by John McNulty
Tyneside Irish Centre, 29th November 2026
Diana Whaley The Colloquy of the Occupations by Aelfric of Eynsham (955-1010).
Diana was very encouraging in prompting us to make what sense we could of this Old English text – not easy! One can see “shepherd” in “sceaphierde” and “fisher” in “fiscere” but “shoemaker” in “scowyrhta” ? There were some constructions that spoke of a German ancestry – the preface of ge- (pronounced “ye-“ ) with the past tense of some verbs and the placing of the verb at the end of the sentence. We learned of the symbols for “th” as in “thorn” and “th” as in “the”.
The text details the responses of a number of individuals to questions addressed to them about their work. We hear from a shepherd, a ploughman, an oxherd, a hunter, a fisherman, a fowler, a merchant, a shoemaker, a salter, a baker and a cook. Their descriptions of their activities, as an aside, offered an interesting, and all too rare, insight into the lives of people who were not the leaders of tribes or otherwise historically notable figures (there were references throughout the responses to their “hlaforde” – their lord).
We read fascinating details of how the hunter went about their business, netting wild animals, with the help of their dog. The fisherman spoke of problems catching fish and the types they caught. The ox herd spoke of their long day looking after the oxen, making sure they were fed and watered and so fit for the ploughman.
An engaging fascinating introduction to Old English!