Tuesday, September 2, 2003 (Bunratty - Republic of Ireland)
Nap time before a night of Irish music and
dancing. Where do all those sayings come from?
Day 174. Another welcome slow day greeted us
this morning with nothing on the agenda until this evening. Accordingly, we
lounged around in the brick for most of the day and even found the time to take
an afternoon nap. Other than I quick jaunt to the local supermarket in nearby
Shannon, the only thing we did do today was to explore the castle and the folk
park grounds. Having seen much of the castle last night, there was little new
for us other than a few rooms that were out of bounds during the
banquet.
This evening, however, was
another matter and we attended the planned Irish Night for an evening of song
and dance. This time, the festivities were held in one of the folk park
buildings instead of the castle itself. It was a fun evening but I think the
food was better last night. The singing, music and dancing was worth the cost of
admission and it was an evening of
fun.
The last course of the evening
was a current sponge cake. One person on each table would find a golden ring
baked into the cake. I was the lucky recipient on our table of eight – but
quickly lost the ring to Sandy.
We
learned a couple of interesting things today. Whilst at the castle, one of the
guides was explaining to a group of people why the castle windows were so small
and narrow. It wasn’t just the defensive windows through which bowmen
would aim their arrows at potential enemies, but also the living quarter windows
that are small and narrow. Apparently, windows and glass were very expensive
back in the sixteen hundreds and a sure sign of wealth. Accordingly, a dwelling
was taxed according to the number and size of the windows. Since this was
considered a form of robbery of daylight, this is where the expression
‘daylight robbery’ comes from. Every other day it seems that we
learn about another modern day expression that originates from several hundred
years ago. Yesterday at the start of the banquet, for example, we were all given
a drink to start the evening with called Mead. This is basically fermented yeast
with honey added. Hundreds of years ago when a couple got married, they would
drink this Mead, as it was believed to be good for fertility and virility. They
would drink the Mead for a full month or a full moon – hence the
expression ‘honeymoon’.
Posted: Tue - September 2, 2003 at 01:17 PM