Show Notes
Owing to their impact on human affairs, weather occurrences of all sorts were a source of preoccupation for our forebears, who would look to the natural world around in the hope of interpreting and predicting these climactic manifestations. Explanations given to account for sudden gusts of wind and storms in many instances made reference to supernatural forces; to the powers of the fairies, of witches, wizards, the clergy and even freemasons.
In this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan explore traditional beliefs regarding wind and storms in folk tradition; from the varying methods utilised by sailors in order to raise and control the wind to aid them on their journeys, to those curses and magical practices used by witches to bring revenge to against those who had wronged them, and the historic accounts in which such attacks were attributed to particular individuals.
From storm-inducting stone effigies to magical basins of water, join Claire and Jonny as they invoke the powers of the air!
Resources of Interest:
An example of a 'Furl Blast' or 'Fairy Wind' of the sort which would come rushing through harvest fields, sending newly harvested crops high into the air: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FSsSN2JJAw
Sailors purchasing knotted ropes with which they might raise wind. Woodcut from Olaus Magnus' 'Description of the Northern Peoples' (1555): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Olaus_Magnus_-_On_Wizards_and_Magicians_among_the_Finns.jpg
'The Ship Sinking Witch', woodcut from Olaus Magnus' 'Description of the Northern Peoples' (1555): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Olaus_Magnus_-_On_Women_Skilled_in_Magic.jpg
Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon (1387): http://chester.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Polychronicon
The Night of the Big Wind, 1839: https://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/weather-events/Jan1839_Storm.PDF
Oíche Nollaig Na mBan (The Night of Women's Christmas) - Seán Ó Riordáin
Bhí fuinneamh sa stoirm a éalaigh aréir. Aréir oíche Nollaig na mBan, As gealt-teach iargúlta 'tá laistiar den ré Is do scréach tríd an spéir chughainn 'na gealt Gur ghíosc geataí comharsan mar ghogallach gé, Gur bhúir abhainn slaghdánach mar tharbh, Gur mhúchadh mo choinneal mar bhuille ar mo bhéal A las 'na splanc obann an fhearg
Ba mhaith liom go dtiocfadh an stoirm sin féin An oíche go mbeadsa go lag Ag filleadh abhaile ó rince an tsaoil Is solas an pheaca ag dul as, Go líonfaí gach neomat le liúirigh ón spéir, Go ndéanfaí den domhan scuaine scread, Is ná cloisfinn an ciúnas ag gluaiseacht fám dhéin, Ná inneall an ghluaisteáin ag stad.
(English Translation) There was power in the storm that escaped last night, last night on Women’s Christmas, from the desolate madhouse behind the moon and screamed through the sky at us, lunatic, making neighbours’ gates screech like geese and the hoarse river roar like a bull, quenching my candle like a blow to the mouth that sparks a quick flash of rage. I’d like if that storm would come again, a night I’d be feeling weak coming home from the dance of life and the light of sin dwindling, that every moment be full of the screaming sky, that the world be a storm of screams, and I wouldn’t hear the silence coming over me, the car’s engine come to a stop.
More from Blúiríní Béaloidis Folklore Podcast
Ailbe van der Heide is Collections Curator at the National Folklore Collection, having joined the staff in 2020, shortly after graduating from the MA in Irish Folklore in 2020. For several years now, Ailbe has managed the National Folklore Collection’s reading room service, along with fielding an array of queries from members of the public keen to explore our collections. Throughout her work, and in response to enquiries made regarding our collections, Ailbe noticed an at times stark difference between the material found as part of our fieldwork collections, and that which can be found online regarding supernatural figures in Irish tradition. Researchers looking for information on supernatural lore would often cite specific terminology which was indicative of literary forms, rather than expressions of folk culture. On the interplay between literature and folk tradition, Anne O’Connor has noted that:
Steve Roud is a Librarian, folklore scholar and creator of the Roud Folk Song Index, which contains upwards of 750,000 entries to around 45,000 English language folk songs, as found in books, recordings, manuscripts and other sources the world over. His index, and ‘Roud Numbers’ (a numbering system employed to identify the same song across many different titles) are widely acclaimed for the scope, breadth, depth and impact. Steve worked as a local studies Librarian in the London Borough of Croydon, and also served as Honorary Librarian for the Folklore Society for eighteen years. He has published books on calendar custom, popular tradition, folk belief, London lore, children’s games, and folk drama. In 2004, he was the winner of the Folklore Society’s Katharine Briggs Folklore Award for The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland. In 2009, he was one of five people to be awarded the Gold Badge of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. This award recognises "those who have made unique or outstanding contributions to the art or science of folk dance, music or song, and/or those who have given exceptional support in furthering the aims of the Society”. For four years now, Steve has been visiting the NFC, parsing through our manuscript and book, broadside and pamphlet collections for entries to add to his index. He is an incredibly gifted, meticulous and generous scholar, who is always glad to share his expertise with us, particularly in discussion around the inherent problems in the description, cataloguing and indexing of folklore materials. It was an honour, and a great pleasure to host Steve at the NFC recently, and during his visit (for our collective benefit) I subjected him to a 75 minute interview, in which we discussed his index, the problems inherent in describing folk song, approaches to the cataloguing of folklore, conducting research in folklore archives, and the problems inherent in the digitisation of folklore records and some scholarly critique of the NFC’s online platform Dúchas.ie.
Video recording of this episode is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OcxwmDuUeU&ab_channel=UCD-UniversityCollegeDublin
Regarding food in Irish tradition, Kevin Danaher, writing in 1964, noted that "Sometimes we get the impression that Ireland, in ancient times, was a land of plenty, and again we get quite the opposite impression - that our forebears lived out their lives on the very edge of starvation. In reality both these impressions are wrong." As an expression of culture that permeates every aspect of life, food holds a central place in Irish folk tradition, and for episode 41 of Blúiríní Béaloidis, I am delighted to be joined by Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire, Senior Lecturer in the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology at Technological University Dublin to discuss food in Irish folk tradition. Máirtín, along with Dorothy Cashman, was co-editor of the recent "Irish Food History: A Companion", published by the Royal Irish Academy in hardcopy in 2024, and available freely online via EUT+ at the following link: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/irishfoodhist/1/
Hello a chairde, and welcome to episode 40 of Blúiríní Béaloidis, the podcast from the National Folklore Collection.