Song Saturday: Black Funeral's Dearg Due (Blood Sucker)

How's it going lurkers? I assume most people really enjoyed Saint Patrick's Day, last Saturday. It was reported yesterday on my local news, that Wisconsin is currently rated the 2nd DRUNKEST state in America. 

Talk about embarrassing. This makes me feel ashamed to be a Wisconsinite. Last Sunday, the Internet was a ghost town, or at least it seemed that way on my end. 

There was barely any activity online, when I was on several websites at a time. More people were probably passed out drunk, or high from excessive partying on Saint Patrick's Day. Otherwise, they were involved in other activities. Regardless, I could barely find anyone doing much of anything online last Sunday.  

Hopefully, more people stayed safe and warm during the celebration of Saint Patrick's Day. Even though the festive Irish holiday is over, I still have at least 1 more Irish themed blog to share with you all today.

If you still have yet to read the blog, that I published about Irish Horror Folktales, I encourage you to do so. In that blog, I explained about Dearg Due, Leanan Sidhe, and Caorthannach.

Speaking of Dearg Due, she was an Irish vampiress, who seduced men and drained them of their blood in Irish Horror Folktales. The name, Dearg Due means "Red Blood Sucker" in Gaelic. 

It appears that the Irish vampiress left quite an impression on Black Funeral so much so, that they felt compelled to write a song about her. Maybe Dearg Due should've been considered "The Evil Irish Fairy Muse" and not Leanan Sidhe? Either way, both have Black Metal songs written about them.

Most Black Metal bands are typically from Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Sweden. However, Black Funeral is an American Black Metal band from Houston, TX. They have been around, since 1993 with a total of 9 albums. Ankou And The Death Fire, which was released in 2016, is Black Funeral's most recent album. 

This American Black Metal band also released Journeys Into Horizons Lost and Of Spells Of Darkness & Death. Both happen to be music demos from 1994 and '95. "Dearg Due (Blood Sucker)" can be found on Black Funeral's 2016 album, Ankou And The Death Fire.  

If you would like to learn more about the band, don't be scared to visit their official Bandcamp and Facebook pages. Otherwise, there is Metal-Archives.com. Since today's blog is mostly about Black Funeral and the Irish vampiress, Dearg Due, here is Black Funeral's "Dearg Due (Blood Sucker)" for today's Song Saturday.

Black Funeral "Dearg Due {Blood Sucker}" Ankou And The Death Fire (2016)

Do Irish Horror Folktales Really Exist In Ireland?!

How's it going lurkers? Yesterday morning, I pre-planned the next 4 blogs. They are all Irish and Saint Patrick's Day themed, including today's blog.

As you already know, every country has its own folktales, including Ireland. It is only fitting to share a couple of Irish Horror Folktales, since I am a Horror fan with some Irish ancestry.

On Wednesday, I researched and learned about a few Irish Horror Folktales through IrishCentral.com. The folktales about Dearg Due, Leanan Sidhe, and Caorthannach stood out the most to me, which is why I am sharing them with you all today.

1) Dearg Due- In Gaelic, Dearg Due means "Red Blood Sucker." In the Irish folktales, she was an Irish vampiress, that seduced men and drained them of their blood.

Originally, Dearg Due was a young, beautiful woman, who had fallen in love with a local peasant. Her controlling father found it to be highly unacceptable.

This led to Dearg Due's opportunistic father forcing her into an arranged marriage and being sold off to an abusive, rich husband. Because Dearg Due was unable to escape from her abusive marriage, she committed suicide. She was buried near Strongbow's Tree in Waterford, Ireland.

After committing suicide and dying, Dearg Due rose from the grave as an Irish vampiress. Then, she sought revenge by sucking her father and abusive husband's blood, until they dropped dead.

It is said that Dearg Due rises from the grave once every year and people must build piles of stones over her grave. This is in order to ward her off, until the next year.

2) Leanan Sidhe- Somewhat similar to the vampiress, Dearg Due, Leanan Sidhe was considered The Evil Irish Fairy Muse. Leanan Sidhe was a beautiful, opportunistic, Irish woman, who gave musicians and poets their inspiration. 

The Evil Fairy Muse seduced poets and musicians with her intelligence, creativity, and magic. Whenever Leanan Sidhe left them, they became depressed and died. 

Rather than sucking their blood, she would then take them back to her lair and collected their blood in a giant red cauldron.

Collecting poets and musicians' blood was Leanan Sidhe's source of beauty and inspiration.

Much like Dearg Due, people in Ireland must build stones over her grave.

3) Caorthannach- This Irish Fire Spitter was notorious for being Satan's mother and was defeated by Saint Patrick himself.

Supposedly, Saint Patrick stood on Croagh Patrick expelling demons and serpents out of Emerald Isle to drown in the sea. However, Caorthannach was more of a challenge.

Saint Patrick saw her sliding down a mountain away from him and chased her, while riding on a horse in Ireland.

Caorthannach purposely spat fire in the water and poisened every well she passed because she knew Patrick would eventually need water to drink.

Regardless of how thirsty he was, Saint Patrick prayed for guidance, while refusing to quench his thirst with water. After reaching Hawk's Rock, the saint waited for Satan's mother.

He finally banished Satan's mother from Ireland by jumping out from his hiding place where he waited for her. Then, Caorthannach drowned in the ocean and left a swell behind. It later became Hawk's Well.

Have any of you noticed that these Irish folktales are all about women? I know I have. Out of all 3 of them, I like folktale about Dearg Due the best. It is probably because I am automatically biased, when it comes to being woman scorned.

After researching and learning about these folktales, I am amazed the writers for the TV series, Grimm have NOT  created an episode about either of them, especially about Dearg Due. Maybe I should send the writers a few suggestions.

BTW: THANK GRIMM IT'S FRIDAY!

So, what are your thoughts about the evil women in these 3 Irish Horror Folktales?