Translation Help
Helen Morcom
My name is Helen and I am currently researching into my ancestors.
It's interesting but I have hit a hurdle...a memorial that is written
in latin. Would anyone be able to put me out of my misery and
translate the following text for me? I have copied it as it is spelt
on the memorial (except for the accents as I have no way of typing
them) and also as it has been laid out. I have attempted to translate
it myself but I am not confident that I have done it correctly because
I cannot make any sense of parts of it. It goes like this:
MEMORIAE MERITIS
CL:D:EDOVARDI AYSCOGHE DE KELSEY IN COM;LINCOLN:EQVITIS
AVRATI.EXANTIQVA' HANSARDO FAMILIA ORIVNDI,ET VXORIS EIVS
OPTIS:MERTIS:ESTHERIS THOMAE GRANTHAM ARMIGRI FILIAE:OBIERVNT ILLE
MART:DIE 9 AN:D:1612
ANIGRAM}EDOUARDUS AYSCOGHE
GAUDES (10) CHARUS DEO
CLARVS IMAGINIBVS PROAVM SED MENTIS HONESTAE
CLARIOR,EXEMPLIS,INTEGRITATE,FIDE
VNA TIBI CON IVX,VNI QVAE IVNCTA,BEATAS
FECERAT,ET NOCTES,ET SINE LITE DIES
PRAEMISSI NON AMISSI
PROFVITHIC PATRIA FRANCISCVS STRENVVSALMVS BELLO MARE SVO PACE SVO
INGENIO
FRANCISCVS AYSCOGHE EQVES AVRATVS PATER INFRA POSITI DNI EDOVARDI
VXOR TVAVT VITIS FRVGEFERA ERIT IN LATERIB DOVS TVAE & FILII TVI SICVS
PLAN TAE OLIVAM IN CIRCVITV MENS.TVAE ECCE SIC BENEDICETVR VIR QVI
TVMVERIT DOMINVM PSALM CXXVIII
Using a latin-english dictionary and latin translation software that I
downloaded I translated this...
Remembrance earned/deserved.
Into with Edward Ayscoghe Lincoln gilded knight.
(Exantiqva) Hansard household descended and wife of the same
power,Esther,the daughter of Thomas Grantham bearer of arms. They will
hurt that March of the day 9.1612.
Anigram}Edward Ayscoghe rejoice to the dear God.
Distinct ancestral likelessnes but distinguished of the mind, clear
example of integrity, honesty.
The rest of the latin text I cannot make good sense of at all.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thankyou, Helen
John Briggs
Memorials to the merits
> Into with Edward Ayscoghe Lincoln gilded knight.
To (?the dear departed?) Sir Edward Ayscoghe of Kelsey in Lincolnshire,
Knight
>
> (Exantiqva) Hansard household descended and wife of the same
descended from the ancient family of Hansard,
> power,Esther,the daughter of Thomas Grantham bearer of arms. They will
and his (?chosen merit?) wife Esther [or Hester], daughter of Thomas
Grantham, Esquire.
> hurt that March of the day 9.1612.
>
They died the 9th day of March, 1612.
> Anigram}Edward Ayscoghe rejoice to the dear God.
>
Rejoice (hurrah!) in the dear God.
[Either you or your ancestors couldn't spell "Anagram"!]
> Distinct ancestral likelessnes but distinguished of the mind, clear
> example of integrity, honesty.
>
Clearly shown by likenesses, but of honest mind, more clearly by example, by
integrity, by faith.
One spouse to you, one which is united, may he/she be happy, and the nights,
and the days without strife are gone before, not lost.
The vigorous, kind Francis advanced this country in war, at sea, by his
peace, his character.
Sir Francis Ayscoghe, Knight, the father, was placed within by Edward.
"Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine upon the walls of thine house;
Thy children like the olive-branches round about thy table.
Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord." Psalm 128
--
John Briggs
Edwin Menes
the stone? The reason I ask is that some of the words need to be
expanded, and that a translation in some places is easier with different
punctuation.
CL D is a problem. My guess is 'Cl(ari) D(omini)'--'of the famous (or
well-known) Lord Edward . . .
There was a discussion in this group a few months ago also about the
Latin terms for various grades of English nobility. If I recall it
correctly, 'eques auratus' is an earl, and 'armiger' is a squire--or
esquire (as Mr. Briggs says.).
'Uxoris eius optis mertis Estheris . . . '--I would take optis mertis to
be optimis meritis--'his very well deserving wife'. The phrase is an
ablative of description, but it's difficult to get a good word for
'meritis' in a literal translation.
Is 'ille' accurate. As written it seems to mean 'They died, he on March
9 . . .' but don't find an 'and she . . .'
The anagram means, 'You rejoice, dear to the Lord'--which is a
statement, I think, of the man's heavenly status.
In the next line, I take 'proavm' to be 'proav(oru)m', and I would take
out the comma after 'clarior' and translate: 'Well-known for the images
of his ancestors (i.e. his lineage), better known for the examples,
integrity, and fidelity of his honorable mind.'
The next two lines are an elegiac couplet: 'The wife, your only one, who
was joined to only one man, made your nights happy and your days without
quarrel.' 'Praemissi' etc. I take to be a separate sentence: '(The
days) are past, not lost.'
The following two lines also appear to be an elegiac couplet but the
transcription offers a couple of puzzles. If it is supposed to mean 'he
benefited his country' (which I'm sure is the intention), then 'patria'
should be 'patriae'? Is there a mark about the a? Also, 'mare' must
conceal something else because the form is not ablative. 'He benefited
his country in war by means of his [mare], in peace by means of his
talent.'
'Earl (?) Francis Ayscoghe, father of Lord Edward placed below (= buried
here).'
John Briggs
> Are all the letters and squiggles included, and is the punctuation on
> the stone? The reason I ask is that some of the words need to be
> expanded, and that a translation in some places is easier with different
> punctuation.
>
> CL D is a problem. My guess is 'Cl(ari) D(omini)'--'of the famous (or
> well-known) Lord Edward . . .
>
> There was a discussion in this group a few months ago also about the
> Latin terms for various grades of English nobility. If I recall it
> correctly, 'eques auratus' is an earl, and 'armiger' is a squire--or
> esquire (as Mr. Briggs says.).
>
No, "eques auratus" is "knight" (something to do with gold on the spurs)
No, "Sir ...". And lord only in the sense of 'lord of the manor'. 'Master'
isn't quite right either. I believe "Dominus" is the correct form of
address for someone with a university degree.
Dominus Ioannes Brixius
--
John Briggs
John Briggs
>
> Is 'ille' accurate. As written it seems to mean 'They died, he on March
> 9 . . .' but don't find an 'and she . . .'
>
and still there because nobody hired a stonemason! (Particularly if the
widow departed to *her* family home, and was buried there.)
--
John Briggs
John Briggs
> Hello,
> My name is Helen and I am currently researching into my ancestors.
> It's interesting but I have hit a hurdle...a memorial that is written
> in latin.
Whereabouts is the monument?
--
John Briggs
Edward Casey
"Helen Morcom" <cocc...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:f9bfe588.03082...@posting.google.com...
> Hello,
> My name is Helen and I am currently researching into my ancestors.
> It's interesting but I have hit a hurdle...a memorial that is written
> in latin. Would anyone be able to put me out of my misery and
> translate the following text for me? I have copied it as it is spelt
> on the memorial (except for the accents as I have no way of typing
> them) and also as it has been laid out. I have attempted to translate
> it myself but I am not confident that I have done it correctly because
> I cannot make any sense of parts of it. It goes like this:
> MEMORIAE MERITIS [dative dative?]
> CL:D:EDOVARDI AYSCOGHE DE KELSEY IN COM;LINCOLN:EQVITIS
> AVRATI.EXANTIQVA' HANSARDO FAMILIA ORIVNDI,ET VXORIS EIVS
> OPTatIS [optimis?]:MERiTIS:ESTHERIS THOMAE GRANTHAM ARMIGeRI
FILIAE:OBIERVNT ILLE [illi]
> MART:DIE 9 AN:D:1612
To the deserving (sainted) memory of the distinguished Sir (Mister) Edward
Ayscoghe of Kelsey in County (Shire?) Lincoln, a knight bachelor [with
right to bear gilded armour] scion of the ancient Hansard family and of
his wife [ a woman] of singular merits, Esther the daughter of Thomas
Grantham, Esquire, (they) died on the 9th of March anno Domini 1612.
>
> ANI[*a]GRAM}EDOUARDUS AYSCOGHE
> GAUDES (10) [io] CHARUS DEO
>
Dear to God, you delight [io is interjection expressing the joy of
triumph= Yay, Hooray or something]
> CLARVS IMAGINIBVS PROAVM SED MENTIS HONESTAE
> CLARIOR,EXEMPLIS,INTEGRITATE,FIDE
>
Illustrious among the portraits? of [your] ancestors [proavūm?] but more
distinguished for [your] honesty of mind, examples, integrity, faith.
> VNA TIBI CON IVX,VNI QVAE IVNCTA,BEATAS
> FECERAT,ET NOCTES,ET SINE LITE DIES
> PRAEMISSI NON AMISSI
>
You had one wife and she one husband [for whom] she made the nights happy
and the days without bickering
Sent ahead not lost [husband and wife?]
>
> PROFVIT HIC PATRIA [patriae? ae ligature?] FRANCISCVS STRENVVSALMVS
BELLO MARE SVO [sua?] PACE SVO
> INGENIO
>
This energetic, kind, Francis benefited [his] country in war and at sea
with his tranquillity and his talent.
> FRANCISCVS AYSCOGHE EQVES AVRATVS PATER INFRA POSITI DNI EDOVARDI
Beneath [?], Francis Ayscoghe knight bachelor [as above, with gilded
armour] father of Sir Edward buried [here] beneath (?)
I here below don't understand the above. It seems that father and son (and
wife?) are buried in the same plot. Were there two inscriptions, one made
at the time of the father's death and one at the time of the son's? More
likely it seems that the words about the father are only parenthetical
else there would be a date for the father's death.
>
> VXOR TVA VT VITIS FRVGEFERA ERIT IN LATERIB DOmVS TVAE & FILII TVI SICVS
[*sicut]
> PLANTAE OLIVAM IN CIRCVITV MENS.TVAE ECCE SIC BENEDICETVR VIR QVI
> TVMVERIT [timuerit] DOMINVM PSALM CXXVIII
128th Psalm juxta LXX et juxta Hebraicam versionem:
vitis abundans in lateribus domus tuae filii tui sicut novella olivarum in
circuitu mensae tuae ecce sic benedicetur homo qui timet Dominum... vitis
fructifera in penetralibus domus tuae filii tui sicut germina olivarum in
circuitu mensae tuae ecce sic benedicetur viro [ by attraction into
dative?] qui timet Dominum...
So the above is a conflation of the two versions or a back translation
from the KJV (or maybe just based on another Latin manuscript tradition
that has since been marginalized by modern scholars).
Hopefully, with John Briggs' and my translation you can make more sense of
of the inscription.
Eduardus
John Briggs
>> VXOR TVA VT VITIS FRVGEFERA ERIT IN LATERIB DOmVS TVAE & FILII TVI SICVS
>> [*sicut] PLANTAE OLIVAM IN CIRCVITV MENS.TVAE ECCE SIC BENEDICETVR VIR
>> QVI TVMVERIT [timuerit] DOMINVM PSALM CXXVIII
>
> 128th Psalm juxta LXX et juxta Hebraicam versionem:
> vitis abundans in lateribus domus tuae filii tui sicut novella olivarum in
> circuitu mensae tuae ecce sic benedicetur homo qui timet Dominum... vitis
> fructifera in penetralibus domus tuae filii tui sicut germina olivarum in
> circuitu mensae tuae ecce sic benedicetur viro [ by attraction into
> dative?] qui timet Dominum...
>
> So the above is a conflation of the two versions or a back translation
> from the KJV (or maybe just based on another Latin manuscript tradition
> that has since been marginalized by modern scholars).
>
The King James Bible had only just been published. It's probably the Prayer
Book version of the Psalms - unfortunately I only have a c.1910 translation
of the BCP and not the 1560 translation.
--
John Briggs
John Briggs
To answer my own question: the monument to Sir Edward Ayscough and his wife
is in Stallingborough church, Lincolnshire. The church was built (rebuilt?)
in 1780, so the monuments have been moved, and above the tomb is a wall
monument (with bust) to Sir Edward's father, Sir Francis. As far as I can
tell from the tiny photograph in Pevsner, the inscriptions we have been
translating are placed on Sir Francis's monument as follows (I can't
actually read the inscriptions!):
Above the bust of Francis: FRANCISCVS AYSCOGHE EQVES AVRATVS PATER INFRA
POSITI DNI EDOVARDI
Below the bust of Francis: PROFVITHIC PATRIA FRANCISCVS STRENVVSALMVS BELLO
MARE SVO PACE SVO
INGENIO
On a panel below this:
MEMORIAE MERITIS
CL:D:EDOVARDI AYSCOGHE DE KELSEY IN
COM; LINCOLN:EQVITIS AVRATI.EXANTIQVA'
HANSARDO FAMILIA ORIVNDI,ET VXORIS EIVS
OPTIS:MERTIS:ESTHERIS THOMAE GRANTHAM ARMIGRI
FILIAE:OBIERVNT ILLE MART:DIE 9 AN:D:1612
ANIGRAM}EDOUARDUS AYSCOGHE
GAUDES (10) CHARUS DEO
CLARVS IMAGINIBVS PROAVM SED MENTIS HONESTAE
CLARIOR,EXEMPLIS,INTEGRITATE,FIDE
VNA TIBI CON IVX,VNI QVAE IVNCTA,BEATAS
FECERAT,ET NOCTES,ET SINE LITE DIES
PRAEMISSI NON AMISSI
There is no sign of the quotation from Psalm 128 - that must be on a
separate panel.
--
John Briggs
Helen Morcom
Yes you're right the memorial is in the St Peter and St Paul church in
Stallingborough, Lincolnshire.
Where did you find all of that information on the memorial and the
church?
I have a old photo for who ever is interested but it is not clear
enough for you to make out all of the words. I went up to see it at
the weekend and took some more pictures but I am waiting to get them
processed.
The present church is actually the third building on that site due to
the others being destroyed one way or another. In the churches
information leaflet it says
"The Norman church fell down circa.1746. In 1791 an entry in 'The
Topographer' reads;'Stallingborough Church, being built of bad
materials, notwithstanding all the care and attention of the
inhabitants fell down on a very calm day in 1746, so that only the
chancel and the family burying place remain'
The Ayscough memorials, incorporated into the 1780 church, were
clearly part of the 'family burying place' referred to above.
The tomb is that of Sir Edward Ayscoghe(nephew of Anne Ayscoghe the
martyr)and Dame Margery Hilliard/Hildard his second wife. The effigy
above the tomb is that of Sir Francis Ayscoghe the brother of Anne and
Edward's father. Francis died 1564 and was buried at South Kelsey and
Edward died 1612.
The quotation from psalm 128 is situated around the bottom part of the
memorial. I don't know how much the photograph that you have shows
you, but you are correct in saying that there is a wall mounted
memorial and also a tomb style memorial with people in pairs
surrounding the bottom and on this piece is has the psalm quotation. I
also have a photo of that if you would like to see it.
Helen
"John Briggs" <john.b...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:<uMS3b.1612$bC1...@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net>...
Helen Morcom
understanding of this memorial! Thankyou all very much! If I have
anymore 'Difficulties' I shall pass them your way. That's after giving
them my best shot first with my trusty latin-english dictionary of
course!! :)
Helen
"Edward Casey" <ej...@cpinternet.com> wrote in message news:<vkvo94t...@corp.supernews.com>...
John Briggs
(Buildings of England Series) by Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris, second
edition revised by Nicholas Antram (1989). Plate 80 is a tiny photograph of
the wall monument. There is a much larger photograph of the bust and top
inscription only (probably an enlargement of the same photograph by A.F.
Kersting) as plate 44 of the first edition (1964).
--
John Briggs
Helen Morcom
Helen
"John Briggs" <john.b...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:<vO94b.2329$bC1....@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net>...