Edmund Crosby Quiggin (23 August 1875 – 4 January 1920) was a British

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and scholar. Born in

Cheadle, Staffordshire Cheadle is a market town and civil parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands District of Staffordshire, England, with a population of 12,165 at the 2011 census. It is located between Uttoxeter, Leek, Ashbourne and Stoke-on-Trent. History Cheadle ...

, he was educated at

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

in Bath. In 1893 he matriculated at

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, to read Modern and Medieval Languages. He graduated with first-class honours. The fellows of Caius included the lawyer and legal historian Charles Henry Monro, who spoke Irish and encouraged Quiggin to study in this area. In October 1898, Quiggin was appointed English Lector at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...

, where he completed his doctorate, ''Die lautliche Geltung der vortonigen Wörter und Silben in der Book of Leinster Version der Tain bo Cualnge'' ('The phonetic quality of pre-stress words and syllables in the Book of Leinster version of the ''

Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...

'' '). In 1901, Quiggin returned to Cambridge and between June 1903 and January 1906 went on to undertake fieldwork on

Ulster Irish Ulster Irish ( ga, Gaeilig Uladh, IPA=, IPA ga=ˈɡeːlʲɪc ˌʊlˠuː) is the variety of Irish spoken in the province of Ulster. It "occupies a central position in the Gaelic world made up of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man". Ulster Ir ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

, resulting in the book '' A Dialect of Donegal''. In 1907, Quiggin married the anthropologist Alison Hingston Quiggin, author of ''A Survey of Primitive Money'' and other works. In 1909 Caius College used a bequest of Charles Henry Monro to create the Monro Lectureship in Celtic for Quiggin. This lectureship was the first of its kind and one of the forces which fed into the creation of the

Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic The Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC or, informally, ASNaC) is one of the constituent departments of the University of Cambridge, and focuses on the history, material culture, languages and literatures of the various peoples who i ...

. (The department has, since 1993, commemorated Quiggin through the Quiggin Memorial Lecture, in which series the fullest biography of Quiggin so far has been published.) Quiggin's next publication was his ''Prolegomena to the Study of the Later Irish Bards, 1200–1500''.E. C. Quiggin, ''Prolegomena to the study of the later Irish bards, 1200–1500'' (London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1911). However, with the outbreak of the First World War, Quiggin found himself in war service from 1915 to 1919, first in Boulogne and then in the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

's Intelligence Division. In 1919 he returned to work and study at Cambridge, but died from ill health on 4 January 1920 in

Warlingham Warlingham is a village in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, south of the centre of London and east of the county town, Guildford. Warlingham is the centre of a civil parish that includes Hamsey Green, a contiguous, smaller sett ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiggin, Edmund Crosby Linguists from England University of Greifswald faculty Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge 1875 births 1920 deaths Celtic studies scholars People from Cheadle, Staffordshire