"THREE IS THE NUMBER THOU SHALT COUNT..."

Perhaps it was Terry Thornton’s recent geneablog poetry
challenge that caused it but the topic of the next CoG put me
in mind of an ancient Irish form of poem or proverb called the
triad. Triads were as the name suggests, a list of three things
that somehow were connected. Historians theorize they were
used by the Irish as teaching tools to pass on knowledge or to
serve as memory keys to specific lessons or discussions on
various topics.

For example:

“The rocks to which lawful behavior is tied: A monastery,
a chieftain, the family.”

There in one line are listed the three anchors of civilization

Here’s another. I can imagine some druid or monk working
with a student trying to learn how to deliver a speech and
then listing how he needs to improve:

“Three hateful things in speech-stiffness, obscurity, a bad
delivery.”

There were triads that instructed how to dress and behave:

“Three excellences of dress-elegance, comfort, lastingness.”

“Three Steadinesses of good womanhood-keeping a steady
tongue, a steady chastity and a steady housewifery.”

Triads had pieces of advice and wisdom for everyone,
including the nobility:

“Three things best for a chief-justice, peace and an army.”

“Three worst things for a chief-sloth, treachery, evil
counsel.”

Many of these triads have been translated into a poetic form.
Alfred Perceval Graves translated several of the ones I’ve
cited thusly:

“Three powers advantaging a Chieftain most
Are Peace and Justice and an armed host.
Three worse of snares upon a Chieftain’s way:
Sloth, treachery and evil counsel they!”


“Three excellencies of our dress are these:
Elegance, durability and ease.”

Triads were not exclusive to the Irish. They were common
among the other Celts of Britain and Wales and I first
discovered them because of my interest in the legends of
King Arthur, since many of the British triads deal with him
and his followers. The authenticity of some of those is in
question since they make mention of “Lancelot of the Lake”
(although in a Welsh version of the name) and Lancelot
was a later edition from the medieval romances.

But I can see how useful triads must have been for teaching.
They were short, pithy, and easy to recall. And they could
easily be adapted for modern life:

“Three things needed to start the day: clean clothes, clean
teeth and a hot shower.”

"Three things to be bought when I go to the grocery: ground
beef and onions and breath mints for after!”

And I have put the CoG topic into a triad, but you’ll have to
wait until I post my response to see it.

How about you, readers? Can you put something in your life into
a triad?

I found the triads I used in this article here at this website:
http://web.ncf.ca/bj333/HomePage.triads.html

Alfred Perceval Graves' verse translations can be found in
Robert Blaisdell's "Irish Verse:An Anthology" at
Google Book.