“But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.”
– James Joyce, 1914
Cover art by Rafael Ritz
The acts of celebration, feasting, hospitality and music were seen as critical aspects of a healthy culture as well as a mark of prestige and high repute. This was observed repeatedly in old Irish society and across the isles as well as in mainland Europe. The essence of how ancient life was celebrated has been amazingly well preserved and pulled forward through time not only in the way that celebrations were significant but in the Irish and Scottish music session. The essence of lively song, dance and humor, the meet ups at the local pub and the love and proliferation of passionate fireside storytelling are all incredibly important and sacred aspects of life. It has also been preserved in Irish step dancing, especially sean-nós singing and dancing as well as organized céilí dances. Additionally, there are many traditional Irish instruments that when played give us a glimpse into the immense energy at which these old feasts and celebrations must have held.
We feel it when the solo harp player grips our very soul or the trad music group made of various pipes, fiddles and bodhráns incites a unique sense of spiritual flight for which no words can describe. There are endless traditional songs and dances that still hold potent old magic and there’s no better way to honor our ancestors than when they’re re-invigorated and re-lived. A wonderful Scottish dance was lovingly preserved by Alexander Carmichael in 1900 where a young woman and man dance together, and the male dancer literally breathes life into his partner. He described it as follows…
“The man has a rod in his right hand, variously called ‘slachdan druidheachd,’ ‘druidic wand’, or ‘slachdan geasachd,’ ‘magic wand’. The man and the woman gesticulate and attitudinise before one another, dancing round and round, in and out, crossing and recrossing, changing and exchanging places. The man flourishes the wand over his own head and over the head of the woman, whom he touches with the wand, and who falls down, as if dead, at his feet. He bemoans his dead ‘carlin,’ dancing and gesticulating round her body. He then lifts up her left hand, and looking into the palm, breathes upon it, and touches it with the wand. Immediately the limp hand becomes alive and moves from side to side and up and down. The man rejoices, and dances round the figure on the floor. And having done the same to the right hand, and to the left and right foot in succession, they also become alive and move. But although the limbs are living, the body is still inert. The man kneels over the woman and breathes into her mouth and touches her heart with the wand. The woman comes to life and springs up, confronting the man. Then the two dance vigorously and joyously as in the first part. The tune varies with the varying phases of the dance. It is played by a piper or a fiddler, or sung as a ‘ port-a-bial,’ mouth tune, by a looker-on, or by the performers themselves. The air is quaint and irregular, and the words are curious and archaic.”1
In the classical world, the Celtic peoples rivaled Rome and Greece in their thirst for life and for livelihood. It was said this was so much so that even when they made war, they took companions with the sole purpose of dining with them and often carried their families along in caravans.2 Despite any tumult during the day, they would often continue to dine at night and in private while the bards and poets extolled their praises and played music. Artifacts relating to feasting have been found to be particularly ornate lending to their significance such as goblets, flagons and cauldrons. Many of these items were so significant, they were buried with significant members and leaders of society. Banquets and feasting were a unique ritualistic part of social life all the way through to the old societies in the isles. In the Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh or The Triumphs of Turlough, an Irish chief is described as enjoying “…great success and prosperity; for there was peace and calm and serenity in his days; there were extensive and joyous wine-feasts, and substantial, stocky showings of hospitality, and great honour, and magnificence during his time for his people and kingship; every aristocrat enjoyed his proper birthright, every hostel-keeper was in his ancestral place, so that in all directions divine prosperity and worldly comfort were fulfilled.”3
Feasts to some extent may have been displays of status and power and beyond that representative of sustenance and health. Additionally, they may have lended to the peace of neighboring túaths, especially if they were on the brink of war. An interesting quote was passed down regarding old celebrations of Ireland in the Muirchú’s Vita sancti Patricii or Life of St. Patrick from the 7th century.4 This is most certainly in reference to the old fire festivals which were often said to go on for days when there would have been much lively feasting, celebrating, music and dancing. As recently as the early 1900’s, the knowledge was held that long ago, many festivals such as Samhain occurred the three days prior as well as three days after the actual date itself, whether it was the astronomical date or not…5
“It so happened in that year that a feast of pagan worship was being held, which the pagans used to celebrate with many incantations and magic rites and other superstitious acts of idolatry. The kings, regional rulers, leaders, princes, and the nobles of the people gathered there; furthermore, the druids, the seers, and the inventors and teachers of every craft and every skill were also summoned to king Loíguire at Tara, which was like Babylon to them, just as such men had been summoned at one time to Nebuchadnezzar [in the Bible]. They held and celebrated their pagan feast on the same night on which holy Patrick celebrated Easter. They also had a custom, which was announced to all publicly, that if anyone, in any district, far or near, lit a fire on that night before it was lit in the king’s house in the palace of Tara would be killed.
Holy Patrick, then, celebrating Holy Easter, kindled the divine fire with its bright light and blessed it, and it shone in the night and was seen by almost all the people who lived in that plain [around Tara]. Thus the fire from his tent happened to be seen at Tara, and as they saw it they all gazed at it and wondered. And the king called together the elders and said to them: “Who is the man who has dared to do such a wicked thing in my kingdom? He shall die.” They all replied that they did not know who had done it, but the druids answered: “King, may you live for ever! This fire which we see has been lit on this night before the fire was lit in your house, and unless it is extinguished on this same night on which it has been lit, it will never be extinguished at all; it will even rise above all the fires of our customs, and the person who has kindled it, and the regime that has been introduced by him who has kindled it on this night, will overpower us all as well as you, and will seduce all the people of your kingdom. All kingdoms will yield to it, and it will spread over the whole country and will reign throughout eternity.”
The Greek historian Diodorus in the 1st century BCE tells us that, “The inhabitants of Britain who dwell about the promontory known as Belerium (Cornwall) are especially hospitable to strangers and have adopted a civilized manner of life because of their intercourse with merchants of other peoples.” Also… “They (The Gauls) invite strangers to their feasts, and do not inquire until after the meal who they are and of what things they stand in need.” and “As for the customs they follow toward malefactors and enemies the Celtiberians are cruel, but toward strangers they are honourable and humane. Strangers, for instance, who come among them they one and all entreat to stop at their homes and they are rivals one of another in their hospitality, and any among them who are attended by strangers are spoken of with approval and regarded as beloved of the gods.”6 Additionally, Phylarchus, another Greek historian in the 3rd century BCE said of the Galatians specifically, “…but even all the strangers who happened to be passing by were not allowed to escape by the servants who stood around, but were pressed to come in and partake of what had been prepared.”7
This was carried on through the ages observed subtly in habits and phrases such as the well known Irish “Cead mílle fáilte,” “a hundred thousand welcomes.” The reverence of these qualities were also clearly carried forward simply by means of how frequently the generosity and hospitality of leaders were mentioned, particularly in the Irish Annals such as this reference, one of countless… “Donnchad son of Sean O Cathain, a star of hospitality and magnificence and humanity and generosity in his own country, died this year.” The laws concerning housing strangers are written extensively in the Irish Brehon Laws but are quite complicated and nuanced. The reasoning for this is that when someone chose to house a guest for more than three days, they became liable for any actions or wrongdoings of their house guest. While it was highly frowned upon to turn away a stranger in need, it came with a comprehensive set of regulations.
In general, a stranger did a lot better off when accompanying a ‘native’ of the land.8 Foreigners didn’t have many rights, if any at all and were largely at the mercy of the people of the tribe they happened to land near if traveling by sea. In early Irish law most of the mention of foreigners related to women taking a foreign husband in which case, he was worth half her honor price but still had no real rights or standing outside of his relation to his native wife. It was considered standard for anyone who could afford it to have a tecli-oiged, a large apartment kept especially for travelers. Overall, travelers were welcome but people were also usually en route to somewhere else. It wouldn’t be accurate to say that anyone could have moved throughout the country safely or freely nor anytime they wanted as this was largely only reserved for the guarded upper echelon of society. The common folk largely stayed within their territory and personal homesteads.
According to the Irish tale Bruidhean Dá Choca or Choga “Da Choca’s Hostel,” six royal hostels or bruiden were supported by the high king in order to provide shelter and food for those traveling through the country that would have usually been of an élite class, possibly the bards, healers, clerics or chieftains passing through. The main hostel of note, the Bruidhean Dá Choca9 was located in the townland of Bryanmore Upper in Westmeath, where the remains of a possible candidate fort location were discovered. The ancient Neolithic compound of Brú na Bóinne, fascinatingly translates to ‘the hostel of the Boyne’ or alternatively, ‘the residence of Oengus son of the Dagda’. Quite possibly and likely, it was both, house and hostel in the same regional space.10 These hostels would have often been placed at the meeting of four roads and are additionally mentioned in several places of the Irish Annals. Every need of the visitor of repute would have been attended to often including their sexual needs, as women and likely men as well, were commonly offered. This is exhibited most readily in the tale of the Feast of Bricriu where Queen Maeve offered herself to Cú Chulainn as well as an additional 50 women for the night. She also sent two daughters of repute (one being her own) plus 50 women each to Cú Chulainn’s warriors Conall and Loigaire.
A briugu, the person assigned to man the hostel, was legally expected and obliged to provide limitless hospitality and this job as well as hostel itself is thought to have had ritual significance in regards to its purpose and relation to the Otherworld as a feasting hall.11 This practice continued seamlessly with the transitioning to Christianity. In fact, the church actively encouraged it and in time, monasteries or convents replaced the high king’s role in providing sustenance and shelter for weary or renowned travelers throughout the country although it was unlikely these included sexual needs. It wasn’t until 1539, when Henry VIII’s order of suppression was issued, that all church hostels were ordered to be closed despite a petition by the Irish Lord Deputy of the time, Leonard Gray pleading to allow them to keep the last six main locations open.12
In the Bards of Gaeilge, a bard named Marban extols his life and gratitude to his king, King Guaire, ‘the Hospitable’, that his living quarters were “…a shieling in the wood, None knows it save my God: An ashtree on the hither side, a hazelbush beyond, A huge old tree encompasses it….The size of my shieling tiny, not too tiny, Many are its familiar paths: From its gable a sweet strain sings, My lady in her cloak of the ousel’s hue… A hiding mane of a green-barked yew-tree, Which supports the sky: Beautiful spot! The large green of an oak, Fronting the storm. A tree of apples, great its bounty! Like a hostel, vast: A pretty bush, thick as a fist, of tiny hazelnuts, Branching, green.”13 When the famous Suibhne mac Colmáin, king of the Dál nAraidi in Buile Suibhne went mad with anger and frenzy into the wilderness, it was only through staying in a hostel that he regained his senses.14
In this inspiring tale, Saint Rónán Finn was making his boundaries for a new church on Suibhne mac Colmáin’s grounds. Upon hearing the sound of a new church bell, Suibhne stormed out of the door towards the Saint as his wife grabbed his cloak trying to stop him. His clothing unraveled and he was left completely naked while he addressed Rónán, throwing his psalter into the lake and attempting to drag the saint away. Suibhne was interrupted by a messenger requesting aid for the Battle of Mag Rath and in the meantime, an otter returned Rónán’s psalter from the lake. That night he used it to place a curse on Suibhne that he would wander the wilderness and world naked and crazed, only to eventually die by a spear-point. Rónán gave him another chance but the curse was repeated again in another altercation shortly thereafter. When Suibhne later heard the clashing of weapons in the continuing Battle of Mag Rath, he was driven mad and left the battlefield to wander the forest in Glenn Earcain nearby. He sat perched in a yew tree until found by a kinsman, upon which he fled again to sit in another tree farther away. He eventually went to his home territory where he wandered for seven more years avoiding all who tried to capture him, until finally being caught and taken to a hostel by his countryman Loingseachan.
“Apples, berries, beautiful hazel-nuts,
blackberries, acorns from the oak-tree,
raspberries, they are the due of generosity,
haws of the prickly-sharp hawthorn.”
Buile Suibhne, 12th century
There, he managed to finally regain his senses, his memory and health. However, the peace was temporary as after being taunted by a hag, Loingseachan’s mother in law, he descended into madness once more. He visited many parts of Ireland and even ventured to Britain where he spent time with another madman, a fer caille or ‘man of the wood’ who was also predestined to die by drowning in a waterfall. Suibhne then returned to Ireland and to his home once more where he was shunned by his wife out of embarrassment of his appearance and wild state. He found rest at the House of St. Moling where a parish woman was set to feed him daily milk. Her husband was convinced they had a tryst and in a fit of jealous rage, killed Suibhne with a spear. So it was that the prophecy was fulfilled. This story can take on multiple meanings depending what perspective we’re looking at it from. From one perspective, Suibhne’s escape to the wilderness seems very purposeful on his part, not only wanting to avoid the tumult of war but also of his disdain for the church.
Of course, none of this is to say that the multitude of túaths in various form and name across the entirety of the Celtic language landscape were always peaceful with one another because there were countless ‘hostings’, of another kind in old Ireland. A hosting, also called expedition in Scotland was essentially a particular kin group, organizing and advancing into their enemies territory to stir up various forms of trouble or conquest. These were quite common and well recorded throughout many various sources of noteworthy Irish and Scottish events such as in the Irish Annals or the Scottish Senchus fer n-Alban. At the heart of the practices of celebration, hospitality, music and feasting is the proliferation of positive social cohesion and maintaining healthy connections amongst themselves as societies. To provide hospitality, feasting and pleasurable entertainment encouraged good relationships on all social and political tiers of life. This is naturally just as important today for the same reasoning with family, friends and our broader local communities.
“I was a listener in the woods,
I was a gazer at the stars,
I was not blind where secrets were concerned,
I was silent in a wilderness,
I was talkative among many,
I was mild in the mead-hall,
I was stern in battle,
I was gentle toward allies,
I was a physician of the sick,
I was weak towards the feeble,
I was strong towards the powerful,
I was not parsimonious lest I should be burdensome,
I was not arrogant though I was wise,
I was not given to vain promises though I was strong,
I was not unsafe though I was swift,
I did not deride the old though I was young,
I was not boastful though I was a good fighter,
I would not speak about any one in their absence,
I would not reproach but I would praise,
I would not ask, but I would give.”
– Cormac mac Cuilennáin, Irish King and Poet of Cashel, 836 – 908 CE
References
- Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica Vol. 1. Edinburgh. 1900. pg 208.
- Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists. trans. Charles Burton Gulick. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937.
“And Posidonius of Apamea, in the twenty-third book of his Histories, says: “The Celts, even when they make war, take about with them companions to dine with them, whom they call parasites. And these men celebrate their praises before large companies assembled together, and also to private individuals who are willing to listen to them: they have also a description of people called Bards; who make them music; and these are poets, who recite their praises with songs.”
“Ariamnes the Galatian, being an exceedingly rich man, gave notice that be would give all the Galatians a banquet every year; and that he did so, managing in this manner: He divided the country, measuring it by convenient stages along the roads; and at these stages he erected, tents of stakes and rushes and osiers, each containing about four hundred men, or somewhat more, according as the district required, and with reference to the number that might be expected to throng in from the villages and towns adjacent to the stage in question. And there he placed huge cauldrons, full of every sort of meat; and he had the cauldrons made in the preceding year before he was to give the feast, sending for artisans from other cities.”
3. O’Grady, Standish. Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh. Trans. By Michael Newton. London: Irish Texts Society, 1929.
4. Muirchú’s Vita sancti Patricii. Trans. L. Bieler. School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 2011.
5. King, Rosie. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0118, Page 4.
6. Diodorus Siculus. Library of History (Books III – VIII), trans. C. H. Oldfather. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935.
7. Athenaeus. Phylarchus. The Deipnosophists, trans. Charles Burton Gulick. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937.
8. Donovan, Dr. John. O’Curry, Eugene. Atkinson, Robert. Ancient Laws of Ireland, Vol. 3. 1865, 1901. pg. 133.
9. Toner, Gregory. Bruiden Da Choca, Irish Texts Society 61, London: Irish Texts Society, 2007.
10. Koch, John. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC CLIO, 2006. Pg. 296.
11. O’Rahilly, T.F. Early Irish History and Mythology. Dublin: institute for Advanced Studies, 1946. pg. 121 – 129.
12. State Paper, Hen. VIII., Irel., iii. 130. See also Register of All Hallows, xxv.
13. Meyer, Kuno. King and Hermit. 10th century. London, 1901. pg 13 – 15.
14. O’Keeffe, J.G. Buile Suibhne. Author unknown. 1200 – 1500. University College Cork, 1913. Pg. 61.
Isla Skye / The Druid's Cauldron Historical Society
We are a registered non-profit, The Druid’s Cauldron Inc. 501(c)(3) The Druid’s Cauldron is an independent journal established in 2016, dedicated to the preservation and exploration of the druids, filid/poets, culture, native wisdom, and the living traditions of the isles. We exist to recover folklore, herbalism, spiritual philosophy, and ecological knowledge embedded in the roots of the early Irish Gaelic and broader Celtic world.
Through deep research into traditional folklore, herbalism and mythology as well as personal artistic endeavors, we seek to cultivate a deeper relationship with the land, the seasons, and to one another. We are committed to serious inquiry and evidence-based information, or it is alluded that it’s personal philosophy and labeled as such. The Druid’s Cauldron is a space for the curious, the contemplative, and those who feel called to remember older ways of being in right relationship with the land and each other.
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