Druid

A druid (Old Irish: druí; Welsh: derwydd) was a member of the educated, professional class among the Celtic peoples of Gaul, Britain, Ireland, and possibly elsewhere during the Iron Age. The druid class included law-speakers, poets and doctors, among other learned professions, although the best known among the druids were the religious leaders.

Very little is known about the ancient druids. They left no written accounts of themselves, and the only evidence are a few descriptions left by Greek, Roman, and various scattered authors and artists, as well as stories created by later medieval Irish writers. While archaeological evidence has been uncovered pertaining to the religious practices of the Iron Age people, "not one single artefact or image has been unearthed that can undoubtedly be connected with the ancient druids." Various recurring themes emerge in a number of the Greco-Roman accounts of the druids, including that they performed animal and even human sacrifice, believed in a form of reincarnation, and held a high position in Gaulish society. Next to nothing is known for certain about their cultic practice, except for the ritual of oak and mistletoe as described by Pliny the Elder.

Shannara

Shannara /ˈʃænərə/ is a series of high fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and continuing through The Darkling Child which was released in June 2015; there is also a prequel, First King of Shannara. The series blends magic and primitive technology and is set in the Four Lands, which are identified as Earth long after civilization was destroyed in a chemical and nuclear holocaust called the Great Wars. By the time of the prequel First King of Shannara, the world had reverted to a pre-industrial state and magic had re-emerged to supplement science.

Setting

The Shannara series is set in a post-apocalyptic world called the Four Lands. This world is a futuristic version of our own, and not a secondary world. The Genesis of Shannara trilogy reveals the Four Lands to be located in the modern Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada. Much of the landscape has been changed by a future holocaust called The Great Wars, but some landmarks remain. For example, the Columbia River still exists.

Druid (disambiguation)

A druid was priest of the religion of the ancient Celts.

Druid can also refer to:

Toyah

Toyah may refer to:

See also

Toyah (band)

Toyah is the name of the band fronted by Toyah Willcox between 1977 and 1983. The only other consistent band member throughout this period was Joel Bogen, Willcox's principal co-writer and guitarist.

Background

Back in the National Theatre, when she was 18, Toyah Willcox felt that was the right environment for her to work out how to put a band together: the theatre was full of musicians as well as actors. "Through a series of coincidences I just got involved in a punk band and that was purely from asking around y’know 'Has anybody got a band, does anyone need a singer?'" she remembered. First Toyah ended up in a punk band from Golders Green, which used to rehearse at Golders Green cemetery and even did a few gigs there.

It was Glen Marks, though, who in 1976 introduced Toyah to a protege who was at his school called Joel Bogen, whom she described later as "a very accomplished musician", by far the most accomplished musician that she'd met at that time. With Joel she struck up a writing partnership. In the beginning they's only meet up on Sundays and write and answer ads from the NME. Then they got a keyboard player called Pete Bush who had a music room in his house in Totteridge where three of them could rehearse. Slowly the band came together "from friends of friends of friends".

Toyah Willcox

Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English singer and actress. In a career spanning more than thirty years, Willcox has had 8 Top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays and ten feature films, and voiced and presented numerous television shows.

Between 1977 and 1983 she fronted the band Toyah, before embarking on a solo career in the mid-1980s. Her biggest hits include "It's a Mystery", "Thunder in the Mountains" and "I Want to Be Free".

Childhood and early life

Willcox was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Her father Beric Willcox ran a successful joinery business and owned three factories. Her mother Barbara Joy, née Rollinson, was a professional dancer with whom he fell in love after seeing her on stage in Weston-super-Mare with Flanagan and Allen, and married in 1949. Barbara had to give up her career after giving birth to Nicola (b. 1950) and Kim (b. 1953), Willcox's older sister and brother, respectively. Asked why her parents might have called her so, Willcox said in a 1981 interview: "I don't know, they won't tell me, but it's definitely my birth name. There is a town in Texas, called Toyah, and Toyah in Red Indian means 'water'. My parents deny that's where they got it from".