Mago Bill

History With RCS: Mago Bill, a Munster Man?

 

                I have posted a lot about Mago Bill and have even had a couple of Mago Bill blogs. One of the Mago Bills I have written was probably born in County Munster, but may have arrived in America before he could toddle. He was my great grandfather M. William Sheehan.

 

                 Sheehan is a fine and interesting surname, but Mago often attracts me more.Spanish speaking friends tell me that in Spanish mago means magician and the like. Some also tell me that "the three kings'' or "three wise men" of Christmas are called magos and that each of them is a mago. This seems interesting to me but may have been of no interest at all to my great grandfather.

 

                However, I have been told that before Rome came of age and in the early days of Carthage, that Mago was an important family name among the Carthaginian Phoenicians. I see that Magos where friends and family of a famous guy by the name of Hannibal.

 

                Magos were well known traders, navigators, and military leaders of Carthage. Carthaginian traders and navigators came to Ireland for a variety of reasons. The main reason was probably tin. In the Bronze age and beyond tin was important because without it there was little bronze. The Irish of the day were metal workers, craftsmen, and artists. They were also miners, alchemists, poets, lovers, and impressionable for hearing the name Mago so often from the visiting Carthaginians that they began to name their male child, Mago. From that time and centuries on the name Mago was from time to time quite popular on the Island. 

 

                The name Mago and Mago Bill have, from time to time, has influenced and inspired my research and writing of history.

 

                On this Mago Bill site you may expect essays dealing with Ireland, the Irish, Mago Bill and much more as you may have already discovered.

 

                Thanks for your visit and thank you for reading this essay which I have written for you.

 

                More to come,

     

 

                                                        bye for now

                                                        RCS

 

 

The Calusa

 History With RCS: Calusa, a people we deserve to know more about. 

 

 

 

            In the 1500s the Calusa still controlled much of  the southwest of Florida. They defended their land against the aggression  of other peoples including European explorers.  The Spaniards knew them as fierce. The Calooshahtchee River, with its mouth on the southwest of  Florida, was theirs.

            They lived mostly along the inland water ways and developed them for transportation and food production. The sea was also a source of food for them. They left middens of seashells large enough in size to compete with their great mounds and other earthworks. The fished with nets and tapped fish.

            The Calusa had a strong influence on the tribes around them. That influence may be because of their wide trading. They typically used dugouts for use at sea and along their inland waterways. They also built  and used larger vessels. They visited Cuba regularly and probably sailed much farther into the Caribbean.

            Their homes were built on platforms on pilings over the water. Their buildings had particularly handsome roofing of palmetto leaves. It is said that some of their 'houses' were large enough to easily accommodate 2000 persons!

            They were excellent wood workers and they also did some fine wood carving. They were excellent farmers, sailors, fishermen, and traders, They are probably responsible for the construction of what we have called bayous.

            The apex of their culture probably dates well before 100 BC. Their middens and and earth works have been dated to that time.

            We have much to learn from and about the Calusa. Please feel free to extend and correct our knowledge of them.

            There is more of Native Americans on this blog and I hope to publish more.

            Tell us what you would like to see more of here. There is a place for your comments below.

            Thank you for reading. You are welcome to read more.



                                                                            by R.C.S.

 

The Calusa of Florida on Our minds

History With RCS archaeology: A great American Indian people who deserve more talk and understanding: the Calusa

        In the 1500s the Calusa still controlled much of  the southwest of Florida. They defended their land against the aggression  of other peoples including European explorers.  The Spaniards knew them as fierce. The Calooshahtchee River, with its mouth on the southwest of  Florida, was theirs.

        They lived mostly along the inland water ways and developed them for transportation and food production. The sea was also a source of food for them. They left middens of seashells large enough in size to compete with their great mounds and other earthworks. The fished with nets and tapped fish.

        The Calusa had a strong influence on the tribes around them. That influence may be because of their wide trading. They typically used dugouts for use at sea and along their inland waterways. They also built  and used larger vessels. They visited Cuba regularly and probably sailed much farther into the Caribbean.

        Their homes were built on platforms on pilings over the water. Their buildings had particularly handsome roofing of palmetto leaves. It is said that some of their 'houses' were large enough to easily accommodate 2000 persons!

        They were excellent wood workers and they also did some fine wood carving. They were excellent farmers, sailors, fishermen, and traders, They are probably responsible for the construction of what we have called bayous.

        The apex of their culture probably dates well before 100 BC. Their middens and and earth works have been dated to that time.

        We have much to learn from and about the Calusa. Please feel free to extend and correct our knowledge of them.

        When you want more, click on "comments" below and tell me so.



by R.C.S.