Speech Guide
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The purpose of this Guide is to help our Actors learn to speak "Renaissance" English. English, as it was spoken in the 16th century, was a far different, and much richer language than our lazy American speech. With the advent of the printing press, books were far more available than in the past, and many Renaissance people could read. Most farming peasants could not, of course, but the effects were obvious. The Renaissance English was a florid, beautiful language, filled with originality and a sense of delight in the spoken word. The easiest way to see this speech in action, is to read the plays of William Shakespeare. Although most of his plays were written after the reign of Elizabeth I, they reflect quite accurately the language of the times. The Merry Wives of Windsor is an especially beneficial play to look over. You can access this play for no charge through the Internet at: http://www.litrix.com/merchven/merry001.htm The Litrix Reading Room is an excellent source of Shakespeare's plays, and it is totally without charge, proving some people still value the Bard's words. Now, let's start from the beginning of a conversation.
Greetings and Titles: So now you have a greeting to use when you meet someone. But...what are you going to call that person? Well, that all depends on what the person standing in front of you is like. Is he an elderly man? You could say Good day, good sir. In fact, you can use that greeting for almost any male of any social station. Is it an elderly peasant? You could say Good day to thee, Father, or Good day to thee Gaffer (Gaffer is short for grandfather). This would be more of an affectionate greeting than a respectful one, though. Or, you could say Good day, old lad, but this would be considered quite rude unless you too are an elderly man. Do you know his name? You could say Good day, Gaffer Jones, or Good day Father Culpepper! (And no, you are not implying that he's a priest, Father is just a term of respect.) Is this person an elderly woman? You can say Good day, Good Mistress. That is neutral and polite. Or you could say, Good day to thee, Gammer, which is short for grandmother. You could say, Good day me old lass, if you happened to be her old lad. And you can always address her by her name: Good day, Mistress Smith. Are you facing a respectable man of adult years? You can address him as Sire or as Master. This is courteous without being servile. Is his profession obvious? Does he carry a bow and arrows, or does he wear a leather apron and carry a hammer? Or perhaps he has a mandolin on his shoulder? You could say Good day, Master Archer, or Master Blacksmith, or Master Musician. Or course if you know his name, that's what you call him by. Is he a peasant? You can say, Good morrow, Goodman or even Good my man-about the most polite way possible to greet him while acknowledging the he's poorer than you are (if he is). He would take no offense at such a greeting, either: he'd assume you were a nice, courteous person. And courtesy meant a lot in this age. Is this a woman you see before you, of mature years? Good day, good mistress is just about right. So is Good Lady. Is this a homey, housewifely person? You can call her Good Mother or Goodwife or even Good Gossip. Is this a fine, lusty young fellow you are greeting? You can say Good day, my fine lad. Or is it a young lady? Again, you could use lady, or mistress. If you feel like being flattering, you can call her sweet mistress, dear mistress, fair mistress or what you will. By the way, there is no dirty joke here: you are not implying that she is your "mistress" in the modern sense. Mistress was simply the 16th century form of "Ms." It was a polite title making no reference to her marital status or rank. If you're being quite flirtatious, you can call her pretty maid, sweet lass or even sweetheart. Is it a little boy? Little sir, little master, young lad will all do well. Simply to call him "boy" would be rude, and what we are discussing here is courteous address. Is it a little girl? Obviously, you can call her little mistress, little lady, little lass. You can also call her little wench. And about the term wench. Wench, in this day and age, didn't mean "slut". It did not mean doxy, whore, bawd, or anything insulting. It simply meant girl. A woman's father, or husband or close friends might all call her wench, very affectionately. And...while we're on the subject: Three Forms of Address You Do NOT Use In Polite Conversation: Sirrah. This is not a form of the word sir. It is an insult, and you use it on bad little boys, lazy servants, and any male you wish to infer is a lying rogue. Sire: You might address your King as sire, but there is no King on the throne of England or Scotland in the time period we are dealing with. You do not use it as a substitute for sir. Anyway, it sounds medieval. Fellow: Innocent as this word sounds to us, the average Elizabethan male appears to have felt insulted being addressed merely as fellow. Apparently, it had the same general meaning as dude, or pal. Now, what if this person in front of you is a noble man or woman? Forget their age or appearance: it would be foolish and rude to refer to either, unless you are noble yourself. You say My lord, my lady, your worship, noble sir, noble lady, noble madam, good my lord, good my lady. If there is a pair of them, say Good gentles. You now have a greeting appropriate to the person to whom you are speaking. The two of you stand there and shoot the breeze for a moment, and then it's time to go. How do you say good-bye?
Some of this depends on you. If your character is well-bred, or thinks they are, you might say Adieu. If you're an ordinary person, you might say:
You may also just say anon, which means, "I'll see you later," but it doesn't have the vagueness of the modern expression. It means I WILL see you at a specific time later in a specific place. And now you've met, greeted and bid goodbye to a fellow villager. Congratulations!
Yes, No, Etc. What about catch phrases to liven up your speech? Here are some lovely things you can stick in your conversation, and their approximate 20th century meanings.
Where you would say, "No way, really?" you can now say:
Where you would normally say, "Wow!" you can now say:
Where you would say, "Excuse me, " you can now say:
Where you would say, "Please," you can now say:
Where you would say, "Thank you," now say:
Where normally you would say, "Darnit!", say:
Whatever your favorite 20th century expletive is, it's a safe bet that it's anachronistic. Instead, here is a list of rather colourful terms for you to use instead.
If you'd like a few examples of 16th century verbal abuse, here are a few that could be of use to you:
If you care to swear BY something, as in to lend credence to your words, you can swear by:
Or they swore by the ancient Roman gods and mythic characters, not by the Greek ones. They considered the Romans to have been nobler. The English also believed they were descended from the noble Romans, thanks to some rather imaginative history by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Men also swore by their beards, by their swords, by their honours- all that "macho" stuff- or by the tools of their trades, if they were commoners. A smith might swear "By my hammer and tongs!". Men and women also swore by the Saints, especially their patron saints. Hunt up a copy of Lives of the Saints for a full listing of Saints and what they stood for.
Women did not swear as much, and if they did, it was by their honour, modesty, chastity or maidenhead. Of course, if your character is obviously lacking the latter, it's always amusing to swear by it anyhow.
Whereas, "How art thou?" would be appropriately said to:
If you think about the above, you can see that nobody ever, but EVER calls the Queen thou; and she doesn't have to call anybody you-unless she talks to her horse. Don't make the mistake of assuming that thee and thou are only two different forms of the same word. They aren't. Thou is the subject of sentences, as in "What hast thou done?" and thee is the object of sentences, as in "I shall tell thee a secret."
And what about all those antique verb forms- those ost, est and eth words? Behold, here are some examples all nicely conjugated for you-to show you what person gets the funny endings:
As you can see, the antique verbs are used with the second person intimate, or the third person-never with the first person.
Here's the possessive forms:
Now, what about "Ye"? "Ye" is the plural of both you and thou. It's used when addressing a crowd of people, as in "Hear ye, hear ye." Or "O come, all ye faithful." Occasionally, it's used as s sort of slang contraction for you or thou, "D'ye hear me?" or "I tell ye true." Simple-right? But this tiny little word has a perfectly huge mistake often associated with it. "Ye" is not now, or has never been, synonymous with the word "the." Now, let's also keep in mind that people in the 16th century spoke more slowly, and used more imaginative speech than people do today. Not only did double positives (she is much more beautifuller than her sister) not sound out of place, they sounded refined. People tried to make their speech romantic, interesting and picturesque. Being that there were no movies, radios, telephones, televisions...people had limited forms of entertainment, and the most popular and accessible form was good conversation. Try to sound as authentic as possible while talking not only to the paying customer, but also to the other people working at the Faire. The walls have ears, kittens. People that overhear authentic speech will be under the spell of Faire, it makes it just that much better. Volunteer Application Form | Costuming | Renaissance Speech Guide | Site Rules and Expectations |
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