Trade Secrets

[hvered]

A legend grew up concerning Carn's lord of the castle that he had horse's ears and the barbers who crossed the isthmus once a year to shave him were then killed to prevent them spreading the word. It sounds very like the fable of King Midas who had ass's ears, but rather more gory as eventually one of the barbers slit lord Carn's throat, and is also a familiar tale in Irish folklore, e.g. here http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/cu ... /myth.shtm. [notice the king's name was originally Maen i.e. stone, as in menhir]

The story seems to contain several typically Megalithic elements (Hermes is associated with barbers as well as traders, tricksters and the rest) unsurprisingly since Brittany is famous for its standing stones. Horse-y islands have come up elsewhere though; are horses or horse-eared lairds, Irish or other, a particular feature of islands and/or causeways (chausee in French)? Perhaps the idea of a hybrid is appropriate for somewhere that's not quite land or sea but why horses/asses?

[Boreades]

re "Portsall ... position, close to a bay with a 'port', is remarkably convenient."

It's not just convenient, it's essential. Ports like Portsall and L'Aber Wrac'h were, and still are, important waypoints for north-south cross channel trade.



Especially in bad weather, or just for getting the tides right. Which all sailing craft have to do, to get up and down the Chenel Du Four with the tide. Without it, you are just as likely to be going backwards, not forwards, as the tidal currents there regularly exceed 4 or 5 knots. Oh, and in daylight only, unless you are extremely brave and/or foolhardy, or 100% confident in your GPS equipment, or you've got one of the Celtic Saints or local hermits to guide you.



On your right, as you head south, see Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre (nudge hint). Before you repeat the tidal performance in the Raz Du Sein.



See http://www.sailingalmanac.com/Almanac/N ... ufour.html
and http://www.sailingalmanac.com/Almanac/N ... esein.html

Surely we've mentioned somethings similar in the "Megalithic shipping and trade routes" thread?

[Boreades]

By the way, if you've mislaid your Celtic Saint / Druid / Hermit, and all you've got is a compass, the safest way across to L'Aber Wrac'h is Due South from Fowey. i.e. stick to the North-South meridian from Fowey. The one from Truro and the River Fal is OK so long as you don't end up on the rocks at Ushant. Left hand down a bit, before you get there. See the shipping forecasts.

[hvered]

Fascinating to see how little sea routes change, as with the road system on land. This north-south Channel route crosses to St Catherine's Castle at the entrance to Fowey which suggests a 'hermitage' has been there a very long time, Catherine being a female equivalent of Hermes i.e. Hecate.

Chenal means channel and Raz is race. A working international sailors' language would make sense in the past just as now. L'Aber Wrac reminds me of Corrywreckan, further north on the 'Tarifa Meridian'... in either case the meaning seems clear. Four is oven in French, on the 'cauldron' theme.

[Boreades]

Yes, oven and cauldron are apt descriptions, the waters do seem to boil as they swirl over and past the rocks.

Corryvreckan is similarly named, the Gaelic "Coire Bhreacain" meaning "cauldron of the speckled seas".

[macausland]

Powell and Pressburger did a film, 'I know where I'm going' in about 1950 which features at one point Corryvreckan.

Here's a link to a video discussing the film. There are several shots of Corryvreckan towards the end of the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWUTcoEb_xw

The Cailleach or 'Hag' was supposed to wash her plaid in it

http://www.whirlpool-scotland.co.uk/cailleach.html

As this site states, with the coming of Christianity she became associated with nuns. Still associated with mountains though.

Regarding the Chenal du Four a French website tells us that the passage between the chenal du four and Molene is called the Chenal de la Helle. Molene is named so because it is 'bare'. In gaelic 'Maol' also means bare and often refers to a monk because of his tonsure. Perhaps there is a further connection with watchers and religion in this area.

Iman Wilkens in his book 'Where Troy once Stood' takes it a step, or many steps, further. He claims that the north sea was the Hellespont of the Trojan war fame and follows the naming of towns and rivers all the way to northern Scandinavia with the Hel or El element contained within the names.

As for bad weather he goes on to claim that Menelaus had his fleet split up by south westerly storms at a cape called 'Malea' which he identifies with St Malo.

Whether he's right or wrong it would appear to be a dodgy place to paddle a canoe.

[Boreades]

The Cailleach or 'Hag' was supposed to wash her plaid in it
http://www.whirlpool-scotland.co.uk/cailleach.html

That's a great example of a common theme we've stumbled over on many posts here. That of important knowledge embedded in folk stories, in a way that is both entertaining and memorable. It needs to be memorable in an era when all serious learning was by verbal transfer.

Children would thrill to stories at bedtime of supernatural monsters and heroes, while wiser folk could nod and smile in acknowledgment of the mysteries of nature and science, hidden in plain sight in the stories.

I'm convinced the same is true of the Mabinogian, which we touched on a while ago, with its Triads, one of which is Jon's Stonehenge Light-Bringer. Plenty of Greek and Egyptian "legends" do exactly the same, as aide-memoires.

c.99% of folk only remember the childish cover-story.
c.1% of us like to dig deeper.

[spiral]

The Cailleach or 'Hag' was supposed to wash her plaid in it
http://www.whirlpool-scotland.co.uk/cailleach.html

That's a great example of a common theme.

She is a moon goddess.The old veiled one. Cailleah=Isle of Moon/Man.

[hvered]

Molenes could be a 'bare island', it is after all in the Celtic Sea. It's also been suggested (in French) http://www.molene.fr/histoiredemolene.htm to be a form of mamelon meaning low-lying hillock, similar to paps perhaps.

Moulin or meule, i.e. mill/ millstone/ grindstone, fits better with the churning motif of cauldrons and ovens and so forth (cf. mellin in Welsh, molina in Spanish).

[spiral]

Horse-y islands have come up elsewhere though; are horses or horse-eared lairds, Irish or other, a particular feature of islands and/or causeways (chausee in French)? Perhaps the idea of a hybrid is appropriate for somewhere that's not quite land or sea but why horses/asses?

Horses are noble honest trustworthy beasts that signify safe travel. You can ride them.

I suspect this is a false trail (that has never stopped me).... the horse and chariot appear on early coins. The sun god often rides a chariot across the heavens...... he appears he travels, he disappears into the distance, he then reappears again.

THE CR words often signify boats.....sleds...chariots..... a chariot is a coracle with wheels (rota)....and a noble steed (steady) attached.

Ok time to climb out the canyon.....