Page 81 - Demo

Chapter three 81
The child was named Brigid, perhaps to seek the blessing of the pagan Bríd, Goddess of ire and wisdom, because the story informs us that from the very moment of her birth there were indications that she was special. It is maintained that she was born at sunrise and that the house of the druid where she was born burst into lames when she eventually left. An ad- dition to the tale tells that part of the bargain entered into by the druid and her father stated that to partly pay for her fosterage, Brighid worked as a dairy-maid for the druid, caring for the milk of twelve cows; and when she made the butter she divided it into one large por- tion and twelve smaller ones, in memory, it is said of Jesus Christ and the twelve Apostles. According to the tale, the large portion of butter she gave to the poor and the stranger, for she used to say that Christ was in the person of every beggar and wanderer who came to one’s door. On learning that his dairy-maid had given away the greatest part of his butter, the druid paid Brighid a surprise visit-having heard that on that particular day she had been over generous. Upon arrival the druid demanded a hamper of butter, knowing full well that she had only a small amount left. Undeterred, Brighid went into her dairy kitchen singing:
Oh my Prince
Who can do all things good and grand Bless O God
My kitchen with Thy right hand.
My kitchen,
The kitchen of the Godly prince
A kitchen which my God hath blessed A kitchen that hath butter since Mary’s Son, my friend, cometh
To bless my kitchen do
The Prince of the world to the border May we have abundance with you.
And lo and behold, she began carrying out copious amounts of butter to the druid, until, says the old tale, she was bringing so much that an acquaintance of the druid later remarked “If the hampers which the men of Munster had possessed had been given to her, she would ill them all.” So impressed was the Druid with what he witnessed that in the aftermath, both he and his wife converted to the Christian religion and were baptised into the faith by