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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. THE REPRESENTATION OF NORTHERN ENGLISH AND SCOTS IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY DRAMA Lauren Marie Stewart B.A. (The University of Kansas) M.Sc. (The University of Edinburgh) A thesis submitted in ful/illment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhiLosophy to The University of Edinburgh School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences Linguistics and English Language 2011 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is of my own composition, and that it contains no material previously submitted for the award of any other degree. The work reported in this thesis has been executed by myself, except where due acknowledgment is made in the text. Lauren Marie Stewart -i- Abstract Early Modern English (c. 1500-1700) is a dif/icult period for dialectological study. A dearth of textual evidence means that no comprehensive account of regional variation for this period can be attempted, and the /ield has therefore tended to be somewhat neglected. However, some evidence of regional varieties of English is provided by dialect representation in Early Modern drama. The dialogue of certain English and Scottish characters (and of those who impersonate them) is often marked linguistically as different from other characters: morphosyntactic forms, lexical items, and phonological features shown through variant spellings suggest dialectal usage in contrast to Standard English. This evidence, I argue, forms a legitimate basis on which to build at least a partial account of regional variation. The 47 plays analysed in this thesis were all written and/or printed between 1598 and 1705, and all feature examples of either Northern English or Scots dialect representation. From these examples we can build up a picture of some of the main phonological, morphosyntactic, and lexical elements of the seventeenth century dialects spoken in Scotland and northern England. Moreover, this literary evidence can help clarify and contextualise earlier scholarly work on the topic. The content of the plays themselves, along with the dialect representations, also provide sociocultural and sociolinguistic information about the perception of Scots and northerners and of the attitudes towards them across the country. In Chapter 1 I outline my methodology and provide a review of relevant literature, particularly focusing on other studies of dialect representation in drama. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the historical context for my linguistic data in seventeenth century Britain, including discussions of theatrical history in both England and Scotland, and of population movement and dialect contact. -ii- The Scottish dialect evidence is presented in Chapters 3 to 6. In Chapter 3, I give a chronological list of 33 plays featuring Scots dialect representation. In order to contextualise the plays, I provide background information about the author, printing, and performance history; a brief summary of the plot and a description of the dialect speaker; my assessment of the dialect representation; and if pertinent, commentary by other critics. I present and analyse the data from dramatic depictions of Scots, focusing on lexical items (Chapter 4), morphosyntactic features (Chapter 5), and phonological features as indicated by variant spellings (Chapter 6). I compare the literary data with linguistic reference works, including modern and historical dialect atlases, dictionaries, and dialect surveys. I also consult additional Early Modern sources and other reference works. The next four chapters focus on representations of dialects of northern England. These chapters follow the same format as the chapters on Scottish dialect: Chapter 7 contains a discussion of 15 seventeenth-century plays featuring representations of Northern English. Chapters 8, 9, and 10 mirror the structure of Chapters 4, 5, and 6, respectively, discussing lexical forms, and morphosyntactic and phonological features in representations of Northern English. I offer my conclusions in Chapter 11. With my detailed analysis of the data, I demonstrate that representations of regional usage in seventeenth century drama cannot be dismissed as stereotyped examples of a stage dialect, and that these literary data are worthy of being analysed linguistically. Although the quantity of dialect representation differs from one play to the next, and the quality covers a broad spectrum of linguistic accuracy, it nevertheless provides important information about non-standard dialects of northern England and Scotland in the seventeenth century. -iii- AcknowLedgments I am thankful for so many people, and I have been blessed to have been surrounded by their patience, understanding, good humour, charity, and love. First and foremost, I am indebted to my supervisors Derek Britton and Meg Laing for their constant support, encouragement, and guidance. The members of the Department of Linguistics and English Language have been friendly and welcoming. I especially thank Linda van Bergen and Keith Williamson, along with my fellow PhD students, especially Remco Knooihuizen, Will Barras, Karen Ludke, and Gareth Roberts. I thank Jane Hodson and Katie Wales for their support and encouragement over the years. The Dominicans and the Catholic Students’ Union hold a special place in my heart. I thank Fr Tim Calvert, Chris McDermott, Christy Lamont, Farlane Whitty, Mark Granroth-Wilding, Hanna Granroth-Wilding, Riccardo Marioni, Tom Conroy, Fr Bruno Clifton, and Shaun McMaster. In particular, I thank my /latmates Jo Breckenridge, Patrice Eastwood, Pablo Olmos, and Catherine Prady. I thank John Morgan, Sister Aelred, Sister Catherine, the McDermott family, Betty Kirkpatrick, Rob Holford, and all who made me welcome a long way from home. I thank Mary Klayder, for everything. I thank my parents, Gregory and Helen Stewart, and my brother, Ross Stewart, for their unwavering support and love. Finally, I thank Matthew McDermott, my everything. -iv- -v- Dedication For Derek Britton (1941-2011) -vi- -vii- TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaraon i Abstract ii Acknowledgments iv Dedicaon vi Table of Contents viii CHAPTER 1 1 1.1 Methodology 3 1.1.1 Data collec+on 4 1.1.2 Analysis 6 1.1.3 Presentaon 9 1.2 Literature Review 10 1.2.1 Eckhardt, Hulme, and Bartley 11 1.2.2 Bliss, García-Bermejo Giner, Roemer 16 1.2.3 Blake, Blank, Mair 24 1.3 Overview 27 CHAPTER 2 29 2.1 Popula2on, Movement, and Linguis2c Diversity 29 2.2 Theatre in Britain 30 2.2.1 Theatre before 1642 31 2.2.2 Theatre and drama during the Civil War 32 2.2.3 Restoraon theatre 33 2.2.4 Theatre in Scotland 33 2.3 Atudes towards Scots and northerners 35 CHAPTER 3 41 Table 3: List of plays featuring Scots representa7ons 43 3.1 The ScoPsh History of James IV (1598): Robert Greene 45 3.1.1 Author 46 3.1.2 Summary 46 3.1.3 Cri+cal comment 47 3.2 Edward IV, Parts 1 and 2 (1599): Thomas Heywood 47 3.2.1 Author 47 3.2.2 Summary 48 -viii- 3.2.3 Cri+cal recep+on 48 3.3 Eastward Ho (1605): George Chapman, Ben Jonson, John Marston 49 3.3.1 Authors 50 3.3.2 Summary 51 3.3.3 Poten+al usefulness 51 3.4 The Witch (c. 1616): Thomas Middleton 52 3.4.1 Author 52 3.4.2 Summary 52 3.4.3 Poten+al usefulness 53 3.5 Thierry and Theodoret (1621): John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, and Philip Massinger 53 3.5.1 Authors 53 3.5.2 Summary 54 3.5.3 Assessment by other cri+cs 55 3.6 King Henry V (1623 folio): William Shakespeare 55 3.6.1 Author 56 3.6.2 Summary 56 3.6.3 Assessment by other cri+cs 56 3.7 The Vow Breaker (1636): William Sampson 57 3.7.1 Author 57 3.7.2 Summary 58 3.7.2.1 Miles’s imitaon 59 3.8 The Valiant Scot (1637): J.W. 60 3.8.1 Author 60 3.8.2 Summary 60 3.8.3 Cri+cal recep+on 61 3.9 The Sad Shepherd (1641): Ben Jonson 61 3.9.1 Author 61 3.9.2 Summary 61 3.9.3 Poten+al usefulness 62 3.9.4 Recep+on by modern cri+cs 63 3.10 Hey for Honesty (1651): Thomas Randolph 63 3.10.1 Author 64 3.10.2 Summary 64 3.10.3 Quality of the dialect representaon 64 3.11 Tatham’s plays 65 3.11.1 Author 66 3.11.2 The Distracted State (1651) 66 3.11.2.1 Summary 67 3.11.3 The Scots Figgaries (1652) 68 -ix- 3.11.3.1 Summary 68 3.11.3.2 Quality and quan+ty of dialect representaon 70 3.11.4 The Rump (1660) 70 3.11.4.1 Summary 71 3.11.4.2 Other edi+ons, adaptaons, and cri+cal recep+on 72 3.12 A Short Representa2on Performed Before the Lord Generall Monck (1660) 73 3.12.1 Summary 74 3.12.2 Unusual dialect representaon 74 3.13 Scotch Songs: From The Scots Figgaries to The Campaigners 75 3.13.1 Tatham’s songs 76 3.13.2 The Projectors (1665): John Wilson 77 3.13.2.1 Author 77 3.13.3 The Morning Ramble, or the Town Humours (1673): Payne 77 3.13.3.1 Author 78 3.13.3.2 Quality of dialect representaon 78 3.13.4 The Souldiers Fortune (1681): Thomas Otway 79 3.13.4.1 Author 79 3.13.5 Thomas D’Urfey and his Scotch Songs 79 3.13.5.1 Poten+al usefulness 82 3.14 Sir Barnaby Whigg (1681): Thomas D’Urfey 82 3.15 The Roundheads (1682): Aphra Behn 83 3.15.1 Author 83 3.15.2 Summary 84 3.16 The City Heiress (1682): Aphra Behn 84 3.16.1 Author 84 3.16.2 Summary 84 3.17 The Benefice (1689): Robert Wild 85 3.17.1 Author 85 3.17.2 Summary 86 3.18 The Assembly (c.