Version: 2.57 URL: http://www.siliconglen.com/celtfaq/ Archive-name: cultures/celtic/celtic-faq Posting-Frequency: 4 months Last-Modified: 1-Aug-2011 This is the FAQ for the news:soc.culture.celtic newsgroup. This FAQ was first launched May 1994. Craig Cockburn craig@siliconglen.com (editor) Preliminary notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The information here is copyright (c) Craig Cockburn 1994-2011, please ask me if you want to use any material here for any purpose. Since this FAQ was first posted in 1994, a number of new newsgroups have started to cater for Celtic countries. Where there is a FAQ for such a group, I have provided a pointer to that group's FAQ rather than duplicate the information in here. This FAQ is a living document, if there's any corrections, additions or comments you'd like to make, please send them to me for the next edition. The usual major updates for the rtfm.mit.edu archive are the Celtic quarter days of 1-Feb; 1-May (Beltain); 1-Aug; 1-Nov (Samhainn) Accents in this document are represented by a / or \ after the vowel in question e.g. e/ represents e-fada (=e acute) Contents ~~~~~~~~ The Celts ========= [1.1] The Celts [1.2] Reading material [1.3] The Celtic languages [1.4] Celtic language mailing lists [1.5] Where can I get Celtic Music? [1.6] How do I identify which Celtic language this is? [1.7] Books for Celtic names for children [1.8] Multilingual publications [1.9] General on-line language resources [1.10] Pan Celtic information [1.11] Celtic League [1.12] Celtic Congress Celtic Countries ================ (alphabetic by name in their main Celtic language) [2] Alba - Scotland [3] Alba Nuadh - Nova Scotia [4] Breizh - Brittany [5] Cymru - Wales [6] Eire - Ireland [7] Kernow - Cornwall [8] Mannin - Isle of Man Other locations =============== [9] Celtic events & societies around the world [1.1] Historical background The Celts (pronounced with a hard C like "Claymore") appear in Europe as a group of peoples who spoke languages in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Other branches of the Indo-European family are Albanian, Anatolian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Germanic (includes English), Greek, Indo-Iranian, Italic (Latin based) and Tocharian. European languages *not* belonging to the Indo-European group are Basque, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian and Lappish (also called Saami). Basque is notable in that it is almost certainly a remnant of the languages present in Europe before the Indo-European expansion. Hungarian, however, was brought from the East at a later date. The Celts evolved from the Urnfield Culture (given that name because of the burial system of cremation and placement of ashes in urns which in turn were buried in fields...) much earlier than the Romanized Celtic world of the late 500-400 BC. I use the word "evolve" because it is difficult to define just when the Celts became a culture unto themselves. That said, a culture can be defined according to economic stability, shared religious beliefs and social structure. Around 1500-1000BC, the Celts lived in an area which today is mostly in Eastern France. The area stretched from roughly where Luxembourg is today to a bit further south than Geneva and took in parts of modern day West Germany and Switzerland. It was an area a little bigger than the island of Ireland. The Celts then expanded to cover an area covering most of Western Europe and Central Europe. Around 400BC, the Celts lived in what is now called Britain, Ireland, France (i.e. Gaul), Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech and Slovak Republics. Celts also lived in parts of Spain (notable Galicia), northern Italy, The Netherlands, the southern half of Germany, and parts of Poland and Russia (source: "The Story of English", Faber and Faber; BBC books 1992). After the height of their power, the Celts (the first Indo-European group to spread across Europe) were pushed north and west by successive waves of Indo-European peoples, notably Germanic and Latin based. The main migration was by the Galli or Gauls into France, northern Italy and the north of Europe. >From "The Celts", by Frank Delaney (Grafton Books, a division of Collins Publishing Group; copyright London 1986): Hallstatt - This site at Hallstatt, Austria, was first uncovered by a George Ramsauer (a local) in 1846. It was not until 30 years later that a team of investigators from the Academy of Sciences in Vienna performed an exhaustive investigation of the local salt mine (the natural resource that had supported a local economy near Hallstatt for perhaps 4500 years) and the approximately 2500 grave sites there. The time in European history of this snapshot of Celtic cultural development is approximately 800 B.C. The Celtic people here were an iron using people who traded salt to the south as far as Italy and as far north as Bohemia. "The grave goods - predominantly iron-made - ... indicated a sophisticated and hierarchical society. These people, superb iron-workers, owned and buried beautifully-decorated vessels, ornamented weaponry and horse trappings, all of a standard much advanced upon that recorded from earlier Europe, reflecting a decisive and recognizable social structure." Prior to these discoveries at Hallstatt, the Iron Age map of Europe only included Rome and Greece as "civilizations". "But now 'the glory that was Greece, the grandeur that was Rome' had a proven tangible rival - the opulence and clear structure of the Celtic civilization." "The Hallstatt Culture reflects the Celts in their state of development between the beginning of the ninth century B.C. and the middle of the seventh century B.C. - an iron-using, farming, trading people with fixed patterns of habitation and society." So, the term Hallstatt has more to do with the state of development of the whole society than the time at which this development was achieved. For example, artifacts found in Ireland dated four-hundred years later than those found at Hallstatt may still be described as Hallstatt based on the way in which they were made and the reflections of their local society. La Tene -- In 1858, near Neuchatel, Switzerland, another trove of Celtic objects was uncovered. Subsequent excavations in this area indicated that "busy and continuous life" had existed by the lake at Neuchatel for hundreds of centuries. As the Hallstatt cultural period of the Celts lasted from between 800/700 B.C. to 600/500 B.C., "La Tene denotes a period which took over from Hallstatt Culture". La Tene Culture can be divided into three periods: Early La Tene, 600-500 B.C.; Middle La Tene, 300-100 B.C.; and Late La Tene which leads into the end of Celtic dominance in central Europe as the Roman Empire began to expand north of the Alps. "If Hallstatt Culture may be seen as survival and breakthrough from basic comfort to the nucleus of civilization, the Celts of La Tene Culture, luxuriated, shone, swaggered, thought, expressed themselves....La Tene meant more lavish burials, more advanced decoration on swords, helmets, brooches, more cosmopolitan influence." "La Tene Culture lifts the Celts from being just another of the myriad European tribally-originated peoples who made an impact in the days before literacy. La Tene spirit establishes the Celts as a real 'civilization'". "La Tene Culture finds the Celts amongst wealth and glory and possession and expression. They had mobility, style, trade, power. They had given themselves definition; they had acquired a considerable presence; and they had, for their elegance and heroism, earned respect, an assured people. The way of the Celts within that period, the five hundred years or so before Christ, fixed them in the popular imagination - mythological in splendour, glorious in their gold and jewels, mysterious in the tracery of their ornamentation, opulent in the evidence of their possessions." "And the term 'La Tene' defines the essential vision of the Celts and their civilization, marks their major cultural presence in Europe, when their attitude , personality, style, came of age. Through La Tene, Europe saw them as important, powerful and fascinating. Their spread across the continent, their multifarious presence, made them a force to be reckoned with." There are some Celtic artifacts in the Hungarian National History Museum in Budapest. Gellert Hill, which towers over the Danube on the Buda side of the river, was once a Celtic fort. After pushing through the area on their original journeys across Europe, Celtic peoples from what became from France returned to the area around the 4th century I believe. They introduced coinage to the area and traded. Outside of Budapest, there are Roman ruins which were built over the site of a Celtic village. The Romans called the place Aquinctum -- which was based on An-ke (I believe) which meant 'place near water' in the Celtic language of that particular group. Hallstatt culture ----------------- See http://www.interaktive.com/Museum (in German) If you have any questions about The Hallstatt-Period or questions about our History, please mail me. I try to answer or give it to the people, who know the right answer. In a few days you can see at this page all the books we have about the Hallstatt-Period. Greetings from Hallstatt to UK Herbert DITACHMAIR mailto:didi@ping.at http://www.interaktive.com/Orte/Hallstatt.htm (in German) [1.2] Reading material This is an extensive list of Celtic studies research material. This was compiled by Denise Inglis and was compiled during research for her thesis. This list is also available to FTP from ftp://yeats.csufresno.edu/pub/misc/celtic_studies.bib Celtic reading list compiled by Denise Inglis mailto:DENISEI@alcon.acu.edu Reading list ------------ First Light on an Irish Tomb (ancient tomb at Newgrange may have had astronomical function.) Science News 135 (Feb. 11, 1989) : 88ff. Alcock, Leslie. Arthur's Britain : History and Archaeology - A. D. 367-634. London : Allen Lane, 1974. Anderson, Marjorie O. The Celtic Church in Kinrimund. IN The Mediaeval Church of St. Andrews. Arbesmann, Rudolph. The cervuli and anniculae in Caesarius of Arles. Traditio 35:89-119 1979. Bamford, Christopher. Ecology and Holiness : The Heritage of Celtic Christianity. Epiphany : A Journal of Faith and Insight. No. 3, 66-78, Spring 1983. Bammesberger, Alfred, and Wollmann, Alfred, eds. Britain 400-600: language and history [conf pprs, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon lang & hist, Eichstatt, W Germany, 1988; indexed selectively]. Anglistische Forschungen, 205. Heidelberg, Germany : Carl Winter Universitatsverlag, 1990. Barton, Beverly. Sketches and Reflections on a Celtic Pilgrimage. illus, by M. Bowes & A. Mitchell. Epiphany : A Journal of Faith and Insight 6 No. 4, 70-75 Summer, 1986. Beaulieu, Jean-Baptiste Colbert de. La monnaie au nom des rois Gesatorix et Ecritusirus. IN Studia Paulo Naster Oblata, 1; ed by S Scheers, 1982. pp. 305-322. Bede. Opera Historica. Loeb Classical Library, 2 vol. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 1954. Biel, Jorg. A Celtic Grave in Hochdorf, Germany. Archaeology 40 (Nov - Dec, 1987) : 22ff. Biel, Jorg. Treasure From a Celtic Tomb. National Geographic 157 (March 1980) : 428-438. Bieler, Ludwig. Ancient Hagiography and the Lives of St. Patrick. IN Forma futuri : studi in onone de Cardinale Michele Pelligrino. ed. Antonio Maddalena. 650-655, 1975. Turin : Bottega d'Erasmo. Bieler, Ludwig. Christian Ireland's Graeco-Latin Heritage. Studia Patristica 13 (part 2) ed. Elizabeth Livingstone. Berlin : Akademie-Verlag, 1975, 3-9. Bieler, Ludwig. Ireland: Harbinger of the Middle Ages. New York : Oxford University Press. Bieler, Ludwig. Patrick's Synod: A Revision. Melange Offerts a Mademoiselle C. Mohrmann ed. T. N. Hamess et. al. Utrecht/Anvers : Spectrum Editeurs, 1963, 96-102 Bieler, Ludwig. The Celtic Hagiographer. Studia Patristica vol. 5, (1964) 243-265. Bieler, Ludwig. The Irish Penitentials : Their Religious and Social Background. Studia Patristica vol. 18 (Part II) ed. by F. L. Cross. Berlin, 1966, 329-339. Bieler, Ludwig. The Life and Legend of St. Patrick. Dublin : Clonmore and Reynolds, 1949. Binchy, Daniel A. A pre-Christian survival in mediaeval Irish hagiography. IN Ireland in early medieval Europe; ed by D Whitelock; et al., 1982. pp. 165-178. Birley, Eric. The Deities of Roman Britain. IN Principat 18,1 : Heidentum : Dei religiosen Verhaltnisse in den Provinzen. Aufsteig und Niedergang der romischen Welt 2, 18: 1, ed. by Wolfgang Haase. Berlin : Walter de Gruyter, 1986, pp. 3-112. Boyd, Robin. Ireland: Christianity discredited or pilgrim's progress? Risk no. 37:1-127, 1988. Boyle, Alexander. The Birthplace of St. Patrick. Scottish Historical Review 60 No.2, 156 160, October 1981. Bradshaw, Brendan. The wild and woolly West: early Irish Christianity and Latin orthodoxy. The churches, Ireland and the Irish; ed by W Sheils and D Wood, 1989. pp. 1-23. Brenneman, Walter L. Serpents, Cows and Ladies : Contrasting Symbolism in Irish and Indo-European Cattle Raiding Myth. History of Religion 28 : 340-354, May 1989. Brown, T. J. An Historical Introduction to the Use of Classical Latin Authors in the British Isles From the 5th to the 11th Century. IN La Cultura antica nell'Occidente Latinodal 7 all 11 secolo. ed, Jeauneau, Edouard. 237-293, 1975. (22nd Conference Centro Italiano di Studi sull'alto Medioevo. Spoleto, Italy : Centro Italiano di Studisull'alto Medioevo.) Browne, Ray Broadus. The Celtic Cross, Studies in Irish Culture and Literature. Freeport, New York : Books for Libraries Press, 1970. Butler, L. A. S. Continuity of settlement in Wales in the central Middle Ages. IN Studies in Celtic survival; ed by L. Laing, 1977. pp. 61-66. Carey, John. Ireland and the Antipodes: the heterodoxy of Virgil of Salzburg. Speculum 64 : 1-10, January 1989. Carmichael, Alexander, ed. Sun [Celtic poem fr The Sun Dance, 1960]. Epiphany 6 No 1:78, Fall 1985. Carmichael, Alexander, ed. The voice of thunder [Celtic poem fr The Sun Dance, 1960]. Epiphany 6 No. 1:79, Fall 1985. Carmichael, Alexander, ed. The new moon [Celtic poem fr The Sun Dance, 1960]. Epiphany 6 No 1:79, Fall 1985. Cathasaigh, Donal O. The cult of Brigid: a study of pagan-Christian syncretism in Ireland (bibliog, maps, photos). IN Mother worship: theme and variations; ed by J. Preston, 1982. pp. 75-94. Chadwick, Nora K. Celtic Britain. Ancient People and Places Series, vol. 34, ed. Dr. Glyn Daniel. New York : Frederick A. Praeger, 1963. Chadwick, Nora K. Studies in the Early British Church. London : Cambridge University Press, 1958. Chadwick, Nora K. The Celts. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England : Penguin Books, 1970. Chadwick, Nora K. The Druids. Chaney, W. A. Royal Role in the Conversion of England. Journal of Church and State 9 : 317-331, August 1967. Charriere, Georges. Feux, buchers, et autodafes bien de chez nous. Revue de l'histoire des religion 194 : 23-64, July 1978. Chute, Desmond. On St Columban of Bobbio [Vita S Columbani]. Downside Review 67:170-182,304-314, 1949. Confren, Mary. The Serpent and the Goddess : Women Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland. 1st ed. San Francisco : Harper and Row, 1989. Cooke, Richard Joseph, Bp, 1853-1931. The ancient British and Ephesian succession theories. Methodist Review 80:249-269 Mr 1898. Corbett, Deborah. The voice of the Celtic harp [photos; Celtic modal scales]. Epiphany 5 No. 1 : 22-26, Fall 1984. Cowan, Edward J. Myth and identity in early medieval Scotland. Scottish Historical Review 63 : 111-135, October 1984. Cowdrey, Herbert E. J. Bede and the 'English people'. Journal of Religious History 11, 501 - 523, December 1981. Creban, Joseph H. The Theology of Eucharistic Consecration : Role of the Priest in Celtic Liturgy (periglawr). Theological Studies 40, 334-343. June 1979. Cunliffe, Barry. Celtic death rituals [Danebury pit burials; photos]. Archaeology 41 no 2:39-43, 1988. Curran, M. Sacratissimi Martyres and Early Irish Latin Hymns. Studia Patristica 15, pt. 1, 539-544, 1984. Davidson, H R Ellis. Mithraism and the Gunderstrup bowl [figs]. IN Mithraic studies, v 2; ed by J Hinnells, 1975. pp. 494-506. Davies, Wendy. Celtic Women in the Early Middle Ages. IN Images of Women in Antiquity 145-166, 1983. ed. Averil Cameron and Amelie Kurt. Detroit, Michigan : Wayne State University Press, 1983. Davies, Wendy. Property rights and property claims in Welsh vitae of the eleventh century. IN Hagiographie cultures et societies; by F Dolbeau, et al., 1981. pp. 515-533. Davies, Wendy. The Latin charter-tradition in western Britain, Brittany and Ireland in the early mediaeval period. IN: Ireland in early medieval Europe; ed by D Whitelock; et al., 1982. pp. 258-280. De Vries, Jan. La religion des Celts. The religion of Mankind Series, No. 18. Paris : Payot, 1984. De Waal, Esther. The extraordinary in the ordinary (Celtic sacramental practice of verse in daily life). Weavings 2 : 6-15 May - June, 1987. Deanesly, Margaret. The Pre-Conquest Church in England. New York : Oxford University Pres, 1961. Debarge, Louis. Le syncretism religieux : druidisme et Christianisme. Melanges de Sciences Religieuses 46 : 5-21, March 1989. Delaney, John J. ed. Saints for All Seasons. Garden City, New York : Doubleday, 1978. Demoule, Jean-Paul. L'analyse archeologique de cimitieres et l'example des necropoles celtiques. IN La mort et les morts dans la societes anciennes. ed. Cherardo Anoli et Jean Pierre Vernant, 319-337, 1982. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1982. Dillon, Myles. Early Irish Literature. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1948. Dillon, Myles. The Cycles of the Kings. London : Oxford University Press, 1946. Dooley, Kate. From Penance to Confession : The Celtic Contribution. Bijdragen : Tijdschrift voor Philosophie en Theologie 43 : 390-411, 1982. Draak, Maartje. Migration over sea [Celtic gods in Irish mythology]. Numen 9:81-98, 1962. Drury, P. J. Non-classical religious buildings in iron age and Roman Britain : a review [maps; bibliog]. IN Temples, churches and religion, pt 1; ed by W Rodwell, 1980. pp. 45-78. Dumville, David N. Beowulf and the Celtic world: the uses of evidence [figs]. Traditio 37:109-160, 1981. Duncan, Archibald A. Bede, Iona and the Picts. IN Writing of History in the Middle Ages : Essays Presented to Richard William Southern. 1-42, 1981. ed. John M. Wallace-Hadrill, Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1981. Duval, Paul M. Observation sur les dieux de la Gaule. Revue de l'histoire des religions 145 (January - March, 54) : 5-17. Enright, Michael J. The Sutton Hoo whetstone sceptre: a study in iconography and cultural milieu. IN: Anglo-Saxon England, 11; ed by P Clemoes, 1983. pp. 119-134. Evans-Wentz, W. Y. The Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries. New Hyde Park, New York : University Books, 1966. Laing, Lloyd. The Origins of Britain. New York : Schribner, 1980. Farmer, David H. Benedict's Disciples. Leominster, Great Britain : Fowler Wright Books, Ltd., 1980. Fenn, R. W. D. Age of the Saints. IN A History of the Church in Wales. ed. by David Walker 1-23, 1976. Penarth, Wales : Church in Wales Publishing, 1976. Ferguson, Everett, et al., eds. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity New York : Garland Publishing, Inc., 1990. Ford, Patrick K. Celtic Women : the Opposing Sex. IN Viator, vol 19 : Medieval and Renaissance Studies, eds. Benson, Robert L.; A. R. Branmuller, Robert I. Burns et al. Berkeley, California : University of California Press, 1988. Forrester, Duncan B. and Douglas M. Murray, ed. Studies in the History of Worship in Scotland. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark, 1984. Fox, Cyril, Sir. The Early Cultures of North-west Europe. H. M. Chadwick Memorial Studies. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1950. Frend, William H. C. Ecclesia Britannica Prelude or Dead End? Journal of Ecclesiastical History 30 : 129-144, April 1979. Frey, Otto-Herman. The chariot tomb from Adria: some notes on Celtic horsemanship and chariotry [photos; il; bibliog]. IN To illustrate the monuments; ed by J Megaw, 1976. pp. 171-179. Frye, Roland M. Christ and Ingeld. (Anglo-Saxon myth) Theology Today 11, 225-232, July, 1954. Grant, R. M. Christianity in Roman Britain. Anglican Theological Review 51 : 79-96 April 1969. Green, Miranda J. Triplism and plurality: intensity and symbolism in Celtic religious expression [bibliog, photos] IN Sacred and profane; ed by P Garwood, et al., 1991. pp. 100-108. Green, Miranda. The Gods of the Celts. Totowa, New Jersey : Barnes & Noble, 1986. Green, Miranda. Theomorphism [photos; history of eastern influences in Great Britain]. IN Roman life and art in Britain, 2; J Munby and M Henig, eds., 1977. pp. 297-326. Greene, David H, ed. An Anthology of Irish Literature. New York : The Modern Library. 1954. Gwynn, Aubrey and R. Neville Hadcock. Medieval Religious Houses : Ireland. Harlow : Longmans, 1970. Hanson, R. P. C. St. Patrick, a saint for all traditions. 193-196. IN Askum Thyateira : Festschrift Archbishop Methodios of Thyateira and Great Britain. London, England : Thyateira House, 1985. Hanson, R. P. C. The Life and Writings of St. Patrick. New York : Seabury Press, 1983. Hanson, R. P. C. Patrick and the Mensura fidei. IN Studia Patristica vol. 10, pt. 1, ed. F. Cross, 109-111, 1970. Hanson, R. P. C. St. Patrick, His Origins and Career. London : Oxford University Press, 1968. Hanson, R. P. C. The Omissions in the Text of the Confession of St. Patrick in the Book of Armagh. IN Studia Patristica vol. 12, pt. 1, ed. Elizabeth Livingstone 91-95, 1975. Hatchett, Marion J. The eucharistic rite of the Stowe missal Time and community; ed by J. Alexander, 1990. pp. 153-170 Heailidhe, Padraig O. Crosses and slabs at St Berrihert's Kyle in the Glen of Aherlow. IN North Munster studies; Essays for M Moloney; ed by E Rynne, 1967. pp. 102-132. Heist, William H. Hagiography, chiefly Celtic, and recent developments in folklore. IN Hagiographie cultures et societies; by F. Dolbeau, et al., 1981. pp. 121-141. Heist, William W. Irish Saints' Lives, Romance and Cultural History. IN Medieval Hagiography and Romance ed. P. Clogan 25-40, 1975. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. (Medievalia et Humanistica, new series, No. 6.) Henry, Franoise. Irish Art in the Early Christian Period (to 800 A. D.) Ithaca, New York : Cornell University Press, 1965. Henry, Patrick Leo. The Early English and Celtic Lyric. London : Allen and Unwin, 1966. Herbert, Maire. The Bible in early Iona [bibliog]. IN The Bible in Scottish life and literature; ed by D Wright, 1988. pp. 131-139. Horgan, John. Irish Mist; A Tomb in Ireland May be the Oldest Astronomical Structure. Scientific American, 260 (April, 1989) : 22ff. Hubert, Henri. The Greatness and Decline of the Celts. London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1934. Hughes, Kathleen. Evidence for Contacts Between Churches of the Irish and English From the Synod of Whitby to the Viking Age (664 - 9th Century). IN England Before the Conquest : Studies in Primary Sources Presented to Dorothy Whitelock. ed. Peter Clemoes and Kathleen Hughes 49-67, 1971, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1971. Hughes, Kathleen. Sanctity and Secularity in the Early Irish Church. IN Sanctity and Secularity : Paper Read at the 11th Summer Meeting and the 12th Winter meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. ed. Derek Baker, 21-37, 1973. Oxford : Basil Blackwell Press. Studies in Church History Vol. 10. Hyde, Douglas. A Literary History of Ireland From Earliest Times to the Present Day. New York : Barnes & Noble, 1967. Jackson, Kenneth. Language and History in Early Britain : A Chronological Survey of the Brittonic Languages, 1st to 12th century A. D. Edinburgh : University Press, 1971. John, Eric. The social and political problems of the early English church. Land, church and people; ed by J Thirsk, 1970. pp. 39-63. Jones, W. R. Medieval State-building and the Churches of the Celtic Fringe. Journal of Church and State 16 : 407-419, August, 1974. Joyce, P. W. Old Celtic Romances. London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1920. Keane, Edward. St. Patrick's Journey Through West Limerick. IN North Munster Studies : Essays for M. Moloney. ed. by E. Rynne. 169-171, 1967. Limerick : The Thomond Archaeological Society, 1967. Kelly, Joseph F. T. Books, Learning, and Sanctity in Early Christian Ireland. Thought LIV (1979). Kelly, Joseph F. T. The Virgin Birth in Hiberno-Latin Theology. Studia Patristica 15, pt 1, 328-335, 1984. Kelly, Joseph F. T. The Escape of St. Patrick From Ireland (Confessio 17 - 19; 23). Studia Patristica 18, vol 1, 41-45, 1986. Kelly, Joseph F. T. The Attitudes Toward Paganism in Early Christian Ireland. IN Diakonia : Studies in Honor of Robert T. Meyer. 214-223, 1986. ed. Thomas Halton, and Joseph P. Williamson, Washington, D. C. : Catholic University of America Press, 1986. Kendrick, T. D. The Druids : A Study in Keltic Prehistory. New York : Barnes & Noble, 1966. Kenney, James F. The Sources for the Early History of Ireland I : Ecclesiastical. New York : Octagon Books, 1966 (1929). Knudsen, Johannes. Celtic Christianity. Dialog (Minnesota) 22 : 56-59, Winter 1983. Knudsen, Johannes. Let's go a few steps further. [worship practices] Dialog 20 : 61-63, Winter 1981. Laing, Lloyd, ed. Studies in Celtic survival [papers from conf on Celtic continuity, Liverpool, England, March 1976; indexed selectively]. British Archaeological Reports, 37. Oxford, England: British Archaeological Reports, 1977. Laing, Lloyd. Celtic Britain. Britain Before the Conquest Series, ed. Andrew Wheatcraft. London : Paladin Books, 1981. Laing, Lloyd. Segontium and the post-Roman occupation of Wales. IN Studies in Celtic survival; ed by L. Laing, 1977. pp. 57-60. Laing, Lloyd. The Archaeology of Late Celtic Britain & Ireland. London : Methuen, 1975. Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of the Expansion of Christianity : Vol II. The Thousand Years of Uncertainty. Grand Rapids, Michigan : Zondervan, 1970. Laurence, Anne. Irish Studies and Myth History. History Today 37 December, 1987 : 8ff. Lehane, Brendan. The Quest for Three Abbots. New York : Viking Press, 1968. Lethbridge. Thomas Charles. Herdsmen and Hermits : Celtic Seafarers in the Northern Seas. Cambridge : Bowes and Bowes, 1950. Lewis, Suzanne. Sacred Calligraphy : The Chi-Rho Page in the Book of Kells. Traditio : Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought and Religion 36, 139-159, 1980. Linklater, Eric. The Royal House of Scotland. London : Macmillan Books, 1970 Loffler, Christa M. The Pre-Christian Conceptions of Time, Death, and Eternity as Reflected in Irish Mythology. IN Zeit, Tod, und Ewigkeit in die Renaissance Literatur Band 3. ed. James Hogg. Salzburg, Austria : Institut fr Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 1987. (Analecta Cartusiana, 917 : 3). pp. 5-43. Loicq, Jean. Ogmios - Varuna et l'organisation de la fonction de souverainete dans le pantheon celtique. IN Orientalia : J. Duchesne-Guillimin, Emerito Oblata, ed. Jean Loicq, Pierre Lecoq, Vassiliy Abaev, et al. Leiden : E. J. Brill, 1984, pp. 341-382. Loomis, Roger Sherman. Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance. New York : Haskell House, 1967. Loomis, Roger Sherman. Studies in Medieval Literature : A Memorial Collection of Essays. New York : B. Franklin, 1970. Loomis, Roger Sherman. The Grail, from Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol. Cardiff : University of Wales Press; New York : Columbia University Press, 1963. Mac Cana, Proinsias. Celtic Mythology. Feltham, Hamlyn, 1970. MacCulloch, John Arnold. Celtic Mythology. IN The Mythology of All Races, vol. 13. ed. Louis Halbert Gray. New York : Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., 1964, 23-216. MacCulloch, John Arnold. The Religion of the Ancient Celts. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark, 1911. Mackey, James P, ed. An introduction to Celtic Christianity. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1989. MacPherson, Vicki Rourke. Newgrange: the illuminated spiral [Ireland; photos]. Anima 11:117-124, Spring 1985. Mahr, Adolf. Christian Art in Ancient Ireland : Selected Objects Illustrated and Described. New York : Hacker Art Books, 1976. Maier, Bernhard. Sacral kingship in pre-Christian Ireland. Zeitschrift fr Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 41 no, 1 : 12-32, 1989. Markale, Jean. Le roi Arthur et la societe celtique. Paris : Payot, 1985. Markale, Jean. Le druidisme. Paris : Payot, 1985. Markale, Jean. Le Christianisme celtique et ses survivances populaires. Paris : Payot, 1983. Markale, Jean. Les Celts et la civilisation celtique. Paris : Payot, 1983. Markus, R. A. Chronology of the Gregorian Mission to England; Bede's Narrative and Gregory's Correspondence. Journal of Ecclesiastical History 14 : 16-30 April 1963. McCulloch, Robert. Gregorian Adaptation in the Augustinian Missionto England. Missiology 6, 323-334, July 1978. McNally, Robert E. 'In nominei Dei summi' Seven Hiberno - Latin Sermons. Traditio : Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought and Religion. 35 : 121-143, 1979. McNally, Robert E. The Evangelists in the Hiberno - Latin Tradition. IN Festschrift Bernard Bischoff zu Seinem 65sten Geburtstag dargebracht von Freunden, Kollegen und Schlern 111-122, 1971. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1971. McNally, Robert E. The Three Holy Kings in Early Irish Latin Writing (Focus on Matt.) IN Kyriakon : Festschrift Johannes Quasten, vol 2. ed. Patrick Granfeld and Josef A. Jungman, 667-690, 1970. Munster, Westfalen, Germany : Verlag Aschendorff, 1970. McNally, Robert E. The Old Irish Church and Romanization. IN The Romanization Tendency 1-14, 1975. ed. Jacob Vellian (Syrian Churches Series vol. 8 ) Kottayam, India : K. P. Press, 1975. McNamara, Martin. Sources of Early Irish Theology : The Apocrypha, the Canon of Scripture. IN Milltown Studies, no. 2, Spring 1978. 58 ' 69, 1978. Dublin : Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, 1978. McNeill, John T. Perspectives on Celtic Church History. IN Contemporary Reflections on the Medieval Christian : Essays in Honor of Ray C. Petry ed. by G. Shriver, 159-182, 1974. Durham, N. C. : Duke University Press, 1974. McNeill, John T. The Celtic Churches : A History A. D. 200 to 1200. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1974. McNeill, John T. Makers of Christianity. McRoberts, David. The Cult of St. Michael in Scotland. IN Millenaire monastique du Mont-Saint-Michel, 3, ed. M. Baudot, 471-479, 1971. McWhiney, Grady. Cracker Culture : Celtic Ways in the Old South. University, Alabama : University of Alabama Press, 1988. Megaw, J. V. S. Iona and Celtic Britain : With and Interim Account of the Russel Trust Excavations. Journal of Religious History 3 : 212-237, June 1965. Miller, Terry E. Oral Tradition Psalmody Surviving in England and Scotland (tunes and sources of Gaelic Psalm Singing ; tune examples) The Hymn 35, 15-22 January, 1984. Mohrmann, C. Earliest Continental Irish Latin. Vigiliae Christianae 16 no. 3-4 : 216-233, 1962. Mooney, Desmond. Popular religion and clerical influence in pre-famine Meath [map] Religion, conflict and coexistence in Ireland; R Comerford, 1990. pp. 188-218. Morris, J. Dates of the Celtic Saints. Journal of Theological Studies ns 17 : 342-391, October 1966. Ni Chathain, Proinseas and Michael Richter, eds. Ireland and Europe : The Early Church (conference papers, Dublin Ireland, 1981). Stuttgart, West Germany : Klett-Cotta, 1984. Ni Chathain, Proinseas and Michael Richter, eds. Irland und die Christenheit : Bibel-Studien und Mission-Ireland & Christendom : the Bible and the Missions. (Papers University College Dublin, Stuttgart : Klett-Cotta, 1987. Ni Chathain, Proinseas. Traces of the cult of the horse in early Irish sources [bibliog]. Journal of Indo-European Studies 19 : 123-131, Spring - Summer 1991. Nolan, Mary Lee. Irish Pilgrimage : The Different Tradition. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 73, no. 3, 421-483, 1983. Nordenfalk, Carl Adam Johan. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Painting : Book Illumination in the British Isles, 600-800. New York : G. Braziller, 1977. Norman, Edward R. and J. K. S. St. Joseph. The Early Development of Irish Society : The Evidence of Aerial Photography. Cambridge Air Surveys, 3. London : Cambridge University Press, 1969. Nutt, Alfred Trubner. Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail. New York : Cooper Square Publishers, 1965. O'Donoghue, Noel D. The Place of the Angels (excerpt from The Holy Mountain, 1983). Epiphany 5 no. 2, 22-29, Winter 1984. O'Laoghaire, Diarmuid. Celtic Spirituality. IN The Study of Spirituality, ed. Cheslyn P. M. Jonas, Geoffery Wainwright and Edward Yarnold. New York : Oxford University Press, 1986, 216-225. O'Laoghaire, Diarmuid. Daily Intimacy with God : An Ever New Aspect of Celtic Worship. Studia Liturgica 13, Nov 1, 46-56, 1979. O'Meara, John H. and Bernd Naumann. Latin Script and Letters, A. D. 400 - 900 : Festschrift Presented to Ludwig Bieler on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday. Leiden : Brill, 1976. Painter, K. S. Villas and Christianity in Roman Britain; Christianity in Roman Britain : Recent Finds. 1962 - 1969. IN Actas Del 8 Congreso Arqueologia Christiana by K. Bohner, et al. 149-166; 373-374, 1972. Vatican City : Pontificio Instituto di Archeologia Cristiana, 1972. Pearce, Susan M., ed. The Early Church in Britain and Ireland : Studies Presented to C. A. Ralegh Radford (conference papers, Exeter University, 1981; British Archaeological Reports, 102) Oxford : British Archaeological Reports, 1982. Powell, Terence G. E. The Celts. New York : F. A. Praeger, 1958. Prebble, John. The Lion in the North. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England : Penguin Books, 1981. Puhvel, Martin. Beowulf and Celtic Tradition. Waterloo, Ontario : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1979. Radford, C. A. Ralegh. The Mediterranean sources of sculpture in stone among the insular Celts and the survival into the full Medieval Age. IN Studies in Celtic survival; ed by L. Laing, 1977. pp. 113-123. Reynolds, R. E. Virgines subintroductae in Celtic Christianity. Harvard Theological Review 61 : 547-566, October 1988. Rhys, John. Celtic Folklore : Welsh and Manx. 2 vols. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1901. Richard, Jean-Claude. Les petits bronzes celtiques a legende CMEP (BN 4363-4364) (ils). IN Studia Paulo Naster Oblata, 1; ed by S Scheers, 1982. pp. 323-329. Riche, Pierre. Spirituality in Celtic and Germanic Society. (tr. D. Tamburello) IN Christian Spirituality : Origins to the 12th Century. ed. Bernard McGinn and John Meyendorff (World Spirituality, 16). New York : Crossroad, 1992. Roe, Helen M. Ireland and the Archangel Michael. Millenaire monastique du Mont-Saint-Michel, 3 : culte du Saint Michel et peleringes au Mont. ed. M. Baudot. Paris : Bibliotheque d'Histoire et d'Archeologie Chretiennes, 1971. 418-487. Ross, Anne. Druids, Gods and Heroes From Celtic Mythology. World Mythologies Series. Ross, Anne. Everyday Life of the Pagan Celts. Everyday Life Series. New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1970. Ross, Anne. The Pagan Celts. Totowa, New Jersey : Barnes & Noble, 1986. Ross, Anne. The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands. The Folklore of the British Isles. ed. Venetia J. Newall. Totowa, New Jersey : Rowman & Littlefield, 1976. Ross, Anne. The divine hag of the pagan Celts. IN The Witch Figure : Folklore Essays by a Group of Scholars in England Honoring the 75th Birthday of Katharine M. Briggs. ed. by Venetia Newall. London : Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973. Rotsaert, M. L. Progression spirituelle et progression grammaticale. IN Theolinguistics. ed, J. P. van Noppen, 295-318. Brussels : Brussels Vrije Universiteit, 1981. (Studiereeks Tijdschrift, nieuwe serie, 8) Ryan, John. Early Irish Church and the See of Peter. IN Medieval Studies Presented to Aubrey Gwynn. ed, by J. A. Watt 3-18, 1960. Dublin : Printed by O'Lochliann. Ryan, John. Irish Monasticism : Origins and Early Development. Dublin : Irish Academic Press, 1986. Sanderson, S. Druids-as-wished-for. IN To Illustrate the Monuments : Essays on Archaeology Presented to Stuart Piggott 23-26, 1976. ed. J. Vincent S. Megaw. London : Thames & Hudson, 1976. Sayers, William. Cerrce, an archaic epithet of the Dagda, Cernunnos and Conall Cernach [bibliog, charts] Journal of Indo-European Studies 16 no. 3-4 : 341-364, 1988. Sayers, William. Fergus and the cosmogonic sword. History of Religions 25 : 30-56, August, 1985. Schaferdiek, Knut. The Irish Mission of the 7th Century; Historical fact or historiographical fiction. IN The End of Strife (papers from the Colloquium of the Commission International d'Histoire Ecclesiastical Comparee, University of Durham, September 1981). 139-154, 1984. ed. David Loades. Edinburgh : T & T Clark, 1984. Schmiel, Mary A. The finest music in the world: exploring Celtic spiritual legacies. IN Western spirituality; ed by M. Fox, 1979. pp. 164-192. Scott, Eleanor. Animal and infant burials in Romano-British villas: a revitalization movement [bibliog]. IN Sacred and profane; ed by P Garwood, et al., 1991. pp. 115-121. Scott, W. H. Celtic Culture and the Conversion of Ireland. International Review of Missions 56 : 193-204 April 1967. Selmer, Carl. Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis. University of Notre Dame Publications in Mediaeval Studies, vol. 16. Notre Dame, Indiana : University of Notre Dame Press, 1959. Severy, Merle. The Celts. National Geographic 151 (May 1977) 582-633. Sheehy, Maurice. Influence of Ancient Irish Law on the Collectio Hibernensis. IN Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Medieval Canon Law. Strasbourg, September, 1968. ed. Stephan Kuttner 31-42, 1971. Vatican City : Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1971 (Monumenta Iuris Canonica Series C Subsidia, vol, 4) Sheridan, Ronald and Anne Ross. Gargoyles and Grotesques : Paganism in the Medieval Church. Boston : New York Graphic Society, 1975. Sims-Williams, Patrick. St. Wilfrid and Two Charters Dated A. D. 676-680. Journal of Ecclesiastical History 39 : 163-183, April 1988. Skehan, Patrick. St. Patrick and Elijah. IN Melanges Dominique Barthelemy : etudes bibliques offertes a l'occasion de son 60e anniversaire. ed. Pierre Cassetti, Othmar Keel, Adrian Schenker, 471-483. Fribourg Editions Universitaires, 1981 (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, 38) Skelton, Robin. Celtic Contraries. 1st ed. Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, 1990. Skurdenis, Julie. Dolmens, Cairns and Ogham Stones (archaeological site in Ireland). Archaeology 41 Sept-Oct, 1988 : 72ff. Skurdenis, Julie. Silent sentinels : The High Crosses of Ireland. Archaeology (Jan-Feb, 1987) : 61ff. Small, Alan, et al. 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London : The Studio Ltd., 1920. Thomas, Charles. Celtic Britain. Ancient Peoples and Places, v. 103. London : Thames and Hudson, 1986. Thomas, Charles. St. Patrick and 5th Century Britain : An Historical Model Explored. IN The End of Roman Britain : Papers Arising From a Conference, Durham, 1978. ed. P. J. Casey. 81-101, 1978. Oxford : British Archaeological Reports, 1979 (British Archaeological Reports British Series, 71). Thomas, Isaac. The Welsh versions of the New Testament, 1551-1620. New Testament Studies 26:503-507, July 1980. Thompson, E. A. Saint Patrick and Coroticus. Journal of Theological Studies ns 31, 12-27, April 1980. Thornton, Timothy C. G. The Destruction of Idols : Sinful or Meritorious? Journal of Theological Studies ns 37 no. 1, 121-129 April 1986. Torrey, Archer. The Gregorian Mission Methods. Missiology 8 : 99-103, January 1980. University of Wales. Board of Celtic Studies. Learning Welsh. Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1965. Walker, G. S. St. Columban : Monk or Missionary. IN The Mission of the Church and the Propagation of Faith, 17th Summer Meeting and 8th Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical Historical Society (University of Sussex), ed. G. J. Cuming. Studies in Church History vol. 6. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1970. 39-44. Webster, Graham. Boudica, The British Revolt Against Rome A. D. 60. Totowa, New Jersey : Rowman and Littlefield, 1978. Webster, Graham. Celtic Religion in Roman Britain. Totowa, New Jersey : Barnes and Noble Books, 1987. Wernick, Robert. What were the Druids Like and was Lindow man One? Smithsonian 18 (March 1988) : 146ff. Woodbride, John. Columba. IN A History of Religious Educators. Elmer I. Towns. Grand Rapids : Baker Book House, 63-70, 1975. Woods, Richard J. Environment as Spiritual Horizon : The Legacy of Celtic Monasticism. IN Cry of the Environment : Rebuilding the Christian Creation Tradition. ed. Philip N. Joranson and Ken Butigan. Santa Fe, New Mexico : Bear and Co. 62-84, 1984. Zaleski, Carol G. St. Patrick's Purgatory : Pilgrimage Motifs in a Medieval Otherworld Vision. Journal of the History of Ideas 46 No. 4, 467-495, Oct - Dec 1985. Zanger, Francis C. Cross-cultural Problems of St. Columban's Mission to Burgundy and Switzerland. IN Church Divinity, 1988 ed. John H. Morgan. Bristol, Indiana : Wyndham Hall Press, 1988. 107-120. [1.3] The Celtic languages. Primary source: Cambridge encyclopaedia of language. The Celtic languages are divided into two classes: Insular and Continental Continental Celtic languages are no longer spoken, but consisted of: Celtiberian (Spain), Gaulish (Swiss/Northern Italian variant known as Lepontic) and Galatian in Turkey(!). Galatian was spoken until about the 5th century. Lepontic turns out to be P-Celtic. Celtiberian turns out to be Q-Celtic, the split occuring prior to the 7th Century BC. Insular Celtic is divided into: P-Celtic, also called Brythonic or British Q-Celtic, also called Goidelic or Gaelic P-Celtic consists of: Cumbric (extinct), Welsh, Cornish, Breton Breton and Cornish were apparantly mutually intelligible until the 15th century Q-Celtic consists of: Irish, Scots Gaelic, Manx These languages are almost mutually intelligible today. i.e. Donegal Irish and Islay Scots Gaelic are quite close. Pronounciation note: The word Gaelic is pronounced "Gaylik" when talking about Irish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic; the modern preference is to pronounce it "Gallic" when talking about Scots Gaelic (this being much closer to the pronunciation of "Gaidhlig" which is what this language calls itself). Historically in Scotland in both English and Scots the word was pronounced the same as for the other two languages. Indeed some Scots Acts spell the word "Gaylick". Therefore for an non-Gaelic speaker to use this pronunciation is not "wrong", just not as currently preferred in Scotland. History ======= The most ancient remnants of a celtic dialect in written form have been found in northern Italy (Sesto Calende, ~600 b.C., Castelletto Ticino, ~575-550 b.C.). It is a relatively recent acquisition that these (Lepontic) inscription are actually written in a celtic dialect (Lejeune, "Lepontica", 1971). British Isles ------------- There were two waves of invasions to the British Isles which gave rise to the P/Q variaties we have today. The first invasion was to Ireland in the 4th century BC, probably from Western France. This variant became Gaelic and spread from Ireland to the Isle of Man and Scotland. The second invasion (P-Celtic) was to southern England and Wales and from there (in 5th century AD) to Brittany. Celtic languages have also spread from Britain. 150 Welsh speakers started a Welsh colony in Patagonia in 1865, and there is also a Scots Gaelic community in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. (about 1,000 speakers today). Breton is not classified as continental Celtic because it came to Brittany from Britain. There was a Gaelic speaking community in the Carolinas but this died out in the early 20th century. The p-q-phenomenon is found in Italic (compare the Latin quattor, 'four', with the Oscan petora), and certain linguists claim that there was an Italo-Celtic people by the end of the 21st century BC. However, the similarities are merely coincidental, e.g. the future tense in Irish (root + b + ending) and Latin (root + f + ending), or that passive verbs end with -r (previously believed to be a characteristic of Italic and Celtic, but later found in Hittite and Tocharian (both extinct). Pictish: The Picts were Celts but spoke a mixture of languages. They spoke a pre-Celtic language for ritualistic purposes (source: Prof Derek Thompson - "Why Gaelic matters"), and Pictish at other times. Pictish is mentioned The Cambridge Encyclopedia of language as possibly being Celtic or possibly being a non-Indo-European isolate like Basque although the evidence seems to indicate that it was Indo-European. Thompson says "It is clear from the evidence of place names that there was much common ground between [Brythonic] and the Celtic constituent of Pictish". Many of the Scottish Island names including Arran, Skye, Lewis and Jura are Pictish. For more information on placenames: (W.F.H. Nicolaisen "Scottish Place Names", Batsford, London 1976). [1.4] Celtic language mailing lists If you want to learn any of the Celtic languages, there are various lists set up. Gaelic-L -------- http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/liosta/gaelic-l/ GAELIC-L for Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx (currently about 1000 members) and WELSH-L for Welsh, Cornish and Breton (currently about 330 members) Note that these are primarily lists for discussions *in* those languages and not discussions in English *about* the languages, although short English only messages from learners are OK. To join, send a message to mailto:listserv@listserv.hea.ie containing the line: subscribe listname yourfirstname yoursurname i.e. subscribe GAELIC-L Iain Caimbeul Both GAELIC-L and WELSH-L have extensive libraries of reference material. Send the command "Get GAELIC-L filelist" or "Get WELSH-L filelist" to find out what's available once you've joined. For issues in English about Celtic culture, see the lists IRTRAD-L for Irish traditional music and CELTIC-L for Celtic culture. To join these lists, simply replace the "GAELIC-L" in the above list with the name of the list you wish to join. Here's some more detail on GAELIC-L: I was asked to write a bit about the GAELIC-L list for news.groups.reviews so here it is. Gaelic-L is a listserv list with about 1000 members and is for discussions in the 3 Gaelic languages (Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic and Manx). The list has been running since May 1989 and averages about 5-6 messages a day. Messages are primarily in Gaelic, and some have English translations. English only messages from learners seeking help are welcome, provided that they are kept fairly short. There is an extensive library associated with the list containing monthly logs of every message sent out, programs (ie one to tell the time in conversational Gaelic), reference materials (including dictionaries), contact addresses for organisations etc. Most of the topics discussed on Gaelic-L are cultural or current affairs or what's on. Related usenet newsgroups include news:rec.music.celtic and news:soc.culture.celtic. Unlike soc.culture.celtic however, discussions concerning Northern Irish politics are extremely rare on Gaelic-L. The word Gaelic is pronounced "Gaylik" when talking about Irish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic, but "Gallic" when talking about Scots Gaelic. Owners of the list include: Marion Gunn mailto:mgunn@ucd.ie University College Dublin - folklorist, software localiser, archivist and co-founder of the list. Caoimhin O Donnaile mailto:caoimhin@smo.uhi.ac.uk, Kevin Donnelly, lecturer in Computing at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Scotland's Gaelic College (on the Isle of Skye) and co-founder of the list To subscribe to the list, send a message to: mailto:listserv@listserv.hea.ie containing the line SUB GAELIC-L your name e.g. SUB GAELIC-L Iain Mac a' Gobhainn the listserv will then send you more details. To get details of the contents of Gaelic-L's library, send a command GET GAELIC-L FILELIST to mailto:listserv@listserv.hea.ie the address for messages themselves is mailto:gaelic-l@listserv.hea.ie There is a GAELIC-M list though for those with MIME capability, and this is mirrored to GAELIC-L. For Scottish Gaelic specific mailing lists, see http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/7_1.html [1.5] Where can I get Celtic music? The main place to ask this is on news:rec.music.celtic. This newsgroup is the main forum for discussions about Celtic music and it has a FAQ at http://www.collins-peak.co.uk/rmc/. The FAQ is usually posted every Monday. there is also a list of Internet resources for Celtic music available at http://www.ceolas.org/ref/Internet_Sources.html [1.6] How do I identify which Celtic language this is? Clues ----- Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic do not have these letters: j,k,q,v,w,x,y,z they also don't have double vowels. Irish Gaelic has fadas (acute accents), Scots Gaelic has both acutes and graves, but predominantly graves (acutes no longer officially exist). Irish has no grave accents. Breton has n-tilde (like Spanish) and a high number of z's Breton has acute and grave accents. Cornish looks very much like Breton, except Cornish has very few accents Cornish has an a-circumflex. K's, w's, z's occur frequently Welsh has no z's, but a high number of y's and w's Welsh also has circumflexes on all its vowels : a,e,i,o,u,w,y. Manx is the only Celtic language to be written according to non-Celtic phonetic rules. Manx is written according to more or less English phonetic rules. Manx and Cornish are the only Celtic languages with a "j". Manx is also the only Celtic language to have a c-cedilla. The letter "y" occurs frequently, as do double vowels. [1.7] Books for Celtic names: Scottish -------- _Ainmean Chloinne_, Peadar Morgan. Available from Gaelic books council See also http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/12_11.html Irish ----- Linda Rosenkranz & Pamela Redmond Satran _Beyond Shannon and Sea/n_ (St. Martin's Press 1992) Donncha O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire _Irish Names_ (Lilliput 1990) Eoin Neeson _The Book of Irish Saints_ (Mercier 1967) Muiris O/ Droighnea/in _An Sloinnteoir Gaeilge agus an tAinmnitheoir_ (Coisce/im 1991) [1.8] Multilingual publications: Carn ---- Carn: The journal of the Celtic League. This is in all 6 Celtic languages with English summaries of many of them. The Celtic League promotes the Celtic cultures and languages and is anti violence. They have branches in Scotland, Brittany, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, Isle of Man, London, USA, Cape Breton. General Secretary is: Bernard Moffatt, 11 Hilltop View, Farmhill, Braddan, Mannin (Isle of Man) See http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/ Contact Bulletin ---------------- Contact Bulletin (European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages) This publication is English-only but is included here because of its pan-Celtic linguistic appeal. The bulletin is free and available by writing to: An Biu/ro/ Eorpach do Theangacha Neamhfhorleathana 10 Sra/id Haiste I/ocht Baile A/tha Cliath 2 E/ire Tel: +353.1.6612205/6618743/6618739 mailto:eblul@indigo.ie [1.9] General on-line language resources Gaelic Culture -------------- Sabhal Mor Ostaig http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/ Sunsite This post is to announce a WWW site that offers information concerning Gaelic and Gaelic Culture. The url is: http://www.ibiblio.org/gaelic/ This sits contain information on/in Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and hopefully soon Manx Gaelic. Lesson(s) with accompanying audio files are available for Scottish Gaelic. (This would then qualify as the first on-line language tutorial that I know of let alone in gaelic. By on-line I mean available in an interactive format.) There is a wide range of poetry on this site, both English and Gaelic. Audio files exist of people reading this poetry also, in some cases the authors themselves. You can also pick up any of the last several days worth of experimental recordings of the RTE Internet Radio project, a ~3MB recording of Radio 1's morning News. There is information on the Celts as well as mirrors to several other sites containing more information on all of these subjects and more. While not Gaelic in origin, I like it and had someone around who speaks very good Scots, so some of Rabbie Burns poetry is included also. Thanks to Stephen Watson, there is a collection of gif images showing the different tartans. Click in and look at all the pretty patterns !-) Hopefully soon, there will be some recordings of different types of music related to gaelic culture, including recordings of the different kinds of pipes, celtic harp, fiddle music as well as singing. Please note that this site is just starting out and that all links do net yet lead anywhere. Ma tha ceistean agaibhse, tha mi aig mailto:gaelic@sunsite.unc.edu (Any questions, please send them to mailto:gaelic@sunsite.unc.edu) [1.10] Pan Celtic information The London Association for Celtic Education (LACE) produces a guide to Celtic language related societies in London and around the UK. I have an old copy and find it very useful indeed. 100's of entries in the guide covering Scotland, Ireland, Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany Contact: Jean Marie MacGuinn 161 Wightman Road London N8 Tel: 0181 341 5606 Roger Casement Irish Centre, Eastgate Building, 131 St John's Way, London N19 3RQ. Tel: 0171- 281 3225 [1.11] Celtic League The Celtic League publishes 'Carn' which is in all 6 of the Celtic languages as well as English. Membership is 10 pounds (15 for two people at the same address) For more information on the Celtic league in Scotland, see http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/ [1.12] Celtic Congress Celtic Congress http://www.indigo.ie/egt/celtcong/cc-home-en.html Contact: M. MacIver, 7 Teal Avenue, Inverness IV2 3TB [2] Alba - Scotland The material which was originally here has been moved and considerably expanded and now forms the news:soc.culture.scottish FAQ at: http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/ [3] Alba Nuadh - Nova Scotia Contents ~~~~~~~~ -> [3.1] Am Braighe -> [3.2] Scottish Step Dancing -> [3.3] Songs -> [3.4] Cape Bretoner newspaper -> [3.5] Cape Breton/Nova Scotia History -> [3.6] Cape Breton what's on [3.1] Am Braighe Am Braighe "A quarterly journal focusing on the oral traditions and history of the North American Gaels. Interviews in Gaelic and English on immigration, folklore, history, music and song" It's about 90% in English Subscriptions or FREE sample copy : Am Braighe PO Box 179 Mabou Canada Tel: (902) 945-2666 Fax: (902) 945 2723 I think there are about 1,000 speakers of Gaelic left in Nova Scotia, plus some on Prince Edward Island. This represents about 0.6% of the population. In Scotland, the number of Gaelic speakers is about 1.5% [3.2] Step Dancing See also http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/10_3.html This was published at the Cork Cape Breton Festival a couple of years ago. CAPE BRETON STEP-DANCE - AN IRISH OR SCOTTISH TRADITION? ======================================================== Prepared by: Sheldon MacInnes, Program Director, Extension & Community Affairs, University College of Cape Breton. Introduction ============ Writing about Cape Breton step-dance is difficult; in fact, writing about any dance is difficult. Most people enjoy "participating in" fun activities rather than writing about them. Cape Breton step-dancing is an excellent illustration of an activity which one would rather "do". However, at the request of the organising committee for the Eigse Na Laoi, I will attempt to write this short paper on Cape Breton step- dance and its origins. Readers of this paper should simply view the following observations and comments as one person's opinion. Background ========== It is obvious to most people familiar with the dance culture of Cape Breton Island that the art of step-dancing is alive and well, and, like so many of our cultural treasures and initiatives, step- dance has an impact on Cape Breton's cultural history and tradition, island identity, social cohesion and the economy. Traditional dance provides an instrument for exploring our unique heritage and may serve as a means to attract outside attention to Cape Breton among students of folklore and history and the general travelling public. Therefore, the debate on the origins of step-dance has some relevance. In the most extreme parochial sense, some people say step- dance has its origins somewhere in Cape Breton, i.e. in an area like Inverness County, or Victoria County. Some people may even argue that it began in Waterford (as in New Waterford, Cape Breton, not to be mistaken for Waterford, Ireland.) Documented discussions, however, among elders in several Cape Breton communities, elders not far removed from the generation of Scots who emigrated from Scotland, give some credence to the notion that the dance originated in Scotland. A review of literature by scholars who have taken the time to research the origins of different traditional dance forms also gives some validity to this view. Early Research ============== In 1958, Frank Rhodes, a renowned scholar, visited Cape Breton and spent considerable time in a number of rural communities chatting with older people. As a result of his visit and subsequent research, he was satisfied that his findings supported the notion that Cape Breton step-dance has its roots in the Highlands of Scotland. Works by other researchers like George Emerson, Joan and Tom Flett, and Cape Breton's own Allister MacGillivray would later support Rhodes' view. (Rhodes, p. 9.) Of particular interest to me, upon reviewing the literature, was MacGillivray's interview with Flora MacNeil, well known ambassador of Scottish culture and Gaelic singing especially. Flora, during her early visits to Cape Breton from Scotland in the late 70's, would often engage in the debate on the origins of Cape Breton step-dance always doubting that the dance had its place in Scotland. This kind of response from the Scots of the "old country" and other strong advocates of the "old country's" music and Gaelic language may be typical. In other words, if the proponents of the Scottish culture in Scotland can not relate to the art of step-dancing, then surely this form of dance is not part of the Scottish tradition. This may have been the view that Flora held for some time. However, after many visits to Cape Breton, and after many discussions about this lively art form, Flora took it upon herself to do some research in her own country and as a result, she was satisfied that step-dance was very much a part of the traditional culture of the Scottish highlands. (MacGillivray, p. 24.) The Dancing Immigrants ====================== The historical facts disclose that in the late 1700's and early 1800's, immigrants from all over the British Isles began to settle in the eastern half of the island of Cape Breton. Between 1800 and 1820, immigrants from the Scottish Highlands began to settle the western side of the Island between Inverness County and the Grand Narrows region. (Dunn, p. 19.) Among other things, these settlers handed down to their children the memories of life in Scotland and the early days of life on the Island of Cape Breton. MacGillivray's research states that the publication, "A History of Inverness County" records this information in detail, including stories and recollections about the art of step-dancing. "A History of Inverness" describes, for example, Alan MacMillan who was born in Lochabar, Scotland in 1820. He settled in Rear Little Judique in Inverness, Cape Breton. Alan MacMillan was a celebrated dancer. After his arrival to the Judique community, he established dance classes in Judique and Cregnish. From the same source, I learned of Lauchlin MacDougall who settled in Broad Cove Banks and like his father, as well as his son, was a noted dancer. In these accounts, I learned that the style and the technique of the dance were similar to the step-dance of today. (MacGillivray, p. 24.) The early styles of step-dance, like today, featured the art of solo dancing. Subsequently, early formations known as the four-handed reels and the eight-handed reels evolved. In the 1920's and the 1930's, Cape Breton captured a unique interest in various square dance styles from Europe. Activity at the Gaelic College, beginning in 1939, emphasised the more popular forms of dance including Scottish Country Dancing which is now associated with Scotland. The latter included many of the characteristics which were very much a part of any number of dance styles found outside the Scottish tradition at that time. The foregoing information reflects a preoccupation with the idea that the step-dance as it is known in Cape Breton has its origins in the highlands of Scotland. Cape Bretoners believe that the Gaelic language of the Island has a place in the Outer Hebrides as is the case with the Scottish violin music of Cape Breton. It should not come as any surprise, therefore, that dance enthusiasts also want to be part of this linkage with the "old country" despite the fact that many of the traditional qualities of the Cape Breton music, song and dance are no longer found in Scotland today. (MacMaster Video.) It is interesting to note, however, that sometimes in researching the place of culture and traditional art forms in society, one can fall victim to 'inventing tradition.' Perhaps Cape Bretoners indulge in this useful avocation from time to time. This is an issue which requires a series of further reflection and research and cannot be dealt with adequately in a brief paper. However, let me explore the matter briefly in the context of traditional Cape Breton step-dance. Close to the Floor ================== The work by Colin Quigley, well known researcher of traditional dance, offers some interesting information. Quigley's research culminates in his publication "Close to the Floor". Sound familiar? Of course! It is the title of a traditional tune often played by Cape Breton fiddlers for dancers. The tune often receives the same response as the lively strathspey, "Welcome to Your Feet Again" which is a favourite in Cape Breton. Quigley's publication describes, in detail, the formal structuring of steps commonly used by step-dancers. He describes the notion that the steps are presented in intricate detail and move in rhythm to select music including jigs and reels. He describes the body posture of the dancer with the emphasis on movement from the knees down while the upper portion of the body is more relaxed and subtle and not to be a distraction from the footwork. The dancer's main objective is to gain equal co- ordination of both legs and feet, a basic requirement of a good Cape Breton step-dancer. According to Quigley, the art of good step-dancing requires a great deal of individual style as well as an inclusion of some regional variety in styles. Quigley learned that styles may differ in body stance, arm use or in characteristic ways of using the feet. He explains how most traditional step- dancers strive to achieve a light and near-silent dance style. This describes two great Cape Breton step-dancers rather nicely: Harvey Beaton and Willie Fraser. Quigley goes on to describe how traditional step-dancers aspire to the music played. Quigley could be describing step-dancing as it is known in Cape Breton. But he is not! He is sharing his findings of traditional step-dance in the province of Newfoundland which is situated on the extreme East Coast of Atlantic Canada. His description of the solo step-dance in Newfoundland appears to describe what is now known as the Cape Breton step-dance. Quigley's research outlines the similarity between Newfoundland step-dance and Irish step-dance in terms of technique and the terminology applied to both dance and music. Quigley makes a direct link between the traditional step-dance of Newfoundland and Ireland. Cape Breton Island does not enter the equation in Quigley's research. It is highly likely that Quigley had never heard of Cape Breton step-dance while he was researching in Newfoundland. (Quigley, pp. 54 - 83.) Hugh Trevor Roper ================= Quigley may not change people's minds about the origins of Cape Breton step-dance, unless people have spent some time reading the essays of historian Hugh Trevor Roper. Trevor Roper presents an interesting case in his essay "Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland". He writes out of particular concern for the place of the tartan image among the Scots, but his work may have some implication for how people view other aspects of the culture like music and dancing. As a result of his efforts, Roper has given cause for Highland Scottish culture enthusiasts to do some serious reflection on the origin of Highland Scottish tradition. Trevor Roper in his research suggests that the Highlands of Scotland were culturally deprived approaching the 16'th century and that the literature of the Highland Scot was a crude echo of the Irish literature. Trevor Roper claims also that the bards of the Scottish chieftains came from Ireland, and that the Scottish bards were the "rubbish of Ireland" who were periodically cleared from Ireland and deposited in that convenient wasteland, Scotland. Also, according to Trevor Roper, while Ireland remained culturally an historic nation, Scotland developed, at best, as its poor sister. He further claims that Scotland did not develop an independent Scottish tradition. (Roper, pp. 271 - 293.) Is it possible that if Cape Bretoners were to pursue this matter in any serious manner, that Cape Bretoners might plummet into some kind of identity crisis? Barbara LeBlanc =============== It might well be that this Cape Breton dance, "step-dance," does not belong to the Scots after all. It might be an extension of the Irish tradition. Barbara LeBlanc, a native Cape Bretoner is currently conducting traditional dance research at graduate school. In her 1986 report on "Dance in Inverness County," for the Museum of Man in Ottawa, she cites examples of conversations with members of the Cape Breton Irish community who say that step-dance in Cape Breton is an Irish dance. (LeBlanc, p. 13.) Some day, someone might invite Colin Quigley and Barbara LeBlanc to do a comparative analysis between Cape Breton step-dancing and the Newfoundland-Irish traditional step-dancing. Clearly, the cultural expressions of Cape Breton Island are well entrenched in a global sense regardless of their traditional origins. The traditional music, song and dance, perceived by people as having evolved on the Island, are part of the unique Cape Breton identity. Generally speaking, rightly or wrongly, the step-dance activity of Cape Breton Island is such that it is recognised world-wide as being unique to Cape Breton. To illustrate the level of interest in traditional dance locally and to recognise its real and potential impact, one needs only to visit any number of select communities in Cape Breton and, in particular, rural communities like lona, Washabuck, Glendale and, of course, Glencoe Mills. Cape Breton Dance Activities ============================ When one mentions the word "Glencoe" among the Scots outside of Scotland, one would envision the notorious exchange between the Campbells and the MacDonalds of Glencoe. The Scots in the Highlands of Scotland, however, think of the ship "the Glencoe" that sailed the waters of Scotland up to 1935 and served as a means of travel, industry and commerce. (Cooper, p. 126.) In Cape Breton, however, people know Glencoe to be a tiny rural community in Inverness County, which boasts, among other things, of beautiful landscape, pastoral farm settings, a church, a sandy road, and a small parish hall. The hall, to many people, justifies the pride of Glencoe as it accommodates one of the more popular dance sites on Cape Breton Island. The "Glencoe dances" (as they are commonly known) have become renowned to many people in various parts of the world. In addition to many local activities promoting the dance tradition, Cape Breton step- dancers are frequently called upon to demonstrate their unique dance styles and techniques beyond the physical boundaries of Cape Breton Island. Through the medium of television, in particular, and personal appearances at major national and international festivals and workshops, Cape Breton step-dancers are often seen on regional and national programs in Canada as well as in the United States and Britain (Scotland). There is a history of interest in Cape Breton step-dance among the general public who already have an interest in Celtic heritage. Conclusion ========== Whether the origins of Cape Breton step-dance are within Cape Breton itself or Scotland or Ireland or all three, the step-dance is a rich component of the Cape Breton heritage. Furthermore, Cape Breton step-dancers are perfectionists in their own right. In any initiatives they engage, they are truly professional and committed to the promotion and preservation of traditional step-dancing. Their dancing is as important to them as music is important to the Cape Breton fiddler. In this sense, they truly complement the efforts of Cape Breton's greatest fiddlers. Allister MacGillivary's book, "Cape Breton Ceilidh," highlights in excellent detail the stories, anecdotes and traditions of many of Cape Breton's outstanding step-dancers. References ========== Brown, Richard. "A History of Cape Breton Island." Belleville, Ontario: Mika Publishing Co., 1979. Cooper, Derek. "Skye - Great Britain.": Morrison & Gibb Ltd., 1977. Dance Nova Scotia, ed. "Just Four on the Floor, A Guide to Teaching Traditional Cape Breton Square Sets for Public Schools," 1992. Dunn, Chades W. "Highland Settler: A Portrait of the Scottish Gael in Nova Scotia." Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1953 Emmerson, George S. "Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String: A History of Scottish Dance Music." Montreal: McGill Queens University Press, 1971. Flett, J.P. and T.M. Flett. "Traditional Dancing in Scotland." London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964. Garrison, Virginia. "Traditional and Non-Traditional Teaching and Learning Practices in Folk Music: An Ethnographic Field Study of Cape Breton Fiddling." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1985 Hunter, James. "The Fiddle Music of Scotland Edinburgh." T.A. Constable Ltd., 1979. LeBlanc, Barbara and L. Sadousky. "Inverness County Dance Project." Museum of Man, Ottawa, 1986. MacDonald, Keith Norman. "The Skye Collection." 1987. MacGillivray, Allister. "A Cape Breton Ceilidh". Sydney, Nova Scotia: Sea Cape Music Limited, 1988. MacInnes, Sheldon, "Folk Society in An Urban Setting." M.A. Thesis (unpublished). Detroit, Michigan: The Merrill Palmer Institute (Wayne State University), 1977. "MacMaster Video," produced by Peter Murphy, Seabright Productions, Antigonish, 1992. Quigley, Colin. "Close to the Floor: Folk Dance in Newfoundland." St. John's, Newfoundland: Memorial University, 1985. Rhodes, Frank. Appendix. "Dancing in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia - Traditional Dancing in Scotland." By J. P. Flett and T. M. Flett. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964, pp. 267 285. [3.3] Cape Breton Songs Nova Scotia -- "Farewell To Nova Scotia" ---------------------------------------- The sun was setting in the west The birds were singing on every tree All nature seemed inclined to rest But still there was no rest for me. Chorus: Farewell to Nova Scotia The seabound coast Let your mountains, dark and dreary, be For when I am far away On the briny ocean, tossed Will you ever heave a sigh and a wish for me? I grieve to leave my native land I grieve to leave my comrades, all And my parents, whom I've held so dear And the bonnie, bonnie lass I do adore Chorus The drums, they do beat The wars, they alarm The captain calls, we must obey So farewell, farewell to Nova Scotia's charms For it's early in the morning and I'm far, far away (this should be the final verse) I have three brothers They are at rest Their arms are folded on their breast But a poor simple sailor just like me Must be tossed and driven on the dark blue sea Chorus Cape Breton - "The Island" -------------------------- Over an ocean and over a sea Beyond these great waters, oh what do I see? I see the great mountains rise from the coastline The hills of Cape Breton, this new home of mine Oh, we come from the countries all over the world To hack at the forest, to plow the land down Fishermen, farmers and sailors all come To clear for the future this pioneer ground Chorus: We are an island, a rock in a stream We are a people, as proud as there's been In soft summer breeze or in wild winter wind The home of my heart - Cape Breton Over the rooftops and over the trees Within these new townships, oh what do I see? I see the black pit-head, The coal wheels are turning, The smoke-stacks are belching And the blast furnace burning Aw, the sweat on the back is no joy to behold In the heat of the steelplant or mining the coal And the foreign-owned companies force us to fight For our survival and for our rights Chorus: Over the highways and over the roads Over the causeway, stories are told They tell of the coming and the going away The cities of Ontario [I've also heard 'America'] draw me away The companies come and the companies go And the ways of the world we may never know But we'll follow the footsteps of those on their way And ask for the right to leave or to stay Chorus: I believe this song was written by a Cape Bretoner, Kenzie MacNeil Others ------ Other well known Cape Breton songs (Gaelic) are: Oran do Cheap Breatuinn (song for Cape Breton) and An Innis Aigh (The Happy Isle - the poetic name for Margaree Island, Cape Breton) [3.4] Cape Bretoner newspaper The Cape Bretoner is a newsmagazine aimed at former Capers who've moved away (P.O. Box 220, Sydney, NS, B1P 6H1 ) and is of interest to people living in Cape Breton as well. The Cape Bretoner newsmagazine is a good source for local Canadian Celtic music. http://www.capebretoner.com/ [3.5] Cape Breton/Nova Scotia History Trust me, Craig, you'll never read a more wonderful description of the Highland history of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia than the following from the Author's Note of Hugh MacLennan's "Each Man's Son" (1951, Little, Brown and Company. Boston): "Continents are much alike, and a man can no more love a continent than he can love a hundred million people. But all the islands of the world are different. They are small enough to be known, they are vulnerable, and men come to feel about them as they do about women. Many men have loved the island of Cape Breton and a few may have hated her. Ericson was probably the first to see her, Cabot landed on her, and after Cabot came the French. She seemed harsh and frigid to the first new-comers, but the moment the French saw her their imaginations were touched and they called her the Royal Isle. After a while they built on her eastern rim the master fortress of Louisbourg to dominate Nova Scotia and guard the St. Lawrence (River). When the wars began, the English and the New Englanders came up to Cape Breton and for a time she was as famous as Gibraltar. Louisbourg fell, the French were driven out, the English and Americans went home and for a third of a century the island was vacant again. Then across the ocean in the Highlands of Scotland a desperate and poetic people there heard of her. They were a race of hunters, shepherds and warriors who had discovered too late that their own courage and pride had led them to catastrophe, since it had enabled them to resist the Saxon civilization so long they had come to the end of the eighteenth century knowing nothing of the foreman, the boss, the politician, the policeman, the merchant, or the buyer-seller of other men's work. When the English set out to destroy the clans of Scotland, the most independent of the Highlanders left their homes with the pipes playing laments on the decks of their ships. They crossed the ocean and the pipes played again when they waded ashore on the rocky coast of Cape Breton Island. They rooted themselves, big men from the red-haired parts of the Scottish main and dark-haired smaller men from the Hebrides, women from the mainland with strong bones and Hebridean women with delicate skins, accepting eyes and a musical sadness in their speech. For a long time nothing but Gaelic was spoken in the island until they gradually learned English from the handful of New England Loyalists who came to Nova Scotia after the American Revolution. To Cape Breton the Highlanders brought more than the quixotic gallantry and softness of manner belonging to a Homeric people. They also brought with them an ancient curse, intensified by John Calvin and branded upon their souls by John Knox and his successors - the belief that man has inherited from Adam a nature so sinful there is no hope for him and that, furthermore, he lives and dies under the wrath of an arbitrary God who will forgive only a handful of his Elect on the Day of Judgement. As no normal human being can exist in constant awareness that he is sinful and doomed through no fault of his own, the Highlanders behaved outwardly as other men do who have softened the curse or forgotten its existence. But in Cape Breton they were lonely. They were no part of the great outer world. So the curse remained alive with them, like a sombre beast growling behind a locked door. It was felt even when they were least conscious of it. To escape its cold breath some turned to drink and others to the pursuit of knowledge. Still others, as the Puritans of New England had done earlier, left their homes, and in doing so found wider opportunities in the United States or in the empty provinces of Western Canada. But if the curse of God rested on the Highlanders' souls, the beauty of God cherished the island where they lived. Inland were high hills and a loch running in from the sea that looked like a sleeve of gold in the afternoon sun. There were trout and salmon streams lined by sweet-smelling alder, water meadows and valleys graced by elms as stately as those in the shires of southern England. The coast was rugged with grey granite or red sandstone cliffs, splendid with promontories, fog-bound in the spring when the drift ice came down from Newfoundland and Labrador, tranquil in summer, and in the autumns thunderous with evidences of the power of the Lord. So for several generations the Highlanders remained here untouched, long enough for them to transfer to Cape Breton the same passionate loyalty their ancestors had felt for the hills of home. It was long enough for them to love the island as a man loves a woman, unreasonably, for her faults no less than for her virtues. But they were still a fighting race with poetry in their hearts and a curse upon their souls. Each man's son was driven by the daemon of his own hope and imagination - by his energy or by his fear - to unknown destinations. For those who stayed behind, the beast continued to growl behind the unlocked door...." And he goes on a little into more specifics about the actual characters in the novel and their own "daemons". I'm not a religious man, but I do like his talk of "the curse" and all that, kind of poetic I think. Anyway, Dr. MacLennan had quite a storied academic career and ended up teaching English at McGill University in Montreal for many years. MacLennan taught history (and Latin) at Lower Canada College in Montreal before accepting a position with the department of English at McGill which he maintained for thirty years. He wrote many novels and stories, is Nova Scotia's most renowned writer and one of the most loved writers in Canadian literary history. He died in November 1990. One editorial wrote, "MacLennan is one of those writers whose personal goodness and decency shine through all his works. His generosity of spirit is such that after a couple of hours spent with one of his books, the world seems a better place." FYI, his novels include: Each Man's Son; Barometer Rising; Two Solitudes; The Watch That Ends The Night; The Return of The Sphinx. Other books: Seven Rivers of Canada; and The Colour of Canada. [3.6] Cape Breton what's on What's on http://explore.gov.ns.ca/whattodo/festivalsandevents/ To order free travel information http://explore.gov.ns.ca/publicationsandmore/ Other Cape Breton links: http://cbmusic.com/bottom.html http://www.explorenovascotia.com/main.html http://www.capebretonet.com/ http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/samson3/links.htm A page of links for Nova Scotia: http://www.newww.com/trip/links.html See also the newspaper "The Oran", available at most grocery stores, gas stations, etc in Inverness County. Published on Wednesdays. [4] Breizh - Brittany See here: Breton FAQ: http://www.bretagnenet.com/scb/ This is the FAQ for the news:soc.culture.breton usenet newsgroup [5] Cymru - Wales The FAQ for the news:soc.culture.welsh newsgroup is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales http://www.mojairlandia.pl/download/faq/welsh/ [6] Eire - Ireland The Irish information in the first version of this FAQ has now been transferred, considerably expanded and superseded by the Irish FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/cultures/irish-faq/part00/ This is the FAQ for the news:soc.culture.irish usenet newsgroup [7] Kernow - Cornwall There is no FAQ at present, but this website may help: http://www.cornwalltouristboard.co.uk/ Additional information by Sean Kelley mailto:kelley@marsha.sanders.lockheed.com First of all here a couple of addresses for those of you interested in the Cornish language, Kernewek: 1. Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek (The Cornish Language Fellowship) Colin Ellis Chi Ashley (Ashley House) Stret Deghow (South Street) Fordh Ponsmeur (Grampound Road) Truru Kernow UK Tel: 01276 882500 2. Kernewek Dre Lyther (Cornish Correspondence Course) Ray Edwards 6 Halton Road Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B73 6NP UK Tel: 0121 354 6249 Those of you who are interested in traditional Cornish music and dance might like to get in touch with Merv & Alison Davey Meneghyjy Withiel Bodmin Kernow UK They are our leading authority on traditional Cornish dance and are able to supply various books, videos and cassettes, including the recent Ilow Hengov ha Koth a Gernow (The Ancient and Traditional Music of Cornwall) by the group PYBA. This cassettes features Cornish bagpipes, Cornish Krowd (a sort of three stringed fiddle), organ, flute, bombarde, harp, kroeder kroghan and vocals in Kernewek. Another interesting cassette is Poll Pri available from Graham Sandercock Trewynn Bre an Loja (Lodge Hill) Lyskerrys (Liskeard) Kernow UK This is more up-beat, and features some superb contemporary songs written by Graham Sandercock in Kernewek. Additional info be Kev Robinson: Cornwall is a county in the south-western extremity of England. It is a peninsula bounded by the English Channel on the south and the Atlantic Ocean on the north and west, terminating at Land's End. Cornwall's population is 469,300 (1991 est.), and it covers 3,564 km sq (1,376 mi sq). Although Bodmin is the county seat, Truro is the administrative centre. Most of Cornwall consists of rugged moorland that gradually declines in elevation to the heavily indented coastline. The SCILLY ISLANDS, located just offshore, are part of Cornwall. Some agriculture is engaged in; dairy cattle are raised and fruits and vegetables grown. Tin and clay mining is also important. The port towns of Falmouth, Fowey, and Penzance are industrial centres. Tourism is important, and much of the scenic coast is protected from commercial development. Cornwall was occupied by Romans, Saxons, and Celts before the Norman Conquest in 1066, after which it became an Earldom. Since 1337 the heir to the British crown has held the title of Duke of Cornwall. The Cornish flag - is called a "St Piran", after the Cornish Patron Saint (also the Patron Saint of Tinners or Tin Miners). His feast day is March 5th. The Black and White St Piran's Cross flags are seen everywhere in Cornwall, and are a potent symbol of Cornwall's distinct identity as a Duchy (and not a county of England). [8] Mannin - Isle of Man -> [8.1] Manx top level links -> [8.2] Isle of Man name -> [8.3] Detailed Manx Information -> [8.4] Manx Links [8.1] Manx top level links Manx Information: http://www.mcb.net/manxrem/ Manx Bulletin Board http://www.isle-of-man.com/information/bulletin/index.html Isle of Man/Manx mailing list at mailto:manx@egroups.com [8.2] Isle of Man name Note the country is usually referred to as Mann and the island as Isle of Man (note alternative spelling of Man) for the anglicised version of Ellan Vannin. This is obviously not as confusing as the current discussion regarding Eire/Ireland since Mann/Isle of Man are used interchangeably. [8.3] Detailed Manx Information Mannin / Ellan Vannin / Isle of Man =================================== This section contributed by Mark Kermode mailto:mkermode at mcb.net Name ~~~~ The names are synonymous. "Mannin" was how the country was invariably referred to by native speakers of the Manx language. "Ellan Vannin" appeared circa 15th century as a translation of "Isle of Mannin". "Isle of Man" is the English term and is used in legal documents and by the Manx government. Some people write "Isle of Mann" or simply "Mann". Situation and Physical Geography ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Situated in the Irish Sea. The most northerly point is the Point of Ayre (Lat. 54 25' 00" N, Long. 04 21' 40" W.). The most southerly point is The Chicken Rock (Lat. 54 02' 20" N, Long. 04 50' 15" W.). Most of the island lies above 300 ft (100m approx.) with a highest summit of 2036ft. (621m). The climate is cool temperate, with the summer days rarely exceeding 20C and the winter days rarely below freezing. The tree-line is around 800ft (250m approx). Most of the land mass is currently used for agriculture. Rainfall is high and sunshine moderate. The majority of the Island is composed of pre-Cambrian slate. The northern plain (post glacial) is a sand / shingle conglomerate. There are some granite outcrops. The southern area contains both limestone and lava beds, and the western area contains some sandstone. The Island has yielded high quantities of zinc and lead, at one point being the biggest producer of zinc ore in the British Isles. Copper, iron, silver and a little gold have also been mined commercially. There is no tin or coal in the island. No minerals are currently extracted from the island. (Various sources) Population ~~~~~~~~~~ The 1992 resident population stood at 69,788. Of these, 34,608 were born on the island. 26,541 born in England and Cornwall, 2,291 born in Scotland, 3,278 born in Ireland, 795 born in Wales, 186 born in the Channel Islands, 421 born in European countries other than U.K. and Eire, 1,668 were born elsewhere in the world. There are more males than females in all age groups under 45, and more females than males in all age groups over 45. Approximately 45,000 were between the ages of 16 and 65, 12,000 were under 16 and 13,000 were over 65. (Source - IOM government) Political ~~~~~~~~~ Mannin has a substantially autonomous government, Tynwald, which has an unbroken tradition of over 1,000 years. The Tynwald is comprised of two houses, the popularly elected House of Keys (24 members representing 15 constituencies and the indirectly elected Legislative Council (8 members elected by the House of Keys). The U.K. Crown is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island was autonomous until 1266 when power was technically handed over to Alexander III of Scotland. A period of instability followed before being granted to William de Montecute in 1333. After several further changes of king, Mannin was granted to Sir John Stanley in 1405 with a condition of homage to the English Crown attached. Mannin retained its autonomy even during the Parliamentarian period of English history. This is a fascinating piece of history in itself and cost one man, William Christian (Illiam Dhone to the Manx), his life when accused of treason after the restoration. Mannin became the property of the English Crown in 1765 after what was effectively a compulsory purchase due to the perceived level of smuggling. The Tynwald was offered the choice of remaining (although with little more power than a local authority and, in fiscal matters, even less) or Mannin being represented by a member in the Westminster parliament. Tynwald elected to stay. In 1866, the House of Keys (part of the two-house government) was persuaded by the Crown's representative, Governor Loch, to dissolve itself and be returned by popular suffrage in return for increased fiscal power. In 1958, Mannin regained full fiscal autonomy but has since rescinded much of this through various reciprocal agreements with the United Kingdom. Mannin is not a part of the United Kingdom or Europe, but is allowed to trade with Europe in the same manner as a European member under the terms of Protocol 3 which also applies to the Channel Islands. Mannin is totally self financing and receives no financial support from the UK or Europe. (Various sources) Economic ~~~~~~~~ Mannin's primary source of income is the international finance industry (35% of GDP) followed by "other services" (those not specifically categorised by government statisticians) (33%), manufacturing industry (11%), construction (8%), tourism (7%), public administration (5%) and agriculture / fishing (2%). (1991 figures) (Source - IOM government.) Language ~~~~~~~~ The majority language of Mannin has been English since around 1830. Prior to this, Manx Gaelic was the majority language. Manx Gaelic had disappeared as a community language by the end of the 1920s but continued to be spoken in families for an indeterminate time thereafter. The "last" native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974 but by this time, the language had been passed on to several new generations of enthusiasts. Several children are now being brought up as a new generation of native speakers. Although the Vikings were the ruling class in Mannin from the 10th to 13th centuries, they appear to have had remarkably little influence on the language. There is evidence to suggest, however, that what some have dismissed as "anglicisation" of the language in terms of grammar and syntax is, in fact, a throw-back to the influence of the Vikings. Laws cannot remain as Statute unless promulgated (broadcast) within eighteen months of their being passed in both Manx and English. Tynwald has passed various resolutions calling for the language's promotion and use and the language is being taught to many children who choose it as part of their school syllabus. For more information, contact: "Manx Language Officer", Rheynn Ynsee, Murray House, Mount Havelock, Doolish, Isle of Man IM1 2Q Music ~~~~~ The traditional music of Mannin will be easily recognisable to anyone familiar with the Irish or Scottish traditions. It does not enjoy wide-spread public performance but is still healthy with a certain amount of new material being written and traditional music being adapted to modern styles. Culture ~~~~~~~ The modern day culture of Mannin may be difficult to distinguish from north-western English due to the demographic changes over the past century and particularly the past thirty years. The indigenous culture is, however, quite typically Celtic and has been since pre-history. The Brythonic Celts and Picts were supplanted by Goidelic Celts as the majority culture in the years following the birth of Christ. There is evidence to suggest that at least one Brythonic tribe survived as a distinct entity as late as the 11th century. These people were dark and swarthy, short in stature and were noted for their marksmanship with short, poison tipped arrows. Compulsory Reading ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Isle of Man (A short social, cultural and political history) - R.H. Kinvig. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0 85323 483 3 The Isle of Man - Celebrating A Sense of Place - Vaughan Robinson and Danny McCarroll - Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0 85323 296 2 (Paperback) / ISBN 0 85323 036 6 (Hardback) It is hoped to create a comprehensive list of links as time progresses also "Manx Language Officer", Rheynn Ynsee, Murray House, Mount Havelock, Doolish, Isle of Man IM1 2Q [8.4] Manx Links Language ~~~~~~~~ http://homepages.enterprise.net/kelly/ Phil Kelly's Manx language page. http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaelg/ Sabhal Mor Ostaig's Manx Gaelic section. http://www.enterprise.net/arts/gaelic/mgs.htm Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh (Manx Language Society) http://www.manxman.co.im/gaelic/samples.htm Native speaker samples http://www.mv.chrislittler.co.uk/ Mooinjer Veggey Manx language playgroup http://www.enterprise.net/music/manx.htm E.A.S. Manx Language resources http://www.mcb.net/iom/proverb.html Manx Proverbs (beware of typing errors) http://www.mcb.net/manxrem/ Manx Reminiscences Music ~~~~~ http://dbweb.liv.ac.uk/manninagh/music.htm Music in the Isle of Man Politics ~~~~~~~~ http://www.manxman.co.im/mecvan/ Mec Vannin (Manx Nationalist Party) http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/ Celtic League General ~~~~~~~ http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/F.Coakley/ Frances Coakley Antiquarian and historical information http://www.isle-of-man.com/information/bulletin/index.html Isle of Man Bulletin Board http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~iomvc Isle of Man Visitors' club http://www.mcb.net/iom/manxsoc.html Manx Societies Around the World http://www.isle-of-man.com/sport/tt/index.htm TT Races - Greatest Motorcycle Road Race in the World http://www.manxman.co.im/ Manxman Newspapers ~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.isle-of-man-newspapers.com/ 3 Manx newspapers Ta ny kianglyn shoh foast goll er bishaghey (These links are still being added to.) [9] Celtic events & societies around the world Contents ~~~~~~~~ -> [9.1] Celtic events in London -> [9.2] Celtic events in North America [9.1] Celtic events in London The Scottish Tourist Board in London should be able to tell you what's on, ask them for the "De tha dol" list. This is a list started by Craig Cockburn but which is now maintained by Arthur Findlay, tel: 0181-852 3589. The guide is available online here http://home.btclick.com/andrew.macdonald/UsefulLinks.htm Highlands and Islands society of London (ceilidhs) Ceilidhs with music, dancing and singing in the London area. Usually very good and well attended. Contact for more info: Catherine Robertson 0181 440 0832 London Gaelic choir. Founded 1892 and the oldest surviving Gaelic choir in the world. Meets each Tuesday 7:30pm-9:30pm in Covent Garden. more info at http://www.coisirlunnainn.org.uk/ Gaelic society of London. Founded 1777 and the oldest Gaelic society in the world. Has monthly meetings; social nights; campaigns etc. See: http://www.comunngaidhliglunnainn.com/ The London Association for Celtic Education (LACE) produces a guide to Celtic language related societies in London and around the UK. I have an old copy and find it very useful indeed. 100's of entries in the guide covering Scotland, Ireland, Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany Contact: Roger Casement Irish Centre, Eastgate Building, 131 St John's Way, London N19 3RQ. Tel: 0171- 281 3225 [9.2] Celtic events in North America An Comunn Gaidhealach has an America branch. Contact: An Comunn Gaidhealach (Ameireaga) Inc., P.O. Box 5288, Takoma Park, Maryland, 20912, USA http://www.acgamerica.org/ List of Highland Games ---------------------- See http://www.ShireNet.com/MacLachlan/games.html and http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/6_6.html and http://www.visitscotland.com/sitewide/fivestarfeatures/highlandgames/ <<< END OF FAQ >>>