Ulster Institutional Repository

Was doing some research on Airne Fíngein and came across this website. Some of articles are available for download so I thought I'd share the find: http://eprints.ulster.ac.uk/

The Carmichael Watson Project

The Carmina Gadelica is a collection of Hebridean charms, hymns, and songs that serve as a wonderful source of liturgy and traditions for us Gaelic Polytheists. The four-volume collection that was released was an edited version which cut out a lot of what Carmichael collected but thanks to a new project from Edinburgh University Library, we may learn what some of that cut information was as Carmichael's notebooks are being made available:

"The Carmichael Watson collection in Edinburgh University Library, centred on the papers of the pioneering folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912), is the foremost collection of its kind in the country, a treasure-chest of stories, songs, customs, and beliefs from the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland. It offers us fundamental insights into the creation of Carmichael's greatest work Carmina Gadelica, an anthology of Hebridean charms, hymns, and songs, and a key text in the 'Celtic Twilight' movement."

http://www.carmichaelwatson.lib.ed.ac.uk/cwatson/

PSA: oh, the lack of research hurts.

I didn't mean for my next post to be a rant and I will get around to posting about Lá Fhéile Bríde but I'm at the end of my tether with this lazy research I see in neopagan books and on websites.

Today's aggravation came up as I was was doing some research on the phrase brón trogain as referring to August/Lughnasadh. I decided to Google it and the search came up with the following as one of the results:

"I especially like the ancient name of Bron Trogain, sometimes translated as "earth sorrows under her fruits."" (Source)

*blinks* Um ... what?!

eDIL has...
Brón = 'sorrow'
Trogain (trogan) = 'earth', 'August', 'Autumn' or 'raven'/'female raven'

You can also see talk of it on OLD-IRISH-L here. It simply means 'the sorrow of the earth', and it is referred to in The Wooing of Emer as 'the beginning of autumn'.

Please tell me what this has to do with "under her fruits"? Why!? Why must some neopagans insist on twisting meanings and words to fit their goddess lore AND CALL IT ANCIENT?!

*headdesk*

I wish I could save everyone from bad research but I know it's all in vain. Just a warning to any NeoPagans who may come across my blog: never take neopagan books as gospel. Do your own research and ask questions.