A Worship of Writers

I am blogging on copyright again, this time in the context of the Hargreaves Review. This afternoon I posted what will be the first in a short series: Hargreaves Review: Fair Use and Fair Dealing. Next up: an analysis of Hargreaves' proposals for a Digital Copyright Exchange. After that, Hargreaves on Extended Collective Licensing and Orphan Works; or, once again we are fighting clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill.

But this afternoon I managed to spend some time at my favourite market bookstall, and came away with a nice modern facsimile of Joseph Haslewood's 1810 edited reprint of The Boke of St Albans, by Dame Juliana Berners (ostensibly; there are arguments about this). Haslewood's own edition is a sort of fake facsimile, made to look as close as possible to the original copy printed by Wynkyn de Worde, in 1496.

The Boke of St Albans is most famous for its long list of collective nouns, or as it is headed in the original –

The companyes of bestys & foules

An Herde of hartys …
a Bevy of ladyes …
a Mustre of pecockys …
a Congregac[i]on of people
an Exaltynge of larkys
a watche of nyghtyngalys
an hoost of men …
a Cherme of goldfynches …
a Flyghte of douves
an Unkyndnes of ravens …
a Claterynge of choughes …
a Pryde of Lyons …
a Besynesse of ferettes …
a Lytter of whelpys
a Kyndyll of yonge cattys …
a Gagle of geys
a Brode of hennys …
a Superfluyte of nonnys
a Scole of clerkes …
a Melody of harpers
a Pouverty of pypers …
a Clustre of grapys …
an Uncredybylyte of cocoldes
a Covy of pertryches …
an Oost of sparowes
a Swarme of bees …
a Murmurac[i]on of stares [starlings]
a Rowte of wulves
a Lepe of leberdes [leopards]
a Shrewdenes of apys
a Skulke of thevys
a Skulke of foxes
a Nest of rabettys …
a Flocke of shepe
a Gagle of wymen
a Pepe of chekyns …
an Eloquens of laweyers …
a worshyp of wryters …

Some of the less current ones I was made to learn by heart, at the age of 11: one of the mysteries of being crammed for the eleven-plus exam. I remember 'an exalting of larks', 'a charm of goldfinches'. Those lists did not include 'an uncredibility of cuckolds' (I think the idea is that they never believe it), or some of the other satirical fancies.

A Worship of Writers

I am blogging on copyright again, this time in the context of the Hargreaves Review. This afternoon I posted what will be the first in a short series: Hargreaves Review: Fair Use and Fair Dealing. Next up: an analysis of Hargreaves' proposals for a Digital Copyright Exchange. After that, Hargreaves on Extended Collective Licensing and Orphan Works; or, once again we are fighting clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill.

But this afternoon I managed to spend some time at my favourite market bookstall, and came away with a nice modern facsimile of Joseph Haslewood's 1810 edited reprint of The Boke of St Albans, by Dame Juliana Berners (ostensibly; there are arguments about this). Haslewood's own edition is a sort of fake facsimile, made to look as close as possible to the original copy printed by Wynkyn de Worde, in 1496.

The Boke of St Albans is most famous for its long list of collective nouns, or as it is headed in the original –

The companyes of bestys & foules

An Herde of hartys …
a Bevy of ladyes …
a Mustre of pecockys …
a Congregac[i]on of people
an Exaltynge of larkys
a watche of nyghtyngalys
an hoost of men …
a Cherme of goldfynches …
a Flyghte of douves
an Unkyndnes of ravens …
a Claterynge of choughes …
a Pryde of Lyons …
a Besynesse of ferettes …
a Lytter of whelpys
a Kyndyll of yonge cattys …
a Gagle of geys
a Brode of hennys …
a Superfluyte of nonnys
a Scole of clerkes …
a Melody of harpers
a Pouverty of pypers …
a Clustre of grapys …
an Uncredybylyte of cocoldes
a Covy of pertryches …
an Oost of sparowes
a Swarme of bees …
a Murmurac[i]on of stares [starlings]
a Rowte of wulves
a Lepe of leberdes [leopards]
a Shrewdenes of apys
a Skulke of thevys
a Skulke of foxes
a Nest of rabettys …
a Flocke of shepe
a Gagle of wymen
a Pepe of chekyns …
an Eloquens of laweyers …
a worshyp of wryters …

Some of the less current ones I was made to learn by heart, at the age of 11: one of the mysteries of being crammed for the eleven-plus exam. I remember 'an exalting of larks', 'a charm of goldfinches'. Those lists did not include 'an uncredibility of cuckolds' (I think the idea is that they never believe it), or some of the other satirical fancies.