 |publisher= John Benjamins Publishing |isbn= 9027237530 |pages= 28–29}}</ref>

==''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.<ref name=Hickey198>{{cite book |last= Hickey |first= Raymond|title= Dublin English: Evolution and Change |year= 2005 |publisher= John Benjamins Publishing |isbn= 90-272-4895-8 |pages=198}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p-9_YKUZLrkC&dq=the+fingallian+dance&pg=PA310|last=Carpenter|first=Andrew|title=Verse in English from Tudor and Stuart Ireland|year=2003|page=310|publisher=Cork University Press |isbn=9781859183731}}</ref>

<poem>''The Fingallian Dance'' c.1650

{{lang|gmw-IE|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] {{lang|gmw-IE|Six Cunts abateing Seav'n hairs.

But wondering on 'ame, Fat make 'em so tame}} {{lang|gmw-IE|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!] {{lang|gmw-IE|They made me ashame, And when I went home to me weef And told her the Chaunce}} [chance, here meaning "account"] {{lang|gmw-IE|Of the Maids in the Daunce, 'Peace thy prateing', say'd shee, 'for dee Leef!'}} ["Quieten thy prating, for thy life!", i.e. "Keep quiet, for goodness' sake!"] </poem>

==''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).<ref name=Hickey198/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=p-9_YKUZLrkC&dq=purgatorium+hibernicum&pg=PA411 Carpenter, Andrew, ''Verse in English from Tudor and Stuart Ireland'', pp 411 – 16]</ref>

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|date=May 2018}}

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':

<blockquote> :'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'. </blockquote>

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:

<blockquote> :'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,'

</blockquote>

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 {{lang|gmw-IE|a roon}} and {{lang|gmw-IE|moorneeng}} are from the Irish {{lang|ga|a rúin}} "(secret) love" (vocative) and {{lang|ga|múirnín}} "love" (lit. "little trust"): {{Col-begin}} {{Col-break}} {{lang|gmw-IE|<poem>

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 </poem>}} {{Col-break}} This is roughly translated as: <poem> 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] </poem> {{col-end}}

==Modern Fingal English== 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 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 (contemptuously) *'''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'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.focloir.ie/ga/dictionary/ei/bagful|title=Irish translation of 'bagful'|website=focloir.ie}}</ref>) *'''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. ''faic''

==Notes== *{{cite book | author=Archer, Patrick | title=Fair Fingall | publisher=An Taisce (reprint) | year=1975 }} *{{cite book |author1=Hogan, J. J. |author2=O'Neill,Patrick C. | title=A North County Dublin Glossary | publisher=Béaloideas 17 | year=1947 | pages=262–283}} *{{cite book | author=Kerrigan, John | title=Archipelagic English | url=https://archive.org/details/archipelagicengl00kerr | url-access=limited | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2008| page=[https://archive.org/details/archipelagicengl00kerr/page/n78 64]| isbn=978-0-19-818384-6 }} *{{cite book | author1=McCrum, Robert | author2=Cran, William | author3=MacNeil, Robert | title=The Story of English | publisher=Penguin (Non-classics) | year=1993 | isbn=0-14-015405-1 | page=[https://archive.org/details/storyofenglish00mccr_0/page/182 182] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/storyofenglish00mccr_0/page/182 }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://archive.today/20130616004911/http://www.oldskerries.ie/lochist/folklore/folk0506.html Some words and expressions from Skerries, north Co. Dublin] *[http://www.swordsheritage.com/ Marks, Bernadette, 'Lawneyday', – article about Fingal words at swordsheritage.com]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fingallian Language}} Category:Languages attested from the 17th century Category:Languages extinct in the 19th century Category:Anglic languages Category:Extinct Germanic languages Category:History of Fingal Category:Languages of the Republic of Ireland Category:Medieval languages Category:Extinct languages of Europe Category:Normans in Ireland