BS: PBS 'In Search of Ancient Ireland'

Subject: RE: BS: PBS 'In Search of Ancient Ireland'
From: The Pooka
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 10:05 PM

I'll vote for the Men of the Bags over the Man from the Piltdown, any day. But my first-preference ballot goes to Men of the Deeps. (Up Cape Breton!)

Haw yersel' ljc, ye gud aul' Newfie Scot! Thank ye for the Blue Tootie! (Forgive flawed dialect; I'm workin' on it. :)

Subject: RE: BS: PBS 'In Search of Ancient Ireland'
From: PeteBoom
Date: 20 Jun 02 - 11:18 AM

I saw the first episode last night. Seemed not bad at all. Rather flies in the face of the faith-an-begorrah/shamrock crowd, but so much the better. Parts of what they said reminded me of Simon James' "Atlantic Celts" book that caused such a scuffle a few years ago.

Pooka, the videos were something like $24.95 plus shipping - so figure $30 roughly.

Greg Stephens - you're absolutely right with the 'spurious label "Celtic"' bit. Spot on. I've seen no reliable academic (or other) reference that could show ANY evidence that the "Celtic" peoples thought of themselves as anything other than members of a given tribal affilition or as being NOT "them" - whoever "them" might be.

Malcolm, your point on the "Celtic Twilighters" is also a good one - with one caveat. Folklore tends to have its roots in something. What that something IS can be argued over. Where I was in Ireland when there (early 80's at the last), there were old folks who swore that Lady Greogry got some of the bits wrong, and would go on to explain why.

Anyway - off to work...

Pete