 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
In order to avoid being pigeonholed into a particular style of metal it was decided many years ago to come up with my own which best describes the music of Uaigneas. The category, Ceol Breatha Gaelach or Gaelic Doom Metal, can be split into two parts - Gaelic and Doom Metal.
As there have been many excellent definitions and articles written about Doom, Doom Rock and Doom Metal and there histories I am not even going to attempt to talk about the music just direct you to the wonderful and informative doom-metal.com website in order to fill you in.
The other part of the musical category Gaelic, comes form the word Gael. The Gaels were the last race of people to settle in Éire (Ireland) before written historical records began here during the fourth century AD (when Christianity and writing arrived).
According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn cuid V - 1956. The race of Gaels who arrived to Ireland came from Spain (Iberian peninsula). The Sons of Míl, they were commonly known in later history as Milesians. These people were said to have had a profound effect on the language, culture, religion and music of the Island.
This culture spread to the Isle of Man, Western Wales and to the Scottish Highlands (where it mixed with the existing Briton culture and later mixing with the Norse culture brought by the invading Vikings of the eight century AD to form what is now Scotland (Scotti - the Roman word for Irishman).
While there are many theories put forward as to the influence the Gaels actually had on the culture of Éire it is very difficult to determine exactly how much. The island was probably undergoing its transition from a bronze age culture to an iron age one at that time. It is estimated that the population was around one hundred thousand people so even a small number of settlers could have had a profound cultural change. There is no way of knowing however, if it was a small group of settlers, a small scale invasion or a much larger one.
Either way the way of life in Éire was known as Gaelic by the time the Christian monks arrived. It survived (although did undergo changes) Christianity, the invasions and raids of the Norse and the Normans all of whom had aspects of their culture absorbed into the Gaelic way of life. While this did result in some changes these were not anything as severe as the changes brought about by the large scale invasions since the time of Elizabeth Tudor up to Cromwell and The Great Famine.
The changes during this period lead to the collapse of Brehon Law, the Clan system and lead to the end of the patrons so essential to the upkeep of the Gaelic musicians and Bards.
In 1840 there were approximately ten million Gaelic speakers in Ireland (more than the total population of Norway, Sweden and Finland at the time). By 1940 the population was about three million. This decline in population is directly linked to the almost extinction of Gaelic language and culture which was blamed by our ancestors for their woes.
Politician and pauper alike actively discouraged Gaelic culture and language while promoting the "more prosperous" English which had at this time established the largest and most powerful empire in the world. So fierce was this abandonment that in the space of two generations Gaelic went from being the first (and very often the only) tongue of 90% of the Irish to being the first language of a mere 10%.
About this time a wave of nationalism began to sweep across Europe and Ireland was no exception to this. A group of scholars decided to categorize the languages of Irish, Scottish, Wales, Manx, Cornish and Breton as "Celtic" (the word coming from the old Greek word "Koltoi" which means barbarian or stranger). The idea then began to snowball - If the languages were linked then so should everything else, including race. The result of this form of thinking can be quite clearly seen today where most of the countries in Western Europe claim to be descended (at least in part) from "The Celts" (this thinking has more holes poked in it than a colander at this stage, however it has spawned a whole new culture, the Celtic Culture).
It must be stressed that such a term did not exist in any of these countries before then. The Irish were not Celts and never called themselves Celts. They were Gaels and all the organizations that were born at the time reflected that especially with the Great Gaelic Revival in the late 19th Century.
Groups such as the Gaelic League (promoting Irish Language and Literature), The Gaelic Athletic Association (Promoting Irish Games), The Irish Text Society (responsible for the printing and translating of the old Irish manuscripts) along with the countless historians who flocked to the Western Seaboard of Ireland gathering and recording the old Irish music, stories, poetry and traditions created and environment where many a new political and cultural ideal was spawned. These ideas were to result eventually as the country gaining its independence from Britain. The Gaelic Cultural revival at that time has also been reasonable for every literal, artistic and musical movement of the 20th and 21st century.
It is from this background that Uaigneas also come.
As there have been many excellent definitions and articles written about Doom, Doom Rock and Doom Metal and there histories I am not even going to attempt to talk about the music just direct you to the wonderful and informative doom-metal.com website in order to fill you in.
The other part of the musical category Gaelic, comes form the word Gael. The Gaels were the last race of people to settle in Éire (Ireland) before written historical records began here during the fourth century AD (when Christianity and writing arrived).
According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn cuid V - 1956. The race of Gaels who arrived to Ireland came from Spain (Iberian peninsula). The Sons of Míl, they were commonly known in later history as Milesians. These people were said to have had a profound effect on the language, culture, religion and music of the Island.
This culture spread to the Isle of Man, Western Wales and to the Scottish Highlands (where it mixed with the existing Briton culture and later mixing with the Norse culture brought by the invading Vikings of the eight century AD to form what is now Scotland (Scotti - the Roman word for Irishman).
While there are many theories put forward as to the influence the Gaels actually had on the culture of Éire it is very difficult to determine exactly how much. The island was probably undergoing its transition from a bronze age culture to an iron age one at that time. It is estimated that the population was around one hundred thousand people so even a small number of settlers could have had a profound cultural change. There is no way of knowing however, if it was a small group of settlers, a small scale invasion or a much larger one.
Either way the way of life in Éire was known as Gaelic by the time the Christian monks arrived. It survived (although did undergo changes) Christianity, the invasions and raids of the Norse and the Normans all of whom had aspects of their culture absorbed into the Gaelic way of life. While this did result in some changes these were not anything as severe as the changes brought about by the large scale invasions since the time of Elizabeth Tudor up to Cromwell and The Great Famine.
The changes during this period lead to the collapse of Brehon Law, the Clan system and lead to the end of the patrons so essential to the upkeep of the Gaelic musicians and Bards.
In 1840 there were approximately ten million Gaelic speakers in Ireland (more than the total population of Norway, Sweden and Finland at the time). By 1940 the population was about three million. This decline in population is directly linked to the almost extinction of Gaelic language and culture which was blamed by our ancestors for their woes.
Politician and pauper alike actively discouraged Gaelic culture and language while promoting the "more prosperous" English which had at this time established the largest and most powerful empire in the world. So fierce was this abandonment that in the space of two generations Gaelic went from being the first (and very often the only) tongue of 90% of the Irish to being the first language of a mere 10%.
About this time a wave of nationalism began to sweep across Europe and Ireland was no exception to this. A group of scholars decided to categorize the languages of Irish, Scottish, Wales, Manx, Cornish and Breton as "Celtic" (the word coming from the old Greek word "Koltoi" which means barbarian or stranger). The idea then began to snowball - If the languages were linked then so should everything else, including race. The result of this form of thinking can be quite clearly seen today where most of the countries in Western Europe claim to be descended (at least in part) from "The Celts" (this thinking has more holes poked in it than a colander at this stage, however it has spawned a whole new culture, the Celtic Culture).
It must be stressed that such a term did not exist in any of these countries before then. The Irish were not Celts and never called themselves Celts. They were Gaels and all the organizations that were born at the time reflected that especially with the Great Gaelic Revival in the late 19th Century.
Groups such as the Gaelic League (promoting Irish Language and Literature), The Gaelic Athletic Association (Promoting Irish Games), The Irish Text Society (responsible for the printing and translating of the old Irish manuscripts) along with the countless historians who flocked to the Western Seaboard of Ireland gathering and recording the old Irish music, stories, poetry and traditions created and environment where many a new political and cultural ideal was spawned. These ideas were to result eventually as the country gaining its independence from Britain. The Gaelic Cultural revival at that time has also been reasonable for every literal, artistic and musical movement of the 20th and 21st century.
It is from this background that Uaigneas also come.