The Two Christmas Cake Finished

 

Here are the two Christmas cakes with the icing.  One has royal icing and the other fondant. I wanted to do a more ambitious decorating job, but I did not have the things I needed to do so.  

The royal icing one, that's the plain one on the right, has been served.  It is excellent.  Success.  

Winter Solstice and Io Saturnalia!!!

 

Father Christmas looking a bit like Saturn here

Today is the Winter Solstice. This is the astronomical first day of Winter and it is the shortest day of the year, in the Northern Hemisphere.  The Winter Solstice has been celebrated and venerated for many thousands of years. 

On the winter's solstice the sun is low in the sky. The sun's path begins northward again and will reach the most northerly point on the summer solstice. If you step out at noon today your shadow will be the longest of the year. 

Saturnalia Holly and Candle

Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, Hellenic, etc., people all celebrated the Winter Solstice. Due to the Roman conquest of most of western Europe the Roman Winter Solstice traditions survived in Britain and in much of Europe. In the Roman world the Winter Solstice festival was Saturnalia. Many of the traditions of Saturnalia have endured and have been assimilated into our own Christmas customs. 

The giving of gifts, decorating homes with evergreen boughs, ivy and holly. Candles were given as gifts and used to celebrate the season. 

Saturnalia is named after the god Saturn. The etymology of Saturn is from the Proto Indo European word sewH(r) which means 'seed, bring forth.' Saturn is connected to agriculture, and he is often conflated with the Greek Chronos. The two entities come from a single Indo-European spiritual cosmology concept. While it is a different topic, there is a link between the Spirit of Christmas, or Father Christmas, and the traditions and rituals from Saturnalia. 

During Saturnalia a man was selected to portray Saturn. He was the king of Saturnalia and he encouraged the activities and brought seasonal cheer to the people. He is remarkably like our Father Christmas.  

The proxy for Saturn at the festival

During Saturnalia people would enthusiastically proclaim Io Saturnalia to each other. Even in medieval times Io Saturnalia was a common greeting at Christmas time. 

Saturnalia included the serving of roast pork, which was the traditional sacrifice to the god Saturn. The festival ran from 17 to 23 December.  On 22 of December gifts were given. Common gifts included small figurines called sigillaria, combs, hats, lyres, hunting knives, oil lamps, candles, perfumes, wine cups, spoons, writing tablets, dice and other gaming pieces, etc. There were also the Saturnalia treats such as cake. The Saturnalia cake included nuts and fruit and that tradition also has survived in the form of our Christmas Cake.

By the late 4th century, the Christian churches extended their control over Europe and they chose the date of 25 December as their Christmas. This allowed them to incorporate the celebration of Christ's birth with the still popular Saturnalia and other pagan festivals around Europe. It was a clever bit of marketing you might say, and the old traditional pagan Winter Solstice festivals were now linked to the Christian holiday. 

The decorating of homes with winter greenery, lighting of candles, the eating and drinking together, and giving and receiving gifts, are all traditions we still carry out. 

So, a Wonderful Winter Solstice, a Merry Christmas, and also Io Saturnalia, to you all. 

© Barry R McCain 2021

 

McCain Christmas Cake, an Update

 The McCain Christmas Cake... an update, the marzipan tops put on. 

Two photos of my work this morning.  I made the marzipan and placed it on the now cured fruit cake. I had never made marzipan, nor had I ever placed it on a cake. The first one a little ragged, but still nice looking. The second one nice and neat as I learned from the first one. I am satisfied with them.

I had a wee taste of the marzipan and it is excellent. I made it from fine ground almonds, powdered sugar (i.e. icing sugar), egg whites (pasteurized), almond extract, and a small amount of vanilla extract. The marzipan was easy to make in fact. The two cakes will be iced with royal icing in a couple days, with some seasonal decoration a top.  

© Barry R McCain 2021

McCain Christmas Cake

A Christmas Cake From Several Years Ago

This is my Irish Christmas Cake. I had several requests for its recipe. However, I am one of those type of cooks that does not use precise measurements. In addition, I am a very good cook of meats and main dishes. I am expert level at smoking beef, pork, etc. I rarely cook anything sweet and so my experience at cooking cakes is that of a rank amateur.  Be that as it may, here is my version of the Irish Christmas Cake.  This type of cake is a fruit and nut cake, which is typical in the Isles (i.e. the UK and Ireland). There are many variations of it, this is a type I have eaten in Ireland. It is still made in Ireland and popular there. 

The ingredients prior to mixing

You soak the fruit, raisins, currants, nuts, lemon zest, orange zest, is a glass bowl to which you add at least a 1/2 cup of Irish whiskey. I also add vanilla and almond extract. I let this concoction soak over night. 

The next day I sat out the eggs, butter, and brown sugar, as I like to work with them at room temperature. 

I cream the butter and sugar well, then add the eggs one at a time. I then fold in the fruit, raisin, and nuts.

I add the spices to the flour along with a pinch of salt. I then fold in the flour to the well mixed butter, sugar, and eggs.  This makes a fairly thick batter. If you feel the batter is too thick, just add some Irish whiskey to it. 

The batter

I use a springform cake pan. I grease the pan with coconut oil, which is thick like butter or lard. Then I double line the pan with parchment paper. I cut rounds for the bottom, and strips for the sides. I use more of the coconut oil to 'glue' the paper down and make it behave.  

Work area, with my notes and Springform pan

I then put the batter in the pan, smooth it down and make it even. Then I put more parchment paper around the outside of the pan (don't need to grease this of course) so that it is several inches above the top of the springform pan and I tie a piece of twine around this to hold it there. 

I place this in the oven. The cooking temperature is 275 Fahrenheit. Depending on your oven, the cake will cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  You test it by sticking a wooden toothpick in it to see if it comes out clean. You should be able to tell if it is done just by looking at the cake. 

Ready to go into the Oven

 

The Cake done and cooling

Let it cool a bit, then remove all the parchment paper. Carefully, flip the cake so the bottom is upright. I use a wooden chopstick to poke a good ten holes into the cake, I then do the first feeding, i.e. add about a 1/2 cup of whiskey.  I then wrap the cake in parchment paper and tinfoil and place it in a cake carrier or cake serving dish, the type with a top on it. 

You can feed the cake each week, or more if you like. This makes for a moist cake and a wonderful flavour. 

The two cakes I recently made are now being seasoned, i.e. fed whiskey.  I will not decorate them until the week of Christmas.  Putting icing on this type of Christmas Cake is optional. It is fine to leave it as is, but this year I wanted to do something special. One cake will have a marzipan and royal icing top, the other cake will have a marzipan and fondant top. I will update this blog post with photos of the decorated cakes. 

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups of fruit; I used diced orange peel and apricots on one cake and diced orange peel, apricots, and dried figs on the other. I used the pre diced orange peel you get from your grocery store. 

1 1/2 cups of raisins and or currants.

1 cup of blanched slivered almonds.

zest of an Orange and zest of a Lemon and the juice of each. 

add whiskey and let soak over night. 

2 1/8 cups of all purpose flour, sifted. 

1 cup of almond flour, sifted. 

Salt, a healthy pinch

Spices... All Spice, Nutmeg, ground Cloves, Ginger, Cinnamon, and Mace.  I used at least a heaping teaspoon of each. Probably more of the All Spice, Nutmeg, and Ginger. I did not use as much Cinnamon as it can drown out the other spices I feel. 

5 eggs

2 sticks of butter, use Kerrygold if you have it.

1 cup of Brown Sugar, some recipes use more than this, more like 1 and 1/4 cup, but I feel like this is too much. 

Irish Whiskey as needed 

The history of the Christmas Cake is interesting. First, there is a lot of speculation and theories on the internet and in print on this subject. I will offer a short history here. First of all, the tradition of a cake presentation for the Winter Solstice is old. A cake was done for Saturnalia in ancient Rome. This festival celebrated the Winter Solstice and was dedicated to the god Saturn  (i.e. Cronos). The cake was a fruit and nut cake, probably much like the Italian Pan Forte. A bean was baked into the cake and who ever received the piece with the bean was pronounced Lord of the festivities. He took the place of Saturn that is to say. Over the years Saturnalia morphed into Christmas, but the Saturnalia Cake, or now the Christmas Cake, tradition endured and continued. 

This tradition is related to other 'cakes' that are also called a King Cake and a 12th Night Cake. The Christmas Cake, 12th Night Cake, and King Cake, while different in function these days, do share a common origin. The Saturnalia Cake lived on and was given a Christian context. By the 1500s, well to do folk in the Isles were producing a cake much like our modern Christmas Cake, a dense cake, with fruit, raisins, nuts, etc., and was often topped with a marzipan layer and icing. During Victorian times the Christmas Cake became the institution it is today. 

Merry Christmas and Io Saturnalia and enjoy your Christmas Cake this year. 

© Barry R McCain 2021     

Cracker, An Etymology

 

From Lonesome Dove, Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, both men carry Gaelic origin surnames, and are archetypal 'Cracker' cowboys.
 

What is the etymology of the term Cracker?  

We all know what a Cracker was and still is.  It is a Southern Anglo-Celt from the backcountry and Uplands. It is a historical term, but still in use today.  Many were of Scots-Irish origin, but there were also a lot of Crackers who were Irish or Scots in origin.  The term appears in use by the mid-1700s in Colonial America.  An eighteenth-century definition of what a Cracker provides a good description of one from an anglocentric perspective; in 1776 a Colonial official wrote to the earl of Dartmouth:

I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers, a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascals on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their place of abode.

Cracker is still a much used term.  Dubious sources, such as Wikipedia, tell us it is a “usually derogatory term for white people.” Wikipedia also offers a proposed etymology of the term coming from the sound of the “whips” used by Southern whites on their livestock. Obviously, this is total nonsense and shows a complete ignorance of Irish and Scottish culture.  

The real story is more complex and comes from Ireland. The original Crackers are associated with free range cattle and were drovers that lived in the backcountry. The original Crackers were generally from Ireland, and as we have mentions, primarily of Scots-Irish ancestry.  That much is on firm ground, but the etymology of the word Cracker is more difficult to deduce, but I believe it is also linked to Ulster.

two Florida Crackers by Frederic Remington

There are several possible etymology origins, the foremost is the Gaelic word Creachadóir.  It is an Ulster Gaelic and Scots Gaelic (Creachadair) word meaning, “raider and freebooter,” but also associated with the free range cattle drovers in Ulster and the wider Gaelic world. Cracker is the anglicized form of Creachadóir. 

A related word is Creach (Ulster Gaelic) which means a “herd of cattle,” and also a “Cattle raid.”  You will also find the word Greigh in Scots Gaelic meaning a “herd of cattle.”  There is also the Scots-Gaelic word Gréighear meaning a “farm grieve.”  (someone who took care of livestock). With all these Gaelic words, there is a connection, i.e. to cattle and cowboys.    

Having stated my opinion of the etymology, I will also mention another etymology for Cracker.  However, I do not think it is correct. 

Another suggested etymology which appears in media  is Cracaire. This Gaelic  word means “talker” or a person that chats a lot and is related to the modern Irish word “Craic” meaning “a gathering where people talk, have refreshments, and have a good time.”  As far as I can tell, the use of Cracaire and Craic are more recent in their use in the Gaelic language and so this is not the etymology of Cracker. And, is also not remotely related to cattle and cattle drovers. 

Arizona Cowboy, Frederic Remington

The salient element is the linking of Crackers to cattle and the drovers, or cowboys. Creach was anglicized as Creacht and was used by the Elizabethan English to describe both a herd of cattle and the drovers (cowboys) of the herd.  These men were also used for raiding parties.  So in actual use a Creacht was both a free range cowboy and raider. Creachadóir is a related word is specifically the word for the cowboy. So Creach and Creachadóir both relate to Cracker. 

In modern Gaelic usage the older meaning of free range cowboy has been dropped and now the definition is “raider and freebooter, ” but in the historical context a cowboy and raider were the same thing. 

We are left with Cracker being an anglicized form of a Gaelic origin word. It could be Creachadóir or it could be from Creach with an English 'er' suffix added.  The two words and concepts are then related and mean cowboys and cattle. I think Creachadóir to be the best etymology. Creachadóir in use in Ireland and Scotland, anglicized as Cracker and brought to the Colonies in the 1700s, by the large influx of Ulster origin settlers to the Southern Uplands and Backsettlements. 

Cowboy, Frederic Remington

Despite Wikipedia and the other pop media, Cracker is not considered derogatory among the Crackers living in the South today. The opposite is true, it is an often used term of ethnic self-description and one of pride. Crackers are considered independent, self-reliant, to act in honorable ways, to be adept at hunting, fishing, to be proficient with weapons, and will not suffer rude behaviour from people.  As the Southern Crackers settled Texas and the Southwest they became the Cowboy, which was just a cultural continuum of their unique lifestyle. 

© 2021 Barry R McCain 

Link:  Finding the McCains 

An Fhéasóg Gheal

 

THERE are more worlds than one

 

THERE are more worlds than one, and in many ways

 they are unlike each other. But joy and sorrow, or, in

 other words, good and evil, are not absent in their

 degree from any of the worlds, for wherever there is

 life there is action, and action is but the expression of

 one or other of these qualities.

      After this Earth there is the world of the Shí.

 Beyond it again lies the Many-Coloured Land. Next

 comes the Land of Wonder, and after that the Land of

 Promise awaits us. You will cross clay to get into the

 Shí; you will cross water to attain the Many-Coloured

 Land; fire must be passed ere the Land of Wonder is

 attained, but we do not know what will be crossed for

 the fourth world.

 

James Stephens, from his story ‘Becuma of the White Skin.'

Barry R McCain

Sarah Pearl McCain née Tweedy

 Sarah Pearl McCain née Tweedy... born 1883 and passed in 1962. My grandmother, she gave me insight into another world. As I like to put it, she read Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories as they came out. Being with a person that grew up in the 1800s was interesting for me. The language was different, the intonation different, the concepts different. Of course, I just liked it, only many years later did I realise what a special time that was in my life and what a valuable gift she gave me.  

Her house (obviously) had no TV and there was a radio, but it was rarely turned on. She had the Second Sight, as do many in her Tweedy family, both past and present. I learned much from her.

Barry R McCain 

Autumnal Equinox 22 September 2021

 

Sliabh Na Caillí Meath

Today is the Autumnal Equinox. The begins the Fall season in the Northern Hemisphere. The days grow shorter and there is more night than day. In Gaelic it is called Cónacht Fómhair and it is the last quarter day of the year. The shortening evenings will bring us cooler temperatures and we await the darker, colder days of Winter. It is a time for reflection and remembrance of our ancestors. The green leaves turn brown, bronze, yellow, red and russet, and remind us of the great cycle. It is an enjoyable time of the year. 

On Sliabh Na Caillí, in County Meath, the rising sun of today illuminates the central chamber of this very ancient Sí (mound). This ancient burial place is indeed very old, ever older than Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange).  

Sliabh Na Caillí is also the Sí of An Cailleach Bhéara. Sliabh Na Caillí means the 'mountain of the Cailleach.' Cailleach is translated as 'the Hag,' but really means the 'Veiled woman.'  The woman is Béara, one of the Sí and is a mysterious Bean Sí (Faerie woman, or literally 'woman of the mound').  I had an interesting encounter with her one day on her mountain, the details of which I put in the last chapter of my book 'Finding the McCains.'  The photo at the top is my son Donovan on top of Sliabh na Caillí. 

Barry R McCain on Sliabh na Caillí

The Autumnal Equinox is a splendid day, a day to light a fire, pour a libation or three, and reflect upon the season change and to remember one's ancestors.  Here in the wooded hills of north Mississippi the weather is perfect, cool with bright sunshine. There will be a fire in the firepit tonight for sure. I encourage everyone to mark and enjoy this special day. Turn off your TVs, go outside and enjoy the Autumnal Equinox.

© Barry R McCain  

Summer Solstice 2021

 

Dagda 

This is the Summer Solstice today.   It is the Midsummer festival which is often celebrated with a bonfire.  Saint John the Baptist was associated with the festival in Christian times and there were prayers for God's blessing upon the corps at the height of the growing season.  Of course, the festival is much older than St John and dates back to pagan times.  St John was a relative newcomer to the Midsummer event and it was none other than An Dagda, also known as Crom, who used to bless the crops. 

In astronomical speak, it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere... and the shortest night of the year.  Midsummer is, and has been, a prominent cultural event in ancient Europe and still going strong in the 21st Century.  

Sucellus (Dagda's cognate in Gaul)

Midsummer is celebrated on or near the Summer's Solstice throughout Northern Europe.  Festivals and celebrations are held from 19 June to 25 June.  Midsummer festivals are held throughout Ireland on the weekend closest to the actual Solstice day.  Bonfires lit on the hill tops are a tradition. 

It customary to have a fire on the eve, or on the night, of the Solstice and advisable to run and jump over the fire to evoke the blessings of Dagda.  A toast to the Solstice, to Dagda and to ole St John as well, all advisable.  A bonfire is best, but a small fire in a fire-pit we do splendidly.  And for those apartment dwellers, it is fine to just light the candle and open the wine and make your toast.

So, Shake a Leg and Pull a Cork and Welcome in the Solstice!!!



Barry R McCain

May Day... Lá Bealtaine

 

May Day... Lá Bealtaine

Beltane is the anglicised name of the Gaelic May Day festival.  May Day is on 1 May and is held on or near the halfway mark between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It is one of the oldest and most ancient festival days. It is widely observed in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, and in modern times has spread to the Diaspora.  In Irish Gaelic it is called Lá Bealtaine, in Scottish Gaelic, Là Bealltainn, an in Manx Gaelic Laa Boaltinn.  Beltane is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasa.  There are several theories on the etymology of Beltane; the most accepted one is that it is from the common Celtic Belo-tenia, meaning 'bright or shinning fire,' which in turn goes back to the Indo-European 'Bhel (to shine) tepnos (warm).

It is not a 'fire festival,' but fire is a integral part of the festivities.  Prior to modern times it was a festival to mark and celebrate the moving of livestock to summer pastures, to honour the Old Ways and old gods, and evoke blessing of fertility of the tribe and the life giving cattle.  

Beltane is mentioned in the earliest written Gaelic literature when Christian monks began to write down Gaelic lore and myths in early medieval times.  The medieval accounts were ancient even then and date back before Christianity was introduced to the Gaelic homelands. 

On the Beltane Eve the festival began.  The people gathered to feast, have drink, and make offerings to the Aos Sí, who are the old gods of the Gaels.  Byres, the windows and doors of homes, etc., were decorated with flowers.  It was a joyous festival ushering in the bountiful time when the days grew longer, the sun shined more, and the weather grew warmer.

Belenus

Beltane survived the coming of Christianity and continued on for centuries, despite the attempts of overly zealous Christian officials who wanted to stop the practice, as they were fully aware of the pagan origins of Beltane.  By the 20th century the festival had almost died out and was only celebrated and practiced in certain areas in Ireland, Scotland, and Man.  In the late 20th century there was a revival of Beltane festivities.  The focus of Beltane changed some in these more modern times, but the main core beliefs did remain.  The concept of the season change, the coming of the sun, and the start of the season of growth and plenty, etc., remain.

Dagda

Fire was and is an integral part of Beltane.  All fires were put out on Beltane Eve and then rekindled starting with the lighting of the bonfire.  It was this holy flame from which the 'new' flames of the the folk began.  It was the 'force fire' and sacred.   Many will recognise the fire ritual as the same ritual used in the Catholic Church and several other Christian denominations in the Easter lighting of the Paschal candle.  There are too many Beltane nuances and rituals to describe here, but there is one core aspect of the ritual.  This is a Deiseal procession around the sacred fire.  Deiseal means 'right-hand direction' or Sunwise (clockwise).   The Deiseal procession around the sacred fire was a Blessing of the Cosmos upon all. 

Beltane is still celebrated and the practice is growing.  It is now held not only in the Gaelic homeland, but in the Diaspora, and has been incorporated into similar May Eve and May Day celebrations in Europe.  While many see Beltane as just a good time with a bonfire, there is also a growing interest in the spiritual aspects of the festival.  The concepts of the a new growing season, the connection to the Old Ways of ancestors, and reflection upon life, are also now part of Beltane for a growing number of people.

a sacred fire of Bealtaine

Do enjoy Beltane.  A bonfire is best way to partake of course and with a Deiseal (clockwise) procession around the sacred fire.  Followed by toasts to the Old Ways, to Ancestors, to the coming season of Summer.  If you lack the means of a bonfire, a candle will do, or even a wee fire in your fire-pit.  Connect with your Ancestors and the Old Ways, as these are very good things. 

Sláinte ar Lá Bealtaine

Barry R McCain on Amazon

Imbolc and Saint Bríd's Day

 

Cros Bríde (Bríde's Cross) made of rushes

 

Today is Imbolc one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals. Imbolc is the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The festival is associated with the goddess Bríd, who is one of Tuatha Dé. Bríd was the protectress of hearth and home, and of barns and livestock. She was invoked to bless the agrarian and pastoral production in the coming year.  Imbolc has been celebrated from ancient times to the present.  

In Christian times, Bríd was made into a Saint and there are many traditions and customs associated with Saint Bríd in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.  Imbolc is called Lá Fhéile Bríde also, i.e. the festival of Bríd.   

How to celebrate in the these modern times: Light a candle, a deiseal procession (sunwise or clock wise) three times around the fire and a toast.  This practice is called Saining i.e. a blessing, protection or consecrating. In this case to invoke Bríd... both the Naomh Bríd (saint Bríd) or Bríd, the ancient goddess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© 2020 Barry R McCain

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The Future

 To best way to predict the Future, your future, our tribe's future...

is to create it, with your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Do the work. 

© 2021 Barry R McCain

Finding the McCains