165. Fiona part 1
The Allusionist
Helen Zaltzman
4.7 • 3.8K Ratings
🗓️ 22 November 2022
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A lot of people assume that Fiona is a very old Scottish name, but the first known Scottish Fiona is from the 1890s: Fiona Macleod, the enormously popular novelist of Scotland's Celtic Revival movement. But when she suddenly stopped writing in 1905...and there turned out to be far more surprises about Fiona Macleod than the novelty of her name. Writer and performer Harry Josie Giles and PhD researcher Moll Callaway-Heaton consider the first Scottish Fiona.
This is part one of a pair of episodes about the name Fiona; part two will explore the etymology of the name and similar ones in various languages, and examine the first appearance of Fiona in literature, which comes with its own cocktail of complication.
Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/fiona1, where there's also a transcript.
The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, while it still stands. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community.
The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Thanks to Anne Pond from the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall for boat information, and to Martin Austwick for editorial help and the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.
Our ad partner is Multitude. To sponsor the show, contact them at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by:
• Wondrium, the online library of lectures, courses, tutorials, documentaries and more. Get 50% off your first three months of Wondrium at wondrium.com/allusionist.
• Mint Mobile: cut your cellphone bill to a mere $15 a month at mintmobile.com/allusionist.
• Bombas, whose mission is to make the comfiest clothes ever, and match every item sold with an equal item donated. Go to bombas.com/allusionist to get 20% off your first purchase.
• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running a sleek website. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.
Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is the illusionist in which I, Helen Salzman, stick a fork in language it's done. |
| 0:09.8 | This episode is the first of a two-parter about the name Fiona. |
| 0:14.0 | Get ready, there's a lot to say about the name Fiona. |
| 0:16.7 | And it all came about because Harry Josephine Giles got in touch. |
| 0:20.5 | You heard them on the show before talking about expanding the queer lexicon in Scots language |
| 0:25.4 | in the many ways at once episode. |
| 0:28.0 | Now after the episode earlier this year about the name Tiffany being old as surprised |
| 0:32.2 | to most people, Josie got in touch and said, well do you know about Fiona? |
| 0:37.1 | And I did not. |
| 0:38.7 | But now I do. |
| 0:40.4 | And it is full of intrigue and fascination and beauty and complication. |
| 0:45.3 | Remember this is just the first part. |
| 0:47.8 | There are more Fiona facts to come. |
| 0:50.2 | In the second part we'll talk more about the etymology of Fiona and earlier appearances |
| 0:54.9 | in literature and other corresponding names in various languages. |
| 0:59.1 | But this part is about the first known Fiona. |
| 1:03.0 | By the way the illusionist live show your name here all about epinems is coming to Toronto. |
| 1:08.8 | 1pm 11th of December 2022 at the Hot Dog Cinema. |
| 1:13.4 | Tickets are on sale now. |
| 1:14.8 | Every attendee gets a special pencil and if you're an illusionist patron you get some extra |
| 1:18.7 | perks too. |
| 1:19.7 | Mask up and come along. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Helen Zaltzman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Helen Zaltzman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.