was made of different colours of yarn, an incantation was said over it
while being made, and when finished it was tied round the child’s neck.
She has often seen these in use, and did not think that it mattered
anything what colours were used, provided that there were different
colours in it.
Another reciter says that the strings before being put on were soaked
in something, but does not mention if they were coloured, while two
others mention the fact, of their personal knowledge, that the threads
they had seen worn were red.
In one of the last cases the thread had been put on to cure a child
supposed to be already suffering. In the other, while the thread
was used as a protection, the reciter mentioned as a curative where
something had gone wrong with the first child of a marriage, especially
if there was any suspicion of _cronachadh_, that some article of
clothing which had been worn by the mother on the first night of
marriage, was put round the child three times, and “There are some,”
said he, “who take the precaution to do this as a preventative even
where no injury is suspected as having already taken place.”
One of our reciters quotes the following verse of a song as an
authority for the efficacy of the red thread:—
“_Snathainn dearg, is snuim air,
Bi sud air ceann a’ chrandachan;
Ged thigeadh Buidseach Henderson,
Cheannsaicheadh Ailean e._”
(“A red thread, and a knot on it,
That will be on the top of the churn staff,
Though Henderson the _witch_ should come,
Allan would subdue him.”)
There can be no doubt that it is our old acquaintance the Witch of
Endor who here again appears as Henderson.
The following is the account given by a man suspected of the Evil Eye,
who watched secretly through a chink in the door the performance by a
professor of _eolas_ who was supposed to have inherited his skill from
his deceased wife. The Evil Eye doctor went direct to the churn, which
stood very much on the middle of the floor, and walked round about it
several times, “six or seven,” says D. McF. Then taking a ball of yarn
from his pocket he wound it round about the churn-staff, putting a
good many turns on it. This done, he gave the staff two or three turns
as hard as he could, as if churning. He then came out, but in a short
time returned, and D., securing his point of observation, saw him take
the yarn off the churn-staff and wind it round the churn itself. Again
he gave a few turns at churning, and finally left. The reciter was
uncertain whether or not any benefit accrued to that churning itself.
The following method in the case of a lad on the one hand, and of a
cow on the other, demonstrates pretty fully the method of using the
red yarn in Harris. The skilled woman, having assured a sick lad that
she knew what was wrong, and that it could soon be put right, having
requested all present, except of course the patient, to leave the room,
procured a ball of _three-ply_ yarn and wound it round the points of
her thumb, middle finger, and ring finger of her left hand, holding
the thread between the thumb and mid-finger of the right hand. Having
done this she took a small piece of burning stick and passed it three
times through the circle formed by the thread on her fingers. She then
put a knot on the cord, bringing it close to her mouth, and repeating
a lengthy incantation commencing, “_Ni mi an obair so_” (“I do this
work”), in which were references to the “eye.” The knot having been put
on and the incantation finished she took the yarn off her finger, and
commencing at the crown of the head, she rubbed him with it in a round
and round way all over. At this stage there was a knock at the door to
which the performer replied: “You are there, I know you,” and without
opening the door, put the knot into the fire, saying, “_An galar ’s
caslainnte chuirinn air mulach an teine_.” (“The disease and the
illness I would put on the top of the fire.”) She repeated this three
times, and on the third occasion, instead of putting the thread in the
fire (it would appear from this that she had made three knots, and not
one as the description would lead us to suppose) she tied it round the
lad’s neck. The thread is always tied, said the reciter, where it will
not be seen, but it must be on the skin. Some wear such a thread as a
precaution against the Evil Eye. It was explained that the knock at the
door was done by the individual causing the illness.
The following is the information as to the conduct of the operation
in the case of a cow, and our reciter saw this herself. The _eolas_
operator first asked for yarn in which alum had been used in the
dyeing. Our informant explained that it was necessary that any yarn
to be used should have had alum applied to it, and as alum is always
used in dyeing red (as a mordant), red is very generally what is taken
on such occasions. Having got the little ball of red yarn, the thread
was wound round the fingers as above described, and here we learn
categorically that the forefinger must not be allowed to touch the yarn
throughout the performance. There was no burning stick here used, but
having taken the yarn off her finger, a knot was put on the thread, the
knot put to her lips, and an incantation alluding to the eye muttered
with it in that position. This winding, muttering, and knot-tying was
gone through altogether three times with equal care. Commencing then
with one of the horns of the animal, she rubbed the cow down with a
circular motion all over till she came to the other horn, and then
tied the first knot on the cow’s tail, taking care to have it out of
sight, the three knots being tied one after the other to the under
hairs of the cow’s tail. When the cow showed signs of improvement the
first knot was taken off and burned with the words used above. The same
performance being carried through with the second knot, but the third
knot was allowed to remain on the cow’s tail. This woman refused to
impart the incantation formula to any but a member of her own family,
and it is believed that the greater the admiration of the operator for
the person affected the more effectual the cure.
A native of South Uist said that while different methods were employed
to cure the Evil Eye, the most common, so far as she could judge, was
the _Snaithnean_ (thread). This was so well known that when the Evil
Eye was suspected in the case of an animal, _faigheamaid snaithnean
dhi_ (_dha_) (get a thread to it), and away they would go to an _eolas_
person. The snaithnean is simply a red woollen thread four or five
inches long. The giver of it says some good words over it, hands it to
the messenger with instructions to go straight home and tie the thread
round the animal’s tail till it recovers. In more important cases the
professor may deem it advisable to fasten the string on himself. The
reciter, though not admitting belief in the charm as such, has seen
this done several times with good effect.
The above statement was thoroughly corroborated by another from the
same locality, who “has often seen the red thread on beasts’ tails.”
She spoke of the injury as _gonadh_ (wounded).
An Islay woman remembers as a girl, in the case of a cow of her
mother’s, where a string was put on the cow that was ill, but as they
were all turned out of the byre she does not know what else was done.
Another reciter in the same island, in the case of one of his own
horses, which was said to have been injured by the evil eyes of
drovers, had it cured by a woollen thread being tied round its tail.
Before leaving the red thread, a reciter in Islay, whose aunt lived
next to a professor, said that when this woman was consulted in cases
of Evil Eye, she took a bottle containing a red thread and water, and
for the purpose of discovering the cause of the animals’ illness she
closed her eyes and repeated an incantation. This done she would open
her eyes, and the first living creature bearing any burden or weight,
that weight, whatever it might be, she maintained she saw pressing upon
the animal. A case in point is the following. Having gone through her
performance when consulted about a sick cow, on lifting up her eyes
they rested on a man carrying a horse collar. She told the owner of the
cow that the spirit of that man with the collar was pressing on the
animal, and would continue so until the water which was in the bottle,
over which she had repeated the incantation, was sprinkled on her. If
after that the cow shivered all over she would not get better, but if
she merely shook her ears she would be all right. The people about, the
reciter added, had great confidence in this woman’s professions.
Another reciter said that when a child was not thriving a red thread
was tied round its neck and allowed to remain on night and day. He has
seen this where he knew both the child and its parents very intimately.
It must not, however, be supposed that red thread alone was used.
Another Argyllshire reciter has seen on Hallowe’en different colours of
worsted thread tied on cattle as a prophylactic.
The mother of the child, in which the symptom of injury by the Evil Eye
was its seeming to sing “do re do,” gives the following account of the
thread tied on it which cured it. His father went to an _eolas_ woman
and told her his business. She took some lint that she had ready to
be put on the spindle and twisted a little bit into a thread. It must
always be green lint that is used for these threads. She made a string
that would go three times round his neck, and getting the man’s knife
she wound the thread round the steel, and handing it to him ordered
him to hold it in his hand all the way home, and not to open his hand
or speak to anybody till he would reach home. He was then to put the
string three times round the child’s neck, and as he was getting better
one string at a time was to be taken off and thrown into the fire. This
was all done as directed, the “humming” stopped, and the child got
quite well.
A native of Strontian gave the following as his own experience of the
use of a green thread. When a boy he had a “fallen” uvula, and was sent
to a woman who was said to be able to “lift” it. She took him into
a corner of the house and commenced manipulating the outside of his
throat and below his chin, speaking all the time as if to herself. At
all events he could not follow what she said, though he heard the words
_Sheumais, Eoin, ‘s Pheadair_ (James’, John’s, and Peter’s) frequently.
Having done this some time, she tied a green thread about his neck and
sent him away, saying it would be all right. Mr. McD. added the remark
that he had nothing to give the operator, though it is essential that
something pass from your hand into theirs. A reason for this was given
by a native of Fort William, that “unless the curer got something for
putting the trouble away the trouble would go on him- (her) self.”
A curer of cases of Evil Eye in the neighbourhood of Ballachulish,
though her method of treatment was not wholly known to the reciter,
part of it consisted in giving water and two threads (three articles),
one black and one white. The threads were to be twisted in a prescribed
manner round the person or animal affected, and if the threads showed
any tendency to knot, it was taken as a sure sign that it was a case of
the Evil Eye, _i.e._ apparently if they formed _eyes_ on the thread.
Ligatures other than thread were used. A native of Easdale tells how
his grandaunt used to tell him of a relative who lived with her father.
He was a farmer, and losing his cattle, and believing that they were
being affected by the Evil Eye, took his courage in both hands and
marched off to consult Campbell of Skipness, distinguished for his
skill in such cases. Having told his errand, Campbell took him into the
barn and, excluding all light, made the people—that is, the Evil Eye
people—pass before him, and he recognised them quite well. Campbell
then gave him a _gisreag_ (charm) made of a straw rope, and requested
him to take it home with him and throw it into the fire as soon as
he reached his destination. This was to protect him against further
injury. The man burned the _gisreag_ on reaching home, and from that
day his cattle throve quite well.
Another reciter remembers that her brother having gone to consult a
professor of _eolas_ on account of serious losses to his stock, while
he was away a new horse, bought to take the place of one that had died,
was taken ill between the plough chains. Well does she remember, on her
brother’s return, seeing him take the tether with which it had been
tied, and waving it three times over the horse, it got up at once, took
the food offered it, and was soon all right.
From Tomintoul, Banffshire, we hear of one who had a wide reputation
for skill in these matters, who was said to perform his charms by means
of a bridle that was in his possession. We have no further particulars,
but it is not impossible that the bridle was a rope one.
There has been mentioned the case of a young horse where the result of
the Evil Eye was to make it pour of sweat and tremble. Having got it
back into the stable, a recognised practitioner of _eolas_ was sent
for. Among his questions was one whether the lad who was leading it
had, or had not, met any one on the road. He then asked for the halter
which had been on the horse, and it having been brought him he said
one or two words which nobody present seemed able to catch, after
which, waving the halter three times over the animal, he said, “Rise
and eat.” At once the horse got on its feet, began to eat, and was
cured. McA., the _eolas_ man, now said it was a case of _cronachadh_,
and offered to tell who had done it. They assured him they did not wish
to know. But the reciter made the naïve remark that “he knew already,
for he knew who had met him on the road.”
UISGE A’ CHRONACHAIDH (WATER OF INJURY)
We have already mentioned, as one of the results of the Evil Eye, a bad
attack of yawning. Here is the account of the sufferer’s cure in the
words of the reciter. “_Chuir iad airson sean-mhathair Sheumais Ruaidh
so agus nur a thainig ise rinn i eolas le beagan uisge agus facailean,
agus cha robh a chaileag tiota an deigh sin gus an robh i cho mhath
’s bha i riamh. Dh’innis a bhean a leighis i ra mathair gur h-ann air
a cronachadh a bha i._” (“They sent for this Red James’ grandmother,
and when she came she made science with a little water and words, and
it was but a short time till the girl was as well as ever she was.
The woman that cured her told her mother that she had been injured by
_cronachadh_.”)
The water used here was what has been called in Arran at any rate
“_uisge a’ chronachaidh._”
One other account of this Evil Eye water we will give in the words of
the reciter, an old man speaking of his daughter:“ _‘Nuair a bha ’m
bas ag’oibrich rithe thainig i dhachaidh an so agus bha e soilleir gum
b’ann air a cronachadh a bha i. Nis chuala mi fhein daoine ag radh nam
biodh neach air a chronachadh agus nam biodh bonn airgeid air a chuir
ann am bowl uisge a bhiodh air a thoirt a tobar o’n taobh deas, nan
leanadh an t-airgiod ri grunnd a’ bhowl, nuair a dhoirte an t-uisge
dheth, gun cuireadh an t-uisge sin an cronachadh air falbh nam biodh
e air a chrathadh air a’ neach a bha fo’n chronachadh. Well, chaidh
mi fhein gu tobar a bha ris an taobh deas de’n tigh agam agus chuir
mi bonn se sgillinn an an lan bowl-de’n uisge ach nuair a thaomadh an
t-uisge dheth, cha do lean am bonn ris a bhowl. Ach co dhiu chrath
mi ’n t-uisge oirre ach ged a chrath cha d’rinn e feum sam bi, ’s
cha deachaidh i riomh ni b’fhearr. Ach bha daoine ag radh nan robh
an t-airgiod air leantuinn ris a’ bhowl gun deannadh an t-uisge an
cronachadh a thoirt air falbh._” (“When death was working with her she
came home here, and it was clear that she had been blighted. I myself
heard people saying if any one were blighted and a coin put into a
bowl of water, which would be taken from a southern well, if the money
stuck to the bottom of the bowl when the water was poured off it, that
that water would put away the injury if it were sprinkled on the person
harmed. Well, I went myself to a well that was on the south side of
my house, and I put a sixpenny piece in a bowlful of the water, but
when the water was poured off the piece did not stick to the bowl; but
however, I sprinkled the water on her, but though I did sprinkle it it
was of no use whatever, and she never got any better. But people were
saying, had the money stuck to the bowl the water would have caused the
blight to be removed.”)
The methods of preparation of this water undoubtedly vary, not merely
because the reciters do not give the particulars, but because the
operators make differences. A messenger being sent to a woman for
_eolas_, we are told “she gave the one that went a bottle of water with
directions that it was to be thrown on the cow.”
Another reciter said that a woman being brought to see a sick cow (D.
MacC.’s grandmother), “when she came she took a cog with water and
went in to where the cow was. She was a decent woman, and whatever she
did to the cow she got better.”
In another case the local practitioner, when sent for, walked round
the cow three times, and our reciter said, she may have done something
more, but in any case she failed to do any good, and the cow continued
ill. They then sent a messenger to another woman of the same sort, but
of greater repute, and who lived at a greater distance. This woman gave
the messenger a bottle of something like water, with instructions that
it was to be sprinkled over the cow. When the messenger returned home
and the stuff in the bottle was sprinkled on the cow, she got up, shook
herself, began to show signs of recovery, and in a short time was all
right.
In another case the woman sent for, “when she came said it was a case
of injury by _cronachadh_, and having repeated some words over the cow,
she sprinkled water she had prepared upon her with the result that the
cow soon got well.”
A male professor made up a bottle for a shepherd whose cow was ill,
and instructed him on reaching home to sprinkle “all that was in the
bottle” on certain parts of the cow. It is not advisable to take too
literally statements which apparently are very exact; “all the water”
in this case may simply mean the water that was in the bottle more
or less in its totality. Or it may have been the instruction was so
worded that if some of the water, even a drop or two, might be supposed
not to have got on the cow that the charm would be ineffective. The
destination of the water for particular parts of the animal was
undoubtedly a usual proviso.
So far the information might lead one to suppose that an incantation
said over water was sufficient in the beliefs of the operators. This
is however not the case, and there can be little doubt that to make
the incantation effective the water should have been in contact with
silver. A native of Harris said that he has heard of the “water of
silver” as a cure for people and beasts affected by the Evil Eye, and
also as a preventative of such injury if apprehended. In one instance
which came under his own observation, a respectable and intelligent
woman, to protect her cow and the milk and butter, first time she went
to milk the cow after calving, put a half-crown piece in the bottom of
the pail and drew the milk on to it. A friend who accompanied her saw
the whole performance.
A native of Islay informed us that for curing eyes of those suffering
from _cronachadh_ you should put “three bawbees in the water”; while a
native of Oban says that in all cases of _cronachadh_ where water is
used as a cure it must be poured on silver.
A clergyman living in Skye recently heard of a case in the parish of
Kildonan where water in which silver had been immersed was sprinkled
upon a cow which was unwell. The further information in this case was
that the woman in the district specially referred to was exceedingly
superstitious, and expressed her belief that she would become a bird
after death. She always repeated a rhyme when operating upon cattle.
She had died shortly before our reciter went to Skye.
A school teacher, a native of Skye and carrying on her occupation in
Argyllshire, confirms the strong belief in the Evil Eye in certain
places. A few years ago in D—— a young woman was driving her cow to
pasture when the cow fell. Her owner turned towards a neighbour’s
daughter who had been looking at them passing and scolded her for
the accident, finishing by stating that the onlooker was “mad.” The
retort was that that affliction was hereditary with the cow’s owner.
The interchange of compliments got the credit of curing the cow, which
arose and went its way. The cure, according to this reciter, for any
sudden sickness in cattle was to take a threepenny bit, or any small
silver, and ask a blessing on it in the name of the Father, place it
in a basin, pour water on it, and dash over the cow in the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
In the following case the operation, though carried out by
Gaelic-speaking Highlanders, was conducted in the Lowlands. A child was
supposed to be the victim of _cronachadh_, and the operator was the
daughter of a woman who had practised _eolas_. A fellow-servant of the
operator was the reciter. “Water was procured from a running stream,
it being necessary that the person bringing the water should have a
piece of bread of some sort in his possession at the time. A silver
coin was put in the dish in which the water was, and the operator waved
the dish in a particular manner and then sprinkled some of the water on
the child. The remainder was then dashed against a large stone. Stress
was laid on the necessity of this part of the performance, it being
essential that the stone was immovable. A solid wall, for instance the
gable of a house, was said to be equally efficient.[12]
[12] If, as the writer believes, the original fluid was that mentioned
in 1 Kings xiv. 10, xvi. 11, the deduction is that it should be that of
a male, not a female.
Brought up in a Presbyterian community, the writer has little knowledge
of the manœuvres of traditional Episcopacy or Romanism, but while
speaking of this a friend, whose niece was being baptized in a hurry,
gives the following information. Though the child was supposed to be
dying, the officiating clergyman had first to array himself in his
official costume, and then, producing a small alabaster font, prepared
the water of baptism in that. Having performed the ceremony, he
turned to the infant’s aunt and requested to be taken to the garden,
to which he himself carried the water and emptied it on the ground.
Our informant, herself a Presbyterian, was speaking of the matter
afterwards to the certificated nurse. She said the performance was
not new to her, and told how in a like case the clergyman, not being
provided with his own font, and asking for a basin, was given a nice
Sèvres bowl. After the ceremony he also proceeded outside, and not only
emptied out the water, but deliberately smashed the basin to prevent
its subsequent use for any other purpose.
A variation in the ceremony occurred in the following case, the
operator being a Lewis man. He had a nice foal which had been a good
deal admired, and he was desirous of protecting it from the Evil
Eye. Putting a silver coin in a dish he poured water on it. He then
poured off about half of the water, apparently making a libation, and
the other half he sprinkled over the foal. After this treatment he
considered it would be difficult for any Evil Eye to injure it.
A native of Bernera, Harris, who can neither read nor write and has
no English, shortens the process. “_Tha rathad eile anns an gabh
cronachadh bhi air a chuir air falbh. Nan gabhadh neach bonn airgeid
ann a’ laimh agus uisge dhoirteadh air an t-airgiod agus an sin a lamh
fhliuch a shuathadh air aodan an leanabh. Dheanadh sin e._” (“There is
another way in which _cronachadh_ can be cured. If one takes a piece of
silver in his hand and pours water on the silver and then rubs his wet
hand on the child’s face. That would do it.”)