tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7758267616106239950.post8006341692305256195..comments2024-02-21T17:37:37.993+00:00Comments on Tairis: A tale of a different kindSerenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15106896818087205418noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7758267616106239950.post-13255271746330415722011-03-23T20:36:40.471+00:002011-03-23T20:36:40.471+00:00I've no idea where MacKenzie's supposed to...I've no idea where MacKenzie's supposed to have collected his tale from, I don't think he says, and as far as I'm aware he's the only one that puts Bride and the Cailleach explicitly together. He doesn't mention this tale in other work, but in Scottish Folk-Lore and Folk Life he comments, "The writer has heard Bride referred to as the maiden who is kept all winter a prisoner in Ben Nevis by big Cailleach Bheur." That's the only time he connects the two together in that book, which he wrote after Wonder Tales, so it all seems a bit suspect to me, but in theory it could point to the general area he collected it from if he's referring to the same tale.<br /><br />This tale I've copied up here apparently comes from Hungary, but as Grant Stewart comments, her source's name - Malvina - may hint at some sort of Ossianic connection, and therefore a relatively recent origin. <br /><br />MacKenzie drew heavily from Grant Stewart in his sections on the Cailleach in Scottish Folk-Lore and Folk Life; what I'm wondering is if there's a common source for The Coming of Angus and Bride, and this tale. They seem a bit *too* similar to me, in some ways. Grant Stewart published this work 8 years after MacKenzie's Wonder Tales, so it's unlikely he took Angus and Bride from her unless they were sharing stories before she published. <br /><br />She seems generally reliable in her research (though it's difficult to follow a lot of it up), so it does seem that the story's genuine in that it did come from such a source. I'm not convinced that she hasn't flowered it up a little, though. The style seems to be quite consistent with the other stories she gives, so maybe she tweaked it to accord with how she thought it should go. She herself never makes any connection between Bride and the Cailleach, though.Serenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15106896818087205418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7758267616106239950.post-39458919445409760912011-03-23T17:45:16.715+00:002011-03-23T17:45:16.715+00:00I've always felt this tale was a bit dubious -...I've always felt this tale was a bit dubious - lovely though it is. It reads a bit Celtic Twilighty to me and Donald Mackenzie was a journalist, not a folklorist.<br /><br />Reading his introduction, I wonder if he amalgamated some stories and traditions about Beira and about Bride. I haven't come across this tale anywhere else, have you? Do you know where in Scotland it is supposed to have come from exactly?Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698057844619063857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7758267616106239950.post-76020709143664354572011-03-15T22:34:22.939+00:002011-03-15T22:34:22.939+00:00We're still getting snow, rain, hail, sleet, b...We're still getting snow, rain, hail, sleet, but at least a little sunshine now and then, too. And rainbows, like a ray of hope amidst it all. <br /><br />The similarities are a bit of a puzzle. Tantalising.Serenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15106896818087205418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7758267616106239950.post-81208499914633002502011-03-15T19:13:40.328+00:002011-03-15T19:13:40.328+00:00Not quite the same as being snowed on: I have not ...Not quite the same as being snowed on: I have not seen the sun more than three times in the last two months and not because I work evenings. It's supposed to be Spring, and we've had snowdrops and now daffodils, but it was foggy and raining this morning and I can't see more than half a mile through the pea soup.<br /><br />It's remarkable how similar the stories are, isn't it?An Gàidheal Pàganachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18110240914563016337noreply@blogger.com