The Celtic Argument (A response)

Art & music literally transcend the spoken language as they take one on to a higher more personal interactive form of communication, more open though less personally interactive than sex, but it seemed to me facile to add on "our common...." out of thin air as to side step profundity doing nothing for the 'Celtic' argument, especially as Ireland was never invaded by the Romans and we saw the flowering of Celtic art after they'd left Britain. Besides that, there are tone deaf Welsh speakers in Wales who consider themselves Celts and exraordinarily talented Celtic music playing pipers in fringe areas of England such as Northumbria who don't. Music; art; sex; religion; language; & literature are universal by nature; Celticity can lay claim to a form of music, art, language & literature; but when we lay claim to 'Celtic Rock' because we gyrate on stage and come from Dublin we're overdoing it a bit. Also can we have a 'Celtic country' based on a political alignment, or are they Celts when there is a mass exodus from Paris to Brittany of jig & reel players. To be a Celt is to be a bit of an enigma and each standpoint leads to a different view, but what is healthy for the ideal is that it is a living argument. Those without the language lean to dance; those without the dance lean to language. In one sense given its historical expanse there are many more who could lay claim but don't, the language acts as a brake to keep it into unhistorical proportions but Lorient would be duller, although that festival tired of its traditional sources is turning the key on the flood gates by fine tooth combing perceived Celts from wherever they can get a spectacle. By the way I've never been over enamoured by the whole thing as an 18th century romantic idea to regain our loss of self- esteem, re-assert our 'national' consciousness and distance ourselves from our English & French masters. For my part the fight was against the iron masters and the coal Barons, we flew the red flag and sang while doing it but whether or not we were Celts wasn't something we found time to mull over.