Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are a British dependency, that fall into two self-governing bailiwicks. (There are multiple flags, too.) And, yes, I’m thrilled that this project has given me a reason to use the word “bailiwick.” Thrilled. On 9 May they celebrate Liberation Day—during World War II the island were the only part of the British Commonwealth to be occupied by Germany. Think about this: the British Commonwealth is a huge, sprawling thing, and its only this small group of islands that were occupied. So: Liberation from occupation is a significant thing.

But back to the bailiwicks. As mentioned above, the islands are self-governing, with two separate governing bodies: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The overall population of the islands is somewhere around 160,000—that’s no slouch. Eight of the islands are inhabited, and all except Jersey fall under the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The linguistics enthusiast in me is interested to learn that as a general rule the larger islands have an –ey suffix while the smaller islands have a –hou. This is thought to derive from the Old Norse –ey and holmr.

The islands were annexed to the Duchy of Normandy in 933; then there was “1066 and all that” with William the Conqueror, with William becoming the king of England, and the Channel Islands becoming part of the English Crown. When the 1204 loss of the lands of Normandy to France occurred, France only took on the continental Normandy, and the Channel Islands stayed under the English Crown.

Of the four main Norman dialects of the islands, one (Auregnais) has recently become “extinct.” Dgèrnésiais (Guernsey), Jèrriais (Jersey) and Sarkese (Sark) are spoken today. And (this fascinates me) the islanders of the four main islands have traditional nicknames—the Guernsey people are les ânes, or donkeys (locals claim this as strength of characters; Jersey-ites interpret it as stubbornness); Jersey-ites are crapauds or toads (apparently there are toads and snakes on Jersey that Guernsey doesn’t have); Sark dwellers are corbins, or crows; and those living on Alderney are called lapins—rabbits. Alderney has a lot of rabbit warrens.

Victor Hugo spent a long time in exile in the Channel Island—first in Jersey, then Guernsey. While there he wrote Les Misérables. Wow! Claude Debussy also visited Jersey, and while there composed part of La Mer. Two artistic monuments.

Today’s poem comes from a nineteenth century collection I found in my searches. Two bilingual volumes of The Patois Poems of the Channel Islands were published, as Channel Islands poets wrote in their dialects. This both fits in with the nineteenth century interest in nationalism, but the collection of local dialects also remind me of the work of linguists and anthropologists wanting to capture culture and language before it disappears. As no author is attributed, I take this to be one of the popular “Folk Poems” the book presents.

The Churning-Maid’s Song
From the Guernsey dialect

Oh the daisies are bright, and the asphodels,
And the clover is sweet, and the pimpernels,
With every fair floweret that blossoms and blows,
On the smiling hills where out cattle browse!
Then listen ye all to my simple song,
While the churn goes merrily plashing along!

Just look at their markings, our cows as they stand,
How splendid they are, and our red ones, how grand!
Oh handsomer heifers there never have been,
And prettier calves you never have seen!
Then listen ye all, &c.

The birds in the thicket how gladsome they sound,
The cows in the pastures are lowing around;
The bees, oh how busy they hum near the hive,
While the shouts of the children, they keep you alive!
Then listen ye all, &c.

In churning and churning the butter comes well,
While churning, still churning, my stories I tell;
The heaven gleams in blueness, and all the day long,
I hear in the breezes some plaintive love song.
Then listen ye all, &c.

The daisies spread wide o’er the pastures so sweet,
The primrose is blossoming under our feet,
And we shall have butter as yellow as gold,
For which chinking silver will quickly be told.
Ten listen ye all, &c.

The butter is coming all ready for sale,
And the churning goes on as I tell my tale,
While, to-morrow, will Marion drive to town,
And the old horse to market will carry it down.
Then listen ye all, & c.

From The Patois Poems of the Channel Islands, 1883