In 1953 in his book "The Go-between" L P Hartley wrote " The Past is a
foreign country: they do thing differently there?.
Seamus Heaney also wrote (in a poem which I have been unable to
identify)  ? The past is another country and they do things
differently there?.

My question is: Was Heaney (mis)quoting Hartley or were they both
quoting from another source and If so who was that source?

Hi bigd30,

The phrase "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently
there" is attributed to L.P. Hartley in the 1996 edition of "The
Columbia World of Quotations" and therefore it's safe to assume that
L.P. Hartley is the source of the quote (and to take it a step
further, that Heaney misquoted Hartley).

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD · AUTHOR INDEX
The Columbia World of Quotations.  1996.
NUMBER:	27001
QUOTATION:	The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
ATTRIBUTION:	L.P. (Leslie Poles) Hartley (1895?1972), British author.
The Go-Between, prologue (1953).
http://bartleby.school.aol.com/66/1/27001.html

The Columbia World of Quotations:
Edited by Robert Andrews, Mary Biggs, and Michael Seidel
"The 65,000 essential quotations that constitute this authoritative
collection represent the research of 154 experts. Entries from more
than 5,000 authors and speakers are multiply classified into 6,500
subjects."
http://www.bartleby.com/66/

The Columbia World of Quotations: Editorial Review:
"Each quotation has a detailed, accurate citation."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0231071949/bartlebylibrary/ref=nosim/103-1681239-3860610


Additional Link of Interest:

The University of North Carolina:
Resource Description: Columbia World of Quotations  -
http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/eid/description.php?EIDID=62

"The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there." - L. P. Hartley
?Quote Unquote?
Library of Quotations
Organized and compiled by the
Josephson Institute of Ethics
9841 Airport Blvd., #300  ?  Los Angeles, CA 90045
http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/quotes/allquotes.doc

I was glad to find this for you. If you have any questions, please
post a clarification request *before* closing/rating my answer and
I'll be happy to reply.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used:

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

---

Request for Answer Clarification by bigd30-ga on 14 Mar 2005 13:17 PST

Hello Hummer,

Do you know in which poem Seamus Heaney used the mis-quote ?The past
is another country and they do things differently there??

Many thanks,

bigd30

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 14 Mar 2005 13:35 PST

Hi

No, sorry, I don't know, only this...

"The Past is another country and they do things differently there" an
essay on Seamus Heaney and his work.
http://www.studentcentral.co.uk/past_is_another_country_they_do_things_differentl_5829/

Thank you for your thank you,
hummer

A good answer and very quick

T'was in a foreign country, besides the lass is dead.

Hello frde-ga,

I'm not sure I understand this:

"T'was in a foreign country, besides the lass is dead."

Is it the name of a poem by Seamus Heaney? Or, otherwise, what is its relevance?