"Lest he should lose command over the tales he loved, he used to repeat them aloud when he thought no one was near, using the gesticulations and the emphasis... as if he were once again the centre of a fireside story-telling."
___Alwyn and Brinley Rees, "Celtic Heritage"
The Irish traditional storyteller Sean O'Conaill, a farmer and fisherman in County Kerry who died in the 1920's was a repository of ancient lore and story, an acknowledged seanchai (SHAN'a-ky) whose memory held a fund of delightful tales. These would have been recited in the evenings after work, or at special occasions and gatherings, but especially in the dark days of winter. People have attested to listening to the same storyteller nearly every winter's night for fifteen years and hardly ever hearing the same story twice.
The memory remains a formidable tool for the transmission of teaching and stories; however, it needs not only to memorize but also an audience or pupil to hear and receive the story. This second component alone gives life to what is memorized, which is why Sean O,Conaill needed to tell his stories to someone, even if it was only to the back of his old gray mare. Today many people are returning to storytelling and learning its skills in story groups or within their communities. Love of story is something that does not die. Perhaps as storylines and scripts in film and television become ever more mediocre and disenchanting, we will return once more to an appreciation of the seanchai's art.
"Memorize a story that you love well. After you have learned it, be aware of the nuances of voice and gesture that spontaneously accompany your recitation. Notice how your recitation alters among different audiences. What new meanings has an audience helped constellate for you?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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