The Story of Ancient Irish Civilization Part 7

All the various kinds of meal and flour were baked into cakes or loaves of different shapes. Flour was usually mixed with water to make dough: but bread made of flour and milk was also much in use. Honey was often kneaded up with cakes as a delicacy: and occasionally the roe of a salmon was similarly used. Wheaten bread was considered the best, as at present: barley-bread was poor. Yeast, or barm, or leaven was used both in baking and in brewing.

The management of Bees was universally understood, and every comfortable householder kept hives in his garden. Wild bees, too, swarmed everywhere--much more plentifully than at present, on account of the extent of woodland. Accordingly honey was very plentiful, and was used with all sorts of dishes. Often at meals each person had placed before him on the table a little dish, sometimes of silver, filled with honey; and each morsel whether of meat, fish, or bread was dipped into it before being conveyed to the mouth. Honey was the chief ingredient in the making of mead.

As the country abounded in forests, thickets, and brakes, the most common Fuel for domestic use was wood: but peat or turf was also much used, cut from a bank with a _slaan_ or turf-spade as at present. Founders and other workers in metal used wood-charcoal, of which that made from birch-wood gave the greatest heat.

Flint and steel with tinder (or _s.p.u.n.k_) were used for striking and kindling fire. The whole kindling-gear--flint, steel, and tinder--was carried in the girdle-pocket, so as to be ready to hand; and accordingly, fire struck in this way was called _tinne-cra.s.sa_, 'girdle-fire.'

For Light, dipped candles were used in the better cla.s.s of houses. Poor people used dipped rushes, which gave a feeble light and burned out quickly. In the houses of the rich they used beeswax candles, as indeed we might expect from the great abundance of bees.

Hospitality and generosity were virtues highly esteemed in ancient Ireland; in the old Irish Christian writings indeed they are everywhere praised and inculcated as religious duties; and in the secular literature they are equally prominent. The higher the rank of the person the more was expected from him, and a king should be hospitable without limit. There were all over the country Public Hostels for the free lodging and entertainment of travellers. At the head of each was an officer called a _Brewy_ or _Beetagh_, a public hospitaller or hosteller, who was held in high honour.

In order to be at all times ready to receive visitors, a brewy was bound to have three kinds of meat cooked and ready to be served up to all who came; three kinds of raw meat ready for cooking; besides animals ready for killing. In one of the law tracts a brewy is quaintly described as "a man of three snouts":--viz. the snout of a live hog rooting in the fields; the snout of a dead hog on the hooks cooking; and the pointed snout of a plough: meaning that he had plenty of live animals and of meat cooked and uncooked, with a plough and all other tillage appliances.

There should be a number of open roads leading to the house of a brewy, so that it might be readily accessible: and on each road a man was stationed to make sure that no traveller should pa.s.s by without calling to be entertained; besides which a light was to be kept burning on the lawn at night to guide travellers from a distance. To enable him to meet this great expense and to pay himself into the bargain, a brewy was allowed a great tract of land free.

Besides the hostels, there were the monasteries, too, where travellers were also boarded and lodged free for the time. And along with all this the people were kind and hospitable in their own houses to strangers and visitors. So we see that travellers were quite as well off then as now: indeed in one respect much better off: for whereas we have to pay a smart charge in an inn or hotel, there was in those times a hearty welcome and no charge at all.

The Irish missionaries carried this fine custom to the Continent in early ages, as they did many others: for they established free hostels in France and Germany, in places where there were no monasteries, chiefly for the use of pilgrims on their way to Rome.

CHAPTER XVI.

HOW THE PEOPLE DRESSED.

An oval face, broad above and narrow below, golden hair, fair skin, white, delicate, and well-formed hands with slender tapering fingers: these were considered as marking the type of beauty and of high family descent; they were the Marks of Aristocracy. To these natural advantages the people added by the usual artificial means. Among the higher cla.s.ses the finger-nails were kept carefully cut and rounded. It was considered shameful for a man of position to have rough unkempt nails.

Crimson-coloured finger-nails were greatly admired; and ladies sometimes dyed them this colour. Deirdre, uttering a lament for the sons of Usna, says:--"I sleep no more, and I shall not crimson my nails; no joy shall ever again come upon my mind."

Ladies often dyed the eyebrows black with the juice of some sort of berry.

We have already seen (p. 54) that the Irish missionary monks sometimes painted or dyed their eyelids black. An entry in Cormac's Glossary plainly indicates that the blush of the cheeks was sometimes heightened by a colouring matter obtained from the alder tree: and the sprigs and berries of the elder were applied to the same purpose. Among Greek and Roman ladies the practice was very general of painting the cheeks, eyebrows, and other parts of the face.

Both men and women wore the hair long, and commonly flowing down on the back and shoulders. The hair was combed daily after a bath. The heroes of the Fena of Erin, before sitting down to their dinner after a hard day's hunting, always took a bath and carefully combed their long hair.

Among the higher cla.s.ses in very early times great care was bestowed on the hair; its regulation const.i.tuted quite an art; and it was dressed up in several ways. Very often the long hair of men, as well as of women, was elaborately curled. Conall Kernach's hair, as described in the story of Da Derga, flowed down his back, and was done up in "hooks and plaits and swordlets." The accuracy of this and other similar descriptions is fully borne out by the most unquestionable authority of all, namely, the figures in the early illuminated ma.n.u.scripts and on the shrines and high crosses of later ages. In nearly all the figures of the Book of Kells, for example (seventh or eighth century), the hair is combed and dressed with the utmost care, so beautifully adjusted indeed that it could have been done only by skilled professional hairdressers, and must have occupied much time. Whether in case of men or women, it hangs down both behind and at the sides, and is commonly divided the whole way, as well as all over the head, into slender fillets or locks, which sometimes hang down to the eyes in front. I do not find mentioned anywhere that the Irish dyed their hair, as was the custom among the Greeks and Romans.

The men were as particular about the beard as about the hair. The fashion of wearing the beard varied. Sometimes it was considered becoming to have it long and forked, and gradually narrowed to two points below.

Sometimes--as shown in many ancient figures--it falls down in a single ma.s.s; while in a few it is cut straight across at bottom not unlike a.s.syrian beards. Nearly all have a mustache, in most cases curled up and pointed at the ends as we often see now. In many the beard is carefully divided into slender twisted fillets, as described above for the hair.

Kings and chiefs had barbers in their service to attend to all this.

Razors were used made of bronze as hard as steel, as we know by finding them mentioned in Irish doc.u.ments as early as the eighth century; and many old bronze razors are now preserved in museums.

From what precedes it will be understood that combs were in general use with men as well as with women; and many specimens of combs are now found in the remains of ancient dwellings.

Bathing was very usual, at least among the upper cla.s.ses, and baths and the use of baths are constantly mentioned in the old tales and other writings. In every public hostel, in every monastery, and in every high-cla.s.s house, there was a bath, with its accompaniments. Soap was used both in bathing and washing.

Woollen and linen clothes formed the dress of the great ma.s.s of the people. Both were produced at home; and in chapter xix. the modes of manufacturing them will be mentioned. Silk and satin, which were of course imported, were much worn among the higher cla.s.ses. The furs of animals, such as seals, otters, badgers, foxes, etc., were much used for capes and jackets, and for the edgings of various garments, so that skins of all the various kinds were valuable. They formed, too, an important item of everyday traffic, and they were also exported.

The ancient Irish loved bright colours. In this respect they resembled many other nations of antiquity--as well indeed as of the present day; and they ill.u.s.trated Ruskin's saying--"Whenever men are n.o.ble they love bright colour, and bright colour is given to them in sky, sea, flowers, and living creatures." The Irish love of colour expressed itself in all parts of their raiment; and we know that they well understood the art of dyeing.

The several articles of dress on one person were usually coloured differently. Even the single outer cloak was often striped, spotted, or chequered in various colours. King Domnall, in the seventh century, on one occasion sent a many-coloured tunic to his foster-son Prince Congal: like Joseph's coat of many colours.

A very common article of dress was a large cloak, generally without sleeves, varying in length, but commonly covering the whole person from the shoulders down. The people also wore a tight-fitting coat with sleeves, something like our present frock-coat; but it was much shorter and without a collar, and it was kept tight by a belt round the waist. A short cape was often worn on the shoulders, sometimes carrying a hood to cover the head. The outer covering of the general run of the peasantry was just one loose sleeved coat or mantle, generally of frieze, which covered them down to the ankles; and which they wore winter and summer. Women commonly wore a long loose cloak, with a hood, a fashion which is common at the present day. The over-garments were fastened by brooches, pins, b.u.t.tons, girdles, strings, and loops, many of them beautifully made and ornamented.

The ancient Irish wore a trousers which was so tight-fitting as to show perfectly the shape of the limbs. When terminating below the ankles it was held down by a slender strap pa.s.sing under the foot. Like other Irish garments it was generally striped or speckled in various colours. Leggings of cloth or of thin soft leather were used, and were laced on by strings tipped with white bronze, the bright metallic extremities falling down after lacing, so as to form pendant ornaments. A _kilt_ was often worn, in which case the legs were left bare at the knees, with leggings below: for the kilt is of Irish origin, and was brought--like many other fashions--by the early colonists to Scotland, where it is still held on, while it has been long disused in Ireland.

Both men and women wore a garment of fine texture next the skin, commonly made of wool or linen, but sometimes of silk or satin, embroidered with devices in gold or silver thread worked with the needle.

Girdles were commonly worn round the waist inside the outer loose mantle: those used by high-cla.s.s people were often elaborately ornamented so as to be worth as much as from 40 to 100 of our present money. Garters were worn, partly for use, partly for ornament: often they were made of very expensive materials. Gloves were very common among all cla.s.ses high and low, and were often highly ornamented.

The men wore a hat of a conical shape without a leaf; but among the peasantry, men, in their daily life, commonly went bare-headed, wearing the hair long behind so as to hang down on the back, and clipped short in front. Married women usually had the head covered either with a hood or with a long web of linen wreathed round and round in several folds. The veil was in constant use among the higher cla.s.ses, and when not actually worn was usually carried, among other small articles, in a lady's ornamental hand-bag.

Shoes were often made of untanned hide st.i.tched with thongs, with several layers for a sole. But there was a more shapely shoe, made of fully tanned leather, having serviceable sole and heel, and often ornamented with patterns stamped in.

The Irish were excessively fond of personal ornaments, which among the higher cla.s.ses were made of expensive materials, such as gold, silver, gems, white bronze, etc. They wore rings and bracelets of various shapes on the fingers (including the thumb), round the wrist and forearm, and even round the leg above the ankle. Necklaces were very common, from the cheapest kind up to those with the studs made of gold, pearls, and other gems, all of which materials were found native.

They had torques for the neck made of twisted gold bars; and the elaborate and immensely expensive crescents or gorgets have been already described (p. 96). There was a gold ornament--a kind of open ring with bosses or b.u.t.tons on the ends--called _Bunne-do-at_, worn on the breast: suspended from an ornamented b.u.t.ton. Thin circular gold plates were also worn fastened on the breast: and as for brooches, they were of all shapes and sizes, some plain, simple, and cheap, some of gold or other expensive material, of elaborate workmanship.

Pictures and full descriptions of all these ornaments will be found in either of the two Social Histories.

CHAPTER XVII.

HOW THEY FENCED IN AND TILLED THEIR LAND.

Ever since that remote time when legend and history begin to give us glimpses of the occupations of the inhabitants of this country, we find them engaged in Agriculture and Pasturage. For both of these purposes open land was necessary; and accordingly, people worked hard in old times to clear the land from wood. But there was always more pasturage than tillage.

In very early ages there was little need of fences, for the people were few and the land was mostly common property. But as the population increased it became more and more necessary to fence off the portions belonging to different individuals. The Brehon Law describes the several kinds of farm fences, some of which are still used; and it lays down strict rules regarding them.

Fences or merings of a more enduring kind were needed to bound off large territories or sub-kingdoms. There were several kinds of these territorial boundaries, some natural, some artificial, the most usual being rivers, roads, pillar-stones, and great ramparts of earth sometimes extending for miles.

Manure--chiefly stable-manure--is often mentioned in the Brehon Laws. The laws also take account of several things that add to the value of land; such as a wood properly fenced in: a mine of copper or iron: the site of an old mill [with millrace and other accessories, rendering easy the erection of a new mill]: a road opening up communication: situation by the sea, by a river, or by a cooling-pond for cattle. The art of obtaining water by digging deeply into the ground was understood and practised.

Most of the native crops now in use were then known and cultivated: chief among them being corn of various kinds. Nearly all the agricultural implements now known were then used:--such as ploughs, sickles, spades and shovels, flails, rakes, clod-mallets, etc.

The chief farm animals were cows, pigs, sheep; and oxen, which were used for ploughing and for drawing waggons. Horses were not then so much used in farm-work as they are now. Pigs were kept in great droves at very little expense; for as forests abounded everywhere, the animals were simply turned out into the woods in care of a keeper, and fed on nuts, roots, and whatever else they could pick up.

Cows and sheep were very often grazed on 'Commons,' _i.e._, tracts of gra.s.sy uncultivated land lying near a village--generally upland or mountain land--which belonged to the whole of the village or townland, but not to any particular individuals. These commons exist to this day near many villages, and are still used as in old times.

Women always did the milking, except of course in monasteries, where no women were employed, and the monks had to do all the work of the community.

CHAPTER XVIII.

HOW IRISH HANDICRAFTSMEN EXCELLED IN THEIR WORK.