Helen Waddell
Encyclopedia
Helen Jane Waddell was an Irish
poet, translator and playwright.
, the tenth and youngest child of Hugh Waddell, a Presbyterian minister and missionary who was lecturing in the Imperial University
. She spent the first eleven years of her life in Japan before her family returned to Belfast
. Her mother died shortly afterwards, and her father re-married. Hugh Waddell himself died and left his younger children in the care of their stepmother. Following the marriage of her elder sister Meg, Helen was left at home to care for Mrs Waddell, whose health was deteriorating.
Helen was educated at Victoria College for Girls
and Queen's University Belfast, where she studied under Professor Gregory Smith, graduating in 1911. She followed her BA with first class honours in English with a master’s degree, and in 1919 enrolled in Somerville College, Oxford
, to study for her doctorate. A travelling scholarship from Lady Margaret Hall
in 1923 allowed her to conduct research in Paris.
She is best known for bringing to light the history of the medieval goliard
s in her 1927 book The Wandering Scholars
, and translating their Latin poetry in the companion volume Medieval Latin Lyrics. A second anthology, More Latin Lyrics, was compiled in the 1940s but not published until after her death. Her other works range widely in subject matter. For example, she also wrote plays. Her first play was The Spoilt Buddha, which was performed at the Opera House, Belfast, by the Ulster Literary Society. Her The Abbe Prevost was staged in 1935. Her historical novel Peter Abelard was published in 1933.
She also wrote many articles for the Standard
, the Manchester Guardian
and The Nation
and did lecturing and broadcasting.
Helen Waddell was the assistant editor of The Nineteenth Century
magazine. Among her circle of friends in London, where she was vice-president of the Irish Literary Society, were W. B. Yeats, Virginia Woolf
, Rose Macaulay
, Siegfried Sassoon
, Max Beerbohm
and George William Russell
. Although she never married, she had a close relationship with her publisher, Otto Kyllmann
of Constable.
Waddell received honorary degrees from Columbia, Belfast, Durham and St. Andrews and won the Benson Medal
of the Royal Society of Literature
.
A serious debilitating neurological disease put an end to her writing career in 1950. She died in London in 1965 and was buried in Magherally churchyard, County Down. A prize-winning biography of her by the Benedictine nun Dame
Felicitas Corrigan
was published in 1986.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
poet, translator and playwright.
Biography
She was born in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, the tenth and youngest child of Hugh Waddell, a Presbyterian minister and missionary who was lecturing in the Imperial University
Imperial university
-France:Imperial University or University of France refers to the French university re-organisation initiated by Napoleon.-Japan:...
. She spent the first eleven years of her life in Japan before her family returned to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. Her mother died shortly afterwards, and her father re-married. Hugh Waddell himself died and left his younger children in the care of their stepmother. Following the marriage of her elder sister Meg, Helen was left at home to care for Mrs Waddell, whose health was deteriorating.
Helen was educated at Victoria College for Girls
Victoria College, Belfast
Victoria College, Belfast is a voluntary non-denominational grammar school in Cranmore Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 2007, the college had 867 pupils aged 11 – 18 and a Preparatory Department with 175 girls, aged 3 – 11....
and Queen's University Belfast, where she studied under Professor Gregory Smith, graduating in 1911. She followed her BA with first class honours in English with a master’s degree, and in 1919 enrolled in Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there...
, to study for her doctorate. A travelling scholarship from Lady Margaret Hall
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £34m....
in 1923 allowed her to conduct research in Paris.
She is best known for bringing to light the history of the medieval goliard
Goliard
The Goliards were a group of clergy who wrote bibulous, satirical Latin poetry in the 12th and 13th centuries. They were mainly clerical students at the universities of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and England who protested the growing contradictions within the Church, such as the failure of the...
s in her 1927 book The Wandering Scholars
The Wandering Scholars
The Wandering Scholars is a non-fiction book by Helen Waddell, first published in 1927 by Constable, London. It deals primarily with medieval Latin lyric poetry and the main part is a study of the goliards...
, and translating their Latin poetry in the companion volume Medieval Latin Lyrics. A second anthology, More Latin Lyrics, was compiled in the 1940s but not published until after her death. Her other works range widely in subject matter. For example, she also wrote plays. Her first play was The Spoilt Buddha, which was performed at the Opera House, Belfast, by the Ulster Literary Society. Her The Abbe Prevost was staged in 1935. Her historical novel Peter Abelard was published in 1933.
She also wrote many articles for the Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
, the Manchester Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Nation
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
and did lecturing and broadcasting.
Helen Waddell was the assistant editor of The Nineteenth Century
Nineteenth Century (periodical)
The Nineteenth Century was a British monthly literary magazine founded in 1877 by Sir James Knowles. Many of the early contributors to The Nineteenth Century were members of the Metaphysical Society. The journal was intended to publish debate by leading intellectuals.In 1900, the title was changed...
magazine. Among her circle of friends in London, where she was vice-president of the Irish Literary Society, were W. B. Yeats, Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, Rose Macaulay
Rose Macaulay
Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, DBE was an English writer. She published thirty-five books, mostly novels but also biographies and travel writing....
, Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...
, Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
and George William Russell
George William Russell
George William Russell who wrote under the pseudonym Æ , was an Irish nationalist, writer, editor, critic, poet, and painter. He was also a mystical writer, and centre of a group of followers of theosophy in Dublin, for many years.-Organisor:Russell was born in Lurgan, County Armagh...
. Although she never married, she had a close relationship with her publisher, Otto Kyllmann
Otto Kyllmann
Otto Kyllmann was a publisher, who held a senior directorship of Constable & Co from 1909 until 1950.Kyllmann's first wife was Victoria Mary Louise Adelaide Cunliffe-Owen, the sister of Mary Wills , but they were divorced and she remarried in 1919...
of Constable.
Waddell received honorary degrees from Columbia, Belfast, Durham and St. Andrews and won the Benson Medal
Benson Medal
The Benson Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of Literature in the UK.It was founded in 1916 by A. C. Benson who was a Fellow of the Society, to honour those who produce "meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles-lettres."...
of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
.
A serious debilitating neurological disease put an end to her writing career in 1950. She died in London in 1965 and was buried in Magherally churchyard, County Down. A prize-winning biography of her by the Benedictine nun Dame
Dame (title)
The title of Dame is the female equivalent of the honour of knighthood in the British honours system . It is also the equivalent form address to 'Sir' for a knight...
Felicitas Corrigan
Felicitas Corrigan
Dame Felicitas Corrigan OSB was an English Benedictine nun, author and humanitarian.She was born Kathleen Corrigan into a large Liverpool family, and developed a talent as an organist. In 1933, she entered Stanbrook Abbey in Worcestershire as a nun, and eventually became director of its choir...
was published in 1986.
Plays
- The Spoiled Buddha (performed 1915; London: T. Fisher Unwin 1919)
- The Abbé Prévost (London: Constable 1933).
Other
- Lyrics from the Chinese (1913)
- The Wandering Scholars (1927)
- Medieval Latin Lyrics (1929)
- Beasts and Saints (1934)
- The Desert Fathers (1936)
- Stories from Holy Writ (1949)
- More Latin Lyrics: From Virgil to Milton (posthumous, edited by Dame Felicitas Corrigan, 1976)
External links
- Short Article on Helen Waddell by the Ulster History Circle.
- Helen Waddell short biography in Belfast Safaris.
- Helen Waddell: Poems at Black Cat Poems.
- Helen Waddell entry in the Banbridge District Online by Banbridge District Council.
- Helen Waddell papers at the Genesis Project in the UK.
- Helen Waddell Papers at Queen's University Belfast