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Description
Above all other animals, the Irish cherished the cow. Stories of cattle raids and mischievous milk-stealers all speak to the fundamental importance of cows in everyday life. While kings, queens and poets saw the care of animals as beneath them, for most people in Ireland, every aspect of daily life was tied intimately to the cows. Milch cows, or cows who had recently calved and could give milk, were one of the basic units of currency and provided most of the livelihood for a small farming family. The ócaire was a poor freeman whose family worked part of a lord's land. He had too few cows to constitute his own herd, so he banded together with neighbours in a comingaire, or joint-herding arrangement, to make sure that all of the cows were looked after together. During most of the year, the cows were herded close to home, but the first of May saw one of the most important days in the calendar as the cows were moved to their summer pastures.

For those who couldn't afford professional cowherds, the task of minding the cows over the summer usually fell to the young women. While the summer hills were not too far from the home, it was still a time of comparative independence for young women. They herded the cows and milked them, singing as they milked and as they danced in the evening with any young men who came to visit. There is a rich poetic tradition across Gaelic-speaking areas associating the joys of youth with the days of May spent in the summer milking places. Mór, the young woman in this illustration, represents these young women who lovingly cared for the cows and their calves while enjoying the exhilirating highs and lows of adolescence in the summertime of the year.

Consequently, the day when the cows moved from home to the summer pastures was also a great day of importance for young women like Mór. The Irish year was divided into four quarter-days centred around the rhythms of agriculture and pastoralism. Beltaine, the first of May, was the day the cows were moved to the summer pastures and was therefore one of the most important days of the year. The cows had just given birth and could start providing the family with milk and other dairy products. However, the quarter-days were believed to be a time of increased vulnerability for livestock. Malevolent supernatural forces such as witches and denizens of the Otherworld were active and powerful, ready to corrupt the cow's milk or steal some for themselves. The need to protect the cows and other vulnerable creatures, human and animal alike, gave rise to the customs of Beltaine, which stretched back centuries into the pre-Christian past.

Through a combination of early medieval descriptions and later folkloric practices, we can sketch a picture of what Beltaine might have looked like a thousand years ago. The most important protective aspect of Beltane was the lighting of the fires. The night before the first of May, all the fires would be extinguished. Then, just before sunrise the next day, a new fire would be lit. As Beltaine dawned, people would lead their cows between the flames in order to bring them protection for the coming year. Pregnant women, too, would walk between the fires, and fathers would carry their children. As the sun rose higher in the sky and the fires started to turn to ash, young women would leap across them hoping for luck in love, having washed their faces in the May morning dew in pursuit of the same goal. For extra protection, the cows' necks and all the milking tools would be festooned in rowan flowers, well-known as the most effective deterrent against witches. Long gone were the druids who may have presided over the fires of Beltaine in the distant, mostly forgotten past - by 1000 it was a thoroughly Christian festival, and the rites to protect the cows would have been accompanied by prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the "Mary of the Gaels", Saint Brigid of Kildare. The Irish associated both saints with the cows' life-giving milk. In fact, Mary was known with reverence as Bó Bhithbhliocht, "Ever-Milking Cow", nurturing humanity as she nurtured the Christ child.

Mór and other commoners had little wealth to their name, so they treasured all the more the cows who provided them with so much. In spite of the hard lives they lived feeding the kingdom, they all came together for momentous days to greet the beginning of summer and send the young women and their cows off to the summer pastures in style. Here Mór, wrapped in a shaggy cloak and singing a blessing or a Beltaine song long lost to us, walks her cow through the Beltaine fires. She looks forward with joy to the summer that lies ahead - the work will be hard, but the milk will be plentiful and the nights will be merry.

I am so happy to bring you this Beltaine picture in the Women of 1000 series! And set in Ireland no less. Some of the earliest descriptions of the Beltaine fires are attributed to a man from Cashel in County Tipperary, so I decided to set this illustration nearby around the area of Drom, which is where some of my family came from in Ireland. It's been a real joy crafting this illustration and story of rural life in medieval Ireland. I have so many images in my head all the time of medieval Celtic peoples after studying them at university, and I'm so happy to be getting some out of my head and into my gallery. Beltaine is special to me too; one of my best experiences since moving to Scotland was being invited to participate in my friend's Beltaine celebration, when people come from all over the country to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of summer.

Mór is wearing a dun-coloured léine, or tunic, along with the shaggy brat, or cloak - the shaggy style is thought to be influenced by the centuries of Viking presence in Ireland. Unlike Princess Olith , who wears purple and deep blue lined with gold trim, Mór is a commoner restricted to more muted colours. The cows of Ireland at the time are thought to be close to modern-day Kerry cattle and were on average smaller than cows are today. This picture was very challenging due to the complexities of the lighting, but I'm really proud of how it came out! Thanks to my friends who gave me advice on the composition and who pointed me towards helpful resources to read in my lifelong love affair with medieval Gaeldom!

Also, my sister very kindly made a version where you can see the cow's face better since the scanner got rid of some of the blue/black subtleties in its face! sta.sh/076i8mbagp8

Read more on the Women of 1000 website: womenof1000ad.weebly.com/moacu…

Others in the Series
Sei Shōnagon
Oni Oluwo
Princess Olith
Coniupuyara
Sitt al-Mulk and Taqarrub
The Mother of Pueblo Bonito
Gudridr Thorbjarnardottir and Thorbjorgr Litlvolva
The Weaver of Xuenkal
Niguma
Guni
Bonna
The Oneota Messenger
Empress Chengtian
The Pilgrim of Pariti
Queen Gurandukht
Mwana Mkisi
Raingarde
Ama
Sahiqat
Jigonsaseh
The Explorer of Ua Huka

Description
Above all other animals, the Irish cherished the cow. Stories of cattle raids and mischievous milk-stealers all speak to the fundamental importance of cows in everyday life. While kings, queens and poets saw the care of animals as beneath them, for most people in Ireland, every aspect of daily life was tied intimately to the cows. Milch cows, or cows who had recently calved and could give milk, were one of the basic units of currency and provided most of the livelihood for a small farming family. The ócaire was a poor freeman whose family worked part of a lord's land. He had too few cows to constitute his own herd, so he banded together with neighbours in a comingaire, or joint-herding arrangement, to make sure that all of the cows were looked after together. During most of the year, the cows were herded close to home, but the first of May saw one of the most important days in the calendar as the cows were moved to their summer pastures.

For those who couldn't afford professional cowherds, the task of minding the cows over the summer usually fell to the young women. While the summer hills were not too far from the home, it was still a time of comparative independence for young women. They herded the cows and milked them, singing as they milked and as they danced in the evening with any young men who came to visit. There is a rich poetic tradition across Gaelic-speaking areas associating the joys of youth with the days of May spent in the summer milking places. Mór, the young woman in this illustration, represents these young women who lovingly cared for the cows and their calves while enjoying the exhilirating highs and lows of adolescence in the summertime of the year.

Consequently, the day when the cows moved from home to the summer pastures was also a great day of importance for young women like Mór. The Irish year was divided into four quarter-days centred around the rhythms of agriculture and pastoralism. Beltaine, the first of May, was the day the cows were moved to the summer pastures and was therefore one of the most important days of the year. The cows had just given birth and could start providing the family with milk and other dairy products. However, the quarter-days were believed to be a time of increased vulnerability for livestock. Malevolent supernatural forces such as witches and denizens of the Otherworld were active and powerful, ready to corrupt the cow's milk or steal some for themselves. The need to protect the cows and other vulnerable creatures, human and animal alike, gave rise to the customs of Beltaine, which stretched back centuries into the pre-Christian past.

Through a combination of early medieval descriptions and later folkloric practices, we can sketch a picture of what Beltaine might have looked like a thousand years ago. The most important protective aspect of Beltane was the lighting of the fires. The night before the first of May, all the fires would be extinguished. Then, just before sunrise the next day, a new fire would be lit. As Beltaine dawned, people would lead their cows between the flames in order to bring them protection for the coming year. Pregnant women, too, would walk between the fires, and fathers would carry their children. As the sun rose higher in the sky and the fires started to turn to ash, young women would leap across them hoping for luck in love, having washed their faces in the May morning dew in pursuit of the same goal. For extra protection, the cows' necks and all the milking tools would be festooned in rowan flowers, well-known as the most effective deterrent against witches. Long gone were the druids who may have presided over the fires of Beltaine in the distant, mostly forgotten past - by 1000 it was a thoroughly Christian festival, and the rites to protect the cows would have been accompanied by prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the "Mary of the Gaels", Saint Brigid of Kildare. The Irish associated both saints with the cows' life-giving milk. In fact, Mary was known with reverence as Bó Bhithbhliocht, "Ever-Milking Cow", nurturing humanity as she nurtured the Christ child.

Mór and other commoners had little wealth to their name, so they treasured all the more the cows who provided them with so much. In spite of the hard lives they lived feeding the kingdom, they all came together for momentous days to greet the beginning of summer and send the young women and their cows off to the summer pastures in style. Here Mór, wrapped in a shaggy cloak and singing a blessing or a Beltaine song long lost to us, walks her cow through the Beltaine fires. She looks forward with joy to the summer that lies ahead - the work will be hard, but the milk will be plentiful and the nights will be merry.

I am so happy to bring you this Beltaine picture in the Women of 1000 series! And set in Ireland no less. Some of the earliest descriptions of the Beltaine fires are attributed to a man from Cashel in County Tipperary, so I decided to set this illustration nearby around the area of Drom, which is where some of my family came from in Ireland. It's been a real joy crafting this illustration and story of rural life in medieval Ireland. I have so many images in my head all the time of medieval Celtic peoples after studying them at university, and I'm so happy to be getting some out of my head and into my gallery. Beltaine is special to me too; one of my best experiences since moving to Scotland was being invited to participate in my friend's Beltaine celebration, when people come from all over the country to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of summer.

Mór is wearing a dun-coloured léine, or tunic, along with the shaggy brat, or cloak - the shaggy style is thought to be influenced by the centuries of Viking presence in Ireland. Unlike Princess Olith , who wears purple and deep blue lined with gold trim, Mór is a commoner restricted to more muted colours. The cows of Ireland at the time are thought to be close to modern-day Kerry cattle and were on average smaller than cows are today. This picture was very challenging due to the complexities of the lighting, but I'm really proud of how it came out! Thanks to my friends who gave me advice on the composition and who pointed me towards helpful resources to read in my lifelong love affair with medieval Gaeldom!

Also, my sister very kindly made a version where you can see the cow's face better since the scanner got rid of some of the blue/black subtleties in its face! sta.sh/076i8mbagp8

Read more on the Women of 1000 website: womenof1000ad.weebly.com/moacu…

Others in the Series
Sei Shōnagon
Oni Oluwo
Princess Olith
Coniupuyara
Sitt al-Mulk and Taqarrub
The Mother of Pueblo Bonito
Gudridr Thorbjarnardottir and Thorbjorgr Litlvolva
The Weaver of Xuenkal
Niguma
Guni
Bonna
The Oneota Messenger
Empress Chengtian
The Pilgrim of Pariti
Queen Gurandukht
Mwana Mkisi
Raingarde
Ama
Sahiqat
Jigonsaseh
The Explorer of Ua Huka