I asked some students who their favourite literary characters were. Cue a lot of Harry Potter. One asked me in return, first time it’s ever happened, oddly enough. So I said Sc\u00e1tha, as you do, and then had to explain who she was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sc\u00e1tha is a wise warrior woman who lives on the Isle of Skye. She trains C\u00fa Chulainn, the hero of the Red Branch cycle of Irish mythology (and fails to stop him shagging and fighting of course.) She is also very weird and magical, and so before she bids him farewell, she foretells his bloody and violent future for him. A typical stubborn Ulsterman, he goes ahead and does it all anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She crops up on the margins of the myths. The stories are about others, not her. But we sense her danger, her aloof isolation and her weary wisdom. In the Bronze Age cockfight that is the Red Branch cycle, she’s the alluring and frightening outsider, adept in all manner of arcane wisdom and power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have the poem wherein she tells C\u00fa Chulainn’s fortune, the “Verba Scathaige”, and for decades I’ve meant to write a (very freeform) translation of it, set in Eighties Belfast, which I finally finished tonight and is below. I imagine, in one of Sc\u00e1tha’s timebending feats, reading it in a smoky Eighties Belfast bar, with a crackly PA playing \u201cThe Sickbed of C\u00fa Chulainn\u201d by the Pogues throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am Irish by birth and inclination, British as a result of colonial occupation. But my people were, are and always will be the Ulaid. We need another Sc\u00e1tha now of course, but we’re probably still too boneheaded to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sc\u00e1tha Foretells Trouble<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, big lad, even if no one<\/p>\n\n\n\n dares lift their fist to you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n you’ll still face troubles<\/p>\n\n\n\n if they all gang up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n You’ll have to slap a few hard men,<\/p>\n\n\n\n do a few kneecaps down the entry,<\/p>\n\n\n\n shed some blood,<\/p>\n\n\n\n until all, all you can see is blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re gonna wreck the place, the lot of you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n blowing up buildings,<\/p>\n\n\n\n painting the walls,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the wreckage adorned with flags and emblems,<\/p>\n\n\n\n telling the names of who’s the real hard men around here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n What’ll you gain by it? Scundered when they rob your house<\/p>\n\n\n\n and get away with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n They’ll come after you for weeks at a time. You’ll lose<\/p>\n\n\n\n everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re all on your own this time, big man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n They’ll need punishing properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A wee slap won’t suffice. It’ll take might,<\/p>\n\n\n\n armalite, a crack in the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’ll be blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your mates are all wasters, son. Just like<\/p>\n\n\n\n yer ma always said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No less thieves than themmuns, you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n No point gilding the lily here, mucker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s going to hurt. Hurt and hurt again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’ll hurt bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did I say it would hurt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n And they’ll get their own back, tit for tat, <\/p>\n\n\n\n until there’s neither tit nor tat left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not a word from you, with your red face <\/p>\n\n\n\n like a slapped arse!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know you’ll hold your own, smacking one<\/p>\n\n\n\n hallion after another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re the big fish in this wee pond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re built for destruction, but everyone wants to hook the big fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s alright for you ganshes, but these people just want<\/p>\n\n\n\n some peace and quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You never think<\/p>\n\n\n\n of the children, of the women. Too busy<\/p>\n\n\n\n bragging while they cry their eyes out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sooner or later, though,<\/p>\n\n\n\n it’s gonna be hospital food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one wins forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Youse and themmuns. Seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s like watching<\/p>\n\n\n\n two bulls charging in a field. Would you not <\/p>\n\n\n\n give it up<\/p>\n\n\n\n and give all our heads peace?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I asked some students who their favourite literary characters were. Cue a lot of Harry Potter. One asked me in return, first time it’s ever happened, oddly enough. So I said Sc\u00e1tha, as you do, and then had to explain who she was. Sc\u00e1tha is a wise warrior woman who lives on the Isle of … <\/p>\n