The Charge of the Light Apostrophe, or "their's" in Tennyson

[Wilson Gray]

On Jul 10, 2004, at 11:06 AM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: The Charge of the Light Apostrophe, or "their's" in
> Tennyson
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>
>> #All I can say is that Tennyson published the poem as it stands in
>> RPO. I
>> #took my text from the original printed edition.
>
> According to the RPO footnote this printed edition dates from 1908,
> about
> 54 years after the first printing.
>
> There are several other printed versions reproduced at MoA, dated from
> 1855
> to 1892 IIRC, all of them without the dubious apostrophes.
>
> This Web transcription ...
> http://eserver.org/poetry/light-brigade.html ...
> has the apostrophes and claims to be from an 1870 book.
>
>> He decided not to use the
>> #manuscript reading you favour. Are you sure that he did not change
>> his
>> #mind?
>
> Hard to know for certain. Tennyson died in 1892.
>
> Here is the same issue discussed:
>
> http://killdevilhill.com/golfchat/read.php?f=133&i=5483&t=5483
>
> My own casual guess is that somebody goofed in typesetting.
>
> But IF Tennyson employed these apostrophes (in some revisions,
> perhaps) it
> wouldn't have to be an error, necessarily, nor any standard of the
> time,
> but maybe just his free choice or 'poetic license'.
>
> -- Doug Wilson

One never knows, do one? E.g. some writers eschew strings on the type,
"... wouldn't have to be an error ... nor any standard of the time,"
preferring "... wouldn't have to be an error ... or some standard of
the time."

"To each their own," to coin a phrase.

-Wilson Gray