Irish poems or folklore stories with forests

rocky2

Hello,

I am hoping that someone may be able to guide me towards a Irish book/ poem/ folklore or historical story, where a forest has a central role of importance.

Thank you in advance.

rocky 2

Agonist

rocky2 wrote: »

Hello,

I am hoping that someone may be able to guide me towards a Irish book/ poem/ folklore or historical story, where a forest has a central role of importance.

Thank you in advance.

rocky 2

I thought of this one straight away but it only mentions an oak or a willow, not a whole forest. There are loads of versions, not sure which is most accurate.
See what you think.
http://www.iol.ie/~askeabns/photo.htm

legend of Laibhradh Loingseach wrote:

[FONT=times new roman, times]Long long ago there lived in Leighlinbridge, Carlow a troubled king. This kings name was Labhraidh Loingseach. He had a terrible secret. He had the ears of a donkey!! To hide his awful secret, he let his hair grow very long.However, he had to get his hair cut every year. To keep his donkeys ears a secret he had the poor barber killed!![/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman, times] One year, a widow's son was chosen to be the unfortunate barber.The boy's mother pleaded with the king for her son's life.The widow's tears melted the king's cruel heart. The king promised to save the boy's life if he kept the secret.[/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman, times] After the boy had cut the king's hair, he became very ill. His mother took him to a druid. He told the boy to tell his terrible secret to an oak tree .The boy did this and immediately felt better.[/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman, times] At the same time the King's musician was looking for a new harp. He went out and had a tree chopped down from which he made a new harp.That night, the king asked his musician or Bard as they were called to play on his new harp. The bard started to play but the song that came out was "Labhraidh Loingseach has donkey's ears!! Labhraidh Loingseach has donkeys ears!!" Now everyone knew his secret!! However the King stayed in power as everyone was too afraid of him. The good news though, was that no more barbers were killed! [/FONT]

chasmcb

Tom Murphy's play The Morning After Optimism is set in a forest.

Here's a summary from an Abbey production a few years ago: "The Morning After Optimism is a surreal fantasy about false hopes and the death of illusions which impair our ability to deal with reality. Set in a forest, the play begins with the arrival of James and Rosie, a pimp and a whore. World-weary and insecure, Rosie and James are grown-up children trying to emerge into adulthood. In the forest they encounter the fairytale-like Edmund and Anastasia and as the story unfolds we are led through a manic-comic adventure that ends in tears and an escape from the tyranny of the idealised self."

Also Frank McGuinness's play Mutabilitie set in 16th century Ireland exploring the conflict between invader and native, its characters include Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare and a forest comprises one of its principal settings.

chasmcb

Just thought of an obvious one, the myth of Mad Sweeney/Buile Suibhne, the Irish king who is cursed by a saint and in his madness wanders the forests of Ireland. Seamus Heaney did a translation under the title of Sweeney Astray

chasmcb

[/I]Ha! I'm on a roll now, remembered another one; James Stephens' comic fantasy novel The Crock of Gold

Also, in a very different vein, Edna O'Brien's In The Forest is a thinly-veiled account of the Brendan O'Donnell murders of some years ago.

rocky2

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query, I really appreciate it.

I will have a look into all of your suggestions.

The reason I am looking for this, is because I am about to start a thesis, and I am looking at forestry investments within Ireland. I want to show that the forest / forestry has had some importance in the past. I think it would be a nice way to start my thesis.

Someone mentioned an 18th century ballad, called 'The Lament of Lisbeth'.

Again, thank you, and keep them coming.

Cheers,

rocky 2

Hookah

...People rarely see leprechauns because they move so fast. If you do see a leprechaun, he must stop and talk to you. However, if you look away – even for just a moment – he will vanish.

Leprechauns can’t lie, and, if asked, they must show you where their pot of gold is and let you take some of the treasure if you wish to, as long as you promise to let them go. No one has ever managed to get any leprechaun gold because, even though they are very honest, leprechauns like to trick people and play jokes on them. Leprechauns are very clever so they always manage to outsmart the people who catch them.

One famous story tells of a man who promised to let a leprechaun go if he showed him where his gold was hidden. The leprechaun took him to a tree deep in the forest and told him the gold was buried under it. The man had no shovel to dig the gold out with so he tied a ribbon around the tree and made the leprechaun promise not to move the ribbon or the gold. The leprechaun agreed so the man let him go before rushing home to get a shovel. A short time later, he returned to the forest only to find that the leprechaun had tied ribbons to hundreds of other trees. The leprechaun kept his promise – and his gold!

.

chasmcb

rocky2 wrote: »

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query, I really appreciate it.

I will have a look into all of your suggestions.

The reason I am looking for this, is because I am about to start a thesis, and I am looking at forestry investments within Ireland. I want to show that the forest / forestry has had some importance in the past. I think it would be a nice way to start my thesis.

Someone mentioned an 18th century ballad, called 'The Lament of Lisbeth'.

Again, thank you, and keep them coming.

Cheers,

rocky 2

I think that's a good idea for starting the thesis with literary/cultural associations of the forest.

A famous poem/ballad that touches on the subject is Lament for Kilcash set in the aftermath of the wars of the 17th century. While the poet mourns the demise of the Butler clan and their Kilcash stronghold, he also refers to the destruction of the local forests. Here's a link to it:
http://www.irishpage.com/poems/cillcais.htm

Yeats has a few poems titled after forests (e.g. In The Seven Woods) or that mention them, such as Song of Wandering Aengus, which begins "I went out into the hazel wood /because a fire was in my head ..."