Reading Notes Week 12: More Celtic Tales

I became so hungry after reading The Vision of MacConglinney, which is only appropriate in the face of such a rich and gluttonous tale. Could Roald Dahl perhaps have encountered this story in his youth? Tales of land based entirely in food prompted me to look up Carl Warner's work, a fantastic and tantalizing series of landscapes rendered entirely with food. And I am also strongly compelled to now write some type of story titled "The House That Meat Built." I was also delighted to find the King of Munster's awful compulsion ascribed to a type of creature residing within him. The myths and superstitions of the Celtic people are what drew me into this unit originally, and the idea that compulsions could actually be parasites inside of us is very interesting to contemplate. The other immediate thought was perhaps the poor man actually had a tapeworm! Finally, Macconglinney could also have a modern day parallel in weight-loss hypnosis. Loved this story!

The seven sons of McAndrew was both hysterical and tragic. While the elder McAndrew is shrewd and successful, each of his Male descendants turned out dumber than a box of rocks. The crazy contrast in common sense from father to sons begs for a rational explanation. Smart men can have dumb children, but usually not all of them turn out that way. Could the elder McAndrew be cursed? No mention is made of the mother, which makes me wonder if perhaps she was also not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Genetics would argue that at least three of the seven sons would possess a modicum of intellect from their father, even if their mom was simple minded also. So, what else could it be? 

As the story occurs in County Mayo, and farmers, fairs and prosperity are evident, I'll take a ballpark guess that this story could have taken place between 1200 to 1600 CE. Measles, whooping cough, chicken pox and many other common childhood diseases can all cause mild brain damage, but the likelihood that each of the brothers are uniformly impacted is quite low. With respect to the universal expression of subpar mental development in the McAndrew boys, perhaps an x-linked autosomal disorder could be at work. Fun food for thought there!

Image information: "Foodscapes" composed and photographed by Carl Warner. Pinterest

Story sources: More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1895).