The blacksmith

The blacksmith

The blacksmith  holds a special place in the collective memory of most peoples in the world.  There are many reasons given as to  why  the blacksmith is remembered with such respect.  I will try and give an explanation to some of them. Blacksmiths and blacksmithing has been around for thousands of year.  In Greek mythology the ‘smith’  was held in high regard.  From pre historical time up to  recent times there was a ‘forge’  in every city and town . Then in a few decades they had disappeared.

In these years  ‘ The Forge’ was the  ‘hub’ of society.  The ring of the hammer on the anvil gave out a sense of permanence  and safety .What people did not know was that the days of handmade craft work as the norm, was coming to an end. The ring of the anvil  was silent and the horse was replaced with the motor car. The blacksmith was reduced to a curiosity.

However all is not lost.   In  the nineteen seventies the Irish government of the day encouraged the craft people to train in the old craft and in short it is now possible for  people to train officially and qualify as a blacksmith.  Furthermore,  the blacksmith of today are officially named  ‘artist blacksmith’.

Cheap reproductions will always be with us but the  hand hammered piece of craft/art, the blacksmith made, will always be the piece that is valued and  remembered .