A Historical Saga
Generations by John Reinhard Dizon
Series Excerpt
“You are the blood of my blood, and bone of my bone,” Jonathan recited the Celtic vow. “I give you my body, that we two might be one. I give you my spirit, ‘til our life shall be done. You cannot possess me for I belong to myself; but while we both wish it; I give you that which is mine to give. You cannot command me, for I am a free person; but I shall serve you in those ways you require, and the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand.”
Jonathan and David had gone out to the wise woman’s shanty on the west road the week before and had arranged the ceremony for this Saturday evening during the full moon. She had insisted that it be held at midnight so that they might receive the fullest blessings of the spirits of the woodland.
“I vow you the first cut of my meat, the first sip of my wine,” Shalane gave the Celtic response. “From this day it shall only be your name I call in the night, and into your eyes I smile each morning. I shall be a shield for your back as you are for mine, and no grievous word shall be spoken of us. Our marriage is sacred and no stranger shall hear my grievance. Above and beyond, I will cherish and honor you through this life unto the next.”
Jonathan formally proposed to Shalane before explaining the ceremony situation in detail. She was somewhat taken aback but agreed that marrying him was the most important thing; having it done as a Celtic rite seemed to be a matter of necessity. It was only Aileen who reneged, refusing to take part in a pagan ritual. The Otises were eager to attend. They spent but little time indoors, the wise woman specifying that the ceremony would be performed under the moon and stars facing the east wind.
Shalane wore a lovely white gown and had her coppery locks plaited in braids draping over her shoulders, a wreath of flowers on her head. Jonathan wore his finest black robe and was dressed as neatly as his friends as if going to Sunday Mass. The old woman wore a clean gown, as dark as the night itself.
As the woman gestured, David produced a golden claddagh ring which he handed to Jonathan.
“I take you my heart at the rising of the moon and the setting of the stars,” Jonathan said fervently as he gazed into her eyes. “To love and to honor through all that may come. Through all our lives together, in all our lives, may we be reborn that we may meet again and know, and love again and remember.”
Jonathan had gone to Shalane’s mother and asked for her daughter’s hand in marriage. The older woman was curt but did seem to like Jonathan and his easygoing manner. She gave him a short dissertation about the obligations of the married life and a short history of her early years with Shalane’s father.
“Never forget, there will be many a time when it seems the only things you have in this world are each other,” she admonished him. “Don’t ever let anything get in betwixt you, not your own children, your property, or your families. Your relationship is your truest possession.”
Jonathan promised that they would send her money each month but she would hear none of it. She said she would sell their shanty and return to Dundalk to live with relatives, where the two of them would be forever welcome.
“May God be with you and bless you, may you see your children’s children. May you be poor in misfortune and rich in blessing,” the wise woman turned her palms towards the sky. “May you know nothing but happiness from this day forth. In the name of the Father of all Creation, I pronounce you man and wife.”
They rejoiced as they returned to Jonathan’s house, and they drank a jug of wine outside before the newlyweds retired for the evening. Jonathan carried her across the threshold, as was the custom, and dropped her on the bed, slipping in beside her as they cuddled together. Making love came naturally to them and, after a long while, they exhausted themselves and slept in each others’ arms.
It was a Friday night, and they were able to spend the weekend as newlyweds. She prepared meals for him and tended the house and garden while he tinkered about in the shed. They were visited during the day by Aileen, and in the evenings by David and the Otises. Despite the wonders of housekeeping as a married couple, there was nothing more important than bedtime when they were able to satisfy their greatest expectations. It was truly a magical time for them.
Jonathan arrived for work at the Church that Monday morning, and he and Brother Mark set to work on the sacristy as scheduled. They sanded the worn and weathered benches smooth, painstakingly cleaning the decorative carvings. It required tenacious focus and attention to detail, and the two men respected each others’ abilities all the more as the project began, breathing new life into the venerated chamber.
“Well, then, have you made plans for the big day?” Brother Mark asked cheerily as they took a short break from their labors.
“Actually, we were planning to have it after I return from the field,” Jonathan replied cautiously. “We didn’t want to wait that long, so we had a Celtic ceremony for the meantime.”
“A Celtic ceremony?” Brother Mark stared at him. “You mean you went into wedlock without the Church’s blessing?”
“Half of the married couples in Ireland were joined together in Celtic ceremonies,” Jonathan insisted. “This I know as fact. Are you saying all those marriages are illegal?”
“Jonathan, do you know not what you have done?” the clergyman beseeched him painfully.
“I couldn’t wait a whole month, not with the fighting about to start in a couple of weeks,” Jonathan insisted. “Consider all the things that could happen on the field to a man! Suppose I was injured or taken captive and there was no way of sending word? She could easily be misled to believe I was dead, and give her hand to another in her grief.”
“Jonathan, you’ve committed an act of heresy that is punishable by excommunication,” Brother Mark groaned, cupping his forehead as if in agony. “Pope Benedict has just been restored to power by King Henry of Germany and is ruling with an iron hand. The Saracens and the Normans are ravaging his lands, and he is acting as a man surrounded by traitors and assassins. Anyone who defies the ordinances of the Church is subject to excommunication, along with those who do not report such disloyalty. Word would get back to the Bishop, and he would convict me for suppressing information and protecting a heretic.”
“A heretic,” Jonathan said quietly. “For marrying the woman I love outside of the Church.”
“I don’t make the rules, Jonathan. I have taken a vow to live my life according to them.”
“All right,” he sighed. “What happens next?”
“Obviously this will terminate our contract.” Brother Mark began fumbling with the knot on his heavy cloth apron. “I’ll have to go on as best I can before finding someone else to take your place, and believe me it will not be easy.”
The full shock of what was happening finally hit Jonathan, but he showed no emotion as he unfastened his own leather apron and began retrieving his tools.
Jonathan looked Brother Mark in the eyes, and confirmed, “You are sworn to this life and you do as you must. I will always consider you a friend.”
“And I you, Jonathan,” Brother Mark replied. They embraced each other warmly. Jonathan asked for and received his blessing, then took his leave.
His mind raced a mile a minute on the long walk home, wondering what he would do to support himself and Shalane without his job at the Church. He knew he could drum up business in town, perhaps pay the town crier a few pence to advertise his availability, It would be an utter embarrassment for word to spread of his misfortune, but he knew the situation would pass in due time. Moreover, he was certain that there were more than a few older couples who had been married by Celtic ritual and would be fully sympathetic to his plight.
He had always questioned many of the Church’s edicts, as had many of the townsfolk he knew throughout his life. Grandda had always admonished him never to discuss race, religion or politics in the public house, as these topics had led to some of the bloodiest brawls in its history. Nevertheless, there had been occasions when deep discussions between friends led to opinionated diatribes over the Church and their own personal belief systems. The Otis family had been traditionally Celtic but they came into the Church to benefit from its social resources, as had most Irishmen across the country. David was very Celtic but could recite the Church’s creed better than anyone he knew. His Grandda, alternately, was a devout Catholic but knew more about the Celtic ways than most others in Armagh.
He finally reached home and put his tools away in the shed before entering the house. Shalane was busy tidying the house, cooing Celtic songs in her beautiful singing voice. She was surprised to see Jonathan home so early, at which he collapsed into his Grandda’s wooden chair and told her all that had happened. She sat across from him on a bench and said nothing, remaining silent for a short while after he had finished.
“I’ve nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to regret.” He was adamant. “Marrying you was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. It’s as your own mother said, you’re all I truly have in this world. The Church can deny me everything, but it can’t take you away from me, now can it?”
“Nothing ever can,” she insisted. “I can go back to work for Lord Mac Manus. I told him all about you, and all he asked is if you were Catholic. Before I left, he said you sounded like a fine young man who was very lucky indeed, and wished us all the best. I’m sure he will be glad to have me back, and my wages will suit us fine until you secure another contract.”
She rose from her chair and came over to him, and he took her alabaster hand and pressed it against his cheek.
“I’m the most blessed man in all of Ireland,” he said before rising to his feet and taking her in his arms. “I’ll pay a tuppence to the town crier and have him advertise my services. I won’t have my wife lift a finger in another man’s home as I live and breathe.”
“I don’t know why I suddenly feel so tired, I suppose it’s from frittering about the house all day,” she smiled mischievously. “Perhaps we should retire early and save our strength for a busy day tomorrow.”
“My darling Shalane,” he held her close, his blood running hotly through his veins. “You set me afire with your very touch.”
They held hands as they moved towards the rope bed, undressing each other before slipping between the covers and melting into each others’ arms. They thrilled at the touch of one another’s bodies and drank thirstily of the nectars of their love before falling into a blissful sleep.
Jonathan thought he was dreaming when he heard what sounded like distant thunder, only to waken to the sound of knocking at the door. Shalane’s emerald eyes popped wide as she realized it was already twilight.
“It must be the fellows,” he whispered.
“Tell them I’m washing up and that you were napping,” she kissed him quickly before pulling the curtains around the bed which allowed some privacy. Jonathan pulled his clothes on and answered the door.
“How now, men,” Jonathan rubbed his eyes as he came to the door with a lit candle holder. “My lady’s tidying up, and I fell asleep awaiting.”
“We thought perhaps you had retired early, as young couples have just as much right to as the old,” Ian Otis grinned saucily. “We were about to depart in respecting your privacy.”
“Singing bawdy songs at the public house again, were you?” Jonathan beckoned them inside. “Sure and you’ll learn to control yourself once in the King’s service.”
“I’m sure it’ll be much harder for you when denied your privileges,” Ian ribbed him.
“I’ll have your arse if Shalane hears you,” he hissed, poking his friend’s shoulder.
“It would hardly be a fair trade,” Harold guffawed before being shoved at by Jonathan and David.
“Welcome, friends,” Shalane greeted them cheerily, dressed in a blue robe, her hair dripping wet as it draped over her shoulders. “Forgive my appearance, but I required a good scrubbing after crawling on hands and knees all over the garden this afternoon. I’ve yet to make my beloved his supper, and thereafter I’d be offended if you would not join us.”
“This fellow has bragged of the bewitching feasts you have placed before him, and we would be as fools not to sample some for ourselves,” Ian grinned. “Only we have come to fetch him for a meeting with Michael O’Beirne at the public house, so we can only pray that your invitation remains open for a next time in the very near future.”
“I won’t be going, dear friends,” Jonathan lowered his eyes, and Shalane busied herself stoking the fires in the hearth as he told them all that had transpired that day.
“Damned fools that they are!” Ian bellowed after Jonathan finished his story. “I’d see that Pope at the end of a rope! It’s all for one and one for all, and if they won’t have you, none of us will fight either!”
“What does the Church have to do with the militia?’ Shalane asked indignantly. “It isn’t that I am not relieved in my soul that my husband is not being asked to risk his life, but rather that his reputation be placed in question beyond the provinces of the Papacy and its lackeys.”
“A woman after my own heart,” Harold laughed.
“The Church blesses the militia before it goes to war,” Jonathan said quietly. “The superstition is that a militia going into battle without the blessing is doomed to annihilation, and then to hell with the blood of its enemies on its hands. The Bishop will not bless the militia if one among them is called a heretic.”
“Well then, we four shall stand as heretics away from the lot of them,” Ian declared. “Let those soft-bellied turnip farmers go on their own against those monstrous Vikings of the south. They’ll pray to their Blessed Virgin that we had been among their ranks as they’re run back here like whipped curs with their tails between their legs.”
Ian was cut short by yet another knock on the door, and they all stared quizzically as to who would come calling at dark.
“Perhaps it is one who thinks this is the public house, with all the shouting,” Shalane teased them before answering the door. They were all surprised to see James Delaney standing in the threshold.
“Michael asked me to come and reassure that you were attending the rally.” He sounded apologetic. “It’s very important, and he wanted to be sure you all were there.”
“I’ll not…” Jonathan began, but Ian cut him off.
“We’ll speak to Mike directly,” Ian insisted. “He’s not as shallow as the rest, and would not to want to lose four for the price of one. Let us bargain to find a way to yet risk our lives for this foolhardy cause.”
“It’s my duty, Shalane,” Jonathan hugged her before taking his leave. “I’ll be back shortly.”
She stood at the window, watching with misty eyes as the young men set forth on the path to the most perilous events yet to follow.
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