Leave those bee's alone!

Its Culture Month so over on MTTV there is a piece about carting rushes up to the top of ‘Baroole’ to placate ‘Mannan Mac y Lheir’. I find myself less intrigued by this than the possible cost of CV producing a video on it.

Of more immediate interest is that ‘Mannan Mac y Lheir’ seems so cheesed off with Geoffrey Boot MHK having a barbeque and threatening to incinerate the countryside he has called up a smidgeon of rain but as yet hardly enough to break the drought - who knows its early days.

Back to the video I think this sort of story, tradition fable has been around for centuries. Kermode includes it in his neatly handwritten book which was reproduced (handwritten) in 1985. In fact Kermode od’d on midsummer day perhaps it was a good year - like this one - when he wrote it.

Had Kermode’s book not been published back then (i.e in the BC period - before Culture Vannin) but turned out today it would probably be printed, iIllustrated and there would be a series of videos by Paul Moulton to go with it (not to mention a smiley press release from Adrian Cain)!

Although as I remarked the other day I’m always culling material I’ve accumulated I still have Kermode's, Celtic Customs and one or two other odds and sods like copies of ‘The Manx Note Book’ magazine from the turn of the last century but no doubt they will eventually disappear. What's really needed in my view is an oral tradition to keep these things alive not via Kermode's handwriting or Moulton's video but mouth to mouth. We need our own versions of Táin Bó Cúailnge.

Right on cue I read that Culture Vannin (who else) are expanding their oral history project. I feel a sense of resignation taking hold not more reminiscences of jolly country folk chasing bumble bees and doing unnatural things to them.

I’m allowed my cynicism given that I’ve been around as part of oral tradition since before Mec Vannin was founded - in 1962 (actually). Back then people were divided into two camps some wanted to save the language and others wanted to save the country occasionally the two roles fused. However I don’t remember anyone getting enthused about folklore although I did pick up a good trick for calming a stormy sea - any yachtsman please contact me!

Oral histories often churn up happy reminiscences of jollity and contentment because let's be honest you’re hardly going to get a guy who lived in a earth floored hovel in Ballaugh Parish and scratched potatoes of the edge of a field after the harvest coming forward to big it up.

Anyway that's enough moaning I’m of to see what else Kermode noted down before I chuck his book in the skip!

Image: Happy country work having an hour off from doing weird things to bees.

Bernard Moffatt