Goode Friendes and Readers of Yn The
Middel and readeres and scolers and teacheres and studentes arounde the
globe of the Erthe,
Yt doth fill my litel herte wyth gret
happinesse to invyte yow to the fifthe yeare of a moost blisful and plesinge
celebracioun.
On the first daye of Aprille, lat us make
tyme to take joye yn alle langages that are yclept ‘old,’ or ‘middel,’ or
‘auncient,’ or ‘archaic,’ or, alas, even ‘dead.’
Thys feest ys yclept ‘Whan That Aprille
Day.’ For thys yeare yt ys: 'Whan That Aprille Day 18.' Forget nat the
"-le" yn Aprille. #WhanThatAprilleDay18
Ich do invyte yow to joyne me and manye
othir goode folk yn a celebracioun across the entyre globe of the erthe. Yn
thys celebracioun we shal reade of oold bokes yn sondrye oold tonges. We shal
singe olde songes. We shal playe olde playes. Eny oold tonge will do, and eny
maner of readinge. Al thogh thys holidaye dyd start wyth my writinge on blog
and twytter yn Middel Englisshe, yet let that nat limit yn no waye the reache
and capaciousnesse of thys growinge holidaye. All are welcome that come wyth
love and understandinge to all. All are welcome that looke to the studye of the
past nat to proppe up dustye tradiciouns but to builde a bettir and just and
peaceful and lovinge future. We shal make merrye yn the magical dreamscape of
'social media,' and eke, yf ye kan do yt, yn the material plane of the 'real
worlde' as wel.
Ye maye, paraventure, wisshe to reade from
the beginning of my Tales of
Caunterburye, but ye maye also wisshe to reade of eny
oothir boke or texte or scroll or manuscript that ye love. Ye maye even reade
the poetrye of John
Gower yf that ys yower thinge.
What are sum wayes to celebrate Whan That
Aprille Daye?
Gentil frendes, yf yt wolde plese yow to
celebrate Whan That Aprille Daye 2018, ye koude do eny of the followinge. Be
sure to use the hasshe-tagge #WhanThatAprilleDay18 on yower poostes of
twytter and facebooke and blogge.
• Counte downe to Whan That Aprille Daye wyth postes and
readinges.
• Maken a video of yowerself readinge (or singinge! or actinge!)
and share yt on the grete webbe of the internette.
• Planne a partye at yower classroome or hous to celebrate oolde
langages, and poost pictures to the ynternette.
• Read auncient langages to yower catte, and the catte shal be
moost mirthful.
• Make sum maner of cake or pastrye wyth oold wordes upon yt, and
feest upon yt wyth good folke and share pictures of yower festivitee. (And yet
beware the catte that shal seke to eaten of the icinge yn the hours of
derkenesse bifor the celebracioun.)
• Yf ye be bold, ye maye wisshe to share yower readinge yn
publique, yn a slam of poesye or a nighte of open mic. (Bringe the catte?)
• Yf ye worke wyth an organisatioun or scole, ye maye wisshe to
plan sum maner of event, large or smal, to share writinge yn oold langages.
(Policy for cattes at eventes?)
• And for maximum Aprillenesse, marke all tweetes and poostes
wyth the hashtagge #WhanThatAprilleDay18 – remember the ‘Whan’ and ‘Aprille.’
What ys the poynte of Whan That Aprille
Daye?
Ower mission ys to celebrate al the
langages that have come bifor, and alle their joyes and sorrowes and richesse.
Ower mission ys to remynde folk of the
beautye and grete lovelinesse of studyinge the wordes of the past. And thys ys
for all wordes, of all tonges, and no tonge ys bettir than eny othir and all
are belovid of all. And eke ower mission ys to bringe to mynde the importaunce
of supportinge the scolership and labour that doth bringe thes wordes to us. To
remynde folk to support the techinge of paleographye and of archival werke and eek, ywis, the techinge of thes oold
langages. To remynde folk of the gret blisse and joye of research libraryes and
the gret wysdam and expertyse of the libraryans that care for them across the
centuryes. To call to mynde the fundinge of the humanityes, the which ys lyke
the light of the sonne on the plantes of learninge and knowledge. For wythout
al of thes thinges, the past wolde have no wordes for us and we wolde be left
mirtheless.
Ower mission ys also to have ynogh funne
to last until next Whan That Aprille Daye.
Note that thys event doth also coincide
wyth Aprille Fooles Daye, the which ys fyne by cause we do love thes langages
and alle who love are yn sum maner also fooles.
Thys yeare also (2018), yf ye do celebraten
Easter on April the fyrste, thanne ye koude alwayes extend Whan That Aprille
Daye to Mondaye and do yower WTAD eventes then. And yt will brighen uppe a
Mondaye!
Ich do hope wyth al myn herte that that
sum of yow good folke will joyne me on thys April first (or secounde) for
readinge and celebratinge and foolinge. Lat us maken melodye on #WhanThatAprilleDay18
Wyth muchel love and admiracioun
Le Vostre
GC
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