St. Patrick Day

By Robert Dwyer Joyce (1830-83

In a shady nook one moonlit night,

A leprahaun I spied

In scarlet coat and cap of green,

A cruiskeen by his side.

Twas tick, tack, tick, his hammer went,

Upon a weeny shoe,

And I laughed to think of a purse of gold,

But the fairy was laughing too.

With tip-toe step and beating heart,

Quite softly I drew night.

There was mischief in his merry face,

A twinkle in his eye;

He hammered and sang with tiny voice,

And sipped the mountain dew;

Oh! I laughed to think he was caught at last,

But the fairy was laughing, too.

As quick as thought I grasped the elf,

"Your fairy purse," I cried,

"My purse?" said he, "'tis in her hand,

That lady by your side."

I turned to look, the elf was off,

And what was I to do?

Oh! I laughed to think what a fool I'd been,

And, the fairy was laughing too.

The Jig's Up

The leprechauns are laughing

For their day is finally here

The legends and the folklore

Seep through the atmosphere

The dancers are all ready

An Irish jig is in the air

The walls of the pubs are bursting

There is not an empty chair

As the night becomes the morning,

The barman leads the song

From Danny Boy to Irish Eyes

The serenade goes on.

Then a husky voice is heard to say

Make this your final stein

For St. Patrick's day is over

At it's time Gentlemen it's time.

Some say that in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day the traditional green beer is prominent. However, in Ireland, many years ago, St. Patrick's Day is considered a holy day and Pubs were not open for business. There were no parades, no drinking or wearing green. Green was considered an unlucky color.

The Clover

To find a piece of clover with four leaves is regarded far and wide as a bringer of good fortune, and many people will spend an idle half hour or so wandering across summer fields hoping to spot one - and they are actually not as rare as generally supposed. In some parts of Britian it is said that if a young man or woman finds such a clover they can expect to meet their future love the same day. The fact that cattle particularly enjoy grazing in fields of clover is the origin of the phrase often applied to a person doing well in life, 'He's in clover.' ( Incidentally, you can enhance your chances of good luck after finding a four-leafed clover by handing it to someone else ). The reputation of the four-leafed clover springs from the tradition that Eve took one with her when she was expelled from paradise. There is an old saying accociated with the leaf that goes:

One leaf for fame, one leaf for wealth,

One leaf for a faithful lover,

And one leaf to bring glorious health -

All are in the four-leaf clover.'

There is also a tradition that should you find one of the extremely rare five-leaf clovers then you will become very wealthy. ( Irish readers might like to note that the same traditions apply to their national flower, the Shamrock ). Finally, during the war years there was a superstition that if a man wore a four-leafed clover in his button hole he would avoid millitary service!

Green

The color green has for many years been regarded as an unlucky color in Britian and America and certainly no bride hoping for a happy future would dream of wearing it as any part of her ensemble. The origin of this superstition is that it was the color of the fairies and little people and they had such power over it they could easily steal away anyone they found wearing it.

Many actors and actresses also believe it is an ill-omened color, and that to wear a green costume on stage is to bring misfortune to both the play and it's players. It has been suggested, too, that the use of green on postage stamps is an ill-omen and that whenever the Post Office have employed it on any new issue the country has immediately suffered unrest and great social problems.

In contrast, it is interesting to note that in several European countries green is regarded as lucky because of its association with the spirits of the trees, and superstition there says that to hang green branches over doorways not only keeps away misfortune but drives witches and demons off.

Who was Saint Patrick?

He was not an Irishman by birth but by heart.

The man known to all of us as the blessed Saint Patrick was born in a small Welsh village with the rather humble name of Cowbridge. This is a small farming community just south and west of what is now Cardiff.

It was here that he was raised in the old Welsh religion and with out a doubt visited and prayed at the Margam Abbey which was only ten miles from his home.

Patrick had the misfortune to have been captured by coastal raiders one day and was eventually sold into slavery in Ireland. Here he spent seven years tending the flocks of his keepers whom though they bought him, as a slave did not treat him unduly harsh.

Eventually Patrick escaped his captivity and returned to his village and began to study with the priests at Margam Abbey.

He spent 12 years in schooling and prayer before being sent back to Ireland not by the church in Rome but by the church in Wales.

You see there is a common misconception that Patrick was under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church centered in Rome, when actually his direction and influence came from Llandaff Cathedral in Wales.

It is generally accepted that the rule of the Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain began with the arrival of Augustine in 597 AD. Since St. Patrick died around 490 AD it would have been quite hard for him to have been under the direction of the church.

This leaves only one possible solution. Patrick was a member of the Welsh church established in 37 AD by Joseph of Arimathea. And since the seat of the church was Llandaff Cathedral, only 12 miles from his home, it is safe to assume that he came under its influence.

Patrick had been sent to Ireland to bring the residing Christians back to the fold and to convert the heathens. Heathens meaning those who still followed the Druid religion and other pagan Gods.

Now you have to understand that these Druids were not the original Druids that frequented the lands of Wales and Greater Britain for they had been eradicated en-masse by the Roman Legions in 70 AD on the Island of Holy Head.

The Irish Druids could at best be described as a Hybrid form of Druids. Where the original religious practice was the observance of the laws of nature and a celebration of life in general, the Irish form of the religion weighted heavily on the magical side with even hints of human sacrifices thrown in. In short a polar opposite of the original.

Patrick having been born and raised near the seat of Druid teaching in southern Wales would have been very aware of the customs and practices of the Druids. It is a well accepted fact that upon the arrival of Christianity in 37 AD, the locals Druids interacted with the Christians closely.

So it should come as no surprise that Patrick had at his disposal an intimate knowledge of the Irish Druids and this made it easier for him to go head to head with the religion.

Now Ireland never did have any snakes that I am aware of. It is the opinion of this writer that the use of the idea that "Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland" is another way of describing the pushing aside of the Druids. In religious connotation the snake has always been seen as a symbol of evil and the devil and I am quite sure that during the retelling of the story during the middle ages that this descriptive terminology was used and eventually accepted as fact.

Take all the hoopla and put it aside and we are left with an amazing story of one man against an established belief system.

A man following his own beliefs and the teachings of his church doing battle with a foe in a country that he once was enslaved.

To say that Saint Patrick was brave is an understatement, for he faced certain death returning to Ireland as an escaped slave. To say that he was intelligent is mute as he matched wits with the leaders of the Druids and bested them. To say he was pure of heart is to be humble, for only a man of conviction and true belief could have survived and triumphed over the odds he faced.

To say that Patrick is worthy of Sainthood is to acknowledge all his achievements and recognize his true value to the world. This, to me, is better than the made-up stories of his deeds.

Here's to absent friends and here's twice to absent enemies.

Here's to the light heart and the heavy hand.

Thirst is a shameless disease so here's to a shameful cure.

Here's to a wet night and a dry morning.

May we always have a clean shirt, a clean conscience, and a bob in the pocket.

May you be across Heaven's threshold before the old boy knows you're dead.