One of the place-themes in the Folly ballad is haunting for anyone with an interest in Ireland’s medieval sagas, where the lore of landmarks is remarkably developed. We cannot turn a page of an Old Irish saga without seeing a reference to a place-name and how the feature came to be named. If Cú Chulainn's 'Boyhood Deeds' (an episode of “Táin Bó Cuailnge”/ “The Cattle-Raid of Cuailnge”) is a trustworthy indicator, then instruction in pertinent place-lore may have formed part of the initiation rite of a warrior or of some other stage of a youth's training. When young Cú Chulainn rides in Conchobor's chariot after taking his first arms, the charioteer instructs the boy after bringing him to the border. They go to a summit of a hill to see the sights (to which even the modern countryperson may take a foreign visitor — a kind of initiate? — to be instructed in place-lore, as I experienced a few times during my fieldwork in Ireland):
The charioteer told Cú Chulainn that they should go to Emain to be in time for the feasting there.
'"No" said Cú Chulainn. "What mountain is that over there?"
'"Slíab Monduirnd," said the charioteer.
'"Let us go to it," said Cú Chulainn.
'Then they went to it, and when they had reached the mountain, Cú Chulainn asked:
'"What white cairn is that over there on the mountain-top?"
'"Finncharn," said the charioteer.
'"What plain is that yonder?" asked Cú Chulainn.
'"Mag mBreg," said the charioteer.
'So he told him the name of every chief fort between Temair and Cennannas [Kells]. He named, moreover, their meadowlands and their fords, their renowned places and their dwellings, their forts and their fortified heights.' (O’Rahilly 1976:144)
A place-lore of territorial landmarks would have been important to all members of the society, not just to the warrior class. In a culture where transhumant pastoralism was practiced by a significant part of society, everyone would have needed to know when they were passing near a rival's territory, within or without the tribe — this is an important concern for people herding their cattle in distant pastures, away from the safety of protected farmsteads, forts, and friends (Tarzia 1987; 1993. See O’Riain 1972; 1974 on the general importance of borders and border institutions in Irish society).
The concern with the borders of ancient chiefdoms may have survived in Cavan to be reused in the present in the Folly ballad although here transformed into a theme of 'pride of place'. The ballad starts us facing south-west (Co. Longford) and has us look to the west and west-north-west (Cos. Leitrim and Sligo) back around to the south (West Meath) and to the south-east (Royal Meath or Meath) in a ritualistic movement about a centre. The 'movement' could be a result of the poet's metrical plan turning on alliteration, but even then the other options are possible. Be that as it may, these views effectively include the southern border of the old territory of Breifne, itself part of the ancient border between the provinces of Ulster, Leinster, and Connacht, many of whose military activities and rituals are of primary concern in Old Irish sagas (approximately the border being designated in the quote above). In fact, the invaders of Ulster in “Tain Bo Cuailnge” skirt the border that the Folly still watches over in its song. The implications of these possibilities are intriguing but must remain pure speculation until other evidence is found and analysed, and simpler alternatives considered. One such alternative is that the ballad has us turn our backs against the border with Northern Ireland as a way of making a very subtle comment about this recent partition.
BACK© Wade Tarzia 1997
© assemblage 1997