0:00:05 > 0:00:07At the end of the 15th century,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10a Scottish notary and teacher called Robert Henryson
0:00:10 > 0:00:14writes a series of animal fables based on the old stories of Aesop.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20Esope myne authour makis mentioun
0:00:20 > 0:00:24of twa myis and thay wer sisteris deir.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29Henryson is little known these days, but experts consider him a master.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34He is the greatest poet, I think, of the 15th century in English or Scots.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Fast-forward over 500 years
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney catches a glimpse
0:00:40 > 0:00:44of an early manuscript of the fables and is spellbound.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50It had a little rooster on the top right-hand corner of the manuscript.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55The rooster was crowing and there was something so jaunty about it.
0:00:55 > 0:00:56Over several years,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Seamus creates a series of modern English translations,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04infused with the language of his rural childhood in Northern Ireland.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07It's absolutely brilliant. It's a wonderful translation.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10And he persuades Scottish actor and comedy legend
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Billy Connolly to record them.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16This country mouse, when winter came, endured cold and hunger.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22I think he's amazing. His reputation swells before him.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Now, five of these fables have been animated for a project
0:01:25 > 0:01:29that Seamus Heaney was working on at the time of his death,
0:01:29 > 0:01:31bringing a modern dimension to tales that were written
0:01:31 > 0:01:34over half a millennium ago,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37with a specially-composed score by international pianist
0:01:37 > 0:01:40and conductor, Barry Douglas.
0:01:40 > 0:01:41This is a very major thing for me.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44It's a new departure and I'm very excited.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49In a moment, the full animated story of The Fox, The Wolf And The Carter
0:01:49 > 0:01:52with an introduction by Seamus Heaney himself
0:01:52 > 0:01:55and, later, some revealing behind-the-scenes footage
0:01:55 > 0:01:58of how these morality tales made it to the screen.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03Five medieval fables are now ready for their second coming.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14The Middle Ages were a time
0:02:14 > 0:02:19when the old tradition was still thriving
0:02:19 > 0:02:23and, among the characters in that tradition,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25one of the most popular,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29maybe THE most popular, was Reynard The Fox, the sly fox.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Also, the cruel wolf.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37And, in the fable about the fox, the wolf and the carter,
0:02:37 > 0:02:43the fox comes out in his old colours as the sly one, the cunning one.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48And, oddly enough, the wolf ends up as the one who is duped at the end.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54The plot begins with the wolf, savage, dangerous,
0:02:54 > 0:02:59roaming the countryside and the fox meets the wolf
0:02:59 > 0:03:01and the wolf decides he needs him as a servant.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08Anyway, it's the season of Lent, when they are meant to be fasting
0:03:08 > 0:03:10and eating fish only.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14And they have no fish until, behold,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18a man with a cartload of fish comes down along the road.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21And, by pretending he's dead,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25the fox manages to get up on top of the load
0:03:25 > 0:03:31and starts to drop out fish for the wolf coming behind,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34until he is spotted, of course, and then he flees.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39And he tricks the wolf into going back for more,
0:03:39 > 0:03:44because he tells him a lie about seeing a huge salmon
0:03:44 > 0:03:48and the wolf gets a terrible beating from the carter
0:03:48 > 0:03:51and the fox goes off free.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55So, at the end, you have the situation reversed.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00The fox is the one who is in charge and the wolf is beaten.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Once upon a time, in a wilderness, according to the author of my tale,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19there lived a wolf, a reiver ravenous.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Around field and fold, freebooting in great style,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26killing, culling, plundering at will.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Showing no fear or favour, he rampaged.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34The strong weren't spared. The weaker ones were savaged.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41One day, when he was on his usual hunt
0:04:41 > 0:04:44He chanced to meet a fox upon the way.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46But fox had spied him and, as was his wont,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51dissembled, acted scared. Bowed. Bade good day.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55"Well met," said he, "Friend wolf." Then, down he lay.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58And wolf falls for it, reaches out his hand
0:04:58 > 0:05:04And says, "Sir fox! Come now. Stop cringing. Stand!
0:05:04 > 0:05:07"Where have you been these ages from my sight?
0:05:07 > 0:05:09"We must link up. You be my agent.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12"Be my hen-snatcher, my roost-raider by night.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15"Creep into coops. Go on a fowling spree."
0:05:17 > 0:05:21"O, sir," said fox, "that's not a job for me.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23"You know what happens. The minute I appear,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27"There's panic in each henhouse, pen and byre."
0:05:27 > 0:05:30"No," cries the wolf. "Not so. For you can creep
0:05:30 > 0:05:34"Low on your knees and nab hens by the head,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37"Can make a sudden tackle on a sheep,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40"Then shake and rake and rack him, till he's dead."
0:05:42 > 0:05:44"Sir," says the fox, "You know my coat is red
0:05:44 > 0:05:47"And so well-watched, in spite of all my cunning,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50"there's not a beast now doesn't see me coming."
0:05:50 > 0:05:53"Still," said the wolf, "By brakes and braes you wend
0:05:53 > 0:05:56"And slink along and steal up on your prey."
0:05:56 > 0:05:59"Sir," said the fox, "you know how these things end.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02"They catch my scent downwind, from far away
0:06:02 > 0:06:05"And scatter fast and leave me in dismay.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08"They could be lying sleeping in a field
0:06:08 > 0:06:12"But once I'm close, they're off. It puts me wild."
0:06:12 > 0:06:15"But", cried the wolf, "You can come down upwind.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18"For every trick, they work, you have a wile."
0:06:20 > 0:06:23"Sir," said the fox, "No beast that isn't blind
0:06:23 > 0:06:26"But could escape from me by many a mile.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29"How can I fend when all my old schemes fail?
0:06:29 > 0:06:33"These pointed ears! These two grey eyes! I'm known.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36"Before I'm seen at all, my cover's gone."
0:06:36 > 0:06:39"Oh," cried the wolf, "I fear you tell a lie.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43"You weave and dodge to keep your secrets safe.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46"You beat about the bush. You're far too sly.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48"But nothing you can say will put me off.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51"Lies and false trails won't give you the last laugh
0:06:51 > 0:06:54"So listen well to what I'm saying to you,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57"do what you're bid. Obey, before you're made to."
0:06:59 > 0:07:03"Sir," said the fox, "It's Lent, you understand,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05"And I can't fish. I dare not wet my feet.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08"I'm starved for a stickleback, for here on land
0:07:08 > 0:07:11"There's not a thing that you or I can eat.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14"But, when Easter comes, when red meat and white meat
0:07:14 > 0:07:17"fall off the bone, when kid and lamb and hen
0:07:17 > 0:07:20"turn on the spits, I'll be your agent, then."
0:07:22 > 0:07:25"So," said the wolf, in rage, "You think you can
0:07:25 > 0:07:29"get round me still? Am I wet behind the ears?
0:07:29 > 0:07:31"I'm far too old for all this carry-on.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35"Where do you think I've been these 30 years?"
0:07:35 > 0:07:38"Sir," said the fox, "For God's sake, calm your fears.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41"You're so far wrong, you don't make any sense:
0:07:41 > 0:07:45"I could hang myself to prove my innocence.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47"But now I see how foolish I have been.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50"No man should ever argue with his boss.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52"I was playing games. In no way did I mean
0:07:52 > 0:07:57"to give offence. So, please, sir, don't be cross.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59"I'm at your service now and will take orders,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02"at any time, wherever, night or day."
0:08:04 > 0:08:06"Well," cried the wolf, "I like well what you say,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09"but, even so, you'll have to swear an oath,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12"to be true to me and put me always first."
0:08:12 > 0:08:16"Fie," cried the fox, "What's this? You doubt my faith?
0:08:16 > 0:08:19"Your suspicions are an insult. I protest!
0:08:21 > 0:08:24"And yet, all right, to set your mind at rest,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27"I swear by Jupiter, on pain of death,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30"I'll keep my word to you while I draw breath."
0:08:30 > 0:08:33With that a carter, with his cart and creels,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36came rattling along and fox took note.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39A whiff of herring hit him in the nostrils
0:08:39 > 0:08:44And he whispers to the wolf, "Can you smell that?
0:08:44 > 0:08:46"It's herring that your man has in that cart
0:08:46 > 0:08:49"and my advice is this - we study ways
0:08:49 > 0:08:53"to lay in fish to tide us through fast days.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56"Now I'm your agent, I have to find supplies,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59"but you don't have two brass pence to rub together.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02"And if I begged and went down on my knees
0:09:02 > 0:09:04"On all fours here before him in the gutter,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08"yon eejit wouldn't hand one herring over.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11"But still, no matter, wait a while and see.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14"I'll put one over on him, presently.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17"The thing is this - if we're to rip him off,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20"you'll have to lend a hand and take a chance
0:09:20 > 0:09:22"For the man who's not prepared to make a move
0:09:22 > 0:09:26"to help himself, I must discountenance.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29"I intend to go to work now all at once.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31"All you need do is walk behind the cart
0:09:31 > 0:09:35"and lift the herring. Thus, each will play his part."
0:09:35 > 0:09:38With that he made a far, free-ranging detour,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Then stretched out in the middle of the road
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Pretending to be dead and making sure
0:09:43 > 0:09:46he looked it, that the whites of his eyes showed
0:09:46 > 0:09:49like one who'd perished there for want of food.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52His tongue lolled out, a hand's breadth from his head,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56as he lay stiff and still. Perfectly dead.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00The carter found the fox and he was glad,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Boasting to himself what he would do...
0:10:03 > 0:10:05"At the next stop, I'll have the fellow flayed
0:10:05 > 0:10:09"And fox-skin mittens cut." Then, heel and toe,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12he danced a dance as lightsome as a doe,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15as if he'd heard a piper playing reels.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Then, paused and gazed and hunkered on his heels.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22"Here lies", he said, "The devil in the ditch.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25"I've never seen the like of it before.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28"Some mongrel mangled you and made dispatch
0:10:28 > 0:10:31"and sank you in that sleep, where you don't snore.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34"So, Sir Fox, you are all the welcomer.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37"Some housewife's curse, some malison, I fear.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40"For raiding roosts has lighted on you here.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43"No pedlar's going to purchase you. Your pelt
0:10:43 > 0:10:46"won't make him gloves or trimmings or a purse.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48"I'm going to keep a hold of it myself
0:10:48 > 0:10:51"and cut and sew it into hand-warmers.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54"It won't be shipped across the sea to Flanders."
0:10:54 > 0:10:57And there and then, he grabbed the fox's heels
0:10:57 > 0:11:00And landed him high up among the creels.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Then, cheerfully, he takes the horse's head.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06The wily fox takes heed and has begun,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08to bite the plug and loosen and unload
0:11:08 > 0:11:11herring from the creel-mouth, one by one.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14A shoal of them, a fish-slide, pouring down.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18The wolf keeps close and gathers them at speed.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22The carter sings, "Halloo," right long and loud.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26But at a burn, he turns and looks about.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29The fox leaps clear and legs it from the creels.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32The carter would have hit a deadly clout,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34but fox has shown a clean pair of heels
0:11:34 > 0:11:38and headed for his den. Then carter howls:
0:11:38 > 0:11:40"A gutting, I'll give you, a herring-treat,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43"a second helping that you'll not forget."
0:11:43 > 0:11:46"Be damned," the fox said, "For we'll never meet.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48"I heard you planning how you'd use my skin.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52"Your hands will never feel those mittens' heat.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55"God's curse you, hellion, you and all your kin.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58"Go sell your goods. I won't be in the bargain.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00"Sell herring at the highest price you can -
0:12:00 > 0:12:04"Whatever herring's left. Farewell, fishman!"
0:12:05 > 0:12:09The carter shook with anger where he stood.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12"It serves me right," he said, "I missed the cur.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14"I should have had a staff of seasoned wood,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18"to hammer him and break his sleekit shoulder."
0:12:18 > 0:12:20With that, he faced the ditch and vaulted over
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and hacked himself a staff and dressed it clean,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28A heavy, hard, straight stick of holly green.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Off went the fox, then, to his boss accomplice
0:12:36 > 0:12:38and found him by the herring, standing guard.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41"Sir," said the fox, "Can I not pierce defences
0:12:41 > 0:12:44"stylishly and well? It is always hard
0:12:44 > 0:12:47"to keep a brave man from his just reward."
0:12:47 > 0:12:51The wolf agreed. He said, "I do confess,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53"you're ever capable and brave and wise.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57"But what", he went on, "Was that idiot shouting,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01"when he hunted you and howled and shook his fist?"
0:13:01 > 0:13:04"Sir," said the fox, "his words are worth repeating.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08"A herring treat, he mocked me, I had missed.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11"A second helping that I'd never taste."
0:13:11 > 0:13:15"And was there such a treat?" "There was. I'd caught it
0:13:15 > 0:13:18"But it weighed too much and nearly tore my teeth out.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21"But truly, boss, if we could land that catch,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24"it would see us through our 40 days of fast."
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Then wolf said, "I will risk it. We must fetch
0:13:28 > 0:13:32"that Lent-feed here. My strong teeth can lay waste
0:13:32 > 0:13:35"to herring-bone and basket-work, I trust."
0:13:35 > 0:13:37"Indeed," the fox replied, "I often wished
0:13:37 > 0:13:40"for your bite and brawn, to help me raise that fish.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43"It's like a side of salmon, more or less,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46"shiny as a partridge eye and luscious.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48"Worth more than all those herring on the grass,
0:13:48 > 0:13:53"three times as tasty, three times more precious."
0:13:53 > 0:13:57"Then," cried the wolf, "Advise me on my course."
0:13:57 > 0:14:01"Sir," said the fox, "Keep strictly to my plan
0:14:01 > 0:14:04"and, all being well, we will outwit our man.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09"First you must make a far, free-ranging detour,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11"Then stretch down in the middle of the road,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14"with head and feet and tail out, making sure
0:14:14 > 0:14:18"your tongue is lolling and your two eyes closed.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21"Then, find a hard support to hold your head
0:14:21 > 0:14:23"And ignoring every threat that may appear,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27"stay motionless until the coof comes near.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30"And though you see a staff, continue quiet.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34"Don't move a muscle and don't be afraid.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37"Keep eyes tight closed, as though they'd been put out.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41"Don't shrink at knee or neck or foot or head.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44"That carter clown will imagine you are dead
0:14:44 > 0:14:46"and quickly lug and lift you by the heels,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49"as he did me, and fling you on the creels."
0:14:52 > 0:14:55"But wait," the wolf says, "For as sure as God,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58"I'll be too weighty for the coof to lift."
0:14:58 > 0:15:01"Sir," said the fox, "He is a hefty bawd.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04"One heave and you'll be high and dry aloft.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07"But this much I can guarantee you -
0:15:07 > 0:15:09"if you haul that herring safely out of there,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12"You needn't fish again till Lent next year.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15"I now say, in principio and pray,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18"a blessing on your body, head to toe.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22"Which means, henceforth, you travel on your way,
0:15:22 > 0:15:28"protected against death. God speed you. Go!"
0:15:28 > 0:15:30Up springs the wolf, then, and away out through
0:15:30 > 0:15:33the gaps and gates, detouring to avoid
0:15:33 > 0:15:35the fishman coming up along the road.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42He makes a sturdy pillow of a stone,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45then stretches out his four feet and his head,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48lets his tongue loll and settles himself down,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52just as the fox instructed, to feign dead.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54He's over any fear he might have had.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58The only thing he thinks is, "Herring-treat."
0:15:58 > 0:16:01The last thing on his mind is fox deceit.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Along the carter comes, then, riding high,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09now that the load is lighter.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12In a rage that fox had fooled him and had got away,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Mad to his get own back. At which stage,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18the wolf comes into view, at his old dodge,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21stiffly stretched in the middle of the road.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25The carter - you'll have guessed - jumps off the load.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Under his breath, he swears, "I was tricked once.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32"Be damned if I am going to be again.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34"The hammering I'll give you in your bones,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37"your friend should have been given first time round."
0:16:37 > 0:16:40With that, he lifts the holly in his hand
0:16:40 > 0:16:43And comes down with such force upon his head,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46the wolf convulsed and very nearly died.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Three blows he bore before he found his feet
0:16:49 > 0:16:52And though he still was strong enough to flee,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56the blows had blinded him. He had been hit so hard
0:16:56 > 0:16:58he hardly saw the light of day.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01The fox, who watched it all from where he lay,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04laughed long and loud at wolf-who-would-be-boss,
0:17:04 > 0:17:09brought to his knees, two-double, in collapse.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Thus, one who's not content with what's enough,
0:17:12 > 0:17:17but covets all deserves to forfeit all.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20The fox, when he saw the sad rout of the wolf,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24thought, "Herring-treat!" And, then, "A bellyful!"
0:17:29 > 0:17:32It takes, you will agree, both neck and skill,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35to teach a boss what's honour among thieves.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37The fox secures his herring hoard and leaves.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42The wolf was lucky to escape alive.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44He had been so unmercifully beaten.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46He limped and could no longer roam nor reive.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50The fox slipped off downwind back to his den,
0:17:51 > 0:17:56Glad to have duped his master and the man.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59The one was missing herring from his creels,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03the other losing ground, blood to the heels.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16As a child, they couldn't keep me from wells
0:18:16 > 0:18:20and old pumps with buckets and windlasses.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25I loved the dark drop, the trapped sky, the smells of water weed,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27fungus and dank moss.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35I heard Seamus Heaney in an interview once
0:18:35 > 0:18:38describe his childhood in Bellaghy
0:18:38 > 0:18:40as being almost medieval.
0:18:40 > 0:18:46He speaks about going to the pump to pump water,
0:18:46 > 0:18:51watching his father plough the fields with horses and his early poetry
0:18:51 > 0:18:55is littered with that rural environment that shaped him.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58When you dragged out long roots from the soft mulch,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01a white face hovered over the bottom.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Seamus's background, the farming background,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08means he's very firmly localised in an agricultural kind of context,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10in the same way that Henryson
0:19:10 > 0:19:12or, for that matter, Burns were, of course.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14He certainly belongs to that whole tradition
0:19:14 > 0:19:16and always felt that he was.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22And he constantly stresses that the way he saw poetry was influenced
0:19:22 > 0:19:26by that commonsensical, grounded background that he came out of.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29But it was always there. The background was always there,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32in the same way that it's always there for Henryson.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36So, I think he appreciates in Henryson that capacity
0:19:36 > 0:19:40to write the parish, write about the local, as a way of dealing
0:19:40 > 0:19:44with these huge universal themes of morality, justice, of greed,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48of charity and that's also an important aim of Heaney's work.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51And they even said that you could take the man from the bog,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54but you couldn't take the bog from the man.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57And maybe you couldn't take the bog from the man
0:19:57 > 0:19:59because he remembered it with such affection.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03The American poet Robert Frost had a phrase called
0:20:03 > 0:20:07the sound of sense, which was not accent, but more cadence,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11rhythm, the contours of your speech.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14What he means is that, for getting the full sense of something,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17the way it is expressed, the sound in which it is expressed,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19is crucial to the meaning of it, as well.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23And Henryson's sound of sense
0:20:23 > 0:20:25is something I was familiar with, I think.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Then, heel and toe,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29he danced a dance, as lightsome as a doe,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32as if he'd heard a piper playing reels,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35then paused and gazed and hunkered on his heels.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39I did it, on the whole, fairly fast.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42I mean, not all at once - on and off.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44But I went and hid myself for two or three days
0:20:44 > 0:20:48and got into the swing of the rhymes and so on and I was able to
0:20:48 > 0:20:52use words that I hadn't used
0:20:52 > 0:20:55or even heard since I was a lad.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Like "heckling", "scutching" and so on.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05Things like that were like little hooks to hang the whole thing on.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08The flax grew ripe, the farmer pulled it green,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12combed and dressed the seed-heads, stooked the beets,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14then buried it and steeped it in the burn.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Spread and dried it, beetled the stalks to bits
0:21:18 > 0:21:22and scutched and heckled all to tow in plaits.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25His wife then spun a linen thread from it
0:21:25 > 0:21:28which the fowler took and wove into a net.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31And this, of course, is the terminology of flax farming.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Still, you know, words like "stooked the beets", "beetled the stalks"
0:21:35 > 0:21:38and so on. You have to know that language to see what is being
0:21:38 > 0:21:40described and, of course, they're the same words.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43They are, word for word, the same ones that Henryson is using
0:21:43 > 0:21:45the late 15th century.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49The lynt ryipit, the carll pullit the lyne,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53rippillit the bollis and in beitis set,
0:21:53 > 0:21:57it steipit in the burne and dryit syne.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Henryson writes in Scots,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03but it's the same language as Ulster Scots, really, and,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06of course, Seamus Heaney is the great exemplar
0:22:06 > 0:22:08of the poetic virtues of Ulster Scots.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15In the case of Henryson, of course, he has got carte blanche to pay
0:22:15 > 0:22:18homage to Ulster Scots and I think that was part of the attraction.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22But, at a burn, he turns and looks about,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25the fox leaps clear and legs it from the creels.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29This is not just a totally mainstream translation into English.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31This is an English translation
0:22:31 > 0:22:34with these wonderful Ulster Scotsisms here and there,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37which add to the humour and to the profundity.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39You know, he doesn't use Ulster Scots just for a laugh,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43so to speak, though that is one of the important functions of it.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46The carter shook with anger where he stood.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50"It serves me right," he said, "I missed the cur.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52"I should have had a staff of seasoned wood
0:22:52 > 0:22:55"to hammer him and break his sleekit shoulder."
0:22:55 > 0:22:57The one that caught my attention is the word "sleekit",
0:22:57 > 0:23:02which is my most favourite Scottish word. Sleekit,
0:23:02 > 0:23:08meaning sly and untrustworthy. Sleek, oily to the touch.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Sleekit. I've accused many people of it. Many politicians.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14I'd say, "I wouldn't vote for him. He's got sleekit eyes."
0:23:14 > 0:23:16"A gutting I'll give you, a herring treat,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19"a second helping that you'll not forget."
0:23:19 > 0:23:21He's a wonderful translator.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25He's got that extraordinary gift of being able to represent
0:23:25 > 0:23:28the original, giving the full value to the original,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32and also have it in his own voice and that's a real art.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35"God curse you, hellion, you and all your kin.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38"Go sell your goods. I won't be in the bargain.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40"Sell herring at the highest price you can -
0:23:40 > 0:23:42"whatever herring's left."
0:23:42 > 0:23:44In the case of Henryson,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Heaney is recovering a poet little known
0:23:47 > 0:23:51and, outside Scotland, very rarely taught.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54So, he's recuperating a voice, in an attempt to reanimate
0:23:54 > 0:23:56medieval literature, particularly.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59And the form of the piece allows us to do that,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03because we can read Henryson on the left and Heaney on the right.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Our eye can flit between the two
0:24:05 > 0:24:09and, I think, part of what Heaney does with this is to shine light
0:24:09 > 0:24:12back on Henryson, as well as offering his own translation
0:24:12 > 0:24:15and some of those translations are innovations.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Like, you know, words like "gobshite" or "songsters" or other little
0:24:19 > 0:24:23dialect words that, kind of, creep in that are Heaney's innovation
0:24:23 > 0:24:25but I think there's also, kind of, an act of reverence
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and respect for the original.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30He'll try and stay, sometimes, as close to the Scots as he can,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33but on other occasions, he'll just step out
0:24:33 > 0:24:34and do his own thing.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39There's a lovely example at the end of the fable of The Two Mice,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42where the country mouse, having visited her urban sister,
0:24:42 > 0:24:47finally returns to her own home and the Scots says...
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Bot I hard say scho passit to hir den
0:24:50 > 0:24:54Als warme as woll suppose it wes not greit,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Full beinly stuffit baith but and ben
0:24:57 > 0:25:00Of beinis and nuttis, peis, ry, and quheit.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04There's lots of wordplay there because "full beinly stuffit"
0:25:04 > 0:25:07in Scots means, very comfortably stuffed
0:25:07 > 0:25:11and Seamus does something really simple and charming.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Though, I have heard she made it to her nest,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18that was as warm as wool, if small and strait.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Packed snugly from back wall to chimney breast,
0:25:21 > 0:25:26with peas and nuts and beans and rye and wheat.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30"Packed snugly" is exactly right for "full beinly stuffit".
0:25:30 > 0:25:35It gets that sense of the small, happy, snug world of the mouse.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Fantastic. Just fantastic.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44So, he doesn't mind changing their vocabulary of Henryson
0:25:44 > 0:25:47in all kinds of problematic ways for the scholar of Henryson.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Because Henryson is speaking to his contemporary situation.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Heaney has decided that, in order to make Henryson speak
0:25:53 > 0:25:57to our contemporary situation, he needs to honour
0:25:57 > 0:26:00the meter of the poem, rhyme royal,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03but not so much honour the vocabulary of it.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07So, rhyme royal is a very difficult seven-line stanza
0:26:07 > 0:26:11that starts as if it's going to rhyme A, B, A, B
0:26:11 > 0:26:15and then, as it continues, it adds another B rhyme and then C, C.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19So, line five has to participate in both patterns. It puts a lot
0:26:19 > 0:26:23of pressure on line five and the poet has to be really adept
0:26:23 > 0:26:26at finding the extra B rhyme and making it work,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30both in the first half of the poem and the second half of the poem.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33And each stanza finishes in a couplet,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35so it's great for long narrative,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39but it's also very good for summing up that sense that you've
0:26:39 > 0:26:41got to the end of something.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Of course, it's not the same as Henryson. Some things it misses.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09It does some things better, other things not as well.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12But it becomes a new poem in its own right.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15And it makes new this text, which was precisely what Henryson
0:27:15 > 0:27:18was doing with his Latin Aesop that he had.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20He was making a new poem out of an old text.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22And, in exactly the same way, I think,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Heaney was making it new for the 21st century in the same way
0:27:25 > 0:27:29that Henryson made this ancient text new for the 15th century.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33The drive to own possessions makes men blind.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Avarice rampant is renamed success.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40But they forget the carter comes behind,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44to spoil the sport and void what they invest.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47The hollow of the wave follows the crest.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50I, therefore, counsel all concerned -
0:27:50 > 0:27:55remember Carter, fox and wolf, and what they stand for.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00The loss of Seamus Heaney is incalculable, really.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05It's, kind of, unbearable. The world of poetry as a whole was...
0:28:05 > 0:28:10was not just kept alive by him, but was made serious by him.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15He couldn't be taken lightly and, since he died
0:28:15 > 0:28:17and the shock of that, there is, really, a real sense
0:28:17 > 0:28:21of emptiness, I think, of waiting for the, you know,
0:28:21 > 0:28:26literary world to find some other kind of prop that he provided always
0:28:26 > 0:28:30and provided always with such good humour, of course,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32and such generosity.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36It's...it's very hard to see what happens next, really.