Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson (1 November 1909 – 20 February 1991) was an English

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and a translator who specialised in the

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

. He argued that text of the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...

of tales, written ''circa'' AD 1100, preserved an oral tradition originating some six centuries earlier and reflects

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Irish society of the third and fourth century AD. His ''Celtic Miscellany'' is a popular standard. In retirement, Jackson continued his work on place-names and

Goidelic languages The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...

. However he suffered a stroke in 1984 that restricted his work. An obituary was published in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' on 8 March 1991 and in the journal ''Nomina''.

Early life

Born at

Beddington Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became ...

, Surrey, England, he was the son of Alan Stuart Jackson and his wife, Lucy Hurlstone. His early education was at Hillcrest School, Wallington (1916–19), and then at

Whitgift School Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was prev ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, from 1920 to 1928. He won an open scholarship to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in 1928. He studied under

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

and Nora Chadwick, becoming fluent in six Celtic languages. At

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

he read

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and then studied the early cultures of Ireland and Britain. He was then awarded a travelling scholarship during which he undertook study and fieldwork in Wales and Ireland. In the 1950s he spent his vacations recording dialects for the Linguistic Survey of Scotland.

Academic appointments

Jackson returned to Cambridge in 1934 as a lecturer in Celtic. In 1939 he went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and was appointed an associate professor in 1940, being the first chair of the Department of Celtic Language and Literature. He undertook war service with the Uncommon Languages section of British censorship (where he said he learned Japanese in three weeks). Afterwards he went back to Harvard, and became a full professor in 1948. He accepted the chair of Celtic Languages, History and Antiquities at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, Scotland (1950–1979).

Publications

Jackson is most noted for his 1953 monograph ''Language and History in Early Britain'', described by A. L. F. Rivet and Colin Smith as "a national monument". While at Edinburgh Jackson published articles and books on the ancient

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

, and the Dark Ages and

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, on all six modern Celtic languages, on folklore, placenames and dialects. A bibliography of his publications appears in ''Studia Celtica'' 14/14, pp 5–11 (1979–80). His writings are always insightful and stimulating, often the only sources in English for their subject, and even where the reader may wish to disagree with his conclusions, the weight of his erudition and mastery of the early Celtic material must be taken into account. It is scarcely possible to come across a publication or longer article on Celtic studies that does not refer to Professor Jackson's work. There is also the advantage for those not familiar with the Celtic languages that much of his work is in an English-language medium, although this can make an appreciation of Celtica rather unbalanced, as an understanding of sources in at least Welsh can help develop a larger picture, where different opinions are represented.

List of publications

* 1935. ''Studies in Early Celtic Nature Poetry'', Cambridge: University Press. * 1935. ''Early Welsh Gnomic Poems'', Cardiff, University of Wales Press. *1951, see below 1971 * 1953. ''Language and History in Early Britain: a chronological survey of the Brittonic languages, first to twelfth century A.D.'', Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press. * 1955. "The Pictish Language" in F. T. Wainwright (ed.) ''The Problem of the Picts''. Edinburgh. * 1955. ''Contributions to the Study of Manx Phonology'', University of Edinburgh Linguistic Survey of Scotland Series. * 1959. "The Arthur of History" ''Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages'', Oxford: Clarendon Press. . * 1959. "Arthur in Early Welsh Verse" ''Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages'', Oxford: Clarendon Press. * 1961. "The international popular tale and early Welsh tradition" ''The Gregynog Lectures, 1961'', Cardiff: University of Wales Press. * 1964. ''The Oldest Irish Tradition: a window on the Iron Age'', Cambridge: University Press. Reprinted 1999. * 1967. ''A Historical Phonology of Breton'', Dublin:

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

* 1969. ''The

Gododdin The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britannia, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North (modern south-east Scotland and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known ...

: the Oldest Scottish poem'', Edinburgh: University Press. * 1971. ''A Celtic Miscellany: Translations from the Celtic Literatures''; revised ed. (The Penguin Classics; 247.) Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. (first published by Routledge & Kegan Paul in 1951). Poetry and prose from six Celtic languages, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Breton. * 1990. '' Aislinge Meic Con Glinne'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin,

Other activities

Jackson was a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

(elected 1957) and a Commissioner for the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. He held honorary degrees from universities in England, Wales, Ireland and

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. He was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1985 for his work on Celtic studies. He was an Honorary Fellow of the

Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "str ...

. He was a member of the Council of the English Placename Society for over forty years, being both vice-president and then President. He gave the John Rhys Lecture at the British Academy in 1953 on ''Common Gaelic'', and the 1964 Rede Lecture on ''The Oldest Irish Tradition''. In 1977 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Douglas Grant, Evelyn Ebsworth, Neil Campbell, Arnold Beevers, and Sir Thomas Malcolm Knox. He retired in 1979.

Family

He married Janet Dall Galloway on 12 August 1936. Their two children, Alastar and Stephanie, were born in the United States but brought up in Scotland.

References

* ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * ''Studia Celtica'' 14–15, pp 1–11 (1979–80). * '' The English Placename Society Journal'', Volume 23 pp 49–50 (1991). * ''Studia Celtica'' 26–27, 202–212 (1991–92). * ''

Proceedings of the British Academy The ''Proceedings of the British Academy'' is a series of academic volumes on subjects in the humanities and social sciences. The first volume was published in 1905. Up to 1991, the volumes (appearing annually from 1927) mostly consisted of the te ...

'' 80, pp 319–32 (1993 for 1991). * '' Nomina'' 15, pp 127–29, 1991–2. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Kenneth H. 1909 births 1991 deaths Harvard University faculty Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Arthurian scholars Celtic studies scholars Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Linguists from England Historical linguists Oghamologists Linguists of Pictish Writers from the London Borough of Sutton Phonologists from the United Kingdom Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America People educated at Whitgift School Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_Scotland