Thirty-Two Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape by Manchán Magan

Author:Manchán Magan [Magan, Manchán]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, sociology, General, history, Historical Geography, Human Geography, Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, Ethnic Studies, Minority Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines, reference
ISBN: 9780717187966
Google: 1SD3DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Gill Books
Published: 2020-09-04T00:16:31.633523+00:00

SOUND

It’s hard to say anything definitive about the effect of sound on the world, but we all recognise that it has some influence. The Huygens Principle, discovered in the 17th century, explains why two clocks with pendulums ticking in proximity fall into rhythm with each other, resulting in a single ticking sound. The beat of both clocks is set at 1 hertz (that is, one cycle per second), and as they radiate their ticks they force each other to harmonise.

In a beehive, each bee’s sound varies according to its age: very young bees fan their wings at 285 hertz; adolescents fan at 225 hertz; and older bees fan at 190 hertz. But humans simply hear a note of E3, with a variance that descends a perfect fourth and ascends a half step. If our ears could differentiate these frequencies we could perceive much additional information encoded within them. Electronic monitors can trace frequency shifts that the bees make when different threats, opportunities or issues arise in the hive. It’s a form of communication that can be deciphered even by human ears if they are trained to perceive the subtly varying frequencies.

The effects of these sounds on the bee colony is considerable and instant. The presence of a toxic chemical will change the sound within 30 seconds, with as many as 30,000 bees altering the vibration of their wings almost in unison. Researchers have identified particular frequencies the bees emit in response to certain chemicals or other danger. It’s like a biological alert system, with a unique audio signature to communicate each threat.

Scientists are also finding that, though most humans can’t differentiate these frequencies, the frequencies nonetheless have a physical effect on us. The humming causes cerebrospinal fluid in our brains to resonate. This fluid provides basic mechanical and immunological protection to the brain and the spine. It also circulates nutrients and filters chemicals from the blood. Sound frequencies not only stimulate this fluid but also affect the pineal gland, the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus and the amygdala. And, of course, it’s not just the frequencies of bees humming: certain words and phrases, when said in the right way and in the right context, have a similar effect.

Druids and poets were all too aware of the power of sound, of how sounds can directly affect our bodies and surroundings. Old poems draw attention to places with particularly resonant or attractive soundscapes. In one section of Agallamh Oisín agus Phádraig (‘The Colloquy of Oisín and Patrick’, a series of poems that survive in their earliest written form from the 17th century but are likely to be older) Fionn mac Cumhaill’s son, Oisín, reminisces about the wonder of the nature-based world, as opposed to the new, authoritarian, doctrinal era of Christianity. In this translation by Eleanor Hull, Oisín lists the harmonious sounds of forest and shore that predominated before the arrival of the human-made noise of bells and prayers.

The blackbird’s pipe on Letterlea,

The Dord Finn’s wailing melody.

The thrush’s song of Glenna-Scál,

The hound’s deep

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