Galic blade,river worn
now to sheathe, in peace
Guard my friends,and all their homes
at night,and throu the day
Block from them,all fear around
and prosper all their lands
But those be rised,to know thy way
NEVER sheath unblooded

Why don't you just steal the damn cows?
It is, after all, an ancient tradition.

Brian use your brain. You have the moral high ground. RUSTLE!

If you can't get the cattle's heads, would you settle for their ears?
Jan

Well, it's a thought.
There's always an udder approach ;)

That is by far the worst joke I've HERD this week
Jan

To: Niall of the Nine Bandages
From: J.F. Hourigan, CSP (Celtic Safety Professional); Occupational
Safety & Health Druid Extrodinaire.

Your tale of woe has touched me to the quick. There are methods know to
the illumerati to measure the causes of your affliction and verify your
claims. This would require verious and sundry rites such as a noise
dosimeter survey and an octive band analysis. I am incontact with magi
in foriegn land who are developing the devices needed to prform such
rites. They promise delivery for Beta testing in 8 or 9 centuries. They
claim to be awaiting the visitation of a mystical being called Tran sis
Tor.

Should you choose not to wait to press your claim, I can only suggest
trial by combat. I would, however, be remiss in my professional duties if
I did not warn you that prolonged combat could worsen your condition. I
reccommend resisting the temptation to egage in one of those three or
four day long battles which bardic ballads. You will not be able to hear
your name being sung through Tara's Halls anyway.

Should you choose to assert your claim by the strength of your arm, I
will be glad to assist in my professional capasities (see below).

Service Proposal:

1. Pre-contest inspection of field of combat to identify any hidden
hazards, including but not limited to the presence of bogs, marshes,
quicksands, evil spirits, sprites, ghosts and fairies;

2. Pre-contest inspection of your arms, armor and charriot and
accoutements to ensure they meet all occuaptional safety and health
standards;

3. Pre-contest casting of runes and other readings of signs as
appropriate, with a money back guarentee of favioralbe omens;

4. Concurrent with contest - hold your cloak and offer numerous and
continous prays for your success;

5. Post-contest binding of your wounds with application of scented baums
and offering of numerous and continous prays for your recovery;

6. Post contest battle ground clean up and siposal of any hazardous waste
in a manner consistant with local, clan and royal environmental, safety
and health regulations.

My fee for these services would be the hide of one cow and a year's
production of the milk of another. Collection of said fees would of
course be contingient on the successfull outcome of your claim. Howver i
do require a binder of 2 silver coins of the realm, payable in advance to
cover traveling expences and the purchace of sundry supplies.

Anxiously awaiting your reply.

Joe Hourigan, CSP

Hello! my name is Donl. I would like to send a message that just might be of slight interest in regard to bronze in preference over iron. Bronze is an alloy comprised of copper and tin, and it has long been known that copper has healing properties to the human body - it is regarded as a "clean" metal. Iron is a metalic element strongly attracted by magnets and easily oxidises,
it rusts (ferric oxide) rust causes infections and disease.
Traces of metallic iron in the blood stream (ferris hydroxide) impairs and gradually impurifies the blood.
So I guess, the choice of iron over bronze for weapons was to increase the damage caused, in one way or another.
In european mythology it is said that the iron-age would be the final and worst age of the earth, marked by toil, selfishness, and corruption.
It appears that Morrigu's prediction is extremely accurate indeed.

Cheers, from don. west australia.

cheers Don *LMAO* ...... from lacie *west down under*

I just had a look at the 21 century. They have just discovered a thing called a hearing aid, its all the fault of that guy Tran sis Tor. Now I'm going to have to listen to her nattering on again. Did that horse get back yet, I'm next out of here

A Tribunal might work in settling all disputes. Nobody could accuse Niall of having severe CJH and the buck could be handed out soon. Please may I have my cut for this suggestion?

Greetings Niall. I´m also quite familiar with the dangers of those cursed iron weapons. The brutal vikings that tend to invade every piece of land they see have raided my country frequently since they got those fancy iron weapons of theirs. We are having a hard time figthing them off with our classical weaponry made out of flitstone and bone.
I`ve been waiting for the stupid buggers to find the place called America, so I could sue them. There is a rumour that you can sue a man for almost anything there...

So when they get there I´d be more than happy to cooperate with you...

By the way. What an earth is a cow??? the only domesticated animals we have here in finland are reindeer, and they are too stupid for anyone to want them. Well we do also milk the bears, but they tend to get rather agressive every now and then...

best wishes: Ciaran the shaman of the great people
of finland

Ciaran...you viscious Viking with the handsome air about you! Here is an Atlas for you to give the brutal Vikings who invade Finland.*Handing atlas to Ciaran* AT LAST you can sue them when they come invade America...but we have a way here with our 'dis-arming charms' and you won't ever have to worry about the iron age again. Have you ever heard of Permanent Press? I am sure the brutal Vikings will never want to leave once they try our 'Charmin' squeezeably soft bath tissue. And there are some very 'Charmin' women who can be squeezeably soft in America, too! *G* When are you coming to America? How about planning your honeymoon here? You have a whole expanse to discover and explore here...Welcome!

america...the land of the free and the home of litigation...lol...

Milord....
So nice to finally be able to look upon your page. I was intigued for my online friend is also known as niall9.. Something more to learn..
I did enjoy your webpage tho... Keep up the good work..birren

Niall,

I would suggest that you consider getting an injection to prevent tetanus. The cost of said injection would of course be reimbursable to you by the king in addition to your claim regarding the cows. It is the duty of the king to keep his warriors mostly fit for battle - otherwise he wouldn't have much of an army. Also, death by tetanus is a long, painful and tedious process - dying valiantly in battle is indeed preferable. Best regards and I hope you get those bandages off soon, Niamh

It's 'tinnitus' that's the problem, not 'tetanus'.

LOL - I love it! Feed me!

Accasbel,

Well, but we wouldn't want him to add to the tinnitus problem by getting a tetanus infection, now would we? Although actually, the tetanus infection would eventually take care of the tinnitus thing altogether....*s*

Best regards,
Niamh

Niall,

Since I find myself trapped in 11 inches of snow today, I've had a bit of time to ponder your situation. If it is your wish to take your case to the king, you will need to be prepared for crossexamination by the royal solicitors. The issue at hand, as Accasbel has kindly pointed out, is your alleged tinnitus, allegedly caused by the alleged increase in noise pollution generated by the clanging of iron weapons. My research indicates that only 24% of diagnosed tinnitus cases are caused by noise. A higher percentage of tinnitus is caused by allergies - drink a lot of red wine, do you? Tinnitus can also be caused by buildup of earwax and dirt - do you bathe regularly and practice good personal hygiene? I suggest that as your first line of defence, you have yourself examined by a licenced medical doctor who would be prepared to give professional expert testimony to the king on your behalf should the cause of your tinnitus actually be, as you claim, noise. Secondly, I would suggest that you rethink your demand of 3 head of cattle. Even if you win this case, you will still have the tinnitus. I fail to see how 3 cows are going to speed your recovery from a vestibular disorder, unless of course they are particularly noisy cows, in which case you should expect claims to be lodged against you by your neighbours. I suggest you amend your claim to the following:

1. tetanus injection
2. 3 cows
3. lifetime enrollment in the Royal Medical Benefits Programme (free of charge to you, of course) with personal weekly visits from a specialist in vestibular disorders

Also, I would come up with a better argument regarding your hearing, like you would be unable to hear evil-doers sneaking up to assasinate the king. The whole harp music enjoyment thing is a bit girly for a warrior such as yourself. (Sure, Johnny Cochran would tell ye the same thing.) I trust that I have been able to assist you in your pursuits and I wish you the best of luck with your case.

Best regards,
Niamh

Wa?
I have to stop drinking??
I have to WASH ????????

Music - "girly"??????
Poetry, Story-telling ?

You some sort of foreigner or sumptin' ???

LOOKIT!
Three cows!!

Niall,

Just steal the damn cows!

Niamh

Niall

You wouldn't catch Cuchulain grizzling about bloody iron weapons - no sirreebob! He'd just get on with it, whack a few spears through a few people's heads etc... mind you, he's a jammy bastard, being half faery and all. Maybe his hearing's tougher than yours, you big girl's blouse.

Niall,
To hell with bronze weapons! You need a gae bolga.
Look at what the "Hound of Ulster" did with his.

RUSSIAN OLGA
Now a warrior princess named Olga
Was a champion of upper Volga.
She sailed west to Eire
Chu Chullain to dare
Where she succumbed to his Irish gae bolga.
(Texas Shanachie)

In fact, recent studies have shown that the substitution of white cloth on sticks for the normal tools of war reduced occupational health hazards by up to 60% - except when fighting the English, in which case they just killed everyone. Bastards.

I think that if one simply waves the stick, rather than using it to poke the opposition in the eye and other sensitive places, less killing happens.

Farther than west than west,my Tuatha is dancing on the other wind!Come visit the Irishseer.I will help my fellow clansman!

What's the story behind the name- of the nine hostages? That's what I was looking for.

Tell me the tale. I'd love to hear it
calypsopoet@webtv.net

Niall of the Nine Hostages
Yes - that's the original. I'm too snowed under with off-line work at the moment, but I do intend to do a major spring-clean of Tír around the turn of the year/millennithing.

VERY good. I'll be back!

Niall
Your are a celt right. Get yourself an iron sword
and go and ring the King's ears and take all of his cows, horses,and chariot to.
If you succeed I'll sing a great song of your brave and just deed. If not I'll sing a great
eulogy for you. You're a Celtic warrior so be one.
Slainte chugat.
Rick the Bard.

N/O/N/H CALL YOUR SELF A WARRIOR YOU COULDNT BE A
BOUNCER AT MOTHER CARE .LET ME TELL YOU I HAD TO GO INTO BATTLE TO HAVE MY WISDOM TEETH OUT .THE
CYTHRONE DRAGON THAT RIPPED THEM OUT TOOK A NERVE AND PART OF MY JAW OUT ,FOR FUN . IF ID HAVE KNOWN THE SUFFERING RINGING IN MY EARS AND PAIN ID HAVE TO INJURE ,ID HAVE TAKING THE 888KING DRAGONS HEAD OFF BEFORE SHE CHARMED ME TO SLEEP.
SWEET,CONGHAILE COCKNEY CELT

As a relative of yours I feel that things went from bad to worse when people began fitting iron on the ends of arrows instead of good strong flint.
We all know that iron draws storms so loosing iron into the sky must be causing all the bad weather.
yours a McNiell of Barra

Help me,iam on a quest.
I need info on Niall and the nine hostidges but cannot find a book with the myth itself can anyone help, for my queen (medhbh no less) grows even less patient by the day

http://www.clannada.org/docs/niall.htm
(With book sources)

http://www.ireland.org/irl_hist/hist12.htm

http://www.irishclans.com/articles/famirish/niall9hostages.html

http://www.oneill-net.com/info/niall.htm

Well, it's about time. Dia Dhuit
Do you realize it is getting close to my year anniversity. Almost a year a go was my first post as guest to get the story behind the 9 hostages handle.

You've come a long way baby!
And so have I `~~`

9 HOSTages !!!
- I thought you said SUASTages

(No wonder you didn't get an answer. There's too many accents in the global village)

sAUages
animals
Shrubery!

`~~`

spam!

Could we substitute sheep for cows? Or perhaps use the sheep as a barter for the much needed cows?

I know a swagman, jolly kinda bloke, who could be persuaded, for a price, to deliver said sheep.

Ahh, Lacie....now how many sheep would you be needing stolen....eerrrrr....substituted?...

That depends, our dear Rogue of rogues, on whether the sheep are good barter for our bemoaning bandaged one, (that was whether, not wether), and how many 'sheep to the cow' or 'cow to the sheep'.

I am sure you could be the rogue for the job, Rogue .. but do you have the experience of the Swaggie with the woolied ones?

Lets just hope, for the sake of the bandaged one, that sheep to cow is not like AUD/USD right now ! *L*

(oops .. time travelling glitch $ there)

*hollers to the Hamster..."Bring the big blue bag of beautifully brugaled, buggered,r baaing budgies...and put sweaters on them, we might have a victim....eeeerr....customer here."

*narrows eyes & shakes head* Tell me just WHO would fall for the old "budgie in a coat meant to be a sheep" trick in this day and age???

NOTICE FROM THE REVIEW BOARD OF INIS FAIL;

YOUR HOLLAR FOR JUSTICE HAS BEEN HEARD;
MORRIGAN IS DEALING WITH IT;
IF IT IS JUSTIFIED YOUR ENEMIES WILL BE SMITEN
OTHERWISE YOU WILL DIE HORRIBLY IN THE NEXT BATTLE:
END OF TRANSMITTION
* RAVEN TAKES FLIGHT *

thems fightin' words!!

do any of you know where a cow could be
found for any cheaper than the sword it would
take to capture one? if the cow is cheaper than
the sword, would it not be easier just to buy
the thing?

Cows have rights too!
Long live the cows!
from Daisy the president of
Cowhide Alive Appreciation Society (CAAS)
Thank-you!
{That merlin Imp gets everywhere!)}

um, Lutra, if you're not using them there hides, I could sure use em for vellum...*g*

A recent study from the land of the viking suggests that excessive exposure to iron causes severe "thickening" of the blood in certain genetic groups leading to premature heart attacks. Please reference the "heme" molecule from early science classes.

Donal O’Ríordáin
purveyor of quality Auroch to royalty
past professional witness to brehon courts

Very interesting stuff, but I fail to see the point of it on this board. Were you surfing two sites at the same time and posted on the wrong one?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm cryptic, I agree.

awww come on, guest. Does ANYTHING really make sense around here? *smile*

In the Irish experience, excessive exposure to Viking iron caused severe "loosening" of blood, particularly in certain monastic groups, leading to premature mortality resulting from multiple contusions and decapitation.

vf, but i heard of this too. it's supposedly genetic and a result of surviving the famine. hemochromosis (sp? sorry) 1 in 4 irish in ireland and 1 in 8 irish elsewhere i guess have it. the only cure in blood letting and that leads me to believe the leach people weren't so far off base. anyway, when i was pregnant i didn't take the prescription iron because it made me feel like a slug and that's basically what this disease is. it's real easy for some people to get an overdose of iron.

It seems to me, Shae please correct me if I am wrong, that there was a belief that Faery folk could not work any magic if their skin had been pierced with Iron, even so small as a needle. I think I had read that in some of Yeats' Fairy tales and Folklore, but I might be wrong on that.

The two may not be connected, but it seems relevant.

wild chat about haematological ancestrial abnormalities

Ah sure there's no haem at ol in it.

Poor Niall! Two years have passed and you still don't have the damn cows! Why is it so difficult? Honesty is not rewarded anymore! it's an unfair world!

What a delightful situation! Have you considered the money lenders?
I suppose theft is also an option.
However if you choose the former suggestion, I know several reputable houses!

Went back and read this one from the beginning......*L* Love the 3/10 post, esp. re. the harp music!!!!!! *cracks up* And if you do the same, then the 'iron' posts make sense.

Sheep to cow .. the offer still stands. I have contacts.... though I fear Our Rogue is no long the man for the deal.

p.s. .. are those bandages too tight?

can anyone give me the english translation for slainte chugat

Deal?...Did I hear someone say DEAL...as long as it doesn't in any way involve eating hagus...

Question, Questions, Quetions.... Help with the answer Please!!

Who was the First High King of Ireland?

What do the three Burning castles on the Dublin flag represent?

Brian Boru (Brian Boroimhe.) Famous for breaking the Norse power in Ireland forever. The three burning castles will be familiar to all Dublin residents and visitors. The flames were originally archers defending the city from attack. Dublin was originally the center for Viking slave trade.