by
Barbara Ryan of IONA
(Presented with permission of author 1/03)
The Celts began as a loosely associated series of tribes that migrated gradually westward from their origins in the Middle East, around 5,000 years ago. Because their record keeping was a highly formalized oral tradition passed down from generation to generation, very little evidence of their ancient customs exists. A continuity of design, however, and observations recorded by Greeks and Romans enable us to form some idea of their lifestyle. The Etruscans, early inhabitants of what is now Italy, were believed to be Celtic in origin, and important archaeological excavations at Hallstatt in Austria and La Tene, Switzerland, document Celtic habitation of central Europe some 2,500 years ago.
Basically an agrarian society, the Celts were defined as socially stratified tribes each claiming descent from a common ancestor. Led by a warrior aristocracy, their learned class of poets, priests, lawyers and artisans were accorded equal respect. Due to a lack of centralized organization, however, the Celts were unable to withstand the more focused assaults of other civilizations and were driven ever westwards and northwards.
About 2,000 years ago two separate but related waves of Celts arrived in the British Isles. Emigrating from the Iberian Peninsula, the tribes of Mil (Milesians) invaded Ireland, while tribes of the Belgae infiltrated Britain through what is Belgium today. Britain continued to be invade first by the Romans in the 1st Century AD, then by the Angles and Saxons, the Danes, and finally the Normans in 1066. The Celtic tribes of Britain were forced to the farthest, most inhospitable areas of the West Coast: Wales and Cornwall. From these embattled areas came the Arthurian legends, based on a Romano-Celtic warlord bearing little resemblance to the romanticizes King Arthur with whom we are familiar.
Waves of refugees fled the invaders by crossing the English Channel to Brittany (Little Britain) in France, protected from the rest of France by an impenetrable forest. Here, the Welsh and Cornish refugees re-established the traditions of their homelands, and these three areas are closely related linguistically, musically and culturally to this day.
In Scotland, the Celts immigrating northwards from Ireland, intermingled with the British Celts and the Picts, an older tribe of obscure origin. Protected by the rugged terrain and climate of the Highlands and their particularly ferocious war tactics, the Scots held out against the invaders longer than their compatriots. They, too, however, were driven to the far west and north where Celtic culture survived in the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetland Islands and the Highlands. The Gaelic heritage of Scotland is directly related to that of Ireland, and the tiny Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.
Emigration
Politics, poverty and natural disasters have been the most recent invaders of the Celtic lands in the last three centuries. Once again, the highly individualistic Celts were ousted by stronger, more united civilizations: the English, the French and the Spanish conquered and assimilated the remaining Celtic tribes into their empires. Once again, the Celts emigrated.
Seeking relief from poverty, starvation, religious persecution and the relentless efforts of the English to break their fierce independence, Scottish clanfolk fled the Highland Clearances (an attempt to dissolve alliances and traditions that united them against the English by forcibly evicting them from landholdings); Irish families were irrevocably separated as children sought freedom from abject poverty (and the lethal Potato Famine of the 1840s) by leaving Ireland; Huguenot Protestants fled religious intolerance in France; the Cornish and the Welsh, also victims of English politics and poverty, sought easier roads. Hundreds of thousands of these immigrants arrived in the New World, bringing their carefully nurtured Celtic customs, handed down still from generation to generation.
Massive emigration has occurred over the last two centuries to Canada, the United States and to Australia. There is even a strong Celtic presence in certain areas of South America. In the New World, Celtic cultures were able to evolve in a relatively tolerant environment. Comparing the growth of those same cultures in their parent lands to their concurrent development in their adopted countries is fascinating. As Scottish fiddle champion, Alasdair Fraser, points out, many traditions have survived in America in purer form than they have in Scotland, where the English influence sanitized much of the music and dances.
How Celtic Culture Survives in the 20th Century - 1) Design and Art Forms
Design, that essential, tangible element of "Celticness", continues to define and adorn the descendants of those bronze and iron age Europeans. Using the ancient patterns of spirals and zoomorphics, augmented in later centuries by the unending knotwork of Viking origin, artists and artisans alike perpetuate the beauty of Celtic design in their work. Ancient technologies have been employed by crafters in both traditional and modern media: potters, woodworkers, gold, silver and pewter smiths, embroiderers, sculptors, calligraphers, lithographers, painters, glass blowers and engravers, leather workers and photographers continue to explore the wealth and beauty of Celtic craft work, developing their own related creations of adornment or practical application.
How Celtic Culture Survives in the 20th Century - 2) Languages
The Celtic languages are unique: They are related to each other, but to no other European language. One of the main obstacles to the teaching of these languages is that they are all the products of a strong oral tradition, and, until relatively recently, had never been written. Welsh, a "P" or Brythonic Celtic language, has been the most assiduously preserved of all the Celtic languages. A resurgence of interest in the Breton and Cornish languages, both closely related to Welsh, has raised the national consciousness of Brittany (Breizh) and Cornwall (Kernow). Irish, Scottish and Manx Gaelic, the languages of the "Q" or Goldelic Celts, are similar to each other, but different from the Brythonic languages. Most commonly spoken in the Gaeltecht on the West Coast of Ireland, and in the Highlands and Western Islands (the Hebrides) of Scotland, the Gaelic languages symbolize the fierce independence and individuality of the speakers, and are now taught in all the schools.
How Celtic Culture Survives in the 20th Century - 3) The Perpetuation of Oral Tradition and legend
The role of the bard in Celtic cultures has always been pivotal: the chronicler of history and legend, teacher, poet, and musician. The Schanachle, teller of tales, has retained a position of respect on both sides of the Atlantic. From the exploits of Cuchulain, ancient Irish hero of Ulster, to the goddess Rhiannon of the Birds in the Welsh Mabinogian, to the wisdom of Myrddln (Merlin) in the Arthurian legends, countless generations have been fascinated by the knowledge imparted by storytellers. Fairies, leprechauns, brownies and banshees have peopled the imaginations of most Americans from our childhood through old age. The art of storytelling in 20th Century America has enjoyed a renaissance in the last few decades -- a valuable resurgence in our electronic age of movies and TV.
How Celtic Culture Survives in the 20th Century - 4) Farming and Craft Techniques
Much of the ancient Celtic knowledge of animal and farm husbandry and related skills are practiced on both sides of the Atlantic. Sheep, rugged livestock that could subsist on meager vegetation in rugged terrain, have played an essential role in Celtic life. Seasonal activities of shearing, spinning, weaving, and knitting (both of which employ ancient patterns and design) have shaped the lives of generations of farm families. Sheepdogs, and the breeding of other typically Celtic hunting dogs, were important aspects of Celtic life, as was the practice of falconry as a form of hunting. Now the skills of the blacksmith are also geared toward design of implements and ornaments other than horseshoes and farm tools. The age old art of thatching is practiced more on smaller structures and birdhouses in this day and age of fire marshals in America.
How Celtic Culture Survives in the 20th Century - 5) Athletic Tradition
As warrior initiative was discouraged, energies were directed towards the basic survival skills of working the land. Warlike aggression was redirected to friendly competition in skills that evolved from the labors of farming and games from time immemorial such as Irish hurling. Events like the hammer throw, and tossing the sheaf and the caber demonstrated expertise at farming skills that grew into a Highland folk tradition. Those contests have become popular as professional competition on both sides of the Atlantic.
How Celtic Culture Survives in the 20th Century - 6) Music and Dance
Probably the most familiar aspect of Celtic culture in the 20th Century is music. Ancient tunes and instruments accompany dances that have been practiced for millennia.
Instruments
Types of Music
Dance