The Bitterbynde Trilogy (205 page)

The Siofran Feast:
‘The spy was intrigued at their unglamoured feast; the horns of butterflies, the pith of rushes, emits' eggs and the beards of mice, bloated earwigs and red-capped worms, mandrakes' ears and stewed thigh of newt, washed down with pearls of dew cupped in magenta flowers.' This menu is partially drawn from the poem ‘Oberon's Feast', written by Robert Herrick (1591–1674), published in 1647.

The Ganconer/Love-Talker:
A wonderful poem about this deadly supernatural seducer was written by the well-known Irish poet Ethna Carbery (1866–1902). It has been reprinted in
The Four Winds of Eirinn,
an anthology of her verse, and can also be viewed on Ms Dart-Thornton's website, at
http://www.dartthornton.com

Viviana's song:
‘All around my hat I will wear the green willow …' etc is a traditional English folk song.

The Two Kings:
Inspired by the traditional Welsh fairy-story about Pwyll, Prince of Dyved, and his encounter with the faêrie king, Arawn.

Nuckelavee:
Based on an article by Traill Dennison in the ‘Scottish Antiquary', which was reproduced in
Scottish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales,
Sir George Douglas, Walter Scott, London, 1873. For the sake of accuracy, the anecdote herein is partially quoted from this source.

The Tale of Thomas Rhymer, Duke of Ercildoune:
Adapted from the traditional ‘Ballad of True Thomas' which tells the story of Thomas Rymour of Erceldoune. It can be found in
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,
Child, F. J. (ed), Little, Brown; Shepard, Clark & Brown, Boston, 1857–8; definitive edition: 5 vols., The Folklore Press in association with the Pagent Book Co., New York, 1957. The ballad is based on a fourteenth-century romance which can be read in
Fairy Tales, Legends and Romances Illustrating Shakespeare,
by W. Carew Hazlitt, F & W Kerslake, London, 1875.

The Tale of Tamlain Conmor, Duke of Roxburgh:
Adapted from another beautiful traditional ballad, ‘Young Tam Lin', of which there are many versions. The fullest version is #39A in
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,
Child, F. J. (ed), Little, Brown; Shepard, Clark & Brown, Boston, 1857–8.

Scottish Vernacular:
Learned from
Bawdy Verse and Folk Songs Written & Collected by Robert Burns,
Macmillan, London, 1982.

Battle Scenes:
Researched in
The Wars of the Crusades 1096–1291,
Terence Wise, Osprey Publishing P/L, 1978. Information was also gleaned from the World War I diaries of Squadron Leader W. Palstra.

The Coronation Feast:
Inspired by menus from actual medieval feasts, recounted in
The English Medieval Feast, W.
E. Mead, 1931; and
More Medieval Byways,
L. F. Salzman, 1926.

The musicians in the pie:
Adapted from a document by Olivier de la Marche, fourteenth-century chronicler.

The Battle of Evernight:
Also draws inspiration from the great fairy love story of Ireland, ‘Midhir and Etain', which has prompted many poets and dramatists to produce works based thereon.

SOME WORDS FROM THE ELDER TONGUE

briagha:
beautiful

caileagh faoileag:
sea-gull damsel

cirean mi coileach:
literally, ‘cockscomb, my rooster'. It means ‘cocksure boy'.

cochal:
the husk or appearance of food, after the
toradh
has been removed

eudail:
darling (ferm.)

fallaise:
a beautiful, falling torrent

ionmhuinn:
beloved

nathrach deirge:
literally, ‘dragon's blood', is a draught to warm and nourish the traveller

rade:
a processional cavalcade of Faêran riders

sabhailte:
safe

seirm ceangaif:
bind-ring

siofra:
(pl.) small, human-like wights. Although they can be mischievous, they are harmless and not overly cunning. One of their favourite activities is to mimic human behaviour.

toradh:
the nutritional value of food

uhta:
the hour before sunrise

‘
Il Bacio' (‘The Kiss') by Francesco Hayez, 1859

Some Ertish Words and Phrases

alainn capall dubh
: beautiful black horse

Amharcaim!
: Look there!

chehrna
: dear damsel

clahmor
: terrible, tragic.

cova donni
: blind shotman

daruhshie
: self-destructive fool

doch
: damned

hreorig
: ruinous

inna shai tithen elion
: we have lived the days

lorraly
: in the natural order

manscatha
: wicked ravager

mo
: my

mo gaidair
: my friend

mo reigh
: my pretty

mor scathach
: an unseelie rider that sticks to the shoulders of its prey, becoming as heavy as stone, and rides the life out of it

obban tesh
: an expletive

oghi ban Callanan
: Callanan's eyes

pishogue
: glamour; a spell of illusion

samrin
: milksop

Sciobtha!
: Hasten!

scothy
: mad, crazy

sgorrama
: stupid (noun or adjective)

shera sethge
: poor, unfortunate

skeerda
: bad/devious person

Ta ocras orm! Tu faighim moran bia
!: I am hungry! I need a lot of food!

tambalai
: beloved

tien eun
: little one

uhta
: the hour before sunrise

uraguhne
: despicable scum

A Short Pronunciation Guide

Baobansith:
baavan thee

Buggane:
bug airn

Cuachag:
cooachack

Each Uisge:
ech-ooshkya

Fuath:
foo-a

Gwragedd Annwn:
gwrageth anoon

Glossary of Terms

andalum
: a dull, blue metal which has the power to neutralise sildron's repulsion of the ground

candlebutter
: gold

culicidae
: (plural) deadly, mosquito-like creatures—they are not eldritch

dominite
: black stone, laced with points of talium trihexide—used for building, as it blocks out the effects of shang storms

eldritch
: supernatural

eotaurs
: winged, horned skyhorses bred for their ability to ‘ride sky' when accoutred with sildron
eringl
: a red-leafed tree growing only in Avlantia

gilf
: a person who deliberately goes bareheaded in a shang storm, or is forced to do so, in order to imprint an image

glissanding
: gliding through forests in a sildron harness, using branches and/or ropes as a means of propulsion

gramarye
: magic

hattocking
: the process of an eotaur over uneven ground

onhebbing
: raising and lowering anything sildron-borne by means of sliding andalum by varying degrees between the sildron and the ground

seelie
: benevolent towards humankind

shang
: a random wind of gramarye which leaves imprints of human passions

sildron
: a lustrous, silver metal with the intrinsic property of repelling the ground at a constant distance. Also known as King's Biscuit, Rusty Jack's friend, sinker, cloudpaver, moonrafter, frostbite, The Gentry's Farewell, Moonbeam etc.

taltry
: a hood lined with talium metal mesh to protect the wearer from the influence of the shang

tilhal
: an amulet which may protect against unseelie wights of the lower orders

unket
: supernatural

unseelie
: malevolent towards humankind

unstorm
: a nickname for shang winds—also known as ‘uncombers'

Runes

A:
atka
, the thorn, the spindle, the arrowhead

B:
brod
, the loaf

C:
ciedré
, the moon

D:
déanor
, the bow

E:
enen
, the fork

F:
faêrwyrd
, the key

G:
speal
, the scythe or sickle

H:
droichead
, the bridge

I:
idrel
, the sword

J:
crúca
, the hook

K:
kinoré
, the dancer

L:
clúid
, the corner (the turning point)

M:
margran
, the mountain

N:
nenté
, the stitch

O:
orinel
, the ring

P:
meirge
, the flag, the pennant, banner

Q:
sciath
, the shield

R:
sirrig
, the sail

S:
slégorn
, the dragon

T:
tiendir
, the tree

U:
uldris
, the cup

V:
vahlé
, the valley or the furrow

W:
wirroril
, the wave or the water

X:
glas
, the crossroads or the lock

Y:
draíochta
, the dowsing rod

Z:
geata
, the gate

Wight Lore

The high-tide mark is the boundary between the territories of land wights and sea wights.

Although they can prevaricate and trick, wights cannot lie. By the same token, if you make a promise or give your word to a wight you are bound by gramarye to keep it.

Household wights, best exemplified by bruneys (brownies), do not necessarily react adversely to the touch of cold iron. All others do.

Trooping wights wear green coats and red caps, while Solitaries wear red coats.

To steal a swanmaiden, take her cloak of feathers so that she cannot fly. To abduct a mermaid or merrow, take her comb. To kidnap a silkie (selkie), take his or her seal-skin, without which these wights cannot travel underwater. Be aware, it is unkind to do any of these things!

Silkies will not harm you unless you harm them. If you do them a good turn they will return it to you.

Most unseelie and seelie land wights cannot cross running water, especially if it flows south.

An ‘awe band' can be put on mortals to stop them telling what they have seen of wights.

Giving wights a gift or verbal thanks means ‘goodbye' to them ie, they have been paid therefore their services are no longer required. Some wights take offence at being thanked in any form, and permanently withdraw their services out of sheer indignation. Therefore, thanking wights or the Faêran is taboo.

Warding off Unseelie Wights

Holding Fast, a Steady Look and Silence are three powerful charms against wights.

Conversely (and confusingly), acknowledging their presence by looking at them can be detrimental to them. (Perhaps this is only true outdoors, as The Steady Look has been recorded as being used indoors.)

Having The Last Word is effective in certain cases; also, Rhyme has power over wights.

Many wights are powerless after cock-crow.

To show fear is to give them power over you, to allow them to strike. The ringing of bells is anathema to them. Charms against unseelie wights include ash keys, ground-ivy (‘
athair luss
') and daisies.

A Chant to Repel Wights

Hypericum, salt and bread,

Iron cold and berries red,

Self-bored stone and daisy bright,

Save me from unseelie wight.

Red verbena, amber, bell,

Turned-out raiment, ash as well,

Whistle-tunes and rowan-tree,

Running water, succour me.

Rooster with your cock-a-doo,

Banish wights and darkness too.

Shapeshifting

Even shapeshifters must abide by the laws of their own nature. Not all wights are shapeshifters. For example, urisks are not. Spriggans can alter their size but not their shape. Some wights command two forms. Swan-maidens may become damsels or swans. The Each Uisge and all other waterhorses can take the shape of a man or a horse.

Other wights have the power to metamorphose into three different guises. Two of the waterhorse types, brags and phoukas, have a third native shape; brags, that of a calf with a white handkerchief tied around its neck and phoukas, a bat.

Bogey-beasts and their ilk are true shapeshifters; their possible forms are countless. Some examples include the wight which changes into a bundle of sticks, the Trathley Kow (based on the ‘Hedley Kow') which can imitate the form of a man's sweetheart, or any other form it chooses, purely for the purpose of mischief-making and a thing called ‘It', which can turn itself into a variety of strange objects.

Note: shapeshifting should not be confused with
glamour
. Glamour is an illusion, a spell cast over the senses of mortals so that they see what is not there. True shapeshifting is more powerful.

Books by Cecilia Dart-Thornton