High atop the Blarney Castle is one of Ireland’s most famous tourist attractions: The Blarney Stone. It’s easy to see, both from the battlements and from the ground. What’s not so easy is kissing it, yet even Winston Churchill bent over backwards to gain the gift of gab.

Kissing the Blarney Stone 1897

And bending over backwards is exactly what you need to do to kiss the Stone, ninety feet up, at the edge of a parapet.

For two-hundred years young and old alike have been climbing Blarney Castle to gain eloquence. Anyone who has kissed the Blarney Stone, myself included, will agree it is well worth the climb and yoga needed to actually get at the Stone. Of this there is no doubt.

What’s in doubt is the origins of the stone, and where anyone ever got the idea that kissing a rock could grant magical oration powers.

Blarney Castle and grounds, Ireland

The earliest use of the word blarney as a non-proper noun is attributed to Queen Elizabeth I. “Blarney, Blarney, I will hear no more of this Blarney!” She was, of course, referring to Cormac Teige McCarthy, the Lord of Blarney. Queen Bess, at the time Queen of all Ireland as well as Britain, had asked for an oath of loyalty. Cormac bestowed the Queen with praise and flattery, but came short of taking the oath. This story accounts for the origin of the word meaning, but there are many that tells where the MacCarthys first obtained the gift of not quite saying the truth.

Back in 1446 Cormac Laidir MacCarthy was rebuilding the castle, and there is one legend that the blessings of Blarney all started with him. Heading out to a legal proceeding, MacCarthy prayed to the Celtic goddess Clíodhna. Depending on which myths you read Clíodhna is either a goddess of love and beauty or queen of the banshees. Either way, she told him to kiss the first stone he saw as he was walking to the court. MacCarthy spoke so well, and was so convincing in his arguments, eloquently pleading his case, that he won. On his way back to the castle he found the stone again and had it built into the parapet.

Blarney Castle Looking up to the Blarney Stone 2005

As “Laidir” means “strong”, and the Blarney Stone looks somewhat heavy, MacCarthy probably did carry it from where ever he found it to be built into the heights of his castle. According to some what Clíodhna really said was “Kiss the one stone in your castle that your workers thought no man could ever again touch.” What’s somewhat doubtful about this story is that he was also a great proponent of the Catholic Church in Ireland, in which case a Celtic goddess might not have wanted to help him out. Some stories have MacCarthy meeting a mystic, and some say that Cormac Laider was the one that so annoyed Elizabeth I, but she ruled in the time of Cormac Teige.

Trouble is, every other generation of MacCarthys named their sons Cormac. There was yet another Cormac MacCarthy back in 1314 who sent help to Robert the Bruce in Scotland, and one legend says that in return the Scots gave him a portion of the Stone of Scone, used in Scottish Coronations, a rock of myth and legends in itself. Other tales claim it is from the Irish Stone of Destiny, another magical stone, but with the power to bestow the kingship of the region and not some silly gift of gab.

The Blarney Stone could be part of a traveling altar used by Saint Columba, which would again mean Scotish origins. Some legends say it dates back to the old testament, brought back to Ireland by returning Crusaders, claiming it is the stone that Moses struck his staff against, in order that water may appear in the desert. Or it could be “Jacob’s Pillow”, brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah, and used as an oracle by generations of Irish kings.

In all of these stories of famous rocks, the Blarney Stone is not THE stone, just part of it. It is therefore fitting that a college in the US claims that it has a piece of the Blarney Stone. No, not Notre Dame. Texas Tech. University officials claim it’s been there since 1939.

What’s really important is that the 300,000 visitors that kiss the Stone every year don’t care where it came from. To them it’s a chance to connect directly to a piece of Irish history. And just maybe they’ll leave this tourist attraction with more than a trinket, but something more – the Gift of Blarney.

Blarney Castle, County Cork, Ireland

 

Originally published: http://albanykid.com/2012/03/17/blarney-the-gift-of-the-stone/

Our traditional date of Thanksgiving wasn’t official until World War II.

If you read Albany Kid’s article about debunking Thanksgiving myths, you’ll know there were several other Thanksgiving celebrations in our country before the pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth. You also might have noticed that not one of them occurred on the last Thursday in November.

So how did that date become the one we all get together on? How did it become the day we modern Americans give thanks and partake? In a word: politics.

But before we get into politics, let’s go back to some earlier Thanksgiving celebrations.

On December 4th, 1619, in the Colony of Virginia, about 20 miles upstream from Jamestown, 38 settlers arrived with a charter for Berkeley Hundred, later known as Berkeley Plantation. This charter specifically stated that a “day of thanksgiving” should be observed every year on the anniversary of their arrival in the New World.

The Separatists of Plymouth Colony held their first Thanksgiving in 1621, but an even larger feast was held on July 30th of 1623. This is considered to be the very first civil recognition of Thanksgiving, at least in New England.

Throughout the colonies for the fifty years thanksgivings were irregular and occurred mostly after favorable events. These were most always both religious and civil events. In the later part of the 17th Century, Thanksgiving developed into an after-harvest event, but not on the same day in any settlement or colony.

The first nationwide Thanksgiving celebration was actually held to celebrate a military victory. In December of 1777 the young country celebrated the defeat of General Burgoyne at Saratoga. In fact, during this time the Continental Congress appointed one or more days of thanksgiving a year, strongly recommending that all states celebrate.

Once George Washington became president he made a decree, on October 3rd, 1789:

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States… for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed… to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord.

Washington made the same decree again six years later. John Adams decreed a day of thanksgiving in 1798 and ’99. No presidential decrees were made again until 1814 when James Madison made a decree in response to a resolution of Congress at the end of the War of 1812, The following year, however, Madison declared the holiday twice.

None of these, save Washington’s first, were celebrated in Autumn.

The next year the states took it upon themselves to celebrate. New Hampshire’s Governor appointed Thursday the 14th of November while the Governor of Massachusetts liked Thursday, November 28th. New York Governors appointed a new Thanksgiving day every year. Some Southern states didn’t like the idea at all, claiming it was “a relic of Puritanic bigotry.” See how history gets confused? Even if the Pilgrims at Plymouth had started it all, they were Separatists; the Puritans settled closer to Boston.

Now we come to a lady named Sarah Josepha Hale. Ms Hale is famous for three things: first, she wrote Mary had a Little Lamb; second, she raised $30,000 to complete the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston; but third, she is the one individual that made Thanksgiving a National Holiday. It took Ms Hale 17 years, writing editorials and letters to Presidents Taylor, Filmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and finally Lincoln.

President Lincoln thought a National Holiday such as Thanksgiving would be just the ticket to help unify the country and every year since 1863 we have celebrated it annually.

Usually on the final Thursday of November.

In 1939 President Franklin D Roosevelt had a very different problem to deal with as President, and it is here that the politics come in. The country was in the Great Depression, and that year November had five Thursdays, as it occasionally does. FDR thought perhaps by moving Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday, the country’s merchants would have more time for the Christmas spending season. It may seem odd to us now, but at that time it was considered gauche to advertise Christmas sales and put up decorations before Thanksgiving.

Oh! the horror! Lincoln was a Republican and Roosevelt – this Roosevelt – a Democrat. Republicans called it an affront to Lincoln’s memory and refused to accept the change, and called this new date “Franksgiving”. Democrats were no better, calling the last Thursday the “Republican Thanksgiving”.

The American people were stuck in the middle. Sports long being a Thanksgiving tradition, many football teams had scheduled games for Thanksgiving that could not be changed. Parades and festivities as well were scheduled well in advance. Since all that Roosevelt did was declare the date, and that is far from legally binding, only 23 states went along with the President. There were 22 states that didn’t, and Texas decided to take off both days as government holidays.

For the next few years FDR continued to try and add an extra week to the Christmas season by declaring the third Thursday as Thanksgiving. Again, it didn’t really make a difference; some states agreed, some didn’t. So, Congress decided to get into the act. In October of 1941 both houses passed a joint resolution: The last Thursday of November, the date Lincoln chose, was to be the official date of Thanksgiving from 1942 onward. But two months later the Senate amended the resolution to make it the fourth Thursday of November. Tricky Senators. The fourth Thursday could be the last, or it could be the next to last. President Roosevelt, probably more worried about World War Two at this point and happy to have all of this over with, signed the bill and the actual date of Thanksgiving became Federal Law.

Almost.

There were states that continued, for a few years after, to stubbornly celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday, even if five Thursdays occurred in November. The very last state to stop was Texas, and that was in 1956, eleven years after the end of World War Two.

Originally published: http://albanykid.com/2011/11/23/an-extra-serving-of-thanksgiving-history/

When, Where, Why – The first Thanksgiving might not have happened how you think

At some point in elementary school we all were taught that the first Thanksgiving took place in Massachusetts near Plymouth Rock. The Pilgrims were all very thankful for a good harvest after a few hard years and invited the nearby Native Americans over to share in the bountiful goodness of all that God had offered them. The friendly Natives brought some local goodies like corn and pumpkins and ever since then we have been having huge feasts at the end of November.

The First Thanksgiving (1912 - 1915) by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris, giving off the wrong impression of what things were like

Which makes a very nice myth or legend for a new country and young children, but doesn’t really make for good history.

The idea of giving thanks for a bountiful harvest was part of this land long before the Pilgrims came. It has been celebrated for centuries by Native Americans and the First Nations of Canada. Nations like the Cherokee, Cree and Pueblo held festivals and ceremonial dances. This celebration, known as “wopila”, or giving thanks, is held for any reason, at any time of year.

The Separatists and Puritans also had traditions of providential holidays, but first they went through times of fasting and prayer before any celebrations. And, contrary to what we in the Northeast like to believe, so did the Spainish explorers seeking gold and the French Huguenot colonists. Coronado led 1,500 men in thanksgiving near modern day Amarillo, Texas, in May of 1541, and a colony of Huguenots in Jacksonville, Florida, held solemn praise and thanksgiving after they survived a Spanish raiding party. In August of 1607 a colony in Kennebec, Maine, celebrated a harvest feast and prayer gathering and Jamestown, Virginia, held a traditional prayer of thanksgiving service in the Spring of 1610 after supply ships arrived from England.

All if this happened before October of 1621, when the 53 members of Plymouth colony were joined by Massasoit Ousamequin of the Wampanoag and 90 of his tribesman.

But, who cares which Thanksgiving day was first – What did they eat?

Any of these first Thanksgivings would have included local fare. We don’t have a record of every menu, but Jacksonville, Kennebec, Jamestown and Plymouth would have included whatever the colonies had in abundance, and that would have been anything from the abundance of water that surrounded the colonies. Cod, eels, bass, smelt, clams, crabs, lobster, mussels will all be included. Of course there would be wild fowl, but not just turkey. Any bird of considerable size might be shot down and roasted over an open flame: geese and ducks, of course, but also swans and even eagles. Venison would round out the meats.

Side dishes would have been what crops the colonists could have coaxed out of the new world earth and local varieties they may not have yet been familiar with. The Three Sisters would have been a gift of the Wampanoag: beans, squash and dried maize (or corn). Other vegetables might have bean peas, beetroot, wild onion and carrots, and pumpkins, but not in a pie. Any grain products would have been barley and wheat, and of course local fruits and berries. There was a cake-like desert made by the Wampanoag: strawberries and parched, ground corn.

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth (1914) by Jennie A. Brownscombe, might be a closer representation of what things were like at Plymouth

No mashed potatoes or yams in the Plymouth or Kennebec, at least, as they had yet to be introduced to New England. No popcorn either – this is a myth. The corn would have been Northern Flint, and doesn’t pop very well. Although cranberries are grown all around modern day Plymouth, there is no mention in any historical documents or diaries of cranberry sauce or jelly being served.

One thing that happened at Plymouth Colony for certain, and has set the standard to this very day, was that the Thanksgiving was not complete without games. Games to play and games to watch. Nobody really had a big enough table – except the “high table” with the political, military and religious leaders – so many people ate what they could or took something to then watch a test of skill or sporting competition.

Wait, too many guests for the table and eating while watching a sporting competition? That sounds very familiar.

This year, why not celebrate Veterans Day by visiting the city where it all began.

Surprisingly, that city is not in Europe and it’s not Washington, DC. The city where Veterans Day all began is Emporia, Kansas.

Before Veterans Day was Veterans Day it was known as Armistice Day. Armistice Day, also known as Remembrance Day, commemorates the signing of the truce that ended the First World War. This truce, or armistice, was signed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – November 11th.

That was in 1918 and for thirty-five years Armistice Day honored the veterans of World War I. But during that time there was a second World War, and with it came more veterans.

Downtown Emporia, circa 1945 (photo courtesy of the Lyon County Historical Society)

Out in America’s Heartland, in the small city of Emporia Kansas, a man named Alvin J. King and his wife Gertrude had helped raise up his nephew, John Cooper, in the way that is done in small towns. Pfc. John E. Cooper left Emporia to serve as an ammunition handler, but died in a German forest before he could return. He was killed in action December 20th, 1944 and buried in Limey, France.

Alvin King must have thought about his nephew every year for seven Armistice Days, but before the eighth one came around he decided to do something about it. Alvin decided that Armistice Day should honor all veterans, not just those from World War I, and he was going to do something about it.

Alvin King, US Rep. Rees, President Eisenhower (photo courtesy of the IM Design Group)

Along with the help of the local American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Alvin got the people of Emporia to organize an “All Veterans Day” in 1953. Schools and businesses were closed, so everyone turned out for a parade, followed by church bells, air raid sirens, and a stirring rendition of Taps at 11:00 am. Then came hot dogs, a wheelchair basketball game, free movie at the drive-in and a dance.

One of the celebrities there that day was Emporia’s native son US Representative Edward Rees. Rees had been very helpful to Alvin King in planning the day’s events, but more importantly, Rees had also taken Alvin’s idea back to Washington DC, and on October 8th of the following year, 1954, President Eisenhower signed a bill renaming Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

Modern day business district of Emporia, Kansas

Today the City of Emporia has changed a little, and yet changed a lot. It still exudes the small town friendliness and camaraderie that gave Alvin King and his compatriots the drive to change a National Holiday over fifty years ago. Pride for those serving our country can be seen everywhere and everyday, not just on Veterans Day.

Take a trip out there someday, out to America’s Heartland. Stop by the Commercial Street Diner, where the locals socialize. Have lunch at Amanda’s Bakery or Casa Ramos. Stay overnight in a Victorian bed and breakfast so you can visit the David Traylor Zoo, located in Soden’s Grove Park along with the All Veterans Memorial. If it’s Summer, you can take a ride on the small train there after a day at the slides, waterfalls and lazy river of Jones Aquatic Center or a round of golf at the Municipal Golf Course.

Only a place so perfectly Hometown American could have come up with the idea to honor not some, but all of America’s veterans. Thank you, Emporia. And thank you, Veterans.

The All Veterans Memorial in Emporia, constructed in 1991 (photo courtesy of the IM Design Group)

Special thanks to Kala Maxfield and the Emporia Area Chamber & Vistors Bureau for all their help obtaining period photos. Kala is beyond helpful. Thanks also to the Lyon County Historical Society and The IM Design Group. When I say the people of Emporia are friendly, I speak from experience.

Originally published: http://albanykid.com/2011/11/10/visit-emporia-and-honor-all-veterans-at-the-place-it-all-began/