loader from loading.io

Quaint Old Customs - British Goblins CT022

Celtic Tomes

Release Date: 10/25/2017

Cult Accessories CT054 show art Cult Accessories CT054

Celtic Tomes

This chapter covers Temples, Altars, Images, Symbols, and the Cult of Weapons of the Ancient Celts.

info_outline Festivals CT053 show art Festivals CT053

Celtic Tomes

The Celtic year was not at first regulated by the solstices and equinoxes, but by some method connected with agriculture or with the seasons.

info_outline Tabu CT052 show art Tabu CT052

Celtic Tomes

The Irish geis, pl. geasa, which may be rendered by Tabu, had two senses. It meant something which must not be done for fear of disastrous consequences, and also an obligation to do something commanded by another.

info_outline Sacrifice and Prayer CT051 show art Sacrifice and Prayer CT051

Celtic Tomes

The Celts offered human victims on the principle of a life for a life, or to propitiate the gods, or in order to divine the future from the entrails of the victim. We shall examine the Celtic custom of human sacrifice from these points of view first.

info_outline Cosmogony CT050 show art Cosmogony CT050

Celtic Tomes

The Celts may have possessed the Heaven and Earth myth, but all trace of it has perished. There are, however, remnants of myths showing how the sky is supported by trees, a mountain, or by pillars.

info_outline Animal Worship CT049 show art Animal Worship CT049

Celtic Tomes

Animal worship pure and simple had declined among the Celts of historic times, and animals were now regarded mainly as symbols or attributes of divinities.

info_outline Tree and Plant Worship CT048 show art Tree and Plant Worship CT048

Celtic Tomes

The Celts had their own cult of trees, but they adopted local cults. This chapter also details how the Celts made their sacred places in dark groves, the trees being hung with offerings or with the heads of victims.

info_outline River and Well Worship CT047 show art River and Well Worship CT047

Celtic Tomes

Among the Celts the testimony of contemporary witnesses, inscriptions, votive offerings, and survivals, shows the importance of the cult of waters and of water divinities. This chapter also details the many fairies and folklore creatures associated with water.

info_outline Primitive Nature Worship CT046 show art Primitive Nature Worship CT046

Celtic Tomes

McCulloch talks about animism, where everything was a person and the greater objects of nature were worshiped for themselves alone.

info_outline The Cult of the Dead CT045 show art The Cult of the Dead CT045

Celtic Tomes

The custom of burying grave-goods with the dead and other grave customs is the subject of this chapter. McCulloch also talks about the role of fairies and the festival of Samhain.

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Quaint Old Customs

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

Book 3 Chapter 1

by

Wirt Sikes

Quaint Old Customs tells us to rise early on New Year's morning to bring good luck, the Mari Lwyd procession from house to house and the story of the Cutty Wren. Sikes also tells us about St. David, St. Patrick and the wearing of the leek.

  • Serious Significance of seemingly Trivial Customs 2:32
  • Their Origins 2:45
  • Common Superstitions 3:37
  • The Age We Live in 4:10
  • Days and Seasons 6:11
  • New Year's Day 6:32
  • The Apple Gift 6:40
  • Lucky Acts on New Year's morning 8:23
  • The First Foot 9:20
  • Showmen's Superstitions 9:34
  • Levy Dew Song 10:51
  • Happy New Year Carol 11:49
  • Twelfth Night 12:34
  • The Mary Lwyd 12:40
  • The Penglog 14:25
  • The Cutty Wren 15:11
  • Tooling and Sowling 15:52
  • St. Valentine's Day 16:45
  • St. Dewi's Day 17:45
  • The Wearing of the Leek 19:10
  • The Traditional St. David 23:41
  • St. Patrick's Day 27:54
  • St. Patrick a Welshman 28:00
  • Shrove Tuesday 29:44

 

Names Used in this Section

All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronunciations right for you.

Bodleian Library
Levy Dew
Mari Lwyd
Penglog
Sowling
St. Valentine
St. Dewi
St. David
St. Patrick
Luther
Glamorganshire

New Year's Apple Gift

pic. New Year's Apple

Cardiff

Three Rays (Awen)

pic. Three Rays

Avagddu
Pembrokeshire
Jonah
Llef i Dduw

Blwyddyn newydd dda i chwi,
Gwyliau llawen i chwi,
Meistr a meistres bob un trwy'r ty,
Gwyliau llawen i chwi,
Codwch yn foreu, a rheswch y tan,
A cherddwch i'r ffynon i ymofyn dwr glan.

awen
Aberconwy (Conway)
Carnarvonshire
Gwent
Morganwg
Rhymney Dingle

The Cutty Wren Song

pic: Cutty Wren song

soûl
St. George
St. Andrew
Cardigan
Carmarthen
Lampeter
Manby
Cymhortha
Poictiers
Cressy

Fluellen
Pistol & Fluellen

Glyn Hodnant
Teify
Llandewi Brefi
Abel, Noah, Thomas, Peter, Paul & David
William the Conqueror
Llandeilo Talybont
Llantwit Major
Rosina
Iolo MSS
Crammwythau (pancakes)

 

 

British Goblins can be found on Archive.org

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.