LL-L "Folklore" 2004.01.05 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 05.FEB.2004 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Ted.Harding at nessie.mcc.ac.uk
Subject: LL-L Folklore

Barnacle Geese, and Eels ...

Dear Lowlanders,

I'm currently listening to the excellent BBC Radio-4 program
"Open Country". Today they are visiting Donegal (in the W of
Northern Ireland). They started off by visiting the seashore,
looking for Barnacle Geese (now rare in the British Isles).

A piece of folklore emerged. They are called "Barnacle Geese",
it was said, because it has been believed that they hatch from
barnacles (in fact the so-called Goose Barnacles which typically
grow on ships' timbers or floating wood, attached by a peduncle
or "stalk", and get washed ashore).

The belief had its uses. Being hatched in this way, these geese
were held to be fish, not fowl, and therefore legitimate for eating
on a Friday. Possibly a case where the wish may have been father to
the thought ...

I was reminded of a similar belief held by my own mother, who grew
up near the sea in the very South of Ireland. This was that Eels
were produced from hairs from horses tails which fell into the
water of streams and rivers.

What both beliefs have in common is a somewhat bizarre attribution
of progeniture of an animal, incorporating something of a magical
element. In the case of the Eel, since the spawning takes place a
long way out to sea and had never been observed, for mystically
oriented minds to invent this kind of origin for a creature whose
appearance in the rivers is otherwise totally mysterious is not
surprising (though the story itself is intriguing).

In the case of the Barnacle Geese, similarly, it seems that they
nest in the Arctic, being Winter migrants to the South, so again
their nests and eggs would not be known in Ireland.

Possibly against the legend of the Goose Barnacle as the origin
of the Barnacle Goose is the mediaeval legend that the Barnacle
Goose grows on trees, the young birds hanging by their beaks
from the branches until they drop off into the water ...
(Apparently the original use of the word "barnacle" referred to
the goose, not the crustacean, from Old French "bernacle" from
Med Latin "bernaculum" possibly cognate with Old Irish "bairneach",
meaning "limpet" ... are we going round in circles here? ... and
only later did the crustacean get the name ... from the bird ...
or so I have read ... )

Possibly both of these folk stories may have more to do with Celtic
culture than with Lowlands culture, though I can't come to any
judgement on that.

However, I would be most interested in any comments on the above,
or on similar folk legends in the LL domain.

Best wishes to all,
Ted.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding at nessie.mcc.ac.uk>
Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 167 1972
Date: 05-Feb-04                                       Time: 14:36:07
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Folklore

Thanks for the interesting contribution (above), Ted.

For the benefit of those who do not know what a barnacle geese and barnacles
are, here some help:


Zool.: Branta leucopsis (~ Bernicla leucopsis)
Arabic: الإوز البرنق٠ل
Chinese: 白額黑雁
Czech: Berneška bělolící
Danish: Bramgås
Dutch: Brandgans
English: Barnacle goose
Estonian: Valgepõsk-lagle
Faeroese: Brandgás
Finnish: Valkoposkihanhi
French: Bernache nonnette
Gaelic: Giùran
German: Weißwangengans, Nonnengans, Seegans
Greek: Ασπρομαγουλόχηνα
Greenlandic: Nerlernaq
Hungarian: Apácalúd
Icelandic: Helsingi
Indonesian: Angsa
Irish: Ghiúrainn
Italian: Oca facciabianca
Japanese: カオジロガン
Norwegian: Hvitkinngås
Polish: Bernikla białolica
Portuguese: Ganso-de-faces-brancas
Russian: Белощекая казарка, морской уточка
Serbo-Croatian: Bjelolica guska
Spanish: Barnacla (cariblanca)
Swedish: Vitkindad gås
Turkish: Yaban kazı

Zool.: Cirripedia, Balanus spp.
Arabic: الإوزّة
Chinese: 藤壺, 黑燕
Czech: Vilejs stvolnaty
Danish: Rur, Rankefødder, Balaner
Dutch: Slakvis, Eendenmossel, Rankpootkreeft
English: Barnacle(s)
Estonian: Vääneljalalised
Finnish: Merirokko
French: Anatife, Bernache
German: Rankenfüßer, (Rankenfuß)krebs, Entenmuschel, Seepocke
Greek: Λεπάς, Ανατίφη
Hebrew: תחפס
Hungarian: Csípővas

Icelandic: Hrossarækja, Hrúðurkarl
Indonesian: Remis
Italian: Cirripede
Japanese: 亀の手, フジツボ
Korean: 조개삿갓
Norwegian: Rur, Andeskjell, Langhals
Polish: Barnakla
Portuguese: Cirrípedes, Craca
Russian: Морская уточка, Моллюск
Serbo-Croatian: Å koljka
Spanish: Percebe
Swedish: Rur
Turkish: Kaya midyesi

And here another couple of pieces to the info:

“Barnacle-Goose
(alias a _carnard_): Medieval bestiaries stated that a species of goose
existed that hatched out of barnacles. The French word for a barnacle goose
(_canard_) thus became a common term for any false report.”
[http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/monster_list.html]

Might this have anything to do with “wild goose chase”?

”barnacle
Once a kind of goose, _Branta leucopsis_, grew on trees or logs, attached to
either by its beak and being born from within a fruit. Or it gestated inside
tiny shellfish stuck to timber or rocks by the seashore. By the end of the
sixteenth century, the goose had disappeared and the word had removed itself
to the shellfish. Not much more is known beyond the original word's being
_bernak_ (it gained the suffix -le while the goose was waning), from
medieval Latin _bernaca_. Now officially the white-eyed.”
[http://www.conjunctions.com/webcon/west.htm]


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