#northern irish poem

[devil-doll13]

- Seamus Heaney, January God

[manwalksintobar]

Belfast Confetti  // Ciaran Carson

Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks, Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type. And the explosion Itself—an asterisk on the map. This hyphenated line, a burst of rapid fire… I was trying to complete a sentence in my head, but it kept stuttering. All the alleyways and side-streets blocked with stops and colons.

I know this labyrinth so well—Balaclava, Raglan, Inkerman, Odessa Street— Why can’t I escape? Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street. Dead end again. A Saracen, Kremlin-2 mesh. Makrolon face-shields. Walkie-talkies. What is My name? Where am I coming from? Where am I going? A fusillade of question marks.

[thisphantomlife]

Songs Hozier has covered

Bowie - Changes, Young Americans (see also Trinity Orchestra section)

Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover, Raspberry Beret, Jungle Love

James Carr - The Dark End Of The Street

The Beatles - Blackbird

John Lennon (Donny Hathaway version) - Jealous Guy (at the goldenplec block party with Zaska)

Ariana Grande - Problem

Warren G - Regulate (mashup with Problem)

James Blake - Retrograde

Tom Waits - Strange Weather

Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love

Stevie Wonder - Living for the City, As, Sir Duke, Superstition

Sting - 7 Days

The BeeGees - To Love Somebody

Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (that thing)

Amerie - One Thing

Skip James (Alvin Youngblood Hart version) - Illinois Blues

Muddy Waters - Catfish Blues

Van Morrison - Caravan, Sweet Thing, Domino, Brown Eyed Girl, Saint Dominic’s Preview

Bill Withers - Ain’t No Sunshine, Use Me

Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know

Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

Fun - We Are Young

Paul Simon - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

Destiny’s Child - Say My Name

Britney Spears - Toxic (snippet)

The Band - The Weight

Otis Rush version of Willie Dixon and the Big Three Trio - My Love Will Never Die

The Talking Heads - Burning Down the House (Instagram live messing around with friends)

The Staple Singers - Let’s Do it Again

The Weather Forecast 🤪

Ed Lewis - I Be So Glad When the Sun Goes Down (Instagram snippet)

Mavis Staples - Eyes on the Prize

Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher

The Meters - Just Kissed My Baby

Traffic (song originally by Traffic, Andrew covered the Joe Cocker version) - Feeling Alright

Bruce Cockburn - Lovers In A Dangerous Time

Paul Brady - The Lakes of Ponchartrain

The Meters - Cissy Strut (I’m including this because he’s played it for soundcheck and because he added it into “jazzy” Someone New during the Wasteland,Baby tour)

The Pogues - Fairytale of New York (on SNL!)

Christmas Songs - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus is Coming to Town (with others at the Xmas Eve Ball 2015)

Traditional Irish songs - My Lagan Love, The Humours of Whiskey, I Am Stretched On Your Grave, The Rolling Wave (on the low whistle), The Parting Glass, The Lonely Jig (on the low whistle)

(Live) Collabs - that are not Andrew’s own songs

Alvin Youngblood Hart - Illinois Blues

Maren Morris - The Bones, My Church, Girl, The Tree

Annie Lennox - I Put a Spell on You (Screamin Jay Hawkins cover)

Tom Odell - Another Love

Noah Kahan - Northern Attitude

Allison Russell - Requiem, Stop Dragging My Heart Around (Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty cover)

Brandi Carlile - The Joke, Walk On (U2 cover), The Weight (The Band cover)

Jamala - Walk On (U2 cover)

Mavis Staples - The Weight (The Band cover), Keep Your Eyes on the Prize (with Our Native Daughters, Jason Isbell and Phil Cook)

Boygenius - Salt in the Wound

Alana Henderson - Ae Fond Kiss (poem by Robert Burns)

U2 - When Love Comes to Town

Tori Kelly - Blackbird (the Beatles cover)

Mumford and Sons - Timshel, Awake My Soul, With a Little Help From My Friends (Beatles cover, with other artists)

Lake Street Dive - Everyday People (Sly and the Family Stone cover)

Rachael Price - Rental Love

Victoria Canal - Swan Song

Elwood (his dog) - Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John and Kiki Dee cover, Insta snippet)

All the artists at Love Rocks NYC 2022 - Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan cover), Feeling Alright (Traffic cover)

Brian Kennedy (and others) - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Nina Simone cover)

His Dad - The Weight (The Band cover at MSG)

Zaska, Wyvern Lingo, Loah - Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder cover)

Eabha McMahon - Bright Blue Rose (Jimmy McCarthy cover)

Brittany Howard - Feeling Alright (Joe Cocker version cover)

Joan Baez - We Shall Overcome, The Weight (The Band cover)

Christmas Eve Busk 2015

Bono, Glen Hansard - When Love Comes to Town, Every Breaking Wave

Glen Hansard, Imelda May - The Dark End of the Street (James Carr cover)

Christmas Eve Busk 2016

Damien Rice, Gavin James, The Coronas - Fairytale of New York (The Pogues cover)

Christmas Eve Busk 2017

Glen Hansard, Coronas, Imelda May, Liam O Maonlaoi - So This is Christmas (John Lennon cover), The Aul Triangle

Music Groups

Nova Collective - (original songs) Tuile, Closer, Quick Bossa

Zaska - (original songs) In Your Own Sweet Time, Different Light, She Gunk Gunk Dunk A Funk, Oh Yeah

Anuna - with Andrew on lead vocals: The Raid, La Chanson de Mardi Gras. With Andrew in the choir: Jingle Bells, An Uaithne

The Wiggles - Cherry Tree Carol with Anuna

Trinity Orchestra - songs covered with Andrew on lead vocals

~ Queen - Somebody To Love, Don’t Stop Me Now

~ Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage

~ Pink Floyd - Time, Breathe, Comfortably Numb, Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Money

~ Michael Jackson - Earth Song, Black or White, Smooth Criminal

~ David Bowie - Heroes

*This list may not be complete. It only contains songs that can be found online.

Please let me know if any songs are missing so I can add them 🫶

I’ve not included the songs he sang snippets of on that Song Association interview

[justforbooks]

Michael Longley

Belfast poet of exceptional poise and eloquence – but with a sardonic streak to temper his technical accomplishment

In 1994, when rumours of an IRA ceasefire began to circulate, Michael Longley sat down and wrote what came to be regarded as one of the most prescient and significant poems of the Troubles era. Called Ceasefire, it was published originally in the Irish Times and had an immediate impact, with its much-quoted final couplet standing as a symbol of hope and reconciliation in fraught times: “I get down on my knees and do what must be done / And kiss Achilles’ hand, the killer of my son.”

In this poem, Longley, who has died aged 85, drew on his classical background: a constant source of inspiration, along with the first world war, the flora and fauna of the west of Ireland, the Holocaust, love and friendship, and – obliquely – the conflict in Northern Ireland. His range was wide, and his approach distinctive. With his first collection, No Continuing City (1969), Longley showed himself to be a poet of exceptional poise and eloquence – but with a sardonic streak to temper his technical accomplishment.

What has been called a northern renaissance in literature was just getting under way at the time, and Longley, together with his friends and contemporaries Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon, was there at the centre of it. These three in particular succeeded in revolutionising perceptions of Northern Irish poetry in the world at large, as well as fulfilling the role of guiding spirits to the slightly younger generation, including Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson and Medbh McGuckian.

For more than half a century, Longley was an exemplary practitioner of the art of poetry, and, in his later years, something of a “grand old man” of letters. He was a member of the Irish Association of Artists, Aosdána, and in 2010 was appointed CBE. In November 2021, a special room at Queen’s University Belfast was named the Longley Room in honour of the poet and his wife, Edna; and the Michael Longley scholarship fund was established, with two scholarships to be awarded annually to outstanding poetry students.

Longley was born in Belfast, “followed half an hour later by my twin, Peter” (as he put it in his 1994 autobiographical fragment Tuppenny Stung). The twins and their elder sister, Wendy, were the children of English parents who had settled in Northern Ireland, Maj Richard Longley and his wife, Constance (nee Longworth). Longley senior, a commercial traveller, first world war veteran and recipient of the Military Cross, is a recurrent and revered presence in his son’s poetry, beginning with the luminous In Memoriam – even if his attitude at the start fell short of encouragement. “Michael, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on,” he said when shown an early effort called Marigolds. Unfortunately the major did not live to witness his son’s triumphs in the literary world, with his honours and awards including the TS Eliot prize, the Whitbread poetry award, the Hawthornden prize, the International Griffin prize, and the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.

After attending a local elementary school, Longley went on to the Belfast Royal Academical Institution and then to Trinity College Dublin, where he read classics but spent most of his time “inhaling” the poetry of others, and beginning to write his own. The story of his first encounter with Mahon in Trinity’s Front Square is well known. “Are you Longley? Can I borrow your typewriter?” demanded the unabashed newcomer. It was the prelude to a lasting friendship. When Longley married his fellow Trinity student, Edna Broderick, in 1964, Mahon was best man.

The following year, Longley returned to Belfast where Edna had secured a lectureship at Queen’s University, and there he remained for the rest of his life, though with frequent trips abroad, for poetry readings, conferences, or to collect awards. (On one occasion, when his shoes were stolen from the steps of a temple in Japan, his mortified hosts took Longley on a trawl of all the shoe shops in Tokyo, until, in the end, a pair was found to fit the size 12 feet of their guest.)

In the mid-1960s, Longley met Heaney, and another productive, but not frictionless, literary friendship began. “It was combative and no-holds-barred and in no sense an alliance,” Longley insisted in an interview in 1985, including Mahon in the count. He always disliked the idea of a fellowship of poets, preferring to attribute the outbreak of literary virtuosity in the north to “a coincidence of talent”. Nevertheless, the Heaney-Longley-Mahon conjunction marked a pivotal moment in cultural history.

After holding a couple of not very rewarding teaching posts, Longley joined the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 1970. In his role as literature officer he was responsible for organising poetry-reading tours, arranging subsidies for new publishing houses such as Blackstaff Press, and generally promoting appreciation of the arts. He proved to be an adept arts administrator during his 21-year stint, aiming to “replace political belligerence with cultural pride”; but, eventually, worn down by bureaucracy, conflicts with advisory committees and endless red tape, he opted for early retirement.

Coincidentally – perhaps – the 12-year hiatus between The Echo Gate (1979) and Gorse Fires (1991) ended with the latter collection, just as Longley’s struggles with an increasingly arid administrative system were over. Questioned about the long silence, when the poems came sparingly, if at all, Longley replied: “If you’ve got nothing to say, say nothing.”

The true note was back with a vengeance in the nine full-length collections appearing between 1991 and 2022, all displaying an increasing mastery and depth of feeling (alongside a robust repudiation of what the poet labelled “mad dog shite”, in work or in life). Each new collection drew a round of applause for its continuing “subtlety, emotional power and rhythmic and musical resource”, among other virtues.

For his old friend and rival Heaney, Longley stood as “a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders”. Wit and playfulness enlivened Longley’s work whenever the poet’s mood was buoyant. “My one remaining ambition is to be / The last poet in Europe to find a rhyme,” he wrote in 1972, tongue-in-cheek; and for the rest of his life he practised the virtue of not taking himself too seriously.

Ash Keys: New Selected Poems was published in 2024 to coincide with his 85th birthday: frail but indomitable, and leaning on a stick, he took part in all the brouhaha surrounding the occasion, and continued to joke: “If I knew where the poems came from, I’d go there.” The phrase Where Poems Come From forms the title of a 2024 BBC film about Longley. Ash Keys includes his best, most characteristic and most enduring work, from the early, resonant In Memoriam to the beautiful Wild Orchids of 2020, with its litany of plants and placenames.

Longley’s final collection, The Slain Birds (2022), exemplifies his undying preoccupation with nature and natural forces, with botany and ornithology and animal life, from which a sense of the skull beneath the skin is not excluded: “the otter that drowned in an eel-trap”; “the ewes and spring lambs buried deep in the snow”. When his granddaughters in Scotland find a dead tawny owl, the small event engenders a couple of poems envisaging an afterlife for the bird: “Maisie sketches in charcoal its underside, / Amelia hugs to herself all the feathers …” And later in the same collection, the poet wonders:

… Where are the tree-pegs now That held together my oblivion-boat At the edge of the surf among sanderlings? At spring tide where will my soul be going?

He is survived by Edna, their children, Rebecca, Daniel and Sarah, and seven grandchildren.

🔔 Michael George Longley, born 27 July 1939; died 22 January 2025

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[werewolfetone]

I'm a day late for this but yesterday, 14 october, was the anniversary of the execution of william orr, one of the first united irish martyrs. we don't know much of his early life, but we do know that he was a linen man from antrim and a popular member of the society of the united irishmen who contributed several articles to the northern star in the mid 1790s. in 1796 he was arrested for allegedly administering the banned united irish oath to some british soldiers and was subjected to what was even at the time widely understood to be a show trial with the aim of making an example to deter others from joining up. it included, among other things, the star witness (one of the soldiers) admitting that he was lying and half of the jury being wildly drunk. despite a defence from famous lawyer john philpot curran orr was sentenced to death for his treasonous activity.

Despite this, orr was then immediately subjected to a long period of imprisonment (rather unusual for the time period) during which even members of lord lieutenant lord camden's family personally appealed for a stay of execution, unfortunately to no avail. william orr was executed in carrickfergus on 14 october 1797. and as everyone except for lord camden in 1797 probably could have seen coming, after this the united irishmen enjoyed an increase in membership and orr was immediately elevated to a martyrdom status which can only really be described as the bobby sands of the 1790s; much art was made about him and the rallying cry "remember orr" was used at various points in the rebellion of 1798.

Today he is perhaps most well remembered for "the wake of william orr," a poem which belfast-born united irish poet dr william drennan wrote about him after his death, and the fact that ulster rebellion leader henry joy mccracken entrusted a ring bearing the engraving "remember orr" to his sister mary ann mccracken as one of his last acts before his execution. and if you're having trouble remembering anything about him there's a not half bad song about him here which sums things up surprisingly well. he may not be as well known as robert emmet or theobald wolfe tone but he's one of the most famous martyrs in irish republican history TO ME and I think to me only which is why I'm making this post.

Sources under the cut

Bew, J. (2014). Castlereagh: The biography of a Statesman. Quercus.

BIGGER, F. J. (1906). William Orr.

Stewart, A. T. Q. (1996). The summer soldiers: The 1798 rebellion in Antrim and down. Blackstaff Press.

[goetiae]

𝓗𝓐𝓛𝓛𝓞𝓦𝓔𝓔𝓝 — arguably one of the most haunting festive celebrations in modern history. A holiday occassion of yet-unclear origins, it has its possible roots in old Harvest Celebrations of pre-Christian communities across European territories.

Today, our focus is Halloween as it was celebrated in the Victorian era and the larger scope of the 19th century Europe and America.

It is common to root modern Halloween to pre-Christian harvest festivals, celebrated by most if not all European peoples, though the ones most influential on the history of Victorian Halloween would be the Celts and other ancient communities of the British Isles. After the expanding Christian church repurposed old harvest celebrations into the widely spread Christian calendar, those became associated with various saints and celebrated as All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve.

Victorian Halloween in Europe retained a feeling of nostalgia for the old days. For example, in the year 1851, Coleraine Chronicle, a Northern Irish newspaper, published a series of Halloween poems. Orkney Herald and Weekly Advertiser, in the year 1863, published a peculiar article about the "old Halloween" that directly identified the holiday with the feeling of excitement and joy:

Halloween! In the days of my boyhood there was magic in the name. Long before the day arrived we hoarded up all the apples, turnips, and cabbage-stocks we could either steal or beg. It was impossible to sleep on the night preceding the auspicious eve…There was excitement on every face – mischief brewing in every heart.

While the middle of the 19th century saw the most of the public's attention being directed towards Halloween, it saw its decline towards the end of the Victorian period — a phenomenon seemingly regarded as disappointing by the contemporary writers.

As for the origins of Halloween, the publications of the 19th century seem to root it in the old traditions of pre-Christian Europe. A publication in London Evening Standard in 1878 attested a connection of Halloween with Athenian Anthesteria meanwhile an article in Newcastle Courant, year 1877, claimed that the holiday's origin is lost in the "mists of antiquity".

In The Book of Hallowe'en by Ruth Edna Kelley, published in 1919, the author connects the celebration of Samhain, attested to Old Irish customs. This book presents a viewpoint that connects Halloween to ancient celebrations of harvest and otherwise cyclic holidays across different nations. The author comments on various festival occasions focused around fire as a dispeller of bad omens, though to be connected with Haloween.

Introduction of Christianity to European lands did not quite exorcize Halloween as a celebration, having, instead, connected it to less pagan customs. Now, Halloween became associated with "matchmaking" and offered and opportunity for unmarried women to glimpse into their future using nuts, kale, apples, and other fruits of harvest. Newry Telegraph in 1892 published an article about a peculiar tradition of forecasting relationships: a girl would stick apple kernels to her cheeks, attaching a name to each; whichever fell first proclaimed infidelity of the one whose name it bore. In 1877, the same publication offered a more eerie tradition, claiming that eating an apple before looking in the mirror on All Hallows' Eve would let a young maiden see the face of her future husband.

Both Orkney Herald and Newcastle Courant equally point out a tradition of "ducking for apples" — a custom that, perhaps, lasted through centuries and became what we currently know as apple bobbing.

In American press, the word "Halloween" first appeared in April 1836, having been mentioned in the publication of The Lady's Book, also known as Godey's Magazine. This magazine was largely targeted towards women and published colorful fashion drawings and stories. The first one to mention Halloween in the United States was titled Clara Lawson; or the Rustic Toilet. Within this story, Halloween is said to be a "time of festivity, of fun and frolick, of cake-making and nut-cracking" though the author seems rather disappointed by the holiday's current state, lamenting the more festive air of the 1800s.

Various publications in American press afterwards depicted common Halloween superstitions such as one stating that a person could see a face of their future betrothed in the mirror at exactly midnight.

After its introduction to America, Halloween became commercialized rather fast. In 1897, The Dennison Manufacturing Company was founded. It offered various good used for decoration during the Halloween festivities and released its own catalogue with ideas for decor and gifts. Following alongside, various fashion magazines began publishing their own catalogues of dresses and costumes, majorly for women.

Publications around 1860s-1870s focused on the eerie air of Halloween, offering the readers to read Halloween poems (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October, 1865) or visit a ghostly home. Paintings depicting various witches, ghosts, and entities became rather common to see on the pages of magazines.

As stated by the book How to Amuse Yourself and Others: The American Girl's Handy Book by Lina Beard, released in 1895, it was apparently common for people of the 19th century to believe that Halloween was the best time to partake in magic. Though the writer denies any genuine power of said magical tricks, it is still implied that Halloween parties and games were quite frequent to encounter during the holiday, such as:

🕯 Melted Lead where one would pour melted metal through a handle of the key and into a pan of cold water, then deciphering its shapes to define the occupation of one's future husband.

🕯 Nutshell Boats that were used to decipher one's future by sending walnut shells filled with wax floating over a tub of water with tapers inserted into the middle and lit. It was believed that the owner of the shell that survives such a voyage unsunken would lead a happy life.

🕯 Roasting Nuts would predispose one's friendship: by burning two nuts, each to represent one person, one could predict if the connection was to be merry or unfortunate depending on how calmly the nuts burned.

🕯 The Magic Mirror was a common mirror that gained mysterious power during All Hallows' Eve. Holding it in the way that reflected the moon would help the person — usually a young girl — predict how many happy occassions avaited them before the next Halloween.

🕯 The Ghostly Fire would be one of the most peculiar ways to partake in 19th century Halloween. It was prepared by putting salt and alcohol, alongside a few raisins, in a dish, before it was set on fire. Then, the gathered crowd would do a circle dance around the table as the fire — described as greenish purple — burned. And right before it went out, everyone would snatch a hot raisin from the flames.

Alongside many other near-ritualistic occasions that this book entertains its reader with, those mentioned created a merry, festive, and rather mysterious air typical of the 19th century Halloween. In her Games for Hallow-e'en, published in 1897, Mary E. Blain adds on that rooms meant for Halloween games and celebrations are to be richly decorated with "apples, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and such" that would be hollowed out and cut faces into. She recommends skull imagery, black cats, witches' hats, and various little decorations for the rooms — which are, of course, to be kept dark.

Halloween parties, both in Europe and America, would also become an occasion for costume showcases; it would only be a matter of time until Halloween costumes became a commonly beloved phenomenon. Often, people would dress up in exquisite gowns or themed outfits, such as witches or various creatures of the night.

In Ireland and Scotland, the tradition of dressing up for Halloween, known as guising, would be popular around the middle of the 19th century and into the Victorian era. In Scotland, the masks used for Halloween would be referred to as "false faces". The tradition of souling, asking for treats while going house to house, would be brought to the United States in the late 1930s with newly arriving Irish immigrants. Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Volume 40, published in 1895, refers to the custom of people, "disguised", going door to door with lanters made of carved out turnips and being rewarded with cakes and sweets. Unsurprisingly enough, "guising" often involved visiting wealthy homes, and the tradition grew all the more popular in 1920s and 1930s.

Though not particularly related to the 19th century, Halloween postcards are also a product of the craze that was the celebration of Halloween both in America and in the British lands. Largely popularized in the so-called "golden era" circa 1905-1915, these postcards present iconography very familiar to a modern person: witches, brooms, black cats, jack-o'-lanterns. The "magical" rituals described prior sometimes find their way into these visual depictions of the holiday, creating a symbolic tie with the past traditions: some postcards depict scrying, candle rituals, and various visuals of divination.

Decor sources: 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃

[saintsenara]

Snape asks: 15, 43, 48? Thanks!

thank you for the ask, @said-snape-softly!

[snape ask game here]

15. how do you think snape spent his free time?

as we know from canon… composing little poems.

[this is yet more fuel for my snapemort fire - snape is probably the only man in history who would see you spending your evenings coming up with anagrams of your own name and think... smash.]

43. what is your favourite headcanon about snape?

either that cokeworth is in the vicinity of stoke-on-trent and young snape therefore sounds like robbie williams when he talks, or that he’s a roman catholic and his dad's northern irish.

is this projection? who can say…

48. did you feel that snape was the "good guy" even before the reveal?

i did - the marketing campaign surrounding deathly hallows basically gave it away, but even before then the fact that the series had built up snape’s villainy and then pulled the rug for under it twice before (in philosopher’s stone and goblet of fire) made me heavily suspect that it was gearing up to do the same.

i didn’t clock the lily thing, though. but that might be, just possibly, because it wasn’t fantastically well set-up by the earlier books…

[rabbitcruiser]

National Mashed Potato Day

National Mashed Potato Day, on October 18, is one holiday that spud lovers in the United States look forward to every year. It’s an opportunity for them to indulge in even more of their favorite dishes. The origins of this holiday are not entirely clear. Different sources also state it as happening on different dates. Some people, however, believe the Idaho Potato Commission was responsible for founding this day in celebration of mashed potatoes. Whatever the case, the humble yet amazing potato deserves a day to honor its existence. Cultures all over the globe use potatoes as a staple food or a popular accompaniment for other dishes.

History of National Mashed Potato Day

Human beings have been growing potatoes from as far back as 8000 B.C. The earliest archaeologically verified potato tuber remains were found in central Peru at the coastal site of Ancón, dating to 2500 B.C. Potatoes also appear in the Peruvian archaeological records as a design influence of ceramic pottery. The ancient populations often made potatoes in the shape of vessels. Sir Walter Raleigh is credited with introducing potatoes to Ireland in 1589. After this, it took almost four decades for the tuber to spread to the rest of Europe. In the 1620s, the Governor of the Bahamas sent a gift package containing potatoes to the governor of the colony of Virginia. That’s how potatoes made their way to the colonies.

The humble spuds faced a hard time spreading throughout the northern colonies. It was only until Thomas Jefferson had them served to guests at the White House in 1802 that potatoes became widely accepted. Thereafter, the potato steadily gained in popularity, even more so due to a steady stream of Irish immigrants to the United States. Throughout Europe, the potato became the most important new food in the 19th century because of three major advantages. It had a lower rate of spoilage, it was bulky so it easily satisfied hunger, and it was cheap. The crop slowly spread across Europe and turned into a major staple by mid-century, especially in Ireland.

The tuber continues to gain favor among the American population. Since 2000, more than one million acres of potatoes have been planted and harvested each year, with Idaho being one of the top potato-producing potato states.

National Mashed Potato Day timeline

8000 B.C.Potatoes Enter the Scene

The Inca people of Peru become the first to cultivate potatoes.

1536 A.D.A Raid On Spuds

Spanish conquistadors invade Peru and bring potatoes back to Europe.

1912Research into Potatoes

The Canadian Potato Research Center in Fredericton, New Brunswick is established.

1995Spuds in Space

The University of Wisconsin partners with N.A.S.A. to make the potato the first vegetable grown in space.

National Mashed Potato Day FAQs

What is the world’s largest potato ever grown?

“The Guinness Book of World Records” states that the largest potato weighed seven pounds one ounce, grown by J. East (1953) and J. Busby (1982) of the U.K.

How many potatoes do Americans eat?

The average American eats approximately 124 pounds of potatoes per year.

Which five American states produce the most potatoes?

Idaho is the largest potato-producing state in the U.S. The second, third, fourth, and fifth potato producers in the U.S. are Washington, Wisconsin, Oregon, and North Dakota respectively.

National Mashed Potato Day Activities

Eat some potatoes

Praise the potato

Tell others

There are numerous ways to prepare mashed potatoes, either by themselves or as part of a larger meal. Host a family hangout where everyone brings their version, then dig in!

Compose a song or poem about potatoes. Make it extra fun by getting your family to do the same then have some time to present your creations.

Letting your friends miss out on this day would be a mistake. Tell them about it so that they can indulge in tasty mashed potato dishes.

5 Interesting Facts About Potatoes

So many spuds

Unlikely family

Long life tubers

Available all over the globe

Potato composition

There are around 4,000 different types of potatoes.

Potatoes belong to the same family (Solanaceae) as tobacco and deadly nightshade.

Commercially, potatoes can be stored for up to a year by keeping them at 39°F.

Today potatoes are grown in about 125 countries worldwide.

The potato is made up of about 80% water and 20% solids.

Why We Love National Mashed Potato Day

We eat delicious food

It’s fun

We spend time with family

Potatoes go well with numerous other foods. On National Mashed Potato Day, we take our palates on a trip with different recipes.

The potato is such an interesting tuber. Apart from its culinary variety, we get to learn about its history and other uses on this day.

National Mashed Potato Day gives us a chance to bond with our families over delectable potato meals. Anything that brings the family together is a plus in our books.

Source

[mask131]

A fantasy read-list: A-2

Fantasy read-list

Part A: Ancient fantasy

2) Mythological fantasy (other mythologies)

Beyond the Greco-Roman mythology, which remained the main source and main influence over European literature for millenia, two other main groups of myths had a huge influence over the later “fantasy” genres.

# On one side, the mythology of Northern Europe (Nordic/Scandinavian, Germanic, but also other ones such as Finnish). When it comes to Norse mythology, two works are the first names that pop-up: the Eddas. Compilations of old legends and mythical poems, they form the main sources of Norse myths. The oldest of the two is the Poetic Edda, or Elder Edda, an ancient compilation of Norse myths and legends in verse. The second Edda is the Prose Edda, so called because it was written in prose by the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson (alternate names being Snorri’s Edda or the Younger Edda). Sorri Sturluson also wrote numerous other works of great importance, such as Heimskringla (a historical saga depicting the dynasties of Norse kings, starting with tales intermingled with Norse mythology, before growing increasingly “historically-accurate”) or the Ynglinga saga - some also attributed to him the Egil’s Saga.

Other “tales of the North” include, of course, Beowulf, one of the oldest English poems of history, and the most famous version of the old Germanic legend of the hero Beowulf ; the Germanic Völsunga saga and Nibelungenlied ; as well as the Kalevala - which is a bit late, I’ll admit, it was compiled in the 19th century, so it is from a very different time than the other works listed here, but it is the most complete and influential attempt at recreating the old Finnish mythology. 

# On the other side, the Celtic mythologies. The two most famous are, of course, the Welsh and the Irish mythologies (the third main branch of Celtic religion, the Gaul mythology, was not recorded in texts). 

For Welsh mythology, there is one work to go: the Mabinogion. It is one of the most complete collections of Welsh folktales and legends, and the earliest surviving Welsh prose stories - though a late record feeling the influence of Christianization over the late. It is also one of the earliest appearances of the figure of King Arthur, making it part of the “Matter of Britain”, we’ll talk about later.

For Irish mythology, we have much, MUCH more texts, but hopefully they were already sorted in “series” forming the various “cycles” of Irish mythologies. In order we have: The Mythological Cycle, or Cycle of the Gods. The Book of Invasions, the Battle of Moytura, the Children of Lir and the Wooing of Etain. The Ulster Cycle, mostly told through the epic The Cattle-Raid of Cooley. The Fianna Cycle, or Fenian Cycle, whose most important work would be Tales of the Elders of Ireland. And finally the Kings’ Cycle, with the famous trilogy of The Madness of Suibhne, The Feast of Dun na nGed, and The Battle of Mag Rath. 

Another famous Irish tale not part of these old mythological cycles, but still defining the early/medieval Irish literature is The Voyage of Bran. 

# While the trio of Greco-Roman, Nordic (Norse/Germanic) and Celtic mythologies were the most influential over the “fantasy literature” as a we know it today, other mythologies should be talked about - due to them either having temporary influences over the history of “supernatural literature” (such as through specific “fashions”), having smaller influences over fantasy works, or being used today to renew the fantasy genre.

The Vedas form the oldest religious texts of Hinduism, and the oldest texts of Sanskrit literature. They are the four sacred books of the early Hinduist religion: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. What is very interesting is that the Vedas are tied to what is called the “Vedic Hinduism”, an ancient, old form of Hinduism, which was centered around a pantheon of deities not too dissimilar to the pantheons of the Greeks, Norse or Celts - the Vedas reflect the form of Hinduist religion and mythology that was still close to its “Indo-European” mythology roots, a “cousin religion” to those of European Antiquity. Afterward, there was a big change in Hinduism, leading to the rise of a new form of the religion (usually called Puranic if my memory serves me well), this time focused on the famous trinity of deities we know today: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

The classic epics and supernatural novels of China have been a source of inspiration for more Asian-influenced fantasy genres. Heavily influenced and shaped by the various mythologies and religions co-existing in China, they include: the Epic of Darkness, the Investiture of the Gods, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, or What the Master does not Speak of - as well as the most famous of them all, THE great epic of China, Journey to the West. If you want less fictionized, more ancient sources, of course the “Five Classics” of Confucianism should be talked about: Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Book of Changes, as well as Spring and Autumn Annals (though the Classic of Poetry and Book of Documents would be the more interesting one, as they contain more mythological texts and subtones - the Book of Changes is about a divination system, the Book of Rites about religious rites and courtly customs, and the Annals is a historical record). And, of course, let’s not forget to mention the “Four Great Folktales” of China: the Legend of the White Snake, the Butterfly Lovers, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, as well as Lady Meng Jiang.

# As for Japanese mythology, there are three main sources of information that form the main corpus of legends and stories of Japan. The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), a chronicle in which numerous myths, legends and folktales are collected, and which is considered the oldest literary work of Japan ; the Nihon Shoki, which is one of the oldest chronicles of the history of Japan, and thus a mostly historical document, but which begins with the Japanese creation myths and several Japanese legends found or modified from the Kojiki ; and finally the Fudoki, which are a series of reports of the 8th century that collected the various oral traditions and local legends of each of the Japanese provinces.

# The Mesopotamian mythologies are another group not to be ignored, as they form the oldest piece of literature of history! The legends of Sumer, Akkadia and Babylon can be summed up in a handful of epics and sacred texts - the first of all epics!. You have the three “rival” creation myths: the Atra-Hasis epic for the Akkadians, the Eridu Genesis for the Sumerians and the Enuma Elish story for the Babylonians. And to these three creation myths you should had the two hero-epics of Mesopotamian literature: on one side the story of Adapa and the South Wind, on the other the one and only, most famous of all tales, the Epic of Gilgamesh. 

# And of course, this read-list must include... The Bible. Beyond the numerous mythologies of Antiquity with their polytheistic pantheons and complex set of legends, there is one book that is at the root of the European imagination and has influenced so deeply European culture it is intertwined with it... The Bible. European literary works are imbued with Judeo-Christianity, and as such fantasy works are also deeply reflective of Judeo-Christian themes, legends, motifs and characters. So you have on one side the Ancient Testament, the part of the Bible that the Christians have in common with the Jews (though in Judaism the Ancient Testament is called the “Torah”) - the most famous and influential parts of the Ancient Testament/Torah being the first two books, Genesis (the creation myth) and Exodus (the legend of Moses). And on the other side you have the exclusively Christian part of the Bible, the New Testament - with its two most influential parts being the Gospels (the four canonical records of the life of Jesus, the Christ) and The Book of Revelation (the one people tend to know by its flashier name... The Apocalypse). 

[honoringthor]

Maponos “great son” 🎼🗡️🎶🎵

He was a young deity from Northern Britain though there’s evidence of him in Gaul. The Romans syncretic with Apollo. In iconography he’s depicted with a harp.

So maybe Maponos is a god of and healing, music?

Mabon ap Modron “son of mother”🗡️⛓️‍💥🎵🐕🏹

In the Mabinogi, Mabon appears in Culwch and Olwen where he is rescued by king Arthur and his knights. He’d been kidnapped when he was 3nights old and kept in Gloucester. His rescue was part of a series of “impossible “ tasks. They had to get him because he was the only one who could keep up with the hunting dog, Drudwyn who was the only one who could track the wild boar, Twrch Trwyth. 🐗

He appears to have joined King Arthur’s war band as referenced in the poem Pa Gur and The Dream of Rhonabwy.

There’s also a Mabon fab Mellt who “stained the grass with blood”.

Some think he may be inspiration for the Irish Aengus Mac Og. ❤️

There’s a female(or male) Cornish Saint Mabon/Mabyn/Mabena who is the patron saint of St Mabyn.

🎵🎶🏹🐗

In modern times many people call the fall equinox “Mabon”. Aidan Kelly chose the name Mabon for the fall equinox in the 70s. (Don’t know if anybody was using it before that). I guess he wanted to use a Celtic legend similar to Greek myth. He seemed to think the legend of Mabon was like the story of Persephone, Because they both got kidnapped? Far as I can tell that’s pretty much it. Mabon doesn’t seem to have any connection the harvest.

That said, I still tend to use Mabon as the name of the fall equinox too. I think it’s because I studied Wicca before anything else.

🍁🌾🍂🌽

Sources…..

Wikipedia

Maponos

Mabon ap Modron

[thatwritererinoriordan]

Is this poem autobiographically accurate? Did child!Seamus Heaney repeatedly climb into Northern Irish wells?

[devil-doll13]

- Michael Longley, An Exploded View

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics: Lovecraftian locations, from Arkham, Massachusetts to the Plateau of Leng.

Just a few places out of many...

1915: HPL Output. Part 2.

Intro: Continuing our look at Howard's "1914" poem...

"Vain... Prussia¹, with Teuton² pride, By force of arms... thrust the weak aside."

"Above... lesser tribes (now) ascend,... Martial sway over... Earth extend."

"(You), Britannia, are by Heaven endowed, To spare the humble & subdue the proud."

"(Your) sons have Teuton blood as true, As (even) the... Rhenus'³ waters knew!"

"What race can boast a... braver strain, Than... Norman⁴, Saxon⁵, Jute⁶ & Dane⁷?"

"No (one) island such powers confine: The widespread world is thine."

"From Africa's Cape⁸ (to an) Island Continent⁹; Stout hearts... to face the Goths are sent."

"The swarty Rajah¹⁰, (so) skilled at war... Supplies his subjects to... the cause."

"... Legions from Canadian shores have come, To drive the... Prussian(s) to his doom."

"In vain the Goth his... cannon loads; In vain his mine... explodes."

"In vain his Zeppelin¹¹ patrols the sky, In vain his ships... on the ocean lie."

"... Gallia's fields (reddened) by the slain, shall (not) in Prussian hands remain!"

"Crazed Germans! Blindly oppose, A... race that (only) victory knows¹²."

"How could you successfully... fight, When English, Welsh¹³, Scotch¹⁴ & Irish¹⁵ unite?"

"Even soldiers (so carefully) prepared, Mighty foes should not have dared."

"For each success gained in the fray, How great a price will Prussia pay?"

"(Before) long (all) nations shall learn, On who(m)... Europe's fate must ever turn."

"Before whose strength the fiercest must fall, From ancient Crecy¹⁶ to Sebastopol¹⁷."

"Whose task it is, true justice to dispense, To strike the (blowhard) for his gross offense."

"Right arm of Astraea¹⁸! Speed the hour, When peace... reward(s) (your) power."

"When grateful lands, (rescued) from despair, Shall bless Britannia's... kindly care."

"When every... country shall resort, To England's judgement - the final court."

"... When mighty Empire shall become, A world itself -... heir of Rome."

General Note: I tried an experiment, writing out Lovecraft's couplets as separate of each other.

The man did like to add sentences to each other!

I tried to keep his original words - but, translations & meanings were some- times necessary.

At times, 1 can see that even Howard got a few of the rhymes totally wrong.

Footnotes:

1. Prussia was an earlier territory that was ceded (in 1947) to what is now modern Germany.

Long before WW1, however, it was Prussia that formed the German Empire by uniting with other 'states.'

2. Teutons were a northern European tribe that attacked Rome in 110 BC.

They originally resided East of the Elba River & were called Teutons ("the water tribe") by the early Greeks.

It was Julius Caesar who 1st equated them with the Germanic peoples.

Rome finally defeated them - twice - on 101 BC.

Some survivors are thought to have been part of the rebel gladiators in the 3rd Servile War (73 to 71 BC)!

3. The Latin Rhenus (now "Rhine") River's name is from the Celtic Renos, "the raging flow."

From this came the Roman god Pater Rhenus, 'Father' of Nymphs & the very river itself.

After the Franco-German War (1870 to 1871), it became the most highly industrialized area of Germany.

4. The Normans (Norse men) were Vikings who lived in what is now Normandy, France.

They would conquer England (in 1066 AD) with an army made up of Breton, Norman, Flemish & French troops.

5. The Saxons were among several allied Germanic tribes that invaded Britain around 410 AD.

They originally came from what is now Saxony, Germany.

6. The Jutes were Germanic allies of the Saxons during the conquest of eastern Britain in 410 AD.

They originated in what is now the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark.

They would later be conquered by the Saxons, their once allies...

The Jutes who stayed in Europe ended up being absorbed by the Danes.

7. The Danes, also Saxon allies in 410 AD, came from what is now Denmark.

The Danes attacked the Anglo-Saxons in 870 AD & were defeated the year later!

However, the Continental Danes kept invading Britain.

In 1013, Svein Fork beard conquered all of England - but, died shortly after!

Then, 3 years later, Canute the Great successfully invaded England - but, only ruled for 5 weeks...

8. Africa's Cape is in South Africa.

9. The Earth only has 1 island that's also a continent - Australia.

10. A Rajah is a Hindu prince or king of the country of India.

11. A Zeppelin is a rigid airship named after the German airship developer of the early 1900s.

They are different from blimps, which depend on internal air pressure to keep their shape.

Zeppelins have rigid frames to keep its shape steady.

12. "Only victory knows..."

Dude, you were living in the major example of a nation that defeated (with help) the mighty England.

Really, such a mistake should be beneath a man of your skills...

13. The Welsh are a Celtic group from what is now Wales, U.K..

The name came from the Anglo- Saxons, who used it to describe the Britton speaking natives.

14. The Scots consider the English term "Scotch" as an offensive term to describe their people.

Scotch is now only used to describe specific products.

Anyway, the Highland Scots are all of Celtic origin.

But, the Lowland Scots are actually of Germanic stock - being that they were originally Angles from Northumbria.

15. The Irish are a Celtic nation in Ireland, who might trace back to the Continental Gauls.

Ireland has suffered thru Viking & Anglo-Norman invasions, leading to the modern Norse-Gaels & Lowland Scots/English in the country's North.

16. The Battle of Crecy, France (in 1346 during the 100 Years War) took place between the French & English.

Both were 'led' by their respective kings.

This battle saw the early use of the deadly English longbow.

With it, the English crippled the larger French army - leading to the French town falling under British rule for more than 200 years!

17. The Siege of Sebastopol, now in Crimea, lasted a gruelling 11 months - from 1854 til 1855.

It was part of the Crimean War, with British, French, Turkish & Sardinian armies - all fighting against Russia.

In the end, Russia lost the city.

All due to Russia wanting the same religious treatment that France enjoyed in Ottoman controlled Palestine...

Sigh.

18. Astraea ("star maiden") was the Greek virgin goddess of justice, purity, innocence & precision.

She used to live upon the Earth - til man's lawlessness drove her away!

Zeus then set her as the constipation Virgo...

In her right arm, she held a torch. With her left, she handed Zeus his thunder- bolts.

End.

[withasinglesound]

langblr intro!

Hello! My name is Atlas Sofie (pronounced Sofia). I'm 15 years old and from Denmark. I've decided to digitize my language journey, and hopefully use this as motivation.

About me

Conversational in Danish by 6, and in English by 10

Planning on either studying filmmaking or history in college

Disabled (in every way possible) and mentally ill

My name is based on a poem I wrote about how often a single sound is enough to convey a huge amount of information.

My Languages

German

Where I live it's required to learn this if you want to get a job.

Been learning it in school since 2nd grade.

Currently at A2, since most school lessons focus on grammar

Norwegian

Thinking of going to film school in Norway, so planning to learn it before I'm done with High School

Currently at beginner level, but understand it slightly since I know Danish

Swedish

Same as Norwegian

Would like to learn it because it's cool, and easy to learn

Irish

Learning for fun

Not taking it as seriously as the others, but it's still a cool language

Would like to make my history Ph.D thesis on Ancient Celtic Traditions, but due to an illness I can't do a trilled r

Would also like to do a semester in Northern Ireland in College

Think the grammar is fascinating

French

Also not taking this seriously

I'm choosing French as my elective language in High School, so I thought I'd get a head start.

No timeline on this as I don't actually need this

Just thought it'd be nice to know a romance language

Sønderjysk

This is a 'what-if' language

Sønderjysk is a dialect of Danish, with it's own unique grammar, syntax, pronunciation, and vocabulary

Learning this to connect with Sønderjysk family

Living in Sønderjylland, so easy access to resources for learning

[johnschneiderblog]

A poet's puzzling epitaph

On our drive from Derry, out of Northern Ireland and back into the Republic, we paused to pay our respects to William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), an Irish poet you may have heard of.

No tourist trap here, in fact when we pulled into the Drumcliffe Graveyard, in County Sligo, we were the only ones there.

Notice Yeats' epitaph: "Cast a Cold Eye on Life, on Death. Horseman pass by." It's the final stanza from his last poem, "Under Ben Bulben." Ben Bulben is a mountain visible fro Drumcliffe Graveyard.

The epitaph has been the subject of much speculation and interpretation.

It may mean that Yeats wanted death (the horseman of the Apocalypse) to leave him alone for awhile. It may mean that instead of dwelling on life, or death, we should make the most of the time we have. It may mean that earthly life and death are unimportant, compared to the eternal soul.

Or perhaps none of the above ...

We spent the night in Westport. On Tuesday, we're off to Galway.

[sonofswift]

Ancestors in Historical Events

I recently read the book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Mayhem in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe, which was adapted into a TV series for Hulu. I actually watched the first episode then went and read the book before continuing with the series. It gave a much deeper dive into the history of "The Troubles" (there's that wonderful British gift of understatement). The separation of Northern Ireland from the Republic was done in 1921 in negotiation by Michael Collins, but it was built on years of tumult beyond that that led to the Irish Civil War.

I got a hint notification today for David Maxwell, my exwife's great great grandfather through her paternal grandmother. I thought it might have been something on the recently release 1921 England Census, but no, it was the Ulster Covenant.

Drafted in 1912, Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant was a petition against home rule in Ireland. With over 400,000 signatures, including many from outside Ulster, it helped draw the lines that still live on in the partition of Eire.

Here's more about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Covenant

There's even a Rudyard Kipling poem about it, which is funny as Kipling has been on my mind a lot since the 28 Years Later trailer was released featuring his poem Boots. Here's his poem, Ulster 1912: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ulster

As a genealogist, there's always a hope that you'll find connections to someone famous. Descended from royalty, or from some other great historical figure. Other than Charlemagne, of course. But just as finding records of an ancestor serving in wartime, it's documents like this that show how our family history can be more interesting than we can imagine.