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A Fortean Tune for St. Patrick's Day: Port na bPúcaí

maximus otter

maximus otter

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A pouca, or in Irish púca, usually refers to a magical being--a "water sprite,” or "mischievous fairy”--a word adapted by Shakespeare for his character Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream. [It is said that this] air is about the death of one such spirit.

There is a story that this tune was heard by travelers or fishermen who stayed overnight on Inis Mhic Fhaolain in the Blasket Islands (off the coast of County Kerry) and heard this tune coming from the mists.

Is bean on slua si me do tainig tar toinn;
Is do toidead san oice me tamall tar lear;
Is Go bFuilim sa rioct so fe geasa mna si,
Is ni bead ar an saol so go nGlaofaid an coileac.
Click to expand...

Lyrics:​
English Translation:​
​
​
Is bean ón slua sí mé, do tháinig thar toinn​
I am a woman from the fairy host who traveled over the seas​
Is do goideadh san oíche me tamall thar lear​
I was stolen in the night and taken beyond the sea​
Is go bhfuilim as ríocht seo fé gheas' mná sídhe​
And I am held hostage in the kingdom by the fairy women​
Is ní bheidh ar an saol seo ach go nglaofaidh an coileach​
And I can only be in this world until the moment the cock crows​

Sometimes the tune is described as the sound of the wind blowing across the islands...


Uilleann pipes.

maximus otter
 
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ramonmercado

ramonmercado

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stpatday.jpg
 
Ascalon

Ascalon

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Ronnie Jersey said:
And many pubs here serve green beer for St. Patty's Day!
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Ok, to save you from a diplomatic incident, a patty is an uncooked burger.

It's Paddy's Day, or Saint Patrick's Day.

If your persist in using this grossly unacceptable term, we will have no choice but to refer to your so called football match as the SuperbOwl.
So there!
 
Ronnie Jersey

Ronnie Jersey

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Ascalon said:
Ok, to save you from a diplomatic incident, a patty is an uncooked burger.

It's Paddy's Day, or Saint Patrick's Day.

If your persist in using this grossly unacceptable term, we will have no choice but to refer to your so called football match as the SuperbOwl.
So there!
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We call St. Patrick's Day by many different names, and are sure to wear Green on that day! :)
As for our Football Super Bowl, the only attention I pay to it is the pool, to see if we won!
 
C

charliebrown

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We are not New York, but my wife commented such a quiet St.Patrick Day.

Usually the retail stores are decorated in green, but not so.

The only thing we saw was the grocery stores were selling do-it-yourself corned beef and cabbage kits with all the ingredients included.
 
Ascalon

Ascalon

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charliebrown said:
We are not New York, but my wife commented such a quiet St.Patrick Day.

Usually the retail stores are decorated in green, but not so.

The only thing we saw was the grocery stores were selling do-it-yourself corned beef and cabbage kits with all the ingredients included.
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That's a strange one.
Corned beef is not an Irish dish at all.
It seems to be something adopted by Irish diaspora in the US.
Bacon and cabbage would be a far more likely choice here.
https://www.hairybaby.com/i-m-a-savage-for-bacon-and-cabbage-t-shirt
 
Tempest63

Tempest63

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ramonmercado said:
Corned (salt) Beef and cabbage was popular in Cork when I was growing up, 60s -70s.
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Whenever I was home in Kilkenny I never saw beef and cabbage, but every house seemed to have a bacon joint on the stove.

As the Dubliners once sang about England

I come from County Kerry
The land of eggs and bacon
You may think we like your Fish and Chips
Bejesus your mistaken
 
Ascalon

Ascalon

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T
ramonmercado said:
Corned (salt) Beef and cabbage was popular in Cork when I was growing up, 60s -70s.
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That's interesting.
My family is Armagh on t'mother's side and Wicklow on't father's, thought both didn't meet till they lived in or around Kildare. And I don't think we ever had salt or corned beef apart from out of a tin — which was rank!
T'was always a joint of ham, boiled first, then roasted and the cabbage cooked in the water from the ham and all served with boiled potatoes.
Lush!
If we were feeling particularly flaithiúlach (indulgently extravagant) we'd take some of the cabbage and fry in butter with pepper.

In fact, that's what we did last night and then my son made mint green milkshake type things for dessert.
 
ramonmercado

ramonmercado

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... The unpopularity of corned beef in Ireland comes from its relationship with beef in general.

From early on, cattle in Ireland were not used for their meat but for their strength in the fields, for their milk and for the dairy products produced. In Gaelic Ireland, cows were a symbol of wealth and a sacred animal. Because of their sacred association, they were only killed for their meat if the cows were too old to work or produce milk. So, beef was not even a part of the diet for the majority of the population. Only the wealthy few were able to eat the meat on a celebration or festival. During these early times, the beef was “salted” to be preserved. The first salted beef in Ireland was actually not made with salt but with sea ash, the product of burning seaweed. The 12th century poem Aislinge Meic Con Glinne shows that salted beef was eaten by the kings. This poem is one of the greatest parodies in the Irish language and pokes fun at the diet of King Cathal mac Finguine, an early Irish King who has a demon of gluttony stuck in his throat.

Wheatlet, son of Milklet,
Son of juicy Bacon,
Is mine own name.
Honeyed Butter-roll
Is the man’s
That bears my bag.
Haunch of Mutton
Is my dog’s name,
Of lovely leaps.
Lard my wife,
Sweetly smiles
Across the kale-top
Cheese-curds, my daughter,
Goes around the spit,
Fair is her fame.
Corned Beef, my son,
Whose mantle shines
Over a big tail.
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...

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/is-corned-beef-really-irish-2839144/
 
Sillyhuron

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Anybody outside Canada heard of this?
cottage roll 2 .jpg

Pickled pork shoulder butt in sweet brine. National dish up here but the web says no-body else has heard of it. (At least by that name).

We had cabbage.. rolls, that is. For all those Ukrainian Irishmen. Plus a couple of creepy short stories by Lord Dunsany.
 
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C

charliebrown

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Corned beef and cabbage could be an American misnomer as we were told in my younger days that the Irish could not afford better cuts of meat and the cabbage was a substitution for expensive potatoes.

Everything today in the grocery today because of inflation is expensive.

There has been a shortage of weird things like corn syrup which makes no sense.
 
Ronnie Jersey

Ronnie Jersey

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I made Corned Beef and Cabbage last week, boiling the corned beef till tender with the included package of spices. I slice it thin and it comes out very tender and delicious.
We have the leftovers on seeded rye bread.
I buy the O'Reilly's brand, it's very good.
 
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