{"id":94,"date":"2009-10-31T10:57:38","date_gmt":"2009-10-31T14:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=94"},"modified":"2009-10-31T10:57:38","modified_gmt":"2009-10-31T14:57:38","slug":"bia-faistineachta-um-shamhain-bairin-breac-barmbrack-agus-cal-ceannann-colcannon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/bia-faistineachta-um-shamhain-bairin-breac-barmbrack-agus-cal-ceannann-colcannon\/","title":{"rendered":"Bia F\u00e1istineachta um Shamhain: Bair\u00edn Breac (Barmbrack) agus C\u00e1l Ceannann (Colcannon)"},"content":{"rendered":"

One could fill a volume on n\u00f3sanna O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong> (Halloween customs), and indeed, it has been done.\u00a0 <\/span>But I\u2019ll wrap-up this year\u2019s season with a discussion of some of the ways that ordinary foods can be used for divination.\u00a0 <\/span>If it\u2019s been a bit of a tuile<\/strong> (flood) of Halloween lore lately, what can I say but \u201cNuair a thig cith tig bailc\u201d<\/strong> (It never rains but it pours, lit. when a shower comes, a downpour comes).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Bair\u00edn Breac<\/span><\/strong>, lit. \u201cspeckled loaf,\u201d is made with raisins and\/or currants, hence the name.\u00a0 <\/span>It can be served at any time of the year.\u00a0 <\/span>The \u201cbarm\u201d part of the English name is believed to be a contraction of \u201cbair\u00edn<\/strong>\u201d (loaf).\u00a0 <\/span>Some interpret it as related to \u201cbarm\u201d (yeast, and source of the English adjective \u201cbarmy\u201d), but it has always seemed to me less likely that you\u2019d call this food \u201cspeckled yeast,\u201d with a hybrid half-English, half-Irish name, and more likely that \u201cspeckled\u201d would describe the loaf itself.\u00a0 <\/span>Unless the \u201cbreac<\/strong>\u201d part (speckled) stands for the loaf itself mar shampla de shineicdic\u00e9<\/strong> (as an example of synecdoche).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At this time of year, various items can be baked into the loaf, predicting the future for whoever gets them in their slice.\u00a0 <\/span>These could include a pingin<\/strong>, or these days a ceint<\/strong> (i.e. saibhreas<\/strong> [SEV-rus], wealth), f\u00e1inne<\/strong> for a bainis<\/strong> (ring, wedding), or a m\u00e9arac\u00e1n<\/strong> (thimble), indicating that a man would sew on his own buttons for at least another year.\u00a0 <\/span>The symbolism of a thimble for a woman seems less clear.\u00a0 <\/span>Status quo, is d\u00f3cha<\/strong>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

C\u00e1l ceannann<\/span><\/strong>, lit. white-faced or white-topped kale or cabbage. \u00a0<\/span>It seems this was originally cabbage served with butter, as opposed to without butter.\u00a0 <\/span>A family might have been saving their home-made butter to sell at market days, to get actual cash income.\u00a0 <\/span>These days, though, potatoes are an equally important ingredient, with chopped up cabbage added.\u00a0 <\/span>Or oinni\u00fain <\/strong>or s\u00edobhais<\/strong> ([SHEE-uv-ish] chives), srl<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/span>This could also be served at any time of year but for Halloween, coins or other charms would be added.\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe today children would expect a euro<\/strong>, not a ceint<\/strong>!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By the way, if you try these, I recommend wrapping the charms in scragall al\u00famanaim <\/strong>(aluminum or \u201ctin\u201d foil) before cooking.\u00a0 <\/span>And maybe a metal thimble, not a plastic one, if you\u2019re baking.\u00a0 <\/span>I don\u2019t know how much heat it would take to melt a plastic thimble, but I don\u2019t intend to find out.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At any rate, it seems that the Celts didn\u2019t need the iconographic liathr\u00f3id chriostail<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta\u00ed: f\u00e1istineacht<\/span><\/strong> [FAWSH-tin-yukht], divination; thig <\/strong>[hig]; liathr\u00f3id<\/strong> [LEE-uh-hrohdj, silent \u201ct\u201d] ball; chriostail<\/strong> [HRISS-til, silent \u201cc\u201d] of crystal\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When the letter \u201ch\u201d is added to \u201csineicdic\u00e9\u201d<\/strong> for lenition, resulting in \u201cshineicdic\u00e9<\/strong>,\u201d remember the initial \u201cs\u201d becomes silent and the first syllable (shin<\/strong>-) is pronounced \u201chin.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One could fill a volume on n\u00f3sanna O\u00edche Shamhna (Halloween customs), and indeed, it has been done.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll wrap-up this year\u2019s season with a discussion of some of the ways that ordinary foods can be used for divination.\u00a0 If it\u2019s been a bit of a tuile (flood) of Halloween lore lately, what can I…<\/p>\n

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