Banshee

Other stories portray them as dressed in green or black with a grey cloak. The notion of awarding colours in school is related to that of awarding colours to a regiment. Banshees are frequently dressed in white and often have long, fair hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. Colours are awarded in recognition of particular achievement in some academic or sporting field. In these tales, hearing the banshee's wail came to predict a death in the family and seeing the banshee portends one's own death. In schools this is likely to vary according to the student's standing in the school; whether a member of the junior or senior school, being a prefect or having been awarded colours. Similarly, the funeral lament became a mournful cry or wail by which the death is heralded. Where the blazer is part of the dress of a school, college, sports club or armed service veterans' association, it is normal for a badge to be sewn to the breast pocket.

When these oral narratives were first translated into English, a distinction between the "banshee" and other fairy folk was introduced which does not seem to exist in the original stories in their original (Irish or Scottish) Gaelic forms. They often form part of the uniform dress of bodies, such as airlines, boys' schools, yacht or rowing clubs, and private security organizations. Tales recount how, when the family member had died far away then the appearance or, in some tales, the sound of the fairy keener, might be the first intimation of the death. This link gives an impression of the colours available for incorporation into blazers. Traditionally, some great Gaelic families had a fairy woman associated with them, who would make an appearance after a death in the family to sing this lament. Originally, it was navy blue in colour but almost every colour and combination of colours has been used, particularly by sporting organizations. These women singers are sometimes referred to in English as "keener". It seems that the Queen was duly impressed by the uniform and it became the style.

When members of the community died, a woman would sing a traditional lament or caoineadh at their funerals. Blazer's captain, when faced with an inspection of his ship by Queen Victoria, decided to rig his boats' crews in short double breasted jackets in navy blue serge, with brass Royal Navy buttons on the model of the reefer worn by the midshipmen of his day. The sídh are derived from pre-Christian Gaelic deities. However, much the most likely is that the name comes from that of HMS Blazer, a frigate from the days when ratings supplied their own rigs or the captain did it for them if he wanted uniform dress. The banshee (IPA: /ˈbænʃiː/) is a creature in Gaelic folklore, the word being derived from the Old Irish ben síde, modern Irish bean sídhe or bean sí, "fairy woman" (bean, woman, and sidhe, being the tuiseal ginideach or possessive case of "fairy"). Another is that the red summer jackets of the oarsmen of the Lady Margaret Boat Club, in Cambridge, look ablaze and began a tradition which today is seen in single breasted blazers at Henley Regatta. The Banshee by Josh Grant. Two such are that the name could derive from the traditional practice of attaching a school's, regiment's, club's, or ship's embroidered coat-of-arms to the breast of the coat - thus emblazoning the garment.

ISBN 0-394-73467-X.. There are several explanations of its origin; some are apparently folk etymology. An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Pantheon Books. As sporting dress has become more adapted to the activity, the blazer has become more restricted to clubs' social meetings. Briggs, Katharine (1976). A blazer's cloth is usually of a durable nature as it is used in schools and was used for sport. ISBN 1-57098-138-8.. In more recent times, a single breasted form, long in existence, has come into more common use.

The Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger, Roberts Rinehart Publishers. A blazer is a type of double breasted jacket, like that of a suit except in that it usually has patch pockets with no flaps and usually, metal shank buttons. Lysaght, Patricia (1986).