Further information on the cast of that 'Spenser in early America' question
I forwarded, for those interested.
This just in from the interested party:
I will go ahead and tell you my reason for wanting to know this. Spenser
used a word in his poem that has fallen out of use: MALENGIN.
In Appalachia there was a unique group up people called: MELUNGEONS. The
first time the word appeared in print in 1813 it was spelled MELUNGINS, very
similar to Spenser's word MALENGINS, and used in the same way, as a term of
contempt, to describe a sly or sneaky person of guile. So a theory has
arisen that the word Melungeon may very well have come from a character in
Spenser's poem. Appalachian people have been very good at keeping alive
archaic words that have fallen out of use elsewhere, such as the word SOT
meaning a drunk, or no good person. This word appears in 5 or 6 of
Shakespeare's plays.
I and other researchers are trying to find out the likelihood of the
word Melungeon originating from the Faerie Queene word Malengin, which seems
plausible.
So any info you can turn up on your list about the availability,
probability, likelihood of Spenser's Faerie Queene being available, or known
in Early America or southern Appalachia circa 1750-1820 would be of great
help.
You are free to use this letter to explain my desire to learn about this
as well.
Thanks in advance for any help with this!
Sincerely, Karlton
Andrew Zurcher
King's College
Cambridge CB2 1ST
United Kingdom
t: +44 1223 740 454
e: [log in to unmask]
w1: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres
w2: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenser
|