Comhaltas Archive

to milk it night and morning? When thepurchase is frustrated , sure what needhad he of a wife? Seadna's innocencewas only a thnineen's width from ourown as we read breathlessly on.We become aware as adults, thatthere are themes in storytelling whichare international and indeed that of theman who sells his soul to the devil occursand re-occurs from Goethe's Faustto Balzac and his chilling tale of theshrinking donkey skin - it growssmaller every time a wish is granted andwith it the owner's life. The Cinderellatheme has been a central one in generationsof women's magazines - even theredoubtable J ane Austen built her'Mansfield Park' around it. Sean b Suilleabhain(,Storytelling in Irish Tradition', Mercier Press, 1966 (?) has a mostinteresting little booklet on this subjectand he tells us:"Each individual tale has its ownorigin, history and growth as a work ofart. Once an ordinary folktale had beencomposed, it was passed on orally, firstamong the local people where it might(or might not) be accepted as worthy ofbeing spread more widely .... By oraltransmission, it would then start outover linguistic, cultural and geographicall.oundaries ....." (p.8).He then goes on to introduce us tothe Finnish classification system forFolktales which is amazingly thorough,in that it gives a Type Number' accordingto theme. ("Type 330 - TheSmith outwits the Devil, which resemblesthe story of Faust and the IrishSeadna ( sic) p.l7 . It annoys me to hearreference in 'Highbrow' circles to the'Faust Theme'. To me, it will always beof some mild interest to see what thelikes of Geothe did with the 'SeadnaTheme'! Poor man, he never attendedan Irish Fair Day, nor clapped eyes on a"fear na mearachain". Could deprivationbe more severe?To return to An tAth. Peadar and hispeculiar mode of telling his tale, I wasgreatly interested in the recent articlesin COMHAR magazine (The b CadhainLectures: 'Caint na nDaoine as theBasis of Literature' by Declan Kiberd,raises is that at it time when Yeats andthe Anglo-Irish Literary Revivalists wereproducing masterpieces of literature inEnglish, the 'Gaels' were directing theirattention to and dissipating their energieson grammar standards and dialects.Dan Corkery wrote an enthusiasticreview of "Cre na Cille" purely from alinguist's standpoint! It was seen mainlyas a rich treasury of West Galwaydialect.It is hardly fair to jump on theLeague with both boots - sure therewere grossly different starting points forthe two horses in this race, but linguisticsexperts are rarely appreciative ofliterature. They're a Philistine lot and itwould be easy to count the works ofliterature produced by grammarians.Modern thought on Language Teachingrecognises that over-insistence ongrammatical correctness induces a numbinghesitancy which saps the confidenceand inhibits the would-be speakerinto stuttering palsy. The thing to do isto get the children talking - 'Communication'is the thing, correctness willcome in time (Is their English - or thatof the' man-in-the-street so free fromgrammatical error?).Though An tAth. Peadar, I now feel,went far towards ruining a great talewhich he had begun so wonderfully, hewas on the right track. Such storiesteach - painlessly, the essentials and fillthe mind with wonder and excitementat the same time. All teachers are in the'Entertainments Industry'. Unless interestis aroused, boredom will kill efforton the part of the learner. As for thegrammarian, SHe thinking of the "fearfada, caol dubh" speaks for us all:"Imeacht gan teacht air, ancladhaire!" (Going without returning onhim, the blackguard!).Craobh Phiarais Vi GhreagdinIt is with great pleasure that we,the members of Craobh Ui Chearbhallliin,wish to announce that we havechanged the name of the branch toCraobh Phiarais Vi Ghreagain.This has been done to perpetuateand honour that great Irishman andmusician Piaras b Greagliin whose deathoccurred in April, 1984.Piaras was a prominent memberof Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann; hisdeath was felt by many to be such agreat loss; he left behind him memorieswhich will be cherished wherevermusicians and Irish language loversmeet.He was a man much loved by thechildren who attended his music classes.He had a story to tell them about everytune, -- stories of the brave deeds ofThe late PIARAS 0 GREAGAINgreat Irishmen of the past, he neverneglected to impart to them his love ofour music and language, he spoke withloving tender care of Ireland, as a sonwould speak of his mother, for as we allknow he loved his music, language, andCountry of which he had a vast knowledge,a knowledge he was always readyand willing to share with young and oldalike.His music classes are being continuedby his niece Mliiread Ni Ghreagain, withthe same great enthusiasm as Piaras, andwe wish her every success.Branch sessions will continue everySaturday night at Culturlann na hEireann,Belgrave Square, Monkstown.Special session for Junior Branchmembers are held on the first Thursdayof every month in Culturlann na hEireann,Monkstown.Runai na Craoibhe29