Bare Hazel | The Battle of the Books

‘The Battle Of The Battle Of The Book; six stories in search of an ear’

The Sandy Field Writers, led by Niamh Mac Cabe, presented a soundscape based on the legendary Sligo battle at Cúl Dreimhne, near present day Drumcliff. Instigated by Colmcille in the sixth century AD, the battle is the first ever recorded conflict over copyright. The High King’s ruling, ‘To Every Cow Its Calf, To Every Book Its Copy’ began a series of tragic events ending in Colmcille’s exile to the Scottish isle of Iona. The central concept in the Battle of the Book legend is the argument over whether a copy has autonomy, or whether it is just an offshoot of the original, without its own agency. Is the original the only possible ‘truth’? The High King ruled that it was, Colmcille rejected his ruling, and the battle began. The Sandy Field Writers approached the project with a similar view; an exploration into human perception, and what happens when a story is rehashed to suit different narratives. The legend has been told and retold several times. Like all good stories, it is not so much the legend itself that each generation cherishes, but the telling of it, and in the telling, the ownership of it.

Writers Niamh Mac Cabe | Rhona Trench | Bernie Meehan | Mairéad McCann | Peggie Gallagher & Terence Herron