Hello One and All!
At certain points in history myth overflows into reality, and then there is Hy-Brasil. This was a mythical island, named after Breasal, who was the High King of the World according to Celtic mythology. This mythical monarch is said to have held court on his eponymous island every seven years, which was also when it was visible to mere mortals. Of course, a tale like this would be enticing to any adventure seeker.
Hy-Brasil: The Phantom Island
The mysterious landmass was said to be about 300 kilometers off the west cost of Ireland, in the North Atlantic. In 1325 Hy-Brasil appeared on a map, drawn up by Italian cartographer Angelino Dulcert. Even as exploration of the Atlantic intensified, the island continued to appear on maps up until 1865, such was the hold it had on the imaginations of people.
It wasn't just a spot on a map, either. In 1480 an expedition was launched from Bristol, with the sole goal of finding the island, where an advanced civilization was purported to reign and immortality was guaranteed for all of its inhabitants. After two months at sea the fleet returned empty handed. Two ships, George and Trinity, set out again in 1481 from England, although they were as unsuccessful as their predecessors. These failures did not extinguish the hope of finding it, though; in 1497, John Cabot would set out on an expedition to explore he western Atlantic, but he also wanted to find the mythical isle. Of course, the famous explorer "discovered" Newfoundland, not Hy-Brasil. English efforts to locate it didn't go unnoticed - the Spanish envoy in London is reputed to have wrote to his king and queen:
For the last seven years the people of Bristol have equipped two, three [and] four caravels to go in search of the island of Brazil and the Seven Cities according to the fancy of this Genoese. The king made up his mind to send thither, because last year sure proof was brought they had found land.
The island was part of the zeigeist in Western Europe, evidenced by the sensation caused by the book "O-Brazile, or, The inchanted island being a perfect relation of the late discovery and wonderful dis-inchantment of an island on the north of Ireland". Clumsy title aside, the book became a bestseller in 1675, in part because it pretended to be a letter which described the discovery of Hy-Brasil: in the story a group of people fight through thick fog and light a fire, which breaks the spell of the place. The island was also described in the poem "Hy Brasil, the Isle of the Blest", collected in W. B. Yeats' book "Fairy and folk tales of the Irish peasantry":
On the ocean that hollows the rocks where ye dwell,
A shadowy land has appear’d, as they tell;
Men thought it a region of sunshine and rest,
And they call’d it “O Brazil—the Isle of the Blest”.
From year unto year, on the ocean’s blue rim,
The beautiful spectre show’d lovely and dim;
The golden clouds curtain’d the deep where it lay,
And look’d like an Eden, away, far away.
The most famous encounter with Hy-Brasil was recorded in 1674, when Captain John Nisbet wrote that he, along with crew members, sailed through a fog bank and landed on an island. They returned with silver and gold, and described a magician living in a castle by himself and large black rabbits dominating the landscape. This tale was, in fact, written by Richard Head, the author of the bestseller in 1675. Tales of encounters with Hy-Brasil continued until the early 20th century.
Thank you for reading!
At certain points in history myth overflows into reality, and then there is Hy-Brasil. This was a mythical island, named after Breasal, who was the High King of the World according to Celtic mythology. This mythical monarch is said to have held court on his eponymous island every seven years, which was also when it was visible to mere mortals. Of course, a tale like this would be enticing to any adventure seeker.
Hy-Brasil: The Phantom Island
The mysterious landmass was said to be about 300 kilometers off the west cost of Ireland, in the North Atlantic. In 1325 Hy-Brasil appeared on a map, drawn up by Italian cartographer Angelino Dulcert. Even as exploration of the Atlantic intensified, the island continued to appear on maps up until 1865, such was the hold it had on the imaginations of people.
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| Map of Europe by Piri Reis, from 1513. Hy-Brasil is the circular red dot to the west of Ireland. |
It wasn't just a spot on a map, either. In 1480 an expedition was launched from Bristol, with the sole goal of finding the island, where an advanced civilization was purported to reign and immortality was guaranteed for all of its inhabitants. After two months at sea the fleet returned empty handed. Two ships, George and Trinity, set out again in 1481 from England, although they were as unsuccessful as their predecessors. These failures did not extinguish the hope of finding it, though; in 1497, John Cabot would set out on an expedition to explore he western Atlantic, but he also wanted to find the mythical isle. Of course, the famous explorer "discovered" Newfoundland, not Hy-Brasil. English efforts to locate it didn't go unnoticed - the Spanish envoy in London is reputed to have wrote to his king and queen:
For the last seven years the people of Bristol have equipped two, three [and] four caravels to go in search of the island of Brazil and the Seven Cities according to the fancy of this Genoese. The king made up his mind to send thither, because last year sure proof was brought they had found land.
The island was part of the zeigeist in Western Europe, evidenced by the sensation caused by the book "O-Brazile, or, The inchanted island being a perfect relation of the late discovery and wonderful dis-inchantment of an island on the north of Ireland". Clumsy title aside, the book became a bestseller in 1675, in part because it pretended to be a letter which described the discovery of Hy-Brasil: in the story a group of people fight through thick fog and light a fire, which breaks the spell of the place. The island was also described in the poem "Hy Brasil, the Isle of the Blest", collected in W. B. Yeats' book "Fairy and folk tales of the Irish peasantry":
On the ocean that hollows the rocks where ye dwell,
A shadowy land has appear’d, as they tell;
Men thought it a region of sunshine and rest,
And they call’d it “O Brazil—the Isle of the Blest”.
From year unto year, on the ocean’s blue rim,
The beautiful spectre show’d lovely and dim;
The golden clouds curtain’d the deep where it lay,
And look’d like an Eden, away, far away.
 |
| Cover of "Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry". |
The most famous encounter with Hy-Brasil was recorded in 1674, when Captain John Nisbet wrote that he, along with crew members, sailed through a fog bank and landed on an island. They returned with silver and gold, and described a magician living in a castle by himself and large black rabbits dominating the landscape. This tale was, in fact, written by Richard Head, the author of the bestseller in 1675. Tales of encounters with Hy-Brasil continued until the early 20th century.
Thank you for reading!
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