Celtic Roots Radio Podcast and Anne Roos

Celtic Roots Radio Podcast #12--"Don't Make A Whole Song About It!" and Celtic Roots Radio Podcast #9--"Root 'n' Troot Supper, Hey!"

Raymond McCullough, host of the Celtic Roots Radio podcast, included the popular wedding tune "Mairi's Wedding" from Anne Roos' Haste to the Wedding CD on his October 24, 2009 episode. Her music is in good company in this episode, with lovely acoustic Celtic tunes from around the globe.

This isn't the first time Anne's music has been featured. Her tune "Considine's Grove", from A Light in the Forest CD, was featured in the September 4, 2009 episode called "Root 'n' Troot Supper, Hey!". What does this saying mean? "Fish 'n' chips" in the North Antrim County lingo.
This podcast originates from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and offers the listener more than just music. McCullough explains some of the common terms used in Northern Ireland, along with descriptions of what life is like in that part of the world. Of course, the music is the star of his podcast, spanning a broad spectrum of Celtic folk, folk/rock, Applachian, bluegrass, Scottish, Irish, Breton, and Cajun music. As McCullough declares at his website, "If you enjoy Celtic, roots, or acoustic music, you'll find it here on Celtic Roots Radio."

Thank you, Raymond, for including Anne's music on your outstanding podcast!

Enjoy this Podcast and listen to some of Anne's other tunes on the Celtic Roots Radio Live365 station. Then Sample Anne's CDs, too.

The Celtic Loving Cup

In Scotland, the Loving Cup is known as a quaich, which comes from the Gaelic word cuach, meaning cup. This is used for the wedding toast. It is often highly decorated and has a handle on either side of the cup.

A Loving Cup ceremony, or Anam Cara, can be included as part of the wedding vows or during the wedding reception. The purpose of this ceremony is for the bride and gtoom to share their first drink together as a married couple. The meaning of the cup is "togetherness". The cup is then passes down throughout the generations to insure happiness and good fortune to all who drink from it.

Copyright © 2005 by Anne Roos, excerpt from the liner notes to "Haste to the Wedding" CD, available on the Cambria Master Recordings Label. All rights reserved.

The Welsh Lovespoon

The lovespoon may have represented an early type of engagement ring, or perhaps the acceptance of the carved spoon at least meant the beginning of a serious courtship, "going steady", so to speak. Could this be where the term "spooning" originated? This custom
originated in Wales during the 17th century.

The most elaborate lovespoons are carved from one piece of wood, demonstrating the skill of the carvers. The handle of the spoon is often intricately decorated with various symbols-keys, hearts, balls, wheels, and bells-each representing such blessings as love, good luck, children, wealth, and health.

Copyright © 2005 by Anne Roos, excerpt from the liner notes to "Haste to the Wedding" CD, available on the Cambria Master Recordings Label. All rights reserved.

Celtic Art and Designs

Celtic artwork dates back to 3,000 B.C. and can still be seen on stone carvings throughout Ireland. Much of the current fascination with Celtic art may have originated with the Book of Kells, an eighth century manuscript currently house at Trinity College in Dublin. This book features knots, and animal designs. The Celts created their designs using one or several unbroken lines. They believed that the more these lines interlaced each other, the greater their protection against evil. The unbroken lines symbolized infinity.

Celtic wedding rings may be made of one of these unique design styles, the most popular of which is know as the Celtic love knot. The lines of the Celtic love knot are forever entwined, as the two separate lives become one. Animal designs are also used. One of the most popular animals used for Celtic wedding rings is the heron, because herons mate for life.

Other Celtic symbols, including the Celtic cross, a family coat of arms, and horseshoes with the open ends up (so that the good luck won't run out), may be used to adorn invitations, napkins, wrappings for favors, and embroidered into the wedding dress and the bride's hanky. National Celtic symbols are also used as wedding decorations: the thistle to display Scottish heritage, the leek for Welsh heritage, and the shamrock for Irish heritage.

Copyright © 2005 by Anne Roos, excerpt from the liner notes to "Haste to the Wedding" CD, available on the Cambria Master Recordings Label. All rights reserved.

The Claddagh Ring

This may be the most well-known symbol of love in Ireland. It is said tha this ring, a crowned heart held by two hands, is a symbol of love, friendship, and loyalty, best explained in the phrase, "Let Love and Friendship Reign." It was the traditional marriage ring of the fishermen of Claddagh, a small village on Galway Bay. Legend has it that the ring was developed for sailors to wear as a means of identifying their heritage in case they went overboard, were lost at sea, or were washed ashore on foreign soil.

A more romantic legend is the story of Richard Joyce, captured by Algerian pirates on his way to the West Indies, he was forced into slavery working for a Moorish goldsmith. Joyce became a master goldsmith and handcrafted this ring design for his ladylove back home. He was released in 1689 and returned to the village of Claddagh, to his true love. He gave her the ring and she used the Claddagh as a wedding band when they married. Joyce set up a goldsmith shop, his ring design became popular, and examples of his handiwork still exist.

The ring grew in popularity, outside of this local region, spread by the help of vast exodus out of Ireland diring the Great Potato Famine in the mid 1800s. Claddagh rings were kept as heirlooms with great pride and passed from mother to daughter for use as wedding bands.

Today, this ring is worn extensibely across Irleland, either on the right hand with the heart pointing towards the findertips to signify that the wearer is "fancy free," or on the left hand with the heart pointing towards the wrist to indicate that the wearer is "spoken for."

Copyright © 2005 by Anne Roos, excerpt from the liner notes to "Haste to the Wedding" CD, available on the Cambria Master Recordings Label. All rights reserved.