A GUIDE TO NEW GAUL

    "Ireland not free only, but Gaelic as well; not Gaelic only, but free as well." With these goals, the Gaelic League was founded in 1892. Ireland had been battling for its freedom for over 350 years when these words were coined by one of Ireland's foremost poets, Padraig Pearse. Nevertheless, the idea of combining the fight against economic and political exploitation with the desire to revive a dying culture, was a new and daring political concept. So powerful an idea was it that to this day it remains the guiding light behind Irish popular politics, as well as being invoked by Breton, Welsh, Cornish, Manx, and even some Scots.

    The attempt to form small "nations as if people mattered" is as strong in Europe as it is in the United States, although <our> push toward such communities (having no common cultural heritage) is along bioregional lines, while theirs is along ancient language/culture/ethnic lines. Both are attempts to create workable human-scale communities from the depersonalization of vast nation-state/multi-national economies and political systems. Neither the U. S. Bioregional Movement, nor the Celtic Renaissance Movement seems to be aware of the other, however, nor of how each fits this general pattern, and it seems time to rectify this discrepancy. The successes of these movements do not make it into our newspapers or onto our television (what can you expect when 170,000 Germans holding hands 65 miles from Stuttgart to Neu Ulm to stop the placement of Cruise missiles barely makes the back pages?), so this lack of awareness is understandable.

    The commonality of these movements was first suggested to me by a little-known work called "The Overdeveloped Nations", by Leopold Kohr. In it, Kohr argues that the solution to today's persistent nagging national problems (including declining living standards, cyclical economic disruptions, and the necessity for growing government control over free enterprise systems) is the devolution of the world's over-sized nations to create workable human-scale states. To counter the often-mentioned argument that such states, divorced from their great protective national unions, would be economically unworkable, Kohr cites the economic success of such "unviable" states as Liechtenstein, Iceland, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium (he might have also included Guernsey). He also notes the greater economic health of such entities as the American colonies, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ghana after their separation from their former unions, as well as similar results from separations such as that of Austria from post-war Germany, Iceland from Denmark, Norway from Sweden, Egypt from Turkey, and Belgium from France. He further argues that re-federalizing the large nation-states of Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, U. S. S. R., and others, not to mention the U. S. (actually weren't we supposed to be a federal union originally?) will lead to a greater economic and social health for all.

    This creation of small human-scale states with a greater degree of autonomy from their large national masters is exactly what the proponents of re-emerging Celtic entities would like to see.SOME BACKGROUND

    Breizh (Brittany)

    One of the strongest pushes toward a re-emerging "Celtic" community these days is in Brittany. Few Americans are aware that the Bretons were involved in at least four revolts for their independence between the defeat of the Breton army in 1488 and the total annexation of Brittany to France in 1804, nor that there has been a continuous resistance to the French government's policies as far back as World War I. Since 1957, when L'Mouvement pour l'Organisation de la Bretagne (MOB) was formed, there has also been a constitutional party seeking domestic self-government within the French state. However, there is a major hurdle to this because, under French law, no Breton can "constitutionally" advocate Breton independence from France. Since June 4th, 1960, in fact, anyone who advocates the severance of French "territory", by any means, can receive perpetual imprisonment or lesser prison terms from 10 to 20 years. In the face of the illegality of advocating independence, several Breton parties have nevertheless worked toward devolution: the Union Democratic Bretonne (UDB) came into existence in 1963, seeking Breton independence on socialist lines within a federal Europe; Sav Breizh (Arise Brittany) was started in 1969; the MOB gave way to Strollad ar Vro (SAV) in 1971; and 1981 saw the formation of Strollad Pobl Vreizh, while Parti Pour l'Organisation de la Bretagne Libre (POBL) appeared in 1983. Perhaps strongest now is the UDB, which became a member of the French Left Alliance, by which means it exerts some influence on local councils.

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Sav+Breizh&btnG=Google+Search

    http://ethnisme.ben-vautier.com/

    www.coop-breizh.com

    www.arbedkeltiek.com There has also been a renewed push to revive the Breton language in the 1970s and 1980s. Three of the leading language movements are Skol an Emsav, Kuzul ar Brezhoneg, and Emgleo Breiz. There has been an outpouring of Breton language books, and a slow increase in Breton radio and television broadcasts. An announcement by then-French president Giscard d'Estaing in 1977 that would have allowed bilingual road signs, proper training for teachers, subsidies for nursery schools, degrees granted in Breton studies, and the teaching of "regional languages and cultures" in the schools was greeted with excitement; but when the much heralded "Cultural Charter" finally made its appearance, it fell far short of these promises.

    Other concessions from the French government also have proved disappointing: in 1983, in the Celtic Department of the Rennes-Villejean University, 550 students were studying first-year Breton/Celtic studies, 210 were taking their degree, and 45 were studying for a Masters, all served by only one professor. Of the two lecturers and three assistant lecturers, the lecturer in Welsh was paid by the British Council, and the lecturer in Irish sometimes received no pay at all, and students had to make collections to pay three assistants.

    Most recently, Francois Mitterand's Socialist government put forth a plan of "devolution", and an appointed Breton Assembly was allowed to meet in Rennes with the promise that this assembly would become elected by 1986. But the French government has a long way to go toward actually granting political or cultural autonomy, and in desperation at the resistance, a large number of the members of Skol an Emsav broke away in early 1984 to form a new movement called Stourm ar Brezhoneg with the stated aim of winning official status for the Breton language, as well as independence for Brittany.

    The controversial point of debate over independence in Brittany is, as always, around whether an autonomous Brittany would be economically viable. Proponents of separation point out that Brittany (or Breizh, as it is called in the Breton language) was a prosperous trading nation throughout the medieval period, and still is one of the wealthiest centers of farming and fishing in Europe - a prize plum which both England and France tried to annex; but since the subject cannot be publicly discussed, there is much envisioning to be done before the Bretons can begin to define such a future.Cymru (Wales)

    The Welsh also did not give up their independence easily; between their original defeat by the English in 1284, and the English act of Annexation in 1531, there were also at least three major revolts. The first political party to advocate Welsh independence was formed in 1888, but the continuing major one, Plaid Cymru, came about as a coalition of extreme and moderate republications (with a small "r") in 1925. They have done well, even though the one of the dominant parties, the Liberal Party, also advocates independence. Plaid Cymru ran into difficulty in World War II when advocating neutrality for Wales, but in the 1960s they regained some of their strength. In answer to this renewed voice, the British parliament passed a Welsh Language Bill in 1967, introduced a plan for local government in Wales, and set up an advisory Welsh Council. The establishment of a Welsh television channel, however, was not won from Prime Minister Thatcher until the leader of Plaid Cymru, M. P. Gwynfor Evans, announced he would go on a hunger strike if she did not keep her 1979 campaign promise to do so.

    The fight for preservation of the language in Wales has taken a slightly different direction than in Brittany. Since the Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg) was formed in 1962, campaigns have demanded status for the language in the post office, courts, local government, and other public amenities (through sending letters addressed in Welsh through the mails, etc.). There have also been strong protests against the large-scale sale of vacation home to English buyers, due in part to the housing shortage, but also to the influx of English-language speakers this causes. Public education in the English language, however, has been compulsory since 1870, and there is not yet signs of a change from this policy.Kernow (Cornwall) The area of Cornwall, in southwest England, has also been making a bid lately for self-determination and re-emergence as a cultural community. Their movement dates back only to the 1930s, with the establishment of Tyr ha Tavas (Land and Language) as a pressure group to lobby the English parliament. This was superseded with the establishment of Mebyon Kernow (Sons of Cornwall) in 1951. By 1966, Mebyon Kernow had the tremendous success of having three of Cornwall's five M. P.s openly advocating many of its major policies. In 1964, Mebyon Kernow made the change to a political party, and elected their first candidate in 1967.Mannin (Isle of Mann)

    Political moves toward re-establishment of an autonomous community in the Isle of Mann started most recently of all, with the establishment of a new political party called Mec Vannin (Sons of Mannin) in 1964. This also started as a pressure group supporting allies in the Manx parliament. Its first big disagreement with Westminster was its rejection of a bill of "outlaw" pirate radio stations in 1967; the station in question became "Manx Radio". That same year a committee of the Manx parliament also recommended that the Manx government switch its dealings with the United Kingdom from the Home Office to the Commonwealth Office. The Manx also have since instituted their own independent postal system, which has actually become a financial success.Eire (Ireland)

    Ireland, of course, is the most widely-known re-emerging Gaelic community, and the one which has regained the greatest amount of sovereignty. In 1986 the sovereignty is still only partial, however, not only in that Ulster is still under the direct control of the British government, but also in the fact that the Republic of Ireland's political system and constitution was never established through a popular process, and is by no means free enough of influences from the British economy and government, or the multi-national interests, to make decisions really worked out for the Irish people. The current government itself wobbled into existence unsteadily. The original granting of dominion status and partitioning took place in 1921; civil war followed; recognition of the Irish Dail (the parliament set up by England) did not come from those still advocating a whole Ireland until staunch republican Eamonn De Valera's Fianna Fail party finally ran for election to it. A constitution was not enacted until 1937, and the republic not officially declared until 1949.

    Ireland never seems to have had the chance to consider a system of government which might truly reflect the traditions and culture of the Irish people. This has resulted in a strange mixture of ebulliant feelings of unity among the citizenry of the Republic (typified by their often-sung favorite songs "We're On the One Road" and "A Nation Once Again"), with equally powerful feelings of lack of confidence, what's wrong with us?, why have we failed? Currently bombarded by the amenities of industrial civilization (television, cars, etc., which they certainly deserve after centuries of poverty), the Irish people seem to be suffering from a lack of vision of how things <might> be; which, in my personal view, is what the 1960s gave us in the U. S. Then too, Ireland is still recovering from being a third world economy for so many centuries. The growth of a middle class may make travel easier for a greater number of Irish in the coming generation, allowing comparison with what's going on in other countries, and perhaps leading to greater ability to formulate dreams for the future and better define what makes Ireland unique.

SIMILARITY TO OTHER MOVEMENTS

    All in all, the Irish and their fellow Celts do have a past worth going back to. Celtic folklore and traditional thinking, in fact, present a culture not too unlike the cultures of indigenous peoples around the world, including that of the Native American peoples which many of us in the U. S. are looking to for inspiration. A strong comparison could be made between the goals of Gaelic nationalism, the goals of American bioregional movements, and those of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Commonalities include attachment to a particular locality, preference for local government, environmental consciousness, pushes toward self-sufficiency, pride in traditional culture, respect for the wisdom of the elders, belief in the need to rebuild community from the ground up, and belief in working locally as well as nationally.

    However, unlike the U. S. focus on the preservation of the environment and alternatives to national policies, the key to re-emergence of New Gaul seems to be language revival. (When asked how best to help the Celtic political movements, proponents reply, "Speak the language.") Having watched groups of Europeans singing together the songs they have sung since childhood, I can testify to how strong a reinforcement such a common basis can be. How to recover it is the controversial question. The languages were lost in all cases by compulsion, and many feel they must be reinstated by compulsion. However, in Ireland, where this was attempted by teaching Irish (what American have come to call "Gaelic") in the elementary schools. with all the usual memorization and grammar, many Irish have developed a bad taste for learning and using the language. Myself, I believe that the languages will be reborn when songs start to be written and sung in them. After all, many Germans say they learned English because of American rock and roll, and the British often have learned American English - as opposed to their own Cockney or Liverpudlian - in order to sing in the mass media. Looked at in this light, the appearance of musical groups singing and writing in the native tongue is a very hopeful sign.

    I spoke to one young German tourist in Ireland (Germans have practically adopted Ireland the way San Francisco hippies did Marin and Sonoma - land is cheap and there are no restrictions on foreign citizens purchasing it, and there are many entrepreneurial opportunities; Celtic music is also very popular in Germany) who expressed grave concern over a nationalism he feared was implied in the new push toward Celtic autonomy, a nationalism accompanied at musical concerts by group repetition of slogans and giving of the power salute (fear of nationalism has become the new German angst, thankfully). But I don't think this is the direction things are going. Despite their focus on revival of ancient ways, many of the advocates of the Celtic revival also support anti-nuclear, environmental, and protection of the third world programs, and in fact, often make their voices known through parties supporting these foremost. I came away with the feeling that it is not a nation above others that is advocated, but a nation among nations; after centuries of subjugation, there is a need to find themselves first before being able to enter into agreements <with their own voice> with the international community.

    It also doesn't appear to me to be a lack that problems are not defined by a need to form bioregions. In the U. S., bioregional movements, inspired by the thinking of Peter Berg and his Planet Drum News, are working to redefine community by looking at how we fit into natural geographic regions that have common characteristics of climate, water flow, native plants and animals, etc. Using such characteristics to define our communities can be an important step for us in defining common goals for how our lives should be, enabling like-minded folks to find each other and work together among the amorphous masses which surround us in our populous areas. There is no need to reawaken such a sense of place among a people who have been living in the same one for generations. Ireland, for example, still has most of its trout streams, and when people figure out that industrialization may pollute their local fishing stream, there may be strong opposition. (A trip to Ireland leads to the discovery that a vast number of Irish songs sung there, as opposed to the rabble-rousing, drinking Irish songs which we hear in the U. S., are romantic songs about the beauty of particular spots of land, or stories about how much the singer misses them. This dicotomy is not surprising, for a song about the beauty of Ballyshannon or the valley of Strathmore means a great deal more to someone who has driven by them on the way to market numerous times since childhood and seen them covered with flowers or deep in snow, then to those of us to whom they are only nice-sounding names.) Some significant ecology actions have taken place in the Celtic movement already: against the nuclear power station planned at Plogoff near Cap Sizhun (1980); against a pipeline and an aqueduct taking water from the Claerwen reservoir and the Elan Valley in Wales to Birmingham, England (1952 and 1954) and the attempt to flood the Tryweryn Valley to provide water for Liverpool (1957); and for a demilitarization of the Island of Manx, and a declaration of it as a nuclear-free zone (1977).

    In the Celtic nations, the real battleground will probably be in economics, against the powers of the multi-nationals, much as it is in so many third world nations. Ireland, for example, no longer produces ANY of its own food, even the potato! (Though the country appears mostly rural, most land is devoted to raising either beef cattle or wool sheep as cash crops for export.) The Cornish are upset about the use of their country for vacation homes by the British, which has turned the area into a Coney Island tinsel town. Self-sufficiency is of course highly elusive in modern times, but when most of your younger generation has to migrate in order to find jobs, it irks the soul. And the older folk in these places are already reminiscing about the good times before the automobile made travel easy and unimportant (although no one believed it when I mentioned that there were places like San Francisco that already had so many automobiles that there were no places to park).

    For those of us on other continents, the localized political battles of the Celtic Renaissance Movement seem equally far away, exotic, and out-of-touch. But the summer of 1985?? (unfortunately the wettest in a hundred years), Ireland had more American visitors than it had ever had before, and more American visitors than from any other country. The Celtic lands, traditional vacationlands for the English, are being yearly discovered by many of us interested in a culture that still has strong ties to the land (much to the bewilderment of the average Irish citizen, who can't quite fathom what attraction Irish culture has to folks of other nations - few of them have experienced how un-nation-like the U. S. is). Not only does the Guinness and music flow freely, but the Irish, Bretons, and Welsh (and perhaps others which I was not able to visit) are eager to hear about the outside world and share their culture.

    So, if you're thinking of visiting, here is a guide to some ways to connect with the growing cultural renaissance. They'll probably be surprised, but glad to hear from you; most are aware that the movement is unknown outside the area. Unfortunately, us English speakers probably are more of a hindrance than help in their language revival, but buying their indigenous-language records and books will help get more of them recorded and published.


SHOPS AND CENTERS:

    Breizh (Brittany):

    Ar bed Keltiek, 2, rue Gradlon, Quimper (across from the tourist office) (the grand-daddy of the rest)

    Ar bed Keltiek, Place Guerin, St-Martin, Brest

    Paradoz Ar Celted, 22, Rue du Mur, Morlaix

    Enez Avalon, 11, Rue St. Pierre, Nantes (opened June 1985) (near the cathedral)Eire (Ireland):

    Celtic Bookshop, 6 Harcourt Street, Baile Atha Cliath [Dublin] 2

    Claddath Records, 2 Cecilia Street, Baile Atha Cliath [Dublin] 2

    The Irish Record Shop, Green Street, Dingle, County Kerry

    An Cafe Litearta, Dingle, County Kerry (owned by a German who strongly encourages the use of the Irish language and stocks a great collection of Irish language and culture books and records; write for their catalog)United States:

    Galway Traders, 7518 - 15th Avenue, NW, Seattle, Washington 98117 - (206) 784-9343

    Celtic Crafts, P. O. Box 443, Occidental, California 95465 (Imports from Ar bed Keltiek in Quimper)

FESTIVALS:

    Breizh [Brittany]:Pan-Celtic Festival, L'Orient, July (go to this one if you can't get to any others)

    Fete de Cornouaille, Quimper, July

    Grand Traditional Folk Festival, Qimperle (Finistere), May

    Dozens of festivals in small towns in July, plus "Fest Noz's" (small village evening dance and music gatherings) announced on posted flyers

    For information on dates, contact French Tourist Offices (no earlier than March) for brochure "France in Holiday Mood".

Eire [Ireland]:

    Fleagh Cheoil nhEireann, end of August, different town every year (Irish Tourist Office has information) - grand-daddy of them all; a three day bash of pub-singing and Guiness-drinking attended by every Irish traditional musicians who can make it, since 1951.

    Fleadh Nua, May.

Mannin [Isle of Mann]:

    Yn Chruinnaght (The Gathering) - week-long inter-Celtic festival revived from its origin in the 1920s.

Kernow [Cornwall]:

    Lowender Peran Inter-Celtic Festival, held at Perranporth, Cornwall in October 1985. For information: Mrs. Pat Crewes, 8 Tywarnhayle Road, Perranporth.



RECORDS:

    Bretonne: Alan Stivell / Ars Korrigan / Dan Ar Bras / Gilles Servat / Gweltaz (Chantes Celtique) / Gwendal / Kouerien / Kornog / Myrdhin (harp) / Sonerien Du / Tri Yann (Suite Gallaise; Si Mort A Mors; Dix Ans Dix Filles; An Naoned) / Triskell

    Irish: The modern outpouring of traditional Irish music all dates back to one evening in 1960 when Sean O'Riada, a legendary musician in his own right and a professor of music, gathered together eight musicians at his home in Dublin and taught them to play traditional Irish music in ways they had never considered before (using harmonies and orchestration of the various traditional instruments). Five of these later formed the Chieftains, who have become legendary in Ireland and who have inspired the formation of The Bothy Band, De Danaan, Planxty, Clannad, Horslips, and numerous others. There is also an international organization of traditional Irish musicians, formed in 1951, called Comholtas Ceoltoiri Eireann (main office is Belgrave Square, Monkstown, County Dublin). They originated and hold the Fleagh Cheoil each year, plus many other festival and events.Alba [Scotland]: Tannahill Weavers / Silly WizardDown Home

BOOKS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS:

    The Celtic Revolution by Peter Berresford Ellis; Y Lolfa Cyf., Talybont, Ceredigion SY24 5HE, Wales, 1985 (available at Ar bed Keltiek in Quimper)

    Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction by George Bain; New York: Dover, 1973 (originally Glasgow, 1951).

    The Book of Conquests; The Silver Arm; Erinsaga: all by Jim Fitzpatrick, a young Irish artist who has heard the Celtic tales since childhood, studied modern art and graphics, and fasts for inspiration to do these volumes of the ancient tales with traditional Celtic motifs; information from De Danaan Press, 148 Sandyford Road, Dundrum, Dublin, 17.

    Carn: Quarterly Periodical of the Celtic League; membership and subscriptions ($14 U. S.): Alan Heusaff, General Secretary, 9 Br. Cnoc Sion, Dromchonrach, Ath Cliath [Dublin] 9, Eire; OR Alexei Kondratiev, U. S. Correspondence Co-ordinator, P. O. Box 322, Rego Park, N. Y. 11374. (Articles in various Celtic languages plus English on many issues of the Celtic revival.)

    Breizh (10 issues/year for 100 Francs); CCP 2 135 53 V Rennes, Brittany.

    An Baner Kernewek (The Cornish Banner) (5 Pounds English, 6.5 Pounds Airmail); CNP Publications, Trelispen, Gorran, St. Austell, Kernow [Cornwall].

FILMS:

    Celtic Film and Television Festival held in Cardiff, Wales each April?

    Jowan Chy an Horth, directed by Sarah Smart Wood for Vegville Enterprises (in Cornish) (1984)

    An Canker Seth -- An Scath (The Crab Pot - The Boat), directed by J. Phillips for Television South West Ltd. (in Cornish) (1984)

    Ny Kirree Fo Niaghtey (The Sheep Under the Snow), directed by Shorys y Creayrie for Foillan Films of Laxey (first film ever in Manx) ( 1984)

    How about someone organizing a touring (sub0titled) Celtic Film Festival??