Inalienable Rights

Inalienable Rights

"Three indispensables of a nobleman are: his harp, his blanket, and his cauldron."

   ___ triad from "Laws of Hywel Dda"



    Under most modern laws of distrait - whereby goods are removed from a household in compensation for debts unpaid - there are certain articles that cannot removed. These usually include the items by which the householder earns her living, the tools of worker's trade, the bed, and the means to make food. In the triad above, from the Welsh legal code formulated by King Hywel Dda (HOO'wel THA) in the ninth century, we discover that the three indispensable objects of the nobleman are the harp by which his bard entertained him, the blanket that kept his body warm in bed, and the cauldron that heated his food. Today, these items were probably be equivalent to the television set, the bed and the stove: means of entertainment, sleep and food.

  We have become used to the possession of certain inalienable rights life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, among others, in our modern world. These are rights that we take for granted, that are enshrined in constitutions and maintained by the law of the land; and yet even within civilized societies there are many who do not enjoy their rights. The poor, the disadvantaged and others who live on the margins of society need the actions and voices of those who honor the commitment to the inalienable rights that we should all enjoy.

"If you could only take three things from your house right now, which would they be? Of all your basic, inalienable rights, which do you most cherish?"

[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]