Hy Brasil: The Metamorphosis of an Island: From Cartographic Error to Celtic Elysium

352 Pages·2013·16.025 MB·English

by  Barbara Freitag

T T
ex x e
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Studies in Comparative Literature 69
Series Editors
C.C. Barfoot and Theo D’haen
Hy Brasil: The Metamorphosis of an Island
From Cartographic Error to Celtic Elysium
Barbara Freitag
Amsterdam - New York, NY
2013
Cover image: Tabula Nova Hibernie, Anglie et Scotie by Martin
Waldseemüller (1513). By permission of the Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek, Munich: Rar. 881, Tafel 30.
Cover design: Inge Baeten
The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of
‘ISO 9706: 1994, Information and documentation - Paper for
documents - Requirements for permanence’.
ISBN: 978-90-420-3641-3
E-Book ISBN: 978-94-012-0910-6
© Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2013
Printed in The Netherlands
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
List of Images ix
Preface xi
PARTI
THECARTOGRAPHICHISTORY OF BRASILISLAND
Chapter 1 Mediterranean Mapping and Naming 3

PARTII
ANGLICIZATION
Chapter 2 The Bristol Voyages and King Arthur
on Brasil Island 33
PARTIII
BRASILISLAND IN IRISHFOLKLORE
Chapter 3 Oral Lore 55
PARTIV
BRASILISLAND IN LITERATURE AND LEGEND:
THEOLDERTRADITION
Chapter 4 Gaelic Otherworlds 89
Chapter 5 Clerical Sea Voyages and St Brendan’s
Visit to Brasil Island 107
Chapter 6 Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century
English Travellers’ Tales 131
Chapter 7 An Aborted Irish Attempt to Write
about the Island 159
Chapter 8 The Vision of Ulster: Brasil Island
and National Identity 167
PARTV
GAELICIZATION
Chapter 9 “Hy Brasil: Paradise of the Pagan Irish”
in Modern Literature and the Arts 215
Chapter 10 From High Art to Popular Culture:
Hy Brasil’s Broad Appeal 245
Conclusion 261
Appendix:Cartographic Appearances of Brasil Island 265
Bibliography 299
Index 329
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book would not have come to be without Christian Oeser’s initial
idea for the inquiry into the Hy Brasil phenomenon – it was his
curiosity that led to the study. As with previous projects, I gratefully
acknowledge his constant support, critical comments and meticulous
review.
I am indebted to many people who supplied me with valuable
information. It is a pleasure to thank in particular: Éamon de Buitléar,
Jane Conroy, Corinna and Joachim Diestelkamp, Maurice Harmon,
Werner Huber, Evan Jones, Richard Kirkland, Alan Kramer, Kerby A.
Miller, Volker Noll, Michael O’Siochru, Aidan O’Sullivan, Dick
Pflederer, Gabriel Rosenstock, Giovanna Tallone, Brian Waldo and
Christian Weyers.
Two remarkably forbearing cartographic historians have
contributed substantially to the creation of the book, and I
acknowledge with much appreciation the unfailing and patient advice
of Chet van Duzer and Tony Campbell. I also want to warmly thank
three librarians for their exceptional support: Eugene Roche (Special
Collections, UCD), Patricia Moloney (Folklore Dept, UCD) and Alan
Delozier (Seton Hall University).
Thanks are also due to my former colleagues in the School of
Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies, Dublin City University,
who have helped with translations and with useful suggestions: they
include Gabrielle Carty, Tony Coulson, Angela Leahy, Áine
McGillicuddy, Dermot McMahon, Juliette Péchenart, Barra Ó
Séaghdha and Iris Taylor.
Finally, heartfelt thanks to my husband Rory Meehan whose
unceasing encouragement has been vital in bringing this project to
fruition.
Some findings in this study have already appeared under the title “The
Discovery of an Imaginary Island: Irish Fiction Visits Hy Brasil”, in
Ireland: in Drama, Film and Popular Culture, eds Sandra Mayer,
Julia Novak, Margarete Rubik, Trier: WVT, 2012, 175-81.
LIST OF IMAGES
Cover:Tabula Nova Hibernie, Anglie et Scotie by Martin
Waldseemüller (1513). By permission of the Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek, Munich: Rar. 881, Tafel 30.
Portolan Chart of Western Europe by Battista Agnese (1536).
By permission of the British Library; Shelfmark: Add. MS. 19927
(f. 7);
Portolan Chart of Western Europe by Giorgio Sideri (1562). By
permission of the British Library; Egerton MS. 2856 (ff. 8v-9);
Portolan Chart of Europe by Joan Martines (1567). By permission of
the British Library; Shelfmark: Add. MS. 15714 (f. 8);
Portolan Chart of Northern Europe by Fernão Vaz Dourado (1575).
By permission of the British Library; Shelfmark: Add. MS. 31317
(f. 12).
Ui Breasail(The Isle of the Blest). By permission of the Linen Hall
Library Postcard Collection, Belfast; Misc-0054.
PREFACE
This study has but one concern: Brasil Island, better known as Hy
Brasil; the phantom island that was thought to exist in a relatively
precise location to the west of Ireland, albeit in an area difficult to
reach. Shrouded in mystery, the elusive island has been – and still is –
hailed as the Celtic Elysium of the ancient Irish, but also as the
Christian Paradise, more specifically, as the “Land of Promise” which
St Brendan successfully set sail for. Yet it was also marked
prominently on over three hundred nautical charts and, in pursuit of
commercial gain, several expeditions were undertaken in search of it.
Allegedly, seafarers from Bristol even found the island. Its
significance, then, appears to span the worlds of Celtic mythology,
Gaelic medieval literature and English maritime history.
Moreover, the island emerges as a significant theme in English and
Irish literature, and nowadays it continues to play a role in popular
culture. Thus Brasil Island’s history reaches back over almost seven
hundred years, in the course of which it has variously occupied the
minds of cartographers, seafarers, antiquarians, geographers,
historians, writers, poets, artists and, more recently, bloggers.
Intrigued by its various guises and curious to discover how the
vision came into being and what fed it over such a long period, I set
out to examine all the available material concerning the island. The
objective of this book, then, is twofold: first, to establish when, where
and why the island originated, and, second, to trace its literary history,
especially with the intention of exploring the conflicting interests
behind the writers’ use of the Brasil Island as a topic.
The main themes of this study are evident from its division into
five parts. Part I charts the Mediterranean cartographic history and the
intriguing naming of the island. Part II investigates English attempts
to Anglicize the island and the politico-historical situation surrounding
its maritime exploration. Part III is devoted to Irish folklore, enquiring
into the oral traditions by scanning external as well as indigenous Irish
sources for the occurrence of Brasil Island. Part IV searches for the
island in the early literary tradition, exploring Celtic otherworlds and
xii Hy Brasil
clerical sea voyages in medieval literature. It proceeds to trace the
development of the Brasil Island trope in English and Irish literature
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Part V deals with
Irish efforts to Gaelicize the island and analyses the origin of the
concept of Hy Brasil, the Hiberno-English spelling for Í Breasil or Uí
Bhreasail, and how this came to be imbedded in the Gaelic tradition. It
pursues the Brasil Island trope in modern literature and the arts and
concludes by examining the more recent development of Hy Brasil as
a motif in the arts and popular culture.
Eighteenth-century literary texts are discussed here in some detail,
partly because some of these are difficult to access, but mainly
because it was my desire to examine extensively the material and the
social contexts from which these works sprang. And indeed a close
reading of these texts provides some intriguing insights into the
different mindset of English and Irish authors.
Throughout the book I shall generally refer to the island by the
name of Brasil Island, but make no attempt to standardize its spelling.
Variant name-forms will appear as they stand in quotations from
works by other authors. As the island has been represented in many
different guises there is little point in differentiating between
“enchanted”, “imaginary”, “mythical” or “phantom”, and thus all four
terms will be used here almost interchangeably.