Another season is has past. We participated in the Tumwater Parade on the 4th and pictures are in this issue. There was a schedule conflict for our meeting scheduled for September 19 at the Lacey Library. We are currently planning to meet at the Lacey Library on October 14 from 2-4 pm.. Some may have noticed that our website is down; there was a problem with the host, not us. The new website is http://celticsocietyofpugetsound.org/ Hearty thanks and three cheers to Greg Walsh for finding us a new site and getting us up again! Also good news for those interested, Tartan Day is back on for next year at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. We will have a booth there and will need volunteers to man it.
If you know of a member that isn’t getting their copy of the newsletter, please let me know at mcdomnhal@yahoo.com or send a letter to the address found on the cover page of this issue and I will get on it and see to it that they get their copy. I will also let the membership chair know, so that the correct address and contact information can be put into the membership database. Speaking of membership, please renew if you haven’t yet for this year. These funds allow us to pay the expenses related to our events, pay for the newsletter and other expenses related to public information booths at various events.
Table of Contents
- Poetry O' the Celts:--------------"To a Bonny Birch Tree," Tracey Herd
- Featured Group:-----------------Scottish Heritage Society
- Featured Band/Musical Group:--Tacoma Scots Pipe Band
- Featured Celtic Region/Nation:--Ireland
- Recipe O' the Celts:---------------Oat meal bread
- Gaelic Lesson-------------------- Wikipedia, and various dictionaries
- Trivia Quiz------------------------Raibert MacDomhnaill
- Humor O' the Celts---------------Responses to what is under the kilt
- Tumwater Parade Notes- Photos and commentary
- Meeting Notes--------------------Secretary, Robert Donaldson
- Future Issues---------------------Secretary, Robert Donaldson
- Calendar of Upcoming Events---Secretary, Robert Donaldson
Poetry o' The Celts
by Tracey Herd
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A cloud is floating on the sky But my eye is lush with green: Leafage fresh, a visual symphony, The bonny birch, the hillock’s crown. A breeze is plucking at the mound, Sweet sounds rising from your core, The wind, angelic in each part, A harp is playing its simple score. You are the jewel of these hollows. See swallows light upon the fairy ring. You have conjured them from air, From far and near. With joy they sing. They warble summer melodies, They merely want to share their joy, Your branches tremble with their notes. Their throats are thick with honey. Lovelier than music is the dance, Stark elegance of tree and stone. Your lithe limbs soaked with dew, The dew like diamonds, tiny suns. Tracey Herd, from Dreuchd an Fhigheadair/ The Weaver’s Task: A Gaelic Sampler, edited by Christopher Whyte (Scottish Poetry Library, 2007) |
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Featured Group
The Scottish Heritage Society
The Scottish Heritage Society is a new organization that seeks to support Scottish Heritage and Ethnic activities. They are currently seeking to get a Washington State special license plate approve to provide funding to support scholarships and related funding to assist young people in activities that are related to Scottish heritage. Their site lists several links to various organizations, retailers, bands and the like. Their website is www.scottisheritageofwa.org. Please visit it for more information and connections.
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Featured Musical Group
The Tacoma Scots Pipe Band,
is based in Tacoma, WA and is the official pipe band for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. They offer classes in piping, drumming and dance. The classes are not free and are provided on a fee basis. The instructor for these classes holds a certificate as an instructor from The Piping Institute of Scotland. This is a 401 C(3) organization and is supported via donations, fundraisers and prize money from competitions. The band wears the Sinclair tartan in honor of their founder. One of the major fundraisers for this organization is the annual Robert Burns Night Supper. Members of the band and portions of the band are available for hire for weddings, funerals and so forth. Their website is www.tspb.org. Return to:[Main Page] - [Top]
Featured Celtic Region/Nation
Ireland
is currently the only independent Celtic Nation. All others are either part of a commonwealth, a province of or possesses a head of state-who also heads up a foreign power. Ireland is one of the oldest of the Celtic Nations. The modern Irish Celts originated from Spain and were known as the Milisians and were the 3rd invasion of Ireland per the Book of Kells. From Ireland this group of Celts moved into the Isle of Man and Scotland--where they founded the Dalraidian Kingdom. Ireland currently has 2 official languages: Irish Gaelic and English. Irish Gaelic is recognized as an European Union Language and businesses have to provide an interpreter if conducting business with an Irish Company, which doesn’t have a member that speaks another European language. Ireland has also decided to change all road signs in Ireland to Gaelic to encourage its citizens to learn and speak Irish Gaelic. Ireland is also the root nation of the Celtic Church or the Ceildh de (Culdee). This Church rivaled the Roman Church throughout the late 900’s to the 1200’s. It was this particular Church that founded the monasteries, universities and other educational programs in Ireland and led to the Irish being some of the best educated people of their time. Ireland was also responsible for evangelizing Northern Europe and had recorded monks that voyaged to the Americas and met with the Natives. Most of these tales were recorded in the monasteries and were widely seen to be fictional accounts following the fall of the Celtic Church and the rise of the Roman Catholic Church. Modern Ireland is divided up into 2 areas: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Most of Ireland is Catholic, with the exception of Northern Ireland, which is predominantly Presbyterian as many of the persons living there were taken from Scotland and were placed on plantations in hopes of displacing the Native Irish during the time of Elizabeth I of England. This has led to the many of the current difficulties in Ireland. Ireland is probably one of the most studied of the Celtic nations and large numbers of its people were displaced and moved to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other colonies held by the English. As a result there is so much more to say about this country and I have little space, so that if you want to know more, please feel free to check out books and materials on Ireland.
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Recipe o' the Celts
Oatmeal Bread
Ingredients: 450ml (16fl oz) milk; 1 tablespoon active dried yeast; 55g (2oz) dark brown sugar; 65ml (2fl oz) lukewarm water; 25g (1oz) butter; 390g (13¾oz) Porridge Oats; 2 teaspoons salt; 700g - 850g (1lb 8oz - 1lb 14oz) strong flour
Method: Scald the milk. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, brown sugar and salt. Leave aside until lukewarm.
Combine the yeast and warm water in a large bowl and leave until the yeast has dissolved and the mixture is frothy. Stir in the milk mixture. Add the flour and 10oz (285g) of the porridge oats and to obtain a soft dough. Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover with a plastic bag and leave until doubled in volume - this will take 2-3 hours.
Grease a large baking sheet. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, divide in half and shape into two rounds. Place on the baking sheet, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in volume (approximately 1 hour).
Pre-heat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Score the tops of the dough rounds and sprinkle with the remaining oats. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the bottoms of the loaves sound hollow when tapped
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Gaelic Lessons
| The lesson today is focused on numbers 1-10. Here you can see the similarity between the languages and can see the relationship between the p and the q Celtic language forms. These are the base forms and do not take into account gender, relationships and related concerns into account. | ||||||
| Welsh | Irish | Scots | Breton | Cornish | Manx | |
| 1 | un | haon | aon, te, urra | unan | onen | nane |
| 2 | dau, dwy | do | caraid, dithis | daou, diu | deu | jees |
| 3 | tair, tri | tri | triuir | tri, teir | try' | aahannid |
| 4 | pedair, pedwar | ceathair | creathrar | pedair | peswar | kaire |
| 5 | pump, pum | cuig | co'ignear | pemp | pymp | quelg |
| 6 | chwech | se' | sianar | c'hwech | whe'gh | sley |
| 7 | saith | seacht | seachd | siezh | seyth | shiaght |
| 8 | wyth | hocht | ochdnar | eizh | eth | hoght |
| 9 | naw | naoi | naoinear | nav | naw | nuy |
| 10 | deg, deng | deich | deichnear | dek | de'k | jeih |
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Celtic Humor
Classic responses for what is under the kilt:
“Pride of Thurston County” Josh Amos
“On a good day, lipstick” Josh Amos
“Nothing is worn, everything is in perfect working condition” Ron MacDonald
"Shoes and socks"
Please send in your favorite response for inclusion.
Fair warning: If you want to continue to be subjected to my strange sense of humor-don’t send me any jokes or anecdotes.
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Celtic Trivia
Last Issues Questions:
What did the term “redneck” originally refer to?
How many invasions of Ireland were recorded in the “Book of Kells?”
Who were the Tuatha de Danaan?
Answers::
The term “redneck” referred to Scottish Protestants, who swore an oath to not worship per the Order of Worship as required by the Church of England, but to continue per their own custom. They would sign the oath in blood and then apply the blood to their collar to advertise that they had sworn this oath.
The Book of Kells recorded 3 invasions of Ireland-the Formorans, the Danu and the Milisians.
The Tuatha de Danu are the people or tribe of the Goddess Danu. Currently known as the Fey or fairy folk. They include such personages as Lugh of the Longhand, Nuada Silver hand, Bridget, Morrigan, Dionacht, Mannahan McLir among others.
Questions:
How long has Cornwall mined Tin?
Who were the Gauls?
Who were the Borderers?
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Tumwater Parade News
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| The Tumwater Parade over the 4th of July was a huge success. Our people won not only the Music in Motion Sweepstakes award but also the Grand Marshal’s Choice award. We had about 15 people including the dancers involved in the parade. Way to go!!! | |
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Meeting Notes
There was an Executive Board meeting held at the Tacoma Highland Games. Members present included Josh Amos, VP; Robert Donaldson, Secretary; Ronald MacDonald, Treasurer; Dani Na’Fey, Membership; Jim MacDuff, Leanne Horn, and Clain Lust, Board Members. Discussion involved avoiding future problems in meeting CSSPS commitments at Games. Also the Board voted to pay $20 to join the Tartan Day Association. We will gain a space at the next Tartan Day observance in Puyallup, WA and admission for 2 members.
Future Issues/Events
Scheduling quarterly, rather than monthly meetings. The reason behind this is the low turnout of members at meetings.
Need a person to handle advertising and public relations-getting the word out to the news media and general public. Currently we are not doing a good job here and really need help.
Volunteer lists and programs for events
Fundraisers and sponsorship programs for events
Greater variety of entertainment and vendors at events.
Fundraisers and donations to support our events-any ideas?
Membership, new and renewal-what can we do to improve this?
Meeting schedule for next year
Activities and schedule of appearances for CSSPS
Membership issues and concerns-where would you like to see us headed toward in the future?
Meeting attendance-how to improve on this
Membership involvement-what can be done to improve membership participation?
Please bring your ideas in these areas to our next meeting.
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| January: | ||
| 25th | 6:00 PM | The Third Annual Robert Burns Supper, Olympia Christian Reformed Church 2121 Log Cabin Road SE Olympia, WA, Cost: $22.00 per person Menu: Roast of Beef Neeps & Tatties w/ Gravy Buttered Bby Carrots Caesar Salad Scones Shortbread Cookies Scottish Tea and Sparkling Cider No alcohol will be served (This is a Family Affair). Entertainment will include pipers, dancers, harpist, speakers, etc. Please make Reservations and payment by January 15th to Bev York. Please call Bev at 360.264.2923; mail to her address; 232 159th Lane SE, Tenino, WA 98589; or e-mail her at Bev York. |
| February: | ||
| tba | tba | Olympia Ethnic Festival, Olympia, WA, We will have a table there |
| March: | ||
| 8th | tba | Irish Cottage Faire, Thurston County Fairgrounds, Lacey, WA |
| April: | ||
| tba | tba | Tartan Day, Puyallup Fairgrounds, We will have a table there |
Copyright 2006, Celtic Society of South Puget Sound
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