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Get Your Irish Up

         With St. Patrick's Day a week away, it's time to brush up our Irish. Let's start with wild banshees.

         I don't want to meet up with one, but I'm fascinated to hear about them. They're not really wild. They just sound that way and frighten people. Usually these spirits of dead women have attached themselves to a family  or residents of their estate. For some reason, they have not been able to leave this world after their deaths, perhaps because of a tragic ending. In this lingering state, the spirits warn of an impending death.

         They could be called "wild" because most often they are heard by someone who's been out late drinking. The telling of it may have been affected by their physical and mental state. Some modern folks have tried to pass it off as the sound of wind, but we know better.

         A nice banshee makes a low, mournful sound. This is one who regrets the upcoming demise of a truly good person, or a very young person, maybe a young pregnant wife. She sounds sorrowful and heartbroken. Maybe this banshee wishes she didn't know this awful information. Her cries fill the listeners and their friends with sorrow and worry and dismay.

         Then there is the wicked banshee. She takes delight in knowing an upcoming demise. She shrieks and howls with laughter. Her cry is much scarier than the other kind. She strikes fear in the hearts of those who hear, which gives her even greater delight. Just or unjust, death to her is a game.

         I've heard of wild banshee Indians. I think that is a mistake made legendary. Perhaps an Irish cowboy, or his Irish wife, mixed the comparisons when talking about children. There were large settlements of Irish out west, like Chicago. Yes, Chicago was the wild west at one time.So don't fall for the mix of Indian and Irish lore. It just isn't so.

         If you don't want to hear a wild banshee for yourself, don't stay out at the pub so late at night, don't pass out drunk outdoors, and have a designated driver just to be safe.