James, Richard

Gates of the Newport Cemetery on Isle of Wight

Born in Newport ( Isle of Wight ) the third son of Andrew James and his wife Dorothy, daughter of Philip Pur from Darrington, Wiltshire. Thomas James, the first librarian at the Oxford Bodley Library , was his uncle. Richard studied grammar at Newport, and then enrolled at Exter College, Oxford on May 6, 1608. On September 23 of the same year, he moved to Corpus Christi College, where he received all possible degrees, including a bachelor of theology.

Becoming a pastor, he began to travel. Visited Wales and Scotland , then Shetland and Greenland . Then it was time for his journey to Muscovy. The embassy, ​​of which James was a member, led by Sir arrived in Moscow on January 19, 1619 and lived here until August 20, when he returned to Arkhangelsk . Russian researchers believe that he did not have time to board the ship and remained in the North until about 1620; Western indicate that he was in Breslau , in Silesia, already in 1618, but they did not have full clarity and mention that rumors about his death were spread during this period ^[2] .

He then visited Breslau and Newfoundland, and returned home to Oxford in January 1623. In 1624, he was invited by John Selden to study the Arundel collection , and in a work published in 1628 by Marmora Arundeliana, Selden thanked James. He was soon introduced to Sir Robert Bruce Cotton , who invited him to become the first librarian of the Cotton Library he founded. In July 1629, he presented to Sir Oliver St. John a treatise on curbing parliament, written in 1612 by Sir Robert Dudley (the illegitimate son of the famous Dudley ). St. John secretly distributed the manuscript to the leaders of Parliament, Charles I and his ministers expressed dissatisfaction, and James, Cotton and others were imprisoned in the fall of 1629 by order of the Privy Council. Probably, with the other defendants, James was released on the occasion of the birth of the Prince of Wales on May 29, 1630.

On October 22, 1629, James received a profitable parish in Little Mongeham, Kent is the only church pulpit that he had in his life. After the death of Sir Robert Cotton in 1631, James remained in the service of his son, Sir Thomas, in whose house in December 1638 he died of a four-day malaria attack.

He was buried in St. Margaret's Church in Westminster on December 8.

I have never been married. Some of his early poems are dedicated to a lady whom he calls Albina. Later, she will become the wife of a certain Philip Woodhouse. His circle of friends and scholars included Ben Johnson and many theologians, antiquaries, and writers of his era.

He knew German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Latin and Greek. Apparently, he got acquainted with the Russian language and Russian writing even before traveling to Russia ^[3] . In 1636 he wrote the poem Iter Lancastrense (printed in 1845). In 1880, a collection of his poems was published.

In the 1840s, Academician I. Kh. Gamel found a “booklet” (of five notebooks) in the Bodleian Library in Oxford among the papers of Richard James, where, among other things, six lyro-epic Russian songs were recorded. Most of James's notebooks were occupied by his diary dictionary (the first Russian-English dictionary in history ^[4] ), notes on the country, mores and customs. This manuscript has now been lost. Lyrics for the first time printed in " News ORYAS " (1852). The scientific publication of songs - with photocopies, accurate reproduction of texts and experience of reconstruction, with notes and an article - was carried out by P. K. Simoni in 1907 ^[5] . The scientific edition of James's dictionary was carried out by B.A. Larin in 1959.

Dictionary

Researchers at James's dictionary note: “the author of the dictionary often tries to describe the realities of Russian life and semantize the Russian words that designate them as having European (Belgian, German, Welsh, Scottish, English) analogues ... R. James also successfully uses the reverse trick: sometimes he tries to imagine realities Russian life and everyday life as some easily recognizable variety of European life and everyday life ” ^[6] .

• baesman (steelyard) - scott. bismar; kind of weights
• cheremit (wild leek) - Welsh. Crow, English wild wild garlic
• olhadi (fritters) - Belgian krapelen, a kind of fried flatbread
• kissel (kissel) - Scottish oatmeal; Welsh sweet porridge
• gusli (gusli) - genus of the Russian harp
• domra (domra) - the genus of the Russian lute

Due to the comments (in English and Latin) to the words and phenomena of Russian life, the dictionary, which began as an ordinary bilingual, is gradually growing.

From a linguistic point of view, James's dictionary is a very valuable source on the Russian language of the 17th century, reflecting a large number of words not previously recorded in Russian or foreign records. James was a philologist who knew Greek and Latin, and in Russia he learned Russian literacy; his notes are not a simple recount for English phonetics, but rather accurately reflect the pronunciation and stress he heard in Kholmogory. James's entries reflect the vocabulary of a trading city, where not only the characteristic dialectal features of the Russian North are present, but also the vocabulary and phonetics of newcomers.

From the notes of Richard James:

• Samoed - this people are so called Russians - as if autoborox, which is believable - like the ones we saw there devouring, like the raw insides of dogs, foxes and bears ^[7] .
• ... the miracle people near Kolmograd since ancient times the so-called, which spoke a language different from Samoyeds and Lapps; they are no longer there.
• Prozvishe is the nickname given by the mother along with the godfather, and Russians are usually called by this name.
• Maimanto - a sea elephant that no one has ever seen ... according to the Samoyeds, he himself breaks his way underground, and therefore they find his teeth, horns and bones on Pechora and Novaya Zemlya
• Hohol - locks of hair on the head worn by Poles, Persians, Turks and Tatars. [They] leave a round lock of hair on a shaved head at the very top ^[6] .
• Zic is an echo. The most delightful echo sounds at 20-30 versts beyond the Trinity , where it is heard deep in the woods on the sands with more harmony than playing on two organs.
• Dub - Oaks grow so close to Novgorod that four people cannot hold them hand in hand.
• Cherwaruga (stellate stellate sturgeon) - a long large fish from near Astrakhan, is very tasty and healthier than the beluga and sturgeon, caviar is prepared from its caviar.
• Xolashnaboi (fist fight) - Those who recently mutilated each other with all their fists, kicks, teeth, a few days later, meeting, friendly greetings.
• Morum ( miro ) is a kind of medicine, thick as olive oil, which, when baptized, is anointed on their forehead, chin, cheeks, palms, shoulders and chest against the heart. This is what they say to their co-religionists: “ Odna morum mazona ” (Mazans are one world), that is, we are anointed with one oil. And without this, they will not recognize anyone as Christians.
• Vera - this is the name of both belief and religion, and in addition, all mores and customs, and when you ask about one or the other, they say “ vera nassha ” (our faith) or “ vera takova ” (such is faith).
• Kulich is a special egg and butter bread that Russians give each other for Easter.
• Aprishnoi (Oprichnik) - this means "individual people." They [tsar] Ivan Vasilievich showed special mercy, and no laws were applied to them; they went in a special outfit. (...) Among them, or thanks to them and the British, they could then do what they wanted, without receiving any orders or penalties from anyone.
• Razorinia (ruin) - rout, massacre. So the Russians call the ruin and burning of Moscow and the bloodshed committed by the Poles.
• Inazemets - a foreigner foreigner. The big difference here is between the Dutchman and the Englishman, who is called that, and not "nemchinoy."
• Ancipherus (Antsifer = Lucifer + Antichrist in the popular perception) - this is what people told Mr. Cara because we did not observe proper religious rites in due time.
• Niet hodakov (no walkers) - so one answered me when I asked if people could not go to the Ob .
• Movogorodski - Novgorod penny. In ancient times, coin minting was in ancient times, then on it was an image of a horseman with a saber (rev. From the “pique”), and on some - with a mace, which they call a “sword”, and the coin was then called not a penny, but a saber. The coinage was later transferred to Moscow, and in the image the spears were called a penny, and other coins were called Moscow money.

Judging by the analysis of words, James's dictionary primarily reflects the language and life of the Russian North ^[6] , where he spent a long time in Kholmogory .

Songs

The themes of five of these songs relate to the events of the late XVI - early XVII centuries, and one song of the “warriors” speaks of the difficulties of the “winter service” and that the “spring service” is “fun for the hammers, and joy for the heart”. None of these songs were preserved in a later oral transmission, but they have an undeniable connection with the poetics of the song and belong to urban folklore of the early 17th century. ^[8] .

V.V. Danilov examined the recorded songs and expressed his point of view, which consists in the fact that:

• the collection was compiled in Moscow at the large Embassy yard , where the English embassy lived (he does not agree with the version that the songs were recorded in Arkhangelsk)
• songs introduced into it developed in the trading and service environment of Moscow
• the authors of these songs were closely acquainted with the official views on the events depicted: they either reflect the views of the Godunov party, or they point out the hostile environment of the supporters of V. Shuisky , then they depict Skopin-Shuisky's death unfriendly to the boyar government, or they tell in the spirit of the new dynasty about the return from the Polish captivity of the Patriarch Filaret .

Not everyone agrees with him:

N.A. Krinichnaya addressed the question of whether the song was the fruit of folk art ( F.I. Buslaev , L.N. Maykov , N.S. Tikhonravov , Em. Kale, S.K. Shambinago, V.I. Ignatov) or a court literary work (point of view of V.V. Danilov, A.I. Stender-Petersen, V.K. Sokolova), and came to the conclusion that the text is neither literary nor folklore in the proper sense of the word and that “The author of the song should be sought in the middle strata of the capital.

- ^[9] .

List of Songs

1. The song about the spring service is probably a marching song that it is better to serve in spring than in winter.
2. A song about the ensuing governor Prince Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky who followed the death of the people’s feelings after his poisoning
3. The first cry of Princess Ksenia Godunova Godunova - two songs of the collection contain variations of the same motive - crying Ksenia Godunova over her bitter fate, they repeat the size and main lines.
4. Song about the entry into Moscow of Patriarch Filaret Nikitich returning from Lithuanian captivity
5. The second cry of Ksenia Borisovna Godunova
6. The song about the invasion of the Crimean Tatars in Russia in 1572 - see the Battle of Molodi

• In addition to these songs recorded by the Russians for James, his Dictionary (on the last page) contains a Latin song written by James himself in Latin: “Geese-peasants, knockers- priests, swans-noblemen, lice-flocks ...”, versions of which are known in later records. Perhaps acquaintance with Russian folklore gave James the idea to turn to a local person for a more perfect recording of texts.

• The song “That is not a great cloud clogged up ...”, sounding in the film “ Ivan Vasilievich Changes the Profession ”, was borrowed with minor changes from the play by M. A. Bulgakov “ Ivan Vasilievich ”, the author of which, in turn, used the text recorded for Richard James. An excerpt from Bulgakov (“A strong cloud didn’t clatter ... And not strong thunders struck ... Where the Crimean Tsar’s dog was going ...”) is closer to the source than the text that sounds in the film.
• In the film “ 1612 ” a crying song is written, written on “verses of Ksenia Godunova herself” and music by Alexey Rybnikov, performer Zventa Sventana. (Researchers, however, point out that the song is hardly written by Godunova and simply narrates on her behalf).

• John Tradescant Sr.
• Parisian dictionary of Muscovites
• Ludolph, Heinrich Wilhelm
• Gamel, Joseph Khristianovich

• Great Russian songs from the notes of the bachelor Richard James // Historical anthology of Church Slavonic and Old Russian languages ​​/ Comp. F. Buslaev . - M .: Univ. typ., 1861. - St. 1031-1039
• Songs recorded for Richard James in 1619-1620 // PLDR. The end of the XVI beginning of the XVII centuries. - M .: Hood. literature, 1987.
• Songs recorded for Richard James in 1619-1620 // BLDR . - SPb. : Nauka, 2006. - T. 15. - S. 458-463. - 530 s.

• Simoni P.K. Notes Rich. James about chudy, lopars, Samoyeds and cheremis. "Collection of the Leningrad Island of Culture Researchers of the Finno-Ugric peoples." - L. , 1929, I
• Larin B. A. Russian-English Dictionary Dictionary of Richard James. - L .: Publishing house of the Leningrad University, 1959. - 424 p.

• Buslaev F. Russian poetry of the XVII century // Historical essays of Russian literature and art . - SPb. , 1861. - T. I. - S. 470-547.