Monday, March 17, 2014

Fool's Gold -- Day 3/65

Walk: JCCSF, Trader Joe's
Distance: 2 miles and take yoga class

Fooling around with links on this foolish day And also wondering the origin of that supposed pot of gold the Old Country Irish believed would be found at the end of a rainbow 

Turns out the saying is as illusory as that gold. As far back as the 17th C. the Irish knew that rainbows were formed by the sun and therefore circular and never-ending.  So they were fond of saying that you would be as likely to find a pot of gold as to find the end of a rainbow.  Somehow this expression was changed and became incorporated into leprechaun fairy mythology.  Maybe it was a leetle trick those devilish creatures played twisting the saying to mean the leprechauns spent all their time busily making shoes and stored away all the coins they earned in a huge pot of gold hidden at the end of the rainbow.

                                           
                                                                 A leprechaun counts his gold in this engraving c. 1900

For More St. Patrick's Day lore see CIWT Day 69

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