(Hindley, David) Comparison of Stories About John Hogg From Kenneth Bailey's 2 Articles on Informal Controlled Oral Tradition

8/12/2019 (Hindley, David) Comparison of Stories About John Hogg From Kenneth Bailey's 2 Articles on Informal Controlled O

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Bailey, Article 1 "Informal Controlled Oral Tradition & the Synoptic Gospels" (Them 20.2 Jan

1995, 4-11)

John Hoggwas the founder of the community. Stories of what he did and said, particularly in

contexts of conflict, became a part of the tradition of the community, and were passed on in their

haflat samar. RenaHoggdipped into that tradition in 1910 [?1914?]. I dipped into the sametradition in 1955-65 and found the same stories told in almost the same way. The tradition willlast in those villages as long as the community he founded survives or until they acquire

electricity and television.

... Thus far we have been examining only old material and how it is preserved, controlled andpassed on. What then of more recent material? Here we would observe an oral tradition

community as it enters new material into its oral store of recollections judged worthy of

preservation. The case we have in mind centres in the nineteenth century around John Hogg, a

Scottish missionary who was the founder of many of the Protestant churches in the south ofEgypt. A biography of John Hoggwas published by his daughter in 1914,

32primarily from his

letters and papers. But, in the tradition of Plutarch mentioned above, she also used oral sources.Indeed, her father had been dead only twenty-eight years when she was assembling her material.

John Hoggwas the primary founder of the new Egyptian Evangelical community. Each village

had and has its own stories of what he said and did. The more dramatic of these stories have

moved from village to village among evangelicals, but each account is primarily preserved in thevillage of origin.

1) In the late fifties I encountered this same tradition. One village proudly told of how he waspreaching in a village courtyard and the mayor, anxious to cause trouble, sent a village guard up

onto the adjoining roof to urinate on him. Hoggstepped aside, took a handkerchief from his

pocket, wiped his head and continued preaching without looking up. The mayor was so shamed

and impressed that after inquiry and study he joined the infant church and became one of itsleaders.

Bailey Rena Hogg,Master Builder on the Nile

(Revell, 1914)

Heat was not the only discomfort connected

with itineracy.

In the village of al-Muti'ah he anchored his

houseboat on the river at the edge of the

village. After some time village children begangathering and in turn composed a taunt song

which they sang every time he came down

from or returned to the houseboat. The tauntsong was along the following lines: Mister

John Hoggis too tall. Crack his head and see

him fall. Hour after hour, day after day, this

became tiresome. Hoggdecided that somethinghad to be done. So he purchased a large sack of

In many a village insults were heaped upon

him.
http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_tradition_bailey.html#32http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_tradition_bailey.html#32http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_tradition_bailey.html#32http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_tradition_bailey.html#32


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hard candy and told the children that he really

appreciated their song. Would they sing it forhim? Delighted, the children then sang the

song with gusto. He then expressed gratitude

and passed out hard candy to the singers as a

reward. This continued for a number of daysuntil the sack of hard candy was finally

finished. On the next occasion they sang thetaunt song as usual. He offered his usual thanks

and praise, but there was no candy. The

children complained, 'Where is our candy?' He

answered, 'I don't have any more candy.' Theyresponded testily, 'Well, if you don't give us

any candy we won't come here and sing your

song for you!!' The candy was not forthcoming

and so the children stomped off, never to

return. The incident occurred about 1870. Itwas proudly reported to me in 1961 by the al-

Muti'ah Evangelical community, complete withtaunt song.

In a trouble-maker's home in the village ofNazlet al-Milk Hoggwas asked, 'Dr Hogg, do

you seek to obey what is written in the

Gospels?' 'I do,' answered Hogg. 'Very wellthen,' they said, 'in the Gospel it says that the

evangelist is to eat what is set before him. Do

you accept that?' 'Yes,' came the reply,

whereupon they placed in front of him a driedcow manure patty of the type that village

homes use for cooking fuel and said to him,

'Very well, then, eat this!' Hoggreflectedmomentarily and answered quietly, 'Da akl in-

nar. Eddini akl al-bashar wa akulha'(This is

food for a fire. Give me food for people and Iwill eat it). The present writer is fully

confident that the above Arabic sentence is a

record of Hogg's exact words spoken once over

a hundred years ago and here recorded for thefirst time.

Not infrequently the filth of the streets wasflung after him by the way,

and words as filthy were called loudly incontempt and derision as he passed,

In the late fifties I encountered this sametradition. One village proudly told of how he

was preaching in a village courtyard and the

mayor, anxious to cause trouble, sent a villageguard up onto the adjoining roof to urinate on

while on one occasion vile water was pouredon his head through a gap in the ceiling of a

room from which his audience had been

forcibly ejected.


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him. Hoggstepped aside, took a handkerchief

from his pocket, wiped his head and continuedpreaching without looking up. The mayor was

so shamed and impressed that after inquiry and

study he joined the infant church and became

one of its leaders.

2) In a trouble-maker's home in the village of Nazlet al-Milk Hoggwas asked,

'Dr Hogg, do you seek to obey what is written in the Gospels?''I do,' answered Hogg.

'Very well then,' they said, 'in the Gospel it says that the evangelist is to eat what is set before

him. Do you accept that?'

'Yes,' came the reply, whereupon they placed in front of him a dried cow manure patty of thetype that village homes use for cooking fuel and said to him, 'Very well, then, eat this!'

Hoggreflected momentarily and answered quietly,

'Da akl in-nar. Eddini akl al-bashar wa akulha'(This is food for a fire. Give me food for peopleand I will eat it).

The present writer is fully confident that the above Arabic sentence is a record of Hogg's exact

words spoken once over a hundred years ago and here recorded for the first time.

3) In the village of al-Muti'ah he anchored his houseboat on the river at the edge of the village.

After some time village children began gathering and in turn composed a taunt song which theysang every time he came down from or returned to the houseboat. The taunt song was along the

following lines:

Mister John Hoggis too tall.Crack his head and see him fall.

Hour after hour, day after day, this became tiresome. Hoggdecided that something had to bedone. So he purchased a large sack of hard candy and told the children that he really appreciated

their song. Would they sing it for him? Delighted, the children then sang the song with gusto. He

then expressed gratitude and passed out hard candy to the singers as a reward. This continued fora number of days until the sack of hard candy was finally finished. On the next occasion they

sang the taunt song as usual. He offered his usual thanks and praise, but there was no candy. The

children complained, 'Where is our candy?' He answered, 'I don't have any more candy.' They

responded testily, 'Well, if you don't give us any candy we won't come here and sing your songfor you!!' The candy was not forthcoming and so the children stomped off, never to return. The

incident occurred about 1870. It was proudly reported to me in 1961 by the al-Muti'ah

Evangelical community, complete with taunt song.

4) Before the First World War John Hogg's daughter dipped into this same oral tradition and in

her biography of him told how he was waylaid at night by a band of robbers who demanded

valuables. He quickly surrendered a gold watch and his money, but indicated that he had atreasure worth far more. They were curious. He pulled a small book from his pocket and spent


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the entire night telling them of the treasures it contained. By morning the band, convicted of the

evil of their ways, sought to return his watch and money and pledged themselves to give up

highway robbery. Hoggtook the watch but insisted that they keep his money, and indeed thenfinanced the gang personally [p.9] until they could establish themselves in legal employment.

Thus, like Plutarch (and St Luke, cf. Lk. 1:1-2), RenaHogghad available to her both written and

oral sources.

Bailey An Old Patriarch's version Rena Hogg's corrected version

4) Before the First World War

John Hogg's daughter dippedinto this same oral tradition

and in her biography of him

Of one of the most popular

[local tales about Dr Hogg'smany hardships,] his own

account [also] remains to

show how fact and fancy

mingle in such current lore.The story has many versions

and we tell it as related by a

fine old patriarch.

It seems heartless to destroy

so romantic a tale, but theoriginal story itself deserves

preservation as recounted by

the chief actors Dr. Hogg and

Mr. Shenoodeh Hanna, hiscompanion on the historic

occasion. Their story runs as

follows:At a village many miles

distant from Assiut Dr. Hogghad been paying one of his

periodic visits. The evening

meeting was over and the

missionary had sat late inconversation with his host and

his friends, when to the

amazement of all he rose tobid them adieu. In vain they

urged him to spend the nightwith them, expatiating on the

length of the way and therobbers that infested the

district.

After a hasty breakfast on a

hot Saturday in June, the twofriends left the "Ibis" [their

boat] at sunrise to walk to the

village of Tahta two and a half

miles distance from the river[Nile]. They were warmly

received by the only Protestant

in the place,before startingout [that evening after dinner]

with a suitable escort to ride[back] to the river [where their

boat was].

He would neither await the

daylight nor accept an escort.

His work necessitated hisreaching Assiut by morning,

and in the Lord's keeping he

was as safe as with armed

men.

A jolting donkey is no happy

sequel to a hasty meal, and Dr.

Hogg, finding his companionunable to ride and his escort

restive under enforced delay,

decided that they would

complete their journey on footand unaccompanied. The

servants with some polite

demur gladly availedthemselves of the reprieve,

and the two preachers started

riverward alone. When they[Hogg & Shenoodeh Hanna]


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reached the water's edge the

boat was not in sight, andwhether the landing lay north

or south they could not tell.

Some men when accosted

[i.e., they asked for directions]misled them, either by mistakeor of set purpose, their lack of

a lantern perhaps arousing

suspicions, and the night woreon in fruitless and solitary

wanderings.

told how he was waylaid at

night by a band of robbers

He had not walked far in the

dense darkness when he was

accosted by a robber band

Suddenly they observed on the

river bank a man, innocent of

clothes and bearing a gun,

who started towards them till

arrested by the sight of theirshouldered umbrellas, which

in the starlight passed easilyfor firearms.

[[Mr. Shenoodeh says [in asermon he wrote the next

morning using the trip as a

lesson], "This made us certainthat these men were highway

robbers (a most natural

inference as they were in a

neighbourhood infested bythem)]] [[Dr. Hogg states [in

his diary] that the men were

about to shoot them in self-defence, having received

warning in their village an

hour before that two

suspicious characters werewandering along the bank, and

having come for the express

purpose of watching their

melon crop against themarauders.]]

who demanded valuables. He

quickly surrendered a gold

watch and his money,

who demanded his gold watch

and purse. These he

surrendered without demur,

The younger man [Shenoodeh

Hanna] was distracted with

fear, and still more so when he

heard the sound of swimmersin the river perhaps coming to

join their naked friend in some


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bloody deed. [i.e., rob them by

violence] The two wandererswalked on as if unheeding, but

when a little distance was

gained, turned inland, running

rapidly to reach a pointinvisible from the beach.

but indicated that he had a

treasure worth far more. They

were curious.

surprising his marauders with

the gratuitous information that

he had with him still anothertreasure that he would gladly

add to their store.

Avoiding Scylla, they came as

it seemed upon Charybdis -- a

group of smokers, three menand a boy, two of them [217]

armed and with the usual

vicious guard of watch-dogs.

Dr. Hogg thought it best tothrow himself frankly on their

protection, and as the dogs

sprang forward with athreatening welcome, "Call offyour dogs," he cried, "and I

shall tell you a story that will

make you laugh." Adiscussion followed, and they

were soon received within the

smoking circle to spend theremainder of the night in this

strange company. [[The

younger man [Shenoodeh

Hanna], during the colloquy[i.e., dialogue] that preceded

the promise of a night's

protection, spent the time inanxious prayer except when

personally addressed.]]

He pulled a small book from

his pocket and spent the entire

night telling them of thetreasures it contained.

To their chagrin all that he

[Hogg] drew from his pocket

was a small book, but hisaudience were soon so

entranced by the magic of his

tongue and of that pricelessWord, that their greedspeedily vanished, their

consciences awoke, and they

began to hunger for salvation.

As sleep was distant, it was

proposed to pass the time in

songs and tales, and Mr.Shenoodeh chose a Bible story

that gave him the opportunity

of dwelling on the sin ofmurder and the fearfulpunishment awaiting the

guilty, a tale which brought

from one of his listeners the

confession that only hisbrother's intervention had

prevented him from shooting


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at Mr. Shenoodeh on his first

approach.

Towards morning the air grew

cold, and the missionary,made anxious by his young

friend's cough, dug a deephole for him in the sand andburied him to the neck, after

which both secured some

broken sleep.

By morning the band,

convicted of the evil of theirways, sought to return his

watch and money and pledged

themselves to give up highway

robbery.

Before morning dawned the

whole band had beenconverted and were eager to

return to him his stolen goods.

Hoggtook the watch butinsisted that they keep hismoney, and indeed then

financed the gang personally

[p.9] until they could establishthemselves in legal

employment.

But the purse he refused, andas one and all, Copts andMoslems alike, had decided to

abandon their life of robbery,

he supported them liberallyfrom that time forward out of

his own pocket until they had

learned to earn an honestliving and had become

respected and God-fearing

members of the Church!

At dawn one of their guardaccompanied them to the boat,lying miles from the spot at

which they had encamped, and

received for the service abacksheesh that sent him away

blessing their memory.

Bailey, Article 2 "Mid East Oral Trad & the Synoptic Gospels" (TExpT, v106, 1994, pp 363-367)

So much for ancient material. What of the recent past? Here I would recount briefly onedocumentable occurrence of relatively recent origin. The primary founder of the Protestant

church in Egypt was Dr John Hoggof Scotland. Hoggcame to Egypt in 1854 and after thirtyyears of life and witness died there in 1886. Twenty eight years later his daughter, RenaHogg,published an account of her father's life. Her sources were his papers and the stories she collected

about her father from village people in numerous village churches across the south of Egypt.

These villagers spoke only Arabic. In 1914 RenaHoggpublished her book in America,(6) Thevillagers never knew of its existence. During 1957-64 I was preaching and teaching in thosesame village churches which John Hoggfounded. From the grandchildren of RenaHogg's

informers I heard the same stories intact with roughly ninety percent of the same words I was

told of important conversations, scenes of conflict with the village mayor, and of confrontations

with those who tried unsuccessfully to humiliate the great man. I met one eyewitness! Indeed,conflict stories were a significant part of the orally preserved collection. For some of them, like

Luke, I had both written and oral sources. I could read them in English from the 1914 book in


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my hand or hear them recited in Arabic by the communities he founded. The events recalled

were onlythirty to forty years old when RenaHogggathered her data. They were onlyninety

years old when they were told to me. What is ninety years in a world with five thousand years ofrecorded history? John Hoggwas the founder of their community. He shaped their new identity.

To forget what he said and did was to forget a critical part of who they were (Let the reader

understand!).

6) R. L.Hogg,Master Builder on the Nile(Revell, 1914).

Documents

(Hindley, David) Comparison of Stories About John Hogg From Kenneth Bailey's 2 Articles on Informal Controlled Oral Tradition