Spenser's Linguistics in "The Present State of Ireland"

Abstract

The influence of Spenser's environment upon Colin Clout and upon the parts of The Faerie Queene that were written while he was with Grey's government at Dublin, and especially while he was one of the undertakers at the lonely manor of Kilcolman, is somewhat terra incognita. Kilcolman, far beyond the English pale, in the midst of the old Desmond country, under the shadow of Arlo Forest still inhabited by wild Irish who had escaped the terrible vengeance for the late insurrection-Kilcolman gave excellent opportunities for the gathering of Celtic lore in spite of the stringent legal barriers against marriage and equal social intercourse, in spite of race hatred, on the one hand, heightened by the recent massacres, and in spite of Spenser's contempt, on the other hand, of the native Celt, heightened no doubt by his own respectable official capacity.' To trace actual influences of bardic poems in Spenser requires a knowledge of Celtic literature to which the present writer lays no claim; and a complete definition of Spenser's comprehension of things Celtic is beyond the scope of the present study; but an investigation of Spenser linguistics promises to throw some light upon his knowledge of Celtic languages, of manners and customs, and of Anglo-Irish legal procedure. Such a study promises to bear fruit, not only as contributing to Spenserian biography and criticism, but also as throwing some light on the grasp that English officialdom of the period had of life and institutions. Spenser's Present State is the best known of several contemporary documents dealing with Anglo-Irish affairs. Morley has edited a series including, besides Spenser, four lucubrations by Sir John Davies, the attorney-general for Ireland, and one by Fynes