I've been continuing my research by finding the location of medieval castles and tide mills in County Clare in Ireland as it seems that these are the main details of the story that could solve this mystery. I'm going with the facts that support the Ireland origin theory as I had found no legend, myth, folk or fairy tale from Scandinavia/Norway that even comes close to this, not a shred of evidence except the quote that was referenced that made the claim by one expert that it was certain this was Scandinavian in origin. The closest I could find was a German fairy tale called "The Singing Bone" in the Grim collection that was based on an ancient Greek legend that had haunted human remains used to make a musical instrument. No indication where that story came from as the brothers Grimm never told us where.
So, I am looking for an old castle in the UK, in County Clare Ireland specifically, that was occupied around mid 1500s or earlier, that was on a hill top near a river estuary that had enough tidal action to have at least one, or likely more, tide mills and a shipping port.
The unnamed sisters are daughters of the lord of a castle near the mills that may have been royalty who lived in "a bower " (room, hall, or building used for housing) near the bonny mill dams of "Binnorie". Bonny is defined as beautiful or handsome and merry or lively so we can assume it was an attractive lively port with some nice mills. "Binnorie" may be a family name as it is not found as a place name and seems to have no Gaelic or English meaning. No luck with that on the genealogy sites. The sisters were involved with one Sir William that may have been a knight and they had a brother named Hugh. There are a whole ton of Sir Williams in UK history, no help there. The river was called a mill stream and a brook, so may have not been a major river, but it had let out near the ocean and had a port, so it had to be sizable. There are a number of rivers in Ireland called mill stream and brook stream though they don't seem to fit the location I'm looking for.
As far as the traveling bard goes, by the 1500s bards were out and Troubadours & Minstrels were in. I believe we are talking a traveling minstrel by the description given below.
https://www.medievalchronicles.com/medie...eval-bard/
So, I am looking for an old castle in the UK, in County Clare Ireland specifically, that was occupied around mid 1500s or earlier, that was on a hill top near a river estuary that had enough tidal action to have at least one, or likely more, tide mills and a shipping port.
The unnamed sisters are daughters of the lord of a castle near the mills that may have been royalty who lived in "a bower " (room, hall, or building used for housing) near the bonny mill dams of "Binnorie". Bonny is defined as beautiful or handsome and merry or lively so we can assume it was an attractive lively port with some nice mills. "Binnorie" may be a family name as it is not found as a place name and seems to have no Gaelic or English meaning. No luck with that on the genealogy sites. The sisters were involved with one Sir William that may have been a knight and they had a brother named Hugh. There are a whole ton of Sir Williams in UK history, no help there. The river was called a mill stream and a brook, so may have not been a major river, but it had let out near the ocean and had a port, so it had to be sizable. There are a number of rivers in Ireland called mill stream and brook stream though they don't seem to fit the location I'm looking for.
As far as the traveling bard goes, by the 1500s bards were out and Troubadours & Minstrels were in. I believe we are talking a traveling minstrel by the description given below.
Quote:Troubadours & Minstrels Replace Bards
Since medieval bards were regulated and subjected to various laws, they were eventually replaced by Troubadours and Minstrels who became famous during the middle ages. Minstrels were mostly servants whose services were obtained primarily as traveling musicians.
Medieval Minstrel
Minstrel Minstrels performed songs that told stories about distant places, historical events, and imaginary events. Most minstrels created their own stories and tales, and they often memorized and embellished the works of other musicians or poets.
https://www.medievalchronicles.com/medie...eval-bard/
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