The Story of Ancient Irish Civilization Part 9

CHAPTER XXI.

HOW THE PEOPLE HELD GREAT CONVENTIONS AND FAIRS; AND HOW THEY AMUSED THEMSELVES.

Public a.s.semblies of several kinds and for various purposes were held all through Ireland; they were considered very important, and were looked forward to on the several occasions with great interest. Affairs of various kinds, some affecting the whole kingdom, some the particular province or district, were transacted at these meetings.

The laws were, when necessary, publicly recited to make the people familiar with them. There were councils or courts to consider and settle such matters as the claims of individuals to certain privileges; acts of tyranny by rich and powerful people on their weaker neighbours; disputes about boundaries; levying fines; imposing taxes for the construction and repair of roads; and such like. In fact the functions of these meetings of more than a thousand years ago were in many respects like those of our present county and district councils. In all the a.s.semblies of whatever kind there were markets for the sale and purchase of commodities.

Some meetings were established and convened chiefly for the transaction of serious business: but even at these there were sports and pastimes: in others the main object was the celebration of games: but advantage was taken of the occasions to discuss and settle important affairs, as will be described farther on.

The three great a.s.semblies of Tara, Croghan, and Emain were not meetings for the general ma.s.s of the people, but conventions of delegates who represented the kingdoms and sub-kingdoms, _i.e._, the states in general of all Ireland, and who sat and deliberated under the presidency of the supreme monarch. The word _Feis_ [faish] was generally applied to these three meetings.

The Feis of Tara, according to the old tradition, was founded by Ollam Fodla [Ollav-Fola], who was king of Ireland seven or eight centuries before the Christian era. It was originally held every third year, at _Samain_, i.e., 1st November. The provincial kings, the minor kings and chiefs, and the most distinguished ollaves (doctors) of the learned professions attended. According to some authorities it lasted for a week, i.e., _Samain_ day with three days before and three days after: but others say a month.

Each provincial king had a separate house for himself and his retinue during the time; and there was one house for their queens, with private apartments for each, with her attendant ladies. There was still another house called _Relta na bh-filedh_ [Railtha-na-villa], the "Star of the poets," for the accommodation of the ollaves, where these learned men held their sittings. Every day the king of Ireland feasted the company in the great Banqueting Hall, which was large enough for a goodly company: for even in its present ruined state it is 759 feet long by 46 feet wide. The results of the deliberations were written in the national record called the Saltair of Tara. The conventions of Emain and Croghan were largely concerned with industrial affairs (see page 137 above).

The Aenach or fair was an a.s.sembly of the people of every grade without distinction: it was the most common kind of large public meeting, and its main object was the celebration of games, athletic exercises, sports and pastimes of all kinds. The most important of the Aenachs were those of Tailltenn, Tlachtga, and Ushnagh. The Fair of Tailltenn, now Teltown on the Blackwater, midway between Navan and Kells, was attended by people from the whole of Ireland, as well as from Scotland, and was the most celebrated of all for its athletic games and sports: corresponding closely with the Olympic, Isthmian, and other games of Greece. It was held yearly on the 1st August, and on the days preceding and following.

Marriages formed a special feature of this fair. All this is remembered in tradition to the present day: and the people of the place point out the spot where the marriages were performed, which they call 'Marriage Hollow.' The remains of several immense forts are still to be seen at Teltown, even larger than those at Tara, though not in such good preservation.

The meetings at Tlachtga and Ushnagh, which have already been mentioned, seem originally to have been mainly pagan religious celebrations: but there were also games, buying and selling, and conferences on local affairs.

At the Irish fairs, wherever held, all kinds of amus.e.m.e.nts were carried on; for the people loved games, sports, and fun of every kind. In order to make sure that there should be nothing to spoil sport, there was a very strict law against brawls, quarrelling, or fighting. Anyone who struck a blow or raised any disturbance was sure to be punished: and if it was a very bad case, he was put to death. So if there were any grudges between individuals, or families, or clans, they had to be repressed during these meetings. The old Greeks had a law for their games exactly similar, which they called the "Sacred Armistice."

An Irish fair in those times was a lively and picturesque sight. The people were dressed in their best, and in great variety, for all, both men and women, loved bright colours; and from head to foot every individual wore articles of varied hues. Here you see a tall gentleman walking along with a scarlet cloak flowing loosely over a short jacket of purple, with perhaps a blue trousers and yellow headgear, while the next showed a colour arrangement wholly different; and the women vied with the men in variety of hues.

The people were bright and intelligent and much given to intellectual entertainments and amus.e.m.e.nts. They loved music and singing, and took delight in listening to poetry, history, and romantic stories; and accordingly, among the entertainments and art performances was the recitation of poems and tales of all the various kinds mentioned at p. 75 above, like the recitations of what were called Rhapsodists among the Greeks. For all of these there were sure to be special audiences who listened with delight to the fascinating lore of old times. Music always formed a prominent part of the amus.e.m.e.nts: and there was no end of harpers, timpanists, pipers, fiddlers, and whistle-players.

In another part of the fair the people gave themselves up to uproarious fun, crowded round showmen, jugglers, and clowns with grotesque masks or painted faces, making hideous distortions, all roaring out their rough jests to the laughing crowd. There were also performers of horsemanship, who delighted their audiences with feats of activity and skill on horseback, such as we see in modern circuses.

In the open s.p.a.ces round the fair-green there were chariot and horse races, which were sure to draw great mult.i.tudes of spectators. Indeed some fairs were held chiefly for races, like those at the Curragh of Kildare, which was as celebrated as a racecourse twelve hundred years ago as it is now.

Special portions of the fair-green were set apart for another very important function--buying and selling. There were markets for stock and horses, for provisions and clothes; and there you might also see foreign merchants from Continental countries, exhibiting their gold and silver articles, their silks and satins, and many strange curiosities: all for sale. Embroidering-women--all natives--showed off their beautiful designs, and often kept doing their work in presence of the spectators. A special s.p.a.ce was a.s.signed for cooking, which must have been on an extensive scale to feed such mult.i.tudes.

At length the leaders gave the signal that the aenach was ended; and the people quietly dispersed to their homes.

Hunting was one of the favourite amus.e.m.e.nts of the Irish. Some wild animals were chased for sport, some for food, and some merely to extirpate them as being noxious; but whatever might be the motive, the chase was always keenly enjoyed. It is indeed quite refreshing to read in some of the tales a description of a hunt and of the immense delight the people took in the sport and all its joyous accompaniments. The hunters led the chase chiefly on foot, with different breeds of hunting-dogs, according to the animals to be chased. The princ.i.p.al kinds of game were deer, wild pigs, badgers, otters, and wolves; and hares and foxes were hunted with beagles for pure amus.e.m.e.nt. Pig-hunting was a favourite sport. Wolves were hunted down with the great Irish wolf-dogs, some of which were as big as a colt or an a.s.s.

Wild animals were trapped as well as chased. There was an elaborate trap for deer, a deep pitfall with a sharp spear at bottom pointing upwards, all covered over and concealed by a _brathlang_ or light covering of brambles and sods. There was a special trap for each kind of animal--wolf, wild-hog, otter, and so forth. Birds were caught with nets and cribs: and indeed bird-catching was considered of such importance, that it was regulated by a special section of the Brehon Laws called 'Bird-net laws.'

Fish were caught, as at present, with nets, with spears either single or p.r.o.nged, and with hook-and-line. Fishing-weirs on rivers were very common.

A man who had land adjoining a stream had the right to construct a weir for his own use: but according to law, he could not dam the stream more than one-third across, so that the fish might have freedom to pa.s.s up or down to the weirs belonging to others.

Coursing was another amus.e.m.e.nt, as we find mentioned in our literature.

The dogs were pitted against each other; and it was usual to see greyhounds, trained for this special purpose, exhibited for sale in markets, like cows, horses, and sheep.

Hurling or goaling has been a favourite game among the Irish from the earliest ages: played with a ball and a _caman_ or hurley as at present.

In the latter part of the last century it declined somewhat in popularity; but now there is a vigorous attempt to revive it. Our modern cricket and hockey are only forms of the old game of _caman_.

In ancient Ireland chess-playing was a favourite pastime among the higher cla.s.ses. Everywhere in the Tales we read of kings and chiefs amusing themselves with chess, and to be a good player was considered a necessary accomplishment of every man of high position. In every chief's house there was accordingly at least one set of chess appliances for the use of the family and guests; namely, a chequered chess-board, with chessmen and a bag to hold them, which was often made of woven bra.s.s wire.

From the most remote times in Ireland, kings kept fools, jesters, clowns, and jugglers in their courts, for amus.e.m.e.nt, like kings of England and other countries in much later times. In the Tales we constantly read of such persons and their sayings and doings. They wore funny-looking dresses; and they amused the people something in the same way as the court fools and buffoons of later times--by broad impudent remarks, jests, half witty, half absurd, and odd gestures and grimaces. King Conari's three jesters were such surpa.s.singly funny fellows that, as we are told in the story of Da Derga, no man could refrain from laughing at them, even though the dead body of his father or mother lay stretched out before him.

Professional gleemen--commonly called _crossans_--travelled from place to place earning a livelihood by amusing the people like travelling showmen of the present day.

There were hand-jugglers, who performed wonderful tricks of slight-of-hand. King Conari's head juggler and his trick of throwing up b.a.l.l.s and other small articles, catching them one by one as they came down, and throwing them up again, are well described in the old tale of Da Derga:--"He had clasps of gold in his ears; and wore a speckled white cloak. He had nine [short] swords, nine [small] silvery shields, and nine b.a.l.l.s of gold. [Taking up a certain number of them] he flung them up one by one, and not one of them does he let fall to the ground, and there is but one of them at any one time in his hand. Like the buzzing-whirl of bees on a beautiful day was their motion in pa.s.sing one another."

CHAPTER XXII.

HOW THE CHARACTER OF THE OLD IRISH PEOPLE SHOWED ITSELF IN VARIOUS CIRc.u.mSTANCES AND ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS.

Some of the modes of salutation and of showing respect practised by the ancient Irish indicate much gentleness and refinement of feeling. When a distinguished visitor arrived it was usual to stand up as a mark of respect. Giving a kiss, or more generally three kisses, on the cheek, was a very usual form of respectful and affectionate salutation: it was indeed the most general of all. When St. Columba approached the a.s.sembly at Drum-ketta, "King Domnall rose immediately before him, and bade him welcome, and kissed his cheek, and set him down in his own place."

A very pleasing way of showing respect and affection, which we often find noticed, was laying the head gently on the person's bosom. When Erc, King Concobar's grandson, came to him, "he placed his head on the breast of his grandfather." Sometimes persons bent the head and went on one knee to salute a superior.

Although there were no such inst.i.tutions in ancient Ireland as p.a.w.n-offices, pledging articles as security for a temporary loan and its interest, was common enough. The practice was such a general feature of society that the Brehon Law stepped in to prevent abuses, just as our law now contains provisions to safeguard poor people from being wronged in their dealings with p.a.w.n-offices. A person might pledge any movable article--a horse, a brooch, a mantle, etc.--and the person holding the pledge might put it to its proper use while it remained with him. He was obliged to return it on receiving a day's notice, provided the borrower tendered the sum borrowed, with its interest: and if he failed to do so he was liable to fine. Borrowing or lending, on pledge, was a very common transaction among neighbours; and it was not looked upon as in any sense a thing to be ashamed of, as p.a.w.ning articles is at the present day.

There were distinct terms for all the parts of these transactions--a loan for kindness merely, a loan for interest, a loan in general: and interest was designated by two distinct words. The existence in ancient Ireland of the practice of pledging and lending for interest, the designation of the several functions by different terms, and the recognition of all by the Brehon Law, may be cla.s.sed, among numerous other customs and inst.i.tutions noticed throughout this book, as indicating a very advanced stage of civilisation. At what an early period this stage--of lending for interest--was reached may be seen from the fact that it is mentioned in an Irish gloss of twelve hundred years ago.

Old age was greatly honoured, and provision was made for the maintenance of old persons who were not able to support themselves. As to old persons who had no means, the duty of maintaining them fell of course on the children; and a son or daughter who was able to support parents but who evaded the duty was punished. If an old person who had no children became dest.i.tute the tribe was bound to take care of him. A usual plan was to send him (or her) to live with some family willing to undertake the duty, who had an allowance from the tribe for the cost of support.

In some cases dest.i.tute persons dependent on the tribe, who did not choose to live with a strange family, but preferred to have their own little house, received what we now call outdoor relief. There was a special officer whose business it was to look after them: or, in the words of the law tract, to "oversee the wretched and the poor," and make sure that they received the proper allowance: like the relieving officer of our present poor laws. He was paid for this duty; and the law specially warned him not to take offence at the abuse he was likely to receive from the poor cross peevish old people he had in charge.

Care was taken that the separate little house in which a dest.i.tute old person lived should be a fit and proper one; and its dimensions and furniture, as well as the dimensions of the little kitchen-garden, are set forth in the law. The law also specifies three items of maintenance--food, milk, and attendance; and it adds that the old person was to have a bath at regular intervals, and his head was to be washed every Sat.u.r.day.

From the arrangements here described it will be seen that there was a kindly spirit in the provisions for old age and dest.i.tution, and that the most important features of our modern poor-laws were antic.i.p.ated in Ireland a thousand years ago.

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." So says the English poet, Keats, in his poem of Endymion, and he enumerates various natural features and artificial creations as things of beauty; among many others, the sun, the moon, "trees old and new," clear rills, "the mid-forest brake," "all lovely tales that we have heard or read." If he had been in Ireland in old times, he would have come across delightful proofs of the truth of his saying everywhere among the people. They loved and had an intense appreciation of all things of beauty, whether natural or artificial; and they were remarkable for their close observation of the natural features of the world around them.

We know all this from their poetry, their tales, and their writings in general, which strongly reflect this pleasing aspect of their character.

Everywhere we meet with pa.s.sages in which are noticed, with loving admiration, not only those features mentioned by Keats, but many others, such as the boom and clash of the waves, the cry of the sea-birds, the murmur of the wind among the trees, the howling of the storm, the sad desolation of the landscape in winter, the ever-varying beauty of Irish clouds, the cry of the hounds in full career among the glens, the beauty of the native music, tender, sad, or joyous, and so forth in endless variety.

The few examples that follow here, as the reader will at once perceive, exhibit vividly this very fine and very attractive characteristic.

The singing of birds had a special charm for the old Irish people. Comgan, a poet of the seventh century, standing on the great rath of Knockgraffon in Tipperary--one of the old Munster royal residences--which was in his time surrounded with woods, uttered the following verse:--

"This great rath on which I stand Wherein is a little well with a bright silver drinking-cup: Sweet was the voice of the wood of blackbirds Round this rath of King Fiacha."

Among the examples of metre given in an old Irish treatise on prosody is the following verse, selected merely for a grammatical purpose:--

"The bird that calls within the sallow-tree, Beautiful his beak and clear his voice; The tip of the bill of the glossy jet-black bird is a lovely yellow; The note that the merle warbles is a trilling lay."