Let's Go Green on St. Patrick's Day

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:09] Speaker B: Loyal listeners and bears everywhere, welcome to this special episode of the Sound Barrier Podcast. That's right, Northeast State's official podcast. We're coming at you today from our Basler Library studio here on the beloved campus. Thanks to Dean of the Library, Chris Demas and all the fine librarians here. My name is Tom Wilson, and I'm here with my co host, Mackenzie Morgent. What are we talking about today? Well, you know, it's March. St. Patty's Day is coming up. That's right, St. Patrick's Day, where everybody is a little bit Irish. But what's the effect of the Irish culture of St. Patrick's Day here in America and really across the world? Because this holiday has kind of taken over the world a way a lot of people celebrate, even if they don't even know what it means. They know St. Patrick's Day, they know green, and sometimes a lot of them know Guinness, which can't hurt. On this day, we're going to talk a little bit about Irish history, Irish history in America, and some pretty interesting things coming up here in Northeast State, While not on St Patrick's Day, certainly some Scott's Irish, if we can say that. I don't want to inflame anybody from Ireland or Scotland, but some interesting things we've got coming up here next month in Northeast State from our International Education Committee. [00:01:37] Speaker A: Great. And so I had to do a little bit of digging for this. I don't have any Irish heritage that I know of. Never grew up really hearing a lot about it. So when I took to Google to do my little digging, I was kind of surprised with what I found. Just. Just from the historical standpoint of Irish settlers in America. So when did they start traveling over to America? What brought them here? And what legacy did they leave? What influence have they continued to have in these populations of certain demographics in the United States? And Irish began immigrating to the US large numbers in the 18th century, and it continued with a massive influx following the following century. In the 19th century, in the mid-1800s now, they saw this big influx of, you know, Irish settlers in America, due in part, in big part to the potato famine in Ireland around this time. Apparently, there was some sort of mold that just devastated the crops there. And for many, many seasons there, I think it took out, like, half the potato supply, which meant, like, there were millions of families who were starving. There were a lot of families who were just like, we can't continue living this way. It's not sustainable. We need food, we need community, we need and not that they didn't have community there, but they were leaving in droves to, you know, to save themselves, to save them, to save their families. So they ended up over here in the United States, and a lot of them ended up moving to bigger metro areas and forming communities there. There. So you've got New York. A lot of them came through Ellis island, but then some moved on, moved a little bit west towards Chicago area. A lot of them ended up settling there. And Boston, Philadelphia as well, just to name a couple of others. So I try to do a little bit of digging here for. I really wanted to tie this in to our area and to rural areas. But it seems to me, just from the research I did for this, that we saw a lot of them tending to flock toward big O metro areas, probably because they already had support systems over there. They knew families, they knew community members from across the pond who had immigrated here. So they had some sort of support there in St. Augustine. That was where they celebrated the first St. Patrick's Day parade in America, was in St. Augustine, which is funny if you think about it, because that's where a lot of Spain settlers were at. They weren't really Irish at all, but there happened to be an Irish priest there in St. Augustine working as a priest. And they wanted to do this as kind of an honor to him. Maybe he was experiencing some homesickness. He was, you know, around his Irishman a lot of. A lot of the times, like he may have been used to growing up in Ireland. So I found that really interesting. But now several other cities will claim, no, it wasn't St. Augustine that did this. We were actually the first to have the first St. Patty's Day parade. But records do indicate that the first one was held in St. Augustine in, I believe, let's see. 1601. March 17, 1601. This was during a Spanish colonial period. This was in St. Augustine. That was the first St. Patrick's Day parade. That's. I don't know. It blows my mind. You would just never. I don't know, never think 1601. Right? 1601. This would have been over 200 years before we really started to see the big wave of Irish settlers move over here due to the famine. So that would have been 1601. [00:05:19] Speaker B: That's pretty remarkable. I wonder how the priest got over here. Did he come over? I guess he came over with the Spanish. [00:05:24] Speaker A: He had to have. Let's see. What was this dude's name? Let's see. Ricardo Archer. So more than a century later, after that first St. Patrick's Day parade in St. Augustine, the English military marched in Boston in 1737, and then again in New York in March of 1762. So it kind of seems a little bit sporadic at this point in time. Like, you kind of see, like, some celebrations pop up here and there throughout the, Gosh, the centuries, but nothing was actually, like, set in. There wasn't an official day. So the Irish has. They've actually been observing St Patrick's Day as a religious holiday at some capacity for over a thousand years. So this kind of stem. St Patrick's Day celebrations today as we know it, it stems from the holiday that the Irish celebrated, and they would do this during the Christian season of Lent. And so Irish are Catholics, too. Like, Catholicism is really big in the Irish culture, from my understanding. So I guess is Lent. Would that be like. I know that Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity, but is Lent only practice by Catholics, or would that be. That's not a Protestant thing. That's a. That's more of a Catholic. [00:06:48] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a. That's a hardcore Catholic thing. It starts on, I guess, Ash Wednesday, which was March 5th of this year. And it's like, you give up something for 40 days, give up a vice for 40 days. And I think a lot. I think some Protestant denominations have kind of adopted it in a way. Well, unofficially, I think some of the. Some of the practicing Protestants have adopted it in a way. But, yeah, it's St. Patrick's Day and Lent and Fat Tuesday. [00:07:18] Speaker A: There's Fat Tuesday somewhere in there. That's when. Is that where they can. It's like, oh, I know that, you know, we said where you're giving this up, but this is the day where you can kind of indulge on that. Is that correct? Or someone correct me if I'm wrong. [00:07:31] Speaker B: That is Mardi Gras. That was Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. [00:07:35] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. So it's kind of in there somewhere. I was just making incorrect connections. [00:07:41] Speaker B: No, no, it's. It's. Yeah, it's. [00:07:44] Speaker A: But I'm kind of. And there's my ADHD going off. I'm kind of going off into other tangents with this. So with the Irish, what they would do to celebrate St. Patrick and himself. It was a religious holiday. They would go to church in the morning, and then they'd celebrate with feasts, food, and drinks in the afternoon. So now I have it here in my notes. Surprisingly, the first St. Patrick's Day parade was actually held in the US in St. Augustine, Florida in 1601 by Spanish Colony. So records show that that celebration was probably done in honor of a local Irish Catholic priest who served in St. Augustine from 1597 until around 1910, not 1904, 1604. That would have been a long life. Over a century later, more parades would commence across multiple US Cities as the country saw an increase in Irish immigration to the states throughout the 1800s due to potato famine, which was caused by a mold derived plant disease, epidem, that rapidly killed off the community's main food source. It's terrible to think about just how many people died and suffered. [00:08:54] Speaker B: Truly, truly, Lord. [00:08:56] Speaker A: But who in the world was St. Patrick? Why are the Irish celebrating this man? What has he done, you know, to deserve just being celebrated for centuries and centuries to come? Well, it turns out he was a saint and he wasn't born in Ireland at all. He was actually born in Britain. But he was kidnapped by Irish raiders or some historians, and some people describe them as pirates too. Irish pirates, Irish raiders kidnapped by them. And then he was forced into servitude, like to work as a slave to a priest in Northern Ireland. So this 16 year old St Patrick, he's 16 at the time, he worked as a slave, but then he eventually escaped and he returned to Britain. But then eventually he ended up back in Ireland because while he had escaped and returned to Britain, this is when he kind of found Christianity and discovered the teachings of Jesus. And he was like, oh my gosh, more people need to know about this. Well, Britain already knows. So let me just travel over to Ireland again, go back to where, you know, I had been kidnapped and forced into slavery, which is astounding if you think about it. [00:10:11] Speaker B: It is. [00:10:12] Speaker A: And of course the Irish at this time, they were practicing a lot of pagan, Pagan beliefs, pagan practices. So of course St. Patrick was, he was met with criticism, facing trials, you know, trying to, I guess convert these people from the way of life that they were so accustomed to. Just trying to share what he thought, you know, would bring and I guess knowledge to Ireland. So he would eventually end up baptizing thousands of Irishmen and women and children throughout the years there. And, you know, it's kind of thought that this is how Christianity began to spread throughout these parts of Europe. So he was never actually canonized by the church when he was alive because this actually wasn't a process yet until centuries later, I think around 300 years later. So I don't know, just that history was, you know, wild to me, just a tumultuous story. Of just, you know, kidnapping, forced labor. I mean he's a child too. At this time it's easy to, you know, forget he wasn't in his 20s, like a 16 year old kid. That sounds scary. But apparently St. St. Patrick, you know, he stuck to his guns. [00:11:28] Speaker B: Yes. [00:11:28] Speaker A: He was able to escape. He found a new light and then he returned to his place of captivity and you know, spent his days there. So I thought that was, I don't. [00:11:38] Speaker B: Know, an extraordinary laugh to be sure. Oh yeah, yeah. St. Patrick, we honor you. Great job. Respect, all respect to St Patrick. St Patrick used the shamrock, which was a sacred plant in Ireland, especially among the Druids and the Celts. Very, very mystical plant. He used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. And this of how three leaves, three identities and one. And that from what I've read and what I understand that that really made it very clear. So I think that path was probably opened up in a way for people for it to become palatable to the Irish people to understand what exactly Christianity was, what it meant and how you could connect it to the, to an existing, an existing sacred totem. If you, you could say in their, in their traditions. But the entire history of Ireland is super fascinating. Pre, pre Celtic Ireland going way, way back. The Vikings there, there was a tribe I think called the Picts, P I C T S. They predated the Celts, I believe. If I'm wrong, hey, let us know in the comment section, we're wrong. And there's supposedly tribes that even predated them. And of course you wonder how did they get there? Because Ireland, the uk, Britain, Scotland, it's all in an island now. You're near Europe. But you'd have to thank some of the forerunners of the Vikings and other people immigrated into those lands and survived because Ireland and Scotland are. These are, it isn't a day at the beach up there. These are very harsh climates, particularly in the winter and fall. So a hardy people that survived much and continued to survive well into our 21st century. [00:13:42] Speaker A: Yeah, it has to be a testament to their strength and endurance. I mean the landscape is just insane and I think so Ireland, you know, you've got, well present day you've got, I think, you know, Ireland as a part of the uk, as a part of the United Kingdom. And then you've got the Republic of Ireland which is current day. I think they're separate from all that. They have their own governess, like their own governments is like separate from the uk. If I'm correct. And then you move over to the main landmass of, you know, Great Britain, UK and up above you've got Scotland and then Scotland. Actually, I've read somewhere that those mountains in that rough terrain there, those are actually the same mountains we see here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They just kind of separate. During Pangea, like, you know, way before I was born. You were born, Tom, like uber millions of years ago. Apparently these land masses, you know, moved and shifted and eventually formed, you know, the present day land masses that we experience today. But I don't know, I found that just so interesting and that's kind of going off subject here because now I'm talking about Scotland and. No, we're talking about. We gotta keep it Irish. Sorry about that, guys. Gotta keep it Irish. But I just thought that was interesting and you know, how far north it is too. It's like you don't realize it until you like actually look at a Google map. It's like Ireland and even England is like up there, up there, like compared to where we are in the US and so I could imagine those waters would be freezing. The only way you would be able to get to that land that, you know, the landmass that is Ireland is by boat and rough waters, freezing cold weather. Oh my gosh. I don't know, it just, it makes me shiver. But gosh, you already talked about, let's see, you did the shamrock and that was when. Wait, let me see if I got this correct. So he would use this in his teachings to kind of. And you know, these people were practicing paganism too. So I could imagine it'd be, you know, mind blowing to have someone come in and say, well, actually this, this is what it is like, it's actually the Father, the Son. And because if I'm correct in paganism, it's kind of like they kind of assign like importance to a lot of different things like in nature. And I'm not too well versed on that, but I could imagine that it would be, you know, alarming having someone try to, you know, spread different ideas when you're accustomed to ones you've spent your entire life following and abiding to. And so I think that, you know, the, the green three leaf clover is kind of, that's a clever way to take what's, you know, in your natural environment and apply it to what you're trying to teach. And then another one's like a leprechaun. I know that whenever I think of St. Patrick's Day, I Think of leprechauns. And so as it turns out that the green cloth leprechaun, they stem from Celtic belief and fairies, so. But they're not quite fairies. They're actually grumpier, apparently. So apparently leprechauns, they're these small bodied human like beings and they wield this magical power that can be used for good or evil. So it just depends on the leprechaun, I guess. I mean, just don't come across the wrong one, I suppose. They're often depicted as being grumpy. And honestly, I would be too if my sole purpose in life was to mend the shoes of fellow fairies. Apparently, that's the occupation of a leprechaun. They're just shoe menders. And I'd be infuriated. [00:17:29] Speaker B: Rough work. [00:17:30] Speaker A: Yeah, like, oh my gosh, I'd always be grumpy. So, you know, I empathize with the leprechaun. Yeah, I see you leprechauns. And you know, just to show them some love this St. Patrick's Day. And apparently, you know, that kind of the grumpiness of the leprechauns, you know, they're kind of vindictive for, you know, how they're spending their lives mending shoes. So apparently they're kind of tied into another one. Like that pot at the end of the rainbow. Whenever you think of that, and it is so funny, like whenever I do see a rainbow, like as a child, I would always believe that there was actually some treasure at the end. And I didn't have that concept, like, this is light playing tricks and there's not an end to this. It's, you know, but, you know, I thought that was real. I would always wonder like, why my parents wouldn't turn the car around and go chase after rainbows if we saw one. I was like, this could, you know, this could change our lives. Guys, aren't we chasing rainbows? [00:18:27] Speaker B: A big score could be had here for the rainbow. [00:18:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I know, it made no sense to me. So apparently this story originated when the Vikings first raided Ireland. And that was first recorded in the raid of 795 A.D. so roughly seven, roughly 800 years after Christ. And that was they when they began to set up various communities, some that still exist today, one known as modern day Dublin. That's wild to me. Wild. Like the history there is a spectacular to endure so many centuries. But anyway, gonna go on an Irish fan kick. Like, I just think it's so neat. But Vikings were known to have looted these existing communities. So they stole all their treasures and, you know, all their riches and they would bury in these secret places. I don't know if it was because they just didn't want the communities to have them. If they would go back to these places and, you know, unbury them to, I guess, reap the benefits of it. I'm not too sure. I'm not too sure. But it became a belief that once the Vikings had left, the leprechauns somehow got a hold of these, you know, locations where the treasure was buried. So they ended up digging them up like the leprechauns would, because they didn't have too much of a liking for humans at this time, which I don't understand why. They weren't mending human shoes, they were mending fairy shoes. So take it up with them. Yeah, but they would take the hidden treasures and then they would bury them elsewhere so no one would ever find them. So then it became just a belief that when you saw a rainbow, that that's one of the locations where the leprechaun had buried the treasure. So I don't know. I found that interesting. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Very interesting. [00:20:13] Speaker A: Well, yeah, just so many. So many different facets to Irish culture. So many different influences, you know, Vikings, Norse, like Celtic, like, it's just so interesting to me. It's just a whole. It's like a potpourri of cultures, but it kind of developed into something, you know, into the Irish. The island and Irish culture we know today. [00:20:39] Speaker B: I don't know, it's a universe into itself almost. And it's very. It seems to be Irish history and literature and poetry, and it seems to kind of encapsulate the whole human experience. And maybe that's why people around the world are so fascinated with it. There's so much. There's like joy and pain and. And hardships and. And success and these very human people in it. Plus you have just this willingness or this ability, power to survive things and kind of still kind of come out on top with your, you know, with your pride, I guess, is. Yeah, seems to be. Well, I don't know. [00:21:19] Speaker A: I thought it was like the type of perseverance you don't really see. Like, it's just. I don't know, it's amazing just to know that they were rate. Often they were, you know, facing, you know, they face a lot of persecution here in the United States when they did end up, you know, fleeing the potato famine and, you know, indentured servitude was a thing and that was exploiting a lot of Irishmen and women. That was a thing we cannot forget that. [00:21:44] Speaker B: Not talked about enough really in the, in. [00:21:46] Speaker A: It's really not. It's not. I think I was in high school when I learned that. I was like, what that was. I just, they just faced a lot of persecution and you know, even in their own homeland, it's like, it just seems. Can they catch a break? I mean. [00:22:03] Speaker B: Yeah, it's still, I guess in northern, well, the north of Ireland. I don't call it Northern Ireland because I've had, I had a couple Irish friends that, that were legit Irish guys from New York that were like, no, it's the north of Ireland. You don't call it Northern Ireland. [00:22:18] Speaker A: Oh, so north of Ireland, north of Ireland. So the north of Ireland is part of the uk they're not the Republic. [00:22:24] Speaker B: They are real. They are still. Well, you had the, I think you had the Good Friday accords back 90s and I'm probably wrong about this, so history professors correct me, but there was, there was a, a bit of a uniting in Ireland, but the Protestant Catholic division up there is still, it still exists. And a lot of, especially in Belfast, they have the peace walls which divide the Protestant section from the Catholic section. [00:22:48] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:22:49] Speaker B: And these are like very high walls and gates and you come in and out and at night, from what I understand over the years, that the gates are closed at night and you don't interact at daylight. It's okay to interact, but you don't. To this day it's very reluctant to go in those different areas because the Protestant side wants to remain loyal to Britain and feel they're still part of the British, well, still part of the United Kingdom. Whereas the Catholic section feels like, well, we want one united Ireland. Do we want to be free of British rule? And I think that's, I think that also plays a little bit into America. Kind of taking in the Irish spirit about our own American revolution and the desire to be free of, you know, a certain rule and a certain monarchy, to have independence and your own, your own kind of thing still kind of that empathy. [00:23:45] Speaker A: They, you know, they were experienced. They've already experienced that, you know, so. But it's still just mind boggling to me. It's like you can have that like human connection and understand, but they still experience the persecution. It's like so many contradictions there. It just truly is. It's wild to me. Do we want to tie this in? We want to tie this in with campus happenings. I know that you said international education has some Fun events coming up. [00:24:15] Speaker B: This was just like the Highland Games, which originated all the way back in 2000 B.C. ireland, that a lot of these, A lot of these events were being done in Ireland all the way back then, 2000 B.C. yes. [00:24:29] Speaker A: Oh, gosh. So that was like 4,000 years ago. That's. [00:24:32] Speaker B: Yeah, that's how. And again, it's like, how did they get over there? And, and how were people. Well, people were there. That. I mean, that's just the estimate from historians that a lot of the events in the Highland Games originated in Ireland. And then the people in Ireland actually immigrated to western Scotland, an area called Dalrida. Western Scotland. It's now called Argyll. Argyll, the coast of the Gaels, the Gaelic peoples, which is the western part of Scotland. [00:25:07] Speaker A: I could just imagine it like just a beautiful landscape right now. Just like popped up in my head right when you said that. Like, I can see it. I can almost smell like an. Feel like the, the air and the wind from the ocean and the waves, like crashing along those high cliffs. And it's like I'm there right now. So the Highland Games, that became a thing in Scotland, but it has historical. So it's got history in it derived from events from like, ancient Ireland, if I'm. [00:25:42] Speaker B: Yes. [00:25:43] Speaker A: Understanding this correctly. Wow. Okay. [00:25:45] Speaker B: Like, for. For example, do you want me to go into. [00:25:47] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. [00:25:49] Speaker B: Well, now we're gonna, we're gonna. I'm gonna shift off a little bit into Scotland here. I know we've done Ireland and we will get back to Ireland. But our international, our international education team, on April 5th, it's a Saturday here at the Blumville campus, are going to have the, the Highland Games amateur clinic, which they're going to feature several Scottish events and it's open to the public. You can just, you can register online@the northeaststate.com forward slash games. That's thenortheaststate.com forward slash games. And you're going to feature some of these, these very well known Highland Games events, such as the caber toss, the hammer throw, the sheath toss, the. Another event called putting the stone, which is the, the modern day Olympic shot put. Then you also have something called the weight for distance and the weight for height. We were talking a little bit about Ireland and like I said, the. These, Some historians think these games actually started in roughly 2000 BC in Ireland. And they were brought over with the. Those indigenous inhabitants of Ireland at the time to western Scotland and of course brought their games and their culture and their, their identity with them. The Caber Toss, which is maybe one of the more recognizable ones if you've ever seen throwing. It looks like a telephone pole. It's an enormous, scary looking thing. But yes, people will get out there and grow this. And it's tapered from one end. And if you see, if you see pictures or video of it, you know, it's, you know what I'm talking about. And you're. The athlete will try to pick up the caber with two hands and you, you do like a squat. So I, I'd get on the squat rack. If you're planning to do the caber toss. I wouldn't miss. I wouldn't miss leg day. [00:27:47] Speaker A: You don't want to mess up your back. [00:27:49] Speaker B: No, no. Get down there and get the. Yeah, get that going. [00:27:52] Speaker A: Use those leg muscles. [00:27:53] Speaker B: Absolutely. You balance the, the, the caber or the telephone pole if. Well, and you lift it up with both hands and you begin to run and you generate momentum and then you try to flip the caber over. Flip it and you try to land it straight up from where you are at 12 o'clock in almost a straight line, which is extremely difficult. Why is it very difficult? Because the capers range in size from 13ft and they can range anywhere from 50 to 150 pounds. So imagine putting that in just two of your hands and trying to flip it. [00:28:29] Speaker A: It wouldn't be physically possible for me. [00:28:31] Speaker B: Personally if you could. Well, you can. This, you can see this at the Highland Games here at Northeast State, or you could also see it at the Highland Games in, I think near Grandfather Mountain. That's our traditional tier. [00:28:42] Speaker A: It is. [00:28:43] Speaker B: That's. And a great one. If you haven't gone to see that, go check out the Highland Games up there. [00:28:48] Speaker A: And that takes place in the summer, I believe. [00:28:50] Speaker B: Yes. I don't know the dates, but you're mistaken. [00:28:53] Speaker A: Yes. I was actually in there last year in that area in July and I think that's when it was going on. We were just like, what are all these tents? And everyone's wearing, you know, kilts. And I was like, if I'm not mistaken, this has got to be the Highland Games. There's hundreds of people and kilt here and it. Wait. Hundreds of people in kilts here. So it just made sense. It looked like a blast. But very. Just physically demanding competitions. You have got to be conditioned to be. Or else you're just. You're going to throw out your back and just not be able to, you know, play any other games. So definitely requires some physical conditioning with the caber toss. At least now the other ones, they look, you know, more like I could be able to do, I think the. What was the other one? The. For distance and then for height. Wait, that was just the caber, wasn't it? [00:29:45] Speaker B: That was just the caber. You also have the, the shot put. Yes, they also, men and women compete in these. So it's a very, it's completely open to both. So. And there's some very, very skilled competitors in these games. Definitely the Olympic shot put. They do things. There's, there's an open stone and there's something called the bramer stone, which I think maybe the, it's spelled B R A E N A R. So Scottish folk, if I'm pronouncing that wrong, forgive me, just, just correct me if need be. And it's a stone much like the Olympic shot put. The women's stone weighs roughly 12 to 18 pounds. The men's stone weighs 22 to 28 pounds. And you take the stone in one hand and you throw it for distance. And that sounds pretty like a testing to do, but it's done and it's done very, very well. But it takes of course, a lot of upper and lower body strength. So yeah, the, the shot put, the hammer throw. The hammer throw is like the very long and we've had that here. And I've done this, I did this a couple years back with, with Professor Sam. Raul and I were out there throwing around. There's a very, there's a heavy ball on an end of kind of about a six foot pole. And the hammers weigh from anywhere from 12 to 16 to 22 pounds being the heaviest. And you make, you stand, you pick it up almost like a golf club and you begin to swing it around over your head and generate momentum and then you kind of throw it behind you over your head for distance. And last year some, some of the competitors were throwing that thing like 40, 50ft that really, really people who knew what they were doing with it. But again, another, another fun one to do. And then also there's one called the wait for distance. And this is, this dates to the blacksmiths. This is a lot of these. Where do they start doing these things? A good amount of it comes from according to histories, agriculture, military training and also blacksmithing, the kegwitas, for example. Why are you throwing 15 pound logs around like that? You had to cross rivers, so sometimes you needed to move to transport logs. Well, how are you going to do it? The belief is, and I think some of the, some of the evidence is they would flip trees into rivers, over rivers and move them that way you could throw them into the water, use the water to of course naturally move them farther down wherever you were had your settlement. [00:32:37] Speaker A: Wow. It's like a makeshift. Like a make do bridge essentially. Okay. Wow. [00:32:43] Speaker B: How people came up with the. [00:32:45] Speaker A: And they probably may. I could imagine them making games out of that, you know, to pass the work day, you know, to. You don't want to be miserable 247 while you're doing that stuff. Might as well have a little bit of fun with it. And that makes total sense. That's so interesting. [00:32:59] Speaker B: And the sport. I think that a lot of the Scottish clans, because they were very. And I'm sure maybe in Ireland as well, but the Scottish clans were very tight around families and extended families. So there was a lot of competition between them I guess in wars. But this was also a way that you wouldn't have to go to war that you could have these competitions and see who could though who could do the caber farthest, who could throw the hammer, who could do the shot put. And it was a matter of course, great pride of the clan to do this. Who could come out on top and win. Which again, another. Another piece of sporting history that was or has been now incorporated into, into the Olympic Games. The shot put, the hammer throw. We have the Highland Games. There's something like 200 Highland games done in the United States and Canada and they're even, even done in New Zealand and in Australia, I read. So it's a very, it's. It is celebration of Scotland and that tradition that you find there, which I thought was like pretty interesting. But these things come from agriculture, moving hay, building bridges, doing blacksmith work that you had to make tools and even weapons and things that helped in the agriculture to survive. So these survival tools and mechanisms developed into recreation and develop into something fun because it becomes a competition and just another way of how people simply took their environment and how they had the ingenuity and the imagination to kind of master it and develop it into something that only human beings can kind of do. [00:34:44] Speaker A: And you know, while I was learning more about I had to Google how much does a shot put weigh? Because I know you were. How much did you say the stone is at the stone throw or is that similar to shot put that I'm thinking about. [00:34:58] Speaker B: It's called. The traditional name is called putting the stone. [00:35:01] Speaker A: Putting the stone, putting the stone. [00:35:03] Speaker B: And there's a. The brimmer stone is thrown as a standing throw and you don't Approach it. And the, the Bramer Stone weighs 28 pounds. [00:35:11] Speaker A: Oh, heck. [00:35:13] Speaker B: Which is. It doesn't sound like a lot, but the technique of it makes it much heavier than you believe because it's dense into the, the, into the shot put ball. The open stone weighs about 20 pounds and you have the option of an approach. You can kind of go off one foot, you can generate that lower, lower body power like a twist. [00:35:33] Speaker A: And that's you see in shot put too, because. So I was looking up shot put weights and it looks like men, they compete with 16 pound shot puts and women compete with 8.8 pounds. So that's a quite, that's a big difference really from 28. Like, you're going from 28 to 16. I mean, when you're holding all that weight and you're like, it feels like your wrists. Like I've tried a few, couple times myself. I'm not going to do it again. I like the use of my hands, but I just don't have the strength there. But I don't know, it does weigh a lot more than it sounds like. You know, it sounds like, oh, like £20. Like, but you're holding it like it's really like a lot of the pressure and the tension is going to your fingers and like the tendons in your wrist is when you're using your, like you're using your upper arm strength and your back to put force into that throw. So it's, I don't know, there's a lot of different strength involved in a lot of different areas of your body. You wouldn't think it just, you know, imagining it up front, but like when you get out there and do it, and I hope you guys do on April 5, don't be surprised when you feel a little bit of, you know, tension and I don't know, it will definitely surprise you. [00:36:42] Speaker B: Yeah, we get. It's all about technique and I think the, the Appalachian Celts are going to be out there helping with us. So the, the technique is always very important not to hurt yourself. So. And they will be happy to teach you that. But just a really super fun thing to do. And you know, it's an excuse to wear a kilt, which is always, always a good thing. Yes. So if you don't have a kilt, go buy one. They're. They're on. Well, they're on a certain, a certain online marketplace I won't mention because I don't want to get busted for trying to advertise for them. But various online marketplaces, you can buy a kilt. So go pick one up. [00:37:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it's fun. And, you know, Nona's been really great about creating these events and things that create such and generate such a community interest. It's fun. And, you know, it's not just, you're not just learning something new. You're experiencing what, you know, previous humans have experienced, the way they, the ways they had fun. And it's just a full circle and like that human connection, human experience, I think. And Nona's done a great job of, you know, cultivating that through her international Ed program. Another event we don't want to forget about is a celebration of Irish Music with Finn McGill and Will McMorin. And that's going to be happening on March 20th from noon to 1pm in our Student Services Building, room A202. And that'll just be a really good compilation of Irish tunes played by a really accomplished musician, Finn McGill. He's from Asheville, North Carolina, and Northeast State's very own Will McMorin with our entertainment technology program. So you don't want to miss out on that. Step on by between classes, enjoy some tunes, enjoy some community. We look forward to seeing you there. In addition to that, the library, they have several setups. This month is Irish American Heritage Month. So our library, Wayne G. Basler Library, has several setups. Just, you know, we've got a children's section upstairs on our third floor. And then there is our main section here on the second floor right near the ref. Was that would, would that be the reference desk? Not the information desk, but the reference desk. And it's just a bunch of different books and, you know, really good reads on, you know, the history of Irish Americans, Irish influence in American culture and, you know, Canadian culture too. Yes, and many other cultures. I mean, with the celebrate, with the way St. Patty's Day is celebrated worldwide, like that's just a testament to how wide reaching, far spread Irish culture is, like you were saying earlier, Tom. So I don't know, it's just very interesting to dive into and you know, if you're interested in learning about new cultures or maybe your own genealogy, like are you Irish and you just don't know it? I mean, you know, a lot of interesting tidbits, but come visit Azlow Library. Learn something new. Teach your little one something new. We've got really engaging, vibrant books upstairs that will definitely appeal to children and you know, teach them most definitely tidbit or two on that Irish culture. [00:40:01] Speaker B: The Irish Irish literature is generally so brilliant. From James Joyce and I guess William Butler Yeats. And of course, Bram Stoker wrote the famous Dracula, which. I'm going to throw this in. [00:40:20] Speaker A: Whoa, wait. The creator of Dracula is Irish? [00:40:24] Speaker B: Yes. [00:40:25] Speaker A: I didn't know that. [00:40:27] Speaker B: Here's something else the researcher found out. It's sort of. I don't know if people learned this or thought this. Who influenced the creation of Dracula? Who was Dracula modeled after? One would think, or maybe traditionally holding. Well, some people think Vlad the Impaler from Eastern Europe because he was. Because of the drinking of blood and various horrible things like that. And not really sure about this. You'd have to research a little bit more about what Bram Stoker was thinking. But do you know of the Irish vampire legend of Albertach Abertach? A b H E R T a C H Obertok. He was a pagan who delved in black magic and kind of terrorized this village. He was kind of a dwarf, not a leprechaun, but a small. A small. Small in stature was absolutely. And he. According to a lot of Irish legend, he was the first vampire and very well could have. Could have influenced Stoker's story. According to legend, depending on what legend you read, what documentary you watch. Opera Talk was finally done in by Finn McCool, the legendary Irish giant and warrior. McCool had supernatural strength and he killed Abrar Taq, buried him and told the. Told the village that, okay, he's been put down and you are now safe. The next night, Ober talk rises and takes revenge upon the village, drinking the blood of many of the villagers. Finn McCool has to return to the village, seeks him out, and it's a lot harder to find him now because supposedly, according to legend, Abratok is one of the undead and he's roaming the Irish countryside. Finn McCool finds him, kills him again, does him in, buries him again, comes back and tells the village all is well. Well, two nights later, yep, Obertok returns and attacks the village again. And this time the villagers are kind of almost resigned to their fate that they think this he's evil and he's going to. Going to keep coming back. Well, word reaches McCool yet again that Abrar talk is on the loose and he consults a priest who tells Finn McCool this time you have to kill overtok, bury him upside down and put a rock on top of his grave in order to keep him buried and, you know, sending him to hell. I do suppose. [00:43:18] Speaker A: I'm so disturbed right now. [00:43:20] Speaker B: You know, this is so. This is a crazy one. I didn't really know like this until I was. We were trying to read up on some of these things. So McCool finds him again and you know, Fen Mikul was not a. Not a man to mess with. So he does him in, follows the priest's instructions, buries him upside down, puts a rock on the grave. To this day, there's a rock on a grave in a. In a rural Irish area that according to legend. Again, this is all legend, folks. This is, this is part of the great Irish literature, the great Irish legend, why we love it so much there. You'll find a rock on a grave up there that, that depending on who you talk to. That's where he's buried and talk did him in. It's what. [00:44:11] Speaker A: That's oper talk. [00:44:12] Speaker B: Opera talk. [00:44:12] Speaker A: So. Wow. So yeah, I'm disturbed. [00:44:18] Speaker B: I should have saved that for like. [00:44:19] Speaker A: He sounded just woo. That does sound like kind of Halloweeny, doesn't it? Like a little fist. [00:44:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:24] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah. I actually found something online. It was like he returned the next morning and he would have these villagers like cut their wrists and that's how he got the blood to drink. [00:44:35] Speaker B: Yes. [00:44:36] Speaker A: That is just. Yeah, I'm disturbed. Okay. That's just very. Wow. That's a lot. So Dracula may have derived from that legend. [00:44:48] Speaker B: Could have been. It seems odd that Bram would draw would go to like an Eastern European legend as opposed to something that very well he may have grown up with a little bit or known somewhat about in his home country. Who knows? Don't take our word for it. Google it. Read some books. Come to Basel Library and check out some books about Irish history. Or check out a book about anything you'd like to check out because we got them all here. [00:45:15] Speaker A: So then you too one day can host your own podcast talking about all things Irish. [00:45:21] Speaker B: Yes. [00:45:24] Speaker A: And this has been our St. Patrick's Day special edition episode of the Sound Barrier. Thank you for listening. You can listen to all the Sound Barrier episodes available on Amazon, Music, Spotify, Pandora, any place that streams, really, and especially on www.thenortheaststate.com the sound barrier. Thank you for joining us and hope you stay tuned for next.