## ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ## ## Notes on a Preliminary Interpretation of Bewnans Ke Stanzas 108 - 123 ## ## [See file bkfenton.txt] ## ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ## ### [fol. 5v (`10') cont.] ##OJP20 cont. BKms108.0b _Kelliow Sorr/Soer/Sor/Sowr_ ???? BKms108 Rhymes : -a (-e?) // -e // -i (-e?) // -e // -ez // -yz BKms108.1 _Marie_ (cf. 109.2) to rhyme with 108.2 _servye_ ?? BKms108.3 _dha byze_ (see 110.2) to rhyme with 108.4 _eve_ ? BKms108.6 _spryng-yz_ 'sprung up' Eng. loan otherwise unattested ? BKms109 Rhymes : -e // -a (-e?) // -'enn // -'ig // -ik // -'enn BKms109.2 _Marie_ (cf. 108.1) to rhyme with 109.1 _kovie_ ?? BKms109.4 (o+suprscr) read as _eus y'm kig_ 'in my flesh', could be _a'm kig_ 'from my flesh' perhaps, but seems to represent _y'm_ elsewhere in this text. BKms109.6 _troez_ 'foot' using to mark the open /o/. Seems very regular in this ms, but otherwise mainly in PA and sometimes in the Ordinalia. ##OJP21 BKms110 Rhymes : -e // -e (-i?) // -on // -e // -e // -on BKms110.2 possibly _pyze_ a varient of the usual _pyzi_ 'praying' which would then rhyme with 110.1 _gwerese_. Cf. 108.3 where is written but the rhyme seems to require _byze_ as here. BKms110.4 with _gelwel_ used in the sense of 'call for, invite, request', seems at first sight to mean _hag a elwydh ..._ 'and doest thou seek ...' which would account for the lenition of _gelwydh_. However _a_ 'if' is used with lenition rather than a hard mutation at 123.6 so a better reading might be _hag a kelwydh_ 'and if thou seekest ...' or more correctly _hag a kylwi_ 'and if thou were to seek ...' However the _hag_ and the pres. subjunctive both seem out of place here. The latter since it seems most unlikely that the leper wouldn't want to healed. If this line is read with those that follow as _mara kelwydh dha sawye_ 'if thou art asking for healing (hurry up and come with me)' it perhaps makes better sense. Could a florid capital have been misread or miscopied? BKms110.6 _rybon_ 'by us' here an adverb 'close by, at hand' (also in the following line 111.1). cf. similar use of _ahanon_. BMms111 Rhymes -on // -'on // -'er // -'yz // -'yz // -'er BKms111.1/2 // The spelling demonstrates how the final unstressed /O/ of _rybon_ had regularly merged into /a/ in Late Middle Cornish. _di'son_ with final stress, in contrast retained /O/. This would seem to imply that the verse was composed before c1575 (PSRC) although the ms was written later, following the scribe's normal (prose) pronounciation. For the verse to rhyme correctly _rybon_ would need to be given a slightly conservative rendering. BKms111.3 _Gans an ger_ expression 'straight away, on the spot' ?? BKms112 Rhymes : -yk // -ek // -a // [-um] // [-um] // [-a] BKms112.2 taken as _krev hag euthek_ possibly something like <&t> has been mis-read as . BKms112.3 taken as _na'th greffyo_ 3s pres subj of _grevye_ 'may it not grieve thee'. The final is inconsistent with e.g. for _rybon_ as absolute final unstressed /O/ >> /a/ about 1525 according to KJG in PSRC, and there is no rhyme to retard the change here. Possibly the scribe failed to understand this phrase (reading for ) and so could not modernise its spelling. BKms112.5 If these lines in Latin are intended to scan, this name requires five syllables. Otherwise it may stand for something like _Nemum_Suem_ 'Pig Grove', from _Nemum_Surum_ a 'translation' of Kelliow So(o)r (whatever that means). BKms113 Rhymes : -'i // -i // -'aw // -oz // -oz // -'aw (?) BKms113.5 _ty a'th fydh neb azwonnvoz_ here seems to mean "thou shalt have some acknowledgement", although _ty a vydh neb azwonnvoz_ 'thou shalt be someone well known' is perhaps also a possibility. Normally _azwonnvoz_ means 'recognition' as in "would you recognise him if you saw him" (PA 063.8; PC 0966; PC 1495; RD 0862), although at RD 0769 it seems to just mean 'knowledge' and has probably been used in place of _godhvoz_ to make up the syllable count. In the present context (and perhaps also at BM 1983) it appears to mean 'acknowledgement', specifically 'repayment (in _recognition_ of services rendered)'. The repayment is 'here in Kelliow Kow' (next line), namely the surrounding land which the leper gives to St. Kea in the following verse. BKms113.6 OJP read but as there is little to distinguish between and in this hand, _Kelliow Kow_ 'Enclosed Grove' seems better. BKms114 Rhymes : -'o // -'o // -'ir // -'yz // -'yz // -'ir BKms115h Could this be a calque on _heddyw y'n jydh_ ? BKms115h . This looks like a perfectly normal place name 'enclosed paddock, hedged meadow' (cf. _Kelliow Kow_). Could 'St. Kea' be a fiction invented to explain such a name, or an actual saint drafted in post hoc? There are some prehistoric earthworks near St. Kea which look like giant hedges, which might be the origin of the name. If later they were explained as the work of 'Ke', that might be either St. Kea, or 'Sir' Kay, perhaps partly explaining how Arthur got dragged into the story? BKms115 Rhymes : -'az // -'as // -'ar // -yn // -in // -'ar BKms115.4 read as _gordhi_ BKms115.6 read as _nynz eus_ with ommitted. ##OJP22 BKms116 This presumably is now the Leper speaking although the heading has been missed. BKms116 Rhymes : -yz // -yz // -ow // -ez // -es // -ez // -ow BKms116.2 for _deg_ would seem to be an example of English silent final . Once absolute final unstressed /-e/ >> /-a/ this symbol could be used to without it suggesting an additional vowel. The present ms however uses it very little, in contrast to CW. BKms116.4 points to an earlier _kyrwez_ whereas GLKK suggests _kerwyz_. This sort of vowel interchange is not unknown in MC and may in part have been influenced by _-ez_ plural ending, commonly used with the names of animals, e.g. _bughez_. BKms116.6 needs to be read as _henn yw_ the usual contracted form, in order to give seven syllables. BKms116.7 read as _gwiw_ 'fitting, worthy'. 'praises, praising(s)', an abstract noun related to _gormel_, _gormeule(dh)_ 'praise' with the same suffix as is seen in _gorhemmynn-adow_ 'greetings', _argh-adow_ 'order(s)' etc. Hence _gwiw dhe wormeladow_ 'fit for praising, praiseworthy'. BKms117 Rhymes : -'is // -yz // -'enn // -yz // -'enn BKms117.0 _hedhlor_ (_heydhlor_?) clearly means 'ploughman' and would seem to be related to Nance's (1938) dictionary entry "_*hedhel, he:l_ f., pl. _-y_, plough-handle (W., B.)". That is, he claims to have adapted this word from both Welsh and Breton cognates, neither of which I can find. We would for example expect W. *hedl, *hedel. BKms117.3 read as _an dyns_ 'the teeth', the scribe possibly anticipating _a'm penn_ 'from my head' later in this line. BKms117.5 read as _degyz dhe'n fenn_ (cf. in stanza 60). _fenn_ is taken to be some unknown derivative (direct or indirect) of Latin fundus or funditus, meaning 'the lowest point', coll. Eng. 'the pits'. Thus _degyz (ov) dhe'n fenn_ 'I am brought down so very low', 'I have been thoroughly degraded' BKms118 Rhymes : -elder // -elder // -ez (-yz?) // -ellder // -yz The disyllabic rhyme in _-el(l)der_ is unusual in Cornish and Welsh syllabic poetry. It is seen as rather crude, "over-egging the pudding". Here it may underline the vehemence of the ploughman's reaction to news of his master's mistreatment, or possibly suggest his low status and lack of refinement. BKms118.3 _villigez_ Although a past participle in _-yz_ would be expected, KJG has noted that _milligez_ 'cursed' and _bennigez_ 'blessed' usually rhyme with words in _-ez_. Here the spelling shows /-az/ << /-Ez/ but the rhyme requires _yz_. Quite possibly these two words had alternative forms /-Ez/ and /-Iz/ in MC. This does not of course imply (as some Celtic Scholars would have us believe) that these two sounds fell together generally. BKms118.5 read as or for _kessydhyyz_ 'chastised'. The first may represent a short followed by a long misread as the bowl and shaft of the . The second may be a yogh for /D/. BKms119 Rhymes : -'os // -os // -'ov // -yz // -iz // -'ov BKms119.1 read as _na fors zy_ 'no matter (to) thee', 'never mind' (Or if you like, "leave him alone, he's not worth it, lad!"). cf. BM 1058. BKms119.4 read as _yewyow_ 'yokes'. The first /j/ may have been lost by dissimulation. BKms119.6 _ny'm gazas a'n kov_ I take this to mean 'has not abandoned me from (his) memory' or 'hasn't ceased remembering me'. cf. OM 1283 '(I) will never forget thee', OM 1359 '(he) will not forget thee'. BKms120 Rhymes : -eth // -eyth (-eth?) // -'az // -is // -iz // -'as BKms120.2 or perhaps for _hwarve_ 'happened'. this spelling and the rhyme implies /-eT/ rather than /-ejT/ as implied by the derivation from _gweyth_ 'time, occassion'. In this as in other words in unstressed _-weyth_, there seems to have been an alternative pronounciation in _-weth_. BKms120.3 seems to be the vbl noun _klywez_ written in error for the 1s past _klywis_. BKms120.4 read as _deus_ 'come (thou)!'. BKms121 Rhymes : -'oen // -'oenn? // -ann // -'i // -'i // -en BKms121.2 read as _wrellens_. /n/ has a tendency to be lost before /s/ cf. the confusion between the 3 s and 3 pl imperative endings, the writing of for _bywnans_ (CW 0348 & LC) etc. must represent a monosyllable rhyming with _soen_, hence _broen(n)_. Normally this means 'rushes', but it's W cognate _brwyn_ has an allophone 'sadness, grief'. It is suggested therefore that this word also existed in MC and is used here in the sence of 'trouble, harm'. It is unclear whether this word should be spelled _broenn_ or _broen_. BKms121.3 _nask i_ 'harness them'. cf B _naska~_ 'to tether', _nask_ a tether. Here however 'harness' seems more appropriate. See also 122.1 _my a's nask dhis_ 'I will harness them for thee'. ##OJP23 BKms122 Rhymes : -'o // -'o // -e // -yz // -iz // -e BKms122.1 see previous note on 121.3 BKms122.3 read as _dh'y lawe_ idiom 'let him be praised'. The spelling <-aha> rather than <-awa> may have been in anticipation of at the end of 122.6, as if to suggest a disyllabic rhyme. BKms122.6 The last word would seem to be _di-aghe_ (Mid. Eng. aghe, Mod. Eng. 'awe') meaning 'calm, unperturbed'. That is the stags are not 'spooked' by being yoked like oxen. The exact interpretation of , _moz yw a'n_ if taken at face value, is not at all clear. _Rag 'mons i yn diaghe_ 'for they are in (a state of) calm' is just about possible, as is _Rag moz yns yn tiaghe_ 'for they are become calm' although neither is grammatically correct. If it is admitted that this line has been garbled, then _rag moz ewik dhiaghe_ 'for they have become calm deer' is perhaps the best solution, although normally _gallas/gallsons_ 'have gone, have become' would be used rather than the verbal noun _moz_ 'to go, to become'. _ewik_ is taken as a collective noun 'red? deer' with feminine grammatical gender (hence the lenition of _dhiaghe_), so that OM 0126 _ewiges_ must be a fem. sing. rather than a plural, which fits the context there 'goat, hind, stag'. The choice of _ewig_ with it's female connotations may also emphasise the docility of the stags. Also _rag nans yns i diaghe_ 'for now they are calm' written ? or maybe _rag nans ons yn tiaghe_ 'for now they are going calmly'?? BKms123 Rhymes : -a (-e?) // -a // -ez // -ow // -ow // -es BKms123.1 either _Kernik_ 'little horn' or perhaps _Kernek_ 'horned'. It is difficult to avoid the suspicion that this name is based on a stag's other significant masculine attribute. _kelle_ << /kell-ID/ ??, although the 'late' pronounciation in [-a] is required to rhyme with _ughella_ BKms123.3 Note the correct use of the stem _gonedh-_ _bysmerez_ 'blame, scandal, contempt'. _bysmer_ as at PC 1968, BM 3363 with the abstract noun suffix _-ez_ '-ness' added, perhaps to create a rhyme with 123.6 _gweres_. BKms123.4 'by my thumbs' (or 'fingers' or 'toes'!) or possibly 'by my ring'? This would seem to be an idiom meaning 'I have a preminition', as Eng. "I know by the pricking of my thumbs". BKms123.5 # _nevre ny'n jevydh yzow_ means 'he will # _never_ have any crops (provided God assists him)'. Since this is # the exact opposite of the sense required it must be assumed that # the less common phrase _nevre y'n jevydh_ 'he will always have' # was intended and copied or read in error for # . Addition 24AUG03 : Michael Polkinhorn in his provisional English translation of BK correctly identified as _esow_ 'dearth, need, privation', so now needs no correction and the line means 'never will he be in need'. GLKK give _esow_ a frequency code of '3' meaning 4-9 occurrences in the corpus. I can only locate one at OM 373 _rag esow galsov isel_ 'I am brought low by want'. Norris interpreted as _yz+ow_ and translated this line as 'that I may raise corn', so I am at least in good company as far as this mistake goes. GLKK gives no etymology for _esow_ but it could easily be cognate with W. _eisiau_ 'need'. BKms123.6 _a mynne Duw_ 'if God should wish'. The use of _a_ normally suggests that the condition is hypothetical and unlikely to be fulfilled, which is hardly the case here, so that _mar mynne_ would be expected. Perhaps the reading should be _y fynne Duw ..._ with an initial _nevre_ understood, i.e. 'God will (always) try to help' which would explain the lentition of . either _dhe weres_ 'to assist' or perhaps _dha weres_ 'to assist thee', or given the preceding line _dh'y weres_ 'to assist him'. ## ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ## # Breuzyansow ha ewnansow dhe : # Comments and corrections to : # bk@carrrot.clara.net # 3 Mis Me 2003 # End of File