Rodney Castleden - The Element Encyclopedia of the Celts

“It is the shield of war,” said Ronnart;

“the spear of Cuthullin,” said Lugar!

Son of the sea, put on thy arms!

Calmar, lift thy sounding steel!

Puno! dreadful hero, arise!

Cairbar, from thy red tree of Cromla!

Bend thy knee, O Eth!

descend from the streams of Lena.

Caolt, stretch thy side as thou movest along

the whistling heath of Mora:

thy side that is white as the foam of

the troubled sea,

when the dark winds pour it on

rocky Cuthon.

Now I behold the chiefs,

in the pride of their former deeds!

Their souls are kindled at the battles of old;

at the actions of other times.

Their eyes are flames of fire.

They roll in search of the foes of the land.

Their mighty hands are on their swords.

Lightning pours from their sides of steel.

They come like streams from the mountains;

each rushes roaring from the hill.

Bright are the chiefs of battle,

in the armour of their fathers.

Gloomy and dark, their heroes follow

like the gathering of the rainy clouds

behind the red meteors of heaven.

The sounds of crashing arms ascend.

The grey dogs howl between.

Unequal bursts the song of battle.

Rocking Cromla echoes round.

On Lena’s dusky heath they stand,

like mist that shades the hills of autumn;

when broken and dark it settles high,

and lifts its head to heaven.

Pabo Post Prydain, “The Pillar of Britain,” was a king of the northern Pennines and brother of Eliffer of York. His territory was south of the Tyne, with borders on the Vale of York and the Pennine frontier of Rheged. His son Dunawt was chief of the Northern Alliance that eventually destroyed Urien.

St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, was probably born in South Wales. His father was a Romano-British deacon named Calpurnius, and his own Celtic name was Succat.

According to legend, Patrick was abducted as a 16-year-old boy by Irish slave traders in about 405 or 410 and carried off to Ireland. He was sold in County Antrim to a chief called Milchu. He managed to escape after six years of captivity and made his way 200 miles overland to board ship. He was at sea for three days, then made his way home to his parents. They urged him never to leave again, but a deep restlessness inspired dreams that made him travel to Rome. He became a monk in Gaul, first at Tours, then at Lerins, before returning to convert his captors. According to Patrick himself, he had decided a long time before that he would have to return to Ireland.

Patrick was consecrated a bishop at the age of 45. In 432 he is believed to have been sent by Pope Celestine I to Ireland as a missionary. He landed at Wicklow and from there sailed north to convert his former master Milchu. In Down he was able to convert another chief, Dichu, to Christianity, and at Tarahe preached to Loegaire, King of Tara. He also converted the tyrannous Mac Cuil, who became bishop of the Isle of Man.

After 20 years of missionary work, Patrick fixed his see at the royal center of Armagh, close to the ancient capital of Emain Macha, in 454. He died at Saul in 459 and was probably buried at Armagh.

As a slave himself, Patrick had the strongest personal motive for preaching against slavery. He preached from experience. In an open letter probably written in 445, he censured King Coroticus ( Ceretic) of Clyde for stealing Irishwomen and selling them to the Pictsas slaves. King Coroticus was not only a pagan, he was a committed anti-Christian. According to Patrick’s hagiographer, Patrick turned him into a fox.

In the 450s, Patrick came into conflict with the wizards of King Loegaire, son of Niall, at Tara ( See Magicians ). Murchu describes the trial of strength:

The fierce heathen emperor of the barbarians reigned in Tara, the Irish capital. His name was Loegaire, son of Niall. He had wise men, wizards, soothsayers, enchanters and inventors of every black art who were also in their heathen, idolatrous way to know and foresee everything that happened. Two of them were above the rest, their names being Lothroch and Lucetmael.

They predicted that a strange new and troublesome faith would come and overthrow kingdoms.

A pagan festival, Beltane, coincided with Patrick’s celebration of Easter. On the eve of Beltane when a great sacred bonfire was lit, a fire was seen to be burning in the direction of Tara: the religious focus of Ireland. This was surprising, as only the magi were authorized to kindle such a fire. They anxiously approached the blaze and found Patrick and his followers chanting psalms round their campfire.

Patrick was summoned to the Assembly at Tara, where he eloquently defended his mission. The magi challenged him to perform a miracle to prove divine support, but he refused. The magi then cast a spelland blanketed the landscape in heavy snow. Patrick made the sign of the cross and the illusion evaporated.

All kinds of magicfeats were performed during this contest between Patrick’s white magic and Lothroch’s black arts. At one point Patrick caused one of the magicians to rise up into the air, fall headlong, and brain himself on a rock.

A great deal has been written about Patrick but his only certain literary remains are his spiritual autobiography, called Confession , and the letter he wrote to Coroticus. The point of his Confession was to explain why he would not return to Britain. The implication is that a British synod claimed authority over him and summoned him in order to exert that authority. Patrick implies that he could override the wishes of the British synod, and he evidently had Pope Leo’s (440–61) approval to support him.

In spite of his high profile, Patrick did not have any obvious successor and in the years following his death he was seen in Ireland as just one saint among many.

A sixth-century Celtic saint, the son of a nobleman, Perphirius of Penychen. He had two brothers, Notolius and Potolius, and a sister, Sativola. He was educated at Illtud’s school at Llantwit (some say he was at Caldey Island, which was an offshoot of Illtud’s foundation) and wanted to live the life of a hermit. Illtud tried to dissuade him, but let him go when he insisted.

After spending time in a hermitage on his ancestral estates, Paul was summoned to the court of King Mark Conomorus at Villa Banhedos (later Caer Banhed, and now Castle Dore in Cornwall), where he was engaged in two sea defense projects involving building stone embankments to keep the sea back.

He later emigrated to Brittany, landing at Ushant with 12 disciples and 12 relatives. He won the respect of the local chief, Withur (Victor), whose “city” was at Roscoff. Paul then crossed to the island of Batz, where he got rid of a dragon. Withur and his people begged him to become their bishop. In about 550 he went to Paris with Samson. After foretelling the destruction of Batz by the Normans and directing that his body should be buried on the nearby mainland for the convenience of future pilgrims, he died on Batz.