Originally Published November 2014 The Fairy Minister Reverend Robert Kirk (1644 – 1692) was born the seventh son of Rev. James Kirk, minister of Aberfoyle in central Scotland. Robert Kirk studied theology at St Andrews and received his master’s degree at Edinburgh in 1661. Kirk became minister of Balquhidder in 1664, and eventually, like his […]
Author: Groomporter
Blogger for The Celtic Croft and owner of MacGregor Historic Games http://historicgames.com
Celtic History Newsletter: In the News
I’m bogged down keeping up with my business during the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, so just another “In the News” post this week. ‘Spectacular’ monument aligned with the Winter Solstice found near Newgrange Archaeologists have identified about 40 previously unknown monuments near Newgrange in an “exceptionally successful” survey. Student reveals the face of Iron Age female […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Swords in the Devil’s Hand
Originally published August 2014. Swords in the Devil’s Hand The myth and the evidence A guest author this month, Glenn McDavid has been kind enough to let me reprint something he wrote. Being somewhat left-handed myself, I am rather interested in the “Devil’s hand.” While it is clear that in the tight ranks of pikemen […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Celtic “Suttee”?
Celtic “Suttee”? The practice of suttee or “Sati” in Sanskirt is the term used for the Hindu ritual where a wife would either sacrifice herself on the pyre of her dead husband, or kill herself in some other fashion soon after his death. Although it was never as widely practiced as some claim, it was […]
Celtic Hist Newsletter Blast from the Past: Brooches & Kilts
Originally published June 2014 Brooches & Kilts I was just talking to our partners in crime at the Celtic Croft about something I haven’t thought about for a while. Back in my early days of being in a Scottish reenactment group I used to make a little beer money selling simple brass penannular brooches that […]
Celtic History Newsletter: Horse skulls in Irish Houses
Horse Skulls in Irish Houses In 1938 the Irish Folklore Commission sent out the following inquiry to contacts throughout Ireland. “Do any traditions exist locally (or are tales told in which the idea occurs) about the burying of the heads of animals or other objects in certain places (castles, houses, bridges, etc.) ? If so, […]
Celtic History Newsletter: In the News
A new collection of links to interesting recent news items in Celtic history or archeology this week. Isle of Man Round Mounds: ‘Spectacular’ 4,000-year-old jet necklace found A 4,000-year-old necklace has been uncovered during an archaeological dig on the Isle of Man. The Most Irish Town in America Was Built on Seaweed After discovering ‘Irish […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Our Daily Bread
Originally published February 2014 Our Daily Bread A friend recently posted a link on his Facebook page to an interesting article on a historical reenactors’ page about Roman military bread and the portable hand mills the army traveled with to grind grain into flour. Each legionary would carry a ration of wheat grain rather than […]
Celtic History Newsletter Blast from the Past: Trees & Kings
Originally Published January 2014 Trees & Kings Sacred trees, or groves of trees, seem to have been an important part of Norse and Gaelic pagan customs. Yggdrasill, of course, is the “World Tree” or tree of life in Norse mythology whose branches extend over the nine worlds of that cosmology. Sacred trees or groves also seem […]
Celtic History Newsletter: Brasil, the Atlantis of Ireland
Brasil, the Atlantis of Ireland Welcome to the mysterious island of Brasil, said to be named for Breasal, the High King of the World, in Celtic lore. Claimed to be the home of a wealthy and advanced civilization, those who are alleged to have visited it described it’s healthy cattle, wealthy people and gold roofed […]