MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: MYTHOLOGY OF IRISH ANIMALS PART TWO

Today I continue with a look at the mythology of Irish Animals, from the perspective of Dr Daith O'Hogain`s Myth, Legend & Romance – An Encyclopaedia of The Irish Folk Tradition ( 1990)

'Of the three hundred types of international folktales concerning animals listed in the Aarne-Thompson catalogue, versions of over a third have been collected from Irish oral lore, and it is clear that such narratives have been equally popular in different parts of the country down to recent times. Being folktales, these stories are told for entertainment purposes, and the animals in them have roles which make the narrative attractive and interesting, but always fanciful. As such, they are easily distinguished from ordinary zoological lore and superstition….'(1)

Dr O'Hogain then describes a type of folktale involving a fox: a fox sees a man 'bringing a load of fish in a horse-cart. The wily animal lies down on the road at a place where the cart will pass and pretends to be dead. The man notices him and, thinking of the value of the fur, throws him into the cart and travels on. Once the fox gets the man`s back turned he throws the fish one by one onto the road behind, and finally jumps quietly off the cart and collects the fish from the road.' (2)

A story which was very popular in Ireland, as abroad, concerns how the two [fox and wolf –R] enter a cellar at night and begin to gorge themselves with food…The fox eases off at the eating after some time, and walks in and out through the narrow entrance, while the wolf jeers him for his apparently eccentric behaviour. The wolf eats so much that his body greatly expands, and therefore he cannot make his getaway when humans come. His more clever companion had kept s careful eye to his waistline and thus got cleanly away (3)

Stories about birds also feature. The fanciful idea that these once held a parliament to decide on the functions and habits of each of them is found widely…as is the related story of how the wren became king of the birds. It was decided that whichever of them could fly the highest would be given that exalted office, and in the contest the eagle flew away above every other bird. The wren hid in the eagle`s tail, however, and when the great bird tired and could get no higher the wily little fellow jumped out and went higher still (4)

Regarding fish, the only folktale which has become widespread in Ireland is an explanation of why the flounder has a crooked mouth.We are told that it acquired this deformity because it once mocked a hungry saint who desired a fish, and a detail is often added to the effect that the salmon acquired its agile leap because it generously jumped into the breast of the holy man on the same occasion. (5)

Another agile water-creature which attracted attention was the otter, called in Irish `dobharchú` or `madra uisce`, both of which terms mean `water-dog`. In the biographies of the saints, otters are sometimes portrayed as assisting the holy men by providing fish for them. Folk belief held that otters slept with their eyes open, and a special and rare kind, called the `king-otter` never slept at all. The king-otter, it was claimed, was an extraordinary large male specimen, white in colour, but with the tips of his ears black and a black cross on his back. He was vulnerable only to a bullet made from silver, and the person who came into possession of a piece of his skin was, however, very fortunate indeed. That skin would guarantee safety at sea to any boat on which it was kept, safety from fire to any house in which it was, and safety from all accidents to any man who had a piece of it in his pocket. (6)

1 Dr D O hOgain. Myth,Legend & Romance – An Encyclopaedia Of The Irish Folk Tradition (1990) p. 26
2 Ibid pp 26-27
3 Ibid 27
4 Ibid .p.28
5 Ibid p.28
6 Ibid p.32