19.06.2013 Views

Download (14Mb) - VUIR - Victoria University

Download (14Mb) - VUIR - Victoria University

Download (14Mb) - VUIR - Victoria University

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

alia Vergine Scmtissima'.^^ These immigrants remained concemed for the spiritual<br />

welfare of their children back home passing instmctions, such as the following, on<br />

through their wives: 'ti raccomando di... farli andare alia santa messa alia festa '.*'<br />

The pressures of the goldfields, and the temptations of 'vagabond women', alcohol<br />

abuse and other vices disapproved of by the Church, aU drew the Italian speakers away<br />

from their faith: religion could not relieve the burden of overwork, debt and continual<br />

insecurity and many sought escape elsewhere. As Alessandro Pozzi (it may be<br />

recaUed**) claimed: 'era meglio che non si fossero disturbati questi religiosi, perche<br />

non gli danno disturbo'. Exposure to a range of religious practices, including those of<br />

the non-Christian Chinese, may have also challenged the beliefs of the Italian speakers<br />

so that, away from the viUage church wdth its regular caUs to prayer and reminders of<br />

reUgious duty, it was easy to diverge from the traditional path. In other parts of<br />

colonial AustraUa, Italian missionaries and priests ministered to mral populations, but<br />

none worked in the Daylesford area.<br />

Just as the beUefs and values of the Italian speakers were influenced by contact<br />

with a range of nationalities, so too was their language. The letters sent to their<br />

viUages are a rich source of anglicisms and attempts to understand the (predominantly<br />

spoken) EngUsh language. Several Anglo-Celtic expressions assumed by the Italian<br />

speakers, such as clem (claim), prospetto (prospect), ciansa (chance/fortune), roock<br />

(rock) and penovetti (pennyweight), related to their experiences in the mines. Other<br />

words concemed their to day-to-day activities as settlers, such as buying necessities ~<br />

pene (penny) and storo (store), entertainments — pubblichouse (public house), and<br />

people they encountered ~ polismann (policeman). Apart from indicating common<br />

246

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!