Crossroads
in Irish folklore.
The crossroads is a land that belongs to no one.
It’s an area that seems to invite ghosts, spirits and creatures of the night,
those that don’t belong in the natural world. Malevolent faeries are believed
to haunt the crossroads looking for lost souls to lure into the half-lit world
of the Unseelie. For this reason it was believed that the crossroads would
confound or confuse restless spirits, stopping them from returning to haunt the
living.
Crossroads have played a very important role in the
folklore of many cultures. They were often used as burial places for unbaptised
children, murderers, executed criminals, and suicides. It was because this ground was unconsecrated
and was seen as separate from the everyday world. Such outcasts were not
intended for the forgiveness of heaven and so they were buried in a place that
would condemn their spirits to wander for eternity.
It was suggested that this was because the
crossroads form a Christian cross but this does not hold true as the belief in
the power of crossroads predates Christianity and you will find similar
superstitions regarding crossroads in many cultures which are not Christian. Folklore tells us that suicide victims or self
murderers as they used to be called were sometimes buried at the crossroads so
their spirits would not return to search for those who had wronged them in
life.
May be it was for this reason that crossroads have
become associated with ghostly legends, magic, and paranormal activities. They have long been of interest to those who
gather information on the paranormal as events of this nature are said to occur
on ancient highways and byways especially where they cross. Whether or not these events are real or
imagined does not matter as there are stories in every culture concerning
devils, demons and deals done with the devil so I would suggest that, as in
every legend, there may just be a grain of truth in their origins.
Certain routes were used for funerals and called
‘the path of the corpse ’. There was also a tradition of putting wooden crosses
on bushes by the roadside where the roads met at a crossroads and if a funeral
procession passed by then the pall bearers would place the coffin down for a
few minutes.
Crowing hens, regarded as unlucky, were abandoned at
the crossroads. If you had warts these could be cured by rubbing them with a
stone and leaving it at the crossroads, if someone picked up the stone then
they took over your warts.
There are stories concerning deals done with the
devil, in modern times Robert Johnson the famous blues musician claimed to have
met the devil at the crossroads and signed over his soul to play the blues and
gain mastery over the guitar. He died at the age of 27 and became one of those
poor unfortunates that have become known as members of the 27 club. I will talk
about the 27 club in a future show.
In Ireland the sweeping of crossroads was carried
out, this was a practice associated with witches who would meet at crossroads
to carry out certain rituals.
Traditionally the crossroads was looked upon as a no-man’s land
belonging to no one. A place that was thought of as being neither here nor
there, a place beyond the real world where normal rules did not apply. It was here that people could make contact
with the spirit world and shrines, crosses and standing stones are a common
feature of crossroads throughout Europe.
At Samhain spirits were thought to gather and walk
in procession to visit the homes of their relatives and that if you were to
stand at the crossroads at midnight you would see them passing. Some legends even suggest that if you were to
listen carefully you would hear the names of those about to die on the wind as
it blew across the feet of the corpses on the way to the house of the one whose
name was heard.
Gibbets were often placed at crossroads. A gibbet is
an instrument of public execution; it is in this instance, a gallows-type
structure from which the dead or dying bodies of executed criminals were hung
on public display in order to deter others from following their way of
life. At one time live gibbeting took
place; the condemned were placed in a cage like structure that hung from the
arm of the gibbet. They were left to die of thirst. This type of execution seemed to be reserved
for those convicted of treason, murder, highwaymen, pirates and sheep
stealers.
It may be of interest to know that Oliver Cromwell
was gibbeted after his death, when monarchists disinterred his body during the
restoration of the British monarchy.
The practice of burying suicides and criminals at
crossroads was repealed by an Act of Parliament in 1823. It has been suggested that this was at the
request of George IV who had been delayed by a crowd gathered for a burial at
the crossroads of Hobart Place and Grosvenor Place. The spectators were
watching the burial of a suicide called Abel Griffiths, by this time suicide
was regarded with greater sympathy and although frowned upon by the church the
populace now didn’t consider it to be self-murder. However, following abolition
suicides could only be buried in graveyards between 9-00pm and midnight and no
ceremonies were allowed.
There is a sad story concerning a crossroads on the
Icknield Way near the Cambridgeshire and Suffolk border in England I mention
this only because Ireland was under British rule and so their laws were imposed
upon us and this story is now part of the folklore of crossroads. There is a neatly tended patch of ground
where flowers are planted and looked after.
It is known locally as The Boy’s Grave.
The story goes that a young shepherd boy believed he had lost one of his
master’s sheep, afraid of being accused of its theft and hanged or transported
and the shame that may bring to his family he hanged himself. When the sheep
were counted it was found that none were missing. Having taken his own life he
was buried at the crossroads, people tend to his grave to this day. His name is not known nor is his death
mentioned in local records. However,
through archaeology and historical research the burial of criminals and
suicides at rural crossroads illustrates the practice and there is now a great
deal of evidence to support the theory.
A more pleasant feature of Irish country life was
the custom of holding dances at the crossroads. People dance on specially
erected timber platforms and enjoy the open air, scenery, meeting friends and
making new ones and enjoying the music provided. It was during the 16th
and 17th centuries that crossroads dancing became popular. However,
the clergy condemned it so the Gaelic League introduced the first Ceilli in
1697 and this let dancers dance indoors under supervision. Interestingly the Ceilli was not held in
Ireland but in London.
Traditional Irish culture continued in secret until
the 1700s. It was a time in Irish history when dancing was prohibited by the
English so the Irish would meet on country roads, particularly where they
crossed. They would bring food, drink,
and musical instruments and keeping an eye out for approaching soldiers they
danced their country dances. It was around 1750 that attitudes began to become
less strict and this allowed Irish dance to flourish.
There used to be a tradition where dance was taught
by the Dance Master, a Dance Master would travel around the country staying in
villages in order to teach dance steps. To have a Dance Master staying in your
village was a cause of immense pride and boasting by the community.
However, we cannot blame the British for the Public
Dance Hall Act of 1935. This little
piece of legislation enacted by the Irish Dáil had a severe and detrimental
effect on the traditional music, dance, and storytelling of rural Ireland. Before this legislation Irish culture was an
important part of rural Ireland and centred on house dancing and dancing at the
crossroads. It was here that our art
flourished, but along came the pressure to regulate. This came from a number of different sources,
most notable among them was the Catholic Church.
They had been campaigning for years claiming that
house dancing led to sin and corruption, here now was a chance for the
government to bring in legislation and tax the profits of regulated dance
halls. It now meant that all dance halls
had to be licensed for public dances, however, house dances could not be
regulated and so they were exempt.
The view of the Gardaí and the clergy was that such
dances should be illegal this led to a great number of local people being
prosecuted and the dancing in houses and at crossroads began to die out, and
with them went our traditional way of life.
Even farmers stopped holding harvest dances as a way of thanking their
farmhands for all their hard work gathering in the crops.
The house dances and crossroads dances were not the
target of the legislation. Nevertheless,
the clergy and Gardaí continued to apply the act as if it did outlaw these
activities, and although they were not the only factors in the demise of the
country dances, they were at any rate the only agents of change who consciously
and deliberately set out to do away with our traditions. The Act was not to blame, but its agents, encouraged
and assisted by the clergy, certainly were.
It is good to see that today the house dances and
dancing at the crossroads are being revived. We no longer look for approaching
soldiers, only motor cars.
Incidentally the phrase “Comely maidens dancing at
the crossroads” was never in fact uttered by DeVelera as some would have you
believe.
Here I will leave you at the crossroads with the
words of that great blues singer Robert Johnson.
I went down to the crossroad
Fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroad
Fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, “Have mercy now,
Save poor Bob, if you please”.
Crossroad Blues by Robert Johnson (1911-1938)
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