Neill Martin’s The Form and Function of Ritual Dialogue in the Marriage Traditions of Celtic-Language Cultures provides an interesting overview on the subject of ritual marriage dialogues in various Celtic-language societies, including Breton, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish Gaelic, with a few sidebars on the related Manx and Cape Breton Island cultures, as well as the existence of similar institutions in other, non-Celtic-speaking societies. He focuses on the use of ritual dialogue, particularly in the matchmaking and betrothal phase, which may involve a verbal contest between poets, along the lines of the flyting in Scottish tradition.
Though he does not suggest a genetic link among these traditions, there are clear connections between cultures and across different eras. The earliest examples appear to come from Brittany, preserved in collections by Jacques de Cambry (ca. 1794–95) and by Hersart de la Villemarqué (Barzaz-Breiz: Chants Populaires de la Bretagne, 1839), and the latter dates the tradition as far back as the middle ages. The Breton tradition is found primarily in the form of a matchmaker, usually known as a bazvalan (demander, but literally meaning “rod of broom,” since originally he would carry one to mark his office) who acts as the potential groom’s representative vis-à-vis the potential bride and her parents. Sometimes, the girl’s family makes use of a breutaer (disputer) who challenges the bazvalan. The fullest development of this ritual occurs in the ceremony known as Ar Goulenn (“The Fetching of the Bride”). In an example collected by de Cambry at Scaer in 1794, we find the verbal contest between bazvalan and breutaer, with the initial entrance ritual followed by the refusal of a sequence of “false brides,” and finally acceptance of the bride herself (101–115).
In Wales we find a figure quite similar to the bazvalan, namely the gwahoddwr (bidder), also a person known for his verbal skill, who would carry a staff, usually a willow wand from which the bark had been peeled. As with the Breton broom rod or the white hazel staff in Old Irish tradition (seen in the Táin, for example), this marked him as a herald, with the ability to walk unmolested between “camps.” Though he did not serve as a matchmaker, the function of the gwahoddwr was to persuade friends and neighbors to give gifts to the couple to help them get a good start in life. On the morning of the wedding, he would “demand” the bride, possibly disguised as an old woman within a group of other “false brides” (146–150). In both Wales and Brittany, this could also involve a symbolic abduction of the bride, with the fiancé galloping up to her house on horseback accompanied by his poet, who would engage in a verbal contest with the bride’s poet. Eventually, the latter would give way to the former, suggesting the bride’s submission to the groom. In Welsh the exchange of verses at weddings and as part of seasonal customs (such as the New Year’s Mari Lwyd “Grey Mare” ritual) is known as pwnco: a poet’s prestige is linked to the length of the exchange.
Martin admits to finding no exact parallels to the Breton and Welsh marriage rituals and discourse under review in Ireland, though dialogic verbal forms do exist, such as magadh and aor (involving ridicule and satire), dea-chaint (verbal play between individuals) and greann (merry verbal sport). Because of their prevalence in the Scottish Gaelic tradition, Martin assumes that they must have once existed in Ireland and suggests that the Catholic Church may have had a role in suppressing them (175).
Clearly, the best Goidelic parallels to the marriage rituals and discourse found in Wales and Brittany are found in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Here the ritual occasion is part of the formal betrothal ceremony known as rèiteach or an rèite, meaning “agreement… reconciliation,… harmony, peace, union… putting in order” or “unraveling.” Martin suggests that, in its complete form, it closely resembles the Breton custom, with an initial verbal exchange between the suitor’s representative and the girl’s in which she is asked for or discussed allegorically in a ritualized manner. This is followed by the presentation of the girl’s female relatives who are each refused in a similarly indirect way. Finally, the bride-to-be appears, she is accepted, and the ritual is concluded, with whisky sealing the betrothal (181).
Though space does not allow me to give extensive examples of the rèiteach dialogue, I thought a summary of one collected in 1970 at a wedding on Harris would suffice. Using the metaphor of new “stock” the groom (Donald MacDermid) is seeking, his representatives (a schoolteacher, Neil Campbell, and a shopkeeper, Calum MacSween) speak with the potential father-in-law’s representatives (Norman MacLeod, one of the bride’s brothers-in-law and a poet, and John Morrison, a neighbor and popular entertainer at weddings). The groom’s representatives ask the bride’s if the father-in-law (Kenneth Morrison) has any othaisgean (young sheep), a dog, a cat, or hens with which he would part. After the initial requests are seemingly rejected, they ask whether the young sheep have any curls, playing on the fact that the Morrisons (including the would-be bride, Bella, the seventh and youngest daughter) are noted for their curly hair, with this and other references constituting doubles entendres. The dialogue ends on a positive note with the groom’s taking Bella, Caora an earraich (the Spring sheep), indicating some “new blood” will be brought into the union, continuing and completing the agricultural metaphor (257–278).
Martin does an excellent job of linking these verbal marriage contests with other types of poetic contests in the various Celtic-speaking societies he examines. He also looks at these rituals within a cultural framework, seeing in them a working out of fears of the evil eye-, intra- and inter-community conflicts, etc. Though admittedly not a Celtic-language scholar, he does a good job of working primarily through translation. A glossary including definitions of the Celtic terms used would have been useful. I noticed a few errors (e.g., ceann rather than cinn for Sc. G. “heads” and pennyls, rather than pennillion, as the plural for the Welsh verse form, pennill, but some of these may derive from his sources). Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this book for those wishing to gain a deeper insight into the intricacies of Celtic societies and cultural practices.
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[Review length: 1050 words • Review posted on June 2, 2009]