{"id":1635,"date":"2012-01-01T15:35:46","date_gmt":"2012-01-01T15:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1635"},"modified":"2012-01-08T17:10:06","modified_gmt":"2012-01-08T17:10:06","slug":"cleamairi-%e2%80%98gus-geamairi-%e2%80%98gus-geocaigh-a-thiarcais","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/cleamairi-%e2%80%98gus-geamairi-%e2%80%98gus-geocaigh-a-thiarcais\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleamair\u00ed \u2018gus Geamair\u00ed \u2018gus Geocaigh, a Thiarcais!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Par\u00e1id na nGeocach<\/p><\/div>\n

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are three possible words for mummers in the title of this blog, cleamair\u00ed, geamair\u00ed<\/strong>, and geocaigh.\u00a0 <\/strong>There\u2019s actually at least one more we could add, \u201ccleathaire,<\/strong>\u201d but that would break the tripartite catchiness of the phrase! (for more on \u201ctripartite catchiness,” please see the note below).<\/p>\n

In this blog, we\u2019ll look at these Irish words for \u201cmummer\u201d and see how they compare to the English word.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the English word \u201cmumming.\u201d None of the Irish words share the same original concept, even though all the terms describe the same basic phenomenon.\u00a0 There are actually a couple of explanations of \u201cmum,\u201d and they may in fact overlap.\u00a0 The Old French word \u201cmomer<\/em>\u201d means \u201cto mask oneself,\u201d with \u201cmomerie<\/em>\u201d for \u201cmummery.\u201d \u00a0\u201cMum,\u201d as an adjective, means \u201csilent\u201d (to keep mum) and as an interjection, it means \u201cBe silent!\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s probably most widely used today in the warning, \u201cMum\u2019s the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although it doesn\u2019t seem to part of the standard derivation of \u201cmummer,\u201d I can\u2019t help but notice another possible root as well.\u00a0 Middle English had \u201cmomele<\/em>\u201d (to make an inarticulate sound), which like German \u201cmummeln\u201d is related to modern English \u201cmumble.\u201d\u00a0 And by the way, that\u2019s definitely \u201cmomele,\u201d not \u201cMamele,\u201d which some of you may recognize from \u201cAsk the Mamele\u201d (www.forward.com<\/a>) or from the 1938 movie of the same name, starring Molly Picon, perhaps more well known as \u201cYente\u201d in Fiddler on the Roof.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it appears that the two ideas, being \u201cmasked\u201d and being \u201csilent\u201d (and perhaps being inarticulate), have intertwined here, in our modern sense of mummers.\u00a0 It\u2019s true that, traditionally, they were not completely silent, with various chants, rhymes, and folk drama texts.\u00a0 But one feature of traditional mummery that one rarely encounters today is \u201cingressive speech\u201d (speaking while breathing in, giving one a shrill-sounding, wheezy voice).\u00a0 Part of traditional Irish mumming was for the audience (usually one household at a time) to guess who was behind the mask, and in small rural communities (some of which still have populations of say 30 or 50 people), one would probably recognize one\u2019s neighbors\u2019 voices.\u00a0 So the voice was sometimes disguised to add to the awe and the mystery of the celebration.\u00a0 A folk precursor to voice-changer software? \u00a0Or to Darth Vader?<\/p>\n

So, that\u2019s the idea, or conglomeration of ideas, behind the English word \u201cmummer.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what\u2019s behind the Irish words?\u00a0 In most cases, the key concept is significantly different from \u201cmummer\u201d as such.<\/p>\n

First we have some words that pertain to the material aspects of the celebration:<\/p>\n

Lucht an dreoil\u00edn<\/strong>, wren-boys, lit. the wren-crowd<\/p>\n

Straw-boys, in English, referring to the costume<\/p>\n

Alternately, some of the other words for mummer pertain to the nature of the activity, but not to sound per se:<\/p>\n

Cleamaire<\/strong> is related to cleamaireacht<\/strong>, which also means \u201cplay-acting,\u201d \u201cromping,\u201d or \u201chorse-play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geamaire<\/strong> is related to \u201cgeama\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (games, tricks, capers, gestures) and \u201cgeama\u00edl<\/strong>\u201d (capering, gesturing, posing).<\/p>\n

Cleathaire<\/strong>, alternately spelled \u201ccleithire<\/strong>,\u201d is related to \u201ccleithireacht<\/strong>\u201d (tricking, teasing).\u00a0 A cleathaire<\/strong> can also be a tricky person or a rogue.<\/p>\n

Finally, and to me the most interesting, there is presumably a distant connection between “geocach<\/strong>” (mummer) and the word for a \u201creed\u201d in Irish, \u201cgiolcach.<\/strong>\u201d \u00a0 The words may appear fairly different but remember two general linguistic principles, a) that \u201cl\u201d is a sort of slippery consonant and not always very audible, and b) that unstressed second syllables, like the “-ach” here (at least in some dialects), tend to drop off, or at least be less audible.\u00a0 We have a possible connection between \u201cgeocach<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cgiolcach<\/strong>\u201d via words like \u201cgeoc<\/strong>\u201d (a reedy, piping voice) and \u201cgeoca\u00edl<\/strong>\u201d (piping, squeaking, talking shrilly, silly talk).\u00a0 It\u2019s not as though this derivation is crystal clear, but it seems reasonable.<\/p>\n

Mummering and the house-to-house procession (qu\u00eate) don\u2019t completely stop with s\u00e9as\u00far na Nollag<\/strong>.\u00a0 As we saw in the last blog, there are also the \u201cbiddy-boys\u201d for L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile Br\u00edde (1 Feabhra)<\/strong>. \u00a0In addition, there are May Bush, May Baby, and May Queen processions for L\u00e1 Bealtaine (1 Bealtaine)<\/strong>, and guisers, \u201cvizards\u201d (\u201cvizard\u201d being an old word for a visor or a mask, originally from French \u201cvis<\/em>,\u201d face),\u201dhugadais,\u201d buachaill\u00ed tu\u00ed <\/strong>and \u201cl\u00e1ir bh\u00e1n\u201d <\/strong>processions, for O\u00edche Shamhna (31 Deireadh F\u00f3mhair)<\/strong>.\u00a0 So no doubt, we\u2019ll revisit these topics in future blogs.<\/p>\n

And to wrap up, and to cut to the fun, never mind the etymology, here are two links which will take you to photos or audio clips on the Irish Wren-boys and the Philadelphia Mummers, which I hope you\u2019ll enjoy.<\/p>\n

Dingle, Co. Kerry, http:\/\/www.heritagecertificate.ie\/stories\/muiris-rogan-recalls-the-dressing-up-for-wren-boys-day\/<\/a><\/p>\n

For Philadelphia, http:\/\/www.mummersmuseum.com\/home.html<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll probably revisit this topic around St. Bridget\u2019s Day, and perhaps in future blogs as well.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: comhartha,<\/strong> sign; l\u00e1ir bh\u00e1n<\/strong>, white mare; uaillbhreas<\/strong>, exclamation<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta faoin bhfr\u00e1sa \u201ca thiarcais\u201d:<\/strong> I guess I keep returning to \u201ca thiarcais<\/strong>\u201d because in years of doing Irish, I\u2019ve never found an explanation either from any dictionaries or from other Irish speakers as to what the \u201ctiarcas \/ tiarcais<\/strong>\u201d part of the phrase actually means.\u00a0 All I find is how to use it and that the phrase means \u201cMy goodness!\u201d or \u201cOh my!,\u201d plus the fact that it\u2019s lenited and followed by a comhartha uaillbhreasa<\/strong>.\u00a0 If anyone knows the background to \u201ca thiarcais<\/strong>,\u201d please do write in. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cItem 1 and Item 2 and Item 3, Oh My!\u201d has always been one of my favorite expressions, ever since first hearing the song, \u201cLions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) There are three possible words for mummers in the title of this blog, cleamair\u00ed, geamair\u00ed, and geocaigh.\u00a0 There\u2019s actually at least one more we could add, \u201ccleathaire,\u201d but that would break the tripartite catchiness of the phrase! (for more on \u201ctripartite catchiness,” please see the note below). In this blog, we\u2019ll look at…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":1643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[111811,111813,111816,111815,111735,930,111812,111786,5667,111809,2808,111784,6440,111744,111814],"class_list":["post-1635","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-cleamaire","tag-cleathaire","tag-co-kerry","tag-dingle","tag-droleen","tag-english","tag-geamaire","tag-geocach","tag-irish","tag-mumming","tag-parade","tag-paraid-na-ngeocach","tag-philadelphia","tag-strawboys","tag-wrenboys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1635"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1645,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635\/revisions\/1645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}