Page 13 - eMuse Vol.9 No.01_Classical

Did You Know? Grandma’s

Distorted Irish History
Celts have been part of the Irish since
the year dot or to be more precise since Sayings
at least 1200 BC. They were regarded by
their neighbours as extreme warriors who
specialised in one-on-one combat. Throw
a love of poetry and art into the mix and Learn from
you have an interesting group.
In their turbulent history they have been yesterday
This defiance not only denied their tor-
converted to Christianity by a former snake mentors’ satisfaction, but it also eroded the
hating slave, invaded by Vikings and the
English. None of this diluted the passion fear that they used to keep other convicts Live for today
for their homeland. in submission.
In time, this defiance of the pain being
The Irish have a track record of not tak-
ing too kindly to the yoke of the invaders as inflicted upon them became a form of cul- Hope for tomorrow
tural power. As recorded in the memoirs of
the Vikings once learned.
Export convict J.F Mortlock: “In Australia, silent Albert Einstein
composure under suffering is strictly pre-
The English invaders threw the Irish off scribed by convict etiquette.”
their land and in time when the Irish re- Of course convicts of all nations were
jected the idea, so-called dissidents were subjected to this but the Irish showed more
subjected to transportation. defiance than most. It is also worth noting,
While troubles continued to brew on the our Irish ancestors came from a country
home front, places overseas (like the then which, among other things, is known as
unheard of Australia) were introduced to “The Land Of The Poets.”
the above dissidents through enforced mi- More cultural power came with songs
gration. that celebrated bushrangers as heroes of
Australians lovingly refer to this as the Australia. The more that the songs of defi-
“convict era.” Genealogists now refer to ance were sung, the more that the author-
these migrants (convicts) as “Australian ity’s legitimacy was undermined and the
Royalty.” About one third of them were weaker its power became.
Irish who referred to the practice as “White In the words of music historian J.S Mani-
Martyrdom.” Although they were still alive fold (1962): “The Irish seem to have taken
in their hearts and minds it was like being the lead. United by more than their chains, You Get
dead. they sang in a whisper the old songs of Ire-
Defiance land. At the risk of flogging or hanging they Nothin' for
If convict life was tough, for the Irish it sang the rebel songs too.
was tougher. Every petty tyrant in the chain “The authorities called any criticism of the
of command seemed determined to break system ‘treason’, and punished it as such. But Nothing
the spirit. But that was not an easy task. this never quite stopped the Irish from sing-
The Irish had been robbed of the homes, ing, and it never stopped them from making
their incomes and the land they loved with up new, local verses to old tunes.
a passion. As convicts it can be argued they “From mouth to ear and from ear to
had absolutely nothing going for them. mouth, not always of the same nationality,
They were shunned by the legal system. both kinds of song spread through the convict
Down trodden by the powers that be and settlements; and no amount of floggings.”
everyone else. Although individuals per- Make no mistake, flogging was exces-
ished under such abuse as a whole they sively cruel. It killed some of its victims
fought back with the only weapon they had outright. If one survived the flogging there
—Defiance. was little or no time permitted to conva-
When tied up on whipping frames called lesce. The victim was returned to work al-
Triangles to be flogged, many Irish convicts most immediately.
refused to show any sign of pain or hurt. Against this brutal backdrop convicts at
As it was observed: “The convict flagella- Norfolk Island, Port Arthur, and, Moreton
tor at this time felt a gratification in inflicting Bay devised a fool-proof escape plan. As
and witnessing human misery. one would realise, many Irish convicts were
“There were many prisoners who would Catholics. By their beliefs, ending their
bear any punishment rather than complain; cares by suicide was not an option.
I am certain that they would have died at So three convicts would draw straws.
the Triangle rather than utter a groan.” The winner would murder his friends
For Irish prisoners this was their own in their sleep. He would then be ar-
brand of extreme dumb insolence. rested, tried, and, hanged for murder.
And no one could prove it was any- In death all three escaped their
thing else. constant torment.

January 2020 eMuse 13