Celtic Recipes

Hark! The Glad Sound of Cornish Carols

Submitted by Kernow Matters to Us on November 3, 2017 - 2:24pm

Hark! The Glad Sound of Cornish Carols

Following the huge success of Shout Kernow – Celebrating Cornwall's Pub Songs, winner of the Waterstones’ Holyer an Gof Award (awaiting its third reprint in spring 2018), Sally Burley and Hilary Coleman have turned their attention to exploring the continuity and revival of the Cornish carolling tradition. They have travelled all over Cornwall – to pubs churches, chapels, town squares and private functions – recording stories, memories and local versions of carols.

Scottish island of Sanday in the Inner Hebrides to get its first road

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on November 3, 2017 - 1:33pm

The small Scottish Hebridean island of Sanday (Scottish Gaelic: Sandaigh) is to get its first road. When built it will replace a track that gets covered by water at high tide. The road will be a mile and a half long. Sanday is connected by a bridge to the larger neighbouring Isle of Canna. The Isle of Canna Community Development Trust is helping with a crowdfunding campaign to raise more than £31,400 to pay for the construction of the road.

Ancient Pictish carving found during work on Scottish road building project

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on October 31, 2017 - 6:29pm

A large Pictish stone carving has been uncovered during a road building project in Pertnshire (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Pheairt) in Scotland. The carving features a walking figure with a distinctive hairstyle and holding a spear.  The weapon is typical of spears used in the mid first millennium AD. Contractors stopped works in the area to allow archaeologists from Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and Culture Perth & Kinross to inspect the stone and the site of its discovery.

Mysterious face that looks down from the bell tower of St Salvator's Chapel

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on October 31, 2017 - 2:50pm

The University of St Andrews is the oldest university in Scotland and was founded between 1410 and 1413. It is in the town of St Andrews (Scottish Gaelic: Cill Rìmhinn) which on the northeast coast of the historic county of Fife (Fìobha). The university occupies historic and modern buildings located throughout the town, including St Salvator's Chapel. Noted as a rare and beautiful example of Late Gothic architecture it was founded in 1450 as a part of Bishop James Kennedy's College of the Holy Saviour. The University has two collegiate chapels.

Welsh Language Society Condemns Proposal to Remove Welsh Language Commissioner

Emmett McIntyre's picture
Submitted by Emmett McIntyre on October 31, 2017 - 1:24pm

The Welsh Language Society is in the forefront of the struggle to preserve, promote and protect the Celtic tongue of Wales. The group define themselves on their web page with these words:  “Cymdeithas is a group of people who seek equality of access to the Welsh language and campaign positively in a non-violent way for rights of people in Wales to use the language in every aspect of everyday life."

News From the Welsh Language Society:

Cyhoeddwyd gan Anhysbys ar Iau, Hyd 12th am 10:15 yb (October 12, 2017)

The Irish Tongue Pays for Itself in Galway – Gaelic Strengthens on its Economic Power

Emmett McIntyre's picture
Submitted by Emmett McIntyre on October 29, 2017 - 11:30pm

In late 2015 Galway City in the west of Ireland declared itself to be a bi-lingual city giving equal status to Irish alongside English.  It was ironic that the City Council made the effort considering Irish is already the official language of Ireland. But it was a welcome development nevertheless and based on the latest news from Galway the 2015 declaration has had a beneficial effect on the local economy.

Ghostly portrait of Mary Queen of Scots emerges from 16th Century painting

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on October 29, 2017 - 1:06pm

A unfinished portrait believed to be of Mary, Queen of Scots has been found beneath a 16th Century painting. The hidden drawing was discovered by conservator Dr Caroline Rae from the Courtauld Institute. An X-ray revealed the image underneath the 1589 portrait of Sir John Maitland, Lord Chancellor of Scotland, painted by Dutch portrait artist Adrian Vanson for Mary's son King James VI, two years after she was executed. The Maitland painting is part of a National Trust collection and went on display this weekend at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

Campaigners call for greater efforts to secure future of Pen Dinas Iron Age Celtic hillfort

Submitted by Mair Williams on October 28, 2017 - 4:24pm

Pen Dinas is the name of a large hill by the village of Penparcau, on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales. It is the site of Pen Dinas Iron Age Celtic hillfort which overlooks the sea from a ridge between the Rivers Rheidol and Ystwyth, and stands above the town of Aberystwyth. Enclosing an area of 3.8 hectares, defined by massive rampart and ditched defences, this is one of the largest and most important hillforts in west Wales. Excavations of the site, between 1933-37, pointed to intermittent occupation during the Iron Age.

Greetings on the Celtic Celebration of Halloween 2017

Submitted by Transceltic team on October 28, 2017 - 11:40am

Halloween turnips

The Celtic festival Halloween is celebrated on the night of 31st October and 1st November every year.

In the six Celtic Nations, Halloween marks the end of the summer and the beginning of winter. The festival is associated with the Celtic feast of Kala-Goañv (Breton), Calan Gwaf (Cornish), Samhain (Irish), Sauin (Manx Gaelic), Samhuinn (Scottish Gaelic) and Calan Gaeaf (Welsh).

Entirely pagan in origin, Halloween was traditionally a time of year when the worlds of the living and the dead were seen to be at their closest. It is a time when the creatures of the 'Otherworld' make their presence known to the people of 'this world'.

Halloween is now a globally celebrated festival, particularly in the 'New World' where its traditions were brought by waves of Celtic emigration. The lanterns, fires, costumes and belief in the supernatural remain deeply rooted in Celtic culture and tradition. So greetings on this Halloween or Hop tu Naa as it is known on the Isle of Man. Remember to enjoy this festival, but take care, spirits and entities not of this world arise on this night as our ancestors knew only too well. Pay respect to the creatures of the 'Otherworld' or there maybe a heavy price to pay!

If you haven't already, we recommend reading our exclusive interview with Dr Jenny Butler on the Celtic Folklore Traditions of Halloween.

Ice: The great sculptor of the Scottish landscape

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on October 27, 2017 - 1:30pm

The land area of Scotland is 30,414 square miles (78,770 km2), with the mainland of Scotland having 6,160 miles (9,910 km) of coastline. The physical features of Scotland having been formed by the action of tectonic plates, and later erosion arising from glaciation. The beauty of the towering mountains, shimmering lochs, deep glens and rolling hills owe much to the force of ice that sculptured Scotland's landscapes during the last 'Ice Age'. Wearing it down, the smoothing and shaping of bedrock, transporting and depositing rock debris.

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