Re: Celtic, semitic, etc.

On Fri, 28 Apr 2000, Raymond Brown wrote:

>>I dont think that the ones I know even
>>think there are Celts in Wales or they think the Scottish are the same as
>>the Irish. Some probably don't even know about the Bretons either.
>
>...even tho the Welsh language has official status in Wales & is more
>widely used than Irish?  Even tho the Bretons form the largest
>Celtic-speaking group?
That's education for you! Welsh is probably thought to be a funny
kind of English and Breton almost assuredly is thought to be French.

>>They
>>tend to take their cultural influences/references from Irish culture, and
>>disregard the other Celtic groups, like the Welsh, Scottish, Bretons, etc.
>>Many tend to be Wiccan (Not that there is anything wrong with Wicca ;)).
>
> Oh - but Wiccan is of Germanic origin, surely.  Ireland was anciently the
>land of Saints & Scholars.  And the modern Irish tend to be over-zealous
>about their form of Christianity - either 'more Catholic than the Pope' or,
>donning bowler hats [darbies, I believed they're called in the US - the
>things Laurel & Hardy wore] during the "Marching Season" (which begins on
>Easter Monday), assert their Protestantism in all its 'purity'.  Perhaps
>these Wiccans should actually settle in Ireland, it might give the native
>Irish something to unite about at last  :)
Wicca, whatever it may have started out as, is often heavily
influenced by Celtic (i.e., _Irish_) Neopaganism.

>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>At 7:36 pm -0400 27/4/00, Padraic Brown wrote:
>>On Thu, 27 Apr 2000, Raymond Brown wrote:
>>
>>[....]
>>>I wonder how many list members can name the "Six Celtic Nations"  :)
>>
>>I'm sure many of us can! First is Ireland.
>
>Why?  Why is Ireland _first_?
Why not? :-D

>>The rest are Scotland,
>>Wales, Man, Britanny and Cornwall.
>
>Correct.
>
>>Others have added Patagonia,
>>Nova Scotia and Galicia.
>
>Yep - if Cornwall is considered a separate 'nation', then it is just as
>logical to include Patagonia & Nova Scotia - tho I understand Welsh has all
>but disappeared from Patagonia now.  Does Gaelic still survive in Nova
>Scotia?  I hope so.
From what I understand it does; as do a number of dances and tunes,
which have in recent decades travelled back to Scotland.

I've also heard that Welsh is not yet dead in Patagonia; though I
can imagine it's especially healthy and robust either!

>I know Galicia is often added, tho I've never really understood why.
>Galician is well & truly a Romance language and AFAIK there's no tangible
>'Celtic' survival there?
Perhaps because many of them identify themselves as Celtic. Sure, they
speak a Romance language; but then, most Cornwallians speak a
Germanic tongue. For that matter, most Irish and Scots do as well. I
believe it's as much a "Celtic Revival", at least in recent years, as
much as anything else.

Padraic.

>Ray.