Editing William Barnes

{{Short description|English writer, clergyman and philologist (1801–1886)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = priest
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Reverend]]
| name = William Barnes
| image = William Barnes poet.jpg
| caption = Rev. William Barnes
| birth_date = {{birth date|1801|2|22|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bagber]], Dorset, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1886|10|7|1801|2|22|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Winterborne Came]], Dorset, England
| buried = [[St Peter's Church, Winterborne Came]], Dorset, England
| nationality = English
| occupation = {{hlist |Poet |Anglican priest |philologist}}
| religion = [[Anglican]]
| alma_mater = [[St John's College, Cambridge]]
}}

'''William Barnes''' (22 February 1801 – 7 October 1886) was an English [[polymath]],<ref name=phillips/> writer, poet, [[philologist]],<ref name=Brittanica>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Barnes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707001605/https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Barnes|title=William Barnes|archive-date=7 July 2015|access-date=30 July 2020|author=Encyclopædia Britannica|author-link=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> priest, mathematician,<ref name=poetry/> [[engraving]] artist<ref name=hyams/> and inventor.<ref name=poetry>{{cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-barnes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004070813/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-barnes|title=William Barnes|archive-date=4 October 2018|access-date=30 July 2020|author=Poetry Foundation|author-link=Poetry Foundation}}</ref> He wrote over 800 poems, some in [[West Country dialects|Dorset dialect]], and much other work, including a comprehensive [[English grammar]] quoting from more than 70 different languages.<ref name=phillips>{{cite book|last=Phillips|first=Andrew|title=The Rebirth of England and the English: The Vision of William Barnes|year=1996|publisher=Anglo-Saxon Books|isbn=1-898281-17-3}}</ref> A [[Linguistic purism in English|linguistic purist]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Johnson: What might have been|url=https://www.economist.com/prospero/2014/01/28/johnson-what-might-have-been|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|url-access=subscription|date=28 January 2014|access-date=31 July 2020}}</ref> Barnes strongly advocated against [[loanword|borrowing foreign words]] into English, and instead supported the use and proliferation of "strong old Anglo-Saxon speech".<ref>{{cite book|last=Barnes|first=Williams|title=An Outline of English Speech-Craft|year=1878|publisher=[[Charles Kegan Paul|C. Kegan Paul & Co.]]}}</ref>

==Life and work==
Barnes was born in the parish of [[Bagber]], Dorset, to John Barnes, a tenant-farmer in the [[Blackmore Vale|Vale of Blackmore]].<ref name=alumni/> The younger Barnes's formal education finished when he was 13 years old.<ref name=hyams>{{cite book |title=Dorset |first=John |last=Hyams |publisher=[[Pavilion Books|B. T. Batsford]] |year=1970 |pages=151–52 |isbn=0-7134-0066-8}}</ref> Between 1818 and 1823 he worked in [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]], the county town, as a solicitor's clerk,<ref>{{cite book|title=A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature|first=John William|last=Cousin|publisher=[[J. M. Dent]]|year=1910|pages=25–26}}</ref> then moved to [[Mere, Wiltshire|Mere]] in neighbouring [[Wiltshire]] and opened a school.<ref name=hyams/> While he was there he began writing poetry in the [[West Country dialects|Dorset dialect]], as well as studying several languages—Italian, [[Persian language|Persian]], German and French, in addition to [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]]—playing musical instruments (violin, piano, and flute) and practising wood-engraving.<ref name=hyams/> He married Julia Miles, the daughter of an [[exciseman]] from Dorchester, in 1827. In 1835 he moved back to the county town, where again he ran a school<ref name=hyams/> at first located on Durngate Street and subsequently on South Street. By a further move, within South Street, the school became a neighbour of an architect's practice in which [[Thomas Hardy]] was an apprentice. The architect John Hicks was interested in literature and the classics, and when disputes about grammar occurred in the practice, Hardy visited Barnes for authoritative opinions.<ref name=hyams/> Barnes's other literary friends included [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Lord Tennyson]] and [[Gerard Manley Hopkins]]. He was a teetotaller and [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]].<ref>Gregory, James. (2002). [https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/467032/2/886115_v.2.pdf "The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c. 1840–1901"]. eprints.soton.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2022.</ref>

[[File:The Grave of William Barnes - Winterborne Came.jpg|left|thumb|160px|Barnes's memorial and grave at [[St Peter's Church, Winterborne Came]]]]

Barnes was ordained into the [[Church of England]] in 1847, taking a [[Bachelor of Divinity|BD degree]] from [[St John's College, Cambridge]], in 1851.<ref name=alumni>{{acad|id=BNS838W|name=Barnes, William}}</ref> He served curacies at [[Whitcombe Church]] in [[Whitcombe, Dorset]], from 1847 to 1852, and again from 1862. He became [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[St Peter's Church, Winterborne Came]], with [[Winterborne Farringdon]], Dorset, from 1862 to his death. Shortly before his death, he was visited at [[Old Came Rectory]] by Thomas Hardy and [[Edmund Gosse]]; in a letter, Gosse wrote that Barnes was "dying as picturesquely as he lived":{{quote|text=We found him in bed in his study, his face turned to the window, where the light came streaming in through flowering plants, his brown books on all sides of him save one, the wall behind him being hung with old green tapestry. He had a scarlet bedgown on, a kind of soft biretta of dark red wool on his head, from which his long white hair escaped on to the pillow; his grey beard, grown very long, upon his breast; his complexion, which you recollect as richly bronzed, has become blanched by keeping indoors, and is now waxily white where it is not waxily pink; the blue eyes, half shut, restless under languid lids.|author=in ''The Life of William Barnes'' (1887) by [[Lucy Baxter|Leader Scott]], p. 325, quoted in ''Highways & Byways in Dorset'' (Macmillan & Co. Ltd, 1906) by [[Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet|Sir Frederick Treves]], pp. 364–5}}

{{Quote box |align=right |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
 |quote=<poem>
'''"The Fall"'''

The length o' days ageän do shrink
   An' flowers be thin in meäd, among
   The eegrass a-sheenèn bright, along
Brook upon brook, an' brink by brink.

   Noo starlèns do rise in vlock on wing—
   Noo goocoo in nest-green leaves do sound—
   Noo swallows be now a-wheelèn round—
Dip after dip, an' swing by swing.

   The wheat that did leätely rustle thick
   Is now up in mows that still be new,
   An' yollow bevore the sky o' blue—
Tip after tip, an' rick by rick.

   While now I can walk a dusty mile
   I'll teäke me a day, while days be clear,
   To vind a vew friends that still be dear,
Feäce after feäce, an' smile by smile.</poem>
 |source =<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52366/the-fall-56d230c5633dd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006211518/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52366/the-fall-56d230c5633dd|title=The Fall|archive-date=6 October 2018|access-date=30 July 2020|author=Poetry Foundation|author-link=Poetry Foundation}}</ref> }}

Barnes first contributed the Dorset dialect poems for which he is best known to periodicals, including Macmillan's Magazine; a collection in book form ''Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect'', was published in 1844. A second collection ''Hwomely Rhymes'' followed in 1858, and a third collection in 1863; a combined edition appeared in 1879. A "translation", ''Poems of Rural Life in Common English'' had already appeared in 1868. His philological works include ''Philological Grammar'' (1854), ''Se Gefylsta, an Anglo-Saxon Delectus'' (1849), ''Tiw, or a View of Roots'' (1862), and a ''Glossary of Dorset Dialect'' (1863), and among his other writings is a slim volume on "the Advantages of a More Common Adoption of The Mathematics as a Branch of Education, or Subject of Study", published in 1834.

Barnes is buried in Winterborne Came churchyard beneath a [[Celtic cross]]. The plinth of the cross has the inscription: 'In Memory of William Barnes, Died 7 October 1886. Aged 86 Years. For 24 Years Rector of this Parish. This Memorial was raised to his Memory by his Children and Grandchildren."<ref name="IoEcross">{{NHLE |num=1303898 |desc=Barnes Monument 3 Metres South of Nave of Church of St Peter |access-date=19 October 2010}}</ref> On 4 February 1889 a bronze statue of William Barnes by [[Edwin Roscoe Mullins]] (1848–1907) was unveiled outside St Peter's Church in High West Street, [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester.]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=23 January 2019|title=In Praise of Dorset and of William Barnes|url=https://oldshirburnian.org.uk/in-praise-of-dorset-and-william-barnes/|access-date=10 October 2020|website=The Old Shirburnian Society|language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] set to music four of Barnes' poems: "My Orcha'd in Lindèn Lea" and "Blackmwore Maidens" in their "Common English" versions ("Linden Lea" and "Blackmwore by the Stour", respectively), "The Winter's Willow", and "In the Spring".

===Linguistic purism===
{{further|Linguistic purism in English}}
Barnes had a strong interest in linguistics; he was fluent in [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin]], French, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Hindi]], Italian, Russian, [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and [[Old English]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poets/barnes-william|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628044931/https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poets/barnes-william|title=William Barnes|archive-date=28 June 2012|access-date=30 July 2020|author=University of Toronto Libraries|author-link=University of Toronto Libraries}}</ref> He called for the [[Linguistic purism in English|purification of English]] by removal of Greek, Latin and foreign influences so that it might be better understood by those without a classical education. His coinages included such words as ''sun-print'' for ''photograph'', ''wortlore'' for ''botany'', and ''welkinfire'' for ''meteor''. His strain of purism resembles the later "blue-eyed English" of composer [[Percy Grainger]], and in certain instances the terms in David Cowley's ''How We'd Talk if the English had WON in 1066''.

===Style===
Uniquely fond of the Dorset dialect, which he felt to be particularly near to English's [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon roots]],<ref>{{cite book |title=The People's Poet: William Barnes of Dorset |first=Alan |last=Chedzoy |publisher=[[The History Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0752472409}}</ref> Barnes wrote many of his poems in the local parlance of Dorset. Additionally, as well as avoiding the use of foreign words in his poetry, Barnes frequently employed [[alliterative verse]], the repetition of consonantal sounds. Examples of this can be heard in the lines "Do lean down low in Linden Lea" and "In our abode in Arby Wood".

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
{{wikisource author}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [[British literature]]
* [[West Country dialects]]
* [[Lucy Baxter]], Barnes's third daughter who wrote ''The Life of William Barnes: Poet and Philologist'' (1887) under the name "Leader Scott"
* [[T. L. Burton]], author of several books on Barnes's poetry

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|William Barnes}}
* [http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/barnes.htm William Barnes' Grave]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Barnes, William |short=x}}
* [http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poets/barnes-william William Barnes] at [[University of Toronto Libraries]]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=Barnes,+William }}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=William Barnes}}
* {{Librivox author |id=9542}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090301000720/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/barnes/william/ ''Poems of Rural Life, in the Dorset dialect'']  (complete) at [https://web.archive.org/web/20071012100614/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ eBooks@Adelaide] 
*[https://poetrue.com/poet/en/Barnes_William Selected poems by William Barnes]
* [https://www.google.com/books/pdf/Poems_of_Rural_Life_in_The_Dorset_Dialec.pdf?id=dF4JAAAAQAAJ&output=pdf&sig=teNYb8h0M0RC6EtQOJwwNNlE-os ''Poems of Rural Life, in the Dorset dialect, First collection'' (Third edition, 1862), full text at Google]
* [https://www.google.com/books/pdf/Hwomely_Rhymes.pdf?id=UQ4_AAAAIAAJ&output=pdf&sig=rLMqAw5AiGfEOknHjcYBhKGcZRY ''Hwomely Rhymes: A Second Collection of Poems in the Dorset Dialect'' (1859), full text at Google]
* [https://www.google.com/books/pdf/poems_of_rural_life_in_the_dorset_dialec.pdf?id=Y14JAAAAQAAJ&output=pdf&sig=Xd0VBLpJtcpzWU-1tsWRTnltt5U ''Poems of Rural Life, in the Dorset Dialect, Third Collection'' (1862), full text at Google]

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, William}}

[[Category:1801 births]]
[[Category:1886 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:19th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:19th-century English poets]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Burials in Dorset]]
[[Category:English male poets]]
[[Category:English philologists]]
[[Category:Writers from Dorset]]
[[Category:Artists from Dorset]]
[[Category:People from Mere, Wiltshire]]