medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Although I've noticed how difficult questions of what a color name
> actually represented in the past can be to determine -- when was purple
> actually what we think of as purple, and when was it more of a dark red,
> etc...so even if you tracked down a reference that said the habit was
> specifically "brown" or "grey" at X date that may not necessarily settle
> the issue.
This is a very important aspect of the question. What colour does a colour
name signify ?
Some examples from the Border Ballads: (recorded in late 18th/early 19th C,
referring to events of the 16th C where they purport to be historical but
using conventional epithets from much earlier.
RED is the colour of wheat, of wine, of roses, of fire, and of gold.
BROWN is the colour of horses and sword-blades . (NB I thought this last
was very odd until I saw a sword forged on a TV reconstruction programme -
an episode of Meet the Ancestors - when the newly-forged sword displayed in
the vice really did look brown!)
BERRY-BROWN the colour of horses
BLACK is the colour of horses and the night
WHITE is the colour of money (=silver coinage), bones ; MILK-WHITE is the
colour of a lady's hand or of horses or of cocks (=roosters)
GREEN is the only colour of clothing to be mentioned except BLUE "bonnets"
which may actually not be dyed fabric but steel helmets. GREEN is also the
colour of holly, of leaves, of the forest.
YELLOW is only ever hair
GREY can be eyes, dogs, the hair old men and the sea.
Some examples from the rural world:
A white horse is always a GREY.
The red coat of a huntsman is PINK
A cow can be RED
A Royal footnote: One of the many nicknames given to King Charles II
(1630-1685, reigned 1661-1685) was that of "The Black Boy". In the many
paintings of him, he is certainly of swarthy complexion, suggestive of the
southern European strain in the family tree, but there is no hint of
anything negroid.
{ There is a public house on the Chichester road not far from where I live
now which is called The Black Boy. When I saw it many years ago, the inn
sign depicted a small negro child in a silk coat and a turban, the kind of
pageboy that was a fashionable accessory during the 18th C. The last time I
passed, the inn sign had been changed - no doubt to spare the feelings of
real people of Afro-Caribbean descent who live in the area - to a portrait
of King Charles II.}
If it hasn't already been done, I think there is material for a dissertation
here.
Getting off-topic again but I think there is some relevance ...
Brenda M. C.
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|