Re: Alternative history - a plea!

[Padraic Brown <pbrown@nova.umuc.edu>]

On Mon, 20 Apr 1998, Raymond A. Brown wrote:

> At 22:38 17/4/98, Andrew Smith wrote:
> >On Thu, 16 Apr 1998, Raymond A. Brown wrote:
> >
> >> Please, whatever you do with your alternative history, please ensure the
> >> Gaels are treated more kindly *there* than they have been *here*.  Can you
> >> avoid depopulating the Highlands & let the Irish keep their own language?
> >> It's a small request to compensate for the loss of Welsh, Cornish & Breton.
> >>
> >We can do that.  The benign indifference with which the Chomro ruled
> >Ireland could mean that Irish Gaelic remained in a healthier position than
> >*Here*.  I should point out though that the extinction of the Brythonic
> >languages was one of the earliest points we agreed on.
> 
> Oh yes, I know.  I don't how that could be otherwise.  Padraic did suggest
> some Brittonic speakers made it to Amorica; but this, I think, would not be
> likely in the Kernu-Brithenig universe.  And _if_ we find a place for Frank
> George Valoczy's "Breton-Romance", then Brittonic is certainly dead.

I think it makes sense given the following: Cornwall was never an
especially populous place, lots of new people are comming in from the East
(ie., refugees from the Saxons -- I doubt very much that the Britons just
stood there and were exterminated, many would flee west).  It stands to
reason that some would leap off of Land's End; and one likely landing spot
_is_ Armorica.  The other less likely spots might be Ireland, Iceland,
Mississippi basin, etc. ;-)  I think there is room for them *There* even
if they do not now survive as a _separate_ language group.  I never said
they would be very populous.  Perhaps they could survive long enough to
give us some tantalising texts to pore over?  Conlang fodder for some
university student in Castreleon to sit back and say to hiself: "What if
there were some universe where Armorican -- no, better yet, their Cornish
ancestors -- had continued to speak Celtic?"  Please? 

> 
> I'm not asking for that to be changed, just reminding some, perhaps, that
> we have actually killed off yet another Celtic language group with a
> Romance lang, and asking our "alternative historians" to make sure that at
> least the Gaelic langs are left in a more viable state *there* than they
> sadly are *here*.  That's all.

Yes, there really is too much destruction of Celtic in both universes;
even though I am happy that the Comro are _not_ on the subject people
list, but are rather on the fully independant list.  And I suppose we can
take a modicum of consolation that they are at least in some ways (perhaps
even in ways more significant than the Welsh *Here*) carrying on the ways
of their Celtic ancestors.

Dead		Critical		Alive

Celtiberian	Nova Scotian 		Welsh ?
Gaulish		Irish G.
Galatian	Scots G.
Cornish		Revived C.
Manx G.		Revived Manx G. ?
Brittenbergish	Chubut Welsh
Brythonic
Cumbrian
Pictish (if Celtic)
other Gaelic that went to Australia, NZ, Can. (my ancestors), USA (my
boss's ancestors) etc.

Not a pleasant list.  Some of the criticals could be "alive", I suppose,
but having seen the six or eight "dots" on the map of Irish speaking areas
in Ireland, I don't honestly hold out much hope.  (In the Brithenig
universe, kindly exchange Welsh for Irish and Scots G.) :-(

> 
> Ray.
> 
Padraic.