I don’t CARE what Prof. Buzzkill says! I’m STILL going to pass this around because it’s STILL an excellent tool for catechesis. It reminds me of the Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk’s “Two Road Catechism” that he used to catechize the Lakota Sioux.
Besides, Prof. Buzzkill focuses on what happened to the English Catholics. The Irish Catholics had it much worse. A Shaunessey was a hedgerow teacher, who would travel around teaching the Irish children their catechism, the old Irish histories and legends, and generally annoying the British who would kill them on sight for treason to the crown. Even today, there’s a tradition that has remained and has been mis-remembered because of the British: the Irish tradition of putting 3 lit candles in the window around Christmas time.
When asked why by the British, the Irish would reply that it was to honor the Holy Family, Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, and to guide them on their flight to Egypt. The British soldiers laughed at this simple, silly, Irish superstition. In fact, the three candles were there to act as a signal to any priests (since they would definitely be arrested and executed in horrible ways) that this was a safe house, where a running priest could find safety for a night or two.
So, maybe Irish, not English. And I’d fix the “Nine Ladies Dancing” – numbers 1, 2, and 3 are Angels, Archangels, and Principalities.