Oengus Blacksmithing In Celtic society the Smith had a high status. He was considered semi-divine because he worked with fire and water to shape metal - the three elements of Sky, Sea and Land ruled by the Gods. He could honestly claim that everything used by other skills, he made. Iron was used to make weapons for the warrior, agricultural implements for the farmer, cooking utensils and cauldrons for the housewife, and axles and lynch pins for the cart and chariot makers. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was in use before iron. There were two kinds of bronze, white and red. White was mainly used for ornamental work, as it was more expensive. The red was used for cauldrons and weapons. The most common way of using bronze was called ‘sandcasting’. A model of the item to be made was carved from wood. A whole was dug in sand wetted with water or oil, and the model was pressed into the sand. Molten metal was then poured into the imprint, and removed when it had cooled. Ruaidri Gold and Silver Smithing Archaeologists have found some beautiful items in gold and silver dated as far back as 5000 B.C. A worker in gold and silver was called a ‘Cerd’. Gold was used for collars, torcs, bracelets and goblets. A very old silver casting method is called the ‘lost wax’ method. A wax model of the item was made, then it was surrounded by a heat-proof material with an opening left at the most convenient place. Then it was placed in an oven to burn out the wax. This left an exact, negative copy of the wax model, and molted silver was poured in to fill the hollow. The mold was then spun in a sling to make sure the silver filled all of the deepest areas. Detail work was done in filigree, a very delicate and time consuming job, done by hand. Very fine wires of silver were soldered to the base piece in the pattern desired. Polished gemstones were set in and secured with the silver wire, as decoration, or to represent the eyes of an animal. Colourful enamels were also used within the filigree pattern. Ceana Spinning Once the fleece was delivered to a woman, she cleaned and carded it, removing all twigs, brambles, knots and so on, and getting all the fibers aligned in one direction. Then, holding the fleece in one hand, she would tease out a few fibre and twist them with the fingers of her other hand. When she had a length of about four inches, she attached it to the top of the wooden spindle, under a notch. The spindle’s other end was pushed through a ‘whorl stone’, a flat stone with a hole in the middle. She continued to twist the fibers until the spindle touched the ground, when she would wind the yarn around the spindle. When the spindle was full, the yarn was wound into a hand and tied off, ready for dyeing. Dyeing Dyes were made from Kermes, Murex Snails, roots, leaves, flowers or bark of plants, and some lichens. ‘Mordants’ were used to fix the dye when needed. Some mordants were stale urine, iron, ferrous sulphate, copper sulphate, fir-club moss, oak galls or inula helenium. Some mordants brightened the colours, some made them grayer. The Celts liked bright colours, but this was codified by law. For instance, a king could wear garments of six colours, but a farmer could only have two. Weaving One of the oldest looms consisted of a beam resting in the forks of two uprights that were firmly embedded in the ground. The warp threads were tied individually to the upper beam and weighted with stones near the ground. The weft threads were woven across the warp, creating the pattern. Linen was also used. It was soaked to separate the fibers and spun dyed and woven in the same way as the wool.