Recasting motifs from Medieval Irish voyage literature in the Kildare Poems

Recasting motifs from Medieval Irish voyage literature in the Kildare Poems Patricia Ronan, Université de Lausanne Marionpatricia.ronan@unil.ch 1. Introduction The Kildare Poems are written mainly in English and in Latin and are thought to have been composed in the 1340ies in Kildare (Benskin 1990), potentially by a scribe called Michael of Kildare. However, exact details on the circumstances of their production remain unclear and contested. Even though these poems appear to be firmly anchored within the English socio-cultural tradition in Ireland, elements of Gaelic language, culture and mythology can be found in the material. This is particularly apparent in the bestknown poem in the collection, The Land of Cokaygne. In this paper we will focuses particularly on The Land of Cokaygne, which describes a monastic paradise that displays some typical motifs of the tir tairngiri, ‘the Land of Promise’, discussed below. We will identify potential Irish literary motifs, particularly those connected to the Otherworld, and explore how these are recast in this material. We will show that in comparison with voyage literature in the vernacular tradition this poem is sexually unusually explicit and expresses itself in potentially satirical terms. Finally, we will make suggestions about the possible reasons for the use of these items and their socio-cultural implications. 2. The Kildare Poems The Kildare poems are found in the British Museum manuscript Harley 913. The group consists of 16 poems which are largely Middle English and partly in Latin, with some French. They have been edited by Heuser (1904), Lucas (1995) and most recently a translation by Kelly (2001a) appeared. Editors agree on a completion date in the early 1 14th century, probably between 1330 and 1340, Kelly, whose argument otherwise tends to agree with Henry’s analyses, puts it to 1230 (Kelly 2001b: 65). The Kildare poems are partly concerned with religious matters: A Sermon, the so-called Song of Michael of Kildare – a hymn, Fifteen Signs before Judgement, Fall and Passion, The Ten Commandments, Christ on the Cross and Seven Sins. But also worldly matter is found: Five Hateful things, Satire, Lollai, Lollai litil child – a lullaby, Song of the Times, Piers of Bermingham, Old Age and Repentance of Love. These latter poems are critical of society and its lack of religious rigour and partly express themselves in satirical tones. The observation of the presence of satire in the collection is interesting as it confirms that satire can indeed be found within the collection. Heuser (1904: 15) assumes the manuscript to have been written by different authors in a Franciscan Abbey in Kildare, the Franciscan Grey Abbey, and adduces numerous references to St. Francis and the Franciscan order. Henry, by contrast, points to earlier Waterford connections of the manuscript in the form of the now lost poem Yung men of Waterford, and argues for strong Kildare bias on the evidence of authorship attribution to Frere Michel Kyldare in the poem starting Swet jesus hend and fre (number 4 in Lucas’ collection), and the subject matter of a further poem, number 13 in the collection: this poem sings the praise of Sir Pers de Birmingham, who came to Ireland as a colonizer and was buried in the monastery of the Grey Friars in Kildare (Henry 1972: 120-21). But on the whole Henry, followed by Kelly (2001b: 62), favours composition in the Cistercian monastery, probably that of Inislounaght in Co. Tipperary, largely basing his assessment on references to the white and grey habits of the monks (Henry 1972: 13941). 3. Literary Motifs in The Land of Cokaygne The poem in which we are particularly interested is known as The Land of Cokaygne. The name Cokaynge does not seem to go back to Irish sources. Rather, Henry points out that this name is first found in the 12th century Carmina Burana as abbas Cucaniensis, where the Abbey of Cokaygne is described as a place of gluttony, drinking, profane diversion and nudity, and versions of the theme exist in French and Dutch literature, as well as in the German Schlaraffenland tradition (Henry 1972: 122, Kelly 2001b: 60). 2 The Poem The Land of Cokaygne consists of 120 lines. Its opening lines show very clear influence by the medieval Irish Immram and Echtra tradition, stating the beauty of the country: 1. Fur in see bi west Spayngne Is a lond ihote Cokaygne. Ther nis lond vnder heuen riche Of wel, of godnis hit iliche. Thogh Paradis be miri and bright, Cokaygn is of fairir sight. ‘Far away in the sea, to the west of Spain, is a land called Cokaygne. There is not a land beneath the kingdom of heaven like it for prosperity and excellence. Though Paradise may be joyful and bright, Cokaygne is of more beautiful appearance’. (Lucas 1995, lines 1-6) 2. Ther is a cloister fair and light, Brod and lang of sembli sight. The pilers of that cloister alle Beth iturned of cristale. With har bas and capitale Of grene Jaspe and rede corale. ‘There is a cloister beautiful and full of light, broad and long, beautiful to see. All the pillars of that cloister are shaped in crystal, with their base and capital of green jasper and red coral’. (Lucas 1995: lines 65-71) The otherworld is of course located across the sea as we know it from Immram Brain ‘The Voyage of Bran’ (ed. Meyer 1895, ed. Mac Mathúna 1985) or Echtrae Chonnlai ‘Connla’s Outing’ (ed. McCone 2000), with buildings of crystal, and it is described as beautiful, good and rich like e.g. the otherworld in Echtrae Chonnlai (McCone 2000: 192), Immram Brain (Mac Mathúna 1985: 48) or in Serglige Con Culainn ‘The Wasting Sickness of Cu Culainn’ (Dillon: 1951-3: 63-4) or also in the Welsh Annwuyn in Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet ‘Pwyll Prince of Dyfed’ (Thomson 1986: 3-4). It is a country of eternal day and eternal peace without death, in which joy and happiness are omnipresent: 3. Ther is mani swete sighte, Al is dai, nis ther no nighte. Ther nis baret nother strif, Nis ther no deth ac euer lif. ‘There is many a delightful sight, it is always day, there is no night there. There is neither conflict nor strife, there is no death there, but life perpetually’. (Lucas 1995: lines 25-29) 4. In Cokaigne is met and drink, With-vte care, how and swink. The met is trie, the drink is clere, To none, russin and sopper. 3 I sigge for-soth, boute were, Ther nis lond on erthe is pere, Vnder heuen nis lond iwisse, Of so mochil joi and blisse. ‘In Cokaygne there is food and drink without sorrow, anxiety and toil. The food is excellent, the drink is pure, for mid-day meal, light collation and supper. I say indeed, without doubt, there is not a land on earth its equal. Indeed, there is not a land under heaven of so much joy and happiness’. (Lucas 1995: lines 17-24) The familiar comment on the Promised Land, that there is no sorrow, fear nor toil, was to be expected here. Note however, that there is no mention of the absence of sin, which is typically stated about the Irish otherworld as again seen in Immram Brain (Mac Mathúna 1985: 54) and Echtrae Chonnlai (McCone 2000: 121). After having seen these opening passages, you will probably agree that we are clearly presented with an otherworld in line with medieval Irish tradition. It is, of course, the land of milk and honey as well as of fruit, pleasure and enjoyment (Lucas 1995: lines 45-50). There are hints in the opening lines already, though, that not everything is as expected. The Land of Cokaygne is repeatedly compared to the biblical Paradise, yet our poem has it that [t]hogh Paradis be miri and bright, Cokaygn is of fairir sight “though Paradise may be joyful and bright, Cokaygne is of more beautiful appearance” (Lucas 1995: line 5). We know of biblical parallels and references in voyage literature, especially pointed out by McCone (1990: 82) and McCone (2000: 105-6), but negative comments about biblical Paradise are unexpected, though they are found here: 5. What is ther in Paradis Bot grasse and flure and grene ris? Thogh ther be joi and gret dute, Ther nis met bote frute; Ther nis halle, bure no benche, Bot watir man is thursto quenche. Beth ther no men bot two, Hely and Enok also; ‘What is there in Paradise but grass and flower and green leafy spray? Though there may be joy and great pleasure, there is no food but fruit; there is no hall, lodging nor seat, only water to quench man's thirst’. (Lucas 1995: 7-14) Paradise has only green grass and pretty flowers, and fruit on offer, including of course the apple, and water to drink. Richer feasts like meat, sweets as well as wine are missing, 4 as are places for banqueting. We are being prepared here for the claim that Paradise is not in fact as desirable as we might have thought. Though the author states that there is no lack of food or clothing, the trappings of the good life, rich food and alcohol, for bodily delights. These are not found as [t]her nis serpent, wolf no fox, Hors no capil, kowe no ox, Ther nis schepe, no swine, no gote “there is not a serpent nor a wolf nor a fox, horse nor hunter, cow nor ox. There is not a sheep nor a pig nor a goat” (Lucas 1995: lines 3134). The author elaborates on the theme of what is missing in Paradise, stressing the scarcity of men: 6. Beth ther no men bot two, Hely and Enok also; Elinglich mai he go, Whar ther wonith men no mo. ‘There are only two men there, Elijah and Enoch too. Desolately, they can go where men dwell no more’. (Lucas 1995: lines 14-16) In the following lines the feeling of unease with this Paradise begins to grow within the reader: the beauty of the otherworld continues to be mentioned, by as much space as the description of its beauty is taken up by references to negative entities. We learn that, perhaps partly due to the absence of animals providing food, [t]her nis schepe, no swine, no gote Ne non horwgh, la, God it wote. “There is not a sheep nor a pig nor a goat, nor any filth, lo!” (Lucas 1995: 34). Further, 7. Nis ther flei, fle no lowse In cloth, in toune, bed no house Ther nis dunnir, slete no hawle, No non vile worme no snawile, No non storm, rein no winde. ‘There is no fly, flea nor louse in clothing, bed or house. There is no thunder there, sleet nor hail, nor any repulsive worm or snail, nor any storm, rain or wind’. (Lucas 1995: 36-41) describes the absence of vermin, a concern which is truly unexpected. There appear to be more such elements of irony, which make their way into each verse. This also seems clear in example 8, which comments on how useless water is in such a place: 8. Ther beth riuers gret and fine Of oile, melk, honi and wine. Watir seruith ther to no thing, Bot to sight and to waiissing. 5 ‘There are great and excellent rivers there of oil, milk, honey and wine. Water serves no purpose there except as something to look at and for washing’. (Lucas 1995: 45-49) We are moving into the realm of irony even more clearly after this, when images of the otherworld are conjured up which correspond to the satirical description of a Schlaraffenland (cf. Henry 1972: 134) similar to that of Aislinge Meic Conglinne ‘The Vision of Mac Conglinne’ (ed. Jackson 1990). 9. Ther is a wel fair abbey Of white monkes and of grei. Ther beth bowris and halles. Al of pasteiis beth the walles, Of fleis, of fisse and rich met, The likfullist that man mai et. Fluren cakes beth the schingles alle Of cherche, cloister, boure and halle, The pinnes beth fat podinges, Rich met to princez and kinges. ‘There is a very splendid abbey of white and grey monks. There are bedrooms and halls. The walls are entirely of pies, of meat, fish and excellent food, the most delightful that men can eat. The shingles of the church, the cloister, bedroom and hall are all cakes made of flour, the pegs are fat sausages, excellent food for princes and kings’. (Lucas 1995: 51-60) 10. Yite I do yow mo to witte: The gees irostid on the spitte Fleez to that abbai, God hit wot, And gredith: “Gees al hote, al hote!”… The leuerokes that beth cuth, Lightith adun to man is muth Idight in stu ful swithe wel, Pudrid with gilofre and canel. ‘I will let you know more still. The geese roasted on the spit fly to that abbey, God knows it, and they cry out: ‘Geese, right hot, right hot!’ … The larks, which are renowned, come down to man's mouth fully dressed in a great stewpan, sprinkled with clove and cinnamon. (Lucas 1995: 101-11) This description of the abbey and the monks oscillates from the image the purity of crystal to unbounded gluttony implied by the buildings made of food. A reader familiar with Aislinge Meic Conglinne would also be reminded of the in fact unchristian attitudes of the monks and the abbot in that text and understand that these monks are wanting not only in respect of appearances but also of Christian spirit. Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (2007) has investigated Aislinge Meic Conglinne as a satirical narrative, but clearly more research on the goliardic similarities of these two texts would be highly desirable. The 6 roast birds are not the only entities that are ready to be consumed by the clerics, however. There also is an island of maidens: 11. An-other abbei is ther-bi, For-soth a gret fair nunnerie, Vp a riuer of swet milke, Whar is plente gret of silk. Whan the somer is dai is hote, The yung nunnes takith a bote And doth ham forth in that riuer, Both with oris and with stere. Whan hi beth fur fram the abbei, Hi makith ham nakid forto plai, And lepith dune in-to the brimme And doth ham sleilich forto swimme. ‘Another abbey is nearby, in truth a big beautiful nunnery, upon a river of sweet milk, where there is great abundance of silk. When the summer day is hot, the young nuns take a boat, and take themselves out on that river both with oars and with rudder. When they are far from the abbey, they make themselves naked in order to play, and leap down into the water and devote themselves skillfully to swimming’. (Lucas 1995: 147-58) As with the island of women, which we know e.g. from Immram curaig Maíle Duin ‘The Voyage of Mael Duin’ (ed. Stokes 1888 and 1889) and Immram Brain, these women offer sexual pleasures to the men. But in contrast to those examples of voyage literature, the pleasures are explicit and ironically described: 12. … And euch monke him taketh on And snellich berith forth har prei To the mochil grei abbei, And techith the nunnes an oreisun With iambleue vp and dun. The monke that wol be stalun gode And kan set a-right is hode, He schal hab, with-oute danger, Twelve wiues euche yere, Al throgh right and noght throgh grace, For-to do him-silf solace. ‘Each monk takes one for himself and quickly carries forth his prey to the great grey abbey, and teaches the nuns a prayer with legs uplifted thoroughly. The monk who wishes to be a good stallion and knows how to arrange his hood becomingly shall have, without difficulty, twelve wives a year, entirely by right and not by grace, in order to give himself pleasure. (Lucas 1995: 162-72) In the case of Voyages like those of Bran or that of Mael Duin, we understand that the sexual favours of the maidens are allegorical, spiritual rewards of having found true Christianity and draw on the imagery of the Song of Songs (McCone 1990: 79-83). Here 7 the physical pleasures are offered to every monk in the monastery. The abbot himself likewise uses the allures of the flesh: 13. Whan the abbot him iseeth That is monkes fram him fleeth, He taketh maidin of the route And turnith vp hir white toute, And betith the taburs with is hond To make is monkes light to lond ‘When the abbot sees for himself that his monks fly away from him, he takes a girl from the crowd and turns up her white buttocks and beats the small drums with his hand, to make his monks come down to land’. (Lucas 1995: 133-38) Henry (1972: 130) sees parallels here with medieval bird-soul symbolism that can also be found in the Old English poems Seafarer and Wanderer. We may also ask ourselves if the monks, who are described as being better at flying than any bird, should be understood to be like the beasts which they consume: 14. The yung monkes euch dai Aftir met goth to plai. Nis ther hauk no fule so swifte Bettir fleing bi the lifte Than the monkes heigh of mode, With har sleuis and har hode. Whan the abbot seeth ham flee, That he holt for moch glee. Ak natheles al ther amang, He biddeth ham light to euesang. ‘Every day after food the young monks go to play. There is neither hawk nor bird so swift, better at flying through the air than the high-spirited monks with their sleeves and their hoods. When the abbot sees them fly, he regards it with great pleasure, but nevertheless, right there in the midst of it, he requests them to come down to evensong’. (Lucas 1995: 121-30) The monks who consume those birds are behaving just like their untutored and soul-less food, which seems likely to have consequences for their spiritual after-life. Like in the texts that we know from voyage literature, reaching that land of plenty is difficult, in the case of Cokaygne, it can be achieved by wading in pigs’ dung for seven years: Seue yere in swine is dritte He mote wade, wol ye iwitte, Al anon vp to the chynne, So he schal the lond winne. “For seven years, you know well, he must wade in pig's dung all the way up to the chin, in order that he shall attain the land” (Lucas 1995: lines 18084, cf. section 4 below). There seems to be only one time when real spirituality is found: 8 15. Whan the monkes geeth to Masse, Al the fenestres that beth of glasse Turneth in-to cristal bright, To yiue monkes more light. Whan the Masses beth iseiid, And the bokes up ileiid, The cristal turnith in-to glasse, In state that hit rather wasse. ‘When the monks go to Mass, all the windows which are of glass turn into radiant crystal, to give them more light. When the Masses are said and the books put away, the crystal turns into glass, to the state that it was in before’. (Lucas 1995: 114-21) In the abbey described in this text it is only during the periods of celebrating mass that any evidence of spirituality is there in this place. 4. Discussion of the material The poem The Land of Cokaygne compares Cokaynge to Paradise and in the description of the author Cokaynge is made out to surpass Paradise. This is due to a number of reasons: Paradise is a place of mainly grass and water, whereas all sorts of wonderful food and drink, as well as sexual delights, can be obtained by the monks of Cokaygne. References to the traditional Celtic paradise are used to create a rival paradisiacal setting, and traditional references to this setting are used: location beyond the sea, pillars of crystal, streams of milk and honey. The presence of women in the Otherworld, as argued by McCone (1990: 82), may be inspired by allegorical, Old Testament references to the Song of Songs. The very worldly favours of the women in the Otherworld can be interpreted as a metaphor for spiritual love of God and religious practice within monastic life. In our poem this female presence is taken out of such an allegorical framework and instead of Christian devotion the females call the monks to bodily sin, to which the whole monastery seems to have succumbed very happily. Any presence of metaphorical, Old Testament interpretation of the function of these women is given up for a more literal reading of the motif. This indeed is exactly what we would expect to happen if the author were coming from a tradition that was familiar with the Irish literary tradition and the practices of the Celtic church, but disapproved of these. Particularly where the Celtic church retained practices of marriage within holy orders and of mixed male and female monasteries, so-called conhospitiae, followers of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman practices 9 of celibacy and single gender monasteries and convents would be very likely to discredit the lack gender separation by portraying the monks as non-devote and only interested in worldly pleasures. The goliardic hyperbole of the Al of pasteiis beth the walles, Of fleis, of fisse and rich met “walls are entirely of pies, of meat, fish and excellent food” (Lucas 1995: lines 54-6) and Fluren cakes beth the schingles alle Of cherche, cloister, boure and halle, The pinnes beth fat podinges, Rich met to princez and kinges “shingles of the church, the cloister, bedroom and hall are all cakes made of flour, the pegs are fat sausages, excellent food for princes and kings” (Lucas 1995: lines 57-60), point to religion that is interested in maximizing their bodily, but not their spiritual well-being. Thus, the entry to the Promised Land is gained by wading through pig’s muck for seven years, not by undergoing a period of spiritual cleansing that is described by the long boat journeys of Bran and Mael Duin in their respective voyages to the Otherworld. The image of wading through pig’s muck Henry (1972: 132) suggests to be a reference to the Sow of Gluttony who is mentioned in the early 13th century English text Ancrene Riwle. Like the island itself, the journey to it is clearly changed from spiritual elevation to infernal filth, which contrasts markedly with the clean environment of the Land of Cokaygne. Against these recast motifs, the closing words of the poem seem to appeal to the self-preservation, and preservation of their souls, of the audience: 16. Lordings gode and hend, Mot ye neuer of world wend, Fort ye stond to yure cheance And fulfille that penance, That ye mote that lond i-se And neuer more turne a-ye. ‘Gentlemen, virtuous and noble, may you never depart from this world until you risk your luck and perform that penance, so that you may see that land and nevermore return again’. (Lucas 1995: 184-89) In the good tradition of Irish Otherworld literature, again compare Echtrae Chonnlai or Immram Brain, return from its shores is not envisaged. Yet, after the description of the Land of Cokaygne and the journey there it seems unlikely that any of the audience might still feel inclined to visit it, or indeed look with anything but spite on the ideas and 10 practices described. The Irish Otherworld and with it any form of religious practice that might go back to earlier, native Irish traditions is clearly debunked. 5. Conclusion Definite pronouncements on the form and function of the Kildare poems are difficult to make as we do not know whether they are really written by one person only, and what their exact time and place of composition was. Clearly, at least the author of Land of Cokaygne was clearly familiar with the Irish literary tradition, including typical voyage literature and the satirical Aisling Maic Conglinne. In spite of the fact that the poem, like the majority of the poems in the collection, is written in English clearly does not mean that we are dealing with an author who is cut off from the medieval Irish literary tradition. But the author is certainly familiar with Anglo-Norman language and culture and is likely to be acculturated in the Anglo-Norman tradition as well. This will be the reason for the use of the satirical approach to the tradition that is taken in this poem: the author seems to distance himself from the medieval Irish tradition with its sexual imagery, and he clearly takes issue with the conhospitiae tradition of mixed monasteries by describing them as a threat to the moral of religious orders. It is likely that this satirical poem was brought about by the author’s detachment from this earlier tradition and it craftily blends literary references to this earlier tradition of Irish voyage literature with hyperbole and satirical elements to discredit the traditions of the Celtic church and earlier medieval Irish culture. Given this, we are indeed likely to find that the author belonged to the Irish tradition, but had been acculturated within an Anglo-Norman family, or the Anglo-Norman Catholic church, be it Franciscan or Cistercian, which leads him to this strong satire on Celtic Church style monastic life. References Benskin, M. 1990. ‘The Hands of the Kildare Poems’ Manuscript’. Irish University Review 20. 163-93. Dillon, M. 1951-3 ‘The Wasting Sickness of Cú Chulainn’. Scottish Gaelic Studies 7. 4788. 11 Henry, P. L. 1972. ‘Land of Cokaygne. Cultures in Contact in Medieval Ireland’. Studia Hibernica 12. 120–41. Heuser, W. 1904. Die Kildare Gedichte. 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