In 15th and 16th century Scotland, in the highest courts of the land, you'd find esteemed poets hurling insults at each other. This was flyting, a sort of medieval equivalent of battle rap, and it was so popular at the time that the King himself wrote instructions for how to do it well. Writer and Scots language campaigner Ishbel McFarlane and historical linguist Joanna Kopaczyk explain the art of flyting, where an insult becomes slander, what's going on within the speech act of performative diss-trading, and what the legal consequences could be of being accused of witchcraft. Find out more about the episode and read the transcript at theallusionist.org/flyting. Content note: this episode contains brief references to historical capital and corporal punishments, and discussion of insults and slurs; there is also a derogatory term for sex workers, and category A and B swears. To help fund this independent podcast, take yourself to theallusionist.org/donate and become a member of the Allusioverse. You get regular livestreams with me and my collection of reference books, inside scoops into the making of this show, and watchalong parties - we're enjoying Merchant Ivory films, the current seasons of Great British Bake Off and the Canadian version, and Taskmaster featuring my brother Andy. Coming up, we've got Pride & Prejudice and Carol! And best of all, you get to bask in the company of your fellow Allusionauts in our delightful Discord community. This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, with music and editorial assistance from Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com. Thanks to Y-Lynn Ong. Find @allusionistshow on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Xitter, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, etc. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk about your product or thing on the show, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by:• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running your online bailiwick. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.• Constant Wonder, the podcast that opens our eyes and ears to the nature around us and its, yes, constant wonders. Listen to Constant Wonder in your usual podcast-listening places.• Rocket Money, the personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions and monitors your spending. Go to rocketmoney.com/allusionist to save money and lower your outgoings.• LinkedIn Ads: convert your B2B audience into high quality leads. Get $100 credit on your next campaign at linkedin.com/allusionist. Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is the Allusionist in which I, Helen Zaltzman, play in languages String quartet on the deck of a luxury ocean liner why are my socks damp?
Today we are talking about flighting.
Flighting was kind of the battle rap of the medieval era and even earlier, a form of rhetorical combat where poets exchanged well wrought insults.
Forms of this existed in many cultures around the world.
But we're going to be concentrating concentrating on flighting in Scotland.
It was very popular there in the 15th and 16th centuries.
If you're here for respite from the present moment, then you're going to get that.
And if you're looking for something to help you navigate the present moment, I don't have much.
But I do have a couple of things for you that language gives us.
1.
Nothing is permanent.
Language holds so much change all through time.
All this evidence of previous nows and previous futures.
Now is now and it's not forever.
2.
Language is fundamentally for connecting with other humans, and not all of the connecting is good, but that is what it's for, and some of it is great.
And while the culture of individualism has been causing an increasing amount of trouble, language is perhaps the greatest demonstration ever of collective effort.
So we know that can happen, and it continues to happen.
But mostly I'm here to provide free podcasts for your diversion and infotainment.
Also, there are 10 tranquilusionists gathered@theillusionist.org tranquilusionist for you if you need to unfrazzle your internal monologue for a bit.