Scandal

Scandal

"Fionn, Prince of the Fianna,
Shall deliver me from the lie,
The son of Cumhail of the sharp blades,
And Goll of the strokes shall be my shield."
    __ Scots Gaelic charm against ill-report (trans CM)

   In this Scots Gaelic charm, the speaker invokes the help of Fionn mac Cumhail (FINN mak KOOL), the great champion of the Gael, and one of his heroes, the hard-hitting Goll. When our own good name is brought into disrepute, through the spiteful words of others, we need strong heroes to champion us against a world of back-stabbing gossips.
   Ill report and scandal are like forest fires, sweeping through a circle of acquaintance faster than the wind. For anyone, regardless of prominence or anonymity in the world, the assault of scandal is the most difficult to parry or refute.  When the rights of livelihood or marriage or parenthood are stripped away as a result of false report, the injustice rankles to the core.
   Every person alive has a responsibility to those in his shared circle of life. If by one unregarded word of ours we cause pain or hurt unjustly, if we endanger the public esteem of someone without warrant, we are no better than the armed assailant, who mugs people on the streets. To steal someone's good name is theft, however we wrap it up. Scandal flourishes only because there are willing ears to receive it. If we close our ears to unjust gossip and restrain our tongues from passing it on, its muddy outpourings will cease to foul our lives.

"How have you entertained gossip?  How can you cease to be the exponent of ill-report?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]