Date of Birth

      Beginnings are part of the human experience. For example, genealogy starts many in the family tree with the date of birth. A record of beginning it is. However, language is certainly a different subject for beginnings. Where does one start to count the collection of voices that join together to share and transmit human thought? When does it become enough voices joining together that the unity of a group produces their unique form of communication? For me, the Welsh language was one sound that brought many questions to mind. A chronology of the Celtic roots has been shown in a previous post, dated 11 October, and a comparison of words for several languages shown in post dated 19 October. In the book titled The New Companion to the Literature of Wales, edited by Meic Stephens is presented a helpful discussion on the Welsh language. [pp.771-773] Here it is stated:

      "By the second half of the sixth century the parent Brythonic language had registered changes sufficiently marked to justify its being regarded as the period in which Early Welsh, Early Cornish and Early Breton were born." 

      Hum...a date of birth my genealogy nose would say. The cover of my copy is shown.

      The book is published by University Of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1998.

Good Vibrations

       When one wants to speak, several things have to occur. The human breath must past between two vibrating membranes called the vocal cords. This air flow must then move toward the pharynx, to the mouth cavity, then heading all sorts of different ways against the tongue, palate, upper teeth, and lips. This movement of the air we breath is to produce the sounds that one wishes to utter. Phonation to articulation it is formally called, and one hopes the sound produced arrives to a receptive ear.

      Each culture follows this process producing a variety of languages. The sounds generated can, and often do, differ dramatically between each language. Even though everyone sees a mom and dad, brother and sister, and many other things that the human experience brings our way, it is usually a different sound. Needless to say, the words pronounced for the same subject can bounce off the ear drum of a different culture, and be difficult to recognize or repeat. This phenomena became extremely important for my own Jones surname tree climbing when my Kentucky, Bluegrass tongue came to find my Welsh roots and their Celtic origins. Man, what a difference my ear drums played when this language beat their rhythms. Not only did the sounds, but the words and writings of this unique language presented a number of brick walls to hunting my ancestors further back in time.

      The following table tries to show some of the different words for the same subject. I call it "Words of Life".

      The first column lists the English spelling for different family units. Looking to the last column it shows, the familiar words and sounds that come from the precursor of my spoken tongue, the Anglo-Saxon. Following along the columns right to left, you can see the words from the Greek, French, and Latin languages. Then you see the Welsh words. Not even close they appear written. You might imagine my English ear when these words played against my ear drums. How do you explore your genealogy?  I will need to make them good vibrations instead.

Community of Voices

      Language is an integral part of the culture glue that binds people together and signals their presence. It (language) can be defined as the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a considerable community. Interestingly, the word derives from langue (fr.) meaning tongue. [Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary p. 641] 

      The language of my Celtic ancestors tells its own story from long, long ago. Starting in the Caucasus mountains (a divide between Europe and Asia) traces of a patriarchal clan system began. A tribal organization of society [Ency. Brit., Vol 2, p. 965] produced four different groups of languages. Indo-European is the branch defined as the beginning family of languages that my ancestors' Celto-Italo-Tocharian derives. Lots of branches from this point onward as the following diagram shows.

      My Celtic (to become Welsh) ancestors certainly had a lot of voices along the way. Their voice is thought to be pronounced focused on the bi-labial enunciation of the sounds "P" and "B", thus P-Celtic. On the other side of the Irish sea they focused on the sound "Q". I guess that this is where the saying "...mind your P(s) and Q(s)" is derived?!  At any rate, the first Welsh is believed to have begun around 500 A.D.[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language] meaning, my folks had to regroup, reorganize, and voice a different way to communicate among the family group. This was because the Romans had left the country, and their vocal sounds [Latin] stopped echoing among the hills. A new community of voices began to sing.

P.S. For those who might want more discussion or more in-depth information, a book by L.R. Palmer titled Descriptive And Comparative Linguistics A Critical Introduction, Faber & Faber, London, 1972, may be helpful. The cover of my copy is shown.

Hereditary Property

       One of the earliest books which directed my attention to the Welsh origin of the surname Jones was titled An Historical Atlas Of Wales From Early to Modern Times. It was published in 1967 and written by William Rees. Lots of maps, tables, figures and content was there. It is no wonder why maps are high on my list of the thought processes. [Published by Faber and Faber, London.] In this text staring on page 21 is the topic named "The Celtic Church In Wales". Little did I know how important this content would be to my now 60 + years of tree climbing. The important concepts are written:

      "The movement had its rise in Egypt whence it spread by way of the Mediterranean to Gaul and eventually to the British Isles where it seized the imagination of the Celtic west...". 

                                               (Sounds like my last several posts.)

      Going forward it reads:

      "Inspired by the new movement, members of ruling families, and others of humbler origin adopted the religious life of a hermit or attracted to themselves disciples, to form in due course the nucleus of a monastic community of Celtic type."

      The important concept on page 22 reads:

      "The monastery with its revenue became the hereditary property of the family of the founder, one or other member usually exercising the priestly office."

      It was this last statement that helped break down several brick walls in my ancestor discovery. What a deal, hereditary property. I certainly did not recognize or understand this family dynamic in 1967.

The Great Transition

      The 300 years after the Roman Empire dissolved, my Celtic ancestors faced a number of challenges. "Who's on first?" would be one of those questions that would need to be solved. For hundreds of years the Roman military had kept things in check. Roman administration maintained all the social considerations. Roman life gave all a new way to experience this culture from all sorts of ways. The line of authority was straight forward. As long as you went along with most things, they were settled long before some event started.  The power to influence or command thought, opinion, and behavior was always clear to those who might question such authority. Wow, the rug had been pulled out from under my kindred and they would have to figure out this new set of circumstances. It was not long before the Roman empire fell apart that this new religion [Christianity] had become the state religion. It seems this new group had taken over the authority in all the previous Roman 28 Provinces. I think these are called diocese now, and there was a person in charge of each. Latin still seemed their language, and education was encouraged and supported. Maybe we should check into this new authority my ancestors might think. It would certainly change things around here. 

      The following text discusses this transition period beginning on page 269 through page 286 for those who might be interested in knowing more about this history.  The cover of my copy is shown.

       It was first published 1953 and again in 1975 by HarperCollins Publishers, N.Y.

Common Lives

       After some 400 years of Roman military occupation, administration, and social control, my Celtic ancestors found that they were to look to their own defense.  Other folks around the Empire faced the same collapse of authority, and new aggressive tribes coming down from the northeast.  These tribes wanted to take away everything. Speaking of taking everything, the center of the world, the city Rome, was sacked not once but three times. Can you believe it? What is one to do and survive? Let's see, here is a plan. First, give everything you have to the needy folks around you.  Nothing to take from you if you have given it all away. Second, isolation seems a good idea since fewer angry folks would be around. Third, find a unique place to live such that no one would think to look for you there. Maybe one or two individuals could join you or at least live close by. Martin of Tours (d. 397) has given us a good example. Maybe we could wear the same type of cloths and cut our hair the same way. It would be hard to tell us apart. What about the women among us?  What could we call ourselves? Monks for the men, and Nuns for the women might work? Hmm...common lives together.

      The following map shows the when and where the monasteries had their beginning.

      Starting near the coastline; Marseille, Lerins, and way up north Whithon, were founded around the same time ca. 400 A.D. (marked orange on the map).  Marmouter was earlier (marked pink), and a large number marked green formed during the time 500 A.D. Note that most during this period were in Ireland. (St. Patrick had something to do with that). The following 100 years saw a cluster of places being founded in France and north Britain.

     

 Map is found p. 43 in Atlas of Medieval Europe Edited by Angus Mackay with David Ditchburn, Routledge, London, 1997.

Light In The Darkness

       Growing up in the heart of the Bluegrass during the 1950's had many adventures. One was to visit that great hole in the ground called Mammoth Cave, the world's longest known cave system. Mom, Dad, and my older brother made such a trip spelunking to the very bottom. Here our guide asked all to put out their lights and experience total darkness.  Sure, I thought, "no such a thing exists." Boy was I wrong! Out goes all the lights and total darkness there was. Poking myself in the eye trying to see my hand was certainly an adventure. Then, the glow of a cigarette tip came to be seen somewhere out into the darkness. Man did it seem to light things up. Never such a sight it was which still appears in my memory bank.

      Some years later, my college text A History of Civilization, Volume One, Third Edition, begins chapter 5, p. 173:

        "The period from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West down to about 1000 A.D. provides an outstanding example of the breakdown of a whole civilization. Historians used to call these early medieval centuries from 500 to 1000 the Dark Ages."

      Certainly, I did not question such statements until my genealogy tree climbing brought me to my Celtic ancestors. What did happen after the breakdown of the Roman Empire for my Jones family ancestors? Humm...foundations for new generations became apparent. Gallic monasticism must be one of those lights in the darkness.