The Crowning of the Puck
I said to him..this goes back a long way doesn’t it?
He looked at me.
It’s a Pagan Festival... I said
The Crowning of the Puck.
Pre Christian...the ancient symbol of the Goat
Fertile figure of virility
At Harvest Time.
The man glared down on me..I was a Dublin Jack to him
With fancy thoughts and Jackeen ways.
He spat it out.
There’s nothing Pagan here about this summer Fair,
This is a Christian Festival
Good Christians gather here..and that’s a fact !
I’ve reared these goats myself...father to son
They’re Christian Goats...no more than that !
The Puck arrived to cheers.
A proud old goat with beaded eyes
They stood him high..as the young girl arrived
A Virgin Queen ..to represent all promise that she held within
A sweet and fertile womb that would bear fruit
Just as the August harvest should.
She crowned her King and then paraded him.
Puck Fair will now begin....
I’m told it’s not a Pagan thing.
Kristine Byrne. May 2014.
Puck Fair takes place in Killorgan, Kerry, every August. Wiki will tell you they are wild goats. But this is not so..according to the man all those years ago The Crown is passed down goat father to son.