[Sca-cooks] translation needed

[Jeff Gedney]

>Doesn't Catullus write of kissing a lover? 

It appears so, 
Specifically in his 5th poem (to "Lesbia") 
probably Clodia, the sister of a friend.

He was widely considered rather, um, debauched.
Quite a scandalous character, in fact.

Interesting to note that the word used in Catullus,
"basia", is believed by some linguists to have its origin 
in the Germanic context and makes it first real appearance 
in latin text here in Catullus's poem. 

Here is what Merril's "Commentary on Catullus" says about 
this word:
"basia: the word appears first here, but seems in later 
days to have supplanted entirely in the colloquial dialect 
both savia and the more formal oscula, whence it made its 
way into the Romance languages. The lack of apparent 
congeners in Latin and Greek, and the occurrence of buss 
in early English, and of the nouns buss, busserl and the 
verb bussen in early days in the conservative mountain 
dialects of South Germany and Austria, make it probable 
that this word was of Germanic origin, and made its way 
to Rome from the region of the Po." 

As these works are a few years after the "Germanic" 
conquest, the practice of amorously kissing a lover on 
the lips was probably at this time a scandalous "foreign" 
practice to "mainstream" Romans.

Oh! those decadent and liberal rich artist types!

Capt Elias
Dragonship Haven, East
(Stratford, CT, USA)
Apprentice in the House of Silverwing

-Renaissance Geek of the Cyber Seas
- Help! I am being pecked to death by the Ducks of Dilletanteism! 
There are SO damn many more things I want to try in 
the SCA than I can possibly have time for. 
It's killing me!!!

-----------------------------------------------------
Upon the hempen tackle ship-boys climbing;
Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give
To sounds confused; behold the threaden sails,
Borne with the invisible and creeping wind,
Draw the huge bottoms through the furrow'd sea,
Breasting the lofty surge: O, do but think
You stand upon the ravage and behold
A city on the inconstant billows dancing;
For so appears this fleet majestical,
Holding due course to Harfleur. 
  - Shakespeare - Henry V, Act III, Prologue