Re: Have you always dreamed of become a high payed consultant?

[Ed Guy <address@hidden>]

Alistair Maclean wrote:
> 
> In article <3DE6D0CE.6AA2@paralynx.com>, Ed Guy <ed_guy@paralynx.com>
> writes
> >However, you forget that the French DID conquer England in 1066
> Definitely wrong. Normans were not French as there was no such thing at
> that time (apart from some vague notional concept).

True, the Normans were the "North Men", having invaded and taken over as rulers of that 
part of France.  However, as was made clear in a recent TV series "Blood of the 
Vikings", a large number of their troops were ethnically French (i.e. longer time 
dwellers in what we now call France).  "Guy" is a French name (derived from an old 
German one, not Norse) and there plenty of "Guys" with the Normans.

There were even some Scots returning to Britain.  A friend of mine is named "Lamont", 
which he says was derived from "Lomond" and that his ancestors went from Scotland to 
France, francisied their name and returned in 1066.

> >and the language
> >known
> >today as English is one of the results.
> 
> It is debatable as to how much English owes to the Normans but it is
> definitely rooted in Anglo-Saxon with elements of Norse, Gaelic (chiefly
> Welsh) and Danish. 

We were taught that the language shows how Normans were the ruling class.  The names of 
foods in English often come from the French (e.g."Beef") while the names of the animals 
("Cow") come from Anglo Saxon - because the Saxons looked after the animals while the 
Normans only ate them.

> However, this is really an argument for another
> newsgroup. Unless you are arguing that Cobol is intrinsically
> French/Norman?

It's a linguistic issue.  We were taught Latin to give us an idea of the operation of a 
highly structured language in order to better understand grammar. COBOL hadn't been 
invented then. While I was learning COBOL in the mid 1960s I often thought that it 
should replace Latin in the schools fro that purpose.


> > From the old records it looks as if
> >that was
> >when my ancestors showed up in the UK.
> >
> >They love me in Quebec when I talk about how my ancestors licked the Anglo
> >Saxons at
> >Hastings.
> >
> The Japanese have a word: Gekokujo. The low overcoming the high. In
> Japan it refers to the act of the low breed ashigaru (peasant foot
> soldiers) displacing their high breed samurai masters in armies and
> society. In our context it would refer to the success of the Anglo-Saxon
> population in assimilating their new 'masters'.

In this case they apparently married them.  I was born on the East coast of England - 
which was dominated by Vikings at one time.  I knew from Domesday Book that the Guys 
were there in the late 11th century (direct line records to me only from 1580, though - 
the Church started keeping them then).  I was surprised to see in the same TV program 
that Viking blood carries a genetically linked problem (Dupuyton's Contracture) - which 
my father had, and so did my grandmother.  So I guess I'm also the result of 
assimilation.

-- 
Ed Guy P.Eng,CDP,MIEE
Information Technology Consultant
Internet: ed_guy@NOSPAMguysoftware.com  remove NOSPAM from email address.
http://www.guysoftware.com
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