Conference tallis::celt

886.0. "Prof. Kenneth Jackson obituary" by SYSTEM::COCKBURN (Airson Alba Ur) Tue Apr 09 1991 08:52

All,
    The article below appeared in the Scotsman on 23-Feb-91 and was read out 
in our Gaelic class which was on that weekend. 

As Prof. Kenneth Jackson was born and raised in the South East of England,
but went on to become fluent in all 6 Celtic languages, there is clearly
hope for us all, wherever we live. 

Also, I hope readers here will find the references in the article below useful.

Finally, the English Times didn't report the death till 8-Mar-91. Even though
my Scottish papers arrive several days late down here, they're still sometimes
weeks ahead of the English papers when it comes to reporting events north of
the border!

-----

Professor Kenneth Jackson, CBE, FPA : Brilliant Celtic Scholar

Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson, emeritus professor of Celtic Studies at Edinburgh
University, died on Wednesday. He was 81.

Professor William Gillies, his successor in the chair, writes:

Kenneth Jackson was one of the giants of Celtic Scholarship in this century
and one of the last generation to attain pre-eminence in the study of all
the Celtic languages. He contributed seminal publications in philology,
literature and history, and was as much at home dealing with the ancient
Celts as in the study of modern dialects and folk tales. He brought erudition,
rigour and sensitivity to bear on an astonishing range of topics and made a
profound mark on Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Manx, Cornish and Breton
Scholarship.

Born in Croydon in 1909, he crowned a brilliant school career at Whitgift
by winning an Open Scholarship in Classics to St John's College, Cambridge.
There he was esteemed as one of the most promising young classicists of his
age. But although he retained a life-long esteem and love for Latin and
Greek, he was becoming increasingly attracted to the riches of the native
insular traditions, both British and Saxon.

After duly taking his First with distinction in the Classical Tripos, he began
serious study in this new field of interest under the tutelage of Hector Munro
Chadwick who, with his wife Nora Kershaw Chadwick, was at that time producing
the comparative study of the Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic cultures of North
West Europe.

His allegiance to this new discipline was to prove fruitful in the extreme.
Completing his studies at Cambridge, he went to Wales to work under Ifor 
Williams and to Ireland, where he studied under Osborn Bergin, Myles Dinton
and Gerard Murphy. A fellowship at St John's and a university lectureship in
Celtic brought him back to Cambridge from 1934 to 1939, a period which saw
the publication of his first editions of Celtic texts, and the mature and
penetrating study "Early Celtic Nature Poetry".

In 1939 he was appointed Professor of Celtic at Harvard, where he continued
to serve, apart from a period of war service with the Uncommon Languages
section of the British Imperial Censorship, (he performed the notable feat
of qualifying as a censor in 23 languages), until 1949, when he was called
to succeed Dillion in the chair of Celtic at Edinburgh University.

It is difficult to know where to begin an account of Kenneth Jackson's
scholarly contributions during his Edinburgh years. Pride of place amongst
his publications should probably go to the magisterial "Language and
History in Early Britain" (1953), which set on a firm footing all future
research into the history and development of the British language spoken
by the Celtic inhabitants of Britain in Roman times, as it developed into
the distinct branches that we know as Welsh, Cornish and Breton. His
other books include the impressive "Historical Phonology of Breton" (1967),
"The Gododdin" (1969) and "The Gaelic notes in the book of Deer" (1972).
Nor should one omit mention of his immensely successful book of translations
from the Celtic literatures, "A Celtic miscellany" (1951). [Published by
Penguin I think, my teacher recommends this -CC]

The published works do not tell the whole story. Kenneth Jackson was keenly
interested in every aspect of the Celtic presence in Scotland and gave 
sterling service over many years to the Royal Commission for the Ancient
and Historical Monuments of Scotland, the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland and the Trustees of the National Museum.

His authority and experience were powerfully present in encouraging the
growth of interest in folklore studies in the nascent School of Scottish
Studies at Edinburgh University, and he devoted an immense amount of time
and labour to the Gaelic work of the Linguistic Survey of Scotland.

He was for many years a fellow of the British Academy and was also an 
honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy, amongst many other scholarly
appointments and services. Public recognition of his stature came also in
the form of honorary degrees from the National University of Ireland,
the National University of Wales and from the University of Rennes.

Kenneth Jackson set himself the highest standards of scholarship and 
expected them of others. Preparing for his classes was a challenging, 
even a daunting experience. Most students survived, however, and his
past pupils include a high proportion who have pursued successful
academic careers both in the British Isles and overseas.

No-one who knew him believed that his retirement in 1979 would result in
any relaxation from his intellectual and scholarly pursuits. On the
contrary, he saw retirement from increasing administrative burdens of a
professorship as a means to devoting more time to scholarly projects.

Although he was not spared to complete his long-projected history of the
Gaelic languages, the publication in 1990 of his masterly edition of the
splendid Middle Irish satirical extravaganza "Aislinge Meic Con Clinne"
(The dream of Mac Con Glinne) makes a major addition to the burden of
debt which Celtic scholars, and medievalists generally, owe to his
prodigious labours. his passing leaves a gap which will not easily
be filled; his personal kindness, geniality and wisdom readily shared
will be equally missed. Our thoughts go out to his wife Janet, and to
Alastar and Stephanie.