The Chairman introduced Grand Bard Vanessa Beeman whose talk was on the subject of Ancient Celts and Wild Boar.

In the years 1 or 2BC Iron Age Celts were established in England and across Europe and it is noteworthy that there have been discovered many representations of wild boar from those times. All domestic pigs are descendants of the wild boar.

The Celts’ belief was that their heroes could become animals and thence become Gods and it was the boar, hunted for food that was seen as fierce and brave and to be worshipped and held as a role model for the Celtic warriors. Despite being assumed to be barbarians, it is clear that the Celts were very artistic and were skilled metal workers. Depictions of the boar are to be found as figurines and sketched upon weapons, coins and wine bottles. The bull and horse were also revered but the boar was clearly the preferred animal.

Representations of the boar, which Vanessa showed on her many handsome photographs, regularly showed an exaggerated mane; the mane of the boar was raised along its back when the animal was attacked or cornered. Examples of the boar representation have been found on coins and helmets from Hungary, Romania and France and there were panels from Denmark, not that the Celts were indigenous there, which displayed the Celtish boar. Many examples of the boar depiction have been located in the Swiss Lake La Tène where many articles had been ceremonially cast by the Celts.

In England the boar was hunted to extinction in the 14th century in addition to the destruction of forests where the boar roamed. However, an Iron Age metal model of the boar was found in Hounslow and other examples have come from Witham in Essex and Scotland. Whilst there is little evidence of the Celtic boar in Cornwall, in the 12th Century, Geoffrey of Monmouth stated “and the oppressed will reach high status sooner and the wild boar of Cornwall will give them aid”. Certainly wild boar have been sighted on Dartmoor but they may well have been released from captivity. Near St Column Major, however, is Castle an Dinas King Arthur’s hunting Lodge, an important Iron Age hill fort, close to Reterth, a place name thought to be linked to the Cornish name for boar ‘Terth’. Among the Cornish families using the wild boar as a symbol are the Lynam family of Trevarthian, who use it in their family crest.

Graham Slater offered a vote of thanks to Vanessa for bringing such a fascinating subject to our knowledge and representing the Celts in a new light.

The chairman announced that Melanie and John Richards will open their garden at Ponjeravah Cottage to the public on June 8, all proceeds going to the History Group, and that the next meeting of the group would be on June 21 when they will visit Bodmin Jail. Names of those wishing to attend should be given by June 14.