Reuters - Friday, August 10 06:46 pmDUBLIN (Reuters) -
Jimmy, a feisty white mountain goat, was crowned king of Ireland on Friday at one of the country's oldest fairs.
Dating back centuries, the Puck Fair is an annual festival of drinking, music and dancing celebrated in the town of Killorglin in southern Ireland.
Each year a male goat is caught in the surrounding mountains, paraded through the town to a beat of drums and pipes, and then placed in a 40-feet (12 metre) stand where he reigns as king for three days.
The origins of the fair are not totally known, but it always falls on August 10-12.
One theory suggests mountain goats alerted residents of the town to an impending attack by leader Oliver Cromwell's forces in the 17th century.
Another says it may have pre-Christian links due to the goat being a pagan fertility symbol like the god Pan.
"Its origins go way back to the mists of time," the fair's financial controller Declan Falvey told Reuters. "There is a mingling of fact and fantasy."
Around 100,000 to 150,000 visitors are expected to attend this year.
Falvey said precautions had been taken at the event, which also features separate horse and cattle fairs, due to a foot and mouth outbreak in England with disinfectant used, and mats placed wherever there were animals.
Jimmy himself will receive regal treatment, being fed regularly and checked by his own personal vet.
"At the end of 3 days, when he is dethroned, he is brought back up to the mountains and released to join his fellow nanny goats to resume his pastoral duties," said Falvey.
King Jimmy, of Ireland!
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brokenxdreams
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Um, the god Pan? 
He's from Greece/Middle East.
I suppose it's possible that some Thracian ecstatics somehow made it to Ireland in the ancient world... and the drinking would sure have appealed to the Ancient Irish. I am aware that the Greeks mentioned that they were good buddies with the Celts... but mostly in continental Europe.
Even if the Greeks did have on-again off-off again relationships with Celts in Ireland (the ancient Greeks *did* get around quite a bit) I would find it rather surprising that Pan would be the deity who'd leave a lasting impression... the vast majority of worldly mobile ancient Greeks saw Pan as a troublesome god, not evil per-se, but as highly dangerous and suspect. We moderns tend to soften his image a bit. There's a reason why the Christians co-opted Pan's image for their devil. Pan represents both the pleasures and the dangers of the wild. Most people in those days feared the dangers of the wild more than they liked the good parts... so it was easy to convince people that what he represented was evil.
Are you sure that this tradition may come from isn't some kind of "(e)scape goat"? A sin eater, who takes on all the troubles of the Irish kings of long ago?
He's from Greece/Middle East. I suppose it's possible that some Thracian ecstatics somehow made it to Ireland in the ancient world... and the drinking would sure have appealed to the Ancient Irish. I am aware that the Greeks mentioned that they were good buddies with the Celts... but mostly in continental Europe.
Even if the Greeks did have on-again off-off again relationships with Celts in Ireland (the ancient Greeks *did* get around quite a bit) I would find it rather surprising that Pan would be the deity who'd leave a lasting impression... the vast majority of worldly mobile ancient Greeks saw Pan as a troublesome god, not evil per-se, but as highly dangerous and suspect. We moderns tend to soften his image a bit. There's a reason why the Christians co-opted Pan's image for their devil. Pan represents both the pleasures and the dangers of the wild. Most people in those days feared the dangers of the wild more than they liked the good parts... so it was easy to convince people that what he represented was evil.
Are you sure that this tradition may come from isn't some kind of "(e)scape goat"? A sin eater, who takes on all the troubles of the Irish kings of long ago?