Blog & Newsletter

Irish History and Humor for St. Patrick's Day

Here's a wee bit o' Irish history in honor of St. Patrick's Day, brought to you by the Gairin Celtic Musicians Tom and Mary Kay Aufrance.

When did St. Patrick live?

There is a popular notion that St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, was born sometime in the 4th or 5th Century at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton. But now! Think about that! The village of Kilpatrick is on the River Clyde, which is in Scotland! If this is his true birthplace, then Ireland's patron saint would actually be Scottish! Begorrah!

We all know that as a teenager, St. Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders, taken back to Ireland and enslaved as a shepherd, and that he walked 200 miles until he got to a port and could get on a boat to escape. But then later he saw a vision, became a Catholic priest and went back to Ireland and the rest is history.

St. Patrick's Day is a great time for tellin' tales. Here's a plausible story.

An Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman, and a Welshman were all flying together in an airliner. The captain announced that they were losing altitude rapidly and that one of them would have to jump out to save the others.

"I do this for the glory of Scotland," said the Scotsman - and he jumped out!

"We need to lose more weight," said the captain, so the Welshman shouted, "I do this for the glory of Wales," and then the Welshman jumped out.

"Sorry," said the captain. "I'm afraid we need to lose the weight of just one more person."

"I do this for the glory of Ireland," said the Irishman.

And then he threw out the Englishman.

St. Patrick's day is celebrated on March 17th, the day believed to be his death.

Why would everybody worldwide celebrate St. Patrick's death instead of celebrating his birthday?

According to the Nevada Sons and Daughters of Erin St. Patrick's Day program, St. Patrick's dying wish was for people to cheer up, and not mourn his passing, and to have a wee dram to ease their pain. Then, after he died, some of the Scot-Irish tribes in that region of Ireland had a brief battle over St. Patrick's body.

There is an Account in the 'Annals of the Four Masters' of the 'Battle for the Body of St. Patrick' that says the tribes from Armagh and Ulaid met at a river. Then the river swelled against them so that they were not able to cross it in consequence of the greatness of the flood. When the flood had subsided, the tribes were overcome by a strange confusion that caused them to cease their battle and unite on terms of peace. It was strange! Both tribes thought they had actually won the battle, because miraculously it appeared to each of them that each had possession of St. Patrick's body! So both tribes went home happily ever after!

The above is a true historical tale corroborated by the historical documents cited! Go look it up!

Another amusing tale from Ireland

98-year-old Mother Superior from Ireland was dying. The nuns gathered around her bed trying to make her last journey comfortable.

They tried giving her some warm milk to drink; but, she refused it.

One of the nuns took the glass back to the kitchen and remembering a bottle of Irish whiskey received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a generous amount of the whiskey into the warm milk.

Back at Mother Superior's bed, she held the glass to her lips. Mother drank a little, then a little more and before they knew it, she had drunk the whole glass down to the last drop.

"Mother," the nuns asked with earnest, "please give us some wisdom before you die."

She raised herself up in bed and said, "Don't sell that cow!"

What about The Green?

Green may be the national color of Ireland, but the color originally associated with St. Patrick was actually blue. The 'Order of St. Patrick' was established in 1783 as the senior order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Ireland. The color associated with the honor needed to differentiate it from the Order of the Garter (which was dark blue) and the Order of the Thistle (which was green). So they went with sky blue.

However, St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the then-pagan Irish people. This has forever linked the shamrock with St. Patrick and the Irish in the popular imagination. He tied shamrocks to his robes. They say this is why we wear green today. The shamrock was also important in Celtic mythology because of its three leaves. Three was a sacred number to the Celts as well as the Christians.

More amusing Irish humor...

An Irishman named Paddy & a Scotsman named Angus are working on a building site. Paddy says to Angus, "Im gonna get the day off, I'm gonna pretend I'm crazy! And the Foreman will let me go home." So, Paddy climbs up into the rafters , hangs upside down & shouts "I'M A LIGHTBULB! I'M A LIGHTBULB!" Angus watches in amazement! The Foreman shouts "Paddy you're acting crazy! Go home." So, Paddy leaves the site and gets his day off.

Next, Angus starts packing his tools up and starts to go home as well.

"Where the hell are you going?" asks the Foreman. Angus replies, "What? How do you expect me to work in the dark?"

St. Patrick's Day in the USA

The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in the United States. The Irish have been celebrating the feast of St. Patrick since the ninth century, but the first recorded parade anywhere was in Boston in 1737. The parade was not Catholic in nature, though, because the majority of Irish immigrants in the colonies were Protestant. Ireland did not have a parade of its own until 1931, in Dublin. Even today, 18 out of the 20 largest St. Patrick's Day parades are in the United States -- New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade is the largest in the world.

Potatoes and Irishmen

Paddy goes into a department store and asks the shopkeeper, "Excuse me sir, but do you sell potato clocks?"

The shopkeeper looks at him and says, "What did you say? We sell cuckoo clocks, carriage clocks, grandfather clocks, alarm clocks... what in the world is a potato clock?"

And Paddy says, "I don't know, but I start my new job at nine tomorrow, and the wife said 'You'd better get a potato clock.'"

The Irish have a love of tradition!

Q. Why does it take five Irishmen to change a light bulb?

A. One to change the bulb. Four to remark about how grand the old bulb was.

An Irishman is sitting at the end of a bar.

He sees a lamp at the end of the table.

He walks down to it and rubs it.

Out pops a genie. It says, "I will give you three wishes."

The man thinks awhile. Finally he says, "I want a beer that never is empty."

With that, the genie makes a poof sound and on the bar is a bottle of beer.

The Irishman starts drinking it and right before it is gone, it starts to refill.

The genie asks 'Well now you have two more wishes to go. What would you like for your next two wishes?'

The Irishman says, "I want two more of these."

33nd Annual Robert Burns Celebration
Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Reno, Nevada
A Sold Out event!
Thanks! See you again next year!

People are always asking us,
"Why do they call it contra dancing?"

Is it because it's contrary or country? It may be both! Around 1690, English country dances made their way over to France, where they combined dance steps from both French and English dances. The French called these dances "contredanse," because the men and women started each dance in long paired lines of couples facing each other, as in being contrary.

Today, like back then, contra dancing is done to live music and a caller calls out the moves. Over the course of any particular contra dance, individuals change partners and interact with everyone else in the dance lineup, with everybody traversing patterns. So, contra dancing is a group activity. The music consists of old time tunes that find their roots in Celtic (and therefore Old Time Americana) traditions, including reels, jigs and polkas.

Contra dancing was once popular all over the Western world, especially in New England, Ohio and the Maritime provinces of Canada. Why Ohio? That's where the Western Reserve was established to give land to the veterans of the Revolutionary War. So, America's first vets brought their favorite dancing with them.

Contra dances were quite fashionable in the United States until the 1850s, when they got competition from square dances and couples dances, such as waltzes and couples polkas. By the 1930s and '40s, contra dancing was done just in small towns in New England, Maritime Canada and yes still in Ohio, where couples dancing and especially the polka flourished as well.

The popularity of contra dancing experienced a resurgence in the 1950s and '60s with the folk music revival, and contra dance workshops and music camps sprang up. Then, during the '70's some of the callers began adding new movements, such as "heys" and "gypsies." Becket formation was also introduced, with partners starting out next to each other instead of opposite. Today, the urban farming and small farm movement has embraced contra dancing, with more contra dances springing up again at community centers and grange halls.

To find out more, you'll just have to go experience the fun of contra dancing for yourself!

Ramblin' Irishman is on Kindle!

Good news for musicians using Kindle! Jim from Wyoming reports he has enjoyed getting our music book for a fraction of the hardcopy price, "I have been a Kindle user since it first came out, and your music book Ramblin' Irishman was one of the first I bought from the Kindle Store. I play the piano, and when Kindle Dx large version came out, I bought one so I could download music scores. This works fine for looking at a score away from the piano, such as when traveling, although it's not a substitute for printed music at the piano. I have also tried the Kindle Reader on my iPad, and that is much better on the piano!" -- Jim

Find out more...

Rob McArtor sent some interesting comments after our last newsletter re: Celtic Connections, Old Time Cowboys and Beekeeping

"If John Harbison brought bees by ship to the west coast from Pennsylvania in 1850, he did not come through the Panama Canal. That wasn't completed until 1914! I suspect his shipboard travels took him around Cape Horn, after passing by Tierra del Fuego, or possibly through the Strait of Magellan, just north of Tierra del Fuego." -- Rob McArtor

We had to apologize for calling it the Panama Canal, because before the Canal there was a steamer route, a railroad and a trail before that. However, upon further investigation, we stumbled upon this sandiegohistory.org account stating, "Harbison wrote in his book, The The Beekeeper's Directory, that between October 1st, 1858, and April 1st, 1859, one thousand colonies of bees were shipped to California from the East Coast via the Isthmus of Panama.

For anybody interested in how folks got Out West in those days before the turn of the century, you can find interesting reading here:

Gold Rush includes a letter from a German woman who went "through the Panama Canal" before it was a canal. She tells about taking a train over a scary trestle, and she mentions that before the train there was a trail that she was glad not to have to take. One thing she liked doing on her trip Out West was dancing a polka to the music of the accordion on a ship between the Isthmus and San Francisco. For more history of The Panama Route see this book.

Meanwhile, the history of how honeybees came Out West has become a plot thicker than honey! We found out that even though John S. Harbison arrived in San Diego with one hundred and ten colonies of bees on in 1869, and then became largest producer of honey in the world, he was not the first to bring bees Out West. Thanks to sandiegohistory.org, we now know that, "Harbison has often been credited with bringing the first honeybees to California (the honeybee, Apis mellifera, is not a native of the Western Hemisphere but was imported by the early colonists from Europe), but this honor belongs to the botanist Christopher A. Shelton, who arrived in San Francisco aboard the steamship "Isthmus" on March 14, 1853, with twelve colonies of bees. He immediately took them to San Jose but only one hive survived. It did well, casting three swarms the first summer. Then, the next record of honeybees being brought Out West was that of William Buck, who brought thirty-six hives from New York via the Panama Route arriving November 30, 1855." Find more details at sandigohistory.org.

Many thanks to Rob McArtor for giving us the incentive to go looking for more information about how beekeeping made its way Out West! For more about this topic, scroll down to view the original story.

Here's some
Music to Enjoy Honey by...
Listen to The Beekeeper's Dance...

An original tune written by Mary Kay.
Click on the accordion

Announcing this year's Successful Honey Harvest
at the Slim and Minnie Bee Ranch

For your culinary delight and pleasure, we're excited to announce two varieties of honey: Spring Wildflower Delight and Summer-Fall Wildflower Magic...

While we're on the topic of honey...
Here's some interesting history about
Celtic Connections, Old Time Cowboys and Beekeeping

According to the book Bee by Claire Preston those groovy iron age folks from Northern Scotland, the Picts, were making honey ale between 300 and 600 BC. The home brewing Picts thought the honey was collected by the bees after it was ready-made by the flowers! It wasn't until 1700 that people figured out that bees gather pollen from flowers and then make it into honey in their bee hives.

Even though you might think Scotland would have too cool a climate for beekeeping, Scottish beekeeping thrives! There's even a Scottish Country Dance named after an apiary, that is a "bee ranch." Just ask Marian Stroh, Reno's Queen Bee of Scottish Country Dance.

Scotland even has its own official bee census. The Scots started counting bees in 2010 to determine the effects of bee diseases that have Medieval sounding names like "foulbrood."

"Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are certainly indigenous to the British Isles, including Scotland. However it is likely that the Northern limit of their natural range is reached somewhere in the Northern half of the country, being determined by a subtle blend of factors such as rainfall, temperature and wind exposure. Fera colonies seem able to survive without human intervention certainly as far north as the coastal parts of Sutherland, but not much further. The Scottish Island groups - The Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland - are somewhat exposed and windy, but bees can be kept on all of them successfully, albeit with considerable help from the beekeeper. Queen rearing is rather more difficult in these areas." Thanks to beekeepingjobs.net for this info.

The Flight of Irish Bees

In Early Medieval Ireland, 400-1200 writer Dáibhí O 'Cróinín wrote that honey was utilized as a sweetener in brewing ale and also in butter. Yet, the Annals of Ulster in 993 recorded a "plague of people, animals and bees" across the land.

Irish Bee Laws

Bech Bretha (Bee Judgments) were written into ancient Brehon Law. Ownership of hives was to be clearly determined. There were laws against stealing hives, and even compensation required for those stung by another person's bees. Destruction of bees was a grave offense and a devastating tragedy, kind of like horse thievery.

The ancient monks were beekeepers, as were many common folks. Tracking a swarm of bees was one of the few activities the church allowed on Sundays!

How the Irish Got Their Honey

St. Patrick may have driven out the snakes, but Mo-Domnóc, a 7th century Irish saint was the guy who brought the first honeybees to Ireland. Old Mo had been beekeeping in a monastery in Wales, and when he returned to his native land, he brought some hitchhikers with him. Mo-Domnóc’s bees never returned to their former hives back in the Welsh monastery and they became the forerunners of all Irish bees today.

Some sources say that Mo-Domnóc was actually Welsh, not Irish. In that case, there may be at least one thing the Irish can thank the British for.

Saint Gobnait, a 5th or 6th century nun from County Clare is the Irish saint of beekeepers! Gobnait is Irish for Abigail, but she’s also known as Deborah (Honeybee). Thanks to Irishfireside.com for this Irish beekeeping history!

How Did Beekeepers Get Out West?

Not in a wagon train! During the 1850's Gold Rush, a descendant of Irish immigrants (who had come to the US before it was a country way back before 1776) John Harbison, made a killing when he brought beekeeping to the US West Coast from Pennsylvania. He didn't take the land route however, and instead he and his bee hives came Out West on a ship that floated its way through the Panama Canal. This is the same route and the same era when the first accordions came Out West, by the way! Harbison's is a very interesting story.

Know Your Irish Music on St. Patrick's Day

by Mary Kay Aufrance of Gairin Music

With St. Patrick's Day fast approaching, it's time to brush up on your knowledge of Irish music! Here's a lighthearted approach to Irish Musicology from the Carson City Irish American Music Duo of Gairin Music.

Jig

Everybody knows that a "jig" is a lively dance that originated in Ireland, and most folks associate the "jig" with cute mop headed girls bouncing up and down in their colorful costumes. As the girls seem to defy gravity with their legs bounding and arms straight at their sides, they dance in something called "triple time," which is sort of like a waltz gone wild! This is a style of dancing that originated among ordinary people, not the royal courts, since the royals were too busy being stately to have such fun leaping and bounding. And, when the dance is done, "the jig is up."

Reel

Without knowing it, many St. Patrick's Day revelers define this dance as they "stagger, lurch, or sway, as if from drunkenness" and hopefully allow their designated driver to do the driving instead of the reeling! This is one dance that was named for the way observers thought it actually looked. In Middle English, the meaning of the word was "to whirl about." How can you tell a jig from a reel? If you tap your foot to the music, you will notice that you are tapping in groups of 4 at at time. Reel has 4 letters in it. So that's how to remember a reel had groups of 4 foot taps and a jig has groups of 3. Confused yet? The Irish Gaelic word for that is "bunoscionn."

Hornpipe

All sailors on wooden ships became expert hornpipe dancers, because they were actually required to participate in dancing as their only form of exercise during long sea voyages. Many a sailor would rather dance the hornpipe rather than walk the plank, which was their only alternative according to seaman lore! So, the hornpipe originated as a men's dance, and each man did his best improvisation of a sailor trying to stay afoot while the ship was rolling and lurching in the waves. Also, the instrument used to play a hornpipe was exactly that: a pipe made out of an animal horn. The Irish weren't the only people to play the hornpipe, and the hornpipe instrument was popular among Welsh, Basque, Scottish, Russian and other folks, too.

Pub Songs

Everybody knows that a pub song is what you sing along to when you're in the bar and the Celtic band plays on St. Patrick's Day! However, to be truly knowledgeable of St. Patrick's Day musicology, one must know that a "pub" (not to be confused with "public housing") originated as a small local drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Especially in small villages, a pub was the focal point of the community, and one expert writing for Wikipedia asserts that there are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom alone! The pub owner is known as the "landlord" and the patrons who enjoy each other's company and spirits there are the "regulars." And, that's no blarney!

St. Patrick's Day in the United States

Although not a legal holiday anywhere in the United States, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated everywhere on March 17th. It's become a celebration of Irish and Irish American culture, including prominent displays, "wearing of the green," feasting and consumption of alcohol (especially green beer), religious observances, and parades. The holiday has been celebrated all over North America since before the American Revolution. Of course it honors St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, whose contributions were great and included overcoming his own slavery at the hands of "Niall of the Nine Hostages," introducing Catholicism to Ireland, the use of the Shamrock to explain theology, and some say he even ran the snakes out of Ireland.

About the author: Mary Kay Aufrance is a singer songwriter whose music is licensed through BMI. She performs Irish music with her husband Tom as Gairin Celtic Music. The two have 4 CDs and a book of Irish Music to their credit, available on Amazon, iTunes and other websites. Tom and Mary Kay have been singing and playing Irish music for decades, after outcasting themselves from their usual Renaissance festival circuit when Mary Kay took up the accordion (which was not invented until hundreds of years after the Renaissance). Now, they perform in local establishments, at county fairs and for traditional Celtic and American Folk Music societies.

Laughology - The DVD, UK (Great Britain)

It may be more than coincidental that our Celtic stage name Gáirín means "a little bit o' laughter, like a chuckle" for this commercial client! We checked out their DVD The Meaning of Laugh. It's the world's first feature length documentary to address the topic of laughter! Watching the DVD, we learned a lot about how important it is to laugh! We always thought so and now you can find out why...

'Plato hated it, the Bible discouraged it and psychologists once thought it would drive you insane. When Albert realises he's forgotten how to laugh, he embarks upon a global investigation into this mysterious physical phenomenon, spanning neuroscientists, holy laughter groups and the man with the most contagious laugh in the world. "Haahaahaahaa", pants prehistoric man, excitedly clubbing another man over the head. He's having fun, the man is his friend, and this is the elemental sound of laughter. A couple of million years later, we find Albert sitting in his dressing gown in a grey city apartment. It's a picture of stress and exhaustion broken only by the giggle of his baby daughter. "Who taught this baby to laugh?"

Other recent licensing clients include:

Canamedia, UK (Great Britain) - Canamedia Productions Ltd was founded in 1978 by producer/director Les Harris and executive producer Jane Harris. It is one of the longest established distribution and production companies in Canada. Canamedia Film Productions Inc was incorporated in 1997.

The Peace Project, UK (Great Britain)

Licensing is through Getty Black Box, Washington USA and Getty online.