Basil Cottle
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Arthur Basil Cottle (17 March 1917 – 13 May 1994) was a British
grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...
ian,
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
. He lived most of his life in
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
.


Early life and education

Cottle was born in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
on 17 March 1917. He was the younger son of Arthur Bertram Cottle (1881–1964), a clerk, and Cecile Mary Bennett, a schoolmistress. He attended Howard Gardens Secondary School in Cardiff, where his precocious talents came to the notice of Evan Frederic Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar (1893–1949), Welsh poet, author, occultist and convert to Roman Catholicism, who gave Cottle the use of the extensive library at
Tredegar House Tredegar House (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Tŷ Tredegar'') is a 17th-century Charles II of England, Charles II-era mansion in Coedkernew, on the southwestern edge of Newport, Wales. For over five hundred years it was home to the Morgan family, late ...
. A prolonged and severe bout of rheumatic fever in his early teens permanently affected his eyesight and he subsequently completely lost sight in his right eye. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, Cottle went on to the
University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...
, where he obtained a double first in English and Latin, and a second in Greek, his favourite subject. Whilst there he became a protege of Dr Victor Erle Nash-Williams (1897–1955), Keeper of the Department of Archaeology at the National Museum of Wales, and lecturer in archaeology from whom he developed a lifelong interest in Roman and early Celtic Christianity and
epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
. Cottle was encouraged by Nash-Williams to become a museum curator but he eventually trained as a schoolmaster, gaining a first in education at Cardiff, and taught at
Cowbridge Grammar School Cowbridge Grammar School was one of the best-known schools in Wales until its closure in 1974. It was replaced by Cowbridge Comprehensive School. Founded in the 17th century by Sir John Stradling, 1st Baronet, Sir John Stradling and refounde ...
.


Second World War

At the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Cottle was judged to be medically unfit for active service and instead became a private in the Royal Pioneer Corps, stationed at
Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...
. Whilst serving there, in May 1941, he witnessed the Liverpool Custom House burn down in a German air raid. Later, he was transferred to the Royal Army Educational Corps and rose to the rank of Sergeant-Major. In 1942 he was billeted with the Iredale family in Workington while attached to a coastal regiment of the Royal Artillery during his attachment with the AEC. Here he forged a life-long friendship with the two Iredale sisters, one of whom Hilda Queenie, published a volume on Thomas Traherne in 1935 and deepened Cottle's knowledge and appreciation of the work of the Welsh metaphysical poet, Henry Vaughan, "the Silurist". Both Traherne and Vaughan became favourite poets of Cottle's. He later taught generations of Bristol students to appreciate their works. Eventually Cottle received a commission and was transferred to
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
in 1943, where he read decoded Enigma messages. In 1945 he was transferred to the Albanian section of the Foreign Office during the civil war between the Zoggists and the Communists. Whilst there, he compiled an
Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...
Grammar and Syntax for use by the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
. Amongst those who were transferred to his staff was the Bristol-educated linguist, Stuart Edward Mann (1905–1986), who had traveled to Albania in the 1930s, subsequently wrote a historical grammar of Albanian. Mann had a rich fund of anecdotes about the country in general, and of King Zog and his sisters in particular, whose English tutor he had been, and which Cottle frequently and dramatically recounted.


Academic career

In 1946, Cottle took a position as an assistant lecturer in the department of English in the
University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
. In 1962, he became a senior lecturer, and in 1976 a reader in
mediaeval studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. A historian who studies medieval studies is called a medievalist. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening ...
. He taught courses on the Greek lyric, for Professor H. D. F. Kitto, F.B.A. (1897–1982), on pre-Norman Irish art and architecture, the Anglo-Saxons, Middle English, Names, and on the Bristol Romantics. Cottle was an expert on the writings of the Accrington poet Janie Whittaker (1877–1933), and the Welsh Nonconformist minister, the Revd Henry Maurice (1634–1682), an Independent, who had formerly held the living of Church Stretton, and whose journal for the year of Indulgence, 1672, belonged to him. He described himself as a Welshman, an amateur herald, and an Anglican, and he was immensely proud of his Welsh roots. This led him to bequeath his extensive library to St Woolos Cathedral, Newport, where his remains are buried. His students at Bristol included the novelist Deborah Moggach, and the Middle English scholar, Thomas Lingen Burton, emeritus professor of English at the University of Adelaide. Cottle's life-long interest in
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
led to his involvement in the excavation of Keynsham Abbey by the Bristol Folk House. He became the president of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society and was elected a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...
. A fourth generation Primitive Methodist, the grandson and great-grandson of local preachers, he was confirmed into the
Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...
in 1942 and thereafter became an active and forceful supporter of the liturgy of the Established Church, the Book of Common Prayer, the 39 Articles, and the Authorized Version of the Bible. Successively churchwarden of four Bristol churches – St. Mary Redcliffe; St. Paul's (the centre of the Anglican Chaplaincy to the university); St. George's, Brandon Hill; and latterly Christ Church with St Ewen, Broad Street – he was an active member of the Bristol Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches. He befriended numerous clergy and ordinands in the diocese, and through his roles as Sub Warden, successively at Wills Hall (1947–1948), and from 1948 to 1972 at Burwalls, he was an influential figure in the lives of many generations of undergraduates. Following his retirement in 1982 he remained active as a lecturer and reviewer, and in 1987 a group of his former colleagues and students celebrated his contribution to the study of Middle English by presenting him with a festschrift, ''Medieval Literature and Antiquities: Studies in Honour of Basil Cottle'', edited by Myra Stokes and T.L. Burton. His extensive private and academic papers are held in the Special Collections of the University of Bristol, class mark GB 3 DM 1582


Works

*''The Life of a University'' (by Basil Cottle and J W Sherborne – J. W. Arrowsmith for The University of Bristol, 1951, 1957) *''St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol'' (Mardon, Son & Hall, Bristol, 1957) *''The Life (1770–1853), Writings and Literary Relationships of Joseph Cottle of Bristol'' (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Bristol, 1958) *''City of Bristol’’ one of three articles in ‘’Bristol: A Booklet to Commemorate the Seventy-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry'' (J W Arrowsmith for the Chemical Industry, 1960) *''Thomas Chatterton'' (Historical Association – Bristol Branch, 1963) *''The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames'' (Penguin, 1967) *''The Triumph of English 1350–1400'' (History and Literature Series – Blandford Press, 1969) *''The Plight of English'' (Arlington House, 1975) *''Robert Southey'' (Historical Association – Bristol Branch, 1980) *''Names'' (Thames & Hudson, 1983) *''The Language of Literature: English Grammar in Action'' (Macmillan, 1985) *''Joseph Cottle of Bristol'' (Historical Association – Bristol Branch, 1987) *''Medieval Literature and Antiquities: Studies in Honour of Basil Cottle'' edited by Myra F. K. Stokes & T. L. Burton (D S Brewer, 1987) *''All the Cathedrals of France'', edited by Nicholas A. Lee (Unicorn Press, 2002) *" Joseph Cottle and the Romantics: The Life of a Bristol Publisher", edited by Myra F. K. Stokes (Bristol, Redcliffe Press, 2008) *''A Grand Gossip: the Bletchley Park Diary of Basil Cottle 1943–1945'', edited by James and Judith Hodsdon (Hobnob Press, 2017)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottle, Basil 1917 births 1994 deaths Writers from Cardiff Alumni of the University of Wales Royal Pioneer Corps soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Welsh archaeologists 20th-century Welsh historians 20th-century Welsh writers Linguists from Wales British cryptographers Royal Army Educational Corps soldiers Academics of the University of Bristol Bletchley Park people Military personnel from Cardiff