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Wednesday 13 July 2011

Swearing in the name of research

Thesis mojo back - hurrah!

Currently buried in the murky depths of pre-Reformation ecclesiastical court structures, officials, and cases.

Nice diversion with the works of Sir David Lyndsay - looking at popular perceptions of clerics/ professional religious types.  In his work, The Thrie Estaitis, Lyndsay makes a wry observation on marriage and clerical celibacy, in which the first use of the 'F' word as we now spell it is employed.  And now, a small confession: it quite appeals to my inner 6 yr old to be able to use this in my thesis.
Lyndsay notes:

'Bischops ar blist, howbeit that thay be waryit,
For thay may fuck thair fill, and be vnmaryit.' [in line 1362]

(Bishops are blessed, even though they are cursed,
For they may f*ck their fill, and be unmarried:
 - the sense being the irony that while clerics are called to celibacy,
it's possibly the laity who appear to have less opportunity to partake in the pleasures of the flesh.)

Anyhow, chapter in process, must get on!  :)

4 comments:

Wendy said...

My students' favorite thing about studying Lear, I think, was being able to use the word "bastard" (as in Edmund the) freely.

spotthegerbil said...

With great knowledge comes great responsibility.

Or to put it another way, quoting historical works in a Session meeting may not be appropriate.

Although sometimes it's most certainly required...

Mrs Gerbil said...

Well, it's only 4 of the 26 letters you will need to keep rearranging...

Glad you've got your mojo back.

Nodrog said...

Interesting that as a quote you wrote it in full but in translation you starred out the vowel... :-)