MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
_Gisvagun, Eapagun, Upagun._—Of the same class with magical charms and
incantations, that is, of no avail to produce the results with which
they are credited, were various minor observances and practices, to
which importance was attached as lucky or unlucky, and ominous of, if
not conducive to, future good or ill. In some cases these observances
became mere customs, followed without heed to their significance or
efficacy; and many were known to, and believed in only by, the very
superstitious. So far as causing or leading to the result ascribed to
them was concerned, they were, ‘like the Sunday plant,’ without good
or harm, but a mind swayed by trifling erroneous beliefs of the kind
is like a room filled with cobwebs. Superstition shuts out the light,
makes the mind unhealthy, and fills it with groundless anxieties.
_The Right-Hand Turn (Deiseal)._—This was the most important of all
the observances. The rule is “_Deiseal_ (_i.e._ the right-hand turn)
for everything,” and consists in doing all things with a motion
corresponding to the course of the sun, or from left to right. This is
the manner in which screw-nails are driven, and is common with many
for no reason but its convenience. Old men in the Highlands were very
particular about it. The coffin was taken _deiseal_ about the grave,
when about to be lowered; boats were turned to sea according to it,
and drams are given to the present day to a company. When putting a
straw rope on a house or corn-stack, if the assistant went _tuaitheal_
(_i.e._ against the course of the sun), the old man was ready to come
down and thrash him. On coming to a house the visitor should go round
it _deiseal_ to secure luck in the object of his visit. After milking a
cow the dairy-maid should strike it _deiseal_ with the shackle, saying
“out and home” (_mach ’us dachaigh_). This secures its safe return. The
word is from _deas_, right-hand, and _iul_, direction, and of itself
contains no allusion to the sun.
_Rising and Dressing._—It is unfortunate to rise out of bed on one’s
left side. It is a common saying when evil befalls a person, who seems
to himself to have rushed to meet it, “I did not rise on my right hand
to-day.”[65]
Water in which eggs have been boiled or washed should not be used for
washing the hands or face. It is also a common saying when mischance
befalls a person through his own stupidity, “I believe egg-water was
put over me.”
When done washing himself a person should spit in the water, otherwise
if the same water should be used by another for a like purpose, there
will be danger of quarrelling with him before long.
_Clothes._—When a person puts on a new suit it is customary to wish
him luck of it: “May you enjoy and wear it.” A man should be always
the first to do this, the tailor, if he has the good sense. It is
unlucky if a woman be the first to say it, and prudent women delay
their congratulations and good wishes till they are satisfied some male
friend has spoken first. It is less unfortunate if the woman has had a
male child.
If a person wearing a dress dyed with _crotal_, a species of lichen,
be drowned, his body will never be found. This belief prevails in
the north, and there the home-made dress indicated, which is of a
reddish-brown colour, is frequently seen.
_Houses and Lands._—There should be placed below the foundation of
every house a cat’s claws, a man’s nails, and a cow’s hoofs, and silver
under the door-post. These will prove omens of the luck to attend the
house. If an outgoing tenant leaves the two former below the door it is
unfortunate for the incoming tenant, as his cattle will die.
An expectant occupier, or claimant, will secure to himself possession
of land by burning upon it a little straw. This straw was called ‘a
possession wisp’ (_Sop seilbhe_). If, for instance, there were two
claimants to land and one of them burnt a ‘possession wisp’ on it,
he might go about his business with his mind easy as to the result of
the lawsuit. Or, if a tenant ran in debt and had to leave his farm,
another, who had a promise of the holding, came and burnt a ‘possession
wisp,’ no evil or debt of those formerly attaching to it would then
follow the holding.
_Baking._—In baking oatmeal cakes there is a little meal left on the
table after the last cake is sprinkled previous to being fired. This
remnant should not be thrown away or returned to the meal chest, but
be kneaded between the palms into a little cake, to be given to one of
the children. This little bannock was the _Bonnach Fallaid_, called
also _Siantachan a chlàir_ (the charmer of the board), to which in
olden times housewives attached so much importance. Unless it was made
the meal lost its substance, and the bread of that baking would not be
lasting (_baan_). On putting a hole through it with the forefinger, as
already explained, it was given to children, and placed beside women
in childbed, to keep the Fairies away. It mightily pleased little
children, and was given to them as a reward for making themselves
useful.
“A little cake to Finlay,
For going to the well.”
Its origin is said to have been as follows:
A man fell in with a skull in a graveyard and took it to a tailor’s
house, where bread was being baked. The tailor gave it a kick, saying,
“There was one period of the world when your gabful of dough was not
small, and if I had you on a New-Year’s day, I would give you your
fill.” When the New Year came round, a stranger came to the tailor’s
house asking for a mouthful of dough. The tailor set his wife to bake,
and whatever she baked the stranger ate, and then asked for more. The
tailor’s stock of meal, and that of his neighbours, was devoured, and
still the stranger asked for more. An old man of the neighbourhood
was consulted, and he advised that the remnants, or dry meal used for
sprinkling the cakes, should also be baked for the voracious guest. On
this _Fallaid_ cake being given the stranger declared himself satisfied
and went away.
If bread, when being baked, breaks frequently a hungry stranger will
come to eat it. Many cakes breaking are a sign of misfortune, by which
the housewife is warned that “something is making for her.”
If the cake for breakfast falls backwards, the person for whom it is
intended should not be allowed to go on a journey that day; his journey
will not be prosperous. The evil can, however, be remedied by giving
plenty of butter, ‘without asking,’ with the cake. To avert this omen,
cakes should not be placed to harden at the fire on their points, but
on either of the two sides or on their round edge. An old woman in
Islay got into a great rage at a wake on seeing the cakes (that is,
quarters of a _farl_ or large round bannock) placed on their points.
It is not good to count the cakes when done baking. They will not in
that case last any time.
_Removal Cheese (Mulchag Imrich)._—When leaving the summer pastures in
the hills, on Lammas day, and returning with the cattle to the strath,
a small cheese made of curds was made from that day’s milk, to be
given to the children and all who were at the _àiridh_, for luck and
good-will. The cows were milked early in the morning, curds were made
and put in the cheese vat (_fioghan_), and this hastily-prepared cheese
was the _mulchag imrich_, and was taken with the rest of the furniture
home for the purpose mentioned.
_Leg Cake (Bonnach Lurgainn)._—This was a cake given to the herd when
he came with news that a mare had foaled, or to the dairy-maid when she
brought word that a cow had calved.
_Giving Fire out of the House._—On the first day of every quarter of
the year—New-Year day, St Bride’s day, Beltane, and Lammas—no fire
should be given out of the house. On the two last days especially it
should not be given, even to a neighbour whose fire had gone out. It
would give him the means of taking the substance or benefit (_toradh_)
from the cows. If given, after the person who had come for it left, a
piece of burning peat (_ceann fòid_) should be thrown into a tub of
water, to keep him from doing harm. It will also prevent his coming
again. On New-Year’s day fire should not be given out of the house on
any consideration to a doubtful person. If he is evil-disposed, not a
beast will be alive next New Year. A suspected witch came on this day
to a neighbour’s house for fire, her own having gone out, and got it.
When she went away a burning peat was thrown into a tub of water. She
came a second time and the precaution was again taken. The mistress of
the house came in, and on looking in the tub found it full of butter.
_Thunder._—In a storm of thunder and lightning iron, for instance
the poker and tongs, put in the fire, averts all danger from the
house. This curious belief seems to have been widespread at one
time throughout the Western Highlands, though now its memory barely
survives. Its _rationale_ seems to have been in some way to propitiate
the fire, of which lightning is the most powerful exhibition. A woman
in Cnoydart (a Roman Catholic district), alarmed by the peals of a
thunder-storm, threw holy water on herself, put the tongs in the fire,
and on being asked the reason, said, “The cross of Christ be upon us!
the fire will not harm us.” Perhaps the practice had some connection
with the belief that the _Beither_, or thunder-bolt, was of iron, a
sharp-pointed mass. It seems one of the most irrational practices
possible, but was probably of remote origin. In Kent and Herefordshire,
a _cold iron bar_ was put on the barrels, to keep the beer from being
soured by thunder.
_Theft._—The stealing of salt, seed of plants, and lint make the thief
liable to judgment without mercy. He may escape punishment from men but
he will never attain to rest, as the rhyme says:
“The stealer of salt, and the stealer of seeds,
Two thieves that get no rest;
Whoever may or may not escape,
The stealer of grey lint will not.”[66]
Another version of the rhyme is:
“Thief of salt and thief of seeds,
Two thefts from which the soul gets no repose;
Till the fish comes on land
The thief of lint gets never rest.”
_Salt._—In addition to the testimony this rhyme bears to the value of
salt, there was a saying, that a loan of salt should be returned as
soon as possible; if the borrower dies in the meantime and without
restitution being made his ghost will revisit the earth. No fish should
be given out of the house without being first sprinkled with salt.
Meal taken out of the house in the evening was sprinkled with salt to
prevent the Fairies getting its benefit.
_Combing the Hair._—A person should not comb his hair at night, or if
he does, every hair that comes out should be put in the fire. Otherwise
they will meet his feet in the dark and make him stumble. No sister
should comb her hair at night if she have a brother at sea.
If the hair is allowed to go with the wind and it passes over an empty
nest, or a bird takes it to its nest, the head from which it came will
ache.
No person should cut his own hair, as he will by doing so become an
unlucky person to meet.
If the hair, when thrown on the fire, will not burn, it is a sign the
person will be drowned.
_Bird Nests._—On falling in with a nest for the first time that year,
if there be only one egg in it, or if there be an odd egg in it, that
egg should be broken.
Any one finding a cuckoo’s nest will live to be widowed.
_Hen’s First Egg._—A young hen’s first egg should be tapped on the
hearth, saying, “one, two, three,” etc., and as many numbers as were
repeated before the egg broke, or the youngster, who was persuaded to
try the experiment, got tired, so many eggs would that hen lay.
_Euphemisms._—By giving diseases and other evils a good name, when
speaking of them, the danger of bringing them upon oneself by his words
is turned away. It will be remembered that for a similar reason the
ancients called the Fairies Eumenides, and the Celt called the Fairies
‘good people.’ The smallpox was called ‘the good woman.’ Epilepsy ‘the
outside disease.’
In telling a tale of any one being taken away by the Fairies, the
ill-will of the ‘people’ was averted by prefixing the narrative with
the words, “A blessing on their journeying and travelling! this is
Friday and they will not hear us.”
When a person sneezes it is customary for the bystander to say “Thank
you,” to which is sometimes added, “We will not take his name in vain.”
Some say, “God be with you,” others, “God and Mary be with you,”
and others, “St. Columba be with you.” By saying, “The hand of your
father and grandfather be over you,” the Fairies are kept away. Any
words would seem to have been deemed availing, and some of the phrases
used were not choice. If the bystander should say, “Your brains the
next time!” the person sneezing should answer, “The bowl of your head
intercept them!”
When a child yawns, the nurse should say, “Your weariness and heaviness
be on yonder grey stone!”
When the story of a house having taken fire is told, the narrative
should be prefixed by saying, “St Mary’s well be in the top of every
house! the cross of Christ be upon us!” This averts a similar calamity
from the house in which the tale is told.
In some places old people are to be found who, when a person comes
in with any tale of misfortune, of the death of one of the cattle, a
neighbour’s house taking fire, etc., pull threads from their clothes
and throw them in the fire, saying, “Out with the evil tale!” or, “To
tell it to themselves.”
In speaking of the dead, it is proper to speak of them only in
commendatory terms—_de mortuis nihil nisi bonum_. Hence _moladh mairbh_
(Praise of the Dead) denotes faint praise, not always deserved. In
speaking of the dead, old people always added, “His share of paradise
be his” (_chuid a fhlaitheanas da_), or “His portion of mercy be his”
(_chuid a thròcair da_). If their tale was not to the credit of the
deceased or they were obliged to make any statement unfavourable to
him, they said, “It is not to send it after him.”
_Boat Language._—When in a boat at sea, sailing or fishing, it was
forbidden to call things by the names by which they were known on
land. The boat-hook should not be called _croman_, but _a chliob_; a
knife, not _sgian_, but _a ghiar_ (the sharp one); the baling dish,
not _taoman_, but _spùidseir_; a seal, not _ròn_, but _béisd mhaol_
(the bald beast); a fox, not _sionnach_, but _madadh ruadh_ (the red
dog); the stone for anchoring the boat was not _clach_, but _cruaidh_
(hardness). This practice prevails much more on the east coast than on
the west, where it may be said to be generally extinct. It is said to
be carefully observed among the fishermen about the Cromarty Firth. It
was deemed unlucky by east coast fishermen coming to Tiree (as several
boats used to do annually to prosecute the cod and ling fishing),
to speak in a boat of a minister or a rat. Everywhere it was deemed
unlucky among seafaring men to whistle in case a storm should arise.
In Tiree, Heynish Hill (the highest in the island) was known at sea as
_a Bhraonach_; _Hogh_ Hill (the next highest) as _Bheinn Bhearnach no
Sgoillte_ (the Notched or Cloven Hill), and a species of whale as _cas
na poite_ (the leg of a pot). It should not be said “He was drowned”
(_bhàthadh e_) but “he journeyed” (_shiubhail e_); not “tie a rope”
(_ceangail ròp_), but “make it” (_dean e_). In the north it was held
that an otter, while in its den, should not be called _béisd du_ (the
black beast, its common name), but _Carnag_. It would otherwise be
impossible for the terriers to drive it from its refuge.
_Fresh Meat._—When fresh meat of the year’s growth is tasted for the
first time, a person should say,
“A death-shroud on the grey, better grey, old woman,
Who said she would not taste the fresh meat,
I will taste the fresh meat,
And will be alive for it next year.”
This ensures another year’s lease of life.
_Killing those too long alive._—If a person is thought to be too long
alive, and it becomes desirable to get rid of him, his death can be
ensured by bawling to him thrice through the key-hole of the room in
which he is bedrid,
“Will you come, or will you go?
Or will you eat the flesh of cranes?”
_Funerals._—It was customary to place a plate of salt, the smoothing
iron, or a clod of green grass on the breast of a corpse, while laid
out previous to being coffined. This, it was believed, kept it from
swelling. A candle was left burning beside it all night. When it was
placed in the coffin and taken away on the day of the funeral, the
boards on which it had been lying were left for the night as they were,
with a drink of water on them, in case the dead should return and be
thirsty. Some put the drink of water or of milk outside the door, and,
as in Mull and Tiree, put a sprig of pearlswort above the lintel to
prevent the dead from entering the house.
When coffining the corpse every string in the shroud was cut with
the scissors; and in defence of the practice there was a story that,
after burial, a woman’s shade came to her friends, to say that all the
strings in her shroud had not been cut. Her grave was opened, and this
was found to be the case.
The only instance the writer has heard of Cere-cloth, that is, cloth
dipped in wax in which dead bodies were wrapped, being used in
the Highlands, is, that the Nicholsons of Scorrybreck, in Skye (a
family said to be of Russian descent through _Neacal mòr_ who was in
Mungastadt), had a wax shirt (_Leine Chéir_) which, from the friendship
between themselves and the chief of the Macleods, was sent for from
Dunvegan on every occasion of a death.
_The Watch of the Graveyard (Faire Chlaidh)._—The person last buried
had to keep watch over the graveyard till the next funeral came. This
was called _Faire Chlaidh_, the graveyard watch, kept by the spirits of
the departed.
At Kiel (_Cill Challum Chille_), in Morvern, the body of the Spanish
Princess said to have been on board one of the Armada blown up in
Tobermory Bay was buried. Two young men of the district made a paction,
that whoever died first the other would watch the churchyard for him.
The survivor, when keeping the promised watch, had the sight of his
dead friend as well as his own. He saw both the material world and
spirits. Each night he saw ghosts leaving the churchyard and returning
before morning. He observed that one of the ghosts was always behind
the rest when returning. He spoke to it, and ascertained it to be the
ghost of the Spanish Princess. Her body had been removed to Spain, but
one of her little fingers had been left behind, and she had to come
back to where it was.
When two funeral parties met at the churchyard, a fight frequently
ensued to determine who should get their friend first buried.
_Suicides._—The bodies of suicides were not taken out of the house, for
burial, by the doors, but through an opening made between the wall and
the thatch. They were buried, along with unbaptized children, outside
the common churchyard.
It was believed in the north, as in Skye and about Applecross (_a
Chomrach_) in Ross-shire, no herring would be caught in any part of the
sea which could be seen from the grave of a suicide.
_Murder._—It was believed in Sutherlandshire that a murdered body
remained undecayed till touched.
_The Harvest Old Wife (a Chailleach)._—In harvest, there was a struggle
to escape being the last done with the shearing, and when tillage in
common existed, instances were known of a ridge being left unshorn
(no person would claim it) because of it being behind the rest. The
fear entertained was that of having the ‘famine of the farm’ (_gort
a bhaile_), in the shape of an imaginary old woman (_cailleach_), to
feed till next harvest. Much emulation and amusement arose from the
fear of this old woman; and from it arose the expression, “Better is a
mercy-leap in harvest than a sheaf additional” (_’As fearr leum-iochd
a’s t’ fhogaradh na sguab a bharrachd_). The _cum-iochd_,[67] or
mercy-leap, is where a rocky mound or a soft spot, where no corn grows,
occurs in a ridge. Its occurrence was a great help to the shearing
being done.
The first done made a doll of some blades of corn, which was called
the ‘old wife,’ and sent it to his nearest neighbour. He in turn, when
ready, passed it to another still less expeditious, and the person it
last remained with had the ‘old woman’ to keep for that year. The old
wife was known in Skye as the Cripple Goat (_a Ghobhar Bhacach_).
The fear of the Cailleach in harvest made a man in _Saor-bheinn_, in
the Ross of Mull, who farmed his land in common with another, rise
and shear his corn by moonlight. In the morning he found it was his
neighbour’s corn he had cut.
_Big Porridge Day (La u Bhrochain mhòr)._—In the Western Islands, in
olden times (for the practice does not now exist anywhere), when there
was a winter during which little sea-ware came ashore, and full time
for spring work had come without relief, a large dish of porridge,
made with butter and other good ingredients, was poured into the sea
on every headland where wrack used to come. Next day the harbours were
full.
This device was to be resorted to only late in the spring—the Iona
people say the Thursday before Easter—and in stormy weather. The
meaning of the ceremony seems to have been that, by sending the fruit
of the land into the sea, the fruit of the sea would come to land.
_Fires on Headlands._—In Skye, fires were lighted on headlands at the
beginning of winter to bring in herrings.
_Stances._—Particular stances, or sites of buildings, were accounted
unlucky, such for instance as the site of a byre in which the death
of several cattle had occurred; and it was recommended, to prevent the
recurrence of such misfortunes, that the site should be altered.
_Names._—So with regard to names. If the children of a family were
dying in infancy, one after the other, it was thought that, by
changing the name, the evil would be counteracted. The new name was
called a ‘Road name’ (_Ainm Rathaid_), being that of the first person
encountered on the road when going with the child to be baptized. It
was given ‘upon the luck’ (_air sealbhaich_) of the person met.
The Mac-Rories, a sept of the Mac-Larens, in Perthshire, were
descendants of one who thus received his name. His parents, having
lost a previous child before its baptism, were advised to change
the name. They were on their way through the Pass, called _Laìrig
Isle_, between Loch Erne and Glen-dochart, to have their second child
baptized, when they were met by one Rory Mac Pherson. He was an entire
stranger to them, but turned back with them, as a stranger ought to
do to avoid being unlucky, and the child was called after him. _Clann
’ic-Shimigeir_, a sept of the Mac Neills, have also a road name.
_Delivery of Cattle and Horses._—Before delivering a cow to the buyer
at a market, the seller should pass the end of the rope, by which she
is led, three times round his body. When taking delivery of a horse,
from one of whom you are not sure, you should come _deiseal_ between
him and the horse, and take hold of the halter inside his hand, that
is, between him and the horse. Otherwise, the seller’s eye will be
after the beast.
_Trades._—Masons were said to be able to raise the devil, or, as the
Gaelic expression more forcibly describes it, “to take the son of
cursing from his roots” (_macmollachd thoirt as a fhriamhaichean_).
Smiths, being people who work among iron, were deemed of more virtue
against the powers of evil than any other tradesmen.
Tailors were looked upon with a feeling akin to that entertained in the
south, where “nine tailors made a man.” The reason probably was that in
olden times every man fit to bear arms thought it beneath him to follow
a peaceful occupation, and only the lame and cripple were brought up as
tailors.
Tinkers are known as _Luckd-Ceaird_, that is literally ‘tradesmen,’
and the name is a memory of days when they held the first rank as
hand-craftsmen.
_Saor_, a joiner, means literally ‘a free-man,’ whence it would appear
that from the earliest times the trade was highly esteemed.
_Iron._—An oath on _cold iron_ was deemed the most binding oath of
any; when people swore on their dirks it was only because it was at
the time the cold iron readiest to hand. A man who secreted iron, and
died without telling where, could not rest in his grave. At Meigh, in
Lochaber, a ghost for a long time met people who were out late. An old
man, having taken with him a Bible and made a circle round himself on
the road with a dirk, encountered it, and, in reply to his inquiries,
the ghost confessed to having stolen a ploughshare (_soc a chroinn_),
and told where the secreted iron was to be found. After this the ghost
discontinued its visits to the earth.
Cold iron, _e.g._ the keys passed round the body of a cow, after her
return from the bull, keeps her from _ath-dàir_, that is, seeking to go
on the same journey again.
_Empty Shells._—Empty whelk shells (_Faochagun failmhe_) should not be
allowed to remain in the house for the night. Something is sure to come
after them.
Similarly, water in which feet have been washed (_i.e._ out of which
the use or benefit has been taken) should not be left in the house for
fear the noiseless people come and plunge about in it all night.
_Protection against Evil Spirits._—On every occasion of danger and
anxiety, the Highlander of former days commended himself to the
protection of the Cross. In a storm of thunder he blessed himself
saying, “the Cross of Christ be upon us.” When he encountered a ghost
or evil spirit at night, he drew a circle round himself on the road
with the point of his dirk, or a sapling in the name of Christ, “the
Cross of Christ be upon me,” and while he remained in the circle no
evil could come near him.
A person was also safe while below high-water mark. Fairies and evil
spirits had no power below the roll of sea-weed.
When walking the high road at night, it is recommended to keep to the
side paths in case of meeting the wraiths of funerals. The ghostly
train may throw a person down, or compel him to carry the bier to the
churchyard.
_Misnaming a Person._—If a person be accidentally misnamed, as _e.g._
being called John when his name is Donald, he who made the mistake, on
observing it, instantly exclaimed, “The Cross of Christ be upon us.”
_Gaining Straw (Sop Seile)._—At certain seasons of the year,
principally at Beltane and Lammas, a wisp of straw, called _Sop-seile_
(literally a spittle wisp), was taken to sprinkle the door-posts and
houses all round sunwise (_deiseal_), to preserve them from harm. When
a new cow came home it was also sprinkled to preserve it from the evil
eye. The liquid used was menstruum.
In spring the horses, harness, plough, etc., were similarly sprinkled
before beginning to plough.
_Propitious Times._—A great number of the observances of superstition
were regulated by days of the week or year. There were certain days on
which alone certain works could be commenced under favourable auspices
and with any chance of being successfully done.
_Unlucky Actions._—It is unlucky to wind black thread at night. A
vicious wish made to one another by women quarrelling, in olden times,
was, “The disease of women who wind black thread at night be upon you!”
Some say the reason of the evil omen is, that black thread is apt to
disappear at night, or be taken by the Fairies, and be found through
the house next morning. Superstition probably assigned some more occult
reason.
It is ‘little happiness’ for anyone to kill a magpie or a bat.
It is unlucky for a person on a journey to return the way he went. This
belief had its origin in the instructions given to the ‘man of God,’
who rebuked the idolatry of Jeroboam. “Eat no bread, nor drink water,
nor turn again by the same way that thou camest” (I Kings xiii. 9).