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diff --git a/15792.txt b/15792.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..44eb057 --- /dev/null +++ b/15792.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5677 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Folk Lore, by James Napier + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Folk Lore + Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century + + +Author: James Napier + +Release Date: May 7, 2005 [eBook #15792] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK LORE*** + + +E-text prepared by Julie Barkley, Annika Feilbach, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +FOLK LORE + +Or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century + +With an Appendix, + +Shewing the Probable Relation of the Modern Festivals of Christmas, May +Day, St. John's Day, and Hallowe'en, to Ancient Sun and Fire Worship + +by + +JAMES NAPIER, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., &c., + +Author of _Manufacturing Art in Ancient Times_, _Notes and Reminiscences +of Partick_, &c., &c. + +Paisley: Alex. Gardner. + +1879 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PREFACE, v. +Introduction, 1 +Birth and Childhood, 29 +Marriage, 43 +Death, 56 +Witchcraft, Second Sight, and the Black Art, 67 +Charms and Counter Charms, 79 +Divining, 105 +Superstitions Relating to Animals, 111 +Superstitions Concerning Plants, 122 +Miscellaneous Superstitions, 132 + + +APPENDIX. + +Yule, Beltane, and Hallowe'en Festivals, 145 +Yule, 149 +Beltane, 161 +Midsummer, 170 +Hallowe'en, 175 + + + + +PREFACE + + +The doctrine taught concerning Satan, his motives and influence in the +beginning of this century, supplied the popular mind with reasons to +account for almost all the evils, public and private, which befell +society; and as the observed ills of life, real or imaginary, greatly +outnumbered the observed good occurrences, the thought of Satan was more +constantly before the people's mind than was the thought of God. +Practically, it might be said, and said with a very near approach to +truth, that Satan, in popular estimation, was the greater of the two; +but theoretically, the superiority of God was allowed, for Satan it was +believed, was permitted by God to do what he did. It was commonly said, +"Never speak evil of the Deil, for he has a long memory." This Satanic +belief gave rise to a great amount of Folk Lore, and affected the whole +social system. Historians who take no account of such beliefs, but +regard them as trivialities, cannot but fail to represent faithfully the +condition and action of the people. Folk Lore has thus an important +historical bearing. Every age has had its own living Folk Lore, and, +beside this, a residuum of waning lore, regarded as superstitious, and +so it is at the present day. When we speak of the Folk Lore of our +grandfathers and great-grandfathers, we believe that we are speaking of +beliefs which have past away, beliefs from which we ourselves are free; +but if we consider the matter carefully we will find that in many +respects our beliefs and practices, although somewhat modernized, are +essentially little different from those of last century. Among the +better educated classes it may be said that much of the superstitions of +former times have passed away, and as education is extended they will +more and more become eradicated; but at present, in our rural districts +especially, the old beliefs still linger in considerable force. Many +think that the superstitions of last century died with the century, but +this is not so; and as these notions are curious and in many respects +important historical factors, I have thought it worth while to jot down +what of this Folk Lore has come under my observation during these last +sixty years. + +In this collection I do not profess to include all that may come under +the head of Folk Lore, such, for example, as the reading of dreams and +cups, spaeing fortunes by cards or other methods--that class of +superstitions by which designing persons prey upon weak-minded people. + +One principal object which I had in view in forming this collection, was +that it might supply a nucleus for the further development of the +subject. The instances which I have adduced belong to one locality, the +West of Scotland, and chiefly the neighbourhood west of Glasgow, but +different localities have different methods of formulating the same +superstition. By comparison, by separation of the local accretion from +the constant element, an approach to the original source and meaning of +a superstition may be obtained. + +I have hope that the Folk Lore Society, just instituted, will consider +such details and variations, and endeavour to trace their history and +origin, and fearlessly give prominence to the still existing +superstitions, and exhibit their degrading influence on society. + + + + +FOLK LORE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +_INTRODUCTORY._ + + +The primary object of the following short treatise is to give an account +of some of those superstitions, now either dead or in their decadence, +but which, within the memory of persons now living, had a vigorous +existence, at least in the West of Scotland. A secondary object shall be +to trace out, where I think I can discover ground for so doing, the +origin of any particular superstition, and in passing I may notice the +duration in time and geographical distribution of some superstitions. +But, on the threshold of our inquiry, it may be of advantage to pause +and endeavour to reach a mutual understanding of the precise meaning of +the word Superstition--a word apparently, from the varied dictionary +renderings given of it, difficult to define. However we may disagree in +our definitions of the word, we all agree in regarding a superstitious +tone of mind as weak and foolish, and as no one desires to be regarded +as weak-minded or foolish, we naturally repel from ourselves as best we +can the odious imputation of being superstitious. There are few who seek +to know what superstition in its essence really is; most people are +satisfied to frame an answer to suit their own case, and so it happens +that we have a multiplicity of definitions for the word, many of which +are devoid of scientific solidity, and others have not even the merit of +intelligibility. A recent definition, extremely elastic, was propounded +by a popular preacher in a lecture delivered before the Glasgow Young +Men's Christian Association and reported in the newspapers,--"Superstition +is Scepticism," which may be legitimately paraphrased "Superstition is +not believing what I believe." Although this definition may be very +gratifying to the self pride of most of us, we must nevertheless reject +it, and look for a more definite and instructive signification, and for +this end we may very properly consult the meanings given in several +standard dictionaries and lexicons, for in them we expect to find +precision of statement, although in this instance I believe we shall be +disappointed. Theophrastus, who lived several centuries before the +Christian era, defines "Superstition" according to the translation given +of his definition in the _Encyclopaedia Metropolitana_, as "A cowardly +state of mind with respect to the supernatural," and supplies the +following illustration: "The superstitious man is one, who, having taken +care to wash his hands and sprinkle himself in the temple, walks about +during the day with a little laurel in his mouth, and if he meets a +weasel on the road, dares not proceed on his way till some person has +passed, or till he has thrown three stones across the road." + +Under "Superstition," in the _Encyclopaedia Metropolitana_, the following +definitions are given:-- + + 1st.--Excess of scruple or ceremony in matters of religion: idle + worship: vain reverence: a superfluous, needless, or + ill-governed devotion. + + 2nd.--Any religious observance contrary to, or not sanctioned by, + Scripture or reason. + + 3rd.--All belief in supernatural agency, or in the influence of + casual occurrences, or of natural phenomena on the destinies + of man which has no foundation in Scripture, reason, or + experience. + + 4th.--All attempts to influence the destiny of man by methods which + have no Scriptural or rational connection with their object. + +_Walker's Dictionary_:-- + + "Unnecessary fear or scruple in religion: religion without + morality: false religion: reverence of beings not properly objects + of reverence: over-nicety: exactness: too scrupulous." + +_Chambers' Dictionary_:-- + + "A being excessive (in religion) over a thing as if in wonder or + fear: excessive reverence or fear: excessive exactness in religious + opinions and practice: false worship or religion: the belief in + supernatural agency: belief in what is absurd without evidences: + excessive religious belief." + +These dictionary meanings do not, of course, attempt to decide what +should be the one only scientifically correct significance of the term, +but only supply the varying senses in which the word is used in +literature and in common speech, but they suffice to show that it is +used by different persons with different significations, each person +apparently gauging first his own position, and defining superstition as +something which cannot be brought to tell against himself. + +After pondering over the various renderings, it occurred to me that the +following definition would embrace the whole in a few words: _Religion +founded on erroneous ideas of God._ But when I set this definition +alongside the case of an otherwise intelligent man carrying in his +trousers' pocket a raw potato as a protection against rheumatism, and +alongside the case of another man carrying in his vest pocket a piece of +brimstone to prevent him taking cramp in the stomach; and when I +consider the case of ladies wearing earrings as a preventive against, or +cure for, sore eyes; and, again, when I remembered a practice, very +frequent a few years ago, of people wearing what were known as galvanic +rings in the belief that these would prevent their suffering from +rheumatism, I could not perceive any direct connection between such +superstitious practices and religion, and the construction of a new +definition was rendered necessary. The following, I think, covers the +whole ground: _Beliefs and practices founded upon erroneous ideas of God +and nature._ With this meaning the term "Superstition" is employed in +the following pages, and if the definition commend itself to the reader, +it will at once become apparent that the only way by which freedom from +superstition can be attained is to search Nature and Revelation for +correct views of God and His methods of working. Notwithstanding our +pretensions to a correct religious knowledge, a pure theology, and +freedom from everything like superstition, it is strange yet true, that, +if we except the formulated reply to the question in the Westminster +Catechism, "What is God," scarcely two persons--perhaps no two +persons--have exactly the same idea of God. We each worship a God of our +own. In one of the late Douglas Jerrold's "Hedgehog Letters" he +introduces two youths passing St Giles' Church at a lonely hour, when +the one addresses the other thus:--"The old book and the parson tell us +that at the beginning God made man in his own image. We have now +reversed this, and make God in our image." A sad truth, although not +new; Saint Paul made a similar remark to the philosophic Athenians; but +the remark applies not to this age or to Saint Paul's age alone--its +applicability extends to every age and every people. As Goethe remarks, +"Man never knows how anthropomorphic he is." Our minds instinctively +seek an explanation of the cause or causes of the different phenomena +constantly occurring around us, but instinct does not supply the +solution. Only by patient watching and consideration can this be arrived +at; but in former ages scientific methods of investigation were either +not known, or not cared for, and so men were satisfied with merely +guessing at the causes of natural phenomena, and these guesses were made +from the standpoint of their own human passionate intelligence. +Alongside the intelligence everywhere observable in the operations of +nature they placed their own passionate humanity, they projected +themselves into the universe and anthropomorphised nature. Thus came men +to regard natural phenomena as manifestations of supernatural agency; +as expressions of the wrath or pleasure of good or evil genii, and +although in our day we have made great advances in our knowledge of +natural phenomena, the majority of men still regard the ways of +providence from a false standpoint, a standpoint erected in the +interests of ecclesiasticism. Churchmanship acts as a distorting medium, +twisting and displacing things out of their natural relations, and +although this influence was stronger in the past than it is now, still +there remains a considerable residuum of the old influence among us yet. +For example, we are not yet rid of the belief that God has set apart +times, places, and duties as specially sacred, that what is not only +sinless but a moral obligation at certain times and places becomes +sinful at other times and places. Ecclesiastical influence thus +familiarises us with the distinctions of secular and sacred, and we hear +frequent mention made of our duties to God and our duties to man, of our +religious duties and our worldly duties, and we frequently hear religion +spoken of as something readily distinguishable from business. But not +only are these things separated by name from one another, they are often +regarded as opposites, having no fellowship together. Hence has arisen +in many minds a slavish fear of performing at certain times and in +certain places the ordinary duties of life, lest by so doing they anger +God. In certain conditions of society such belief, erroneous though it +be, may have served a useful purpose in restraining, and thereby so far +elevating a rude people, just as now we may see many among ourselves +restrained from evil, and influenced to the practice of good, by beliefs +which, to the enlightened among us, are palpable absurdities. + +Before reviewing the superstitious beliefs and practices of our +immediate forefathers, we may, I think, profitably occupy a short time +in gaining some general idea of the prominent features of ancient Pagan +religions, for without doubt much of the mythology and superstitious +practice of our forefathers had a Pagan origin. I shall not attempt any +exhaustive treatise on this subject, for the task is beyond me, but a +slight notice of ancient theology may not here be irrelevant. The late +George Smith, the eminent Assyriologist, says:-- + +"Upwards of 2000 years B.C. the Babylonians had three great gods--_Anu_, +_Bel_, and _Hea_. These three leading deities formed members of twelve +gods, also called great. These were-- + + 1. Anu, King of Angels and Spirits. Lord of the city Eresh. + + 2. Bel, Lord of the world, Father of the Gods, Creator. Lord of the + city of Nipur. + + 3. Hea, Maker of fate, Lord of the deep, God of wisdom and knowledge. + Lord of the city of Eridu. + + 4. Sin, Lord of crowns, Maker of brightness. Lord of the city Urr. + + 5. Merodash, Just Prince of the Gods, Lord of birth. Lord of the + city Babylon. + + 6. Vul, the strong God, Lord of canals and atmosphere. Lord of the + city Mura. + + 7. Shama, Judge of heaven and earth, Director of all. Lord of the + cities of Larsa and Sippara. + + 8. Ninip, Warrior of the warriors of the Gods, Destroyer of wicked. + Lord of the city Nipur. + + 9. Nergal, Giant King of war. Lord of the city Cutha. + + 10. Nusku, Holder of the Golden Sceptre, the lofty God. + + 11. Belat, Wife of Bel, Mother of the great Gods. Lady of the city + Nipur. + + 12. Ishtar, Eldest of Heaven and Earth, Raising the face of warriors. + +"Below these deities there were a large body of gods, forming the bulk of +the Pantheon; and below these were arranged the Igege or angels of +heaven; and the anunaki or angels of earth; below these again came +curious classes of spirits or genii, some were evil and some good." + +The gods of the Greeks were numbered by thousands, and this at a time +when--according to classical scholars--the arts and sciences were at +their highest point of development in that nation. Their religion was of +the grossest nature. Whatever conception they may have had of a first +cause--a most high Creator of heaven and earth--it is evident they did +not believe he took anything to do directly with man or the phenomena of +nature; but that these were under the immediate control of +deputy-deities or of a conclave of divinities, who possessed both divine +and human attributes--having human appetites, passions, and affections. +Some of these were local deities, others provincial, others national, +and others again phenomenal: every human emotion, passion and affection, +every social circumstance, public or private, was under the control or +guardianship of one or more of these divinities, who claimed from men +suitable honour and worship, the omission of which honour and worship +was considered to be not only offensive to the divinities, but as likely +to be followed by punishment. The vengeance of the deities was thought +to be avertable by the performance of certain propitiatory deeds, or by +offering certain sacrifices. The kind of sacrifice required had relation +to the particular department over which the divinity was supposed to be +guardian; and these deeds and sacrifices were in many cases most gross +and offensive to morality. The phenomena of nature, being under the +direction of one or more divinities, every aspect of nature was regarded +as an expression of anger or pleasure on the part of the divinities. +Thunder, lightning, eclipses, comets, drought, floods, storms--anything +strange or terrible, the cause of which was not understood, was ascribed +to the wrath of some divinity; and men hastened to propitiate, as best +they might, the divinities who were supposed to be scourging or +threatening them. These deputy-gods were supposed to occupy the space +between the earth and moon, and, being almost numberless and invisible, +their worshippers held them in the same dread as if they possessed the +attribute of omniscience. + +For the purpose of guiding men in their relations towards these gods, +there existed a large body of men whose office it was to understand the +divinities, their natures and attributes, and direct men in their +religious duties. This body of men acted as mediums between the gods and +the people, and not only were they held in high esteem as priests, but +frequently they attained great power in the State. Often this priestly +incorporation had greater influence and control than the civil power; +nor is this to be wondered at, when we remember that they were supposed +to be in direct communication with the holy gods, in whose hands were +the destinies of men. + +The sun, the giver and vivifier of all life, was the primary god of +antiquity, being worshipped by Assyrians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, and +Hebrews under the name of Baal or Bell, and by other nations under other +names. The priests of Baal always held a high position in the State. As +the sun was his image or symbol in heaven, so fire was his symbol on +earth, and hence all offerings made to Baal were burned or made to pass +through the fire, or were presented before the sun. Wherever, in the +worship of any nation, we find the fire element, we may at once suspect +that there we have a survival of ancient sun-worship. + +The moon was regarded as a female deity, consort of the sun or Baal, and +was worshipped by the Jews under the name of Ashtoreth, or Astarte. Her +worship was of the most sensual description. The worship of sun and moon +formed one system, the priests of the one being also priests of the +other. + +Apart from the priestly incorporation of which we have spoken, there was +another class of men who assumed knowledge of supernatural phenomena. +These were known as astrologers or star-gazers, wizards, magicians, +witches, sooth-sayers. By the practice of certain arts and repetition of +certain formula, these pretended to divine and foretell events both of a +public and private nature. They were believed in by the mass of people, +and were consulted on all sorts of matters. By both the civil and +ecclesiastical authorities their practices and pretensions were +sometimes condemned, and themselves forbidden to exercise their peculiar +gifts, but nevertheless the people continued to believe in them and +consult them. Their pretensions were considerable, extending even to +raising and consulting the spirits of the dead. + +This leads me to notice the ancient belief concerning the souls of the +departed. By almost all nations, Jews and Gentiles, there was a +prevailing belief that at death the souls of good men were taken +possession of by good spirits and carried to Paradise, but the souls of +wicked men were left to wander in the space between the earth and moon, +or consigned to Hades, or Unseen World. These wandering spirits were in +the habit of haunting the living, especially their relations, so that +the living were surrounded on every side by the spirits of their wicked +ancestors, who were always at hand tempting them to evil. However, there +were means by which these ghosts might be exorcised. A formula for +expelling wicked spirits is given by Ovid in Book V. of the Fasti:-- + +"In the dread silence of midnight, upon the eighth day of May, the +votary rises from his couch barefooted, and snapping his fingers as a +sure preventative against meeting any ghost during his subsequent +operations, thrice washing his hands in spring water, he places nine +black beans in his mouth, and walks out. These he throws behind him one +by one, carefully guarding against the least glance backwards, and at +each cast he says, 'With these beans I ransom myself and mine.' The +spirits of his ancestors follow him and gather the beans as they fall. +Then, performing another ablution as he enters his house, he clashes +cymbals of brass, or rather some household utensil of that metal, +entreating the spirits to quit his roof. He then repeats nine times +these words, 'Avaunt ye ancestral manes.' After this he looks behind, +and is free for one year." + +Some nations in addition to a personal formula for laying the ghosts of +departed relatives, had a national ritual for ghost-laying, a public +feast in honour of departed spirits. Such a feast is still held in +China, and also in Burmah. In 1875 the following placard was posted +throughout the district of Rangoon, proclaiming a feast of forty-nine +days by order of the Emperor of China:-- + +"There will this year be scarcity of rice and plenty of sickness. Evil +spirits will descend to examine and inquire into the sickness. If people +do not believe this, many will die in September and October. Should any +people call on you at midnight, do not answer; it is not a human being +that calls, but an evil spirit. Do not be wicked, but be good." + +But I do not propose to write a treatise on Pagan theology, nor do I +propose to trace in historical detail the progress through which +Christian and Pagan beliefs have in process of time become assimilated, +when I have occasion, I may notice these things. I intend, as I said at +the beginning, to deal with superstition, no matter from what source it +may have arisen, recognising superstition to be as already +defined--beliefs and practices founded upon erroneous ideas of God and +the laws of nature. In many things, I believe, we are yet too +superstitious, and our popular theology, instead of aiding to destroy +these erroneous beliefs, aids them in maintaining their vitality. +Orthodox Christians believe in a general and also in a special +providence; the ancients, on the other hand, believed that all events +were under the control and direction of separate and special divinities, +so that when praying for certain results, they addressed the divinity +having control over that phenomenon or circumstance by which they were +affected, and when their desires were gratified, they expressed their +thankfulness by offerings to that divinity. If their desires were not +granted, they regarded that circumstance as a token of displeasure on +the part of that divinity, and besought the aid of their priests and +sooth-sayers to discover the reason of his anger, and offered sacrifices +and peace offerings. Now, orthodox Christians in the same circumstances +pray to God for special and personal blessings, and when they are +granted, they feel grateful, and sometimes express their gratitude. A +common method of expressing this gratitude is by giving something to the +church. Thus we find in our church records entries like the following:-- + +From ---- ----, As a thank-offering for the recovery L S. D. + of a dear child. ------- + " ---- ----, Peace-offering for reconciliation with + an old friend. ------- + " ---- ----, Offering for the preservation of a + friend going abroad. ------- + " ---- ----, Thank-offering for a fortunate transaction + in business. ------- + +Such offerings are remarked upon favourably by the leaders of the +Church, and regarded as examples worthy of being imitated by all pious +Christians. But should the prayers not be granted, there is no gift. The +non-fulfilment of their desires is regarded perhaps not altogether as an +evidence of God's displeasure, but at least as a token that what was +asked it was not His pleasure to grant. They make little enquiry +concerning the real cause of failure, but take credit to themselves for +humbly submitting to God's will. This unenquiring submission is often, +however, both sinful and superstitious. Every result has its cause, and +it is surely our duty, as far as observation and reason can guide us, +to discover the causes which operate against us. The great majority of +the afflictions and misfortunes which befall us are punishments for the +breakage of some law, the committal of some sin physical or moral, and +this being the case, it behoves us to find out what law has been +transgressed, what the nature of the sin committed. This principle is +acknowledged by our religious teachers, but the laws which have been +broken, have not been wisely sought after. The field of search has been +almost exclusively the moral, or the theological field; whereas the +correct rule is, for physical effects, look for physical causes; for +moral effects, moral causes. This rule has not been followed. A few +cases illustrative of what I mean will clearly demonstrate the +superstitious nature of what is a widely diffused opinion among the +religious societies of this country at the present time. + +Forty-six years ago, when cholera first broke out in this country, it +was immediately proclaimed to be a judgment for a national sin; and so +it was, but for a sin against physical laws. I well remember the +indignation which arose and found expression in almost every pulpit in +the country, when the Prime Minister of that day, in reply to a petition +from the Church asking him to proclaim a national fast for the removal +of the plague, told his petitioners to first remove every source of +nuisance by cleansing drains and ditches, and removing stagnant pools, +and otherwise observe the general laws of health, then having done all +that lay in our power, we could ask God to bless our efforts, and He +would hear us. All sorts of absurd causes were seriously advanced to +account for the presence of this alarming malady. One party discovered +the cause in a movement for the disestablishment of religion. Another +considered it was a judgment from God for asking the Reform Bill. The +Radicals proclaimed it to be a trick of the Tories to prevent agitation +for reform, and added that medical men were bribed to poison wells and +streams. The non-religious displayed as great superstition in this +matter as did the religious. Large bills, headed in large type "Cholera +Humbug," were at that time posted on the blank walls of the streets of +Glasgow. The feeling against medical men was then so intense, that some +of them were mobbed, and narrowly escaped with their lives. In Paisley, +considered to be the most intelligent town in Scotland, a doctor, who +was working night and day for the relief of the sufferers, had his house +and shop sacked, and was obliged to fly for shelter, or his life would +have been sacrificed to the fury of the mob. + +When we read that epidemics which broke out in the times of our +forefathers, were ascribed to such absurd causes as the introduction of +forks, or because the nation neglected to prosecute with sufficient +vigour alleged cases of compact with the devil, we wonder at and pity +their ignorance, and rejoice that we live in a more enlightened age. But +the fact is, that among the mass of the people there is really no great +difference between the present and the past. There is a close family +likeness in this matter of superstition between now and long ago, and +this state of matters will continue so long as a knowledge of physical +science--that science which treats of the laws by which God is pleased +to overrule and direct material things--is not made a religious duty. +There are physical sins and there are moral sins, and the punishment for +the first is apparently even more direct than for the second, for in +the case of physical sins we are punished without mercy. Through neglect +of these laws, we are continually suffering punishment, shortening and +making miserable our own lives and the lives of those dependent upon us; +and periodically judgments descend on the careless community, in the +form of severe epidemics. Any religion which advocates practices, or +teaches doctrines inconsistent with our physical, intellectual, or moral +well-being, cannot be from God, and _vice versa_; and this is a strong +argument in favour of Christianity _as taught by its Founder_. I wish I +could say the same of the Christianity taught by our ecclesiastics, +either Protestant or Catholic. + +The introduction into the heathen world of the fundamental truths that +there is but one God, omnipotent and omniscient, who overrules every +event, that He has revealed Himself through His Son as a God of love and +mercy, and that man's duty to Him is obedience to His laws, was a mighty +step in advance of the gross conceptions of idolatry formerly prevalent +among these nations. But neither heathens nor Christians had for a long +time any clear idea that the overruling of God in Providence was +according to fixed laws. Being ignorant on this point, they ascribed to +unseen supernatural agency, working in a capricious fashion, all +phenomena which appeared to differ from, or disturb the ordinary course +of events. Upon such matters heathen and Christian ideas commingled, and +thus heathen ideas and practices were incorporated with Christian ideas +and practices. Then, when ecclesiastical councils met to determine +truth, and formulate their creeds, these combined heathen and Christian +ideas being accepted by them, became dogmas of the Church, and +henceforth those who differed from the dogmatic creed of the Church, or +advocated views in advance of these confessions, were regarded as +enemies of truth. Naturally, as the Church became powerful she became +more repressive, and opposed all enquiry which appeared to lead to +conclusions different from those already promulgated by her, and +finally, it became a capital offence to teach any other doctrines than +those sanctioned by the Church. The beliefs of the members of these +councils being, as we have already seen, a mixture of heathen and +Christian ideas, the Church thus became a great conservator of +superstition; and to show that this was really so, we may adduce one +example:--Pope Innocent VIII. issued a Bull as follows:--"It has come to +our ears that members of both sexes do not avoid to have intercourse +with the infernal fiends, and that, by this service, they afflict both +man and beast, that they blight the marriage bed, destroy the births of +women and the increase of cattle, they blast the corn on the ground, the +grapes of the vineyard and the fruits of the trees, and the grass and +herbs of the field." The promulgation of this Bull is said to have +produced dreadful consequences, by thousands being burned and otherwise +put to death, for having intercourse with the fiends. + +We regret to say such beliefs and such means of repressing free enquiry +were not confined to one branch of the Christian Church. Protestants as +well as Roman Catholics, when they had the power, suppressed many of the +practices of heathenism after a cruel fashion, but at the same time +fostered the superstitions and Pagan beliefs which had originated these +practices, and punished those who protested against these beliefs. The +same method of procedure is in operation at the present day. +Nevertheless, the introduction of Christianity into the heathen world +made a wonderful revolution in their religious practices as well as in +their beliefs. Their idols and the symbols of their divinities were +abolished, along with the sacrifices offered to these. Their great +festivals, at which human sacrifices were offered and abominable +practices committed, were so modified as to be stripped of their +immorality and cruelty, and while being retained--retained because they +could not be utterly abolished--they were Christianized,--that is, a +Christian colouring was given to them,--and they became Church festivals +or holydays,--a subject I will treat more fully of in another chapter. + +It is not, as I have already said, my intention to trace the gradual +development of our modern idea of Providence, our ascription of +universal government, of all direction of the phenomena of nature and of +life to the one only omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God, but +rather to place before the reader the practices and beliefs which +prevailed in this country during the early years of the present century. +And from this survey we shall discover what a mass of old Pagan ideas +still survived and influenced the minds and practice of the people,--how +they yet clung to the notion that many of the phenomena of nature and +life were under the control of supernatural agents, although they did +not regard these agents, as what in olden times they were considered to +be--divinities, but believed them to be a class of beings living upon or +within the earth, and endowed by the devil with supernatural powers. + +In the northern sagas, and in the old ballads and saintly legends of +the Middle Ages--supernatural agents who played a prominent part--there +are giants of enormous size and little dwarfs who can make themselves +invisible, and do all sorts of good to their favourites, and harm to +their enemies. We are also introduced there to dragons and other +monsters which have human understandings, and, guided by a wicked +spirit, could do great mischief. Such beings took the place of the +ancient divinities, and in many cases when the hero or saint is in great +straits, in combat with these evil spirits or fiends, Jesus Christ comes +to their assistance. One instance will exemplify this: + + "O'er him stood the foul fiends, + And with their clubs of steel, + Struck him o'er the helmit + That in deadly swound he fell. + But God his sorrow saw, + To the fiends his Son he sent; + From the earth they vanished + With howling and lament. + The Christian hero thanked his God, + From the ground he rose with speed, + Joyfully he sheathed his sword, + And mounted on his steed." + + _Illustrations of "Northern Antiquities."_ + +By the beginning of this century these ideas of the _personel_ of +supernatural agencies had become slightly modified in this country at +least, giants and dragons having given way to fairies, brownies, elves, +witches, etc. The Rev. Mr. Kirk, of Aberfeldy, published a work +descriptive of these supernatural beings. He says they are a kind of +astral spirits between angels and humanity, being like men and women in +appearance, and similar in many of their habits; some of them, however, +are double. They marry and have children, for which they keep nurses; +have deaths and burials amongst them, and they can make themselves +visible or invisible at pleasure. They live in subterranean habitations, +and in an invisible condition attend very constantly on men. They are +very fond of human children and pretty women, both of which they will +steal if not protected by some superior influence. Women in childbed +stand in danger of being taken, but if a piece of cold iron be kept in +the bed in which they lie, the spirits won't come near. Children are in +greater danger of being stolen before baptism than after. They +sometimes, to supply their own needs, spirit away the milk from cows, +but more frequently they transfer the milk to the cows of some person +who stands high in their favour. This they do by making themselves +invisible, and silently milking and removing the milk in invisible +vessels. When people offend them they shoot flint-tipped arrows, and by +this means kill either the persons who have offended them or their +cattle. They cause these arrows to strike the most vital part, but the +stroke does not visibly break the skin, only a _blae_ mark is the result +visible on the body after death. These flint arrow-heads are +occasionally found, and the possession of one of these will protect the +possessor against the power of these astral beings, and at the same time +enable him or her to cure disease in cattle and women. These flints were +often sewed into the dresses of children to protect them from the +Evil-eye. There were many other means of protection against the power of +these beings, which we shall have occasion to refer to again. There is +one method, however, which may be mentioned now. If, when a calf is +born, its mouth be smeared with a balsam of dung, before it is allowed +to suck, the fairies cannot milk that cow. Those taken to fairyland lose +the power of calculating the lapse of time, although they are not +unconscious of what is going on around them. Those spirited away to +fairyland may be recovered by their friends or relatives, by performing +certain formula, or--and this was often the method resorted to--by +out-witting the fairies, getting possession of their stolen friends, and +then doing or saying something which fairies cannot bear, upon which +they are forced to depart, leaving the recovered party behind them. + +The following information concerning the government, &c., of fairyland, +is taken from Aytoun:--The queen of fairyland was a kind of feudatory +sovereign under Satan, to whom she was obliged to pay _kave_, or tithe +in kind; and, as her own fairy subjects strongly objected to transfer +their allegiance, the quota was usually made up in children who had been +stolen before the rite of baptism had been administered to them. This +belief was at one time universal throughout all Scotland, and was still +prevalent at the beginning of this century. Charms were quite commonly +employed to defend houses from the inroads of the fairies before the +infants were baptised; but even baptism did not always protect the baby +from being stolen. During the period of infancy, the mother required to +be ever watchful; but the risks were especially great before baptism. It +is difficult to define exactly the power which the queen of elfland had, +for besides carrying off Thomas the Rhymer, she was supposed to have +carried off no less a personage than James IV. from the field of +Flodden, and to have detained him in her enchanted country. There was +also a king of elfland. From the accounts extracted from or volunteered +by witches, &c., preserved to us in justiciary and presbyterial records, +he appears to have been a peaceable, luxurious, indolent personage, who +entrusted the whole business of his kingdom, including the recruiting +department, to his wife. We get a glimpse of both their majesties in the +confessions of Isabella Gowdie, in Aulderne, a parish in Nairnshire, who +was indicted for witchcraft in 1662. She said--"I was in Downie Hills, +and got meat there from the queen of the fairies, more than I could eat. +The queen is brawly clothed in white linen, and in white and brown +cloth; and the king is a braw man, well-favoured, and broad-faced. There +were plenty of elf bulls rowting and skoyling up and down, and +affrighted me." Mr. Kirk says "that in fairyland they have also books of +various kinds--history, travels, novels, and plays--but no sermons, no +Bible, nor any book of a religious kind." Every reader of Hogg's +_Queen's Wake_ knows the beautiful legend of the abduction of "Bonny +Kilmeny"; but in Dr. Jamieson's _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_ +we have found amongst these heroic and romantic ballads another legend +more fully descriptive of fairyland. In this legend, a young lady is +carried away to fairyland, and recovered, by her brother:-- + + "King Arthur's sons o' merry Carlisle + Were playing at the ba', + And there was their sister, burd Ellen, + I' the midst, amang them a'. + Child Rowland kicked it wi' his foot, + And keppit it wi' his knee; + And aye as he played, out o'er them a'. + O'er the kirk he gar'd it flee. + Burd Ellen round about the aisle + To seek the ba' has gane: + But she bade lang, and ay langer, + And she came na back again. + They sought her east, they sought her west, + They sought her up and down, + And wae were the hearts in merry Carlisle, + For she was nae gait found." + +Merlin, the warlock, being consulted, told them that burd Ellen was +taken away by the fairies, and that it would be a dangerous task to +recover her if they were not well instructed how to proceed. The +instructions which Merlin gave were, that whoever undertook the quest +for her should, after entering elfland, kill every person he met till he +reached the royal apartments, and taste neither meat nor drink offered +to them, for by doing otherwise they would come under the fairy spell, +and never again get back to earth. Two of her brothers undertook the +journey, but disobeyed the instructions of the warlock, and were +retained in elfland. Child Rowland, her youngest brother, then arming +himself with his father's claymore, _excalibar_--that never struck in +vain--set out on the dangerous quest. Strictly observing the warlock's +instructions, after asking his way to the king of elfland's castle of +every servant he met, he, in accordance with these instructions, when he +had received the desired information, slew the servant. The last fairy +functionary he met was the hen-wife, who told him to go on a little +further till he came to a round green hill surrounded with rings from +the bottom to the top, then go round it _widershins_ (contrary to the +sun) and every time he made the circuit, say--"Open door, open door, and +let me come in," and on the third repetition of this incantation they +would open, and he might then go in. Having received this information, +he fulfilled his instructions, and slew the hen-wife. Then proceeding as +directed, he soon reached the green hill, and made the circuit of it +three times, repeating the words before mentioned. On the third +repetition of the words the door opened, and he went in, the door +closing behind him. "He proceeded through a long passage, where the air +was soft and agreeably warm, like a May evening, as is all the air in +elfland. The light was a sort of twilight or gloaming; but there were +neither windows nor candles, and he knew not whence it came if it was +not from the walls and roof, which were rough and arched like a grotto, +and composed of a clear transparent rock incrusted with _sheep's +silver_, and spar and various bright stones." At last he came to two +lofty folding doors which stood ajar. Passing through these doors, he +entered a large and spacious hall, the richness and brilliance of which +was beyond description. It seemed to extend throughout the whole length +and breadth of the hill. The superb Gothic pillars by which the roof was +supported were so large and lofty, that the pillars of the "Chaury Kirk +or of the Pluscardin Abbey are no more to be compared to them than the +Knock of Alves is to be compared to Balrimes or Ben-a-chi." They were of +gold and silver, and were fretted like the west window of the Chaury +Kirk (Elgin Cathedral), with wreaths of flowers, composed of diamonds +and precious stones of all manner of beautiful colours. The key stones +of the arches, instead of being escutcheoned, were ornamented also with +clusters of diamonds in brilliant devices. From the middle of the roof, +where the arches met, was hung, suspended by a gold chain, an immense +lamp of one hollowed pearl, and perfectly transparent, in the centre of +which was a large carbuncle, which, by the power of magic, turned round +continually, and shed throughout all the hall a clear mild light like +that of the setting sun. But the hall was so large, and these dazzling +objects so far removed, that their blended radiance cast no more than a +pleasing mellow lustre around, and excited no other than agreeable +sensations in the eyes of Child Rowland. The furniture of the hall was +suitable to its architecture; and at the further end, under a splendid +canopy, sitting on a gorgeous sofa of velvet, silk and gold, and +"kembing her yellow hair wi' a silver kemb," + + "Was his sister Burd Ellen. + She stood up him before, + God rue or thee poor luckless fode (man), + What hast thou to do here? + And hear ye this my youngest brother, + Why badena ye at hame? + Had ye a hunder and thousand lives + Ye canna brook are o' them. + And sit thou down; and wae, oh wae! + That ever thou was born, + For came the King o' Elfland in, + Thy leccam (body) is forlorn." + +After a long conversation with his sister, the two folding doors were +burst open with tremendous violence, and in came the King of Elfland, +shouting-- + + "With _fi_, _fe_, _fa_, and _fum_, + I smell the blood of a Christian man, + Be he dead, be he living, with my brand + I'll clash his harns frae his harn pan." + +Child Rowland drew his good claymore (_excalibar_) that never struck in +vain. A furious combat ensued, and the king was defeated; but Child +Rowland spared his life on condition that he would free his sister, Burd +Ellen, and his two brothers, who were lying in a trance in a corner of +the hall. The king then produced a small crystal phial containing a +bright red liquor, with which he anointed the lips, nostrils, ears and +finger tips of the two brothers, who thereupon awoke as from a profound +sleep, and all four returned in triumph to "merry Carlisle." The Rev. +Mr. Kirk's descriptions of the subterranean homes of the fairies and of +their social habits are just the counterparts of the fairyland of this +beautiful ballad legend. There can be little doubt that such beliefs are +but survivals in altered form of what were in still more ancient times +religious tenets. What were formerly divinities have given place to the +more lowly fairies, brownies, &c., and from the position of Pagan gods +they have, through the opposing influence of Christianity, been removed +to the other side, and became servants of the devil, actively opposing +the kingdom of Christ. Some have supposed that the fairies may have +originally been considered to be descendants of the Druids, for some +reason consigned to inhabit subterranean caves under green hills in wild +and lonely glens. Others have identified them with the fallen angels. +One thing is certain, that the notion that there exists supernatural +men, women, and animals who inhabit subterranean and submarine regions, +and yet can indulge in intercourse with the human race, is of very great +antiquity, and widely spread, existing in Arabia, Persia, India, Thibet, +among the Tartars, Swedes, Norwegians, British, and also among the +savage tribes of Africa. In the west of Scotland there was a class of +fairies who acted a friendly part towards their human neighbours, +helping the weak or ill-used, and generally busying themselves with acts +of kindness; these were called "brownies." The fairies proper were a +merry race, full of devilment, and malicious, tricky, and troublesome, +and the cause of much annoyance and fear among the people. Besides these +supernatural beings--brownies, fairies, &c.--there existed a belief in +persons who were possessed of supernatural powers--magicians, sorcerers, +&c. About the Reformation period, these persons were considered to be in +the actual service of the devil, who was then thought to be raising a +more determined opposition than ever to the spread of the kingdom of +God, and adopting the insidious means of enlisting men and women into +his service by conferring upon them supernatural powers; so that by this +contract they were bound to do mischief to all good Christian people; +and the more mischief they could do the greater would be the favours +they received from their master. This belief was not confined to the +ignorant, but was equally accepted by the educated and by the Church. +Measures were taken to frustrate the devil, and the faithful were +recommended to make search for those who had compacted with his Satanic +Majesty, and laws were enacted for the punishment of the compacters when +found. The faithful, under the belief that they were fighting the battle +of the Lord, brought numbers of poor wretches to trial, many of whom, +strangely enough, believed themselves guilty of the crime imputed to +them. After trial and conviction, they were put to death. The belief +that the devil could and did invest men and women with supernatural +powers affected all social relations, for everything strange and +unaccountable--and, in a non-scientific age, we can readily conceive how +almost everything would be brought into this category--was ascribed to +this cause, and each suspected his or her neighbour; even the truest +friendship was sometimes broken through this suspicion. The laws against +witchcraft in this country were abrogated last century, but the +abrogation of the law could not be expected to work any sudden change in +the belief of the people; at most, the alteration only paved the way for +the gradual departure of the superstition, and since the abrogation of +the law the belief has been decaying, but still in many parts of the +country it lingers on till the present time, instances of which appear +every now and again in the newspapers of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD._ + + +When writing of fairies I noticed,--but as it is connected with birth, I +may here mention it again,--a practice common in some localities of +placing in the bed where lay an expectant mother, a piece of cold iron +to scare the fairies, and prevent them from spiriting away mother and +child to elfland. An instance of this spiriting away at the time of +child-bearing is said to have occurred in Arran within these fifty +years. It is given by a correspondent in _Long Ago_:--"There was a woman +near Pladda, newly delivered, who was carried away, and on a certain +night her wraith stood before her husband telling him that the yearly +riding was at hand, and that she, with all the rout, should ride by his +house at such an hour, on such a night; that he must await her coming, +and throw over her her wedding gown, and so she should be rescued from +her tyrants. With that she vanished. And the time came, with the +jingling of bridles and the tramping of horses outside the cottage; but +this man, feeble-hearted, had summoned his neighbours to bear him +company, who held him, and would not suffer him to go out. So there +arose a bitter cry and a great clamour, and then all was still; but in +the morning, roof and wall were dashed with blood, and the sorrowful +wife was no more seen upon earth. This," says the writer, "is not a tale +from an old ballad, it is the narrative of what was told not fifty years +ago." + +Immediately after birth, the newly-born child was bathed in salted +water, and made to taste of it three times. This, by some, was +considered a specific against the influence of the evil eye; but doctors +differ, and so among other people and in other localities different +specifics were employed. I quote the following from _Ross' Helenore_:-- + + "Gryte was the care and tut'ry that was ha'en, + Baith night and day about the bonny weeane: + The jizzen-bed, wi' rantry leaves was sain'd, + And sic like things as the auld grannies kend; + Jean's paps wi' saut and water washen clean, + Reed that her milk gat wrang, fan it was green; + Neist the first hippen to the green was flung, + And there at seelfu' words, baith said and sung: + A clear brunt coal wi' the het tangs was ta'en, + Frae out the ingle-mids fu' clear and clean, + And throu' the cosey-belly letten fa', + For fear the weeane should be ta'en awa'." + +Before baptism the child was more liable to be influenced by the evil +eye than after that ceremony had been performed, consequently before +that rite had been administered the greatest precautions were taken, the +baby during this time being kept as much as possible in the room in +which it was born, and only when absolutely necessary, carried out of +it, and then under the careful guardianship of a relative, or of the +mid-wife, who was professionally skilled in all the requisites of +safety. Baptism was therefore administered as early as possible after +birth. Another reason for the speedy administration of this rite was +that, should the baby die before being baptised, its future was not +doubtful. Often on calm nights, those who had ears to hear heard the +wailing of the spirits of unchristened bairns among the trees and dells. +I have known of an instance in which the baby was born on a Saturday, +and carried two miles to church next day, rather than risk a week's +delay. It was rare for working people to bring the minister to the +house. Another superstitious notion in connection with baptism was that +until that rite was performed, it was unlucky to name the child by any +name. When, before the child had been christened, any one asked the name +of the baby, the answer generally was, "It has not been out yet." Let it +be remembered that these notions were entertained by people who were not +Romanists, but Protestants, and therefore did not profess to believe in +the saving efficacy of baptism,--who could answer every question in the +Shorter Catechism, and repeat the Creed, and Ten Commandments, to the +satisfaction of elder and minister. But all this verbal acquaintance +with dogma was powerless to eradicate, even, we may venture to say, from +the minds of elder and minister, the deeply-rooted fibres of ancient +superstition, which had been long crystallised in the Roman Catholic +Church, and could not be easily forgot in that of the Protestant. + +When a child was taken from its mother and carried outside the bedroom +for the first time after its birth, it was lucky to take it up stairs, +and unlucky to take it down stairs. If there were no stairs in the +house, the person who carried it generally ascended three steps of a +ladder or temporary erection, and this, it was supposed, would bring +prosperity to the child. + +A child born with a caul--a thin membrane covering the head of some +children at birth--would, if spared, prove a notable person. The +carrying of a caul on board ship was believed to prevent shipwreck, and +masters of vessels paid a high price for them. I have seen an +advertisement for such in a local paper. + +When baby was being carried to church to be baptised, it was of +importance that the woman appointed to this post should be known to be +lucky. Then she took with her a parcel of bread and cheese, which she +gave to the first person she met. This represented a gift from the +baby--a very ancient custom. Again, it was of importance that the person +who received this gift should be lucky--should have lucky marks upon +their person. Forecasts were made from such facts as the following +concerning the recipient of the gift:--Was this person male or female, +deformed, disfigured, plain-soled, etc. If the party accepted the gift +willingly, tasted it, and returned a few steps with the baptismal party, +this was a good sign; if they asked to look at the baby, and blessed it, +this was still more favourable: but should this person refuse the gift, +nor taste it, nor turn back, this was tantamount to wishing evil to the +child, and should any serious calamity befall the child, even years +after, it was connected with this circumstance, and the party who had +refused the baptismal gift was blamed for the evil which had befallen +the child. It was also a common belief that if, as was frequently the +case, there were several babies, male and female, awaiting baptism +together, and the males were baptised before the females, all was well; +but if, by mistake, a female should be christened before a male, the +characters of the pair would be reversed--the female would grow up with +a masculine character, and would have a beard, whereas the male would +display a feminine disposition and be beardless. I have known where such +a mistake has produced real anxiety and regret in the minds of the +parents. We have seen that it was not until after baptism that the child +was allowed out of the room in which it was born, except under the +skilful guardianship of a relative or the midwife; but, further than +this, it was not considered safe or proper to carry it into any +neighbour's house until the mother took it herself, and this it was +unlucky even for her to do until she had been to church. Indeed, few +mothers would enter any house until they had been to the house of God. +After this had been accomplished, however, she visited with the baby +freely. In visiting any house with baby for the first time, it was +incumbent on the person whom they were visiting to put a little salt or +sugar into baby's mouth, and wish it well: the omission of this was +regarded as a very unlucky omen for the baby. Here we may note the +survival of a very ancient symbolic practice in this gift of salt. Salt +was symbolical of favour or good will, and covenants of friendship in +very early times were ratified with this gift; sugar, as in this +instance, is no doubt a modern substitute for salt. Among Jews, Greeks, +and Romans, as well as among less civilised nations, salt was used in +their sacrifices as emblematic of fidelity, and for some reason or other +it also came to be regarded as a charm against evil fascinations. By +Roman Catholics in the middle ages, salt was used to protect children +from evil influences before they had received the sacrament of baptism. +This practice is referred to in many of the old ballads and romances. +In a ballad called _The King's Daughter_, a child is born, but in +circumstances which do not admit of the rite of baptism being +administered. The mother privately puts the baby into a casket, and, +like the mother of Moses, sends it afloat, and as a protection places +beside it a quantity of salt and candles. The words of the ballad are-- + + "The bairnie she swyl'd in linen so fine, + In a gilded casket she laid it syne, + Mickle saut and light she laid therein, + Cause yet in God's house it had'na been." + +Let us return to the mother and child whom we left visiting at a +friend's house, and receiving the covenant of friendship. It was unsafe +to be lavish in praise of the child's beauty, for although such +commendation would naturally be gratifying to the mother, it would at +the same time increase her fears, for the _well faured_ ran the greatest +risk from evil influences, and of being carried off by the fairies. +There was also the superadded danger of the mother setting her +affections too much upon her child and forgetting God, who then in +jealousy and mercy would remove it from her. This latter was a very +widespread superstition among religiously-minded people, even among +those who, from their education, ought to have known better. I well +remember the case of a young mother,--a tender loving woman, who, quite +in keeping with her excitable affectionate nature, was passionately fond +of her baby, her first-born. But baby sickened and died, and the poor +mother, borne down with grief, wept bitterly, like Rachel refusing to be +comforted. In the depth of her affliction she was visited by both her +pastor and elder. They admonished her to turn her mind from the selfish +sorrow in which she was indulging, and thank God for His kindly dealing +toward her, in that He had removed from her the cause of sin on her +part. She had been guilty, they said, of loving the baby too much, and +God, who was a jealous God, would not suffer His people to set their +affections on any object in a greater degree than on Himself; and +therefore, He, in his mercy toward her, had removed from her the object +of her idolatry. The poor woman in her agony could only sob out, "Surely +it was no sin to love my own child that God gave me." The more correct +term for such a theological conception would not be superstition, but +blasphemy. + +Another danger from which children required to be shielded was the +baneful influence of the _evil eye_. Malicious people were believed to +possess the power of doing harm by merely looking upon those whom they +wished to injure. This belief is very ancient. From Professor +Conington's _Satires of A. Persius Flaccus_, I extract the following +notice of it:--"Look here--a grandmother or a superstitious aunt has +taken baby from his cradle, and is charming his forehead and his +slavering lips against mischief by the joint action of her middle finger +and her purifying spittle; for she knows right well how to check the +evil eye. Then she dandles him in her arms, and packs off the pinched +little hope of the family, so far as wishing can do it, to the domains +of Licinus, or the palace of Croesus. 'May he be a catch for my lord and +lady's daughter! May the pretty ladies scramble for him! May the ground +he walks on turn to a rose-bed.' But _I_ will never trust a nurse to +pray for me or mine; good Jupiter, be sure to refuse her, though she may +have put on white for the occasion." + +The Romans used to hang red coral round the necks of their children to +save them from falling-sickness, sorcery, charms, and poison. In this +country coral beads were hung round the necks of babies, and are still +used in country districts to protect them from an evil eye. Coral bells +are used at present. The practice was originated by the Roman Catholics +to frighten away evil spirits. + +I have quite a vivid remembrance of being myself believed to be the +unhappy victim of an evil eye. I had taken what was called a _dwining_, +which baffled all ordinary experience; and, therefore, it was surmised +that I had got "a blink of an ill e'e." To remove this evil influence, I +was subjected to the following operation, which was prescribed and +superintended by a neighbour "skilly" in such matters:--A sixpence was +borrowed from a neighbour, a good fire was kept burning in the grate, +the door was locked, and I was placed upon a chair in front of the fire. +The operator, an old woman, took a tablespoon and filled it with water. +With the sixpence she then lifted as much salt as it could carry, and +both were put into the water in the spoon. The water was then stirred +with the forefinger till the salt was dissolved. Then the soles of my +feet and the palms of my hands were bathed with this solution thrice, +and after these bathings I was made to taste the solution three times. +The operator then drew her wet forefinger across my brow,--called +_scoring aboon the breath_. The remaining contents of the spoon she then +cast right over the fire, into the hinder part of the fire, saying as +she did so, "_Guid preserve frae a' skaith._" These were the first words +permitted to be spoken during the operation. I was then put in bed, and, +in attestation of the efficacy of the charm, recovered. To my knowledge +this operation has been performed within these 40 years, and probably in +many outlying country places it is still practised. The origin of this +superstition is probably to be found in ancient fire worship. The great +blazing fire was evidently an important element in the transaction; nor +was this a solitary instance in which regard was paid to fire. I +remember being taught that it was unlucky to spit into the fire, some +evil being likely shortly after to befall those who did so. Crumbs left +upon the table after a meal were carefully gathered and put into the +fire. The cuttings from the nails and hair were also put into the fire. +These freaks certainly look like survivals of fire worship. + +The influence of those possessing the evil eye was not confined to +children, but might affect adults, and also goods and cattle. But for +the bane there was provided the antidote. One effective method of +checking the evil influence was by _scoring aboon the breath_. In my +case, as I was the victim, _scoring_ with a wet finger was sufficient; +but the suspected possessor of the evil eye was more roughly treated, +_scoring_ in this case being effected with some sharp instrument so as +to draw blood. I have never seen this done, but some fifty years ago an +instance occurred in my native village. A child belonging to a poor +woman in this village was taken ill and had convulsive fits, which were +thought to be due to the influence of the evil eye. An old woman in the +neighbourhood, whose temper was not of the sweetest, was suspected. She +was first of all invited to come and see the child in the hope that +sympathy might change the influence she was supposed to be exerting; but +as the old woman appeared quite callous to the sufferings of the child, +the mother, as the old woman was leaving the house, scratched her with +her nails across the brow, and drew blood. This circumstance raised +quite a sensation in the village. Whether the child recovered after this +operation I do not remember. Many other instances of the existence of +this superstitious practice in Scotland within the present century might +be presented, but I content myself with quoting one which was related in +a letter to the _Glasgow Weekly Herald_, under the signature F.A.:--"I +knew of one case of the kind in Wigtownshire, in the south of Scotland, +about the year 1825, as near as I can mind. I knew all parties very +well. A farmer had some cattle which died, and there was an old woman +living about a mile from the farm who was counted no very canny. She was +heard to say that there would be mair o' them wad gang the same way. So +one day, soon after, as the old woman was passing the farmhouse, one of +the sons took hold of her and got her head under his arm, and cut her +across the forehead. By the way, the proper thing to be cut with is a +nail out of a horse-shoe. He was prosecuted and got imprisonment for +it." + +This style of antidote against the influence of an evil eye was common +in England within the century, as the following, which is also taken +from a letter which appeared in the same journal, seems to +show:--"Drawing blood from above the mouth of the person suspected is +the favourite antidote in the neighbourhood of Burnley; and in the +district of Craven, a few miles within the borders of Yorkshire, a +person who was ill-disposed towards his neighbours is believed to have +slain a pear-tree which grew opposite his house by directing towards it +'the first morning glances' of his evil eye. Spitting three times in the +person's face; turning a live coal on the fire; and exclaiming, 'The +Lord be with us,' are other means of averting its influence." + +We must not, however, pursue this digression further, but return to our +proper subject. It was not necessary that the person possessed of the +evil eye, and desirous of inflicting evil upon a child, should see the +child. All that was necessary was that the person with the evil eye +should get possession of something which had belonged to the child, such +as a fragment of clothing, a toy, hair, or nail parings. I may note here +that it was not considered lucky to pare the nails of a child under one +year old, and when the operation was performed the mother was careful to +collect every scrap of the cutting, and burn them. It was considered a +great offence for any person, other than the mother or near relation, in +whom every confidence could be placed, to cut a baby's nails; if some +forward officious person should do this, and baby afterwards be taken +ill, this would give rise to grave suspicions of evil influence being at +work. The same remarks apply to the cutting of a baby's hair. I have +seen the door locked during hair-cutting, and the floor swept +afterwards, and the sweepings burned, lest perchance any hairs might +remain, and be picked up by an enemy. Dr. Livingstone, in his book on +the Zambesi, mentions the existence of a similar practice among some +African tribes. "They carefully collect and afterwards burn or bury the +hair, lest any of it fall into the hands of a witch." Mr. Munter +mentions that the same practice is common amongst the Patagonians, and +the practice extends to adults. He says that after bathing, which they +do every morning, "the men's hair is dressed by their wives, daughters, +or sweethearts, who take the greatest care to burn the hairs that may be +brushed out, as they fully believe that spells may be wrought by +evil-intentioned persons who can obtain a piece of their hair. From the +same idea, after cutting their nails the parings are carefully committed +to the flames." + +Besides this danger--this blighting influence of the evil eye which +environed the years of childhood--there was also this other danger, +already mentioned, that of being spirited away by fairies. The danger +from this source was greater when the baby was pretty, and what fond +mother did not consider her baby pretty? Early in the century, a +labourer's wife living a few miles west of Glasgow, became the mother of +a very pretty baby. All who saw it were charmed with its beauty, and it +was as good as it was bonnie. The neighbours often urged on the mother +the necessity of carefulness, and advised her to adopt such methods as +were, to their minds, well-attested safe-guards for the preservation of +children from fairy influence and an evil eye. She was instructed never +to leave the child without placing near it an open Bible. One unhappy +day the mother went out for a short time, leaving the baby in its +cradle, but she forgot or neglected to place the open Bible near the +child as directed. When she returned baby was crying, and could by no +means be quieted, and the mother observed several blue marks upon its +person, as if it had been pinched. From that day it became a perfect +plague; no amount of food or drink would satisfy it, and yet withal it +became lean. The _girn_, my informant said, was never out its face, and +it _yammered_ on night and day. One day an old highland woman having +seen the child, and inspected it carefully, affirmed that it was a fairy +child. She went the length of offering to put the matter to the test, +and this is how she tested it. She put the poker in the fire, and hung a +pot over the fire wherein were put certain ingredients, an incantation +being said as each new ingredient was stirred into the pot. The child +was quiet during these operations, and watched like a grown person all +that was being done, even rising upon its elbow to look. When the +operations were completed, the old woman took the poker out of the fire, +and carrying it red hot over to the cradle, was about to burn the sign +of the cross on the baby's brow, when the child sprung suddenly up, +knocked the old woman down and disappeared up the _lum_ (chimney,) +filling the house with smoke, and leaving behind it a strong smell of +brimstone. When the smoke cleared away, the true baby was found in the +cradle sleeping as if it never had been taken away. Another case was +related to me as having occurred in the same neighbourhood, but in this +instance the theft was not discovered until after the death of the +child. The surreptitious or false baby, having apparently died, was +buried; but suspicion having been raised, the grave was opened and the +coffin examined, when there was found in it, not a corpse, but a wooden +figure. The late Mr. Rust, in his _Druidism Exhumed_, states that this +superstition is common in the North of Scotland, and adds that it is +also believed that if the theft be discovered before the apparent death +of the changling, there are means whereby the fairies may be propitiated +and induced to restore the real baby. One of these methods is the +following:--The parents or friends of the stolen baby must take the +fairy child to some known haunt of the fairies, generally some spot +where peculiar _soughing_ sounds are heard, where there are remains of +some ancient cairn or stone circle, or some green mound or shady dell, +and lay the child down there, repeating certain incantations. They must +also place beside it a quantity of bread, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, +and flesh of fowl, then retire to a distance and wait for an hour or +two, or until after midnight. If on going back to where the child was +laid they find that the offerings have disappeared, it is held as +evidence that the fairies have been satisfied, and that the human child +is returned. The baby is then carried home, and great rejoicing made. +Mr. Rust states that he knew a woman who, when a baby, had been stolen +away, but was returned by this means. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_MARRIAGE._ + + +The next very important event in man's life is marriage, and naturally, +therefore, to this event there attached a multitude of superstitious +notions and practices, many of which, indeed, do still exist. The time +when marriage took place was of considerable importance. One very +prevalent superstition, common alike to all classes in the community, +and whose force is not yet spent, was the belief that it was unlucky to +marry in the month of May. The aversion to marrying in May finds +expression in the very ancient and well-known proverb, "Marry in May, +rue for aye," and thousands still avoid marrying in this month who can +render no more solid reason for their aversion than the authority of +this old proverb. But in former times there were reasons given, varying, +however, in different localities. Some of the reasons given were the +following:--That parties so marrying would be childless, or, if they had +children, that the first-born would be an idiot, or have some physical +deformity; or that the married couple would not lead a happy life, and +would soon tire of each other's society. The origin of this superstition +is to be found in ancient heathen religious beliefs and practices. We +have already noticed the ancient belief that the spirits of dead +ancestors haunted the living, and I have given a formula whereby a +single person could exorcise the ghosts of his departed relatives, and I +have also mentioned that national festivals to propitiate the spirits of +the dead were appointed by some nations. Now, we find that among the +Romans this national festival was held during the month of May, and +during its continuance all other forms of worship were suspended, and +the temples shut; and further, for any couple to contract marriage +during this season was held to be a daring of the Fates which few were +found hardy enough to venture. Ovid says-- + + "Pause while we keep these rites, ye widowed dames, + The marriage time a purer season claims; + Pause, ye fond mothers, braid not yet her hair, + Nor the ripe virgin for her lord prepare. + O, light not, Hymen, now your joyous fires, + Another torch nor yours the tomb requires! + Close all the temples on these mourning days, + And dim each altar's spicy, steaming blaze; + For now around us roams a spectred brood, + Craving and keen, and snuffing mortal food: + They feast and revel, nor depart again, + Till to the month but ten days more remain." + +Superstitions of this sort linger much longer in the country than in +towns, and the larger the town the more speedily do they die out; but, +judging from the statistics of late years, this superstition has still a +firm hold of the inhabitants of Glasgow, the second city of the Empire. +During the year 1874 the marriages in May were only 204, against 703 in +June; but as the removal term occurs at the end of May, that must +materially affect the relations, in this respect, between May and June, +and accounts, in part, for the great excess of marriages in June. But +if the average of the eleven months, excluding May, be taken, then +during that year there was a monthly average of 441, against 204 in +May--being rather more than double. For the ten years preceding 1874, +the average of the eleven months was 388, against 203 in May. As if to +compensate for the restraint put upon the people in May, _Juno_, the +wife of Jupiter, after whom June was named, and whose influence was +paramount during that month, took special guardianship over births and +marriages; hence June was a lucky month to be born in or get married in, +and thus June is known as the marrying month. Here, again, our registers +show that the number of marriages are in June nearly double the average +of the other months, excluding May and June. The average during the ten +years is, for the ten months, 375 per month, whilst the average for June +is 598. It may be noticed in passing that, in Glasgow, January and July +stand as high as June, owing, doubtless, to the holidays which occur +during these two months making marriage at those times more convenient +for the working classes. + +There were many marriage observances of a religious or superstitious +character practised in ancient Rome which were quite common among us +within this century, especially in the country districts, but which now +are either extinct or fast dying out. When a Roman girl was betrothed, +she received from her intended a ring which she wore as evidence of her +betrothal. When betrothed she laid aside her girlish or maiden +dress,--some parts of which were offered as a sacrifice to the household +gods,--and she was then clothed in the dress of a wife, and secluded +from her former companions, and put under training for her new duties. +When the time drew near for the consummation of the ceremony, it became +an important consideration to fix upon a lucky day and hour for the knot +to be tied. With this object astrologers, sooth-sayers, and others of +that class were consulted, who, by certain divinations ascertained the +most auspicious time for the union to take place in. When the day +arrived every occurrence was watched for omens. A crow or turtle dove +appearing near was a good omen: for these birds symbolized conjugal +fidelity. The ceremony was begun by sacrificing a sheep to Juno, the +fleece being spread upon two chairs on which the bride and bridegroom +sat: then a prayer was said over them. The young wife, carrying a +distaff and spindle filled with wool, was conducted to her house, a +cake, baked by the vestal virgins, being carried before her. The +threshold of the house was disenchanted by charms, and by annointing it +with certain unctuous perfumes; but as it was considered unlucky for the +new-made wife to tread upon the threshold on first entering her house, +she was lifted over it and seated upon a piece of wool, a symbol of +domestic industry. The keys of the house were then put into her hand, +and the cake was divided among the guests. The first work of the young +wife was to spin new garments for her husband. It will be seen that many +of these practices were mixed up with superstitious notions, many of +which were prevalent in this country sixty years ago, and some of which +still remain in country districts. Sixty years ago when a young woman +became a bride, she in a great measure secluded herself from society, +and mixed but little even with her companions, and on no account would +she show herself at church until after her marriage, as that was +considered very unlucky. The evening before the marriage her presents +and outfit were conveyed to her future home under the superintendence of +the best maid (bridesmaid), who carried with her a certain domestic +utensil filled with salt, which was the first article of the bride's +furnishing taken into the house. A portion of the salt was sprinkled +over the floor as a protection against an evil eye. The house being set +in order, the best maid returned to the bride's house where a company of +the bride's companions were met, and then occurred the ceremony of +washing the bride's feet. This was generally the occasion of much mirth. +And this was in all probability a survival of an old Scandinavian custom +under which the Norse bride was conducted by her maiden friends to +undergo a bath, called the bride's bath, a sort of religious +purification. On the marriage day, every trifling circumstance which +would have passed without notice at other times was noted and scanned +for omens of good or evil. If the morning was clear and shining, this +betokened a happy cheerful life; if dull and raining, the contrary +result might be anticipated. I have known the following incidents cause +grave concern about the future prospects of the young couple:--A clot of +soot coming down the chimney and spoiling the breakfast; the bride +accidentally breaking a dish; a bird sitting on the window sill chirping +for some time; the bird in the cage dying that morning; a dog howling, +and the postman forgetting to deliver a letter to the bride until he was +a good way off, and had to return. Some of these were defined for good, +but most of them were evil omens. The ceremony was generally performed +at the minister's residence, which was often a considerable distance +off. The marriage party generally walked all the way, but if the +distance was unusually great, the company rode the journey, and this was +called "a riding wedding." There were two companies--the bride's party +and the bridegroom's party. The bride's party met in the bride's +parents' house, the best man being with them, and the groom's party met +in his parents' house, the best maid being with them--the males +conducting the females to their respective parties. At the time +appointed the bride's party left first, followed immediately by the +groom's party--each company headed by the respective fathers. They so +arranged their walk that both parties would reach the minister's house +together. As soon as the ceremony was concluded, there was a rush on the +part of the young men to get the first kiss of the newly-made wife. This +was frequently taken by the clergyman himself, a survival of an old +custom said to have been practised in the middle ages. This custom is +referred to in the following old song. The bridegroom, addressing the +minister, says:-- + + "It's no very decent for you to be kissing, + It does not look weel wi' the black coat ava, + 'Twould hae set you far better tae hae gi'en us your blessing, + Than thus by such tricks to be breaking the law. + Dear Watty, quo Robin, it's just an auld custom, + And the thing that is common should ne'er be ill taen, + For where ye are wrong, if ye hadna a wished him + You should have been first. It's yoursel it's to blame." + +The party now returned in the following order: first, the two fathers in +company together, then the newly-married couple, behind them the best +man and the best maid, and the others following in couples as they +might arrange. There were frequently as many as twenty couples. On +coming within a mile or so of the young couple's house, where the mother +of the young good man was waiting, a few of the young men would start on +a race home. This race was often keenly contested, and was termed +_running the brooze_ or _braize_. The one who reached the house first +and announced the happy completion of the wedding, was presented with a +bottle of whiskey and a glass, with which he returned to meet the +marriage procession, and the progress of the procession was generally so +arranged that he would meet them before they arrived at the village or +town where the young couple were to be resident. He was therefore +considered their _first foot_, and distributed the contents of his +bottle among the party, each drinking to the health of the young married +pair, and then bottle and glass were thrown away and broken. The whole +party then proceeded on their way to the young folks' house. To be the +successful runner in this race was an object of considerable ambition, +and the whole town and neighbourhood took great interest in it. At +riding weddings it was the great ambition of farmers' sons to succeed in +winning the _braize_, and they would even borrow racing horses for the +occasion. + +The origin of this custom of running the _braize_--it was so pronounced +in the west county--has long been a puzzle to antiquarians. Probably it +is the survival of a custom practised by our Scandinavian forefathers. A +Scandinavian hero or warrior considered it beneath his dignity to court +a lady's favour by submitting the matter of marriage to her decision. +When he saw or heard of a beauty whom he decided to make his wife, he +either went direct and took her away by force from her home, or he +gained the right to make her his bride by success in battle with his +opponents. Often, however, one who was no hero might gain the consent of +the parents to his marriage with their daughter, she having little or no +voice in the matter; and when she and her friends were on their way to +the church, some heroic but unapproved admirer, determined to win her by +force of arms, having collected his followers and friends who were ever +ready for a fight, would fall upon the marriage cortege, and carry off +the bride. Under those circumstances there was often great anxiety on +the part of both the groom's and bride's relations, who remained at home +when they had reason to apprehend that such attack might be made, and +so, whenever the marriage ceremony was over, some of the company hasted +home with the glad news; but commonly youths stationed themselves at the +church-door, ready to run the moment the ceremony was over, and whether +on foot or horseback, the race became an exciting one. He who first +brought the good news received as a reward a bowl of brose, and such +brose as was made in those days for this occasion was an acceptable +prize. Although the necessity for running ceased, the sport occasioned +by these contentions was too good and exciting to be readily given up, +but it came to be confined to those who were at the wedding, and many +young men looked forward eagerly to taking part in the sport. The prize +which originally was brose, came to be changed to something more +congenial to the tastes and usages of the times, viz., a bottle of +whiskey. In this way, I think, we may account for the custom of "running +the braize." It has been mentioned already that the best man went with +the bride to the minister. His duty it was to take charge of the bride +and hand her over to the bridegroom, a duty now performed by the bride's +father, and in this now obsolete custom, I think we may find a still +further proof that the management and customs of the marriage procession +were founded upon the old practice of wife-capture. The best man is +evidently just the bridegroom's friend, who, in the absence of the +bridegroom, undertakes to protect the bride against a raid until she +reaches the church, when he hands her over to his friend the bridegroom. + +To meet a funeral either in going to or coming from marriage was very +unlucky. If the funeral was that of a female, the young wife would not +live long; if a male, the bridegroom would die soon. + +After partaking of the _braize's_ hospitality,--for the bottle of +whiskey was his by right,--the wedding party proceeded to the house of +the young couple, and in some parts of Scotland, at the beginning of the +century, the young wife was lifted over the threshold, or first step of +the door, lest any witchcraft or _ill e'e_ should be cast upon and +influence her. Just at the entering of the house, the young man's mother +broke a cake of bread, prepared for the occasion, over the young wife's +head. She was then led to the hearth, and the poker and tongs--in some +places the broom also--were put into her hands, as symbols of her office +and duty. After this, her mother-in-law handed her the keys of the house +and furniture, thus transferring the mother's rights over her son to his +wife. Again the glass went round, and each guest drank and wished +happiness to the young pair. The cake which was broken over the young +wife's head was now gathered and distributed among the unmarried female +guests, and by them retained to be placed under their pillows, so that +they might dream of their future husbands. This is a custom still +practised, but what is now the bridescake is not a cake broken over the +bride's head, but a larger and more elaborately-prepared article, which +is cut up and distributed immediately after the marriage ceremony. Young +girls still put a piece of it under their pillows in order to obtain +prophetic dreams. In some cases, this is done by a friend writing the +names of three young men on a piece of paper, and the cake, wrapped in +it, is put under the pillow for three nights in succession before it is +opened. Should the owners of the cake have dreamed of one of the three +young men therein written, it is regarded as a sure proof that he is to +be her future husband. After drinking to the health and happiness of the +young couple, the wedding party then went to the house of the +bridegroom's father where they partook of supper, generally a very +substantial meal; and this being finished, the young people of the party +became restless for a change of amusement, and generally all then +repaired to some hall or barn, and there spent the night in dancing. It +was the custom for the young couple, with their respective parents and +the best man and the best maid, to lead off by dancing the first reel. +Should the young couple happen to have either brothers or sisters older +than themselves, but unmarried, these unfortunate brethren danced the +first reel without their shoes. Probably this has its origin in the old +Jewish custom of giving up the shoe or sandal when the right or priority +passed from one to another. For an instance of this see Ruth iv. 7. +Having danced till far on in the morning of next day, the young couple +were then conducted home. The young wife, assisted by her female +friends, undressed and got to bed, then the young man was sent into bed +by his friends, and then all the marriage party entered the bedroom, +when the young wife took one of her stockings, which had been put in bed +with her, and threw it among the company. The person who got this was to +be the first married. The best man then handed round the glass, and when +all had again drank to the young couple, the company retired. This +custom was termed _the bedding_, and was regarded as a ceremony +necessary to the completion of the marriage; and there can be little +doubt that it is a survival of a very ancient ceremony of the same +family as the old Grecian custom of removing the bride's coronet and +putting her to bed. This particular form of ceremony was also found in +Scotland, and continued to comparatively modern times. Young Scotch +maidens formerly wore a snood, a sort of coronet, open at the top, +called the virgin snood, and before being put to bed on the marriage +night this snood was removed by the young women of the party. This +custom is referred to in an ancient ballad. + + "They've ta'en the bride to the bridal bed, + To loose her snood nae mind they had. + 'I'll loose it,' quo John." + +On the morning after some of the married women of the neighbourhood met +in the young wife's house and put on her the _curtch_ or closs cap +(_mutch_), a token of the marriage state. In my young days unmarried +women went with the head uncovered; but after marriage, never were seen +without a cap. On the morning after marriage the best man and maid +breakfasted with the young couple, after which they spent the day in the +country, or if they lived in the country, they went to town for a +change. Weddings were invariably celebrated on a Friday,--the reason for +this preference being, as is supposed, that Friday was the day dedicated +by the Norsemen to the goddess, Friga, the bestower of joy and +happiness. The wedding day being Friday, the walking-day was a Saturday; +and on Sunday the young couple, with their best man and best maid, +attended church in the forenoon, and took a walk in the afternoon, then +spent the evening in the house of one of their parents, the meeting +there being closed by family worship, and a pious advice to the young +couple to practise this in their own house. + +If the bride had been courted by other sweethearts than he who was now +her husband, there was a fear that those discarded suitors might +entertain unkindly feelings towards her, and that their evil wishes +might supernaturally influence her, and affect her first-born. This evil +result was sought to be averted by the bride wearing a sixpence in her +left shoe till she was _kirked_; but should the bride have made a vow to +any other, and broken it, this wearing of the sixpence did not prevent +the evil consequences from falling upon her first-born. Many instances +were currently quoted among the people of first-born children, under +such circumstances, having been born of such unnatural shapes and +natures that, with the sanction of the minister and the relations, the +monster birth was put to death. Captain Burt, in his letters from the +Highlands, written early in the eighteenth century, says that "soon +after the wedding day the newly-married wife sets herself about spinning +her winding sheet, and a husband that shall sell or pawn it is esteemed +among all men one of the most profligate." And Dr. Jamieson says--"When +a woman of the lower class in Scotland, however poor, or whether married +or single, commences housekeeping, her _first care_, after what is +absolutely necessary for the time, is to provide _death linen_ for +herself and those who look to her for that office, and _her next_ to +earn, save, and _lay up (not put out to interest)_ such money as may +decently serve for funeral expenses. And many keep secret these +honorable deposits and salutary _mementoes_ for two or threescore +years." + +This practice was continued within my recollection. The first care of +the young married wife was still, in my young days, to spin and get +woven sufficient linen to make for herself and her husband their _dead +claes_. I can well remember the time when, in my father's house, these +things were spread out to air before the fire. This was done +periodically, and these were days when mirth was banished from the +household, and everything was done in a solemn mood. The day was kept as +a Sabbath. The reader will not fail to observe in some of these modern +customs and beliefs modified survivals of the old Roman practices and +superstitious beliefs. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_DEATH._ + + +It is not surprising that the solemn period of death should have been +surrounded with many superstitious ideas,--with a great variety of omens +and warnings, many of which, however, were only called to mind after the +event. In the country, when any person was taken unwell, it was very +soon known over the whole neighbourhood, and all sorts of remedies were +recommended. Generally a doctor was not sent for until the patient was +considered in a dangerous state, and then began the search for omens or +warnings. If the patient recovered, these premonitions were forgotten, +but if death ensued, then everything was remembered and rendered +significant. Was a dog heard to howl and moan during the night, with his +head in the direction of the house where the patient lay; was there +heard in the silent watches of the night in the room occupied by the +sick person, a tick, ticking as of a watch about the bed or furniture, +these were sure signs of approaching death, and adult patients hearing +these omens, often made sure that their end was near. Many pious people +also improved the circumstance, pointing out that these omens were +evidence of God's great mercy, inasmuch as He vouchsafed to give a +timely warning in order that the dying persons might prepare for death, +and make their peace with the great Judge. To have hinted, under such +circumstances, that the ticking sounds were caused by a small wood moth +tapping for its mate, would have subjected the hinter to the name of +infidel or unbeliever in Scripture, as superstitious people always took +shelter in Scripture. + +Persons hearing a tingling sound in their ears, called the _deid bells_, +expected news of the death of a friend or neighbour. A knock heard at +the door of the patient's room, and on opening no person being found, +was a sure warning of approaching death. If the same thing occurred +where there was no patient, it was a sign that some relation at a +distance had died. I was sitting once in the house of a newly married +couple, when a loud knock was heard upon the floor under a chair, as if +some one had struck the floor with a flat piece of wood. The young wife +removed the chair, and seeing nothing, remarked with some alarm, "It is +hasty news of a death." Next day she received word of the death of two +of her brothers, soldiers in India, the deaths having occurred nearly a +year before. There was no doubt in the mind of the young wife that the +knock was a supernatural warning. The natural explanation probably was +that the sound came from the chair, which being new, was liable to +shrink at the joints for some time, and thus cause the sound heard. This +cracking sound is quite common with new furniture. + +If, again, some one were to catch a glimpse of a person whom they knew +passing the door or window, and on looking outside were to find no such +person there, this was a sign of the approaching death of the person +seen. There were many instances quoted of the accuracy of this omen, +instances generally of persons who, in good health at the time of their +illusionary presence, died shortly after. Another form of this +superstition was connected with those who were known to be seriously +ill. Should the observer see what he felt convinced was the unwell +person, say, walking along the street, and on looking round as the +presence passed, see no person, this was a token of the death of the +person whose spectre was seen. I knew of a person who, on going home +from his work one evening, came suddenly upon an old man whom he knew to +be bed-ridden, dressed as was formerly his wont, with knee breeches, +blue coat, and red nightcap. Although he knew that the old man had for +some time been confined to bed, so distinct was the illusion that he bid +him "good night" in passing, but receiving no reply, looked behind and +saw no one. Seized with fright, he ran home and told what he had seen. +On the following morning it was known through the village that the old +man was dead. And his death had taken place at the time when the young +man had seen him on the previous evening. This was considered a +remarkably clear instance of a person's wraith or spirit being seen at +the time of death. However, the seeing of a person's wraith was not +always an omen of death. There were certain rules observed in relation +to wraiths, by which their meaning could be ascertained, but these rules +differed in different localities. In my native village a wraith seen +during morning, or before twelve noon, betokened that the person whose +wraith was seen would be fortunate in life, or if unwell at the time, +would recover; but when the wraith was seen in the afternoon or evening, +this betokened evil or approaching death, and the time within which +death would occur was considered to be within a year. This belief in +wraiths goes back to a very early period of man's history. The ancient +Persians and Jews believed that every person had a spirit or guardian +angel attending him, and although generally invisible, it had the power +of becoming visible, and separating itself for a time from the person it +attended, and of appearing to other persons in the guise of the +individual from whom it emanated. An excellent example of this +superstitious belief is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. When +Peter, who was believed to be in prison, knocked at the "door of the +gate" of the house where the disciples were met, the young woman who +went to open the door, on recognising Peter's voice, was overjoyed, and, +instead of opening, ran into the house, and told the disciples Peter was +at the door. Then they said "It is his angel" (wraith). Thus the whole +company expressed their belief in attending angels. The belief in +wraiths was prevalent throughout all Scotland. It is beautifully +introduced in the song of "Auld Robin Gray." When the young wife +narrates her meeting with her old sweetheart, she says, "I thought it +was his wraith, I could not think it he," and the belief survives in +some parts of the country to the present day. + +If a dying person struggled hard and long, it was believed that the +spirit was kept from departing by some magic spell. It was therefore +customary, under these circumstances, for the attendants to open every +lock in the house, that the spell might be broken, and the spirit let +loose. J. Train refers to this superstition in his _Mountain Muse_, +published 1814:-- + + "The chest unlocks to ward the power, + Of spells in Mungo's evil hour." + +After death there came a new class of superstitious fears and practices. +The clock was stopped, the looking-glass was covered with a cloth, and +all domestic animals were removed from the house until after the +funeral. These things were done, however, by many from old custom, and +without their knowing the reason why such things were done. Originally +the reason for the exclusion of dogs and cats arose from the belief +that, if either of these animals should chance to leap over the corpse, +and be afterwards permitted to live, the devil would gain power over the +dead person. + +When the corpse was laid out, a plate of salt was placed upon the +breast, ostensibly to prevent the body swelling. Many did so in this +belief, but its original purpose was to act as a charm against the devil +to prevent him from disturbing the body. In some localities the plate of +salt was supplemented with another filled with earth. A symbolical +meaning was given for this; that the earth represented the corporeal +body, the earthly house,--the salt the heavenly state of the soul. But +there was an older superstition which gave another explanation for the +plate of salt on the breast. There were persons calling themselves "_sin +eaters_" who, when a person died, were sent for to come and eat the sins +of the deceased. When they came, their _modus operandi_ was to place a +plate of salt and a plate of bread on the breast of the corpse, and +repeat a series of incantations, after which they ate the contents of +the plates, and so relieved the dead person of such sins as would have +kept him hovering around his relations, haunting them with his +imperfectly purified spirit, to their great annoyance, and without +satisfaction to himself. This form of superstition has evidently a close +relation to such forms of ancestor-worship as we know were practised by +the ancients, and to which reference has already been made. + +Until the funeral, it was the practice for some of the relations or +friends to sit up all night, and watch the corpse. In my young days this +duty was generally undertaken by youths, male and female friends, who +volunteered their services; but these watchings were not accompanied by +the unseemly revelries which were common in Scotland in earlier times, +or as are still practised in Ireland. The company sitting up with the +corpse generally numbered from two to six, although I have myself been +one of ten. They went to the house about ten in the evening, and before +the relations went to bed each received a glass of spirits; about +midnight there was a refreshment of tea or ale and bread, and the same +in the morning, when the relations of the deceased relieved the +watchers. Although during these night sittings nothing unbefitting the +solemnity of the occasion was done, the circumstances of the meeting +gave opportunity for love-making. The first portion of the night was +generally passed in reading,--some one reading aloud for the benefit of +the company, afterwards they got to story-telling, the stories being +generally of a ghostly description, producing such a weird feeling, that +most of the company durst hardly look behind them for terror, and would +start at the slightest noise. I have seen some so affected by this fear +that they would not venture to the door alone if the morning was dark. +These watchings of the dead were no doubt efficacious in perpetuating +superstitious ideas. + +The reasons given for watching the corpse differed in different +localities. The practice is still observed, I believe, in some places; +but probably now it is more the result of habit--a custom followed +without any basis of definite belief, and merely as a mark of respect +for the dead; but in former times, and within this century, it was +firmly held that if the corpse were not watched, the devil would carry +off the body, and many stories were current of such an awful result +having happened. One such story was told me by a person who had received +the story from a person who was present at the wake where the occurrence +happened. I thus got it at second hand. The story ran as follows:--The +corpse was laid out in a room, and the watchers had retired to another +apartment to partake of refreshments, having shut the door of the room +where the corpse lay. While they were eating there was heard a great +noise, as of a struggle between two persons, proceeding from the room +where the corpse lay. None of the party would venture into the room, and +in this emergency they sent for the minister, who came, and, with the +open Bible in his hand, entered the room and shut the door. The noise +then ceased, and in about ten minutes he came out, lifted the tongs from +the fireplace, and again re-entered the room. When he came out again, he +brought out with the tongs a glove, which was seen to be bloody, and +this he put into the fire. He refused, however, to tell either what he +had seen or heard; but on the watchers returning to their post, the +corpse lay as formerly, and as quiet and unruffled as if nothing had +taken place, whereat they were all surprised. + +From the death till the funeral it was customary for neighbours to call +and see the corpse, and should any one see it and not touch it, that +person would be haunted for several nights with fearful dreams. I have +seen young children and even infants made to touch the face of the +corpse, notwithstanding their terror and screams. If a child who had +seen the corpse, but had not been compelled to touch it, had shortly +afterwards awakened from a sleep crying, it would have been considered +that its crying was caused by its having seen the ghost of the dead +person. + +If, when the funeral left the house, the company should go in a +scattered, straggling manner, this was an omen that before long another +funeral would leave the same house. If the company walked away quickly, +it was also a bad omen. It was believed that the spirit of the last +person buried in any graveyard had to keep watch lest any suicide or +unbaptized child should be buried in the consecrated ground, so that, +when two burials took place on the same day, there was a striving to be +first at the churchyard. In some parts of the Highlands this +superstition led to many unseemly scenes when funerals occurred on the +same day. + +Those attending the funeral who were not near neighbours or relations +were given a quantity of bread and cakes to take home with them, but +relations and near neighbours returned to the house, where their wives +were collected, and were liberally treated to both meat and drink. This +was termed the _dredgy_ or _dirgy_, and to be present at this was +considered a mark of respect to the departed. This custom may be the +remnant of an ancient practice--in some sort a superstition--which +existed in Greece, where the friends of the deceased, after the funeral, +held a banquet, the fragments of which were afterwards carried to the +tomb. Upon the death of a wealthy person, when the funeral had left the +house, sums of money were divided among the poor. In Catholic times this +was done that the poor might pray for the soul of the deceased. In the +Danish _Niebellungen_ song it is stated that, at the burial of the hero +Seigfried, his wife caused upwards of thirty thousand merks of gold to +be distributed among the poor for the welfare and repose of his soul. +This custom became in this country and century in Protestant times an +occasion for the gathering of beggars and sorners from all parts. At the +funeral of George Oswald of Scotstoun, three miles from Glasgow, there +were gathered several hundreds, who were each supplied with a silver +coin and a drink of beer, and many were the blessings wished. A similar +gathering occurred at the funeral of old Mr. Bogle of Gilmourhill, near +Glasgow; but when announcement was made that nothing was to be given, +there rose a fearful howl of execration and cursing both of dead and +living from the mendacious crowd. The village of Partick in both these +cases was placed under a species of black-mail for several days by +beggars, who would hardly take any denial, and in many instances +appropriated what was not their own. I am not aware that this custom is +retained in any part of the country now. + +As the funerals fifty years ago were mostly walking funerals, the coffin +being carried between two spokes, the sort of weather during the funeral +had its omens, for in these days the weather was believed to be greatly +under the control of the devil, or rather it was considered that he was +permitted to tamper with the weather. If the day was fine, this was +naturally a good omen for the soul's welfare. I remember that the +funeral of the only daughter of a worthy couple happened on a wet day, +but just as the funeral was leaving the house the sun broke through and +the day cleared, whereupon the mother, with evident delight, as she +stood at the door, thanked God that Mary was getting a good blink. +Stormy weather was a bad omen, being regarded as due to Satan's +influence. Burns refers to this belief in his "Tam o' Shanter." When +referring to the storm, he says:-- + + "Even a bairn might understand + The deil had business on his hand." + +The following old rhyme mentions the most propitious sort of weather for +the christening, marriage, and funeral:-- + + "West wind to the bairn when gaun for its name, + Gentle rain to the corpse carried to its lang hame, + A bonny blue sky to welcome the bride, + As she gangs to the kirk, wi' the sun on her side." + +The wake in the Highlands during last century was a very common affair. +Captain Burt, in his letters from Scotland, 1723, says that when a +person dies the neighbours gather in the evening in the house where the +dead lies, with bagpipe, and spend the evening in dancing--the nearest +relative to the corpse leading off the dance. Whisky and other +refreshments are provided, and this is continued every night until the +funeral. + +Pennant, in his tour through the Highlands, 1772, says that, at a death, +the friends of the deceased meet with bagpipe or fiddle, when the +nearest of kin leads off a melancholy ball, dancing and wailing at the +same time, which continue till daybreak, and is continued nightly till +the interment. This custom is to frighten off or protect the corpse from +the attack of wild beasts, and evil spirits from carrying it away. + +Another custom of olden times, and which was continued till the +beginning of this century, was that of announcing the death of any +person by sending a person with a bell--known as the "deidbell"--through +the town or neighbourhood. The same was done to invite to the funeral. +In all probability, the custom of ringing the bell had its origin in the +church custom, being a call to offer prayers for the soul of the +departed. Bell-ringing was also considered a means of keeping away evil +spirits. Joseph Train, writing in 1814, refers to another practice +common in some parts of Scotland. Whenever the corpse is taken from the +house, the bed on which the deceased lay is taken from the house, and +all the straw or heather of which it was composed is taken out and +burned in a place where no beast can get at it, and in the morning the +ashes are carefully examined, believing that the footprint of the next +person of the family who will die will be seen. This practice of burning +the contents of the bed is commendable for sanitary purposes. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_WITCHCRAFT, SECOND-SIGHT, AND THE BLACK ART._ + + +That the devil gave to certain persons supernatural power, which they +might exercise at their pleasure, was a belief prevalent throughout all +Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But at the same +time this compacting with the devil was reprobated, nay more, was a +capital offence, both in civil and ecclesiastical law, and during these +two centuries thousands of persons were convicted and executed for this +crime. But during the latter part of the seventeenth century the civil +courts refused to convict upon the usual evidence, to the great alarm +and displeasure of the ecclesiastical authorities, who considered this +refusal a great national sin--a direct violation of the law of God, +which said--"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." To arrest the +punishment which this direct violation of God's written law was supposed +to incur, prayers were offered, and fasts were appointed. + +As samples of the kind of evidence on which reputed witches were +convicted and executed, I extract the following from the Records of +Lanark Presbytery, 1650:--"Likewise he reported that the Commissioners +and brethren did find these poynts delated against Janet M'Birnie, one +of the suspected women, to wit: + +"1st. That on a time the said Janet M'Birnie followed Wm. Brown, +sclater, to Robert Williamson's house in Water Meetings, to crave +somewhat, and fell in evil words. After which time, and within four and +twenty hours, he fell off ane house and brake his neck. + +"2nd. After some outcast between Bessie Achison's house and Janet +M'Birnie's house, the said Janet M'Birnie prayed that there might be +bloody beds and a light house, and after that the said Bessie Achison +her daughter took sickness, and the lassie said there is fyre in my bed, +and died. And the said Bessie Achison her gudeman dwyned. + +"3rd. It was alleged that the said Janet M'Birnie was the cause of the +dispute between Newton and his wife, and that she and others were the +death of William Geddese. And also that they fand against Marian +Laidlaw, another suspected, these particulars: that the said Marian and +Jean Blacklaw differed in words for the said Marian's hay; and after +that the said Jean her kye died." + +They were remitted for trial. In these same Records there is in 1697 the +following entry:--"Upon the recommendation of the Synod, the Presbytery +appoynts a Fast to be keeped upon the 28th instant, in regard to the +great prevalence of witchcraft which abounds at several places at this +time within the bounds of the Synod." + +At this time the laws against witchcraft had become practically a dead +letter, but it was not till 1735 that they were repealed. Still, the +abolition of the legal penalty did not kill the popular belief in the +power and reality of witchcraft; and even now, at this present day, we +find proof every now and again in newspaper reports that this belief +still lingers among certain classes. Within these fifty years, in a +village a little to the west of Glasgow, lived an old woman, who was not +poor, but had a very irritable temper, and was unsocial in her habits. A +little boy having called her names and otherwise annoyed her, she +scolded him, and, in the heat of her rage, prophesied that before a +twelvemonth elapsed the devil would get his own. A few months after this +the boy sickened and died, and the villagers had no hesitation in +ascribing the cause of death to this old woman. Again, a farmer in the +neighbourhood had bought a horse, and in the evening a servant was +leading it to the water to drink, when this same old woman, who was +sitting near at hand, remarked upon the beauty of the horse, and asked +for a few hairs from the tail, which the servant with some roughness +refused. When the stable was entered next morning the horse was found +dead. On the above circumstance of the old woman's request being related +to the farmer, he regretted the servant's refusal of the hairs, and said +that, if the same woman had asked him, he would have given every hair in +the tail rather than offend her, showing thereby his undoubted belief in +the woman's power. Fortunately for her, she lived in a storeyed +building--in local vernacular, a _land_--or in all probability her house +would have been set on fire in order to burn her. At the same time, +while she was hated and dreaded, everybody for their own safety paid her +the most marked respect. Had she lived a century earlier, such evidence +would have brought her to the stake. In 1666, before the Lanark +Presbytery, a woman was tried for bewitching cattle:-- + +"The said William Smith said that she was the death of twa meires, and +Elizabeth Johnstone, his wife, reported that she saw her sitting on +their black meire's tether, and that she ran over the dyke in the +likeness of a hare." + +This belief in the ability of witches to convert themselves into the +appearance of animals at pleasure was prevalent even during this +century. In 1828, or there-about, there died an old woman, who when +alive had gone about with a crutch, and it was reported of her, and +generally believed, that in her younger days she had the power of +witchcraft, and that one morning as she was out about some of her +unhallowed sports, disporting herself in the shape of a hare, that a man +who was out with a gun saw, as he thought, in the moonlight, a hare, and +fired at it, breaking its leg; but it took shelter behind a stone, and +when he went to get the hare, he found instead a young woman sitting +bandaging with a handkerchief her leg, which was bleeding. He knew her, +and upon her entreaty promised never to disclose her secret, and ever +after she went with a crutch. I have heard similar stories told of other +women in other localities, showing the prevalence of this form of +belief. As those who had dealings with the devil were believed to have +renounced their baptism or their allegiance to Christ, they never went +to church, and hated the Bible. Therefore, all who did not follow the +custom of believers were not only considered infidels, but as having +enlisted in the devil's corps, and such people in small localities were +kept at an outside, and suspected, being regarded as capable of any +wickedness, and untrustworthy. I remember several persons, both men and +women, against intercourse with whom we were earnestly warned, and were +instructed that it was not even safe to play with their children. + +There were other supernatural powers thought to be possessed by certain +persons, which differed from witchcraft in this, that they were not +regarded as the result of a compact with the devil, but in some cases +were thought to be rather a gift from God. For example, there was +second-sight, a gift bestowed upon certain persons without any previous +compact or solicitation. Sometimes the seer fell into a trance, in which +state he saw visions; at other times the visions were seen without the +trance condition. Should the seer see in a vision a certain person +dressed in a shroud, this betokened that the death of that person would +surely take place within a year. Should such a vision be seen in the +morning, the person seen would die before that evening; should such a +vision be seen in the afternoon, the person seen would die before next +night; but if the vision were seen late in the evening, there was no +particular time of death intimated, further than that it would take +place within the year. Again, if the shroud did not cover the whole +body, the fulfilment of the vision was at a great distance. If the +vision were that of a man with a woman standing at his left hand, then +that woman will be that man's wife, although they may both at the time +of the vision be married to others. It was reported that one having +second-sight saw in vision a young man with three women standing at his +left side, and in course of time each became his wife in the order in +which they were seen standing. These seers could often foretell coming +visitors to a family months before they came, and even point out places +where houses would be built years before the buildings were erected. The +seer could not communicate the gift to any other person, not even to +those of his own family, as he possessed it without any conscious act on +his part; but if any person were near him at the time he was having a +vision, and he were consciously to touch the person with his left foot, +the person touched would see that particular vision. I had a +conversation with a woman who when young was in company with one who had +the gift of second-sight. They went out together one Sabbath evening, +and while sitting on the banks of the Kelvin the seer had a vision, and +touched my informant with her left foot, and she also saw it. It rose +from the water like the full moon, and was transparent; and in it she +saw a young man whom she did not know, and her own likeness standing at +his left side. Before many weeks were passed, a new servant-man came to +the farm where my informant was then serving, and whom she recognised as +the person whose image she had seen in the vision, and in little more +than a year after the two were married. + +Deaf and dumb persons were considered to possess something like +second-sight, by which they were enabled to foretell events which happen +to certain persons. This is a very old belief. I extract the following +from _Memorials of the Rev. R. Law_:-- + +"Anno 1676.--A daughter of the laird of Bardowie, in Badenoch parish, +intending to go fra that to Hamilton to see her sister-in-law, there is +at the same time a woman come into the house born deaf and dumb. She +makes many signs to her not to go, and takes her down to the yaird and +cutts at the root of a tree, making signs that it would fall and kill +her. That not being understood by her or any of them, she takes the +journey--the dumb lass holding her to stay. When the young gentlewoman +is there at Hamilton, a few days after, her sister and she goes forth to +walk in the park, and in their walking they both come under a tree. In +that very instant they come under it, they hear it shaking and coming +down. The sister-in-law flees to the right, and she herself flees to the +left hand, that way that the tree fell, so it crushed her and wounded +her sore, so that she dies in two or three days' sickness." + +Until about 30 years ago, a deaf and dumb man was in the habit of +visiting my native village, who was believed to possess wonderful gifts +of foresight. This _dummy_ carried with him a slate, a pencil, and a +piece of chalk, by use of which he gave his answers, and often he +volunteered to give certain information concerning the future; he would +often write down occurrences which he averred would happen to parties in +the village, or to persons then present. He did not beg nor ask alms, +but only visited certain houses as a sort of friend, and information of +his presence in the village was quickly conveyed to the neighbours, so +that he generally had a large gathering of women who were all friendly +to him, and he was never allowed to go away without reward. When any +stranger was present he would point them out, and write down the +initials of their name, and sometimes their names in full, without being +asked. He would also, at times, write down the names of relatives of +those present who lived at a distance, and tell them when they would +receive letters from them, and whether these letters would contain good +or bad news. He disclosed the whereabouts of sailor lads and absent +lovers, detected thefts, foretold deaths and marriages, and the names of +the parties on both sides who were to be married. He wrote of a young +woman, a stranger in the village, but who was present on one of his +visits, and was on the eve of being married to a tradesman, that she +would not be married to him, but would marry one who would keep her +counting money; which came to pass. The tradesman and she fell out, and +afterwards she married a haberdasher, and for a long time was in the +shop as cashier. This woman still lives, and firmly believes in the +prophetic gift of _dummy_. Another woman, a stranger also, asked him +some questions relative to herself; he shook his head, and for a long +time refused to answer, desiring her not to insist. This made her the +more anxious, and at last he drew upon the slate the figure of a coffin. +This was all the length he would go. In less than twelve months the +woman was in her grave. During one of his visits the husband of one of +the women who attended him was seriously ill, and the wife, a stout +healthy woman, was anxious to hear from _dummy_ the result of her +husband's illness. He wrote that the husband would recover, and that she +would die before him; and she did die not long after. In short, this +_dummy_ was a regular prophet, and his predictions were implicitly +believed by all who attended upon him. In his case there was no +pretension to visions, the form which he allowed his gift to assume was +that of intuition. Some few men in the village suspected the _dummy's_ +honesty, and thought that he heard and assiduously and cunningly picked +up knowledge of the parties; but such doubts were regarded as bordering +upon blasphemy by the believers in _dummy_. I was never present at any +of these gatherings, but my information is gathered from those who were +present. Some months ago I was talking to an ordinarily intelligent +person on this subject, and he gave it as his opinion that dumb persons +had their loss of the faculties of hearing and speech recompensed to +them in the gift of supernatural knowledge, and he related how a certain +widow lady of his acquaintance had been informed of the death of her +son. This son was abroad, and she had with her in the house a mute, who +one day made signs to her that she would never see her son again, and a +few weeks after she received word of his death. + +There was another phase of supernatural power, different from +witchcraft, and which the devil granted to certain parties: this was +called the _Black Airt_. The possession of this power was mostly +confined to Highlanders, and probably at this present day there are +still those who believe in it. The effects produced by this power did +not, however, differ much from those produced by witchcraft. A farmer in +the north-west of Glasgow engaged a Highland lad as herd, and my +informant also served with this farmer at the time. It was observed by +the family that, after the lad came to them, everything went well with +the farmer. During the winter, however, the _kye_ became _yell_, and the +family were consequently short of milk. The cows of a neighbouring +farmer were at the same time giving plenty of milk. Under these +circumstances, the Highland lad proposed to his mistress that he would +bring milk from their neighbour's cows, which she understood to be by +aid of the _black airt_, through the process known as _milking the +tether_. The tether is the rope halter, and by going through the form +of milking this, repeating certain incantations, the magic transference +was supposed capable of being effected. This proposal to exercise the +_black airt_ becoming known among the servants, they were greatly +alarmed, and showed their terror by all at once becoming very kind to +the lad, and very watchful of what he did. He was known to have in his +possession a pack of cards; and during family worship he displayed great +restlessness, generally falling asleep before these services were +concluded, and he was averse to reading the Bible. One night, for a few +pence, he offered to tell the names of the sweethearts of the two +servant-men, and they having agreed to the bargain, he shuffled the +cards and said certain words which they did not understand, and then +named two girls the lads were then courting. They refused to give him +the promised reward, and he told them they would be glad to pay him +before they slept. When the two men were going to their bed, which was +over the stable, they were surprised to find two women draped in black +closing up the stable door. As they stepped back, the women disappeared; +but every time they tried to get in, the door was blocked up as before. +The men then remembered what the lad had said to them, and going to +where he slept, found him in bed, and gave him the promised reward. He +then told them to go back, and they would not be further disturbed. Next +morning, the servant-men told what had taken place, and refused to +remain at the farm any longer with the lad; and the farmer had thus to +part with him, but he and the servants gave him little gifts that they +might part good friends. My informant believed himself above +superstition, yet he related this as evidence of the truth of the _black +airt_. + +It is a very old belief that those who had made compacts with the devil +could afflict those they disliked with certain diseases, and even cause +their death, by making images in clay or wax of the persons they wished +to injure, and then, by baptizing these images with mock ceremony, the +persons represented were brought under their influence, so that whatever +was then done to the image was felt by the living original. This +superstition is referred to by Allan Ramsay in his _Gentle Shepherd_:-- + + "Pictures oft she makes + Of folk she hates, and gaur expire + Wi' slow and racking pain before the fire. + Stuck fu' o' preens, the devilish picture melt, + The pain by folk they represent is felt." + +This belief survived in great force in this century, and probably in +country places is not yet extinct. Several persons have been named to me +who suffered long from diseases the doctor could not understand, nor do +anything to remove, and therefore these obscure diseases could only be +ascribed to the devil-aided practices of malicious persons. In some +cases, cures were said to have been effected through making friends of +the supposed originators of the disease. The custom not yet extinct of +burning persons in effigy is doubtless a survival of this old +superstition. + +A newly-married woman with whom I was acquainted took a sudden fit of +mental derangement, and screamed and talked violently to herself. Her +friends and neighbours concluded that she was under the spell of the +evil one. The late Dr. Mitchell was sent for to pray for her, but when +he began to pray she set up such hideous screams that he was obliged to +stop. He advised her friends to call in medical aid. But this conduct +on the part of the woman made it all the more evident to her relations +and neighbours that her affliction was the work of the devil, brought +about through the agency of some evil-disposed person. Several such +persons were suspected, and sent for to visit the afflicted woman; and, +while they were in the house, a relation of the sufferer's secretly cut +out a small portion of the visitor's dress and threw it into the fire, +by which means it was believed that the influence of the _ill e'e_ would +be destroyed. At all events, the woman suddenly got well again, and as a +consequence the superstitious belief of those who were in the secret was +strengthened. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_CHARMS AND COUNTER CHARMS._ + + +During these times when such superstitious beliefs were almost +universally accepted--when the sources from which evils might be +expected to spring were about as numerous as the unchecked fancies of +men could make them--we must naturally conceive that the people who +believed such things must have lived in a continual state of fear. And +in many instances this was really the case; but the common result was +not so, for fortunately the bane and antidote were generally found +together, and the means for preventing or exorcising these devil-imposed +evils were about as numerous as the evils themselves. I have already in +a former chapter mentioned incidentally some of these charms and +preventives, but as this incidental treatment cannot possibly cover the +field, I shall here speak of them separately. + +Tennant, in his _Tour through Scotland_, states that farmers placed +boughs of the mountain ash in their cow-houses on the second day of May +to protect their cows from evil influences. The rowan tree possessed a +wonderful influence against all evil machinations of witchcraft. A staff +made of this tree laid above the boothy or milk-house preserved the milk +from witch influence. A churn-staff made of this wood secured the butter +during the process of churning. So late as 1860 I have seen the rowan +tree trained in the form of an arch over the byre door, and in another +case over the gate of the farmyard, as a protection to the cows. It was +also believed that a rowan tree growing in a field protected the cattle +against being struck by lightning. + +Mr. Train describes the action of a careful farmer's wife or dairymaid +thus:-- + + "Lest witches should obtain the power + Of Hawkie's milk in evil hour, + She winds a red thread round her horn, + And milks thro' row'n tree night and morn; + Against the blink of evil eye + She knows each andidote to ply." + +The same author, writing in 1814, says:--"I am acquainted myself with an +Anti-Burgher clergyman who actually procured from a person who pretended +to such skill in these charms two small pieces of carved wood, to be +kept in his father's cow-house as a security for the health of his +cows." The belief in the potency of the rowan tree to ward off evil is +no doubt a survival of ancient tree worship. Of this worship, the Rev. +F.W. Farrar says:--"It may be traced from the interior of Africa, not +only in Egypt and Arabia, but also onwards uninterruptedly into +Palestine and Syria, Assyria, Persia, India, Thibet, Siam, the +Philippine Islands, China, Japan, and Siberia; also westward into Asia +Minor, Greece, Italy, and other countries; and in most of the countries +here named it obtains at the present day, combined, as it has been, in +other parts with various forms of idolatry." Were it our object, it +could also be shown that tree worship has been combined with +Christianity. The rowan tree was held sacred by the Druids, and is often +found among their stone monuments. There is a northern legend that the +god of thunder (Thor), when wading the river Vimar, was in danger of +being swept away by its current, but that, grasping a tree which grew on +the bank, he got safely across. This tree was the mountain ash, which +was ever after held sacred; and when these nations were converted to +Christianity, they did not fall away from their belief in the sanctity +of the rowan tree. + +Not many years ago, I was told of a miraculous make of butter which was +reported to have occurred in the west of Lanarkshire a short time +before. One morning, a farmer's wife in that district and her +maid-servant wrought at the kirn, but, do as they would, no butter would +appear. In this dilemma, they sat down to consider about the cause, and +then they recollected that a neighbouring woman had come into the +kitchen, where the kirn was standing the previous evening, to borrow +something, but was refused. The servant was at once despatched with the +article in question, and half-a-dozen eggs as a gift, to the old woman, +and instructed to make an apology for not having given the loan the +evening before. The woman received the gift, and gratefully expressed +her wish that the farmer and his wife would be blest both in their +basket and their store. The effect, said my informant, was miraculous. +Before the servant returned, the butter began to flow, and in such +quantity as had never before been experienced. + +Apropos of this superstition with reference to milk, the following +incident occurred not many years back in the West Highlands. An old +woman, who kept a few cows, was in sore distress of mind because some +of her ill-disposed neighbours had cast an evil eye upon them, in +consequence of which their milk in a very short time _blinked_ (turned +sour), and churn as she might, she could never obtain any butter. She +had tried every remedy she knew of, or that had been recommended to her, +but without any good effect. At length, in her extremity, she applied to +the parish minister, and laid her case before him. He patiently listened +to her complaint, and expressed great sympathy for her, and then very +wisely said, "I'll tell you how I think you will succeed in driving away +the evil eye. It seems to me that it has not been cast on your cows, but +on your dishes. Gang hame and tak' a' your dishes down to the burn, and +let them lie awhile in the running stream; then rub them well and dry +with a clean clout. Tak' them hame and fill each with boiling water. +Pour it out and lay them aside to dry. The evil eye cannot withstand +boiling water. Sca'd it out and ye'll get butter." The prescription was +followed, and a few weeks after the woman called upon the minister and +thanked him for the cure, remarking that she had never seen anything so +wonderful. + +Mr. Joseph Train, from whose notes we have already quoted, mentions a +ceremony, not of a private but of a public nature, and embracing a large +district of country, at the performance of which he was present. The +object to be obtained was the prevention of a threatened outbreak of +disease among the cattle. "In the summer of 1810," says Mr. Train, +"while remaining at Balnaguard, a village of Perthshire, as I was +walking along the banks of the Tay, I observed a crowd of people +convened on the hill above Pitna Cree; and as I recollected having seen +a multitude in the same place the preceding day, my curiosity was +roused, so that I resolved to learn the reason of this meeting in such +an unfrequented place. I was close beside them before any of the company +had observed me ascending the hill, their attention being fixed upon two +men in the centre. One was turning a small stock, which was supported by +two stakes standing perpendicularly, with a cleft at the top, in which +the crown piece went round in the form a carpenter holds a chisel on a +grinding stone; the other was holding a small branch of fir on that +which was turning. Directly below it was a quantity of tow spread on the +ground. I observed that this work was taken alternately by men and +women. As I was turning about in order to leave them, a man whom I had +seen before, laid his hand on my shoulder, and solicited me to put my +finger to the stick; but I refused, merely to see if my obstinacy would +be resented; and suddenly a sigh arose from every breast, and anger +kindled in every eye. I saw, therefore, that immediate compliance with +the request was necessary to my safety. + +"I was soon convinced that this was some mysterious rite performed +either to break or ward off the power of witchcraft; but, so intent were +they on the prosecution of their design, that I could obtain no +satisfactory information, until I met an old schoolmaster in the +neighbourhood, from whom I had obtained much insight into the manners +and customs of that district. He informed me that there is a distemper +occasioned by want of water, which cattle are subject to, called in the +Gaelic language _shag dubh_, which in English signifies 'black haunch.' +It is a very infectious disease, and, if not taken in time, would carry +off most of the cattle in the country." The method taken by the +Highlanders to prevent its destructive ravages is thus: "All fires are +extinguished between the two nearest rivers, and all the people within +that boundary convene in a convenient place, where they erect a machine, +as above described; and, after they have commenced, they continue night +and day until they have forced fire by the friction of the two sticks. +Every person must perform a portion of this labour, or touch the machine +in order not to break the charm. + +"During the continuance of the ceremony they appear melancholy and +dejected, but when the fire, which they say is brought from heaven by an +angel, blazes in the tow, they resume their wonted gaiety; and while one +part of the company is employed feeding the flame, the others drive all +the cattle in the neighbourhood over it. When this ceremony is ended, +they consider the cure complete; after which they drink whiskey, and +dance to the bagpipe or fiddle round the celestial fire till the last +spark is extinguished." + +Here, within our own day, is evidently an act of fire-worship: a direct +worship of Baal by a Christian community in the nineteenth century. +There were other means of preventing disease spreading among cattle +practised within this century. When murrain broke out in a herd, it was +believed that, if the first one taken ill were buried alive, it would +stop the spread of the disease, and that the other animals affected +would then soon recover. Were a cow to cast her calf: if the calf were +to be buried at the byre door, and a short prayer or a verse of +Scripture said over it, it would prevent the same misfortune from +happening with the rest of the herd. If a sheep dropped a dead lamb, the +proper precaution to take was to place the lamb upon a rowan tree, and +this would prevent the whole flock from a repetition of the mishap. + +It was an old superstition that the body of a murdered person would +bleed on the presence or touch of the murderer. We find this belief +mentioned as far back as the eleventh century. In an old ballad of that +period occurs the following passage:-- + + "A marvel high and strange is seen full many a time-- + When to the murdered body nigh the man that did the crime, + Afresh the wounds will bleed. The marvel now was found-- + That Hagan felled the champion with treason to the ground." + +Several centuries after this, we find it mentioned in another ballad, +entitled "Young Huntin":-- + + "O white were his wounds washen, + As white as a linen clout, + But when Lady Maisry she cam' near, + His wounds they gushed out." + +The reason for this marvel was ascribed by the Rev. Mr. Wodrow, to the +wonderful providence of God, who had said, "thou shalt not suffer a +murderer to live," and had, in order that the command might be justly +carried out, provided the means whereby murderers might be readily +detected. This superstition certainly survived within this century, and +I have heard many instances adduced to prove the truth of bleeding +taking place on the introduction of the murderer. + +Another curious form of belief was prevalent among some persons, that +the body of a suicide would not decay until the time arrived when, in +the ordinary course of nature, he would have died. This was founded upon +another belief, that there is a day of death appointed for every man, +which no one can pass; but as man is possessed of a free will, he may, +by his own wicked determination, shorten the union of his soul and body, +but that there his power ends: he cannot in reality kill either soul or +body, for were he to possess this power, he would possess the power to +alter the decrees of God, which is a power impossible for man to +possess. This was a mad, not deep, sort of metaphysics; but there was +sufficient method in its madness to cause it to gain the suffrages of a +large number of people. It was affirmed that those who had examined into +the matter had found that the bodies of suicides were mysteriously +preserved from decomposition until the day arrived on which they would +naturally--that is, according to God's decree--have died. About the year +1834, I was taking a walk along the banks of the canal north of Glasgow, +and sat down beside a group of well-dressed men, who were conversing on +general topics, and amongst other things touched on the matter of +suicides--proximity to the canal probably suggested the subject. One of +the group pointed out a quiet spot where he affirmed that _Bob Dragon_, +an old Glasgow celebrity, had been buried. Bob, he said, had committed +suicide; but his relations being aware that, in consequence of this act, +his property, according to law, became forfeited to the Crown, had him +buried secretly in this out-of-the-way spot, and obtained another +corpse, which they put into the coffin in his house. But, several years +after, some persons who were digging at this quiet spot on the canal +bank discovered the real body of Bob--the throat being cut--and the +corpse as fresh as the day on which the act was committed. Bob's +relations, on hearing of this discovery, gave the finders a handsome +gift to rebury the body and keep the matter secret. Within the last ten +years I have heard the same affirmation made respecting persons who have +drowned themselves. + +Persons whose _yea_ is unvaryingly _yea_, and whose _nay_ is unvaryingly +_nay_, generally resort to no form of oath or imprecation to gain +credence to their statements, for their truthfulness is seldom called in +question--at least, where they are well known. But with those who are +lax in their statements--who tell the truth or tell lies just as for the +moment the one or the other appears to suit them best--the case is +different. When they speak something strange or important, they find +their veracity questioned, and require to place themselves in +circumstances where it may be thought they are under compulsion, for +their own welfare, to speak the truth. Commonly, they ask Providence to +injure them in some way if in the present instance they have said the +thing which is not true. Well, it was believed in the days of which I +write, and within my own day, that Providence did interfere in this way, +and many stories were current in confirmation of this belief. One such +will suffice as an illustration. A married woman, _enciente_ for the +first time, having had words with her husband about something she denied +having either said or done, wished that, if her statement were untrue, +she might never give birth to the child. She was taken at her word, for +she lived many years in delicate health, but the child was never born. +The villagers who remembered her said that at times she _swelled_ as if +she was about to be confined, and at other times was as _jimp_ as a +young girl. + +Akin to belief in the potency of such wishes as were uttered as tests of +truthfulness was doubtless the generally accredited, though of course +seldom witnessed, form of compact with the devil. When a person agreed +to serve the devil, his Satanic Majesty caused the mortals who sought +his service and favour to place one hand under their thigh and the other +over their head, and wish that the devil would take all that lay between +their hands if they were unfaithful to their vow. The form of oath by +expression of a wish was common to both Jews and Gentiles. + +There was another kind of wish which was believed to obtain fulfilment +during life, that was the expressed wish of the innocent against those +who had wronged them. The belief in the fulfilment of such wishes was +grounded on the theological supposition that God in his justice would in +time punish the wrong-doer. I remember a rather pertinent example of +this: a proof they would have said in former days--a coincidence we +would say in these days. A simple-minded--_half-witted_--young woman was +taken advantage of by a young man resident in the neighbourhood, to the +public scandal of the village. He denied the paternity of the baby, and +made oath to that effect before the kirk-session. As he did so, the +girl, looking at him, wished that the hand he held up might lose its +cunning, as evidence of God's judgment upon the false swearer. In less +than a year from that time a disease came into his right hand, and he +was never afterwards able to use it. Not many years ago, I saw the same +man going through the village selling tea, and, as he passed along the +street, many of the older inhabitants remarked how wonderfully _Poor +Meg's_ wish had been fulfilled. + +Employment of certain charms to influence for good or evil prevailed in +this century to a great extent. Some of these it is difficult to trace +to their origin. About forty years ago, a certain married couple lived +unhappily together. The wife did all she could to make her husband +comfortable, but still he abused her without cause. At length, after +suffering much, she applied to a woman who professed to have power over +the affections, and for this purpose prepared love philters. The woman +gave her a charm, which was to be sewn between the lining and cloth of +her husband's vest without his knowledge. She carried these instructions +out, and with extraordinarily successful results, for, while the husband +wore this vest, he never gave her so much as an angry word. + +One Walter Donaldson was in the habit of beating his wife, and making +her life bitter. She made application to Isabell Straguhan, who +possesses magic influences, who took pieces of paper and sewed them +thick with thread of divers colours, and put them in the barn among the +corn. From that time forth the said Walter never lifted hand against his +wife, nor did once find fault with her whatsoever she did, and was +entirely subdued to her love. + +The following was related to me as a fact, by a person who said that he +tried it:--There is a certain crooked bone in a frog, which, when +cleaned and dried over a fire on St. John's eve, and then ground fine +and given in food to any person, will win the affections of the +receiver to the giver, and in young persons will produce a desire for +each other's society, culminating eventually in marriage; also, when a +married couple do not agree well together, it will reconcile them, and +bring about a mutual affection. + +At the commencement of this century, belief in the influence of the +mandrake plant over the affections still existed in this country. Belief +in this plant is as old as history. Leah, the neglected wife of Jacob, +doubtless intended to influence her husband by the use of it, whilst +Rachel procured the plant for a different purpose, but for both purposes +it was considered efficatious, and in both cases, the narrative shows, +successful. By both eastern and western nations this plant was credited +with wonderful powers, even to the extent of working miracles. In this +country it was believed to be watched by Satan, but if the plant were +pulled during certain holy seasons, or by holy persons, Satan could not +only be robbed with impunity, but he would become the servant of the +person who pulled the plant, and do for him whatever he desired; but woe +to the unholy person who attempted to pull the plant, especially at a +non-sacred time; he drops down dead, and Satan possesses his soul. + +It was a prevalent belief that the seventh son in a family had the gift +of curing diseases, and that he was by nature a doctor who could effect +cures by the touch of his hand. It was reported that such a man resided +in Iona, who had effected cures by rubbing the diseased part with his +hand on two Thursdays and two Sundays successively, doing so in the name +of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It was requisite to the +cure that no fee should be taken by such endowed persons. In the West +of Scotland the formula of cure was different in different localities; +in some parts a mere touch was all that was necessary, in others, and +this was the more general method, some medicine was given to assist the +cure. + +Written charms were also believed in as capable of effecting cures, or, +at least, of preventing people from taking diseases. I have known people +who wore written charms, sewed into the necks of their coats, if men, +and into the headbands of petticoats if women. These talismans, in many +cases, I have little doubt, did real good in this way, that they +supplied their wearers with a courage which sufficed to brace up their +nervous system--which drove out fear, in fact,--a very important +condition for health, as physicians well know. These talismans were so +generally and thoroughly believed in, and so numerous and apparently +well-attested were the evidences of their beneficial effects, that in +years not long past, medical men believed in their efficacy, and +promulgated various theories to account for it. + +It was also an accepted belief that diseases could be transferred to +animals, and even to vegetables. Cures held to be so effected were, +according to one medical theory, cures by "sympathy." A few instances, +culled from a work published during the latter half of the seventeenth +century (1663), entitled _The Usefulness of Experimental Philosophy_, +will illustrate this theory:--A medical man had been very ill of an +obstinate _marasmar_ (?) which so consumed him that he became quite a +skeleton, notwithstanding every remedy which he had tried. At length he +tried a sympathetic remedy: he took an egg, and having boiled it hard +in his own urine, he then with a bodkin perforated the shell in +different parts, and then buried it in an ant-hill. As the ants wasted +the egg he found his strength increase, and he soon was completely +cured. A daughter of a French officer was so tormented by a _paronychia_ +(?) for four days together, that the pain kept her from sleeping; by the +order of a medical man she put her finger into a cat's ear, and within +two hours was delivered from her pain. And a councillor's wife was cured +of a _panaritium_ (?) which had vexed her for four days by the same +means. In both cases the cat had received the pain in its ear and +required to be held. The gout is cured by sympathy: by the patient +sleeping with puppies, they take the disease, and the person recovers. A +boy ill with the king's evil could not be cured, his father's dog took +to licking the sores, the dog took the sores, and the boy was completely +cured. A gentleman having a severe pain in the arm was cured by beating +red coral with oak leaves, and applying it to the part affected till +suppuration: a hole was then made in the root of an oak towards the +east, and the mixture put into it and the hole plugged up with a peg of +the same tree, and from that time the pain did altogether cease; and +when afterwards the mixture was removed from the tree, immediately the +torments returned worse than before. Sir Francis Bacon records a cure of +warts: he took a piece of lard with the skin on it, and after rubbing +the warts with it the lard was exposed out of a southern window to +putrify, and the warts wore away as it putrified. Harvey tried to remove +tumours and excrescences by putting the hand of a dead person that had +died of a lingering disease upon them till the part felt cold. In +general the application was effective. + +This idea of cure by sympathy retained its hold on the people till this +century, and is not yet entirely gone. + +There was another theory, which we may call the magnetic theory. The +philosophy of this theory contended that "The body when diseased +resembled a gun; when loaded, it contains powder and ball, which, by the +mere touch of a little spring, sets the whole machinery of the gun in +motion, whereby the ball is expelled. So also the mere touch or outward +contact of certain bodies or substances has power, like a magnet, to set +in action the machinery of nature by which the disease is +dispelled--sometimes slowly, but often suddenly like the bullet from the +gun. Helmont had a little stone, which, by plunging in oil of almonds, +imbued the oil with such sanative power that it cured almost any +disease. It was sometimes applied inwardly, sometimes outwardly. A +gentleman who had an unwieldy groom procured for him a small fragment of +this stone, and, by licking it with the tip of his tongue every morning, +in three weeks he was reduced in bulk round the waist by a span without +affecting his general health. A gentleman in France who procured a small +fragment of this stone cured several persons of inveterate diseases by +letting them lick it. The stone _Lapis Nephriticus_ bound upon the pulse +of the wrist of the left hand prevents stone, hysterics, and stops the +flux of blood in any part. A compound metal called _electrum_, which is +a mixture of all metals made under certain constellations and shaped +into rings and worn, prevents cramps and palsy, apoplexy, epilepsy, and +severe pains; and in the case of a person in a fit of the falling +sickness, a ring of this metal put on the ring finger is an immediate +cure. A little yarrow and mistletoe put into a bag and worn upon the +stomach, prevents ague and chilblains. A powder made of the common +mistletoe, given in doses of three grains at the full of the moon to +persons troubled with epilepsy, prevents fits; and if given during a fit +it will effect an immediate and permanent cure. A woman with rupture of +the bladder was reported to have been cured by wearing a little bag hung +about her neck containing the powder made from a toad burnt alive in a +new pot. The same prescription was also said to have cured a man of +stone in the bladder." + +Such theories left ample room for the creation of all sorts of cure +charms, and when such ideas prevailed among the educated in the medical +profession, we need not be surprised that they still survive among many +uneducated persons, although two centuries have gone since. In 1714 one +of the most eminent physicians in Europe, Boerhaave, wrote of chemistry +and medicine:--"Nor even in this affair don't medicine receive some +advantage; witness the cups made of regulus of antimony, tempered with +other metals which communicate a medicinal quality to wine put in them, +and it is ten thousand pities the famous _Van Helmont_ should have been +so unkind to his poor fellow creatures in distress as to conceal from us +the art of making a particular metal which he tells us, made into rings, +and worn only while one might say the Lord's Prayer, would remove the +most exquisite haemorrhoidal pains, both internal and external, quiet the +most violent hysteric disorders, and give ease in the severest spasms +of the muscles. 'Tis right, therefore, to prosecute enquiries of this +nature, for there is very frequently some hidden virtues in these +compositions, and we may make a vast number of experiments of this kind +without any danger or inconvenience." + +As it illustrates the theories just mentioned, we notice here the +influence attributed to the wonderful Lee Penny. This famous charm is a +stone set in gold. It is said to have been brought home by Lochart of +Lee, who accompanied the Earl of Douglas in carrying Robert the Bruce's +heart to the Holy Land. It is called Lee Penny, and was credited with +the virtue of imparting to water into which it was dipped curative +properties, specially influential to the curing of cattle when diseased, +or preventing them taking disease. Many people from various parts of +Scotland whose cattle were affected have made application within these +few years for water in which this stone has been dipped. It is believed +that this stone cannot be lost. It is still in the possession of the +family of Lochart. + +Ague, it was believed, could be cured by putting a spider into a goose +quill, sealing it up, and hanging it about the neck, so that it would be +near the stomach. This disease might also be cured by swallowing pills +made of a spider's web. One pill a morning for three successive mornings +before breakfast. + +There were numerous cures for hooping-cough of a superstitious +character, practised extensively during the earlier years of this +century, and some are still recommended. The following are a few of +these. Pass the patient three times under the belly, and three times +over the back of a donkey. Split a sapling or a branch of the ash tree, +and hold the split open while the patient is passed three times through +the opening. Find a man riding on a piebald horse, and ask him what +should be given as a medicine, and whatever he prescribes will prove a +certain cure. "I recollect," says Jamieson, "a friend of mine that rode +a piebald horse, that he used to be pursued by people running after him +bawling,-- + + "Man wi' the piety horse, + What's gude for the kink host?" + +He said he always told them to give the bairn plenty of sugar candy. Put +a piece of _red_ flannel round the neck of a child, and it will ward off +the hooping cough. The virtue lay not in the flannel, but in the red +colour. Red was a colour symbolical of triumph and victory over all +enemies. Find a hairy caterpillar, put it into a bag, and hang it round +the neck of the child. This will prove a cure. Take some of the child's +hair and put it between slices of bread and butter, and give it to a +dog; if in eating it, the dog cough, the child will be cured, and the +hooping cough transferred to the dog. A very common practice at the +present day is to take the patient into a place where there is a tainted +atmosphere, such as a byre or a stable, a gas work, or chemical work. I +have seen the gas blown on the child's face, so that it might breath +some of it, and be set a coughing. If during the process the child take +a _kink_, it is a good sign. This idea must, I think, be of modern +origin. + +It was believed that if a present were given, especially if it were +given to a sweetheart, and then asked back again, the giver would have a +stye on the eye. Again, a stye on the eye was removable by rubbing it +with a wedding ring. I suspect these two superstitions are portions of +an ancient allegory, which, in time loosing their figurative meanings, +came to be treated as literal facts. + +Warts, especially when they are upon exposed parts of the body, are +sometimes a source of annoyance to their possessors, and various and +curious methods were taken for their removal. From their position on the +body they also were regarded as prognostications of good or bad luck. To +have warts on the right hand foreboded riches; a wart on the face +indicated troubles of various kinds. + +We have already noticed the cure recommended by the learned Sir Francis +Bacon. The following are a few of the cures which were believed in +within this century. Rub the wart with a piece of stolen bacon. Rub the +wart with a black snail, and lay the snail upon a hedge or dyke. As the +animal decays so will the wart. Wash the wart with sow's blood for three +days in succession. + +Upon the first sight of the new moon stand still and take a small +portion of earth from under the right foot, make it into a paste, put it +on the wart and wrap it round with a cloth, and thus let it remain till +that moon is out. The moon's influence and the fasting spittle are very +old superstitions. + +The moon or Ashtoreth, the consort of Baal, was the great female deity +of the ancients, and so an appeal to the moon for the purpose of +removing interferences with beauty, such as skin excrescences, was quite +appropriate. Moon worship was practised in this country in prehistoric +times. Bailey, in his _Etymological Dictionary_, under article "Moon," +says, "The moon was an ancient idol of England, and worshipped by the +Britons in the form of a beautiful maid, having her head covered, with +two ears standing out. The common people in some counties of England are +accustomed at the prime of the moon to say '_It is a fine moon. God +bless her._'" + +From a custom in Scotland (particularly in the Highlands) where the +young women make courtesy to the new moon by getting upon a gate or +style and sitting astride, they say-- + + "All hail to the moon, all hail to thee, + I prithee good moon declare to me + This very night who my husband shall be." + +Every one knows the popular adage about having money in the pocket when +the new moon is first seen, and that if the coins be turned over at the +time, money will not fail you during that moon. To see the new moon +through glass, however, breaks the charm. It was a prevalent belief that +if a person on catching the first glimpse of new moon, were to instantly +stand still, kiss their hand three times to the moon, and bow to it, +that they would find something of value before that moon was out. Such +practices are evidently survivals of moon worship. How closely does this +last practice agree with what Job says (chap. xxxi, 26),--"If I beheld +the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart +hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this also +were an iniquity to be punished by the Judge: for I should have denied +the God that is above." + +The good influence of the fasting spittle in destroying the influence of +an evil eye has been already referred to in the previous pages, but it +was also esteemed a potent remedy in curing certain diseases. To moisten +a wart for several days in succession with the fasting spittle removes +it. I have often seen a nurse bathe the eyes of a baby in the morning +with her fasting spittle, to cure or prevent sore eyes. I have heard the +same cure recommended for roughness of the skin and other skin diseases. +Maimonides states that the Jews were expressly forbidden by their +traditions to put fasting-spittle upon the eyes on the Sabbath day, +because to do so was to perform work, the great Sabbath crime in the +eyes of the Pharisees which Christ committed when he moistened the clay +with his spittle and anointed the eyes of the blind man therewith on the +Sabbath day. To both Greeks and Romans the fasting spittle was a charm +against fascination. Persius Flaccus says:--"A grandmother or a +superstitious aunt has taken baby from his cradle, and is charming his +forehead and his slavering lips against mischief by the joint action of +her middle finger and her purifying spittle." Here we find that it is +not the spittle alone, but the joint action of the spittle and the +middle finger which works the influence. The middle finger was commonly, +in the early years of this century, believed to possess a favourable +influence on sores; or, rather, it might be more correct to say that it +possessed no damaging influence, while all the other fingers, in coming +into contact with a sore, were held to have a tendency to defile, to +poison, or canker the wound. I have heard it asserted that doctors know +this, and never touch a sore but with the mid-finger. + +There were other practices and notions appertaining to the spittle and +spitting, some of which continue to this day. To spit for luck upon the +first coin earned or gained by trading, before putting it into the +pocket or purse, is a common practice. To spit in your hand before +grasping the hand of a person with whom you are dealing, and whose offer +you accept, is held to clinch the bargain, and make it binding on both +sides. This is a very old custom. Captain Burt, in his letters, says +that when in a bargain between two Highlanders, each of them wets the +ball of his thumb with his mouth, and then they press their wet thumb +balls together, it is esteemed a very binding bargain. Children in their +games, which are often imitations of the practices of men, make use of +the spittle. When playing at games of chance, such as _odds or evens_, +_something or nothing_, etc., before the player ventures his guess he +consults an augury, of a sort, by spitting on the back of his hand, and +striking the spittle with his mid-finger, watching the direction in +which the superfluous spittle flies, from him or to him, to right or +left, and therefrom, by a rule of his own, he determines what shall be +his guess. Again, boys often bind one another to a bargain or promise by +a sort of oath, which is completed by spitting. It runs thus: + + "Chaps ye, chaps ye, + Double, double daps ye, + Fire aboon, fire below, + Fire on every side o' ye." + +After saying this, the boy spits over his head three times, and without +this the oath is not considered binding; but when properly done, and the +promise not fulfilled, the defaulter is regarded as a liar, and is kept +for a time at an outside by his companions. + +When two boys made an arrangement (I am speaking of what was the custom +fifty years back), either to meet together at a stated time or to do +some certain thing, the arrangement was confirmed by each spitting on +the ground. + +When a number of boys or girls were trying to find out a puzzle or guess +put to them, and which they failed to unravel or answer, and when they +were searching for something which had been hidden from them, and which +they could not discover, the usual method of acknowledging that they +were outwitted was by spitting on the ground; in the language of the +day, they would be requested to "spit and gie't o'er," that is, own that +they were beaten. The propounder of the puzzle, or the party who had +hidden the object, was then bound to disclose the matter. + +When two boys quarrelled, and one wet the other boy's buttons with his +spittle, this was a challenge to fight or be dubbed a coward. + +Mahomet held that bad dreams were from the devil, and advised the +dreamers to seek protection by addressing a short prayer to God, and +then spitting three times over their left shoulder. He further +counselled them to tell the dream to no one, and by following these +instructions no harm, such as the dreams had foreshadowed, would befall +them. + +In the case of a person bitten by a dog, a few hairs taken from the +dog's tail, and placed upon the wound either upon or under a poultice, +was regarded as a protection from evil consequences, such as +hydrophobia. I know of an instance in which this remedy was applied so +lately as 1876. This practice is unmistakeably the origin of the toper's +proverb when suffering from headache in the morning, + + "Take a hair of the dog that bit you." + +I will not enter into the subject of faith in the influence of relics. +Such beliefs existed in Scotland in my young days, and it is almost +unnecessary to say that belief in such things is older than history. In +my youth there was also a belief in the virtue of precious stones, which +added a value to them beyond their real value as ornaments. An +investigation into this matter would tend to throw much light upon many +ancient practices and beliefs, as each stone had its own symbolic +meaning, and its own peculiar influence for imparting good and +protecting from evil and from sickness, its fortunate possessor. +Probably John's description of heaven with its windows of agate, its +doors of pearls or carbuncles, its foundations of amethyst, with +sapphires blue, and sardines clear and red, had relation to the popular +beliefs of the time. I have seen at Mill More, Killin, stones which are +reported to have been used by St. Fillan for curing all sorts of +diseases; and there are not a few persons at the present day who wear +certain polished stones about their persons as a protective influence +against certain diseases. + +The ancient Jews had a superstitious idea respecting precious stones, +which gave that strong desire for their possession, which is still +characteristic of the race. + +The Diamond was an antidote to Satanic temptation. + +Ruby made the possessor brave. + +Topaz preserved the bearer against being poisoned. + +Amethyst preserved from drunkenness. + +Emerald promoted piety. + +Sardonyx dispelled unholy thoughts. + +There is a legend that God gave to Abraham a precious stone which had +the power of preserving him from all kinds of sickness. + +When any person was troubled with a morbid hunger accompanied with pain +in the stomach, it was believed that that affliction was caused by the +sufferer having swallowed some animal, which continued to live in the +stomach, and that when this was empty it knawed the stomach and produced +the pain felt. Several strange instances illustrative of the truth of +this theory were current in my native village. Let one case suffice. An +old soldier having on some long march been induced through extreme +thirst to drink from a ditch, had swallowed some animal. Years after he +was taken ill, and came home. His hunger for food was so great that he +could scarcely be satisfied, and notwithstanding the great quantities of +food which he consumed, he became thinner and thinner, and his hunger +was accompanied with great pain. Doctors could do him no good. At length +he met with a skilly old man, who told him that there was an animal in +his stomach, and advised him to procure a salt herring and eat it raw, +and on no account to take any drink, but go at once to the side of a +pool or burn and lie down there with his mouth open, and watch the +result. He had not lain long when he felt something moving within him, +and by and bye an ugly toad came out of his mouth, and made for the +water. Having drank its fill, it was returning to its old quarters, when +the old soldier rose and killed it. Many in the village had seen the +dead toad. After this the man recovered rapidly. Many other stories of +people swallowing _asks_ (newts), and other water animals which lived in +their stomachs, and produced serious diseases, were current in my young +days. This gave boys a great fear of stretching down and drinking from a +pool, or even a running stream. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_DIVINING._ + + +There is another class of superstitions which have prevailed from ages +the most remote to the present day, although now they are dying out--at +least, they are not now employed to determine such important matters as +they once were. I refer to the practice of divining, or casting lots. In +early times such practices were regarded as a direct appeal to God. From +the Old and New Testaments we learn that these practices were resorted +to by the Jews; but in modern times, and among Western nations, the lot +was regarded as an appeal to the devil as much as to God. I have known +people object to the lot as a sinful practice; but, at the same time, +they were in the constant habit of directing their own course by such an +appeal, as, for instance, when they were about to travel on some +important business, they would fix that, if certain events happened, +they would regard such as a good omen from God, and would accordingly +undertake their journey; but if not, they would regard the +non-occurrence as an unfavourable omen, and defer their journey, in +submission, as they supposed, to the will of God. In modern times, the +practice of casting lots to determine legal or other important questions +has been abandoned by civilized nations; but the practice still exists +in less civilized communities, and is employed to determine such serious +matters as involve questions of life or death, and it still survives +among us in trivial matters, as games. + +In my young days, a process of divining, allied to casting lots, was +resorted to by young women in order to discover a thief, or to ascertain +whether a young man who was courting one of them was in earnest, and +would in the future become that girl's husband. The process was called +the Bible and key trial, and the formula was as follows:--A key and +Bible were procured, the key being so much longer than the Bible that, +when placed between the leaves, the head and handle would project. If +the enquiry was about the good faith of a sweetheart, the key was placed +in Ruth i. 16, on the words, "Entreat me not to leave thee: where thou +goest I will go," etc. The Bible was then closed, and tied round with +tape. Two neutral persons, sitting opposite each other, held out the +forefingers of their right hands, and the person who was consulting the +oracle suspended the Bible between their two hands, resting the +projecting parts of the key on the outstretched forefingers. No one +spoke except the enquirer, and she, as she placed the key and Bible in +position, repeated slowly the whole passage, "Entreat me not to leave +thee," John or James, or whatever the name of the youth was, "for where +thou goest I will go," etc. If the key and Bible turned and fell off the +fingers, the answer was favourable; and generally by the time the whole +passage was repeated this was the result, provided the parties holding +up the key and Bible were firm and steady. For the detection of a thief, +the formula was the same, with only this difference, that the key was +put into the Bible at the fiftieth Psalm, and the enquirer named the +suspected thief, and then repeated the eighteenth verse of that Psalm, +"When thou sawest a thief then thou consentest with him," etc. If the +Bible turned round and fell, it was held to be proof that the person +named was the thief. This method of divining was not frequently +practised, not through want of faith in its efficacy, but through +superstitious terror, for the movement of the key was regarded as +evidence that some unseen dread power was present, and so overpowering +occasionally was the impression produced that the young woman who was +chief actor in the scene fainted. The parties holding the key and Bible +were generally old women, whose faith in the ordeal was perfect, and +who, removed by their age from the intenser sympathies of youth, could +therefore hold their hands with steadier nerve. It is only when firm +hands hold it that the turning takes place, for this phenomenon depends +upon the regular and steady pulsations in the fingers, and when held +steadily the ordeal never fails. + +There were various other methods for divining or consulting fate or +deity. M'Tagart refers to a practice of divining by the staff. When a +pilgrim at any time got bewildered, he would poise his staff +perpendicularly, and there leave it to fall of itself; and in whatever +direction it fell, that was the road he would take, believing himself +supernaturally directed. Townsmen when they wished to go on a pleasure +excursion to the country, and careless or unsettled which way to go, +would apply to this form of lot. In the old song of "Jock Burnie" there +occurs the following verse:-- + + "En' on en' he poised his rung, then + Watch'd the airt its head did fa', + Whilk was east, he lapt and sung then, + For there his dear bade, Meg Macraw." + +This practice was common with boys in the country fifty years ago, both +for determining where to go for pleasure, or if in a game one of their +number had hidden, and could not be found, as a last resort the stick +was poised, and in whatever direction the stick fell, search was renewed +in that direction. + +Such things as these seem trifling, and it would seem folly to treat +them seriously; but they were not always trifling matters. Some of our +Biblical scholars say that it was to this kind of divining that the +prophet Hosea referred when he said, "Their staff declareth unto them," +and at the present day there are nations who practice such methods for +determining important affairs of life. + +The New Zealand sorcerers use sticks for divining, which they throw into +the air, and come to their decisions by observing in which direction +these sticks fall. Even in such matters as sickness or bodily injury, +the direction in which the falling sticks lie, or it may be a certain +stick in the group, directs the way to a physician. In ancient times the +Magian form of divining was by staves or sticks. The diviner carried +with him a bundle of willow wands, and when about to divine he untied +the bundle and laid the wands upon the ground; then he gathered them and +threw them from him, repeating certain words as if consulting some +divinity. The wands were of different lengths, and their numbers varied +from three to nine, but only the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 belonged to +heaven, the even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8 belonged to earth. The Chinese +divine after this fashion at the present day. From such ideas has +doubtless arisen the saying that there is luck in odd numbers, a belief +which, after a fashion, still prevails. + +The virtue and mysterious power of the divining rod is still believed by +many, and has frequently been resorted to during this century for the +purpose of discovering water springs and metallic veins. The diviner +takes a willow wand with a forked end: the forked points are held in his +two hands, the other end pointing horizontally in front of him, and as +he walks slowly over a field he watches the movements of the rod. When +it bends towards the earth, as if apparently strongly attracted thereto, +he feels certain he is passing over a spring or metallic vein. But the +phenomenon, it is believed, will not take place with every one who may +try it, there being only certain parties, mediums as we would name them +in these days, who have the gift of operating successfully; and such +parties obtained great fame in countries and districts where water was +scarce, as they were able to point out the exact spots where wells +should be dug, and also in such counties as Cornwall, where they could +point out the spots where a mine could profitably be sunk. Again and +again within these few years have warm controversies been carried on in +public papers on the question of the reality of the virtue and power of +the _dousing rod_ for discovering minerals or mineral veins. Some have +argued that a hazel rod is as perfect as a willow rod, and have adduced +instances of its successful application. + +There was another form of divining essentially an appeal to the lot, in +which a stick was used, and which was frequently employed to determine +matters of considerable importance. Boys resorted to it in their games +in order to determine between two parties, to settle for example which +side should take a certain part in a game, or which of two lads, leaders +in a game, should have the first choice of associates. A long stick was +thrown into the air and caught by one of the parties, then each +alternately grasped it hand over hand, and he who got the last hold was +the successful party. He might not have sufficient length of stick to +fill his whole hand, but if by closing his hand upon the end projecting +from his opponent's hand, he could support the weight of the stick, this +was enough. + +The various methods of divining which are generally regarded as modern +inventions, such as the many forms of divining by cards, the reading of +the future from the position of the leaves of tea in a tea-cup, etc., we +will pass by without comment, only remarking that the prevalence among +us still of such superstitious notions shows that men, notwithstanding +our boasted civilisation, are still open to believe in mysteries which, +to common sense, are incredible, without exhibiting the slightest trace +of scepticism, and without taking any trouble to investigate the truth +of the pretensions, contenting themselves with a saying I have often +heard--"Wonderful things were done of old which we cannot understand, +and God's hand is not yet shortened. He can do now what He did then." +And so they save themselves trouble of reasoning, a process which, to +the majority, is disagreeable. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_SUPERSTITIONS RELATING TO ANIMALS._ + + +Many other superstitious notions still exist among us with respect to +certain animals, which have, no doubt, had their origin in remote +times--some of them, doubtless, being survivals of ancient forms of +animal worship. The ancient Egyptians worshipped animals, or held +certain animals as symbols of divine powers. The Jews made a division of +animals into clean and unclean, and the ancient Persians held certain +animals in detestation as having a connection with the evil spirit; +while others were esteemed by them as connected with the good spirit or +principle. Other ancient nations held certain animals as more sacred +than others, and these ideas still exist among us, modified and +transformed to a greater or less extent. The robin is a familiar example +of a bird which is held in veneration by the popular mind. The legend of +the robins in the _Babes in the Wood_ may have increased this +veneration. There was a popular saying that the robin had a drop of +God's blood in its veins, and that therefore to kill or hurt it was a +sin, and that some evil would befall anyone who did so, and, conversely, +any kindness done to poor robin would be repaid in some fashion. Boys +did not dare to harry a robin's nest. + +The _yellow yite_, or yellow hammer, was held in just the opposite +estimation, and although one of the prettiest of birds, their nests were +remorselessly harried, and their young often cruelly killed. When young, +I was present at an act of this sort, and, as an illustration of courage +and affection in the parent bird, I may relate the circumstance. The +nest, with four fledglings, was about a quarter of a mile outside the +village. It was carried through the village to a quarry, as far on the +opposite side. The parent bird followed the boys, uttering a plaintive +cry all the way. On reaching the quarry, the nest was laid on the +ground, and a certain distance measured off, where the boys were to +stand and throw stones at it. While this was being done, the parent bird +flew to the nest, and made strenuous efforts to draw it away; and when +the stones were thrown, it flew to a little distance, continuing its +cry; and only flew away when it was made the mark for the stones. These +boys would never have thought of doing the same thing to a nest of +robins. It was said to have a drop of the devil's blood in its veins, +and that its jerky and unsteady flight was a consequence of this. The +hatred to the yellow hammer, however, was only local. The swallow was +also considered to have a drop of the _deil's_ blood in its veins; but, +unlike the yellow hammer, instead of being persecuted, it was feared, +and therefore let alone. If a swallow built its nest in a window-corner, +it was regarded as a lucky omen, and the annoyance and filth arising +therefrom was patiently borne with under the belief that such a presence +brought luck and prosperity to the house. To tear down a swallow's nest +was looked upon as a daring of the fates, and when this was done by the +proprietor or tenant, there were many who would prophesy that death or +some other great calamity would overtake, within a twelvemonth, the +family of the perpetrator. To possess a hen which took to crowing like a +cock boded ill to the possessor or his family if it were not disposed of +either by killing or selling. They were generally sold to be killed. +Only a few years ago I had such a prodigy among a flock of hens which I +kept about my works, and one day it was overheard crowing, when one of +the workmen came to me, and, with a solemn face, told the circumstance, +and advised me strongly to have it destroyed or put away, as some evil +would surely follow, relating instances he had known in Ireland. This +superstition has found expression in the Scotch proverb: "Whistling +maids and crowing hens are no canny about a house." + +Seeing magpies before breakfast was a good or bad omen according to the +number seen up to four. This was expressed in the following rhyme, which +varies slightly in different localities. The following version was +current in my native village:-- + + "One bodes grief, two's a death, + Three's a wedding, four's a birth." + +Chambers in his Scottish Rhymes has it thus:-- + + "One's joy, two's grief. + Three's a wedding, four's a birth." + +I knew a man who, if on going to his work he had seen two _piets_ +together, would have refrained from working before he had taken +breakfast, believing that if he did so it would result in evil either to +himself or his family. + +If a cock crew in the morning with its head in at the door of the house, +it was a token that a stranger would pay the family a visit that day; +and so firm was the _faith_ in this that it was often followed by works, +the house being _redd_ up for the occasion. I remember lately visiting +an old friend in the country, and on making my appearance I was hailed +with the salutation, "Come awa, I knew we would have a visit from +strangers to-day, for the cock crowed thrice over with his head in at +the door." If a horse stood and looked through a gateway or along a road +where a bride or bridegroom dwelt, it was a very bad omen for the future +happiness of the intending couple. The one dwelling in that direction +would not live long. + +If a bird got any human hair, and used it in building its nest, the +person on whose head the hair grew would be troubled with headaches, and +would very soon get bald. + +It is still a common belief that crows begin to build their nests on the +first Sabbath of March. + +A bird coming into a house and flying over any one's head was an unlucky +omen for the person over whose head it flew. + +It was said that eggs laid upon Good Friday never got stale, and that +butter made on that day possessed medicinal properties. + +If a horse neighed at the door of a house, it boded sickness to some of +the inmates. + +A cricket singing on the hearth was a good omen, a token of coming +riches to the family. + +If a bee came up in a straight line to a person's face, it was regarded +as a forerunner of important news. + +If a servant wilfully killed a spider, she would certainly, it was said, +break a piece of crockery or glass during that day. + +Spiders were, as they are still, generally detested in a house, and were +often very roughly dislodged; but yet their lives were protected by a +very old superstition. There is an old English proverb-- + + "If you wish to live and thrive, + Let the spider run alive." + +When my mother saw a spider's web in the house she swept it away very +roughly, but the spider was not wilfully killed. If it was not seen it +was considered all right, but if it fell on the floor or was seen +running along the wall, it was brushed out of the room; none of us were +allowed to put our foot on it, or wilfully kill it. This care for the +life of the spider is probably due to the influence of an old legend +that a spider wove its web over the place where the baby Christ was hid, +thus preserving his life by screening him from sight of those who sought +to kill him. Stories of a similar character are related in connection +with King Robert Bruce, and several other notable persons during times +of persecution, who, while hiding in caves, spiders came and wove their +webs over the entrances, which, when their enemies saw, convinced them +that the parties they were in search of had not taken refuge there, or +the webs would have been destroyed. + +The common white butterfly was a favourite with children, and to catch +one and preserve it alive was considered lucky. Care was taken to +preserve them by feeding them with sugar. But the dark brown and +spotted butterflies were always detested, and were named witch +butterflies. Ill luck, it was believed, would attend any one who kept +one alive, but to kill one was an unlucky transaction, which would be +attended by evil to the killer before evening. + +Beetles were held in aversion by most people, and if one was found upon +the person, if they were at all nervous, it was sufficient to cause a +fit, at least would set them screaming with a shudder of detestation. +But there was a variety of small beetles with a beautiful bronze +coloured back, called _gooldies_ by children, which were held in great +favour. They were sometimes kept by children as little pets, and allowed +to run upon their hands and clothes, and this was not because of their +beauty, but because to possess a _gooldie_ was considered very lucky. To +kill a beetle brought rain the following day. + +The lady bird, with its scarlet coat spotted with black, was another +great favourite with most people. Very few would kill a lady bird, as +such an act would surely be followed by calamity of some sort. Children +were eager to catch one and watch it gracefully spreading out its wings +from under its coat of mail, and then taking flight, while the group of +youthful onlookers would repeat the rhyme, + + "Lady bird, lady bird, fly away home, + Your house is on fire, and your children at home." + +or + + "Lady lady landers, fly away to Flanders." + +But these practices were not altogether confined to children. Grown up +girls, when they caught a lady bird, held it in their hands, and +repeated the following couplet-- + + "Fly away east or fly away west, + And show me where lives the one I like best." + +Its flight was watched with great anxiety, and when it took the +direction which the young girl wished, it was not only a sort of +pleasure, but a proof of the augury. + +If a person on going to his work, or while going an errand, were to see +a hare cross the road in front of him, it was a token that ill luck +would shortly befall him. Many under such circumstances would return +home and not pursue their quest until the next meal had been eaten, for +beyond that the evil influence did not extend. This superstition is very +old, but it is not in every country or age connected with the hare. We +have already seen in a quotation from Ovid that this superstition +existed in his day, (page 2.) Probably the hare has been adopted in this +country from the belief that witches assumed the form of that animal +when on their nightly rambles, for how was the wayfarer to know that the +hare which he saw was not a transformed witch, intent on working him +mischief? + +The cat was always a favourite in a family, and nothing was more unlucky +than for one to die inside the house. I have known cases where, when +such a misfortune occurred, the family were thrown into great +consternation, surmising what possible form of evil this omen portended +to them. Generally when a cat was known to be ailing, the animal was +removed from the house and placed in the coal cellar, or other +outhouse, with plenty of food, and kept there until it either recovered +or died. With the ancient Egyptians the cat was one of their favourite +animals. The death of a cat belonging to a family was considered a great +misfortune. Upon the occurrence of such an event the household went into +mourning, shaving off their eyebrows, and otherwise indicating their +sorrow. In Scotland it was believed that witches often assumed the cat +form while exercising their evil influence over a family. + +It was pretty generally believed a few years ago that in large fires +kept continually burning there was generated an animal called a +salamander. It required seven years to grow and attain maturity, and if +the fires were kept burning longer than that there was great danger that +the animal might make its escape from its fiery matrix, and, if this +should happen, it would range round the world, destroying all it came in +contact with, itself almost indestructible. Hence large fires, such as +those of blast furnaces in ironworks, were extinguished before the +expiry of the seven years, and the embryo monster taken out. Such an +idea may have had its origin in a misinterpretation of some of St. +John's apocalyptic visions, or may have been a survival of the legend of +the fiery dragon whose very breath was fire, a legend common during the +middle ages and also in ancient Rome. Bacon, in his _Natural History_, +says--"There is an ancient tradition of the salamander that it liveth in +the fire, and hath force also to extinguish the fire"; and, according to +Pliny, Book X. chap. 67,--"The salamander, made in fashion of a lizard, +with spots like to stars, never comes abroad, and sheweth itself only +during great showers. In fair weather, he is not seen; he is of so cold +a complexion that if he do but touch the fire he would quench +it."--_Holland_. This is quite opposite to the modern notion of it that +it was generated in the fire, but such legends take transformations +suitable to the age and locality. + +The goat has been associated both in ancient and modern times with the +devil, or evil spirit, who is depicted with horns, hoofs, and a tail. In +modern times, he was supposed to haunt streams and woods in this +disguise, and to be present at many social gatherings. He was popularly +credited with assisting, in this disguise, in the instruction of a +novice into the mysteries of Freemasonry, and was supposed to allow the +novice to ride on his back, and go withershins three times round the +room. I have known men who were anxious to be admitted into the order +deterred by the thought of thus meeting with the devil at their +initiation. + +While staying at Luss lately, I was informed that a mill near to Loch +Lomond had formerly been haunted by the goat demon, and that the miller +had suffered much from its mischievous disposition. It frequently let on +the water when there was no grain to grind. But one night the miller +watched his mill, and had a meeting with the goblin, who demanded the +miller's name, and was informed that it was _myself_. After a trial of +strength, the miller got the best of it, and the spirit departed. After +hearing this, I remembered that the same story, under a slightly +different form, had been told me when a boy in my native village. This +was the story as then told:--A certain miller in the west missed a +quantity of his meal every day, although his mill was carefully and +securely locked. One night he sat up and watched, hiding himself behind +the hopper. After a time, he was surprised to see the hopper beginning +to go, and, looking up, he saw a little manakin holding a little cappie +in his hand and filling it at the hopper. The miller was so frightened +that this time he let him go; but, in a few minutes, the manakin +returned again with his cappie. Then the miller stepped out from his +hiding-place, and said, "Aye, my manakin, and wha may you be, and what's +your name?" To which the manakin, without being apparently disturbed, +replied, "My name is Self, and what's your name?" "My name is Self, +too," replied the miller. The manakin's cappie being by this time again +full, he began to walk off, but the miller gave him a whack with his +stick, and then ran again to his hiding-place. The manakin gave a +terrible yell, which brought from a hidden corner an old woman, crying, +"Wha did it? Wha did it?" The manakin answered, "It was Self did it." +Whereat, slapping the manakin on the cheek, the old woman said, "If Self +did it, Self must mend it again." After this, they both left the mill, +which immediately stopped working. The miller was never afterwards +troubled in this way, and, at the same time, a goat which for +generations had been observed at gloaming and on moonlight nights in the +dell, and on the banks of the stream which drove the mill, disappeared, +and was never seen again. + +To meet a sow the first thing in the morning boded bad luck for the day. + +If a male cat came into the house and shewed itself friendly to any one, +it was a lucky omen for that person. + +To meet a piebald horse was lucky. If two such horses were met apart, +the one after the other, and if then the person who met them were to +spit three times, and express any reasonable wish, it would be granted +within three days. + +If a stray dog followed any person on the street, without having been +enticed, it was lucky, and success was certain to attend the errand on +which the person was engaged. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_SUPERSTITIONS CONCERNING PLANTS._ + +Superstitions connected with plants were more numerous than those +connected with animals. We have already noticed widespread prevalence of +tree worship in early times. The Bible is full of evidence bearing upon +this point, from the earliest period of Jewish history until the time of +the captivity. Even concerning those Kings of Judah and Israel who are +recorded to have walked in the ways of their father David, it is +frequently remarked of them that they did not remove or hew down the +_groves_, but permitted them to remain a snare to the people. In several +instances the word translated grove cannot properly be applicable to a +grove of trees, but must signify something much smaller, for it is in +these instances described as being located in the temple. It can +therefore refer only to a tree or stump of a tree, or it may be only the +symbol of a tree. The story of the tree of good and evil, and the tree +of life, has been the origin of many superstitious notions regarding +trees. The notion that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an +apple tree, caused the apple to have a great many mystic meanings, and +gave it a prominent place in many legends, and also brought it into +prominence as a divining medium. In many parts of Scotland the apple was +believed to have great influence in love affairs. If an apple seed were +shot between the fingers it was understood that it would, by the +direction of its flight, indicate the direction from which that person's +future partner in life would come. If a couple took an apple on St. +John's eve and cut it in two, and if the seeds on each half were found +to be equal in number, this was a token that these two would be soon +united in marriage; or if the halves contained an unequal number of +seeds, the one who possessed the half with the greater number would be +married first. If a seed were cut in two, it denoted trouble to the +party holding the larger portion of the seed. If two seeds were cut, it +denoted early death or widowhood to one of the parties. If the apple +were sour or sweet, the flavour indicated the temper of the parties. +There was a practice common among young people of peeling an apple in an +unbroken peel, and throwing the peeled skin over the right shoulder in +order to ascertain from the manner in which it fell, first, whether the +person who threw it would be married soon, and second, the trade or +profession of the person to whom they would be married. If the skin +after being thrown remained unbroken, they would be married soon, and +the person to whom they would be married was ascertained from the form +which the fallen skin presented; this form might assume the shape of a +letter, in that case it was the initial letter of the unknown parties +name, or it might assume the form of some trade tool, &c. Imagination +had free scope here. The apple tree itself was considered a lucky tree +to have near a house, but its principal virtue lay in the fruit. + +_Holly_. This name is probably a corruption of the word holy, as this +plant has been used from time immemorial as a protection against evil +influence. It was hung round, or planted near houses, as a protection +against lightning. Its common use at Christmas is apparently the +survival of an ancient Roman custom, occurring during the festival to +Saturn, to which god the holly was dedicated. While the Romans were +holding this feast, which occurred about the time of the winter +solstice, they decked the outsides of their houses with holly; at the +same time the Christians were quietly celebrating the birth of Christ, +and to avoid detection they outwardly followed the custom of their +heathen neighbours, and decked their houses with holly also. In this way +the holly came to be connected with our Christmas customs. (See chapter +on Festivals.) This plant was also regarded as a symbol of the +resurrection. The use of mistletoe along with holly is probably due to +the notion that in winter the fairies took shelter under its leaves, and +that they protected all who sheltered the plant. The origin of kissing +under the mistletoe is considered to have come from our Saxon ancestors, +who regarded this plant as dedicated to _Friga_, the goddess of love. + +The _Aspen_ was said to have been the tree on which Judas hanged himself +after the betrayal of his Master, and ever since its leaves have +trembled with shame. + +The _Ash_ had wonderful influence. The old Christmas log was of ash +wood, and the use of it at this time was helpful to the future +prosperity of the family. Venomous animals, it was said, would not take +shelter under its branches. A carriage with its axles made of ash wood +was believed to go faster than a carriage with its axles made of any +other wood; and tools with handles made of this wood were supposed to +enable a man to do more work than he could do with tools whose handles +were not of ash. Hence the reason that ash wood is generally used for +tool handles. It was upon ash branches that witches were enabled to ride +through the air; and those who ate on St. John's eve the red buds of the +tree, were rendered invulnerable to witch influence. + +The _Hazel_ was dedicated to the god _Thor_, and, in the Roman Catholic +Church, was esteemed a plant of great virtue for the cure of fevers. +When used as a divining rod, the rod, if it were cut on St. John's Day +or Good Friday, would be certain to be a successful instrument of +divination. A hazel rod was a badge of authority, and it was probably +this notion which caused it to be made use of by school masters. Among +the Romans, a hazel rod was also a symbol of authority. + +The _Willow_, as might be expected, had many superstitious notions +connected with it, since, according to the authorized version of the +English Bible, the Israelites are said to have hung their harps on +willow trees. The weeping willow is said to have, ever since the time of +the Jews' captivity in Babylon, drooped its branches, in sympathy with +this circumstance. The common willow was held to be under the protection +of the devil, and it was said that, if any were to cast a knot upon a +young willow, and sit under it, and thereupon renounce his or her +baptism, the devil would confer upon them supernatural power. + +The _Elder_, or _Bourtree_ had wonderful influence as a protection +against evil. Wherever it grew, witches were powerless. In this country, +gardens were protected by having elder trees planted at the entrance, +and sometimes hedges of this plant were trained round the garden. There +are very few old gardens in country places in which are not still seen +remains of the protecting elder tree. In my boyhood, I remember that my +brothers, sisters, and myself were warned against breaking a twig or +branch from the elder hedge which surrounded my grandfather's garden. We +were told at the time, as a reason for this prohibition, that it was +poisonous; but we discovered afterwards that there was another reason, +viz., that it was unlucky to break off even a small twig from a bourtree +bush. In some parts of the Continent this superstitious feeling is so +strong that, before pruning it, the gardener says--"Elder, elder, may I +cut thy branches?" If no response be heard, it is considered that assent +has been given, and then, after spitting three times, the pruner begins +his cutting. According to Montanus, elder wood formed a portion of the +fuel used in the burning of human bodies as a protection against evil +influences; and, within my own recollection, the driver of a hearse had +his whip handle made of elder wood for a similar reason. In some parts +of Scotland, people would not put a piece of elder wood into the fire, +and I have seen, not many years ago, pieces of this wood lying about +unused, when the neighbourhood was in great straits for firewood; but +none would use it, and when asked why? the answer was--"We don't know, +but folks say it is not lucky to burn the bourtree." It was believed +that children laid in a cradle made in whole or in part of elderwood, +would not sleep well, and were in danger of falling out of the cradle. +Elder berries, gathered on St. John's Eve, would prevent the possessor +suffering from witchcraft, and often bestowed upon their owners magical +powers. If the elder were planted in the form of a cross upon a new-made +grave, and if it bloomed, it was a sure sign that the soul of the dead +person was happy. + +The _Onion_ was regarded as a symbol of the universe among the ancient +Egyptians, and many curious beliefs were associated with it. It was +believed by them that it attracted and absorbed infectious matters, and +was usually hung up in rooms to prevent maladies. This belief in the +absorptive virtue of the onion is prevalent even at the present day. +When a youth, I remember the following story being told, and implicitly +believed by all. There was once a certain king or nobleman who was in +want of a physician, and two celebrated doctors applied. As both could +not obtain the situation, they agreed among themselves that the one was +to try to poison the other, and he who succeeded in overcoming the +poison would thus be left free to fill the situation. They drew lots as +to who should first take the poison. The first dose given was a stewed +toad, but the party who took it immediately applied a poultice of peeled +onions over his stomach, and thus abstracted all the poison of the toad. +Two days after, the other doctor was given the onions to eat. He ate +them, and died. It was generally believed that a poultice of peeled +onions laid on the stomach, or underneath the armpits, would cure any +one who had taken poison. My mother would never use onions which had +lain for any length of time with their skins off. + +So lately as 1849, Mr. J.B. Wolff, in the _Scientific American_, states +that he had charge of one hundred men on shipboard, cholera raging among +them; they had onions on board, which a number of the men freely ate, +and these were soon attacked by the cholera and nearly all died. As soon +as this discovery was made, the eating of the onions was forbidden. Mr. +Wolff came to the conclusion that onions should never be eaten during an +epidemic; he remarks, "After many years experience, I have found that +onions placed in a room where there is small-pox, will blister and +decompose with great rapidity,--not only so, but will prevent the spread +of disease;" and he thinks that, as a disinfectant, they have no equal, +only keep them out of the stomach. + +It was believed that, when peeling onions, if an onion were stuck on the +point of the knife which was being used, it would prevent the eyes being +affected. + +The common _Fern_, it was believed, was in flower at midnight on St. +John's Eve, and whoever got possession of the flower would be protected +from all evil influences, and would obtain a revelation of hidden +treasure. + +_St.-John's-Wort_. In heathen mythology the summer solstice was a day +dedicated to the sun, and was believed to be a day on which witches held +their festivities. St.-John's-Wort was their symbolical plant, and +people were wont to judge from it whether their future would be lucky or +unlucky; as it grew they read in its progressive character their future +lot. The Christians dedicated this festive period to St. John the +Baptist, and the sacred plant was named St.-John's-Wort or root, and +became a talisman against evil. In one of the old romantic ballads a +young lady falls in love with a demon, who tells her + + "Gin you wish to be Leman mine, + Lay aside the St.-John's-wort and the vervain." + +When hung up on St. John's day together with a cross over the doors of +houses it kept out the devil and other evil spirits. To gather the root +on St. John's day morning at sunrise, and retain it in the house, gave +luck to the family in their undertakings, especially in those begun on +that day. Plants with _lady_ attached to their names were in ancient +times dedicated to some goddess; and in Christian times the term was +transferred to the Virgin Mary. Such plants have good qualities, +conferring protection and favour on their possessors. + +From the earliest times the _Rose_ has been an emblem of silence. +_Eros_, in the Greek mythology, presents a rose to the god of silence, +and to this day _sub rosa_, or "under the rose," means the keeping of a +secret. Roses were used in very early times as a potent ingredient in +love philters. In Greece it was customary to leave bequests for the +maintenance of rose gardens, a custom which has come down to recent +times. Rose gardens were common during the middle ages. According to +Indian mythology, one of the wives of Vishna was found in a rose. In +Rome it was the custom to bless the rose on a certain Sunday, called +_Rose Sunday_. The custom of blessing the golden rose came into vogue +about the eleventh century. The golden rose thus consecrated was given +to princes as a mark of the Roman Pontifs' favour. In the east it is +still believed that the first rose was generated by a tear of the +prophet Mahomet, and it is further believed that on a certain day in the +year the rose has a heart of gold. In the West of Scotland if a white +rose bloomed in autumn it was a token of early death to some one, but if +a red rose did the same, it was a token of an early marriage. The red +rose, it was said, would not bloom over a grave. If a young girl had +several lovers, and wished to know which of them would be her husband, +she would take a rose leaf for each of her sweethearts, and naming each +leaf after the name of one of her lovers, she would watch them till one +after another they sank, and the last to sink would be her future +husband. Rose leaves thrown upon a fire gave good luck. If a rose bush +were pruned on St. John's eve, it would bloom again in the autumn. +Superstitions respecting the rose are more numerous in England than in +Scotland. + +The _Lily_ had a sacredness associated with it, probably on account of +Christ's reference to it. It was employed as a charm against evil +influence, and as an antidote to love philters; but I am not aware of +any of these uses being put in practice during this century. + +The four-leaved _Clover_ had extraordinary influence in preserving its +possessor from magical and witch influence, and enabled their possessors +also to see through any deceit or device which might be tried against +them. I have seen a group of young women within these few years +searching eagerly for this charmed plant. + +The _Oak_, from time immemorial, has held a high place as a sacred tree. +The Druids worshipped the oak, and performed many of their rites under +the shadow of its branches. When Augustine preached Christianity to the +ancient Britons, he stood under an oak tree. The ancient Hebrews +evidently held the oak as a sacred tree. There is a tradition that +Abraham received his heavenly visitors under an oak. Rebekah's nurse was +buried under an oak, called afterwards the oak of weeping. Jacob buried +the idols of Shechem under an oak. It was under the oak of Ophra, +Gideon saw the angel sitting, who gave him instructions as to what he +was to do to free Israel. When Joshua and Israel made a covenant to +serve God, a great stone was set up in evidence under an oak that was by +the sanctuary of the Lord. The prophet sent to prophesy against Jeroboam +was found at Bethel sitting under an oak. Saul and his sons were buried +under an oak, and, according to Isaiah, idols were made of oak wood. +Abimelech was made king by the oak that was in Shechem. From these +proofs we need not be surprised that the oak continued to be held in +veneration, and was believed to possess virtues overcoming evil. During +last century its influence in curing diseases was believed in. The +toothache could be cured by boring with a nail the tooth or gum till +blood came, and then driving the nail into an oak tree. A child with +rupture could be cured by splitting an oak branch, and passing the child +through the opening backwards three times; if the splits grew together +afterwards, the child would be cured. The same was believed in as to the +ash tree. In the Presbytery Records of Lanark, 1664:--"Compeirs Margaret +Reid in the same parish, (Carnwath), suspect of witchcraft, and +confessed she put a woman newlie delivered, thrice through a green +halshe, for helping a grinding of the bellie; and that she carried a +sick child thrice about ane aikine post for curing of it." Such means of +curing diseases were practised within this century, and many things +connected with the oak were held potent as curatives. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS._ + + +Glamour was a kind of witch power which certain people were supposed to +be gifted with; by the exercise of such influence they took command over +their subjects' sense of sight, and caused them to see whatever they +desired that they should see. Sir Walter Scott describes the recognised +capability of glamour power in the following lines:-- + + "It had much of glamour might, + Could make a lady seem a knight. + The cobwebs on a dungeon wall, + Seem tapestry in lordly hall. + A nutshell seem a gilded barge, + A sheeling seem a palace large, + And youth seem age, and age seem youth, + All was delusion, nought was truth." + +Gipsies were believed to possess this power, and for their own ends to +exercise it over people. In the ballad of "Johnny Faa," Johnny is +represented as exercising this power over the Countess of Cassillis-- + + "And she came tripping down the stairs, + With a' her maids before her, + And soon as he saw her weel faured face, + He coost the glamour o'er her." + +To possess a four-leaved clover completely protected any one from this +power. I remember a story which I heard when a boy, and the narrator of +it I recollect spoke as if he were quite familiar with the fact. A +certain man came to the village to exhibit the strength of a wonderful +cock, which could draw, when attached to its leg by a rope, a large log +of wood. Many people went and paid to see this wonderful performance, +which was exhibited in the back yard of a public house. One of the +spectators present on one occasion had in his possession a four-leaved +clover, and while others saw, as they supposed, a log of wood drawn +through the yard, this person saw only a straw attached to the cock's +leg by a small thread. I may mention here that the four-leaved clover +was reputed to be a preventative against madness, and against being +drafted for military service. + +One very ancient and persistent superstition had regard to the direction +of movement either of persons or things. This direction should always be +with the course of the sun. To move against the sun was improper and +productive of evil consequences, and the name given to this direction of +movement was _withershins_. Witches in their dances and other pranks, +always, it was said, went _withershins_. Mr. Simpson in his work, +_Meeting the Sun_, says, "The Llama monk whirls his praying cylinder in +the way of the sun, and fears lest a stranger should get at it and turn +it contrary, which would take from it all the virtue it had acquired. +They also build piles of stone, and always pass them on one side, and +return on the other, so as to make a circuit with the sun. Mahommedans +make the circuit of the Caaba in the same way. The ancient dagobas of +India and Ceylon were also traversed round in the same way, and the old +Irish and Scotch custom is to make all movements _Deisual_, or sunwise, +round houses and graves, and to turn their bodies in this way at the +beginning and end of a journey for luck, as well as at weddings and +other ceremonies." + +To go _withershins_ and to read prayers or the creed backwards were +great evils, and pointed to connection with the devil. The author of +_Olrig Grange_, in an early poem, sketches this superstition very +graphically:-- + + "Hech! sirs, but we had grand fun + Wi' the meikle black deil in the chair, + And the muckle Bible upside doon + A' ganging withershins roun and roun, + And backwards saying the prayer + About the warlock's grave, + Withershins ganging roun; + And kimmer and carline had for licht + The fat o' a bairn they buried that nicht, + Unchristen'd, beneath the moon." + +If a tree or plant grew with a twist contrary to the direction of the +sun's movement, that portion was considered to possess certain powers, +which are referred to in the following verse of an old song:-- + + "I'll gar my ain Tammy gae doun to the Howe + And cut me a rock of the widdershins grow, + Of good rantree for to carry my tow, + And a spindle of the same for the twining o't." + +Pennant refers to some other practices in Scotland in his day, that were +no doubt survivals of ancient heathen worship. Such as on certain +occasions kindling a fire, and the people joining hands and dancing +three times round it south-ways, or according to the course of the sun. +At baptisms and marriages they walked three times round the church +sun-ways. The Highlanders, in going to bathe or drink in a consecrated +fountain, approach it by going round the place from east to west on the +south side. When the dead are laid in their grave, the grave is +approached by going round in the same manner. The bride is conducted to +the spouse in presence of the minister round the company in the same +direction; indeed, all public matters were done according to certain +fixed ideas in relation to the sun, all pointing to a lingering ray of +sun worship. + +If a fire were slow or _dour_ to kindle, the poker was taken and placed +in front of the grate, one end resting on the fender, the other on the +front bar of the grate, and this, it was believed, would cause the fire +to kindle quickly. This practice is still followed by many, but being +compelled now to give an apparently scientific reason for their conduct, +they say that it is so placed to produce a draught. But this it does not +do. The practice originated in the belief that the slow or dour fire was +spell-bound by witchcraft, and the poker was so placed that it would +form the shape of a cross with the front bar of the grate, and thus the +witch power be destroyed. In early times when the poker was placed in +this position, the person who placed it repeated an _Ave Marie_ or +_Paternoster_, but this feature of the ceremony died out, and with it +the reason for the practice was forgotten. I have seen it done in +private houses, and very frequently in the public rooms of country inns. +Indeed, in such public rooms it was the common practice when the servant +put on a fire, that after sweeping up the dust she placed the poker in +this position, and left the room. Probably she had no idea why she did +it, but merely followed the custom. + +In a general chapter, such as this, I can find room for some things +which could not properly find a place in other chapters. The subject of +omens has by no means been exhausted. The late George Smith, in his work +upon the Chaldean Account of Genesis, says that in ancient Babylonia, +1600 B.C., everything in nature was supposed to portend some coming +event. Without much exaggeration, the same might be said of the people +of this country during the earlier part of this century. + +On seeing the first plough in the season, it was lucky if it were seen +coming towards the observer, and he or she, in whatever undertaking then +engaged, might be certain of success in it; but, if seen going from the +observer, the omen was reversed. + +If a farmer's cows became restive without any apparent cause, it +foreboded trouble to either master or mistress. + +On going on any business, if the first person met with was plain-soled, +the journey might be given up, for, if proceeded with, the business to +be transacted would prove a failure; but, by turning and entering the +house again, with the right foot first, and then partaking of food +before resuming the journey, it might be undertaken without misgiving. + +It was unlucky to walk under a ladder set up against a wall, but if +passing under it could not be avoided, then, if before doing so, you +wished for anything, your wish would be fulfilled. + +It was unlucky to eat twin nuts found in one shell. + +If the eye or nose itched, it was a sign that the person so affected +would be vexed in some way that day. If the foot itched, it was a sign +that the owner of the foot was about to undertake a strange journey. If +the elbow itched, it betokened the coming of a strange bedfellow. If the +right hand itched, it signified that money would shortly be received by +it; and, if the left hand itched, that money would shortly have to be +paid away. + +If the ear tingled, it was a sign that some one was speaking of the +person so affected. If it were the right ear which did so, then the +speech was favourable; if the left ear, the reverse. In this latter +case, if the persons whose ears tingled were to bite their little +fingers, this would cause the persons speaking evil of them to bite +their tongues. + +To break a looking-glass, hanging against a wall, was a sign that death +would shortly occur in the family. + +If a daughter's petticoat was longer than her frock, it shewed that her +father loved her better than her mother did. + +If you desired luck with any article of dress, it should be worn first +at church. + +If a person unwittingly put on an article of dress outside in, it was an +omen that he or she would succeed in what they undertook that day; but +it was requisite that this portion of dress should remain with the wrong +side out until night, for, if reversed earlier, the luck was reversed +also. + +To weigh children was considered an objectionable practice, as it was +believed to injure their health, and cause them to grow up weakly. + +If a child cut the upper teeth before the lower, it was very unlucky for +the child. + +If a cradle were rocked when the child was not in it, it was said to +give the child a headache; but if it so happened that the child was too +old to be rocked in a cradle, but its baby clothes were still in the +house, then this incident portended that its mother would have another +baby. + +To make a present of a knife or a pair of scissors, and refuse to accept +anything in return, was said to cut or sever friendship between giver +and receiver. + +If, at a social gathering, a bachelor or maid were placed inadvertently +betwixt a man and his wife, the person so seated would be married within +a year. + +If a person in rising from table overturned his chair, this shewed that +he had been speaking untruths. + +To feel a cold tremor along the spine was a sign that some one was +treading on the spot of earth in which the person so affected would be +buried. + +If a person spoke aloud to himself, it was a sign that he would meet +with a violent death. + +If a girl married a man the initial letter of whose name was the same as +her own, it was held that the union would not be a happy one. This +notion was formulated into this proverb-- + + "To change the name and not the letter. + Is a change for the worse, and not for the better." + +If thirteen people sat down to dinner, the first who rose from table +would, it was said, either die or meet with some terrible calamity +within a year's time. + +When burning caking coal it often happens that a small piece of fused +matter is projected from the fire. When this took place the piece was +searched for and examined, and from its shape certain events were +prognosticated concerning the person in whose direction it had fallen. +If shaped like a coffin it presaged death, if like a cradle it foretold +a birth. I have seen such an incident produce a considerable sensation +among a group sitting round a fire. + +To find the shoe of a horse and hang it behind the house door was +considered to bring good luck to the household, and protection from +witchcraft or evil eye. I have seen this charm in large beer shops in +London, and I was present in the parlour of one of these beer shops when +an animated discussion arose as to whether it was most effective to have +the shoe nailed behind the door, or upon the first step of the door. +Each position had its advocates, and instances of extraordinary luck +were recounted as having attended each position. + +If a youth sat musing and intently looking into the fire, it was a sign +that some one was throwing an evil spell over him, or fascinating him +for evil. When this was observed, if any one without speaking were to +take the tongs and turn the centre coal or piece of wood in the grate +right over, and while doing so say, "_Gude preserve us frae a' skaith_," +it would break the spell, and cause the intended evil to revert on the +evil-disposed person who was working the spell. I have not only seen the +operation performed many times, but have had it performed in my own +favour by my worthy grandmother, whose belief in such things could never +be shaken. + +If the nails of a child were cut before it was a year old, the chances +were that it would grow up a thief. + +To spill salt while handing it to any one was unlucky, a sign of an +impending quarrel between the parties; but if the person who spilled +the salt carefully lifted it up with the blade of a knife, and cast it +over his or her shoulder, all evil consequences were prevented. In +Leonardo de Vinci's celebrated painting of the Last Supper, the painter +has indicated the enmity of Judas by representing him in the act of +upsetting the salt dish, with the right hand resting on the table, +grasping the bag. + +If a double ear of corn were put over the looking glass, it prevented +the house from being struck by lightning. I have seen corn stalks hung +over a looking glass, and was told that it brought luck. + +It was customary for farmers to leave a portion of their fields +uncropped, which was a dedication to the evil spirit, and called good +man's croft. The Church exerted itself for a long time to abolish this +practice, but farmers, who are generally very superstitious, were afraid +to discontinue the practice for fear of ill luck. I remember a farmer as +late as 1825 always leaving a small piece of a field uncropped, but then +did not know why. At length he gave the right of working these bits to a +poor labourer, who did well with it, and in a few years the farmer +cultivated the whole himself. + +Water that had been used in baptism was believed to have virtue to cure +many distempers. It was a preventive against witchcraft, and eyes bathed +with it would never see a ghost. + +To see a dot of soot hanging on the bars of the grate indicated a visit +from a stranger. By clapping the hands close to it, if the current +produced by this, blew it off at the first clap, the stranger would +visit that day. Every clap indicated the day before the visit would be +made. This is still a common practice, of which the following lines +taken from _Glasgow Weekly Herald_, 1877, is a graphic illustration:-- + + "_Rab_-- + Eh! Willie, come your wa's, and peace be wi' ye; + Wi' a' my heart, I'm truly glad to see ye. + Wee Geordie, wha sat gazing in the fire, + In that prophetic mood I oft admire, + Declar'd he saw a stranger on the grate-- + And Geordie's auguries are true as fate. + He gied his hands a dap wi' a' his micht, + And said that stranger's coming here the nicht, + Wi' the first clap it's off. Ye see how true + Appears the future on wee Geordie's view. + What's in the wind, or what may be the news, + That brings ye here, in heedless waste o' shoes?" + +An eclipse of the sun was looked on as an omen of coming calamity. This +is a very ancient superstition, and remained with us to a very late +date, if it is even yet extinct. In 1597, during an eclipse of the sun, +it is stated by Calderwood that men and women thought the day of +judgment was come. Many women swooned, the streets of Edinburgh was full +of crying, and in fear some ran to the kirk to pray. I remember an +eclipse about 1818, when about three parts of the sun was covered. The +alarm in the village was very great, indoor work was suspended for the +time, and in several families prayers were offered for protection, +believing that it portended some awful calamity; but when it passed off +there was a general feeling of relief. + +Fishers on the West Coast believe that were they to set their nets so +that in any way it would encroach upon the Sabbath, the herrings would +leave the district. Two years ago I was told that herrings were very +plentiful at one time at Lamlash, but some thoughtless person set his +net on a Sabbath evening. He caught none, and the herrings left and +never returned. + +I know several persons who refuse to have their likeness taken lest it +prove unlucky; and give as instances the cases of several of their +friends who never had a day's health after being photographed. + +In addition to the many forms of superstition which we have been +recalling, there were, and still are a great many superstitions +connected with the phenomenon of dreaming, but as the notions in this +series were very varied, differing very much in different localities, +and everywhere subject less or more to the fancy of the interpreter, and +as I believe that the notions and practices now in vogue in this +connection are of comparatively recent origin, I will not enter upon the +subject. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +YULE, BELTANE, & HALLOWE'EN FESTIVALS: + +_Survivals of Ancient Sun and Fire Worship._ + + +History and prehistoric investigations have shown quite clearly that +prehistoric man worshipped the Sun, the giver and vivifier of all life, +as the supreme God. To the sun they offered sacrifices, and at stated +periods celebrated festivals in his honour; and at these festivals bread +and wine and meat were partaken of, with observances very similar in +many respects to the practices of the Jews during their religious +feasts. But although the sun was the supreme deity, other objects were +also worshipped as subordinate deities. These objects, however, were +generally in some manner representative of sun attributes; for example, +the Moon was worshipped as the spouse of the Sun, Venus as his page. The +pleiades and other constellations, and single stars were also deified; +the rainbow and the lightning were sun servants, the elements, the sun's +offspring. Many animals and trees were reverenced as representatives of +sun attributes. Above all, fire was worshipped as the truest symbol of +the sun upon earth, and all offerings and sacrifices in honour of the +sun were presented through fire; thus sun and fire worship became +identified. + +In Britain sun-worship appears to have been purer in prehistoric than it +afterwards was in historic times, purer also than the sun-cult of +historic Egypt, Greece, or Rome; that is, there appears to have been in +British sun-worship less of polytheism than prevailed in Egypt, Greece, +or Rome. But during the historic period, the numerous invasions and the +colonizations of different portions of this country by the Romans and +other nations, who brought with them their special religious beliefs and +formulae of worship, caused the increase of polytheism by the commingling +of the foreign and native elements of belief, and later on, these were +mixed with Christianity, and in these mixings all the elements became +modified, so that now it is very difficult to separate with certainty +the aboriginal, invasional, and Christian elements. + +From many indications it seems more than probable that the sun-cult in +prehistoric Britain was very similar, even in many minor points, to the +solar worship of the ancient Peruvians. At the same time, there is not +the slightest probability that these two widely separated sun-cults ever +had a common point of historical connection, nor, in order to explain +their similarities, is such an historical explanation necessary. Quite +sufficient is the explanation that both possessed in common a human +nature, emotional and intellectual, moving on the same plane of +childlike intelligence, and that both from this common standpoint had +regard to the same striking and regularly recurring scenes of natural +phenomena. Prescott thus describes the worship of these ancient +Peruvians:--"The Sun was their primary God; to it was built a vast +temple in the capital, more radiant with gold than that of Solomon's; +and every city had a temple dedicated to the sun, and blasphemy against +the sun was punished with death. The principal festivals of the year +were at the equinoxes and solstices. That at midsummer was the grandest. +It was preceded by a three days' fast; then every one who had time and +money visited the city. Great fires were kindled from the sun's rays or +by friction, from which sacred fires people kindled their hearth;" all +household fires having previously been extinguished. Poor countries and +districts, where the arts were in a backward condition, instead of +having temples like the Peruvians, dedicated mountains and stone circles +to the great luminary. It is the all but universal opinion that in this +country, centuries before the Christian era, the religion of the people +was Druidism; but this is merely the name of a system, and is equivalent +to our saying that the present religion of our country is +Presbyterianism, a statement which conveys no idea of the nature of our +religious worship. The Druids were a priestly order who governed the +country, and directed the worship of the people, the principal objects +of worship being, as we have already said, the sun and fire. "The +Druids," says the late Rev. James Rust, "formed an ecclesiastico-political +association, and professed to explain the deep mysteries respecting God +and man, and were the sacerdotal rulers, and called in consequence +Druids or mystery-keepers. They were not allowed to commit anything to +writing respecting their mysteries, and no one was allowed to enter +their order till after a prolonged probation, terminating in swearing +most solemnly to keep their mysteries secret for ever; and by this means +they obtained great power and influence over all classes of the people." + +Concerning the name Druid, the writer in the _Encyclopedia +Metropolitana_ says, "The name Druid is derived from _deru_, an oak." +The Druids were an order of priests; they were divided into three +classes, resembling the Persian magi. The first class were the Druids +proper; they were the highest nobility, to whom was entrusted all +religious rites and education. The second class were the bards; they +were principally employed in public instruction, which was given in +verse. The third class was called _Euvates_; whose office it was to +deliver the responses of the oracles, and to attend the people who +consulted them. The knowledge of astronomy and computation of time +possessed by the Druids was of a high order, and, no doubt, was the form +of worship imported from Chaldea. + +It is known that the Phoenicians had colonized Britain at least 1000 +years B.C., and doubtless they would bring with them their form of +worship, their gods being the sun, the moon, and fire. We may here find +a very early source for the institution of sun-worship in these islands, +if we can believe that such a very partial colonization as was effected +by the Phoenicians could work a religious similarity throughout the +entire island. I think it probable that sun-worship existed before the +Phoenicians came to the island, but they may have elevated its practice. +Following the writer in the _Encyclopedia Metropolitana_, we are told +that in addition to their worship of the sun, the Druids "held sacred +the spirits of their ancestors, paid great honour to mountains, lakes, +and groves. Groves of oak were their temples, and their places of +worship were open to heaven, such as stone circles. They had also a +ceremony of baptism, dipping in the sacred lake, as an initiatory rite, +and had also a sacrament of bread and wine. They paid great reverence to +the egg of the serpent, the seed of the oak, and above all, the +mistletoe that grew upon the oak; and they offered in sacrifice to the +sun and fire, men and animals." + +Many of the localities where their worship was observed in this country +can still be identified through the names which these places still bear. +One or two are here given, because they refer to sun-worship:-- + +Grenach (in Perthshire), means _Field of the Sun_. + +Greenan (a stream in Perthshire), means _River of the Sun_. + +Balgreen (a town in Perthshire and other counties), means _Town of the +Sun_. + +Grian chnox (Greenock), means _Knoll of the Sun_. + +Granton, means _Sun's Fire_. + +Premising, therefore, that sun-worship and Druidical customs form the +original base of all our old national festivals, we will now direct +attention to the great festival of + + +_YULE._ + +The term _Yule_ was the name given to the festival of the winter +solstice by our northern invaders, and means _the Festival of the Sun_. +One of the names by which the Scandinavians designated the sun was +_Julvatter_, meaning _Yule-father_ or _Sun-father_. In Saxon the +festival was called _Gehul_, meaning _Sun-feast_. In Danish it is +_Juul_; in Swedish _Oel_. Chambers supposes that the name is from a root +word meaning _wheel_. We have no trace of the name by which the Druids +knew this feast. The Rev. Mr. Smiddy in his book on _Druidism in +Ireland_, says, "Their great feast was that called in the Irish tongue +_Nuadhulig_, meaning _new all heal_, or new mistletoe. When the day came +the priests assembled outside the town, and the people gathered shouting +_all heal_. Then began a solemn procession into the forests in search of +the mistletoe growing on the favourite oak. When found, the priests +ascended the tree, and cut down the divine plant with a golden knife, +which was secured below upon a linen cloth of spotless white; two white +bulls were then conducted to the spot for the occasion, and there +sacrificed to the sun god. The plant was then brought home with shouts +of joy, mingled with prayers and hymns, and then followed a general +religious feast, and afterwards scenes of boisterous merriment, to which +all were admitted." + +From other accounts of this sun feast at the winter solstice in this +country, we are given to understand that besides white bulls there were +also human victims offered in sacrifice. The mistletoe gathered was +divided among the people, who hung the sprays over their doorways as a +protection from evil influences, and as a propitiation to the sylvan +deities, and to form sheltering places for those fairy beings during the +frosts. The day after the sacrifices was kept as a day of rejoicing, +neighbours visited each other with gifts, and with expressions of good +will. + +From all I have been able to gather respecting this great sun feast at +the winter solstice as it was celebrated in this country in prehistoric +times, I am of opinion that the sacrifices were offered to the sun on +the shortest day, to propitiate his return, and that that day was a day +of great solemnity, but that the day following when the mistletoe was +distributed and hung up, was a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving on this +account, that the sacrifices had proved acceptable and efficacious, the +sun having returned again to begin his course for another year, and this +day was the first day of the year. + +I am aware that the Romans appointed the first of January as the first +day of the year as early as B.C. 600, and dedicated it to the goddess +_Stranoe_. This, however, could not affect the inhabitants of Britain, +at least not until the Roman invasion, and this influence did not reach +our northern counties. There can be little doubt, I think, that the +great festival of the Romans, the Saturnalia, held in honour of +_Saturn_, the father of the gods, and which lasting seven days, +including the winter solstice, was introduced into this country, and in +course of time became identified with the Druidical festival of the +natives. Other elements conspired to modify the ancient druidical +festival. After the Romans withdrew their armies from the island at the +commencement of the fifth century, other invaders took their place. +Saxons, Jutes, Angles, and Normans occupied large tracts of the country; +but as these were mostly all sun-worshippers, their festivals and +ceremonies would, for the most part, coincide with the native usages, +and whatever peculiarities they might bring with them in the matter of +formulas, would take root in the localities where they were settled, and +eventually the indigenous and introduced formulas would coalesce. +Another element which materially influenced and, _vice versa_, was +materially influenced by Pagan formulae, was Christianity. Introduced +into Rome at a very early period, it was for a long time opposed as +subversive of the established religion of the empire. Now, during the +festival of the Saturnalia, the Romans decorated their houses, both +inside and out, with evergreens, the Christian converts refraining from +this were easily discovered and set upon by the people, were brought +before the judges and condemned, in many cases, to death, for their +infidelity to the national gods. But as a result of this severity the +Christians learned to be politic, and during the Saturnalia, hung +evergreens round their houses, while they kept festival within doors in +commemoration of the birth of Christ. This Christian festival, with its +heathen attachments, soon spread throughout the Roman empire, and thus +became introduced into Britain also. It appears however, that the day on +which this feast was kept differed in different localities, until +towards the middle of the fourth century Julius I., Bishop of Rome, +appointed the 25th December as the festival day for the whole Church, an +edict which was universally obeyed. As was to be expected, many of the +ceremonies and superstitious beliefs emanating from the Saturnalia were +merged in the customs of the Christian feast, and do still survive in +modified forms till the present day. In many of our Christmas customs we +can thus perceive the influence of the self-preservation policy of the +early Roman Christians, and in the survival of many other pagan customs +in this and other of our festivals, we can trace the influence of +another policy, the worldly-wise policy of the Roman Church. + +At the close of the sixth century, Pope Gregory sent St. Augustine, or +Austin, to this country as a missionary, and by his preaching, many +thousands of the people were converted to Christianity. This Pope's +instructions to Augustine concerning his treatment of heathen festivals, +were that "the heathen temples were not to be destroyed, but turned +into Christian churches; that the oxen killed in sacrifice should still +be killed with rejoicing, but their bodies given to the poor, and that +the refreshment booths round the heathen temples should be allowed to +remain as places of jollity and amusement for the people on Christian +festivals, for it is impossible to cut abruptly from hard and rough +minds all their old habits and customs. He who wishes to reach the +highest place must rise by steps, and not by jumps." + +From the enunciation of this policy, we can readily understand how the +festive observances connected with heathen worship remained in the +Christian observance. I have stated what is supposed to have been the +Druidical manner of keeping this festival of the winter solstice, but I +have not seen any account of how the festival was observed in this +country when Augustine arrived as missionary. I have no information +concerning the manner in which the oxen were sacrificed, nor the +character of the refreshment booths round the temples. We know that +there were booths in connection with heathen temples where women were +kept, but whether this practice was indigenous in Britain, or was +imported into this country by the Romans, or whether Pope Gregory may +have written without any special knowledge of the customs here, but +merely from his knowledge of heathen customs in general, we do not know. +Nothing is said in these instructions about changing the day of keeping +the festival from the solstice to the 25th of December. It is probable +that no change of date was made at this time, at all events we may, from +the following circumstance, infer that the change, if made, did not +reach the northern portion of the island. Haco, King of Norway, in the +the tenth century fixed the 25th December as the day for keeping the +feast of Yule. King Haco's fixing on this particular date would be a +resultant from the Romish edict, for the Norwegians were at this time +Christians, although their Christianity was a conglomerate of heathen +superstition and church dogma. + +According to Jamieson, the eve of Yule was termed by the Northmen +_Hoggunott_, meaning Slaughter night, probably because then the cattle +for the coming feast were killed. During the feast, one of the leading +toasts was called _minnie_, meaning the cup of remembrance, and Dr. +Jamieson thinks that the popular cry which has come down to our times as +_Hogmany, trol-lol-lay_, was originally _Hogminne, thor loe loe_, +meaning the feast of Thor. After the Reformation, the Scotch transferred +Hogmanay to the last day of December, as a preparation day for the New +Year. The practice of children going from door to door in little bands, +singing the following rhyme, was in vogue at the beginning of this +century in country places in the West of Scotland:-- + + "Rise up, gudewife, and shake your feathers, + Dinna think that we are beggars, + We're girls and boys come out to-day, + For to get our Hogmanay, + Hogmanay, trol-lol-lay. + + "Give us of your white bread, and not of your gray, + Or else we'll knock at your door a' day." + +This rhyme has a stronger reference to Yule or Christmas than to the New +Year, and is doubtless a relic of pre-Reformation times. + +At the Reformation, the Scottish Church, probably following the dictum +of Calvin, who condemned Yule as a pagan festival, forbade the people to +observe it because of its heathen origin; but probably the more potent +reason was that it was a Romish feast, for no objection was made against +keeping the New Year or _hansell Monday_, on which occasion practices +similar to those of Yule were observed, and I believe it was the +non-condemnation of these later festivals which enabled the Scottish +Church to abolish Yule. In fact, it would appear that the Yule practices +were simply transferred from a few days earlier to a few days later, and +thereby retained their original connection with the close of the year. +Prior to the Church interference there is no evidence that the first of +January was observed by the people as a general feast, but even with +this safety valve of a popular and yearly festival, the Church +encountered great difficulty in abolishing Yule. A few instances of the +opposition of the people will suffice. + +The Glasgow Kirk Session, on the 26th December, 1583, had five persons +before them who were ordered to make public repentance, because they +kept the superstitious day called Yule. The _baxters_ were required to +give the names of those for whom they had baked Yule bread, so that they +might be dealt with by the Church. Ten years after this, in 1593, an Act +was again passed by the Glasgow Session against the keeping of Yule, and +therein it was ordained that the keepers of this feast were to be +debarred from the privileges of the Church, and also punished by the +magistrates. + +Notwithstanding these measures, the people still inclined to observe +Yule, for fifty-six years after, in 1649, the General Assembly appointed +a commission to make report of the public practices, among others, "The +druidical customs observed at the fires of _Beltane_, _Midsummer_, +_Hallowe'en_, and _Yule_." In the same year appears the following minute +in the session-book of the Parish of Slains.--(See Rust's _Druidism +Exhumed_.) + +26th Nov., 1649.--"The said day, the minister and elders being convened +in session, and after invocation of the name of God, intimate that Yule +be not kept, but that they yoke their oxen and horse, and employ their +servants in their service that day as well as on other work days." + +Dr. Jamieson quotes the opinion of an English clergyman in reference to +such proceedings of the Scotch Church:--"The ministers of Scotland, in +contempt of the holy-day observed by England, cause their wives and +servants to spin in open sight of the people upon Yule day, and their +affectionate auditors constrain their servants to yoke their plough on +Yule day, in contempt of Christ's nativity. Which our Lord has not left +unpunished, for their oxen ran wud, and brak their necks and lamed some +ploughmen, which is notoriously known in some parts of Scotland." By +going back to the time of the Reformation, and finding what then were +the practices of the people in the celebration of the Yule festival, and +then by comparing these with the practices in vogue at the commencement +of this century during the New Year festivities, we shall be led to +conclude that the principal change effected by the Church was only +respecting the time of the feasts, and we can thus perceive that the +veto was not directed against the practices _per se_, but only against +the conjunction of these practices, Pagan in their origin, with a feast +commemorative of the birth of Christ. As they could not hold Christmas +without retaining the Yule practices along with it, they resolved to +abolish both. + +Let us then pursue this retrospect and comparison. About the time of the +Reformation the day preceding Yule was a day of general preparation. +Houses were cleaned out and borrowed articles were returned to their +owners. Work of all kind was stopped, and a general appearance of +completion of work was established; yarn was reeled off, no lint was +allowed to remain on the rock of the wheel, and all work implements were +laid aside. In the evening cakes were baked, one for each person, and +duly marked, and great care was taken that none should break in the +firing, as such an accident was a bad omen for the person whose cake met +with the mishap. These cakes were eaten at the Yule breakfast. A large +piece of wood was placed upon the fire in such time that it would be +kindled before twelve p.m., and extreme care was taken that the fire +should not go out, for not only was it unlucky, but no one would oblige +a neighbour, with a kindling on Yule. + +On Yule eve those possessing cattle went to the byre and stable and +repeated an _Ave Marie_, and a _Paternoster_, to protect their cattle +from an evil eye. + +On Yule morning, attention was paid to the first person who entered the +house, as it was important to know whether such a person were lucky or +otherwise. It was an unfriendly act to enter a house on Yule day without +bringing a present of some kind. Nothing was permitted to be taken out +of the house on that day; this prohibition of course, did not extend to +such things as were taken for presents. Servants or members of the +family who had gone out in the morning, when they returned to the house +brought in with them something, although it might only be some trivial +article, say for instance, garden stuff. This was done that they might +bring, or, at least, not cause bad luck to the household. Masters or +parents gave gifts to their servants and children, and owners of cattle +gave their beasts, with their own hand their first food on Yule morning. +After mass in church, a table was spread in the house with meat and +drink, and all who entered were invited to partake. On this day +neighbours and relations visited each other, bearing with them meat and +drink warmed with condiments, and as they drank they expressed mutual +wishes for each other's welfare. If not a Christian day, it was at least +a day of good will to men. In the evening, the great family feast was +held. In the more northern parts, where the Scandinavian national +element was principally settled, a boar's head was the correct dish at +this feast, and, by the better class, was always provided; but the +common people were content with venison, beef, and poultry, beginning +their feast with a dish of plum porridge. A large candle, prepared for +the occasion, was lighted at the commencement, and it was intended to +keep in light till twelve p.m., and if it went out before it was +regarded as a bad omen for the next year; and what of it was left +unconsumed at twelve o'clock was carefully laid past, to be used at the +dead wake of the heads of the family. + +Now, let us compare with this the practices current at Hogmanay (31st +December), and New Year's Day, about the commencement of this century. +In doing so, I will pass over without notice many superstitious +observances which, though curious and interesting, belong rather to the +general fund of superstitious belief than to the special festival at New +Year, and confine myself to those which were peculiar to the time. In my +grandfather's house, between sixty and seventy years ago, on the 31st +December (_Hogmanay_), all household work was stopped, rock emptied, +yarn reeled and _hanked_, and wheel and reel put into an outhouse. The +house itself was white-washed and cleaned. A block of wood or large +piece of coal was put on the fire about ten p.m., so that it would be +burning briskly before the household retired to bed. The last thing done +by those who possessed a cow or horse was to visit the byre or stable, +and I have been told that it was the practice with some, twenty years +before my recollection, to say the Lord's Prayer during this visit. +After rising on New Year's Day, the first care of those who possessed +cattle was to visit the byre or stable, and with their own hands give +the animals a feed. Burns followed this habit, and refers to it in one +of his poems:-- + + "A gude New Year I wish thee, Maggy, + Hae, there's a rip to thy auld baggie." + +The following was the practice in my father's house in Partick, between +fifty and sixty years ago, on New Year's day:--On _Hogmanay_ evening, +children were all washed before going to bed. An oat bannock was baked +for each child: it was nipped round the edge, had a hole in the centre, +and was flavoured with carvey (carroway) seed. Great care was taken that +none of these bannocks should break in the firing, as such an occurrence +was regarded as a very unlucky omen for the child whose bannock was +thus damaged. It denoted illness or death during the year. Parents sat +up till about half-past eleven, when the fire was covered, and every +particle of ash swept up and carried out of the house. All retired to +bed before twelve o'clock, as it was unlucky not to be in bed as the New +Year came in. A watchful eye was kept on the fire lest it should go out, +for such an event was regarded as very unlucky, and they would neither +give nor receive a light from any one on New Year's day. Neither fire, +ashes, nor anything belonging to the house was taken out of it on that +day. In the morning we children got our bannocks to breakfast. They were +small, and it was unlucky to leave any portion of them, although this +was frequently done. The first-foot was an important episode. To visit +empty-handed on this day was tantamount to wishing a curse on the +family. A plane-soled person was an unlucky first-foot; a pious +sanctimonious person was not good, and a hearty ranting merry fellow was +considered the best sort of first-foot. It was necessary for luck that +what was poured out of the first-foot's gift, be it whiskey or other +drink, should be drunk to the dregs by each recipient, and it was +requisite that he should do the same by their's. It was against rule for +any portion to be left, but if there did happen to be an unconsumed +remnant, it was cast out. With any subsequent visitor these particulars +were not observed. I remember that one year our first-foot was a man who +had fallen and broken his bottle, and cut and bleeding was assisted into +our house. My mother made up her mind that this was a most unfortunate +first-foot, and that something serious would occur in the family during +that year. I believe had the whole family been cut off, she would not +have been surprised. However, it was a prosperous year, and a bleeding +first-foot was not afterwards considered bad. If anything extraordinary +did occur throughout the year, it was remembered and referred to +afterwards. One New Year's day something was stolen out of our house; +that year father and mother were confined to bed for weeks; the cause +and effect were quite clear. During the day neighbours visited each +other with bottle and bun, every one overflowing with good wishes. In +the evening the family, old and young, were gathered together, those who +during the year were out at service, the married with their families, +and at this meal the best the family could afford was produced. It was a +happy time, long looked forward to, and long remembered by all. + + +_BELTANE._ + +Beltane or Beilteine means _Baals fire_, Baal (Lord) was the name under +which the Phoenicians recognized their primary male god, the Sun: fire +was his earthly symbol and the medium through which sacrifices to him +were offered. Hence sun and fire-worship were identical. I am of opinion +that originally the Beltane festival was held at the Spring equinox but +that its original connection with the equinox, in process of time was +forgotten, and it became a festival inaugurative of summer. There is +some difference of opinion as to the particular day on which the +Beltane festival was held in this country. Dr. Jamieson, Dr. R. +Chambers, and others who have studied this subject say that the 1st May +(old style) was Beltane day. Professor Veitch; in his _History and +Poetry of the Scottish Border_, (p. 118,) says, speaking of the +Druids:--"They worshipped the sun god, the representative of the bright +side of nature--Baal, the fire-giver--and to him on the hill tops they +lit the fire on the end of May, the Beltane." And again, in his remarks +on _Peblis to the Play_, (p. 315,) he says:--"The play was not the name +for a stage play, but indicated the sports and festivals which took +place at Peebles annually at Beltane, the second of May, not the first +of May, as is usually supposed. These had in all probability come in +place of the ancient British practice of lighting fires on the hill tops +in honour of Baal, the sun god, hence the name _Baaltein_, Beltane, +i.e. Baal's fire. The Christian Church had so far modified the +ceremonial as to substitute for the original idolatrous practice that of +a day of rustic amusements. A fair or market at the same period which +lasted for eight days had also been instituted by Royal charter. But +even the practice of lighting fires on the hill tops was late in dying +out, with the usual tenacity of custom it survived for long all memory +of its original meaning." + +The Professor writes very positively as to Beltane day being the second +day of May, not the first day as is supposed. The Royal Charter granted +to the Burgh of Peebles for holding a fair or market on Beltane day, is +given in the Burgh Records of Peebles, p. 85:--"As also of holding, +using, enjoying, and exercising within the foresaid Burgh weekly market +days according to the use and custom of the said Burgh, together with +three fairs, thrice in the year, the first thereof beginning yearly upon +the third day of May, called Beltane day, the same to be held and +continued for the space of forty-eight hours thereafter." The date of +the Charter is 1621, but it is evident that the third of May had been +previously kept as Beltane day. The Professor is also mistaken in +stating that the Beltane fair of Peebles was to be kept for eight days. +The third fair, held in August, continued eight days, but the fairs in +May and June were kept for two days according to the Charter. That there +were two days known as Beltane at the beginning of last century is +evident from a book of Scotch proverbs published in 1721 by James Kelly, +A.M., in which occurs the following,-- + + "You have skill of man and beast, + Ye was born between the Beltans." + +In all probability the discrepancy as to the day originated through the +Church substituting a Christian festival for a heathen one; and although +the date was changed, yet through force of custom the name of the old +festival was retained, and in localities where the power of the Church +was comparatively weak, the older, the original day for the festival +would probably be kept as well as the newly appointed Church festival. +This view of the matter is rendered probable from the fact that the +Church did institute a great festival, to be held on the third of May, +to commemorate the finding of the cross of Christ. The legend is as +follows:--When the Empress Helena was at Jerusalem about the end of the +third century, she discovered the cross on which Christ was crucified, +and had it conveyed to the great church built by Constantine her son. +This cross was exhibited yearly to the people, and many miracles were +wrought by it. A festival, as I have said, was instituted in +commemoration of the discovery, and this was held on the third of May, +and was called _Rood_ or _rude_ day. Churches were built and dedicated +to the Holy Rood, among which was that which is now Holyrood Palace. +Where the Church was powerful, as in Edinburgh and Peebles, Rood day +would be the important festival, and Beltane would gradually become +incorporated with it, the names Beltane day and Rood day becoming +synonymous. Thus we may account for Edinburgh and Peebles keeping +Beltane on the third day of May, while in Perth and other northern +counties where the Church influence was weaker, the festival would be +kept according to the older custom on the first of May. + +In Druidical times the people allowed their fires to go out on Beltane +eve, and on Beltane day the priests met on a hill dedicated to the Sun, +and obtained fire from heaven. When the fire was obtained, sacrifices +were offered, and the people danced round the fire with shoutings till +the sacrifices were consumed; after which they received portions of the +sacred fire with which to rekindle their hearths for another twelve +months. Besides mountains, there were evidently other localities where +sacrifices and the ritual of Sun-worship were observed, and which +received appropriate names in accordance with their character as sacred +places. Some of these names still survive, as for instance:-- + +_Ard-an-teine_--The light of the fire. + +_Craig-an-teine_--The rock of the fire. + +_Auch-an-teine_--The field of the fire. + +_Tillie-bet-teine_--The knoll of the fire; and so through a great many +other names of places we find traces of the Baal and fire worship. So +widespread and numerous are the names which recall this ritual, that we +can see quite clearly that the spirit of their religion thoroughly +dominated the people. In Ireland, at Beltane, the Pagan Kings are said +to have convoked the people for State purposes. The last of these +heathen kings convoked a grand assembly of the nation to meet with him +on _Tara_, at the feast of Beltane, which the old chroniclers say was +the principal feast of the year. + +Respecting this feast, Dr. Jamieson says, introducing a quotation from +O'Brien, "_Ignis Bei Dei Aseatica ea lineheil_, or May-day, so called +from large fires which the Druids were used to light on the summits of +the highest hills, into which they drove four-footed beasts, using +certain ceremonies to expiate for the sins of the people. The Pagan +ceremony of lighting these fires in honour of the Asiatic god Belus gave +its name to the entire month of May, which to this day is called +_Me-na-bealtine_, in the Irish, _Dor Keating_." He says again, speaking +of these fires of _Baal_, that the cattle were driven through them and +not sacrificed, the chief design being to avert contagious disorders +from them for the year. And quoting from an ancient glossary, O'Brien +says, "The Druids lighted two solemn fires every year, and drove all +four-footed beasts through them, in order to preserve them from +contagious distempers during the current year." I am inclined to think +that these notices describe a sort of modified or Christianized Beltane, +that driving the cattle through the fire was a substitute for the older +form of sacrificing cattle to the sun. Until very lately in different +parts of Ireland, it was the common practice to kindle fires in milking +yards on the first day of May, and then men, women, and children leaped +through them, and the cattle were driven through in order to avert evil +influences. They were also in the habit of quenching their fires on the +last day of April, and rekindling them on the first day of May. In +certain localities in Perthshire, so lately as 1810, (I have referred to +this before), the inhabitants collected and kindled a fire by friction, +and through the fire thus kindled they drove their cattle in order to +protect them against disease, and at the same time they held a feast of +rejoicing. + +As already mentioned, the Romans held several festivals at the beginning +of summer, and many of their observances on these occasions were +introduced into this country, and became incorporated with the Beltane +practices. For example, the Romans held a festival in honour of _Pales_, +the goddess of flocks and sheepfolds. The feast was termed _Palilia_. +Lempriere states that some of the ceremonies accompanying the feast +consisted in "burning heaps of straw, and in leaping over them; no +sacrifices were offered, but purifications were made with the smoke of +horse's blood, and with the ashes of a calf that had been taken from the +belly of its mother after it had been sacrificed, and with the ashes of +beans; the purification of the flocks was also made with the smoke of +sulphur, also of the olive, the pine, the laurel, and rosemary. +Offerings of mild cheese, boiled wine, and cakes of millet were +afterwards made. Some call this festival _Palilia_, because the +sacrifices were offered to the divinity for the fecundity of their +flocks." There was also a large cake prepared for _Pales_, and a prayer +was addressed to the divinity by shepherds, as thus given by Dr. +Jamieson:-- + + "O let me propitious find, + And to the shepherd and his sheep be kind; + Far from my flocks drive noxious things away, + And let my flocks in wholesome pastures stray. + May I, at night, my morning's number take, + Nor mourn a theft the prowling wolf may make. + May all my rams the ewes with vigour press, + To give my flocks a yearly due increase." + +The Romans held another festival in honour of the goddess _Flora_. It +began on the 28th April, and lasted three days. The people wore garlands +of flowers, and carried them about with branches of newly-budded trees. +There was much licentiousness connected with this feast. + +Reference has already been made to another Roman festival which was +celebrated early in May. This was called the _Lamuralia_, and its +purport was to propitiate the favour of the ghosts or spirits of their +ancestors. I am of opinion that the English May feasts are a survival of +the _Floralia_, and, as kept during the middle ages, were not free from +some of the indecencies of the _Floralia_. In my remembrance, the first +of May, in the country west of Glasgow, was honoured by decking the +houses with tree branches and flowers. Horses were also similarly +decked. The Church did not attempt to abolish these heathen festivals, +but endeavoured to dominate them, and substitute for legends of heathen +origin connected with them legends of Church origin. In this they +partly succeeded. The following account of the Beltane festival, as it +was kept in some districts in Perthshire at the close of last century, +taken from the statistical accounts of certain parishes, will shew how +persistent these ancient customs were, and also how some other festivals +latterly became amalgamated and identified with Beltane:-- + +"In the Parish of Callander, upon the first day of May," says the +minister of the parish, "all the boys in the town or hamlet meet on the +moors. They cut a table on the green sod, of a round shape, to hold the +whole company. They kindle a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk +in the consistence of a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is +baked at the fire upon a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they +divide the cake into as many portions, and as similar as possible, as +there are persons in the company. They blacken one of these portions +with charcoal until it is perfectly black. They put all the bits of cake +into a bonnet. Every one blindfolded draws a portion--he who holds the +bonnet is entitled to the last. Who draws the black bit is the devoted +person to be sacrificed to Baal, whose favour they mean to implore in +rendering the year productive of substance for man and beast. There is +little doubt of these human sacrifices being once offered in the +country, but the youth who has got the black bit must leap through the +flame of the fire three times." I have myself conversed with old men +who, when boys, were present at, and took part in these observances; and +they told me that in their grandfathers' time it was the men who +practised these rites, but as they were generally accompanied with much +drinking and riot, the clergy set their faces against the customs, and +subjected the parties observing them to church discipline, so that in +course of time the practices became merely the frolic of boys. + +In the Parish of Logierait, Beltane is celebrated by the shepherds and +cowherds in the following manner. They assemble in the fields and dress +a dinner of milk and eggs. This dish they eat with a sort of cake baked +for the occasion, having small lumps or nipples raised all over its +surface. These knobs are not eaten, but broken off, and given as +offerings to the different supposed powers or influences that protect or +destroy their flocks, to the one as a thank-offering, to the other as a +peace-offering. + +Mr. Pennant, in his _Tour through Scotland_, thus describes the Beltane +observances as they were observed at the end of last century. "The herds +of every village hold their Beltane (a rural sacrifice.) They cut a +square trench in the ground, leaving the turf in the middle. On that +they make a fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, +oatmeal, butter, and milk, and bring besides these plenty of beer and +whiskey. Each of the company must contribute something towards the +feast. The rites begin by pouring a little of the caudle upon the +ground, by way of a libation. Every one then takes a cake of oatmeal, on +which are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particular +being who is supposed to preserve their herds, or to some animal the +destroyer of them. Each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks +off a knob, and, flinging it over his shoulder, says--'_This I give to +thee_,' naming the being whom he thanks, '_preserver of my sheep_,' &c.; +or to the destroyer, '_This I give to thee, (O fox or eagle)_,' _spare +my lambs_,' &c. When this ceremony is over they all dine on the caudle." + +The shepherds in Perthshire still hold a festival on the 1st of May, but +the practices at it are now much modified. + +As may readily be surmised, there were a great many superstitious +beliefs connected with Beltane, some of which still survive, and tend to +maintain its existence. Dew collected on the morning of the first day of +May is supposed to confer witch power on the gatherer, and give +protection against an evil eye. To be seen in a field at day-break that +morning, rendered the person seen an object of fear. A story is told of +a farmer who, on the first of May discovered two old women in one of his +fields, drawing a hair rope along the grass. On being seen, they fled. +The farmer secured the rope, took it home with him, and hung it in the +byre. When the cows were milked every spare dish about the farm-house +was filled with milk, and yet the udders remained full. The farmer being +alarmed, consigned the rope to the fire, and then the milk ceased to +flow. + +It was believed that first of May dew preserved the skin from wrinkles +and freckles, and gave a glow of youth. To this belief Ferguson refers +in the following lines:-- + + "On May day in a fairy ring, + We've seen them round St. Anthon's spring, + Frae grass the caller dew to wring, + To wet their een; + And water clear as crystal spring, + To synd them clean." + + +_MIDSUMMER._ + +To sun worshippers no season would be better calculated to excite +devotional feelings towards the great luminary than the period when he +attained the zenith of his strength. It is probable, therefore, that as +his movements must have been closely observed, and his various phases +regarded by the people, in the language of Scripture, "for signs and for +seasons, for days and for years," that the turning points in the sun's +yearly course, the solstices, would naturally become periods of worship. +That the Summer solstice was an important religious period is rendered +probable from the following curious observation concerning Stonehenge, +which appeared in the Notes and Queries portion of the _Scotsman_ +newspaper for July 31, 1875. The _Scotsman's_ correspondent states that +"a party of Americans went on midsummer morning this year to see the sun +rise upon Stonehenge. They found crowds of people assembled. +Stonehenge," continues the writer, "may roughly be described as +comprising seven-eighths of a circle, from the open ends of which there +runs eastward an avenue having upright stones on either side. At some +distance beyond this avenue, but in a direct line with its centre, +stands one solitary stone in a sloping position; in front of which, but +at a considerable distance, is an eminence or hill. The point of +observation chosen by the excursion party was the stone table or altar +near the head of, and within the circle, directly looking down. The +morning was unfavourable, but, fortunately, just as the sun was +beginning to appear over the top of the hill, the mist disappeared, and +then, for a few moments, the onlookers stood amazed at the spectacle +presented to their view. While it lasted, the sun, like an immense ball, +appeared actually to rest on the isolated stone of which mention has +been made. Now, in this," says a writer in the _New Quarterly Magazine_ +for January, 1876, commenting upon the statement of the _Scotsman's_ +correspondent, "we find strong proof that Stonehenge was really a mighty +almanack in stone; doubtless also a temple of the sun, erected by a race +which has long perished without intelligible record." + +I think it is not a very fanciful supposition to suppose, from the still +existing names of places in this country bearing reference to +sun-worship, that there were other places than Stonehenge which were +used as stone almanacks "for signs and for seasons," and also for +temples. _Grenach_ in Perthshire, meaning _Field of the Sun_, where +there is a large stone circle, may have been such a place; and +_Grian-chnox_, now Greenock, meaning _Knoll of the Sun_, may have +originally marked the place where the sun's rising became visible at a +certain period of the year, from a stone circle in the neighbourhood. As +far as I have been able to discover, there remains to us little trace of +the manner in which the midsummer feast was kept in this country in +prehistoric times, but so far as traces do remain, they appear to +indicate that it was celebrated much after the same manner as the +Scottish Celts are said to have celebrated Beltane. Indeed, the Celtic +Irish hold their _Beilteme_ feast on the 21st June, and their fires are +kindled on the tops of hills, and each member of a family is, in order +to secure good luck, obliged to pass through the fire. On this occasion +also, a feast is held. A similar practice was common in West Cornwall at +midsummer. Fires were kindled, and the people danced round them, and +leaped singly through the flames to ensure good luck and protection +against witchcraft. The following passage occurs in _Traditions and +Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall_, by William Bottreill, 1873:--"Many +years ago, on Midsummer eve, when it became dusk, very old people in the +west country would hobble away to some high ground whence they obtained +a view of the most prominent high hill, such as Bartinney-Chapel, +Cambrae, Sancras Bickan, Castle-au-dinas, Cam-Gulver, St. Agnes-Bickan, +and many other beacon hills far away to the north and east which vied +with each other in their midsummer night blaze. They counted the fires, +and drew a presage from the number of them. There are now but few +bonfires to be seen on the western heights; yet we have observed that +Tregonan, Godolphin, and Carnwath hills, with others far away towards +Redruth, still retain their Baal fires. We would gladly go many miles to +see the weird-looking, yet picturesque dancers around the flames, on a +cairn or high hill top, as we have seen them some forty years ago." The +ancient Egyptians had their midsummer feasts, as also had the Greeks and +Romans. During these festivals, we are told that the people, headed by +the priests, walked in procession, carrying flowers and other emblems of +the season in honour of their gods. Such processions were continued +during the early years of the Christian Church, and the Christian +priests in their vestments went into the fields to ask a blessing on the +agricultural produce of the year. Towards the beginning of the twelfth +century the Church introduced the _Feast of God_, and fixed the 19th +June for its celebration. The eucharistic elements were declared to be +the actual presence of God, and this, the consecrated Host or God +himself was carried through the open streets by a procession of priests, +the people turning out to do it honour, kneeling and worshipping as it +passed. This feast of God may have absorbed some of the ancient +midsummer practices, but the _Feast of St. John's Day_, which is held +upon the 24th June, has in its customs a greater similarity to the +ancient sun feast. On the eve of St. John's day, people went to the +woods and brought home branches of trees, which they fixed over their +doorways. Towards night of St. John's Day, bonfires were kindled, and +round them the people danced with frantic mirth, and men and boys leaped +through the flames. Leaping through the flames is a common practice at +these survivals of sun festivals, and although done now, partly for luck +and partly for sport, there can be little doubt but that originally +human sacrifices were then offered to the sun god. + +There was quite a host of curious superstitions connected with this +midsummer feast, especially in Ireland and Germany, and many of these +were similar to those connected with the feast of _Hallowe'en_ in +Scotland. In Ireland, in olden times, it was believed that the souls of +people left their sleeping bodies, and visited the place where death +would ultimately overtake them; and there were many who, in consequence, +would not sleep, but sat up all night. People also went out on St. +John's eve to gather certain plants which were held as sacred, such as +_the rose_, _the trifoil_, _St. John's wort_, and _vervain_, the +possession of which gave them influence over evil. To catch the seed of +the fern as it fell to the ground on St. John's eve, exactly at twelve +o'clock, was believed to confer upon the persons who caught it the power +of rendering themselves invisible at will. + +In my opinion, the great prehistoric midsummer festival to the sun god +has diverged into the two Church feasts, Eucharist and St. John's day; +but St. John's day has absorbed the greater share of old customs and +superstitious ideas, and so numerous are they that the most meagre +description of them would yield matter for an hour's reading. + + +_HALLOWE'EN._ + +The northern nations, like the Hebrews, began their day in the evening. +Thus we have Yule Eve, and Hallow Eve (Hallowe'en), the evenings +preceding the respective feasts. The name Hallowe'en is of Christian +origin, but the origin of the feast itself is hidden in ancient +mythology. The Celtic name for the autumn festival was _Sham-in_, +meaning Baal's Fire. The Irish Celts called it _Sainhain_, or +_Sainfuin_; _Sain_, summer, and _Fuin_, end,--i.e., the end of summer. +The Hebrews and Phoenicians called this festival _Baal-Shewin_, a name +signifying the principle of order. The feast day in Britain and Ireland +is the first of November. The Druids are said on this day to have +sacrificed horses to the sun, as a thank-offering for the harvest. An +Irish king, who reigned 400 A.D., commanded sacrifices to be made to a +moon idol, which was worshipped by the people on the evening of +_Sain-hain_. Sacrifices were also offered on this night to the spirits +of the dead, who were believed to have liberty at this season to visit +their old earthly haunts and their friends,--a belief this, which was +entertained by many ancient nations, and was the origin of many of the +curious superstitious customs still extant in this country on +Hallowe'en. Dr. Smith, commenting in _Jamieson's Dictionary_ on the +solemnities of Beltane, says, "The other of these solemnities was held +upon Hallow Eve, which in Gaelic still retains the name of +_Sham-in_,--this word signifying the Fire of Peace, or the time of +kindling the fire for maintaining peace. It was at this season that the +Druids usually met in the most central places of every country to adjust +every dispute and decide every controversy. On that occasion, all the +fires in the country were extinguished on the preceding evening, in +order to be supplied next day by a portion of the holy fire which was +kindled and consecrated by the Druids. Of this, no person who had +infringed the peace, or become obnoxious by any breach of law, or guilty +of any failure in duty, was to have share, till he had first made all +the reparation and submission which the Druids required of him. Whoever +did not, with the most implicit obedience, agree to this, had the +sentence of excommunication passed against him, which was more dreaded +than death; none being allowed to give him house or fire, or shew him +the least office of humanity, under the penalty of incurring the same +sentence." The ancient Romans held a great and popular festival at the +end of February, called the _Ferralia_. At this season, they visited the +graves of their departed friends, and offered sacrifices and oblations +to the spirits of the dead; they believed that the spirits of the +departed, both the good and the bad, were released on that particular +night, and that, if they were not propitiated, these spirits would haunt +throughout the coming year their undutiful living relatives. In all +probability, though the time of celebration is different, these Roman +ceremonies and the Hallowe'en ceremonies in this country had a common +origin. In the year 610, the Bishop of Rome ordained that the heathen +Pantheon should be converted into a Christian church, and dedicated to +all the martyrs; and a festival was instituted to commemorate the event. +This was held on the first of May, and continued to be held on this day +till 834, when the time of celebration was altered to the first of +November, and it was then called _All Hallow_, from a Saxon word, +_Haligan_, meaning to keep holy. This change was doubtless made in order +to supply a Christian substitute for some heathen festival--in all +probability the festival of _Sham-in_, which, as we have seen, was an +old Druidical feast. Some time after this alteration in the time of +holding the feast in honour of the martyrs, in 993, another festival was +instituted for the purpose of offering prayers for the souls of those in +purgatory, and this feast was kept on the second of November, and was +called _All Souls_. The following legend was either invented as a +plausible reason for instituting this additional feast, or the legend, +being previously well known and accepted as truth, was really the _bona +fide_ reason for the institution:--"A pilgrim, returning from the Holy +Land, was compelled by storm to land upon a rocky island, where he found +a hermit, who told him that among the cliffs of the island was an +opening into the infernal regions, through which huge flames ascended, +and where the groans of the tormented were distinctly audible. The +pilgrim, on his return, told the Abbot of Clugny of this, and the Abbot +appointed the second day of November to be set apart for the benefit of +souls in purgatory, which was to be kept by prayers and almsgiving." It +is easy to perceive that, while in the festival of Hallowe'en we have +the survival of the old Druidical festival of thank-offering to the +sun-god for the ingathering of the fruits of the earth, we have also in +these two festivals of _All Saints_ and _All Souls_ the survival of the +ancient _Ferralia_, or festival to the dead, when offerings were made to +both good and bad spirits, to prevent them haunting the living; and thus +we can account for the prevalence of the numerous superstitions +concerning ghosts and evil spirits connected with the festival of +Hallowe'en. That these Church feasts were regarded as the substitute for +the _Ferralia_ of Pagan Rome is verified by Father Meagan in his work on +_The Mass_. We quote from Jamieson:--"Such was the devotion of the +heathen on this day by offering sacrifices for the souls in purgatory, +by praying at the graves, and performing processions round the +churchyards with lighted tapers, that they called the month the month of +pardons, indulgences, and absolutions for souls in purgatory; or, as +Plutarch calls it, the purifying month, or season of purification, +because the living and dead were supposed to be purged and purified on +these occasions from their sins by sacrifices, flagellations, and other +works of mortification." Plutarch, I think, must have referred to the +month of February as the purifying month. Father Meagan has not referred +to the change of date made by the Church. Doubtless the Christian +Church, in instituting these festivals, intended, by divesting them of +their heathen basis, to christianise the people; but, like Naaman of +old, the worshippers, while they worshipped in the buildings in +conformity with the regulations of their new teachers, yet retained many +of their old Pagan beliefs and ceremonies, and even their teachers were +not thoroughly de-Paganised,--and so the old and new commingled and +crystallized together. + +In all the four festivals we have been considering, there survive relics +of fire-worship, and through all there runs a similarity of observance +and belief; but the special practices are not everywhere joined to the +same festival in all localities. In this part of the country, the +special observances connected with Hallowe'en were, in other parts of +the country, observed in connection with the summer festival. Now, +however, we are glad to say, these superstitious ceremonies and beliefs +in their old gross forms are fast passing away, or have become so +modified that we can scarcely recognise their relations to the old +fire-worship. + +In 1860, I was residing near the head of Loch Tay during the season of +the Hallowe'en feast. For several days before Hallowe'en, boys and +youths collected wood and conveyed it to the most prominent places on +the hill sides in their neighbourhood. Some of the heaps were as large +as a corn-stack or hay-rick. After dark on Hallowe'en, these heaps were +kindled, and for several hours both sides of Loch Tay were illuminated +as far as the eye could see. I was told by old men that at the beginning +of this century men as well as boys took part in getting up the +bonfires, and that, when the fire was ablaze, all joined hands and +danced round the fire, and made a great noise; but that, as these +gatherings generally ended in drunkenness and rough and dangerous fun, +the ministers set their faces against the observance, and were seconded +in their efforts by the more intelligent and well-behaved in the +community; and so the practice was discontinued by adults and relegated +to school boys. In the statistical account of the parish of Callander, +the same practice is referred to. It is stated that "When the bonfire +was consumed, the ashes of the fire were carefully collected in the form +of a circle, and a stone put in near the circumference for every person +in the several families concerned in getting up the fire; and whatever +stone is moved out its place or injured before next morning, the person +represented by the stone is devoted or fey, and is supposed not to live +twelve months from that day." In all probability this devoted person was +in olden times offered as a sacrifice to the fire god on the great day +of sacrifice, which was the festival day. The belief that the spirits of +the dead were free to roam about on that night is still held by many in +this country. Indeed, where the forms of the feast have all but +disappeared, the superstitious auguries connected with it survive. Burns +particularises very fully the formulae of Hallowe'en, as practised in +Ayrshire in his day, and as this poem is well known, it would be +superfluous to follow it in detail here; but I cannot refrain from +drawing attention to the suggestions which one of the practices which he +mentions affords in favour of the supposition that it is a relic of an +ancient form of appeal to the fire god--I refer to the practice of +burning nuts. It seems likely that in ancient times the priests, who +claimed prophetic power through the reading of auguries, used this +method of deciding the future at this particular season of the year, and +chiefly during the holding of the feast. + +Although I have confined my remarks to the four feasts, Yule, Beltane, +Midsummer, and Hallowe'en, because they are the oldest and most properly +national, there were a number of other heathen feasts, emanating +principally from Roman practice, which the Church converted into +Christian feasts, notably what is now called Candlemass. On the second +day of February, the Romans perambulated their city with torches and +candles burning in honour of _Februa_; and the Greeks at this same +period held their feast of lights in honour of Ceres. Pope Innocent +explains the origin of this feast of Candlemass. He states that "The +heathens dedicated this month to the infernal gods. At its beginning +Pluto stole away Proserpine, and her mother Ceres sought for her in the +night with lighted torches. In the beginning of this month the idolaters +walked about the city with lighted candles, and as some of the holy +fathers could not extirpate such a custom, they ordained that Christians +should carry about candles in honour of the Virgin Mary." This method of +keeping the feast of Candlemass does not now prevail in this country; so +far as the laity are concerned, the festival may be said to have died +out, but according to Dr. Brewer, the festival is kept by the Roman +Catholic Church as the time for consecrating the candles used in the +Church service. + +Formerly there were other public festivals, as Lammas, Michaelmass, &c., +which the Church had substituted for heathen feasts which have ceased to +be public festivals, and I trust we may indulge the hope that the time +is not far distant when, instead of all such festive relics of +heathenism, the Church and people will substitute one daily festival of +obedience to the honour of the founder of Christianity, viz., the +festival of a righteous life. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Page. + +Acts of Assembly against keeping Popular Festivals, 155 +Acts of Sessions against keeping Yule, 155 +Ague, A Cure for, 95 +All Hallow's Festival, its Origin, 177 +Animals in People's Stomachs, 103 +Anthropomorphism, 5 +Appendix, 143 +Appointment of 25th December for Christmas, 152 +Apple, The, Superstitions concerning, 122 +Aspen, Superstitions connected with, the 124 +Ash, Superstitions connected with, the 124 +Astoreth, The, of the Jews, 10 +Augustine's, St., or Austin's Mission, 152 +Auguries connected with Funerals, 64 +Aytoun on Fairyland, 21 + +Baal, Name of Sun-God, 10, 161 +Babies Carried off by Fairies, 34, 40 +Babies to be taken up a Stair first time taken out, 31 +Bannocks at Yule and New-Year's Day, 160 +Baptism, Early Practices at, 31 +Baptismal Water, 140 +Bedding at Weddings, 53 +Beetles, Superstitions connected with, 116 +Beilteine, Baal's Fire, 161 +Belief in Fairies in this Country, 27 + in Ghosts Visiting People, 176 + in Witchcraft still Survives, 68 +Beltane, 161 + Customs in Ireland, 166 + Festival in Perthshire, 168 + Day, First of May, 162 + Held in some Counties on 3rd May, 162 +Birds Flying over a Person's Head, 114 +Black Art, The, 75 +Blessing the Candles to be Used in Church, 181 +Bonfires at Hallowe'en, 179 +Bonny Kilmeny, 22 +Booths in connection with Temples, 153 +Bottreill's Hearth Stories of West Cornwall, 173 +Boutree, or Bourtree, Defence against Evil-Eye, 126 +Breaking Looking-Glass on the Wall, 137 +Bride's Cake, Practices connected with, 51 +Bull of Innocent VIII. against making Compacts with the Devil, 17 + +Candlemas, Relation of, to Festival of Februa, 181 +Casting of Calf by Cows Prevented, 84 +Cats Dying in the House not Lucky, 117 +Caul, Child's, its Influence, 32 +Celtic Irish hold Beltane at Midsummer, 172 +Celtic Names of Places indicate Sun-Worship, 149 +Ceremonies on St. John's Day, 174 +Changing of Babies by Fairies, 46 +Charms and Counter Charms, 79 + for Curing Diseases, 91, 93 +Child Rowland in Elfland, 26 +Children Cutting Teeth, 137 +Cholera, its First Visit to this Country, 14 + National Fast for, Refused, 15 +Christianity consistent with Nature, 16 +Christian Creeds not always consistent with Nature, 16 +Christmas Fixed to be kept on the 25th December, 152 +Church's, The, Enactments against Devil's Devices, 27 +Church, The, Punishing Deviation from her Creed, 17 +Clover, Four-Leaved, its Influence, 130 +Coal Explosions, Prognostics concerning, 138 +Cock Crowing with his Head to the Door, 114 +Cold Tremour, foreboding Death, 138 +Coral Beads, their Influence, 36 +Cornwall, Beltane Fires in Midsummer, 172 +Cows, Restive, foreboding Evil, 136 +Cricket in the House, 114 +Cure for an Evil Eye, 36 +Cutting the Nails of Young Children, 139 + +Deaf and Dumb possessing Second Sight, 72 +Death Warnings, 56 +Defending the Bride against Evil Influences, 51, 54 +Deid Bell, 66 +Deification of Stars, 145 +Devil conferring Supernatural Power, 28 + Making Compacts with the, 77 +Dew-Collecting on First May, 170 +Different Nations modifying Customs, 151 +Dirgy, or Dredgy, after Funerals, 63 +Disease Transferred to the Lower Animals, 92, 96 +Divining by Bible and Key, 106 + by Cups, 110 + by a Staff, 108 +Double Ears of Corn, 139 +Dousing Rod to find Springs or Mineral Veins, 109 +Dress put on Wrong Side Out, 137 +Druids, 147 +Druidism in Ireland, 150 +Druidical Customs at Beltane, 164 +Duties of New-Married Wife in Old Times, 55 + +Ear Tingling, 137 +Ecclesiastical Influence Leading to Wrong Ideas of God, 6 +Eclipses Portending Evil, 141 +Eggs Laid upon Good Friday, 114 +Elder, or Bourtree, The, 125 +English Opinions of Yule Feasts in Scotland, 156 +Evil Eye, Influence of, 30, 35, 37 +Exorcising Ghosts, 11 +Extracts from Presbytery Records on Witchcraft, 67 + +Fairy Legend, A, 119 +Fairies, What They Are, 26 +Fairies, Brownies, and Elfs, by Rev. Mr. Kirk, 19 +Fairyland, its Government, 21 +Family Feasts at New-Year, 161 +Fascinating Children Prevented, 139 +Fasting Spittle, 98 +Feast of God, 173 +Feasts to Evil Spirits, 12 +Ferralia Festival like Hallowe'en, 176 +Ferns, Common, its Seed, 128 +Festivals of Druids at Winter Solstice, 153 +Fire, the Earthly Symbol of the Sun, 10 +Fire-Worship in Scotland in 1810, 84 +Fires Kindled on Mountains at Midsummer, 173 +First of May Customs, 167 +First-Footing at Yule, 156 +First-Foot to Present a Gift, 160 +Flora, Goddess, her Feast at Beltane, 167 +Floralia, or First of May Observances, 167 +Foot Itching, Sign of, 137 +Formula for Exorcising Ghosts, 11 +Forks, their First Use and Effects of, 15 +Four-Leaved Clover, 130 +Funeral Customs, 63 + Old, in Highlands, 65 + +Guardian Angels, 59 +Gems, their Significance, 102 +Glamour, 132 +Giants and Dwarfs of Middle Ages, 19 +Girl's Petticoat Longer than Frock, Omen of, 137 +Goat, Beliefs concerning, 119 +Goodman's Croft, 140 +Golden Rose, 129 +Gods of the Babylonians, B.C. 2000, 7 + Greeks in Classical Times, 8 +God, Different Ideas concerning, 5 +Haco Fixing 25th December for holding Christmas, 154 +Hades, 11 +Hallowe'en Practices, 175 +Hallowe'en Practices in Perthshire, 180 +Hand over Hand Divining, 110 +Hand Itching, its Meaning, 137 +Hansel Monday, 155 +Hare Crossing Road, Seeing a, 117 +Hazel, The, 125 +Hen, A, Crowing like a Cock, 113 +Herring-Fishing on Sabbath, its Consequences, 142 +Hogmanay, 154 +Hooping-Cough, Cure for the, 95 +Holly, The, 123 +Holy Fire, 176 +Holyrood, Origin of, 163 +Horse Shoe, Protection from Witchcraft, 139 +Horse, A, Neighing Towards a House, 114 +Human Hair in Birds' Nests, 114 +Hydrophobia, How to Prevent, 101 + +Influence of Charms, 89 +Influence of May Dew, 170 +Influences, The Evil, Communicated by Dress, 39 +Initial Letters of Man and Wife's Name, 138 +Intermixing of Heathen with Christian Practices, 18 +Intercourse held with Infernal Fiends, 17 +Isabella Goudie's Confessions, 22 +Itching of the Nose, 136 + +Jamieson, Dr. on Pales' Customs, 167 + +Killing Spiders, 115 +Kirk, Rev. Mr., on the Nature of Fairies, 20 +Knife Presented as a Gift, 138 + +Ladybirds, 116 +Lammas Festival, 181 +Lamuralia, an Ancient Festival, 167 +Lee Penny, The, 95 +Legend of Burd Ellen, 22 +Legend of Purgatory, 177 +Lily, The, 130 +Like Wakes: and reasons for keeping them, 61 +Love Charms, 89 +Luck for new dress, How to procure, 137 +Lucky Animals, 120 +Lucky People to meet first, 32 + as First Foot, 160 + +Making Effigies to Torment People, 77 +Mandrake, its Influence, 90 +Marriage Customs Sixty Years Ago, 46 + Party meeting a Funeral, 51 +Marrying in May, 43 +Merlin the Wizard, 23 +Metals made under certain Constellations, 93 +Michaelmas, 181 +Midfinger free from Canker, 99 +Midsummer Feast among the Ancients, 173 + Festivals in this Country, 170 +Milk Bewitched, 81 +Milking the Tether, 75 +Mistletoe Gathering, 150 + its Influence, 124 +Modern Superstitions, 34 +Money given to Poor at Funerals, 64 +Moon Worship, 98 + a Female Deity, 10 +Murders discovered by Bleeding of Corpse, 85 +Murrain in Cattle Prevented, 84 +Mutes have Supernatural Gifts, 72 + +Names of Places connected with Fire Worship, 164 + with Sun Worship, 172 +Natural Phenomena ascribed to Divinities, 9 +New Year's Day, an Ancient Roman Festival, 151 + Observances, 159 + Festival, 154 +New Moon, Prognostics, 98 +New Zealand Divining, 108 + +Oak, a Sacred Tree, 131 +Oaths to Satan, 88 +O'Brien on Beltane, 165 +Observances at Loch Tay on Hallowe'en, 178 + at Yule, 156 +Odd Numbers Lucky, 109 +Old Religions mixing with Christianity, 179 +Omens connected with Bees, 115 + with Magpies, 115 +Onion, a Disinfectant, 127 +Origin of Hallowe'en, 177 + of All Souls, 177 +Overturning Chair on Leaving Table, 138 + +Pales, Goddess of Flocks, 166 +Palilia, Ancient Festival, 166 +Pennant's Account of Beltane in the Highlands, 169 +People Selling themselves to the Devil, 27 +Person first met in the Morning, 136 +Peruvian Ancient Sun Worship, 146 +Phoenicians in Britain 1000 B.C., 148 +Photographs not Lucky, 142 +Place at Dinner, 138 +Plants Gathered on St. John's Eve, 174 +Plough first seen in Season, 136 +Portends for Good or Evil, 136 +Prayers Unanswered, Cause not Sought, 14 + said Backwards, 134 +Prayers to the Gods, 13 +Precious Stones: their Virtue, 102 +Preparations made for Yule, 156 +Priests, their Office and Power, 9 +Professor Veitch on Beltane, 162 +Providence--General and Special, 18 +Purgatory, Proof for, 172 + +Recovering Stolen Babies, 40 +Red Colour a Charm, 80 +Relics in Curing Diseases, 102 +Repeal of Law against Witchcraft, 68 +Ringing Bells at Funerals, 66 +Robin Redbreast, 111 +Rocking an Empty Cradle, 137 +Rood Day Changed to Beltane, 162 +Roman Festivals in Spring, 166 + Marriage Customs, 45 +Rose, an Emblem of Silence, 129 +Running the Broose, 49 +Rowan Tree Protection against Witchcraft, 79 + +Sacred Fire Practice this Century, 83 +Salamander, The, 118 +Salt: its Influence, 33 + to Spill: its Significance, 139 +Scissors Presented as a Gift, 138 +Scoreing aboon the Breath, 38 +Second Sight, 71 +Session: Acts against keeping Yule, 155 +Seventh Son a Doctor, 90 +Sheep Prevented Casting their Lambs, 84 +Sham-in, Ancient Feast of Druids, 175 +Shepherds keeping Beltane in Perthshire, 169 +Sin Eaters, 60 +Speaking Aloud to One's Self, 138 +Spell to make a Fire Kindle, 135 +Spider, A Legend concerning, 115 +Spittle Confirming Bargain, 100 +Spittle, Customs connected with, 100 +Social Habits of Elfland, 26 +Sorcerers, 108 +Souls of the Departed, 11 +Sooth Sayers, 10 +Sow to Meet in the Morning, 120 +St. Augustus, 152 +St. John's Day Festival, 174 +St. John's Wort: a Talisman, 128 +Stealing Children and Youths by Fairies, 21 +Star Gazers, 10 +Stonehenge, 171 +Strangers on the Grate, 140 +Stye, Cause of, 96 +Stye, Cure for, 97 +Suicides, Superstition relating to, 85 +Sun Worship in Ancient Times, 146 +Sun, Primary God of the Ancient, 9 +Survival of Sun Worship, 145 +Superstitious Rites with a Corpse, 60 +Superstition, Meaning of, 2 +Swallows, Omens connected with, 112 +Sympathetic Cures, 91 + +Thank-offering for Answer to Prayer, 13 +Theory of Curing by Charms, 91 +Touching for Disease, 91 +Touching of a Corpse to Prevent Dreaming of it, 63 +Twin Nuts in One Shell, 136 + +Visions, Seeing, 72 +Visit to Stonehenge on Midsummer, 171 + +Warts, Cure for, 97 +Weighing Children Unlucky, 137 +Willow, The, 125 +White Butterfly, 115 +Wishes Fulfilled, 87 +Wishes against Self: an Oath Fulfilled, 88 +Withershins, 133 +Witches, A, Account of Fairyland, 22 +Witches Changing their Shape, 70 +Wizards, 10 +Wodrow's Opinion on Murdered Corpse Bleeding, 85 +Woman Carried away by Fairies in Arran, 29 +Wraiths, 58 +Written Charms, 91 + +Yellow Hammer, The, 112 +Yule: its Meaning, 149 +Yule converted into Christmas, 154 +Yule Observances Transferred to New Year's Day, 157 + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK LORE*** + + +******* This file should be named 15792.txt or 15792.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats 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