Notes on the folk-lore of the north-east of Scotland

Google

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project

to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the

publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at |http: //books .google .com/I

\

~7

\

Vjjs.'^ef:

Sllj

x:,\.

\

ii^..:\-

a

\

Xl.\

®fo 4all-Sm §^am%

FOB COLLECTING AND PRINTING

RELICS OF POPULAR ANTIQUITIES, &c.

THE YEAR MDCCCLXXVIIL

PUBLICATIOMS

E rOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

vn.

-2_^

/3 3^/.

PBESIDENT.
The Right Honourable Earl Beauchamp, F.S.A.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

H. C. COOTE, Esq., F.S.A.

W. R. S. Ralston, Esq., M.A.

E. B. Tylor, Esq., LL.D. F.R.S.

COUNCIL.

Edward Brabrook, F.S.A.
James Britten, FX.S.
Dr. Robert Brown.
Sir W. R. Drake, F.S.A.
G. L. Gomme, F.S.A.
Henry Hill, F.S.A.

A. Lang, M.A.

F. Ouvry, F.S.A.

The Rev. Professor Sayce, M.i

Edward Solly, : \R.S., F.S.A.

William J. Thoms, F.S.A.

W. S. W. Vaux, M.A.

DIEECTOE.--William J. Thoms, F.S.A.
TBEASUBEB.— Sir William R. Drake, F.S.A.
HON. SEC. — G. L. Gomme, F.S.A., 2, Park Villas, Lonsdale Road, Barnes, S.

NOTES ON

n"

I

f

M

1*

THE FOLK-LOEE

OF THE

> NOKTH - EAST OF SCOTLAND.

>

BY THE

KEVEREND WALTER GREGOR, M.A,

LONDON:

il • PUBLISHED FOR THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY BY

V< \ ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G.

188L cj

/5Sf/'

PREFACE.

This book, with the exception of parts of Chapters
XVIII. and XIX., has been gathered by myself from
the mouths of the folk. Much of it I have been in
the habit of hearing and marking from my earliest
years. To all kind friends from whom I have gotten
lore I give my hearty thanks. I cannot name them
all, but my thanks are specially due to Mrs. Forbes
and Mrs. Coutts, Banff; to the late Mrs. Watson, and
to Mrs. Cardno, Fraserburgh, for help in Chapters
XVI. and XXIII.— ^^ Riddles" and " Countings-out."
As to references to parallel customs elsewhere, I have
noted only those which occur in the Society's publica-
tions, and a few very obvious instances in Russian
and Italian folklore. These I thought would assist
members of the Society without altering the character
of my collection.

Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire,
April, 1881.

«

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

Personal, pp. 1-3.

CHAPTER I.

BIBTH.

WHo present — ^Who not permitted to be present — Cnstoms if two women with
child in same honse — A woman giving snck not allowed to seat herself on
the edge of the bed on which the woman in labour lay— All locks opened in
honse during the time of labour — ^Whoso entered the house bade the birth
God speed — Gave a draught of water if labour difficult — Some had luck in
doing this — ^When doctor called — ^The " merry-meht*' — ^**The Cryin Keb-
back" — "The Cryin Bannock" — ^A piece of it carried home — ^Fairies'
liking for human milk — ^Fairies carried off unsained or unchurched women
— Anxiety of fairies to get possession of infants — Mother and child "sained"
— Bible with bread and cheese placed below pillow — Bible and biscuit —
Bread and cheese given away to friends — A fir-candle or a basket contain-
ing bread and cheese placed on bed — ^A pair of trowsers hung up — Mother
watched till churched — Child, till baptized — Mother not allowed to work
till churched — Not allowed to enter a neighbour's house— Why prevented —
Mode of churching in Scotland— If unable to go to church what she did —
Water first fetched from well by mother in a thimble — Or in a vessel of
small size, pp. 4-6.

CHAPTER II.

THE CHILD.

A male child wrapped in a woman's shirt — ^A girl, in a man's — ^If operation
reversed boy or girl never married— Palms of hands not washed — ^Live coal
thrown into water in which new-bom infant washed — Poured under founda-
tion of dwelling-hotise — Child when dressed turned three times heels over
head— To prevent " forespeaking " — Excessive praise — ^Modes of finding out
" forespeaking '* — To prevent "evil eye" — Cure in casting ill — How to
find out a " f aiiy changeling " — How to bring back the true child — " Teethin
Bannock "— " Teethin Plaste): *' — Suck not given to a child when once
weaned— -Nails of fingers not cut— Bitten-^Child that speaks before walking

b

U TABLE OF CONTENTS.

a liar — Something giren to child on first entering a neighboiir*t

The cradle— A child not pat into a new cradle— A borrowed cradle Cradle

not placed on ground till carried into house, pp. 7-10.

CHAPTER m.

BAPTISM.

Baptism early administered — Reasons for so doing — Name not prononnoed till
after baptism — Written and given to minister— Unbaptiied infants not
taken into heaven — Baptizing a sick infant — Minister ''kills or cures "—
System of registration, effect of on early baptism — ^Baptismal dress-
Ceremonies connected with baptism — Gifts given by guests — Child mnst
sleep in baptismal dress — ^Effect of water of baptism entering the eyes^
Child ought to cry when water fell on its face— What done with the water
of baptism — ^Dnmk to strengthen the memory — Ceremonies if child carried
out of house for baptism — Girl baptized first, when boy and girl baptized at
one time — A girl brought to church and not baptized never married—
Fuarag, pp. 11-13.

CHAPTER IV.

THE NUB8EBY.

Rhyme on the face — On the brow, eye, nose, and mouth— On the fingers — Qn
the legs— On taking off the child's boots — On the legs and feet — On varions
parts of the body — On giving the child food — On being undressed for bed
— On getting sulky — On mounting a stick as a ** horse " — On dandling a
child on the knee— On two children placing themselves back to back and
alternately lifting each other — Various— On the numbers up to twenty —
« The Souters' Grace," pp. 14-20.

CHAPTER V.

BOY CODE OF HONOUR.

The rule of the ring— Of a race— Of bargain-making— Of making a gift-
Acting the informer— Lying— Asking sweetmeats— When anything is
found, pp. 21-24.

CHAPTER VI.

ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY.

Days of the week for birth — A child bom with a caul lucky— Possession of a
caul or "selly hoo" lucky — Health of one bom with it could be divined from
it — Child bora with feet first doomed to be hanged — " The Broon Coo's
lick" — Strong growth of hair on the body — To find out if a person is proud
by the hair — The hair when cut must be burned— Meaning of long slender
fingers — Of large hands and feet — " Lucken Toes" — Meaning of second and
third toes in a man being equal — Of white spots on the finger-nails — ^Why

*i

* •

• • •

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Ill

marriage-ring on ring-finger — A black speck on tooih — ^Ringing in the ears—
A glow in the ears — ^An itching in the eyes — ^In the nose — In the palm of
the right hand — In that of the left — In the soles of the feet — Sneezing — The
deaf and dumb — Their faculty of knowing the fntnre — Consulted about
distant friends — In loye affairs— Those of weak intellect, pp. 26-28.

CHAPTER Vn.

DREAMS, DIVINATION, &C.

To dream of a white horse — ^A horse — A swine — Eggs — Fresh fish — Butter-
Fruit in season — Out of season — ^Fire — ^Water — ^Loosing a tooth — ^Being
bitten by dogs or cats — One dead — Being dead by one unmarried coming
marriage— Loosing shoes— Seeing one smeared with blood — Throwing the
staff to find out the success of a journey — Unlucky to turn back when setting
out on a journey— Meaning of anything forgotten when paying a yisit-Bad
manners to stir the fire in a neighbour's house — Etiquette at table when with
one of higher rank — Unwillingness to give name on making a call — Token
of servant soon leaving her situation — Her first work in her new home —
Sudden hunger — ** Hungry Hillock " — "Hungry folks* meat" in pot — ^In
cooking stirring food from left to right, effect of — How cakes served up —
On " the Right Side " — To whom served up otherwise — Straw in brogue —
" Shee wisp " — Burned — Right stocking put on first — " Hansel " given on
putting on a piece of new dress — A kiss given, " Beverage of New Claes " —
Something given to a boy or girl on entering a neighbour's house — All sewing
done on Sunday undone by the devil — Crooked sixpence in purse lucky — A
present of a knife unlucky — Unlucky to sing before breakfast — Tea-stalk
floating in cup^A black speck on a burning candle — A film of carbon on
rib of grate— Fiery spots on the bottom of a pot, " Sodgers" — Theft of a
five-pound note — How recovered — A nobleman's horses stopped— How
relieved — Theft — Unwillingness to take back stolen property, pp. 29-33.

CHAPTER Vm.

LEBCHCBAFT.

Causes of Disease— Casting ill — ** The 111 Ee" — Prayers— Forespeaking—^Hidden
grave — Sudden news — ^Fright— Cures — ^Men and women famed for secret
wisdom — In certain families the power of curing certain diseases — Power
went down — One family had power of extracting motes from the eye —
Another, that of setting broken bones — Charming diseases forbidden by the
Church— A lucky hand in dressing boils — Power of a posthumous child —
Ability to show in a mirror the face of the one that cast ill — Cure of a man
at Broadford, in Skye, by a wise woman — Woman's daughter would not
receive the gift of healing — Some articles have in them a healing virtue —
Willox "ball and bridle "— " The Ball"— "The Bridle "—Others cured only
certain diseases — An " Ee-stehn " — An amber bead — Wells having curative
powers — At Althash, near Fochabers — Pilgrimages to it first three Sundays
in May — ^Fergan Well — Wallak Kirk— Pilgrimages to it forbidden by the

IV TABLE or CONTENTS.

Chnrch — Chapels resorted to for cures — ^Forbidden by the Church — Clach-
na-bhan — Cure of the "HI Ee" — Of Forespeaking — Casting the heart —
Cure of sleepy fever — Of epilepsy — Of rickets — Of lumbago, rheumatism,
sprains — Of whooping-cough — Of eye disease — Of erysipelas or " rose "—
Of sting of nettle — Of ringworm — Of toothache — Of warts— Of hiccup, pp.
34-49.

CHAPTER rX.

THE HOUSE.

Building materials — Walls — Couples — Roofs — "Foonin pint" — Laying founda-
tion — ^Refusal to give "foonin pint" avenged — " Hoose-heatin " — ^**Fire-
kinlin " — Feast on entering a new house^Arrangement of apartments —
Kitchen— Hearth— " Crook "— " Rantle-tree "— " Bole *'— " Canle gulUe "—
" Saat-backet " — " Bench " — " Settle "— " Box-bed " —Windows—" Dog-
hole*' — Hole for going in and out of hens — ^** Trance" — "But ein" —
Furniture— Houses of fishing population — ^Houses with but one door for
men and beasts — Ceremonies on leaving a house — How to take away the
luck from next occupier— Throwing cat into house carried off disease if any
left, pp. 60-53.

CHAPTER X.

EVENINGS AT THE FIRESIDE.

The hearth—" The bait-pot " boiling over the fire—" The lit-pot "—Means of
light — " Fir-can'les "—Candle-stick—" The Peerman " or " Peer-page "—
Oil-lamps—" Eely-dolly " — How evening passed — Women knitting, spinning,
sewing— Men making candles from bog-fir, manufacturing harrow-tynes,
&c. — Scholars preparing school-lessons — Singing songs and ballads — Telling
stories— Riddles — Visitors — Amusements — Beggars — " Quarterer " — The
chapman — The tailor, pp. 54-58.

CHAPTER XI.

FAIBIES.

Belief in fairies— Who they were — Fallen angels — Their abodes— Fairy-wells—
Ruled by a queen — ^Dressed in green— Dislike to the name of fairy — Called
" The Fair Folk " or " The Gueede Neebours " — A stone arrow a safeguard
against their power — The inmates of a house built over their dwelling liable to
annoyance from them — Came out in thegloamin — Spinning- wheels and meal-
mills had to be thrown out of gear — They had to pay the teind to hell every
seven years — Stole children to do so— How to get back a stolen child — Story
of a fisherwoman — Of another in Tyrie — Of another — Liking for human milk
— Carried off unsained mothers — ^Traditions of their doing so — Alluring
men and women into their abodes — ^If such tasted food or drink with them
they were detained for seven years — When they returned they avoided
^e dwellings of men — Grateful for kindness — ^Had a habit of borrowing

\

TABLE OF CONTENTS. V

from men — Farticnlarly meal — A fixed measure of it — A tradition —
Avenged a slight — Animals fell under their anger — A tradition — Their
musical skill — Took to fishing — Baked during sunshine in rain — Ate
counted cakes — " A furl o' fairies ween," pp. 69-65.

CHAPTER Xn.

WATEB-KELPIE.

Lived in deep pools of rivers and streams — Had the appearance of a black horse
—Enticed the traveller to destruction — Caused annoyance to farms — Could
be caught — ^Mode of capture— Made to do hard work — Could be killed —
Traditions — Guardian demons in pools — Danger of going into such pools —
A tradition — ^Blood-thirstiness of streams and rivers, pp. 66, 67.

•

CHAPTER XIII.
GHOSTS.

Mansions haunted by ghosts — Traditions — How to get rid of them — ^Excessive
grief brought back the spirit — Spirit of the murdered one returned till the
murderer was brought to justice — Spirit itself the executioner of justice —
Woods, bridges, graveyards haunted, pp. 68-70.

CHAPTER XIV.

WITCHES.

Belief in witchcraft — The witch an old woman — Her power derived from Satan
— What she could do— Her revenge — A tradition — Men had the power — It
went down in families, pp. 71, 72.

CHAPTER XV.

" BLACK AIBT " AND DEVIL COMPACTS.

Belief in " Black Airt " — Professors of it in communion with Satan — What it
was — Taught in Spain and Italy — A tradition — Devil compacts — How made
— Price of contract — Power of those who made such compacts — Time of
contract prolonged — ^A tradition—" Hell-Fire Club "—Life of its members
—Their fate, pp. 73-75.

CHAPTER XVI.

BIDDLES.

Jonah in the whale's belly — Lot's sons — The hair of the head — A bottle — A
bottle of whisky — Ann — ^Andrew — Bean — That — Was — The letter m — John
Lamb — The piper's wife — A fiddle — ^Hunger — ^An egg — Wood — A coffin —
A tub — ^A boy with a pot on his head — ^A man with a pot on his head — A
pot with a wooden cover — The bars of a grate — The tongs — Smoke — ^A "ten-

VI TABLE or COKTENTS.

onsen plench " — A hairj rope — A ship— A cherry — ^An onion — ^A nettle — ^A
magpie — A worm — The town clock — A watch — The moon — ^A snowflake —
Mist — A mnrdered lady — ^A woman fetching water in wooden pails — ^A
black cow in a snowy day — Scatterty's cat — Time when most holes in the
ground — Hay — A window — The cock — ^A nail in a horse's shoe — ^Noah
striking the first nail of the ark — One's shoes — One's shadow — ^Hell — The
whiting — Tod's tails to reach the moon — ^An icicle, pp. 76-82.

CHAPTER XVn.

MASBIAGB.

Means taken to find out fntnre husband or wife — Sleeping in a strange bed-
Reading 3rd Terse of 17th chapter of Job — First time cuckoo is heard — ^Rib-
wort — ^Incantations on Halloween — ^Fulling the castoc— ^Sowing lintnseed —
Fathoming a rick — Win'ing the blue clue — Winnowing com — Washing the
sleeve of the shirt — ^Roasting peas — ^Eating an apple in front of a looking-
glass — ^By three caps or wooden basins — Incantation by young women of
Fraserburgh — How to divine the number of the family — How to gain lore
— ^By orchis-roots — By two lozenges — ^Marriage dissipated love so gained —
A live coal tumbling from the fire portended marriage — Apron-string or
garter loosed with a young woman, meaning of — ^Effect of mending clothes
on her back — Psalm CIX. — ^Rhymes — Colour rhyme — How courtship carried
on — How marriage arranged — Tuesday or Thursday common marriage day-^
More rarely Saturday — Unlucky for two of a family to be married in the
same year — Making ready the ** Providan " — " Thigging " wool by bride —
Buying the " Bonnie Things " — " Providan " sent home unlocked and un-
bound — Invitation of guests — Minister asked after the invitation of the
guests — A hat presented to minister — A present made by each guest — ^Re-
served till morning of marriage day — " Hansel " — Marriage feast — Bridal
ale — ^Bridal cakes — Omens drawn from the brewing of the ale — ^From the
baking of the bread — '* Beuckin nicht " — Proclamation of banns — ^Rubbing
shoulders — Feet-washing — Omens drawn from weather on marriage day —
Rhymes — ^Bridal dress — Bridal shoes — Something borrowed worn — Green
garters presented by a younger sister to an elder unmarried — Arrival of
guests — Marriage breakfast — " The sens " — The demand for the bride by the
" sens " — ^Bride and her party arrived first at church — Bride led by bridesmen
— Bridegroom led by two young women — Both parties carried whisky with
bread and cheese — " First fit " observed by both — Attention to " first
fit '* — ^Best, a man on horseback — Or a horse drawing a cart—Each party
headed by a piper — ^Firing of guns — " Bride-steel " — Great care to place the
bride properly — Place of " best maid " — Danger of being best maid— Bride
and bridegroom should not meet on the day of the marriage till they met to
be married — Ceremonies after marriage —Beadle received his fee — Procession
home — The welcome— Bride lifted over the threshold—Bread and cheese in
a sieve placed on her head — Sometimes scattered — Gathered by young folks
—The bride cake — Distributed — ^Installation of bride as mistress — *<Ba-

TABLE OF CONTENTS. VU

dller " — ^Beggars -The marriage feast — " Penny weddings " — Forbidden by
the Church — ^Bridegroom did not take his seat at marriage feast — ^Dancing
— ^'*Shaim-spring" — ^'^ Shaimit-reel" — Marriage favours — ^Male dancers paid
musician — Ceremony of " Beddan " — First asleep first dead — ^Who carried
pains of labour — The " Eirkin " — No bye-road taken to Chnrch — Service
began before entrance — ^Two bridal parties in chnrch at once — Kirkin feast
— ^In change-honses — Such forbidden by the Church — Marriage among the
fishing population — ^Early marriages — Arranging marriage — ** Nicht o' the
Greeance" — Guests invited by the bride and bridegroom in company —
Customs on morning of marriage day — Where marriage celebrated — Six-
pence put into bride's shoe — The heel of bride's shoe put down — Bride-
groom's put down — Marriage party sometimes makes the circuit of village
after marriage ceremony — '* First Fit " — Sailor's marriage — Ceremonies on
entering her home — ^What the bride provides — What the husband provides
— ^Taking home of the " Plinisan " — ^Marriages in Crovie — ^In Rosehearty —
Bridal bed in Gardenston — The ** Beddan " — Custom in Boddam — Presents
to newly-married pair, pp. 83-101.

CHAPTEK XVIII.

PLACE BHTMES.

Aikybrae — Aberdour — Avon — Banff — Boy ne — Buchan — Strila — Buck — Bel-
riunes — Tap o' Noth — Bennochie — Cabrach — Rushter — Caimmuir — Caim-
byke — Bumblin-Steens — Stoney Dyke — Camousie — Comcaim — Cruden —
Culblean — Cromar — Cullen — CuUycan — ^Daach — Sauchin — Eeithock Mill —
Tarn o' Rivven — ^Balveny — Cults — Clunymoire — Auchindroin — ^Dee — Don —
Urie — Baas — Deer — Tillery — Dipple — Dindurcas — Dandilieth — Delvey —
Brig o' Balgownie — Eden — Fochabers — Fraserburgh — Fy vie Castle — St.
Fergus — Eilbimie — ^Keith — ^Marna — ^Mormond — Mount Mar — ^Lochnagar —
OocJinaben — Bennochie — ^Pitfodels — Meams — Pittentyoul — Pittendrum —
Aberdour — Rattrayhead — Rivven (Ruthven) — St. Brandon — St. Olav's

Well — ^Brig o' Turra Little Ugie — ^Druidical circles — The Helliman Rig

at Killishment— The « Gudmahns' Craft "—Caves, pp. 102-116.

CHAPTER XIX.

PLACE AND FAMILY CHARACTEBISTIGS.

Aberdeen — Drum — Duff — Fraser — Gordon — Hay — Earl of Mar — Ogilvie —
Strathbogie — Towie Barclay, pp. 117-122.

CHAPTER XX.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPEBSTITIONS.

Section L — ^Four-footed animals — The mole — The cat — ^The dog — The porpoise
— ^The mouse — The field-mouse — The rat — The hare — The pig — The horse
— How to find water by a mare — The ass — The sheep — Cattle — Cow

• • •

Vni TABLE OF CONTENTS.

rhymes. Section II. — Birds — Bird rhymes — The crow — Crow rhymes —
The raven — The magpie — The redhreast — The lark — Lark rhymes — The
yellow-hammer — The cock — The hen — Setting a hen — Time of ^ay for so
doing — Months for so doing — ^Hen hatching afield — ^Hand not to touch wild
ducklings — Bird's eggs not to he touched in nest — ^Hens and ducks preening
themselves — The dove — The golden plover — The moor-hen — The lapwing —
The wild-goose — The Swan. Section III. — ^Reptiles, fish, and insects —
Keptiles — The frog — The toad — Fishes — The dog-fish, part of backbone a
cure of toothache — The herring — The haddock — The fluke — The salmon and
the trout — ^Insects — The burying-beetle — The ladybird — The Ant — Bees —
Moths — Spiders — The green crab — The hairworm — The black snail. Section
IV. — Trees and plants — The aspen — The bluebell — ^Broom — Whin — Turnip
blossom — Wild fruits — Omens from first dug potatoes — The puff-ball, pp.
123-148.

CHAPTER XXI.

TIMES AND SEASONS AND WEATHEB.

Days of the week — ^Monday — Tuesday — Friday — Saturday — The months — ^Febru-
ary — ^March — April — The borrowing days — May — June — Candlemas — Rood
day wind — Wind on first day of quarter — The moon — Unlucky to see new moon
through a window — With empty hands — Luck to have something in the hand
— Money in the pocket must be turned — Kiss one next you — " Mairt " killed
when the moon increasing — Fish hung in moonlight poisonous — Sleeping in
moonlight dangerous — Influence in ripening grain — " A broch " — ** A cock's
eye " — ^Moon seen soon after its coming in indicates bad weather — " Lying on
her back " the same — Old moon lying in new moon — ^Mist — Mock sun — The
rainbow— Thunder — Snow — Snow rhyme — Snow — Rain rhyme — ^Rain before
seven A.M. — A "Borie" — Rain from south-west — ^Dust blowing — Mist —
Clouds — The wind— " The song of the sea" — " The dog afore his maister" —
" The dog ahin his maister," pp. 149 — 155.

CHAPTER XXn.

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR'S DAY, &C.

Preparations for keeping them — Three days observed — Blacksmith would not
work unless by necessity — Every piece of work finished before Christmas —
Time about Christmas and New Year given to festivity— Food of all kinds
for man and beast prepared — Omen drawn from baking the cakes — ^Yeel
cakes kept as long as possible — ^Fish — Kebback— A piece of new dress—
" Yeels Jaad '* — A child must not cry on Christmas morning — " Yeel sones '*
Divination from them — A small quantity of the dish left — Requiring a long
time to cook indicated a late harvest or some disaster — Christmas breakfast
—Dinner— Gysers — Balls — Masonic walks — Cattle got unthreshed com —
" Clyack Sheaf " given to mare in foal — A fire in each byre — Creaming the
well — How such water used — Well creamed last night of year in some districts
—Something must first be carried into the house on Christmas morning —

TABLE or CONTENTS. IX

A live coal not given oat — ^First fire watched, and omens drawn from it —
'^Ristin*' fire on last night of jear — ^Examined in morning — Omens drawn
from it — ^Appearance of stars — Wind on New Year's day — Thigging —
Thigging song — " Hogminay " — Hogminay ditty — ^Raffles — Shooting-matches
— ^"Damhrod" — Children's games of chance — Totum ** Nivey, neeck-nack "
— *' Headocks or Pintacks " — " Yeel-preens "—Card playing— Playing in
roadside inns and public houses — '' Hansel Monday " — Faster Even — Brose
day — Bannock nicht — A beef dinner on that day — Beef brose — ^Ring among
brose — Omen drawn from dreaming over the ring — Bannocks — Fortune-
telling from eggs that partly composed the bannocks — The '^ Sautie bannock "
— ^How prepared — ^How used — No spinning on that day — Playing the ball —
Cock-fighting— Valentine Day — Peace Sunday eggs— Beltane fires— Hal-
lowe^en fires near Tillages — Near farm-steadings» pp. 156-168.

CHAPTER XXin.

COUNTINGS OUT.

In use in Fraserburgh — Tyrie — Pitsligo — Rathen — Portosy — Keith — ^Banff,
pp. 169-176.

CHAPTER XXIV.

WASHING DAY.

Little or no soap — Cow-dung as a detergent— " Book " — "Hen-pen" — Yearly
washing — Washing rhyme, pp. 176-177.

CHAPTER XXV.

FABMING.

Aid giyen to one entering on a farm — By ploughing — By giving seed —
Crofter with bad crop " thigged " — Parts cultiyated — ^No fixed rotation of
crops — ^A " Rig *' left to grow wild oats — Comers left uncultivated " for the
aul' man*' — The plough — The harrows — Ropes — "Twal onsen plew" —
'*Graadman" — ^A proverb — How oxen yoked — A tradition — Ceremony on
putting the plough into the ground for the first time during the season —
Mode of harvesting 'A mysterious animal — "Clyack" sheaf — Divining
about next harvest by the reapers— Firing shots into a neighbour's field by
those first finishing — ** Clyack " feast — The " winter " — ^How treated — " Meel
an ale" — ^Part of grain left to feed birds— Mode of winnowing grain —
Prejudice against fans — A tradition — Produce of land consumed within
seven years — Mills — ^Mode of stopping mills — Cattle — Injured by fairies —
Shot by their darts— "Thunderbolts"— The "111 ee"— "Hackit flesh"
buried in the dnngpit to work ill among the cattle— If found it was burned —
Carcass of dead animal burned if it was supposed that the disease was caused
by a witch or a warlock^— An example — A tradition — Sacrifice of a pig to

X TABLE OF CONTENTS.

stop disease among cattle—Diseased animals sacrificed — Byres pnrified with
virgin fire in cases of " Quarter 111 '* — ^Fumigating with juniper — ** Need-
fyre " — Forbidden by Church — Forelegs of dead animal cut off and kept —
Liyer and lungs, parts of, hung oyer the fireplace — Sometimes boiled —
Transferring the disease — Modes of doing so — Place of burying the animal
stopped the disease — Cures by draughts — Off a new shilling — " Willox stone
and bridle " — Modes of keeping witches at a distance — The rowan tree —
Woodbine — Throwing besom after animal when led to market — Halter went
along with animal when sold — Thrown on roof of byre when animal taken
home — Making sign of cross on animal when bought — '* Blockan ale '* — The
dairy — Chief enemies — Witch and warlock — ^Modes of taking away milk —
By witch — Turning herself into a hare — Mode of taking it away when cow
was calying — ^Mode of preventing this— First milk through a finger-ring —
On a '^crosst shilling" — On a horseshoe nail — ^By curdling the first milk —
By a rope plaited the contrary way round the cow*s neck — ^By first draught
of water off a shilling — ^Driving the newly-calved cow from the byre over
fire and iron — Or over fire and salt — Same done to all the animals — " Seal "
on cow*s neck kept witch at a distance — Modes of bringing back milk when
taken from cow — ^Boiling milk with pins, &c. — Corking up cow*s urine in a
bottle — Traditions — ^Pour milk on a boulder between lichen and stone— By
ceremony with chum — Mode by selling — ^Mode of preventing a cow being
"forespoken " — Mode of finding out whether ** forespoken " — Mode of cure-
Modes of finding out who took away milk — Cure of lumps in udder — ^How
to increase quantity of milk— Milk boiling over pot into fire — ^Milk utensils
washed indoors — ^If washed in a stream or pond washings thrown on bank —
Beason of such — "Beam-pig'* — "Beam-bowie" — The "paddle-doo" —
" Gueede butter gaitherer " — ^Frog kept amongst cream — ^A tradition —
Cream — Crooked sixpence or cross of rowan tree or horseshoe put below
chum when butter was being made — One entering the house when the butter
was being churned churned a short time — How to make cow calve during
the day-time — Calf as it fell from the cow not touched with hand — Cow not
milked on the morning when taken to market — " Seal " went along with
milch cow when- sold — The " Hird " — His club made of ash — ^Reason for so
doing—" Jockies plew " — Number of cattle notched on club— A tradition —
Each animal had a name — " Hird " Rhyme, pp. 177-196.

CHAPTER XXVI.

BOATS AND FISHING.

Boat launched to a flowing tide— Whisky, &c., given at launch and naming—
Rhyme — Ceremony by skipper's wife on arrival of a new boat — Horseshoe
nailed to boat— On going a-fishing new boat allowed to take the lead-
Reason — Ceremony on returning from fishing — A boat wrecked with loss of
life not afterwards used— White stone not used as ballast — Stone bored by
pholas not used — Village awakened by an old fisherman — ^Men with an "HI
Fit "—Traditions— Mode of drawing down the boats on going to sea — ^Re-

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI

pQgnance to go to sea if asked where they were going — ^Words not uttered
when at sea— Swine — Salmon — Tront — Dog — Minister — Kirk — Fish
" glowered oot o' the boat '* — Mode of taking off the spell — Boats at sea not
to be pointed at with finger — Nor counted — Nor women counted when
travelling to sell fish— Certain family names not pronounced in Buckie —
Anecdote — Whyte an unlucky name in other yillagesr-Mode of curing
haddocks — ^Different kinds of cured haddocks — Other fish — Mode of selling
— Ceremony on New Tear's Day, pp. 197-202.

CHAPTER XXVn.

DEATH.

Omens — Three knocks — The " Dead-drop "— " Chackie Mill " — Heavy sound
outside door of house— -Murmur of human voices — Mirror or picture falling
— ** Dead-can'le *' — A " Fey-crap '* — " Coffin-spehl "—Apparition of person
doomed to die-*-Three drops of cold blood falling from nose — Unusual joy —
Sneezing a sign of recovery — ^Dead and living grave — Forbidden by Church
—Mysterious sound — A tradition— Break rock over head of the dying —
Dying one removed from bed — ^Reason for so doing — Doors and windows
opened in hour of death — Iron stuck into butter, &c., on the death taking place
— ^Milk in house thrown out — Onions and butter in some fishing villages
thrown out— Chairs, &c. sprinkled with water — Clothes of dead sprinkled with
water — Had a peculiar smell — Clock stopped — Mirrors, pictures, &c., covered
—Hens and cats shut up — Reason for so doing — ^Neighbours did not yoke
their horses unless a running stream between dwellings — Earth not dug in
one village — ^Wright sent for on death to make coflSn — Laying out of body
— A penny or halfpenny put on eyelids if they did not close— Salt laid on
breast — Green turf laid on breast to prevent swelling — Candles kept burning
— A tradition — Time of death — Drowning — ^Body floated on ninth day —
Reason — Mode of finding body — Body of suicide — Murder — Murderer
touching body causes blood to flow — The lyke- wake— The " Kistan *'— The
'•Waukan** — How time employed — Sometimes practical jokes— "Tobacco
Nichts," pp. 203-209.

CHAPTER XXVni.

BUBIAL.

Reception of funeral guests — ^Hospitality — ^Looking at the dead body — Touching
it — ^Body soft, meaning of — Part of winding-sheet cut off and kept — ^Mode
of carrying the coffin to the graveyard — ^A young woman carried by young
women in Buckie — Chairs, on which coffin rested before moving away from
the door, overturned — Allowed to lie for a time — Washed — All animals
about the farm loosed from their stalls and driven forth — The funeral must
go by the common road — Bellman went before funeral ringing a bell in some
places — Church-bell rung in others — Whisky carried if graveyard distant —
Partaken of at the " ristin stehn " — Tradition — Whisky partaken of when
grave covered — Feast after funeral — A shower on the open grave — A

Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS.

hurricane — ^Bread and water put beside the dead body the night after the
funeral — A funeral not to be looked at from a window — Suicides— Not buried
in graveyard — A tradition — ^Where buried — Why not buried in grayeyard —
The knot of a suicide's hanging rope— A criminal's — Still-bom children—
Unbaptized children— Grayeyards — Beluctance to put first body in a new
grayeyard— A tradition— The "Meels"— The mortcloth— Coffins— Grave-
yards haunted — ^Mode of making contract with the devil — Mode of ** arrest-
ing " a man or a beast — Mould of graveyard used in sorcery — ^Forbidden by
the Church, pp. 210-216.

GLOSSABY, pp. 217-226.

INDEX, pp. 227-238.

THE FOLK-LOKE

OFTHB

NORTH-EAST OF SCOTLAND.

INTRODUOTION.

** Homo sum: nihil humani a me aliennm pato.''

HAVE paidlt in its burns and tumbled on its fairy
hillocks. I have wandered through its woods by
day and by night. I have trudged over its moors
and mosses. I have lain below its rocks, dreaming
with open eyes of the past. I have climbed its hills in sunshine
fW^ and in mist, in calm and in storm ; in fair and in foul, when
the tiny stream that flowed down the hill-side was swollen into
a roaring torrent of foam, and " deep was calling unto deep."
I have seated myself on the hill-top, and looked out on the
great sea of hills, billow on billow, with their grey, broken
crests and purple sides streaked with patches of glittering snow,
with many a tarn looking out from below the rugged brows of
the hills — eyes gazing with calm, steadfast gaze to Heaven ;
with here and there a lake shining as molten gold, fringed with
black from the dark fir wood, with here and there a stream
dancing and sparkling in the sun, now shut out from view by
an intervening hill, now coming into sight round the base of
another ; the sea in the distance, calm and grand, glancing
in the summer-sun, beautiful a^ a child at play, and carrying
on its breast many a brave vessel, round which floated mothers'
and wives' and children's prayers, and lovers' vows, and mer-
chant-men's hopes and fears ; and between the hills and the
sea, fair, fruitful fields, and villages and towns, with all

B

2 INTRODUCTION.

their joys and hopes, with all iheir earnest endeavour and
honest work, witii all their devotion and self-denial, with
all their loves and hatreds, with all their pain and misery.
I have seen the sun go down, and the darkness creep over
tlie lowlands and up the hill-sides, inch by inch, till only the
hill-tops shone in purple splendour for a few minutes, and
they too, then, were clad in darkness, and the stars came
out one by one, larger and brighter than when seen from
the plains. I have stood at midnight on the mountain-top,
and heard only the dull sough of the wind, broken by the bark
of the fox or the croak of the ptarmigan. I have guided my
steps over its ridges by the midnight stars. Wrapped in a plaid,
I have crouched beneath a stone on a bed of fresh heather, and
have jfaUen asleep with the music of a Gaelic song and the murmur
of the streams falling over the mountain side — the one the
counterpart of the other — sounding in my ears. I have sat in
the hut beside a blazing fire, and, amidst the roar of the tempest
and the rush of swollen waters, listened at midnight to tales
of witchcraft ; of compacts with the Devil, of fightings with the
same dark being, of the same being blowing to the four winds
of Heaven wicked men, with their hut, their guns, and their
dogs ; of fair women and infants carried off by the fairies ; of
dead-candles, of death-warnings, of ghosts, and of all the terrible
things of the realm of spirits, till an eerie feeling crept over
me, and I began to question with myself whether such tales
might not be true. I have taken my seat beside the reputed
witch, in her dark turf hut, and, with the faint glimmering
light of a small candle, witnessed her perform with her long
skinny fingers her incantations. I have sailed the Firth in
boat and in vessel, in sunshine and in storm, and I have listened
to the tales of the fishermen and sailors as the ship rocked lazily
under the falling darkness. 1 The North, with its hills, and vales,
and woods, and rocks, and streams, and lochs, and sea — with its
fairies, and waterkelpies, and ghosts, and superstitions — with its
dialect, and customs, and manners, has become part of myself.
Everything is changing, and changing faster than ever. The
scream of the railway whistle is scaring away the witch,

INTRODUOTION. ij 3

r

and the fairy, and the waterkelpie, and the ghost. To give
an account of the olden time in the North, as seen by my-
self and as related to me by the aged, is the task I have set
before me. /it is true some of what is related has not yet passed
away. If I fall into error,- I can only say, with the Roman
comedian,

'' Si id est peccatuin, peccatum imprndentia'st,"

and with Bichard RoUe de Hampole : —

<* And if any man that es clerk
CSan fynde any erronr in this werk,
I pray hym he do me that f ayonr
That he wiUe amende that erronr;
And if men may here any erronre se,
Or if any defant in this tretice be,
I make here a protestacion,
That I will stand til the correccion
Of ilka rightwyse lered man,
That my defaut here correcte can."

b2

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH.

N the occasion of a birth there were present a few of
the mother's female friends in the neighbourhood,
besides the midwife.

But it was not every woman that was permitted to
attend. A woman with child was not allowed to be in the room ;
and if two women with child happened to be living in the same
house when the one felt the pains of labour, they took a straw, or
a stalk of grass, or some such thing, and broke it, each repeating
the words, " Ye tak yours, an I tak mine." Neither could a
woman giving suck seat herself on the edge of the bed of the
lying-in woman, from the belief that such an action stopped the
flow of the milk of the lying-in woman. If a woman in this
condition did do so unwittingly, and the milk ceased, the
lying-in mother whose milk had departed had to get secretly
the child of her who had been the cause of the disappearance of
the milk, and, with the aid of a friend, to pass it under and over
her apron to bring back her milk.

While the woman was in labour all locks in the house were
undone. One who might enter the house during labour spoke
to the woman, and wished God speed to the birth. If the labour
was difficult, the first who chanced to enter gave her something,
as a little water to moisten the mouth, and there were those
whose giving was reputed as of great virtue in easing and has-
tening the birth. A doctor was called only in cases of danger.

When the child was bom there was a feast called iJie merry
mehty part of which was the indispensable cheese, or cryin
kebback. In some districts a bannock made of oatmeal, milk,
and sugar, and baked in a frying-pan, called the cryin bannock,
was served up. Each one present carried off a piece of the
cheese to be distributed among friends, and every one who

BIBTH. 5

came to see the mother and baby also carried away a piece for
the same purpose.*

The belief in fairies was universal, and their power was
specially dreaded in the case of women in childbed and of
unbaptised infants. These beings were believed to have a great
liking for human milk, and to be constantly on the watch for
opportunities to gratify their liking, which could be done only
by carrying off unsained or unchurched mothers. Nor did they
show less anxiety to get possession of infants. Every seven
years they had to pay '^ the teind to hell," and this they endea-
voured to do by a human being rather than by one of themselves.

On the birth of the child, the mother and offspring were
sainedy a ceremony which was done in the following manner : —
A fir-candle was lighted and carried three times round the bed,
if it was in a position to allow of this being done, and, if this
could not be done, it was whirled three times round their heads;
a Bible and bread and cheese, or a Bible and a biscuit, were
placed under the pillow, and the words were repeated, '*' May
the Almichly debar a' ill fae this umman, an be aboot ir, an
bliss ir an ir bairn." When the biscuit or the bread and cheese
had served their purpose, they were distributed among the un-
married friends and acquaintances, to be placed imder their
pillows to evoke dreams, -f

Among some of the fishing population a fir-candle or a basket
containing bread and cheese was placed on the bed to keep the
fairies at a distance. A pair of trowsers himg at the foot of the
bed had the same effect. X

Strict watch was kept over both mother and child till the
mother was churched and the child was baptised, and in the
doing of both all convenient speed was used. For, besides
exposure to the danger of being carried off by the fairies, the
mother was under great restrictions till churched. She was not
allowed to do any kind of work, at least any kind of work more

* Cf. Henderson's Folh-Lore of the Nortliem Counties (published by the Folk
Lore Society), pp. 11, 12. This book will be referred to hereafter as ** Henderson."
t Und. p. 14.
X Ilfid. pp. 14, 16, and The Folh-Lore JRecord, vol. ii. p. 197.

6 BIRTH.

than the most simple and necessary. Neither was she permitted
to enter a neighbour's house, and, had she attempted to do so,
some would have gone the length of offering a stout resistance,
and for the reason that, if there chanced to be in the house a
woman great with child, travail would prove difficult with her.*
The Kirk of Scotland has no special service for the churching
of women, and churching was simply attending the ordinary
service. The mother put on her very best attire, and contrived
if* possibloji;. however poor, to have a piece of new dress ; and
generally a larger contribution was given for the poor. On her
journey home a neighbour by the wayside took her in, and set
before her both food and drink. If the distance from the church
and the state of the mother's health delayed the churching too
long, she betook herself to the ruins or to the site of some old
chapel that chanced to be near, and on that hallowed ground
returned thanks to God for His goodness. The site of the chapel
of St. Bridget, with its little churchyard and a few nameless stones,
near Tomintoul, was the resort of many a mother ; and under
the dome of Heaven, with the hills for temple walls, and the
green grass for a carpet, above the long, long forgotten dead, in
a temple not made with hands,

** Kneeling there,
Down in the dreadful dust that once was man,
Dust . . . that once was loving hearts,"

did she pour forth her heart for two human lives. Despite of
all superstition, it was a grand sight. Such mothers have
made Scotland what it is.

The first time after childbirth the mother went to fetch water,
she did so, not in a pail, but in her thimble or in a vessel of
very small content, to prevent the child's mouth from con-
tinually running saliva. If possible she ought first to go upstairs
rather than downstairs, f

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 16. f Cf. J^. L, Bscord, yol. i. p. 11 (36).

CHAPTER 11.

THE CHILD.

" Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,
Long continnance, and increasing
Hourly joys be still npon you."

|HEN the child was bom, if it was a boy it was wrapped
in a woman's shirt, and if it was a girl it was
wrapped in a man's. If the operation was reversed
the luckless victim of such an imtoward act never
entered into the joys of married life.

In washing the new-born infant great care was used not to
let the water touch the palms of the hands, and this care was
continued for a considerable length of time, under the belief
that to wash the palms of the hands washed away the luck of
this world's goods.* By some a live coal was thrown into the
water in which the new-born infant was washed. By others it
was carefully poured under the foundation of the dwelling-house,
to prevent it from coming in contact with fire, and thus to pre-
serve in coming years the child from the harm of burning.
When dressed it was turned three times heels over head in the
nurse's arms, and blessed, and then shaken three times with the
head downward. These ceremonies kept the fairies at a dis-
tance from the infant, and prevented it from being frightened
when suddenly awaked from sleep, as well as from growing in
a knot. The same ceremonies were gone through every time the
child was dressed. When it was laid out of the arms, as to bed,
the words, " God be with you," or " God bless you," were
repeated.

To guard the child from heiug forespokerij it was passed three
times through the petticoat or chemise the mother wore at the
time of the accouchement. It was not deemed proper to bestow
a very great deal of praise on a child ; and one doing so would

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 16.

8 THE CHILD.

have been interrupted by some such words as " Gueede sake,
haud yir tung, or ye'U forespyke the baim." Such a notion of
forespeaking by bestowing excessive praise was not limited to
infants, but extended to full-grown people, to domestic animals,
and to crops. K the child was sickly, and there was a suspicion
that it had been forespoken, recourse was had to the well-
approven modes of discovering the truth or the untruth of the
suspicion.

^ Here are two modes. A new shilling, after being put three
times round the crook^ was placed on the bottom of a wooden
cap. The cap was filled with water, which was immediately
poured ofi: If the shilling came oS with the water, the child
had not been forespoken. Three stones — one round, to repre-
sent the head, another as near the shape of the body as possible,
and a third as like the legs as could be found — were selected
from a south-running stream, that formed the boundary between
twa lairds' laan^ heated red hot, and thrown into a vessel con-
taining a little water. A new shilling was laid on the bottom
of a wooden cap, and this water was poured over it. The
water was then decanted, and if the shilling stuck to the bottom
of the cap the sickness was brought on by forespeaking. The
water used in the ceremony was administered as a medicine.

To turn off the evil eye, and to preserve the child from the
power of the fairies, a small brooch, of the shape of a heart, was
worn on one of the petticoats, usually behind.

There were those who had the reputation of having the power
of showing to the parents or relatives the face of the one who
had been guiliy of casting ill upon the child. If ill had been
cast upon the child it was cured by taking its own first shirt,
or the petticoat the mother wore before confinement, or the
linen she wore at the time of delivery, and passing it through
it three times, and then three times round the crook.

If the child became cross and began to dwine^ fears imme-
diately arose that it might be a " fairy changeling," and the
trial by fire was put into operation. The hearth was piled with
peat, and when the fire was at its strength the suspected change-
ling was placed in front of it and as near as possible not to be

THE OHIIJ). y

soorohed, or it was suspended in a basket over the fire. If it
was a ^^ changeling child" it made its escape by the luniy
throwing back words of scorn as it disappeared.

One mode of bringing back the true child was the following.
A new skull was taken and hung over the fire fi:om a piece of a
branch of a hazel tree, and into this basket the suspected
changeling was laid. Careful watch was kept till it screamed.
If it screamed it was a changeling, and it was held fast to pre-
vent its escape. When an opportunity occurred, it was carried
to a place where four roads met, and a dead body was carried
over it. The true child was restored.

On the first symptoms of the child's cutting teeth, a teethin
bannock was made. It was baked of oatmeal and butter or
cream, sometimes with the addition of a ring, in presence of a
few neighbours, and without a single word being spoken by the
one baking it. When prepared, it was given to the child to
play with till it was broken. A small piece was then put into
the child^s mouth, if it iiad not done so of its own accord.
Each one present carried away a small portion. Such a bannock
was supposed to ease the troubles of teething. It went also by
the name of teething plaster.

When once a child was weaned, suck was not on any account
again given. Thieving propensities would have been the result
of such an action. Neither was it lawful to cut its nails with
knife or scissors.* That, too, begot a thieving disposition.
Biting ofi^ was the only mode adopted.

If a child spoke before it walked, it turned out a liar.

When a child entered a house something was given it. Its
hand was crossed with money, or a piece of bread was put into
its hand. If this was not done, hunger was left in the house.
It was sometimes a custom to put a little meal into the child's
mouth the first time it was carried out and taken into a neigh-
bour's house.t

The cradle was an object of much care. A child was never
put into a new cradle. A live cock or hen was first placed in

* Cf. Henderson, p. 16, and F. Z, Record^ vol. i. p. 11 (30).
t Cf . Henderson, p. 20.

10 THE CHILD.

it ; and the firstborn was never put into a new cradle^ but into
an old one, borrowed. In sending the cradle it was not sent
empty. In some districts, if it was borrowed for a girl's use, a
live cock was tied into it, and if for a boy's, a live hen. In
other districts it was filled with potatoes, a bag of meal, or such
like, respect being commonly had to the state of the borrower.
It was not allowed to touch the groimd till it was placed on the
floor of the house in which it was to be used.

CHAPTER III.

BAPTISM.

O tender gem, and full of hearen !

Not in the twilight stars on high,
Not in moist flowers at eyen.

See we our God so nigh.

Sweet one, make haste, and know him, too.

Thine own adopting Father lore,
That, like thine earliest dew,

Thy dying sweets may prove.**

[APTISM was administered as early as circumstances
would permit, and for various reasons. Without
this sacrament the child was peculiarly exposed to
the danger of being carried oiF or changed by the
fairies.* It could not be taken out of the house, at least to any
great distance, or into a neighbour's, till it was baptised. It
could not be called by its name till after it was baptised. It
was unlawful to pronounce the name, and no one would have
dared to ask itf At baptism the name was commonly written
on a slip of paper, which was handed to the minister. Death
might come and take away the young one, and if not baptised
its name could not be written in the "Book of Life," and
Heaven was closed against it. Many a mother has been made
unhappy by the death of her baby without baptism ; and, if the
child fell ill, there was no delay in sending for the minister to
administer the holy rite, even although at a late hour at night.
It was a common belief that in such cases the minister either
*^ killed or cured." | There was an undefinable sort of awe about
unbaptised infants, as well as an idea of uncanniness in having
them without baptism in the house.

The system of registration has in a great measure put an end
to this anxiety for having the child early baptised.

" Oh, Sir," said the wife of a working man to the minister,

* Cf. Henderson, p. 16. f Cf. F. X. Itecord, vol. i. p. 11 (37).

X Cf. Henderson, p. 15.

12 BAPTISM.

on asking him to baptise her child along with others, whose
mothers were present, " this registration's the warst thing the
queentry ever saw; It sud be deen awa wee athegeethir."

" Why ? " asked the minister, in astonishment at the woman's
words and earnestness of manner.

" It'll pit oot kirsnin athegeethir. Ye see the craitirs gets
fchir names, an we jist think that aneueh, an we're in nae hurry
sennin for you."

Baptism was administered sometimes In private and some-
times In public. The child was dressed In white, and wore a
fine cap. It was commonly the sick-nurse that carried In the
Infant, handed It to the father, and received It from him after
baptism. On the conclusion of the rite In private, bread and
cheese, with whisky, were set before the guests. It would have
been regarded as an utter want of respect, and unlucky, not to
have partaken of the bread and cheese, and not to have put the
glass with the whisky to the lips. In doing so there were
repeated the words — " WIssin the company's gueede health, an
grace an growan to the bairn." Sometimes, Instead of the latter
phrase, were substituted the words, " Pattenan an battenan t'
the bairn." A feast usually followed.

Each guest gave a small gift In money to the child, and the
sum so given was the nurse's fee.

The child must sleep In its baptismal dress.

In sprinkling the water of baptism all care had to be used
to keep it from entering the eyes, as It was believed that the
least drop of it entering the eyes opened them to the seeing of
ghosts in the journey of life.

When the water fell upon the child, unless It cried It was
augured that It would be short-lived, and it is said that, if it did
not cry, the woman who received it from the father handled it
roughly, or even pinched it, to make it utter the desired cry.*

The water was carefully kept for a time — at least eight
days — and then reverentially poured below the foundation of
the dwelling-house ; or it was drunk, under the belief that It

* Of. Henderson, p. 16, and F, X. Record^ yoL L p. 11 (39).

BAPTISM. 13

strengthened the memory. Alongside the basin, with the water
needed for the rite, some placed bread and a Bible.

If the child was taken to a neighbour's house at a distance,
or to church to be baptised, the woman who carried the child
carried also some bread and cheese, and another of the party
was provided with a bottle of whisky and a dram glass. The
person first met received bread and cheese and a dram^ and
usually turned, and walked a short distance.* If it was a woman
that was first met, she carried the baby as far as she went. One
of the cloths indispensable to a baby was also carried, and cast
away by the road.

If a boy and a girl were to be baptised together, the greatest
care was taken to have the parents so placed that the minister
must baptise the girl first. If there was the least suspicion of
the minister reversing the order, great uneasiness was manifested,
and, if he did proceed to baptise the boy first, the girl was put
forward, and when baptised first a gleam of satisfaction lighted up
the faces of the girl's fi:iends. This procedure was followed
under the belief that, if the boy was baptised before the girl,
he left his beard in the water, and the girl got it.t

If it happened that a girl was brought to church to be baptised,
and returned without baptism, she died unmarried.

In returning home a neighbour by the wayside took the party
in, and prepared a dish called in Gaelic /warcyr. It was made of
oatmeal and cream, or of oatmeal and whisky. Each of the
party received a spoonful, and a small portion was put into the
child's mouth.

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 12. t Ibid, p. 16.

CHAPTER IV.

THE NURSERY.

** Fond father and mother,
So guide it and feed it,
•Give gifts to it, clothe it:
God only can know
What lot to its latter days
Life has to bring."

I ANY of the members of the liumaii body were em-
bodied in rhymes, commonly nursery rhymes. Here
is one about the face; and as the nurse repeated
each line she touched with her finger the part of the
face mentioned in the line : —

** Chin cherry,
Moo merry,
Nose nappie,
Ee winkle,
Broo brinkie,
Cock-np jinkie."

There is a variation of the last line : —

" Our the hill an awa'.**

The following refers to the brow, the eye, the nose, and the
mouth : —

" Knock at the doorie.
Peep in.
Lift the latch.
An walk in."

Here is one about the fingers, beginning with the index
finger : —

** Here's the man it brook the bam,
Here's the man it staa the com,
Here's the man it taul &\
Peer creenie-crannie paid for a*."

THE NUBSBBY. 15

The nurse took hold of each finger as she repeated each line.
There was another ftrm of the rhyme, in which the thumb
played the part of breaking the bam : —

" This is the man it brook the bam,
This is the man it staa the com.
This is the man it tanl a*,
This the man it ran awa*,
Peer creenie-crannie paid for a'.*'

Another form of the last line is : —

'< An pair wee crannie doodlie paid for a'."

The legs and feet were utilised by the nurse as a means of
amusement. Here is what she repeated while she held a leg
in each hand and kept crossing them, slowly at first, and then
with greater rapidity when the dogs were supposed to be on
their homeward journey :—

•* There wiz twa doggies,
An they geed t* the mill,
An they got a lick oot o' this wife's pyock,
An anither oot o' the neesht wife's pyock,
An a leb oot o' the dam,
An syne they geed hame,
Lonpie for lonp, lonpie for lonp.*'

Another version runs thus : —

" Twa doggies geed t' the mill.
They took a lick oot o' this wife's pyock,
An a lick oot o' that wife's pyock,
An a leb oot o' the mill dam ;
Hame again, hame again — ^lonpie for lonp —
Hame again, hame again — lonpie for spang."

The following rhyme was repeated to the child by the nurse
while she took off the child's boot and imitated the blacksmith in
nailing the shoes on the horse's foot : —

** John Smith, a fellow fine.
Cam t' shee a horse o' mine.
Fit a bit npo' the tae,
T* gar the horsie clim' the brae;
Pit a bit npo* the brod,
T' gar the horsie dim' the road;
Fit a bit npo' the heel,
T' gar the horsie trot weel."

16 THE NURSERY.

Here is another version : —

<< John Smith, a fellow fine,
Cam t' shoe a horse o' mine —
Shoe a horse, ca' a nail,
Ca' a tackit in's tail —
Hand him sicker, hand him sair,
Hand him hy the head o* hair.'*

Another rhyme about the legs and feet is as follows : —

" Hey my kittin, my kittin —
Hey my kittin, my dearie;
Sic a fit as this
Wiz na far nor nearie.
Here we gae np, np, np;
Here we gae doon, doon, doonie;
Here we gae back an fore;
Here we gae roon an roonie;
Here^s a leg for a stockin,
An here's a fit for a shoeie."

Various members of the body were celebrated in the following
way: —

" This is the broo o* knowledge.
This is the ee o' life,
This is the bibblie ganger,
An this is the pen-knife,
This is the shouther o' mntton,
This is the Inmp o' fat."

The nex two lines must be left untold.

When the child was being fed, to keep it in good humour
and induce it to take its food, the nurse kept repeating : —

" Sannie Kilrannie, the laird o* Eailcrack,
Snppit kale brose, and swallit the cap."

A fuller version of the same was : —

" Sandy Eillrannie,
The laird o* Eilknap,
He snppit kail brose
Till his wyme it did crack.
He snppit the brose
An swallit the speen.
" Ho, ho," qno* Sandy,
" The brose is deen.**

THE NURSERY. 1 7

When the child showed signs of being satisfied, the following
words were repeated: —

** Gonckit Geordie, Brig o' Bee,
Snps the brose an leaves the bree."

When the child was being undressed for bed, the nurse kept
repeating : —

^ Hey diddle domplin, my son John
Went to his bed an his tronsers on;
One shoe off, an the other shoe on,
Hey diddle dumplin, my son John."

When the child got into the sulks it was called : —

" Grinigo Gash, the laird's piper,"

Children in their amusements often repeated rhymes.
The following one was repeated when a child mounted a
walking-stick or a piece of stick as a " horse" : —

" Hirplo Dick npon a stick,
An Sandy on a soo.
We'll awa t* Aiberdeen
T' bny a pnn o' oo."

Another version is : —

" Cripple Dick npon a stick.
An Sandy on a soo,
Bide awa t' Galloway
T' bny a pnn o' oo."

This rhyme was repeated to the child when dandled on the
knee in imitation of the modes of riding indicated in the lines : —

" This is the way the ladies rides,
Jimp an sma, jimp an sma;
This is the way the gentlemen rides,
Spnrs an a', spnrs an a';
This is the way the cadgers rides,
Creels an a', creels an a'."

Another rhyme of the same kind is : —

" Ride, dide, dide,
Ride awa t' Aberdeen,
An buy fite bread.
She fan ere she cam back
The carlin wiz dead.

i

18 THE NURSERY.

Up wi' her club,
GiiB her on the Ing,
An said, ' Rise np, carlin,
An eat jSt^bread.' "

Two children placed themselves back to back, locked their
arms together, and alternately lifted each other, repeating the

words : —

" Weigh batter, weigh cheese,
Weigh a pan a* cannle grease."

Here follow various rhymes current among the young: —

« A, B, buff,
The cattie lickit snnff.
An the monkey chawed tobacco."

«• A, B, buff.
Gee the cat a cuff,
Gee her ane, gee her twa,
Rap her hehd t* the stehn wa'."

^< Charlie Chats milkit the cats.
An GoUochy made the cheese,
An Charlie steed at the back o' the door.
An heeld awa' the flees."

** A for Annie Anderson,
B for Bettie Brown,
C for Cirstie Clapperton,
It danced upon her crown."

" A for Alexander,
B for Bettie Brown,
C for Kettie Clatter son.
It clatters throo the town."

" John Prott an his man
To the market they ran;
They bought, they sold,
Muckle money down told.
Till they came till a plack,
Steek your neive on that."

<< * Hielanman, Hielanman,
Fahr wiz ye bom ? '
' Up in the Hielands,
Amon the green com.'
* Faht got you there
Bit green kail an leeks ? '
Laugh at a Hielanman
Wintin his breeks."

THE NURSERY. ' 19

« The little lady lalrdie
She longt for a baby,
She took her father's grey hann
An row'd it in a plaidy.
Says * Ilishie, bishie, bow, wow,
Lang leggit now ow
In't wama for yir muckle baird
I wud kiss yir mou-ow.' "

** Your plack an my plack,
Your plack an my plack,
Your plack an my plack an Jennie's bawbee,
We'll pit them 1' the pint stoup, pint stoup, pint stoup.
We'll pit them i' the pint stoup.
An join a' three."

** Matthew, Mark, Luke, an John
Hand the horse till I win on ;
Hand him sicker, baud him sair,
Hand him by the auld mane hair/'

** I'ye a cat wi* ten tails,
I've a ship wi' saiven sails.
Up Jack, down Tom,
Blow the bellows, old man."

" A bawbee bap,
A leather strap.
An a tow t' hang the baker."

" Four-an-twenty tailors
Chasin at a snail,
The snail shot oot its horns
Like a hummil coo.

* Ah,' cried the foremost tailor,

* We're a' stickit noo.' " *

" Wallace wicht
Upon a nicht
Took in a stack o' here.
An or the moon at fair daylicht
Hid draff o't till's mere."

" That's the lady's forks an knives.
An that's the lady's table,
An that's the lady's looking-glass,
An that's the baby's cradle."

This rhyme was repeated on placing the fingers in such
positions as to imitate knives, tables, &c.

♦ Cf . Henderson, p. 26.
C2

20 THE NURSERY.

The following is a rhyme on the numbers up to twenty :— .

" One, two,
Buckle my 6hoe ;
Three, four,
Open the door ;
Fivej six,
Pick up sticks ;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight ;
Nine, ten,
A good fat hen;
Eleven, twel',
Gar her swell;
Thirteen, fourteen,
Draw the curtain ;
Fifteen, sixteen,
Maid in the kitchen ;
Seventeen, eighteen,
I am waitin ;
Nineteen, twenty,
My stomach's empty ;
Please, mother, give me my dinner."

'* Steal a needle, steal a preen.
Steal a coo or a' be deen."

This sensible rhyme was often repeated to children when they
were guilty of pilfering, or began to show any inclination to
do so.

The following is called the " Souter's Grace ": —

" What are we before thee, O King Crispin? Naething bit a parcel o' easy
ozy sooter bodies, nae worth one old shoe to mend another. Yet thou hast given
us leather to yark, and leather to bark, oot-seam awls, and in-seam awls, pincers
and petrie-balls, lumps o' creesch and balls o' rosit, and batter in a cappie.
Amen."

CHAPTER V,

BOY CODE OF HONOUR.

|OYS seem to fight at times for the fun of fighting,
and it is not at all difficult to get up a fight at any-
time. One will say to his companion, *^ Jock, will
ye faicht Tam ? " ^^ Aye, will a," is at once the
answer. Away the fighter, with a few companions, sets out in
search of Tam. Tam is soon found. " Eh, Jock says he'll try
a faicht wee ye, Tam," cries out one of Jock's companions.
" Will ye dee't ? " Another shouts out, ^' Eh, Tam, man, ye're
fairt at Jock." " A'm nae fairt at Jock, nor at him an you
athegither," is the indignant answer. " Come on, Jock," shout
two or three voices. Jock and his opponent meet, and look each
other in the face. A third steps in between the two, holds out
his arm between them and says, " The best man spit our that." *
Jock spits. Then all cry, " Follow yir spittle," and Jock rushes
on his opponent, and the two fight till they are tired. Some-
times, when one wishes to get up a fight with a companion who
does not wish to fight, he challenges him by sticking him a
blow, which is called the ^* coordie blow." If he does not accept
the challenge he is set down as a coward, and all who see the
blow struck cry out, " coordie, coordie."

It was always accounted cowardly for two boys to attack one,
hence the saying : —

" Ane for ane may compare,
Bit twa for ane is raither sehr."

In starting on a race, or in doing anything that required a
little space to do it, when the onlookers were pressing too near,
the cry was, " Gie 'im Scots room," which seemed to mean

* Cf. Hi^nderson, p. 32.

22 BOY CODE OF HONOUR.

about as much space as enabled him to toss both his arms at full
length wound him.

In parts of Banffshire boys, on concluding a bargain, linked
the little fingers of their right hands together, shook the hands
with an up-and-down motion, and repeated the. words :—

" King, ring the pottle b^U;
Gehn ye brak the bargain,
Ye'U gang t' heU."

This ceremony was called ^' ringing the pottle-bell," and to
break a bargain, after being sealed in this fashion, was regarded
as the height of wickedness.

The following was current about Fraserburgh : —

" Ring a bottle, ring a bell.
The first brae it ye cum till,
Ye*ll fa* doon an brack yer neck,
An that 'ill the bargain brack."

Here is another solemn formula of bargain-making. When
the bargain was struck the one said to the other, '^ Will ye brak
the bargain ? " " No," was the answer. " Swear, than," said
the first. Then came this oath :^-

" As sure's death
Cut ma breath
Ten mile aneth the earth,
Fite man, black man
Bum me t' death."

If the bargain was broken, the doom of the breaker was looked
upon as sure, and with awe.
Here is a shorter formula : —

" As sure's death
Cut ma breath."

With these words the buyer and seller drew the forefinger across
the throat.

It was a maxim in the code of honour that if one made a gift
of anything to a companion it was not to be asked back. If
such a thing was done the taunt was thrown at him — " Gie a
thing, tack a thing, the ill-man's bonnie thing.^'

BOY CODE OF HONOUK. 23

The following are more explicit :—

'* Tack a thing an gee a thing, |^

The anP man's gond ring.
Lie but) lie ben,
Lie amo* the bleedy men."

And: —

" Tack a thing an gee a thing
Is the anl' man's byename,
Row but, row ben,
Row amo' the bleedy men."

Here is a shorter version : —

** Lie but, lie, ben.
Lie amd' the bleedy men,"

To act the informer was and still is looked upon as something
very mean and cowardly, and one who was guilty of such an
action led no pleasant life among his companions. Whenever
he appeared for a time after giving the information he was
hailed with the words :—

** Clash-pyot, clash-pyot,
Sits in the tree.
Ding doon aipples
Ane, twa, three;
Ane for the lady.
An ane for the laird.
An ane for the clash-pyot
It sits in the tree."

One convicted of lying was received among his fellows with
the words of welcome : —

" Leearie, leearie, licht the lamps,
Lang legs and crookit shanks;
Hang the leearie o'er a tree.
That 'ill gar the leearie neyer lee."

This shorter form was repeated again and again : —

" Leearie, leearie, lick stick.'

»>

If a boy or girl wished to get a share of any bit of sweetmeat
or fruit from a companion, the eyes were shut, the hand was '
held out, and the words were repeated : —

24 BOY CODE OF HONOUR.

" Fill a pottie, fill a pannie,
Fill a blin' man's hannie.

When one boy or girl made a present of " sweeties," lozenges,
or such like, to another, if only one or two were given, the
following words were repeated : —

<< Ane 's nane,
Twa 's some,
Three 's a bim,
Four *s a horse laid."

A boy, when he finds anything that has been lost, cries out,
" The thing it's fiin's free," and, if he has a companion, he cries
out " Halfs." It is considered that, unless the two cries are
uttered almost at once, the boy who first speaks is entitled to
the whole of the found property.

CHAPTER VI.

ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY.

*' A Monanday's child
Hiz a bonnie face,
A Tyesday^s child
Is fou o* grace,
A Wednesday's child
Is the child of woe,
A Feersday's child
Hiz far to go,
A Friday's child
Is loyin an givin,
A Saitirday's child
Works hard for his livin,
Bit them it's bom on Sunday
Is happy, blithe, and gay." •

|HE child that was born with a caul was said to be
successftil in lifcf. The caul, or " silly hoo/' was
much prized. It brought success to the possessor,
and the smallest part of it was a sure guard against
drowning. Many an emigrant has gone to the possessor of
such a powerful charm, got a nail's breadth of it, sewed it with
all care into what was looked upon as a safe part of the clothes,
and worn it during the voyage, in the full belief that the ship
was safe from wreck, and would have a prosperous voyage.

It was believed that the possessor of the caul could divine from
it the state of health of the one who was born with it. If it was
hard and crisp, the one who was bom with it was in health ;
but, if it was soft and flabby, the health was weak.

It was a belief in some districts that the doom of the child
that came into the world feet first was to be hanged. A good
many years ago a boy was born in this way in Banff. He grew
up a fine lad, but the terrible idea always haunted the mother,
and she was miserable. He fell ill and died. The mother told

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 9. f Ibid. p. 22.

26 ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY.

my informant how great a relief the death was to her. A load
was taken off her, she said.

The hair on one side of the forehead in some children stands
nearly erect, somewhat in the shape of the marks cattle make on
their skins by licking them. It goes by the name of " the broon
coo's lick."

A strong growth of hair on the chest, arms, legs, and hands
of a man, was accounted a sign of strength as well as of a con-
tented mind. Hence the saw : —

*' A hairy man's a happy mac,
A haiiy wife's a witch."

To find out if a person is proud. Take a hair of the head and
pull it tightly between the nails of the first finger and thumb.
If it curls, its owner is proud ; arid the amount of curl it takes
is the measure of pride.

When one's hair was cut, it must be all carefully collected
and burned to prevent it from being used by birds to build their
nests. If used for that purpose headache was the result. *

The child who had long slender fingers was believed not to
have to make a living by any handicraft or manual toil, but by
merchandise, or at the desk, or by one of the learned pro-
fessions.

Largo hands and feet were looked upon as indications of
bodily strength.

" Lucfeen toes," that is, toes joined by a web, indicated luck.

The man, who has the second and third toes of nearly equal
length, proves unkind to his wife.

White spots on the nails are called "presents." The nearer
the spots are to the points of the nails, the nearer are the gifts.t

It was the notion that the marriage ring was put on the ring-
finger because there goes a vein directly from that finger to the
heart.

A black speck sticking to a tooth indicated that the one, on
whoso tooth it was, had been telling lies. Such black specks
were called "lies."

* Cf. Henderson, p. 112. f Ibid. p. 113.

ABOUT THE HUJtfAN BODY, 27

«

Almost every sensation of the human body was endowed with
a meaning. Ringing in the ears was called the " dead bell."
A glow in the ears indicated that the tongue of calumny was
busy. Bite the corner of the neck-tie, and the calumniator bit
the evilspeaking member.

An itching in the eyes indicated tears and sorrow; in the
nose, that a letter was lying in the post-office for you ; in the
palm of the right hand, that the hand of a friend was soon to
be shaken ; in that of the left, that money was to be received
in a short time ; in the soles of the feet, that a journey would
shortly be undertaken.*

Sneezing held an important place in the fancy of the folk.
Here is the rhyme about it: —

" Sneeze on Monday; sneeze for a letter.
Sneeze on Tyesday; something better.
Sneeze on Wednesday; kiss a stranger.
Sneeze on Feersday; sneeze for danger.
Sneeze on Friday; sneeze for sorrow.
Sneeze on Saiturday; kiss your sweetheart to-morrow.*' f

The Deaf and Dibib.

The deaf and dumb were looked upon with particular awe.
It was believed that they had the faculty of looking into futurity,
and of discovering what was hidden from their more fortunate
fellow-men. This faculty was given them to make up for the
loss they suffered. All, however, had not the faculty alike.
Such as had the repute of seeing into the future and of penetrat-
ing into secret things were consulted by those who wished for
light on any matter that was beyond their ken. If anything
was lost and could not be found, if anything was stolen and the
thief could not be traced out, if any matter was in dependence
and the issue anxiously looked for, the dumimfs skill was called
into requisition. If Jfriends were absent and had not been heard
of for a time, a consultation was held with the dummy whether
they were well or ill, whether they were dead or alive, or

♦ Cf. Henderson, pp. 112, 113. f Hid, p. 137.

28 , ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY.

whether they would return. Mothers through them read their
children's lot in life, young women took them into their con-
fidence in their love affairs, and young men tried to find out
what was before them in their course through life. Wonderful
were the stories current, how this young man was predicted to
go abroad, and how he did go; how this young woman was to be
married, and how she did marry accordingly ; how this friend
never returned, for the dummy always blew him away^ and shook
the head with a look of sorrow when his return was spoken of ;
how this one died, for when consulted by anxious friends about
recovery the dummy showed signs of sorrow, scraped a little
hole in the earth or in the ashes on the hearth, put a sti'aw or
a chip of wood, or some such thing into it, and covered it up.

Those of weak intellect were generally treated with tenderness.
The common belief was that the father and mother of such a
child woidd always have a sufficiency of the good things of
time — ^that it was rather lucky than unfortunate to have such a
child.

CHAPTER VIL

DREAMS, DIVINATION, &C.

|0 dream of a white horse fortells the coming of a
letter.

To dream of a horse forewarns the arrival of a
stranger.

To dream of swine indicates something is coming to cause
much annoyance. To dream of eggs has the same meaning.

To dream of fresh fish means the arrival of children into the
world.

To dream of butter indicates coming luck.

To dream of fruit or any sort of crop in season has the same
meaning, but dreaming of such out of season means bad fortune.

To dream of fire is a prelude to the reception of " hasty
news," often of a distressing kind.

To dream of water means coming disease.

To dream of losing a tooth forewarns of the loss of a friend.*

To dream of being bitten by dogs or cats is interpreted as
the plotting of enemies.

To dream of one who is dead has the meaning that unsettled
weather is at hand. •

For one unmarried to dream of being dead is looked upon
as approaching marriage.

To dream of loosing the shoes is indicative of coming mis-
fortune, but to dream of receiving a pair of new shoes means
gaining a new friend.

To dream of seeing one smeared with blood is looked upon
as a warning that an accident is to happen to the person, or
that death is at hand.

When one is setting out on any undertaking the staff was
thrown to find out whether there would be success or not. The
staff was taken by the end and thrown as high as possible, and

* Cf. Henderson, p. 111.

30 DREAMS, DHTINATION, ETC.

in such a way as to turn over and over lengthwise. If the head
of the staff fell in the direction in which the journey was to be
undertaken, there would be success. Servants, on setting out to
a feeing market, threw the staff to divine in what direction they
were to go for the next half-year. They were to go in the
direction in which the head of the staff lay when it fell.

It is accounted unlucky to turn back to the house when you
set out on any business.*

When one is on a visit, if, on leaving, anything is forgotten,
the saying is that the guest will soon return.

It is a common saying that it is only after a seven years'
friendship one ought to stir the fire in a friend's house. To do
so without being asked is looked upon by many as bad manners.

It is quite the etiquette with many of the common people,
when sitting at table with one of a higher rank, not to begin
eating till the one of higher rank has begun.

Many, on calling at a house of the better class on business
with the master or mistress, had a very strong dislike to tell
their names, when asked by the servant who admitted them,
that it might be given to the one on whom the call was made.
Sometimes the name was positively refused, although there was
no reason to suspect that admission would not be granted if the
name were known.

If the "byke o' the crook '^ or "the shalls" ai'e turned
towards the door when a new frnnale servant makes her arrival,
she will in no long time leave the service. The first work she is
set to do is to fetch water from the well.

If one was rather suddenly seized with a craving for food,
accompanied with a feeling of faintness, or if one seemed to eat
more heartily thaii usual, it was attributed to going over what
was called " a hungry hillock." •

In cooking any dish, if the cooking seemed to require longer
time than usual, it was said that there was " hungry folk's meat "
in the pot.

In cooking, all the stirring must be done from left to right.
Stirring food " the vrang wye " brought on bowel complaint.

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 117.

DREAMS, DIVINATION, ETC. 31

The cakes, when served up, had to be laid on the trencher
with what was called *' the right side " uppermost The right
side was the side that was uppermost when placed first on the
" girdle" to be baked. To have placed cakes with the wrong
side uppermost before any one was accounted an insult Tradition
has it that it was only to tlie traitor who betrayed Wallace to the
English and to his descendants that cakes were served up in this
way. Hence the proverb: — "Turn the bannock wi a fause
Mentieth."

Many had a habit of putting a little straw into the brogue, or
shoe, or boot in later times, as a sole to keep the foot warm.
When the " shee wisp," as it was commonly called, was used
up, it was spit upon, and cast into the fire to be burned. On no
account was it to be thrown into the dung-pit.

In dressing, the right stocking must be put on first, as well as
the right shoe. Many clung most scrupulously to this habit.*

When one put on a piece of new dress, a coin of the realm,
called " hansel," had to be put into one of the pockets, f When
one put on a piece of new dress, a kiss was given to and taken
fi:om the wearer, and was called the " beverage o' the new claes."
When a boy or a girl wearing a piece of new dress entered a
neighbour's house something was given as " hansel."

If a button was sewed on to a piece of dress, or a single stitch
put into it, on Sunday, the devil undid the work at night.

It was accounted lucky to keep a crooked sixpence in the purse
or pocket. J

It was imlucky to make a present of a knife or a pair of
scissors, or any sharp or sharp-pointed instrument It cut
asunder friendship and love. §

It was accounted unlucky to sing before breakfast. Hence
the saying : —

" Sing afore breakfast,
Greet aifter 't.'* ||

A tea-stalk floating in the cup indicated a stranger. It was
taken from the cup and tested with the teeth whether soft or

* Cf. F, L. Record, yoI. i. p. 12 (48). f Cf. Henderson, p. 119.

X Cf. Henderson, p. 112.

§ Cf. Henderson, pp. 117, 118, and F„ L. Record, vol. i. p. 12 (43).
II Cf. Henderson, p. 113, and F. L, Record^ Yol. i. p. 11 (34).

32 DREAMS, DIVINATION, ETC.

hard. If soft, the stranger was a female ; if hard, a male. It
was then put on the back of the left hand and struck three times
with the back of the right. The left hand was then held up and
slightly shaken. If the tea-stalk fell off, the stranger was not to
arrive ; if it stuck, the stranger would arrive.

A small black speck on the wick of a burning candle portends
the arrival of a letter.

A film of carbon on the rib of a grate in which a fire is
burning is regarded as the forerunner of a letter.

The small fiery spots that sometimes appear on the bottom of
a pot just lifted off the fire went by the name of " sodgers," and
were looked upon as men fighting, and as indicative of war.

The wife took from her husband's pocket a five-pound note.
He missed it, and questioned the wife. She denied the charge,
and at the same time cast suspicion upon a servant girl. The
husband consulted a canny man. He wrote a secret formula on
a slip of paper, folded it, tied it with a thread, and gave it to
the man with instructions to kindle a fire after all the members
of the houLsehold were fast asleep, and to hang the charm in the
*^ crook " over the fire when it was burning brightly, and as near
the flame as possible, so as not to burn it. The man faithfully
carried out his instructions. No long time passed till his wife
jumped in pain and fear from her bed, confessed the theft, and
restored the note. She never enjoyed sound health aft;erwards.
The charm took effect only if the note had not been changed.

A nobleman was at one time driving in his carriage near
Banff. The horses at first became restive, and then they stood
stock-still, and no amount of lashing or coaxing would make
them move. They had been arrested. The wise woman of the
district was sent for in all haste. She came, and in a short
time the arrestment was taken off, and the horses went on in
their usual style.

Theft.

There was among many a strong reluctance to report a theft
to the magistrate, or to give any clue to the detection of a thief.
To do. so was accounted unlucky. It was also looked upon as a
source of mishap to get back anything that had been stolen, and

DREAMS, DIVINATION, ETC. 33

to keep it in possession. A five-pound note disappeared from a
house. Suspicion fell upon a woman of somev^hat doubtful
honesty, and some of the members of the owner's household,
much against his will, charged her with the theft. She denied.
So manifest however was the crime that a friend of the woman
paid back part of the money. This caused so much annoyance
to the owner, that he could not rest in peace till he had given
away in charity the whole sum that had been paid back. ^^ I'll
hae nae stoun faangs i' the hoose/' said the man.

CHAPTER VIII.

LEECHCRAFT.

Causes op Disease.
Casting ML

|HE belief in " casting ill" on one was quite common.
This power of " casting ill" was not in the posses-
sion of all, yet in almost every district there was one
or more in possession of this dreaded power. To
such a one no one would have been fool-enough to have denied
a request, however much it would have cost to. grant it.

There were two modes of working ill on an enemy. In the
one mode, a small figure in human shape was made of wax and
placed near the fire in such a position as to melt very slowly.
As the figure melted, the man or the woman or the child that
was represented by it wasted away by Jingering disease. In the
other mode, the figure was made of clay, stuck full of pins, and
placed on the hearth among the hot ashes. As the figure dried
up and crumbled into dust, slow disease burned up the life of
the hapless victim represented by the clay figure.*

The 111 Ee.

The power of the " evil eye " was possessed by some. It was
supposed to be inherent in some families, and was handed down
from generation to generation to one or more members of the
families. The power was called into use at the will of the pos-

* a. Henderson, p. 228.

LEECHCRAFT. 35

■

sessors, and was exercised against those who had incurred their
displeasure, or on behalf of those who wished to be avenged on
their enemies, and paid for its exercise.*

Prayers,

There was a class of people whose curses, or, as they were
commonly called, "prayers," were much dreaded, and everyone
used the greatest caution lest they might call forth their dis-
pleasure. To do so was to bring down their prayers; and
disaster of some kind or other soon fell on those who had been
so unfortunate as to fall under their anger, according to the
nature of the prayer.

Forespeahing,

Praise beyond measure — praise accompanied with a kind of
amazement or envy — was followed by disease or accident.

Hidden Grave.
Passing over a " hidden grave " produced a rash.

Sudden News^ Fright

Sudden startling news, or a sudden fright, was supposed to
dislodge the heart ; lingering disease followed.

Cures.

Here and there over the country there were men and women
famed for their secret wisdom, by which they were able to cure
almost every disease, both in man and in beast. Generally,
when such a man or woman had to be consulted, one at a distance
was chosen.

In certain families was supposed to reside the power of curing

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 187, 188.

d2

36 LEECHCRAFT.

only particular diseases, and this power went down from one
generation to another to one or more of the family.

For example: one family had the power of extracting motes
from the eye. When the operator was applying his skill, he
wrought himself up into such a high state of muscular exertion
and excitement, that the perspiration fell in drops from his face
and hair, while he kept his hand passing over the affected eye,
and repeating in Gaelic the following formula, which is given in
English: — " The charm that the Great Origin made to the right
eye of her good son ; take the mote out of his eye, and put it on
my hand."

In other families there was the gift of setting broken limbs,
and in others ' of adjusting dislocated limbs, and of rubbing
sprains. The thumbs and fingers of such were looked upon as
especially made and fitted for their purpose. Wonderful were
the stories current about this one's sprained ankle, and the next
one's dislocated wrist, being made sound and strong in a short
time, after being for months under this and the next doctor's
hand, by the treatment of this " canny " man or that " skecly "
woman who had " the gift."

Some pretended to have the power of ^' charming " diseases.
On such the Church laid the bann, when their deeds were brought
to light.

" Apryl 12, 1637, Issobell Malcolme, parishoner of Botarye, sumonded to this
daye for charming, compeared, and confessed that she had beene in vse of
charmeing this twenty yeeres, and being reqnyred to name some of these whome
she had charmed, she named Jeane Rudderfuird, spouse to James Gordoune, in
Torrisoyle, and [ ] Innes, spouse to Johne Ogilvye, of Miltoune; she

confessed that she had charmed both these gentlewemen for the baime bed; and
sicklyke, she confessed that she had charmed ane chyldes sore eye in Bade, within
the parish of Ruven. The censure of the said Issobell was continued in hope
that she should be found yet more guiltye. The moderator, Mr. Robert Jameson,
reported that, he hearing that she vsed charmeing, he raised her from the table,
she having a purpose to communicat." *

Some women were supposed to have a lucky hand in dressing
boils, and if a boil was long in coming to maturity such a

* Extracts from tlw Prashytcry Book of StrathhoglCy p. 15. Spalding Club.
Aberdeen, A.D. 1843.

LEECHCRAFT. 37

woman was called in to dress it, in the full hope that, if it did
not burst under her hands, it would do so in a -very short
time.

A posthumous child was said to possess the gift of cTiring
almost any disease simply by looking on the patient.

It was a common belief that certain folks, commonly women,
had the power of showing in a looking-glass the face of any one
who had been wicked enough to " cast ill " upon an enemy, or
upon an enemy's child. When such a one offered to do this,
the offer was declined, and the cure only was sought.

About thirty-eight years ago there lived near Broadford, in
Skye, a wise woman famed for the cures she wrought. Here is
one. A Highlander on the mainland fell ill, and wasted away
very rapidly, so that he was at last scarcely able to move. No
medicine was of any avail, and death looked not far off. At
last it was resolved to take him to the wise woman. The patient
was carried by his two brothers to the boat at Strome Ferry.
When the boat reached Broadford, he was lifted from it, and laid in
a cart, and driven to the woman's house. When about a hundred
yards from the house the company was met by the woman.
She addressed the patient by name, although he and all his family
were total strangers to her. At the same time she told him that
he had been too long in coming, still that it would be all right
with him, though three days more would have put an end to his
earthly career. She conducted him and his two brothers to her
house, and spread before them the best she had — new milk,
bread, and butter. The patient, strange to say, ate heartily.
Nothing was done, so far as the three men could see ; and all
the woman said about a cure was that the sufferer would be able
to walk home from the boat. On leaving, he asked the woman
if she could tell who had wrought the evil on him. She replied
that she could easily do so, and that it was a neighbour. She
told him to ask his sister — calling her by her name, although she
had never seen her, neither had any of the brothers mentioned her
name in the woman's hearing — to put all the milk they had into
a pot, and tx) place the pot over the fire. " In a short time a
woman will come and ask to be allowed to put her hand among

38 LBECHCRAFT.

tho milk. That's the woman who has wrought you the ill."
The three brothers returned to Broadford, took boat, and sailed
across the forry. The patient walked home. The wise woman's
order about the boiling of the milk was obeyed, and in a short
time after the pot with the milk was hung over tlie fire a neigh-
bouring woman came in with great haste, and asked to be allowed
to put her hand among the milk. The patient soon regained his
usual health, and lived to a good old age.

The wise woman had a daughter. When on her death-bed,
she one day called her, told her that her end was not far off,
and said to her that she wished to leave her the secret power she
had. The daughter refused to take it, saying that she intended
to live a single life, and that she would thus have no one to
whom she could commit the gift, for she said she could entrust
it to none but to one of our own body. So the power died.

Some articles, that have been acquired by certain families,
have the virtue of healing all manner of diseases in man and
beast, and others, that of keeping prosperity in the families.
The best known of the articles possessing curative powers are
" Willox Ball and Bridle."

The " Ball " is the half of a glass ball, whose original purpose
it is not easy to divine. It was concealed for untold ages in the
heart of a brick, and was cut from its place of concealment by a
fairy, and given generations ago to an ancestor of the present
owner as payment for a kind service.

The " Bridle " is a small brass hook, said to have been cut
from a kelpie's bridle. This kelpie had been in the habit of
appearing as a beautiful black horse, finely caparisoned, on a
well-frequented road in the Highlands. By his winning ways
he allured unwary travellers to mount him. No sooner had the
weary, unsuspecting victim seated himself in the saddle than
away darted the horse with more than tlie speed of the hurri-
cane, and plunged into the deepest part of Loch Ness, and the
rider was never more seen. For long had kelpie carried on this
cruel game, bringing sorrow to many a household. His day
however came to an end. A hardy Highlander was one night
returning home.

LEECHCRAFT. 39

" Whiles crooning o*er some auld Scot's sonnet-
Whiles glowering round wi' prudent cares,
Lest bogles catch him unaWares,"

when he heard the footsteps of a horse. Shortly he found him-
self beside a beautiful horse. He knew what this horse was,
and what he had done. The horse used all his wonted wiles to
make the man mount him ; he failed. Then he became enraged,
and tried to bite the man and to trample him under his feet.
The brave Highlander sprang from his eneniy, drew his sword
in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, and struck with
strong arm at the creature's head. The stroke took effect, and
the small hook fell. It was observed, dark though it was, and
picked up quick as lightning. Off rushed the man with his
prize, for he knew that it was a prize, and fled for life. The
kelpie followed, but somehow with greatly diminished speed.
Diminished though kelpie's speed was, it was a terrible race.
The man reached his house, opened the door, threw the
" bridle " into the house, cried out to preser^^e it, and then fell
exhausted on the threshold. It was too late for kelpie, and he
disappeared for ever, leaving behind him what would be of so
much use to man. The possessor of this " Ball and Bridle "
has but to take water, put first the ball into it, turn it through
it three times, repeating the words, " In the name of the Father,
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," and then the bridle, doing
the same thing, and repeating the same words, and a healing
virtue is given to the water. The sword that did the good deed
was sometimes waved over the water with the utterance of the
same formula.

Others of these articles had the power of curing only one
disease. A small perforated ball, made of Scotch pebble, which
has been in the possession of the present family for at least six
generations, has the virtue of curing diseases of the eye. It
goes by the name of the " ee-stehn," and is thought to contain
all the colours of the eve. It must on no account be allowed to
fall to the ground. When put into a mixture of milk and water,
a lotion is formed capable of curing every kind of disease of the
eye.

40 LEECnCRAFT,

An amber bead, vernacularly called " laamer," was commonly
used to remove a chaff from the eye, both of man and beast. A
necklace of amber beads was worn as a cure for disease of the
eyes.*

Tliere were certain wells whose waters were reputed as
possessing the virtue of curing all kinds of diseases. To some
of them pilgrimages were made at any time, and to others they
were made for the most part at certain seasons. Round some
of these wells lay stones, resembling as nearly as possible the
diflFerent members of the human body, and these stones were
called by the names of the members they represented, as " the
ee-stehn," ^' the hehd-stehn." The patient took a draught of the
water of the well, washed the affected part of the body, and
rubbed it well with the stone corresponding to it, when the
disease was local. Something, — such as a pin, a button, or a piece
of money, the property of the health-seeking pilgrim, — ^was left
in the well, or a rag torn from the patient's clothing was hung
on one of the neighbouring trees or bushes. No one would
have been foolhardy enough to have even touched what had
been left, far less to have carried it off. A child, or one who
did not know, was most carefully instructed why such things
were loft in and around the well, and strict charge was laid not
to touch or cariy any of them off. Whoever carried off one of
such relics contracted the disease of the one who left it.

On the farm of Altthash is situated such a well. It is situated
at the bottom of a rugged brae in a deep ravine to the south
of Fochabers. It was originally situated on the hill above the
present farm-steading. An unscrupulous man one day com-
mitted on the well a gross indignity. Before next morning it
had changed its position, and was welling forth in full strength
near the spot where it now is.

It may be here remarked that the behef was that wells changed
their position when an indignity was committed on them, and that
it was a very rash act to change in any way whatever a well by
deepening it, or by building it, or by leading its waters to a differ-
ent site. The well sooner or later returned to its original condition.

♦ Cff Henderson, p. 145.

LEECnCRAFT. 41

The first three Sundays of May were the great days of pilgrim-
age to this well, and of these three Sundays the first was the
greatest. On these days might be seen going from all corners
of the surrounding country those who were aflflicted with any
ailment, or fancied so, to drink of the health-giving waters of
the well, and to wash in them. Many, however, made the
pilgrimage out of pleasure, particularly the young unmarried.

Fergan Well, said to be so named because dedicated to St.
Fergus, is situated on the south-east side of Knock Fergan, a hill
of considerable height on the west side of tlie river Avon, opposite
the manse of Kirkmichael. The first Sunday of May and Easter
Sunday were the principal Sundays for visiting it, and many from
the surrounding parishes, who wei'e affected with skin diseases or
rmniing sores, came to drink of its water, and to wash in it. The
hour of arrival was twelve o'clock at night, and the drinking of
the water, and the washing of the diseased part, took place before
or at sunrise. A quantity of the water was carried home for
future use. Pilgrimages were made up to the end of September,
by which time the healing virtues of the water had become less.
Such after-visits seem to have begun in later times.*

" Wallak kirk " was a place of resort for the cure of disease.
It was the church of the ancient parish of Dumeth, which now
forms part of the parish of Glass. It was dedicated to St.
Wolok. The church and churchyard lie on a haugh on the
banks of the Deveron, just below the castle of Beldornie. The
Saint's Well is near the church. Near the place are two pools,
called baths, formed by the river flowing between two rocks.
In them many bathed for the cure of their diseases, and mothers
bathed their sickly children in them in the full faith that a cure
would be brought about. May was. the time when the water had
efficacy. The Church interposed and forbade all superstitious
worship at this church.

" Att Glas, 7tli Junij, 1648. Ordained to restraine .buriallis in the kirk, and
to censure all superstition at Wallak Kirk."f

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 230, 231.

t Extracts from the Preshytei^ Book of Stratlibogie, p. 89. Spalding Club.
Aberdeen, a.d. 1843.

42 LEECHCRAFT.

Eosemarkie, a well a little to the south of Buckie, is famed
for the healing powers of its water. The present tenant of the
farm on which it is situated closed it up. Not long ago a few
mothers from Buckie, whose bainis were dwinin, went to the
former site of the well and scooped out a hole. It was soon
filled with water. The children were well washed in it. No
sooner were they placed on their mothers' backs to be carried
home than they fell fast asleep, and "they battent like bauds aye
sin syne."

Chapels were also resorted to for the cure of disease.

" Peter Wat somonded to this daye for goeing in pilgrimage to the chappeU
beyond the water of Spey, compeared and confessed his fanlt. Ordained to
make his repentance, and to paye four markes penaltye.''

" Agnes Jack snmonded to this daye for goeing in pilgrimage to the same
chappell, compeared, and confessed that she went 4» the said chappell with ane
diseased woman, bnt gave her great oath that she vsed no kynd of saperstitioas
worship. She is ordained to mak her pnblike repentance, and to abstaine from
the lyke in tyme comeing."* (1636.)

Not merely wells and chapels were resorted to but rocks.

Clach-na-bhan (stone of the women) is a huge granite rock on
the top of Meall-ghaineaih (sandhill), a hill on the east side of
Glenavon. Near the top of this rock a hollow has been scooped
out by the influence of the weather, somewhat in the shape of
an arm chair. Women about the time of their accouchement
ascended the hill, scaled the rock, and seated themselves in the
hollow, under the belief that such an act secured a speedy and
successful birth. Unmarried women also made pilgrimages to
it, in hopes that such an act would have the effect of bringing
husbands to them.

The III Ee.

" The ill ee." Go to a ford, where the dead and the living
cross, draw water from it, pour it into a "cog" with three
"girds" over a "crosst shilling," and then sprinkle the water
over the victim of the " ill ee " in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghostf

* Extracts ffom the Presbytery Booli of Stihifkhogie, p. 88. Spalding Club.
Aberdeen, A.D. 1843.
t Cf. Henderson, p. 188.

LEECHCRAFT. 43

Forespedldng.

Pour water over a " erosst shilling," let three draughts of it
be taken, and the remainder of it buried, wliilst the shilling is
preserved. A cure follows.

Casting the Heart.

Tlie patient was seated. A sieve for sifting meal was put on
the sufferer's head, and in it were laid, in the form of a cross, a
comb and a pair of scissors, and over them a " three-girded
cog," with the girds of wood. Into this cog water was poured.
Melted lead was slowly dropped from a height into the water.
Search was then made among the pieces for one resembling as
nearly as possible a heart. If a piece of such a shape was found,
it was carefully sewed into a bit of cloth and given to the suf-
ferer, who had to carry it constantly. If a piece of the form of
a heart was not found on the first trial, the pieces of lead were
taken from the water and again melted. The melted lead was
again dropped into the water, and search made for the heart-
shaped piece. The process was repeated till the desired piece
was cast.

Another mode was somewhat more elaborate. The operator,
who was generally an old woman renowned for her medical
skill, set the sieve on the patient's head, and on the sieve she
placed the " three-girded cog," for no other dish was of any
virtue. The comb was placed on the bottom of the cog, and the
water was poured through one of the loops of the scissors into
the cog. Lead was melted and dropped through the same loop.
After the heart-shaped piece was found, the patient took three
draughts of the water in the cog, and washed the hands and face
with the remainder, which was then thrown over a place where
the dead and the living cross, that is, a public road. The patient
might either bury the piece of lead on the boundary between
two lairds' lands, or keep it most scrupulously under lock and
key. During the process the operator kept repeating the words,
''Ghen onything be oot o'ts place, may the Almiclity in's
mercies fesst back."

4 1 LEECHCllAFT.

Sleepy Fever,

There was a disease that bore the name of the "sleepy fivvers."
In this disease the patient was affected with a strong tendency to
sleep, and had no inclination to engage in anything. Hence it
was said of any one lazy at work that he had the " sleepy fiwers."
The disease was supposed to be seated in some one of the mem-
bers. Its detection and cure were as follows: — ^The patient's
stocking was taken and laid flat ; a worsted thread was placed
along both sides of it over the toe. The stocking was then care^
fully rolled up from the toe to the top, so that the two ends were
left hanging loose on different sides of it This stocking was
put three times round each member of the body contrary to the
course of the sun, beginning with the head. The left of two
members was taken first. When the stocking was passed round
an affected member the thread changed its position from outside
to inside ; but when the member was sound the thread kept its
position. The process was gone through three times, and in
perfect silence. The thread was afterwards burned.

Another mode was as follows : — The one, commonly a woman,
who was " to look for the fever," went to a ford or bridge, over
which ** the dead and the living " cross, " atween the sin an the
sky," commonly in the gloamin, and took up three stones. These
stones were to represent the head, the heart, and the body, and
were so named. They were placed overnight among the hot
ashes on the hearth. In the morning they were taken from
among the ashes, and dropped one by one into a basin of water.
The stone, which it was fancied gave forth the loudest sound on
falling into the water, indicated the part of tlie body in which
the disease lay. The process was repeated for three nights in
succession. The discovery of the disease proved also its cure.

JSpilepsy.

The cures of this disease were various.

The first time the fit came, the clothes had to be stripped off,
and burned on the spot on which the patient fell.

LEECHCRAFT, 45

Let the sufferer get a shirt in which one had died, put it on,
and wear it without its being first washed.

To let blood from the left arm on the first attack brought a
cure.

For a doctor to draw blood from the arm on the first attack,
as his first patient, effected a cure.

If any one, on seeing the disease for the first time, drew blood
from the sufferer's little finger, the malady was cured.

Rickets,

This disease was cured by " layan." There were two modes
of operating on the child. The one was much more elaborate
than the other.

In the more simple of the two modes one blacksmith was the
operator, and in the more complicated mode the services of three
of the same name were required.

In the more simple mode the rickety child was taken to a
smithy. A tub was filled with water. This water, by plunging
pieces of hot iron amongst it, was raised to as high a temperature
as was comfortable for a bath. The blacksmith then received
the child from the mother, and bathed it in this water. He also
gave the child a little of the water to drink.

The more elaborate process was in this manner: —

The child was taken before sunrise to a smithy in which three
blacksmiths of the same name wrought. One of the smiths
bathed the child in the water-trough of the smithy. After being
bathed the young patient was laid on the anvil, and all the tools
of the shop were passed one by one over the child, and the use
of each was asked. A second bath followed. If a fee was exacted,
the virtue of the " lay " was lost. The three blacksmiths must
all take part in the work.

Lumbago^ Rheumatism^ and Sprains,

Those who were born with their feet first possessed great power
to heal all kinds of sprains, lumbago, and rheumatism, either by

46 LEECHCRAFT.

rubbing the affected part, or by trampling on it. The chief
virtue lay in the feet. Those who came into the world in this
fashion often exercised their power to their own profit.

The water in which skate was boiled, " skate bree," was
accounted an efficacious lotion for sprains and rheumatism in
man, gout in pigs, and " crochles " in cattle.

Whooping'- Cough.

A decoction of sheep's "pushlocks," that is, the excrements
of the sheep, was a cure for this disease. The same decoction
was a cure for jaundice. .^

Eating the food with a ^' quick-horn " spoon, that is, with a
spoon made from the horn taken from a living animal, was con-
sidered a very eflScacious remedy.

A draught of water from the hollow of a detached boulder
effected a cure.

Let the patient be taken to the house of a married woman
whose maiden name is the same as that of her husband, and let
her give the invalid something to eat — "a piece," — and a cure
will speedily follow. If the patient be taken to and from home *
through a wood, so much more eflBcacious will the cure be.

If the patient was taken to another laird's land the disease was
left there.

Let the first man seen riding on a white horse be asked what
the cure is. What he names, is the cure.*

Passing the patient three times under the belly of a piebald
horse put the malady to flight.!

The milk of an ass was a sovereign specific.

The disease was cured by riding on an ass.

Eye Disease.

Catch a frog and lick its eye with the tongue. The one who
does so has only to lick with the tongue any diseased eye, and a
cure is brought about.

* Cf. Henderson, p. 142, and F, L. Record, vol. i. p. 38 (115).
t Cf. Henderson, p. 142.

X

LEECHCRAFT. 47

Erysipelas^ or '^ Rose.^^

One cure for erysipelas was to cover it with a piece of cloth
of scarlet colour. Another cure for this disease was to apply to
it the "Herb Robert" (^Geranium Robertianum), whose stalks,
leaves, and flower are of a purplish colour. This, no doubt,
was on the principle of like colour to like colour.

Sting of Nettle.

A sovereign remedy for the sting of the nettle was the mucus
that imbedded the petioles of the young leaves of the common
dock.*

Ringworm,

The common cure for this disease was rubbing the diseased
spot with silver. The modes of rubbing were various.

Put a new shilling three times round " the crook," spit a
" fastin spittle " on it, and with it rub the affected parts. Some,
in addition, dropped the shilling through the patient's shirt
before rubbing with it.

Another method of cure was first to measure the diseased
spot, and then rub it with a shilling.

Another cure was to rub the part with a silver watch.

A supposed'cure for ringworm was a decoction of Sun Spurge,
"little gueedie," or " mair's milk" {Etiphorbia Iielioscopia).

A seventh son, without a daughter, if worms were put into
his hand before baptism, had the power of healing the disease
simply by rubbing the affected part with his hand. The common
belief about such a son was that he was a doctor by nature.

ToothacJie.

Certain persons were believed to have the power of curing
toothache by a summons to depart which could not be resisted.
It was a common belief that toothache was caused by a worm

* Cf. Henderson, p. 26, and F, L, Record^ vol. i. p. 46 (148).

48 LEECHORAFT.

at the root of the tooth, and toothache was often simply called
" the worm." The followincr, or very similar, words, written
on a slip of paper and carried on the person, were esteemed a
cure : —

" Peter sat on a stone weeping.
Christ came past and said, * What aileth thee, Peter? '
* O, my Lord, my tooth doeth ache/
Christ said, * Rise, Peter, thy tooth shall ache no more.' " *

There were those who made a habit of selling this charm. It
was kept ready, rolled up in a neat packet and sealed^

Go to the churchyard when a grave is being dug, take a skull
in whose jaw there are teeth, and with the teeth draw a tooth
from it. A cure foUows.f

Go between the sun and the sky to a ford, a place where the
dead and the living cross, lift a stone from it with the teeth, and
the toothache vanishes.

A cure for toothache was to go to a running stream, lift from
it with the teeth a stone, put it into " the kist," and keep it.
When the stone began to waste, so did the tooth, and continued
to waste so long as the stone continued to waste.

If an infant cuts its first tooth in the upper gum it would be
short-lived. Hence

" The haim it cuts its teeth abeen,
111 niwer see its mairidge sheen." J

Children were warned not to lick with the tongue the sockets
of the first teeth when they fell from the gums. If they did so
the new teeth would grow in twisted, " gammt."

It was a belief, if a child had toothache with its first set of
teeth, toothache would not attack the adult teeth.

WariB,

Go to a point where four roads meet, lift a stone, rub the
warts with dust from below tlie stone and let the words be
repeated : —

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 172, and i\ L, Itccord, vol. i. p. 40 (127).
t Cf. Henderson, p. 145. % Ibid. p. 20.

LEECHCRAFT. 49

" A*m ane, the wart*8 twa,
The first ane it comes by
Taks the warts awa/'

The warts vanish in a short time.

Rub the wart with one of the common snails.*

Lick the wart with the tongue every morning on awakening,
and it will gradually vanish.

Wash the wart with water that has collected in the carved
parts that are found on some old " layer " stones.t

Rub the wart with a piece of meat, bury the meat, and as it
decays the wart disappears.}

Let the wart be rubbed on a man who is the father of an
adulterous child. The rubbing must take place without the
man's knowledge.

Cut as many nodes, or "knots," from straw-stalks as there
are warts, roll them up in a packet, and bury them in the
ground, " atween the sin an the sky." As the nodes decay,
the warts waste, till they disappear.

Wrap up in a parcel as many grains of barley as there ai'e
warts, and lay it on the public road. Whoever finds and opens
the parcel inherits the warts. §

Great care was used if a wart bled to keep the blood from
spreading over any part of the hand. This was done under the
belief that where the blood was left other warts sprang up.||

Hicmp.
The following charm was repeated as a cure : —

" My love's ane,
The hiccnp's twa;
Gehn my love likes me,
The hiccup 'ill gang awa."

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 138, and F, L, Record, vol, i. p. 218 (2).

t Cf. F. L. Record, p. 223 (11).

X Cf. Henderson, p. 139, and F, Z. Record, vol. i. p. 41 (130); p. 217 (I).

§ Ibid. vol. i. p. 220 (7).

II Cf. F. L. Record, vol. i. p. 224 (13).

E

/

CHAPTER IX.

THE HOUSE.
" Tempora mutantur."

|HE house was buili of various kinds of materials,
according to the means, and rank, and taste of the
owner, and according to the supply of the materials.
It might be of stones and clay ; of alternate courses of
stone and turf; of rounded, water-worn stones, embedded in
clay, mixed with chopped straw or heather ; of such clay alone,
or of turf alone. The inside of the walls was plastered with
clay, and whitewashed with lime. The couples were placed
first, and consisted of five or six parts — ^two upright posts resting
on the ground, the two arms of the couple, called hoos^ fixed to
the top of the upright posts or legs, and the two braces, the
lower one named the bank, and the upper the croon piece. The
couple leg and the hoo were at times braced together by a small
piece of wood. The couples were bound together by a beam
laid along the top called the reef-tree. The spaces between the
upright posts were filled in by the wall. Across the couples
were fixed the pans, to the number of three or four on each side
of the roof. On these, and parallel to the couples, were laid the
kaiiers, pieces of trees split with axe, or of bog-fir. Such a
roof was called pan and kaiber. Over all were placed the dt/vois.
The whole was covered with thatch either of straw, heather, or
broom. At times, however, there were only the dyvots / but so
well were they laid on as to be proof against aJJ kinds of weather
except the very wildest.

On laying the foundation of a house, there was the indispens-
able foonin pint. The workmen were regaled with whisky or
ale, with bread and cheese. Unless this was done, happiness
and health would not rest on the house. It is told of a manse

THE HOUSE. 51

on the banks of the Spey that the minister refused to give the
usual /oowm pintj and that, out of revenge, the masons built into
the wall a piece of a gravestone. The consequence was, the
house proved unhealthy, and the ministers very short-lived.

When the house was taken possession of, there was a feast —
the hoose-heatin or fire-kinlin.

There was but one door; and a few yards, or it might be a
few feet only, in front of it lay the midden, in a deep hole half
filled with water — the sewage of the kitchen and the farm buildings
— green as grass — the green brees. The peat-neiuik, over which
rested a goodly number of hens, faced tiie entrance door, and
on either side of it was a door. One of these doors opened into
the kitchen, and the other led to the remaining apartments of
the house.

The kitchen was open from floor to roof. The floor was
earthen, and not very level or smooth. The roof was as black
as soot could make it. Between some of the couples were hung
strong boards, on which were ranged kebbacks of various sizes
and ages, and it might be a few dried cod or ling with a bag of
home-grown mustard. From others of them were suspended
bunches of onions, carefully wrupped-up bunches of hyssop,
peppermint, wormwood, and other herbs famed as decoctions in
sickness of man and beast, a bunch or two of the pith of the rush
to serve as wicks for the lamp (the eely dolly) during winter, a
bunch of stars or bruckles to redd the tobacco pipes, and at times
a bundle or two of hhrvow'tynes to dry and harden. On others
were laid a few pieces of bog-fir, from which to cut fir-candles.

The fire-place was wholly open. The hearth was raised a few
inches above the level of the floor, and the crook dangled over it
from the rantle~tree. There was a niche or bole in the wall on
each side of the hearth — ^the one containing a tobacco-pipe or
two, a tobacco-box, a canHe-gullie^ and perhaps a few books or
pamphlets. In the other was a wooden box in the shape of a
house, with a round hole in the exposed end ; it was the saat"
backet

On the one side-wall hung the benchy on which were ranged
the plates and spoons and bowls, and under it stood the dresser,

e2

62 THE HOUSE.

With its row of caps and small cogsy and underneath the dresser
were placed the pots and pans and pails, the milking-cogs and
vessels for holding milk. By the other side-wall stood the settle
or deisy with its table, fixed to the wall and folding down over it,
in the centre.

Opposite the fire-place, and forming frequently part of the
partition between the kitchen and the adjoining apartment, stood
a box-bed, or a box-bed and a cupboard, or it might be two box-
beds; a kind of bed made of wood, closed in on three sides and top,
and shut by a sliding or folding door, on the top of which was
stowed away a variety of things, as boxes for holding nails,
hammers, axes, pieces of old iron, shoes, &c., &c.

Light was admitted by one, or at most two, small windows,
oflben of four panes of glass only, and disclosed walls not too
dazzling for the eyes by their pure white. At times there was
no glass ; merely a board to stop the aperture.

In one comer at the foundation was a hole. It was the dog-
hole — an opening to allow the dog to come and go at pleasure.
In another comer under the eaves was another hole. It was for
the out-going and in-coming of the hens when the door was
shut.

Leaving the kitchen, and opening the door observed on enter-
ing, you found yourself in a long passage, or trance^ and at the
end of it was the room, or but ein. It contained a few chairs
and a table, an eight-day clock, a chest of drawers, a looking-
glass, and a bun breestj that is, a wooden bed, and a cupboard
or two with panelled doors. The floor was earthen, the ceiling
was wood, the walls were whitewashed ; there was no grate ;
the window was somewhat larger than that of the kitchen.
Doors opened from the trance into one or more smaller rooms,
used as bed-rooms.

There was little diflference between the houses of the agricul-
tural and the fishing folk and what they contained, except in the
implements of their callings. Lines, hair for " tippens," hooks,
fishhakes, in later times herring nets, buoys, and sometimes a
boat sail, had their place in the fisherman's house.

In soifte cases there was but; OP^ door for the cows and the

THE HOUSE. 53

family, and before you could reach the kitchen you had to pass
through part of the byre.

On removing from one house to another it was accounted
unlucky to get possession of a clean house. " Dirt's luck," says
the proverb. If one, who was removing from a house, was
jealous of the successor, and wished to carry off the good fortune
of the house, the out-going tenant swept it clean on leaving it

There were two other methods of taking away the luck from
a house. The one was for the tenant who was leaving to mount
to the roof and pull up the crook through the lum^ instead of
removing it in the usual way by the door.

The other was by trailing the raip, A rope of straw was
twisted from left to right — the vrang wye — and pulled round the
house contrary to the course of the sun.

To avert all evil from those who were entering a house others
had quitted, if there was suspicion that evil had been left on it, a
cat was thrown into it before any of the new in-dwellers entered.
If evil had been left on it, the cat in no long time sickened and
died.

CHAPTER X.

EVENINGS AT THE FJBESIDE.

" Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor."

N the heaxth was piled a great fire of peat, which
burned with a strong flame, filling the kitchen with
a genial warmth, and casting a ruddy glare on the
roof and walls and motley furniture. Over the fire
hung a large iron pot, heaped high with turnips and shillicks.
It was the bait-potj and its contents formed part of the food of
the farm-horses. Beside the fire stood another pot, covered
with a slab of stone. It was the lit-pot — that is, a pot used for
the dyeing of wool, for the most part of a blue colour, and
giving forth, when the wool was turned, a very strong smell of
ammonia.

Light was given either by pieces of bog-fir laid on the fire,
or hy fir-carClea — ^that is, thin splinters of bog-fir, from one to
two and a half or three feet long, fixed in a sort of candlestick,
called the peer-man or peer-page. The peer^man was of various
shapes. A common kind consisted of a small roundish block of
stone, perforated with a hole in the centre, in which was inserted
a piece of wood about three feet in height, having on the top a
cleft piece of iron, into which the candle was fixed with the
flame towards the door.

A third kind of lighting was by an iron oil-lamp, that bore
the name of the eely dolly. This lamp was formed of two parts,
called shalU. Both parts were alike in shape and somewhat
resembled certain species of bivalve shells, as the cow-shell, and

V

EVENINGS AT THE FIBESIDE. 55

both had a long spout. The parts fitted into each otKer, the one
being a little smaller than the other. The under part had a
handle fixed perpendicularly to the side opposite the spout,
which was for affixing it to the wall or other convenient place.
On the inner side of this perpendicular handle was a knob witli
notches, on which was hung the smaller shally which contained
the oil and the wick. The notches in the knob were for regu-
lating the supply of the oil. The oil used was made from the
livers of the haddock, cod, ling, and other fish caught on the
coast, and was distinguished by the name of black oil. The
wick consisted for the most part of the pith of the common
rush — rashin wicks — and in later times of cotton thread. The
lamp had no cover, and when dirty was usually cleaned by
burning.

At the one corner of the hearth sat the father, and at the
other the mother. Between the two sat the family, and it might
be a servant or two, for all were on a footing of equality, the
servant being a neighbour's son or daughter of exactly the same
rank and means. All were busy. One of the women might bo
knitting, another making, and another mending, some article of
dress. Of the men, one might be making candles from bog-
fir — cleavin candles — another manufacturing harrow-tynes of
wood, a third sewing brogues, and a fourth weaving with the
cleech a pair of mittens. If there were children in the family at
school, there was silence or but little conversation, for lessons
were being prepared ; and every now and again the anxious
learner handed the book to the mother or other member of the
family, and repeated the lesson. If the lesson was not correctly
repeated, the book was handed back with the injunction to be
busy, and the learner resumed his work and continued his
labour till the lesson was thoroughly prepared. When the
school-books were laid aside, the song and the ballad and the
story began. The songs of Burns and other sweet singers of
Scotland were varied with those of poets of less note, and with
such ballads as " The Haughs of Cromdale," " The Duke o'
Gordon's Three Daughters," " Sir James the Rose," " Gregor's
Ghost," " Andrew Lammie." Many of the inferior songs were

56 EVENINGS AT THE FIRESIDE.

of a questionable morality, and some of them were even obscene.
Yet they were sung with a kind of naioetd and unconsciousness
of their immorality that did away in a great measure with any
demoralising tendency they might otherwise have had. The
songs of local poets also had their place. Frequently such took
a satirical turn, a farmer famed as a hard taskmaster, who
'^keppit's fouck on mete meal an taul' puckles," being the
victim. Some of them were in celebration of country balls, and
to each couple of guests, " a lad and his lass," was devoted a
stanza of four lines, in which both the foibles and the graces of
the enamoured were hit off, and at times with truth and
burlesque humour.

The story was for the most of the supernatural — of fairies and
their doings, of waterkelpie, of ghosts, of witches and their
deeds, of compacts with the Devil, and what befell those who
made such compacts, of men skilled in black airty and the strange
things they were able to do. Sometimes riddles formed the
subject of amusement. As tale succeeded tale, and the big peat
fire began to fade, the younger members of the family crept
nearer and nearer the older ones, and, after a little, seated them-
selves on their knees, or between them and the fire, with the
eyes now fearfully turned to the doors, and now to the chimney,
and now to this comer, whence issued the smallest noise, and
now to the next, in dread of seeing some of the uncanny brood.

Sometimes the stories were of pirates, whom the young ima-
gination painted as wild beasts of the sea, creating strange,
undefinable feelings ; of oceans bound in eternal ice and dark-
ness, with bright, shining lands beyond, with their hills of gold
and silver sparkling through the dai'kness, exciting vague long-
ings to bo away in search of wonders, notwithstanding all the
dangers and terrors.

Sometimes there were stories from history, oftenest of the
wars between England and Scotland, but so disfigured as to be
almost unrecognisable from the facts themselves. Other stories
might h& heard, such as " The Miller's Tale " of Chaucer, which
were told without the least conception that there was any inde-
cency in them. The stories of George Buchanan and the English

EVENINGS AT THE FIRESIDE. 57

Professor, and of tlie Professor of Signs from Spain on a visit
at King's College, Aberdeen, were greatly in favour.*

The family was not always alone. Civilities were interchanged
by one or more neighbours spending the evening with them,
or, in common language, by geein thim a forenicht. On such
occasions it was no unusual thing for the young women to carry
with them their spinning-wheels on their shoulders, and their
wool or flax imder their arms. Then might be seen three or
four spinning-wheels going at once, skilful fingers busy at the
stents and each spinner vieing with the other who should first
complete it, and not a foot was stirred till it was completed.
One or two of the younger members of the family were engaged
in twisting or reeling thread.f While the women were busy, the
young men were not idle. If not employed in something useful,
they were amusing themselves in such trials of strength as coidd
be made indoors — as "drawing the sweer-tree," or in such
games as the " tod and the lam's,'' the " glaicks," the " dams,"
or " dambrod." When the work was done, all sat down to a
simple, wholesome supper, which was reverently prefaced by
grace from the goodman. Then came the hearty good-night
with the hearty invitation, *' Haste ye back," and the cordial
promise, "Aye, aye, but haste ye in aboot some forenicht"
Tlie young men accompanied the foreniclders to their home,
carrying their spinning-wheels, and whispering words of love.

Now and again there was a quarterer in the family. There
was a class of respectable beggars, whose vocation was not looked
upon as disreputable. Such commonly confined their wander-
ings to a particular district of the country, and made their
rounds with great regularity. Within that district there were
certain houses at which they im-ariably lodged or quartered.
Whether male or female, they were generally welcome guests,
and were hospitably entertained. Their fund of general infor-
mation, which was most readily imparted to all who would lend
an ear, their ability to give the current news of the country,
and often their knowledge of simples, which several of them

♦ Cf. F, L. Record, vol. ii. pp. 173—176; and vol. iii. pt. i. pp. 127—129.
f Songi of the Russian Peojfle, p. 32, by W. R. S. Ralston.

58 EVENINGS AT THE FIRESIDE.

carried with them, and their skill in rubbing sprains and treat-
ing bruises, bums, scalds, and such like, their proficiency at
times in music, and their neat-handedness in repairing such
domestic utensils as might be out of order, always opened for
them a door.

The chapman, with his pack of cloth, or cutlery, or books,
was also a frequent guest, and by his fair speech usually con-
trived to gain the goodwill of the females. A napkin, a dress,
a pair of scissors, sold a few pence below the usual price, was
ample payment for all the trouble he caused.

It may not be out of place to notice here the occasional
presence of a person of no small importance in the family — the
tailor. The greater part of the ordinary clothing was spun at
home and woven by a weaver in the neighbourhood. It was
not given out to be made up. The tailor was summoned to the
house, and great was the preparation for him. He was treated
with more than ordinary respect, and on his arrival was installed
in the room. The goodwife produced her webs, and gave her
orders with many an injunction not to make many " cUppans^^^
and not to " brock the claith.^^ The tailor handled the cloth know-
ingly, and praised it ; and the goodwife looked pleased, and
ceased to say one word about clippans or brocks. The tailor set
to work, and plied his needle and thread early and late — some-
times assisted by the females — till the webs had become Jtap-
warms J fit to defend the coldest blast. Now the goodwife *^ is
not afraid of the snow, for all her household are' dothed with
double garments,^'

CHAPTER XL

FAIRIES.

I HE belief in fairies was all but universal. Some
imagined them to be fallen angels, whose sin was nlJt
so great as theirs who were cast into the bottomless
pit. They were believed to dwell inside green sunny
hillocks and knolls, beside a river, a stream, or a lake, or by the
sea-braes, in gorgeous palaces furnished with everything that
was bright and beautiful. They had wells, too, called "fairy
wells." All that paid a visit to' such wells left something in
them — a pin, a button. Such wells seem to have been different
from those having a curative power.

The fairies were under the rule of a queen. Commonly they
appeared to man as men and women of small stature, dressed in
green.

The name of fairy was not pleasing to them, and men spoke of
them as " the fair folk," or ^* the gueede neebours." They
were not ill-disposed towards men. Still they were inclined to
be fi'olicsome towards them and to tease them, and there was
need to guard against their frolic and trick. One sovereign
guard against their power, in every form, was a stone arrow —
" a fairy dairt " or " elf-shot " — which must be kept under lock
and key.

If a dwelling-house had unluckily been built on a spot inhabited
by the fairies, its inmates were liable to much annoyance from
them. In such a house, their favourite time of coming forth
was in the gloamin, when the inmates were quietly seated round
the blazing hearth, before the lamp was lighted for the evening's
work. In that still hour, sometimes, if the spinning-wheel was
not in use at the fireside, and the driving-band had not been
taken off the wheel, the sound of it going fast and furious was

60 FAIRIES.

heard, and at other times, if one had peered round without the
least noise, the eye caught the merry creatures frolicking on the
floor, or over the furniture, peeping into this dish and into that,
into this nook and into that. If the inmates had to leave the
house and shut the door in the quiet gloamin for a time, " the
fair folk " came forth in all their glee, and gave themselves to
all kinds of noise-making. If the door was opened quickly and
quietly they were seen scampering off in all directions — to the
rafters, to the garret, up the " lum," and out by the door — '•
whizz, whizz, quick as lightning. But their fi'olics were not
confined to that particular hour. Some of them were always
out, and no woman would have risen from her spinning-wheel
and gone outside, if there was no one left in the house, without
first taking the driving-band off the wheel, and no prudent
woman would have left the band on the wheel over night. If
the band had not been taken off, a fairy set to work and spun
with might and main the whole night. Meal-mills had also to
be thrown out of gear at night, else the fairies would have set
them on, and kept them going during night.

" The fair folk " were most covetous of new-born children
and their mothers. Till the mothers were " sained " and
churched, and the children were baptised, the most strict watch
and ward had to be kept over them to keep them from being
stolen. Every seven years they had to pay " the teind to hell,"
and to save them from paying this tribute with one of themselves
they were ever on the alert to get hold of human infants.

" There came a wind oot o' the north,

A sharp wind and a snell ;
And a dead sleep came over me,

And frae my horse I fell;
The Queen of Fairies she was there,

And took me to hersel.

" And never would I tire, Janet,

In fairyland to dwell,
But aye, at every seven years

They pay the teind to hell;
And though the Queen macks much o* me

I fear 'twill be mysel."

FAIRIES. 61

Sometimes they succeeded in carrying off an mibaptised
infant, and for it they left one of their own. The one left by
them soon began to " dwine," and to fret and cry night and
day. At times the child has been saved from them as they were
carrying it through the dog-Jiole,*

A fisherwoman had a fine thriving baby. One day what
looked like a beggar woman entered the house. She went to
the cradle in which the baby was lying, and handled it under
pretence of admiring it. From that day the child did nothing
but fret and cry and waste away. This had gone on for some
months, when one day a beggar man entered asking alms. As
he was getting his alms his eye lighted upon the infant in the
cradle. After looking on it for some time he said, " That's nae
a bairn ; that's an image ; the bairn's been stoun." He imme-
diately set to work to bring back the child. He heaped up a
large fire on the hearth, and ordered a black hen to be brought
to him. When the fire was blazing at its full strength, he took
the hen and held her over the fire as near it as possible, so as
not to kill her. The bird struggled for a little, then escaped
from the man's grasp, and flew out by the " lum." The child
was restored, and throve every day afterwards.

Another. A strong healthy boy in the parish of Tyrie began
to " dwine." The real baby had been stolen. A wise woman
gave the means of bringing him back. His clothes were to be
taken to a south-running well, washed, laid out to dry beside
the well, and most careftilly watched. This was done for some
time, but no one came to take them away. The next tiling to
be done was to take the child himself and lay him between two
furrows in a cornfield. This was carried out, and the child
throvfe daily afterwards. All this was annoying to the ** fair
folk," and rather than submit to such annoyance they restored
the child, and took back their own one.

One day a fisherwoman with her baby was left a-bed alone,
when in came a little man dressed in green. He proceeded at
once to lay hold of the baby. The woman knew at once who

♦ Cf. F, L, Record, vol. i. p. 236.

62 FAIRIES.

the little man was and what he intended to do. She uttered the
prayer, " God be atween you an me." Out rushed the fairy
in a moment, and the woman and her baby were left without
further molestation.

Milk, particularly human milk, was very grateful to them.
Therefore was it they were so anxious to carry off unsained
and unchurched mothers. According to tradition, they did at
times get hold of them. Here is one tradition, A mother
was spirited away. In a short time, notwithstanding all the
kindness and attention lavished on her by the " fair folk,"
her strength was almost exhausted. She pleaded to be allowed
to return to earth, and pledged herself to give the best mare
under milk that her husband had. Her request was granted,
and the mare was led to the fairy hillock and left. The
animal disappeared, and after a time returned, but so lean
and weak that she was hardly able to sustain her own weight.
Here is another. A man in the parish of New Deer was re-
turning home at night. On reaching an old quarry much over-
grown with broom he heard a great noise coming from among
the broom. He listened, and his ear caught the words " Mak'
it red cheekit an red Hppit like the smith o* Bonnykelly's wife."
He knew at once what was going on, and what was to be done,
and he ran with all his speed to the smith's house and " sained "
the mother and her baby — an act which the nurse had neglected
to do. No sooner was the saining finished than a heavy thud,
as if something had fallen, was heard outside the house opposite
to the spot where stood the bed on which the mother and her
baby lay. On examination a piece of bog-fir was found lying at
the bottom of the wall. It was the " image " the feiries were to
substitute for the smith's wife.

Sometimes they contrived to induce, by their fair and winning
ways, imwary men and women to go with them. When such
entered their abodes, every kindness was showered upon them,
and the most savoury food and the most delicious wines were
set before them in tempting array. If from what they saw they
had become aware among whom they were, and had the courage
to refuse what was spread before them, they soon found them-

FAIRIES. 63

selves back among men. If they yielded, and tasted either the
food or the drink, their doom was sealed for at least seven years.
All idea of the flight of time was lost by them under the beauty
of fairyland and the joy of life in it. When the fairy-thralls did
at last return to earth, they found their places filled by others,
and the memory of them wellnigh dead. It was only after many
explanations the remembrance of them returned to friends and
acquaintances, and they themselves came to know how long they
had dwelt in fairyland. Such as did return never again took
kindly to the works and ways of their fellow -men. They loved
the sunny braes, the glens and woods, that lay far from the
abodes of men, the quiet spots of daisied sward by the burnio
side, the lonely nook of greenery by the margin of the loch, and
the green slopes and hollows by the seashore. With dreamy
longing eyes, gazing out for something they could not reach,
they pined away the rest of their days, beings apart.

If a man or a woman did any one of them a kindness, the
labour was not in vain. Gratitude for kindness done by man
was one great trait of their character. Some article, whose use
healed disease, was given, or virtue to cure disease or lessen pain
was imparted, or success ever after attended the doer of the kind
deed.

They were very often in the habit of borrowing from man.
What they borrowed was given back most punctually. Meal
was an article they often borrowed, and they always asked a
fixed measure, a " hathisch-cogfull." If offered more, they would
not take it. This borrowing was made usually in the gloamin,
and by the females. In a parish on the east coast of Buchan,
one wild night in winter, in the twilight, a little woman, dressed
in green, went into a fiirm kitchen and begged for a " hathisch
o' meal " from the gueedwife. The gueedwife told the beggar
that she was somewhat afraid to give away so much, as the stock
of meal was almost exhausted, and grain had only just been
taken to the mill, and it would be some time before a new stock
of meal could be laid in. Besides, the weather was stormy, and
everything betokened a long snowstorm. It was said to last
thirteen weeks. However the meal was given. Not many days

64 FAIRIES.

after the Kttle woman returned in the twih'ght, and gave back
the meal. At the same time she asked how much meal was in
the girnal. On getting an answer that there was not much, she
gave strict orders to gather into one comer what remained
of it, add to it what she returned for the loan, and always keep
it well packed together. She at the same time told that the
snowstorm would last thirteen weeks. The storm came down, the
roads were blocked, and no meal was got from the mill ; yet the
meal in the corner of the gimal never grew less, notwithstanding
the household had all through the thirteen weeks the usual supply.

But if one put a slight upon them, or in any way incurred their
displeasure, they were not slow in taking revenge. A cow or a
horse, if the offender had one, was soon ^' shot-a-dead," or
things began to take a wrong turn with the unfortunate, or, if a
work was on hand, it did not go on with speed. It was misfor-
tune on all sides.

Even animals could call forth their anger ; and, when they did
so, they had to pay the penalty. One evening, " atween the sin
an the sky," a man was ploughing with his "twal-ousen plew,"
when a woman came to him, and offered him bread and cheese
and ale. The man took the gift. Whilst he was enjoying his
repast the good woman proceeded to give each of the oxen a
piece of cakes. One by one the oxen took what was given,
except the " wyner," After partaking of the woman's kindness,
and she had left, the ploughman began his work again. All
went on as usual till the plough reached the end of. the furrow,
when the ** wyner," that had refused to take the piece of cakes
from the hands of the stranger, fell down, and broke his neck, as
he was turning into the next furrow. The stranger was a fairy.

The "fair folk" were most skilled in music, and when
mortals were stolen and taken to their abodes, or beguiled into
them, one of the great enchantments and allurements to stay
with them was their music. But that music was not confined

9

to their own dwellings. Often and again has it been heard by
human ears in the quiet of the gloamin, or at the still hour of
midnight, in the clear moonlight, now on this green hillock, now
below this bridge, and now in this calm nook.

FAIRIES. 65

The fairies took to fishing in little boats of tlioir own. When
fishing they wore their usual green, with little red caps for head-
di'ess. They prosecuted their labour in the fine summer morn-
ings and evenings, and many a time have the fishermen seen
them busy as they were going to sea, and returning from it.

If the sun shone during the time a shower of rain was falling,
it was believed and said that the fairies were baking their bread.

When bread was baked in a family the cakes must not be
counted. Fairies always ate cakes that had been counted ; they
did not last the ordinary time.

The whirlwind that raises the dust on roads is called ^' a furl
o' fairies' ween." *

* Cf. F, Z. Record, vol. i. pp. 20—29, and 229—231, and Henderson, p. 277.

CHAPTER Xll.

WATERKELPIE.

|ATERKELPIE was a creature that lived in the deep
pools of . rivers and streams. He had commonly
the form of a black horse. He appeared at night,
and often and often have travellers, in passing
through fords or over old bridges, heard him go splash, splash,
through the water. At times he approached the traveller,
and by some means or other induced him to mount him. He
rushed to his pool, and carried the unsuspecting victim to his
death. At times he would come night after night to a farm-
steading or a sheeling, and cause great fear and much annoyance.
He might be caught, and when caught he could be made to
do much heavy work. He who was to catch him had to watch
for an opportunity of casting over his head a bridle, on which
had been made the sign of the cross. When this was done the
creature became quite quiet. He was commonly employed in
carrying stones to build a mill or a farm-steading; and, when he
was again set free, he took his leave, repeating the words —

" Sehr back an sehr behns
Cairrit a' -'s stehns."

He could be killed. A blacksmith had a small croft. He sent
his wife, family, and cow to the sheeling during summer. When
the blacksmith was employed in his work, waterkelpie took
advantage of his absence, and paid frequent visits to the sheeling,
much to the terror and annoyance of the family. At last the
wife told the husband. He resolved to kill him. The wife took
fright at the proposal, and tried to dissuade him, under the fear
that kelpie would carry him off to his pool, but to no purpose.
The smith prepared two long, sharp-pointed spits of iron and
repaired to the sheeling. He put a large fire on the hearth, and
laid the two spits in it. In a short time kelpie made his appear-
ance as usual. The smith waited his opportunity; and with all
his might drove the red-hot spits into the creature's sides. It
fell a heap of starch, or something like it.

I

i

I
I

(
1

WATERKELPIE. 67

A hardy Highlander was returning home on one occasion from
a sacrament He was on horseback. He had charge of a number
of horses that were at pasture on the side of a lonely loch. The
loch lay in his way home, and he would pass it, and see whether
it was all well with the animals. He came upon them all in a
huddle, and, to his astonishment, he saw in the midst of them
what he thought was a grey horse that did not belong to the herd.
He looked, and, in the twinkling of an eye, he saw an old man
with long grey hair and a long grey beard. The horse he was
riding on immediately started off, and for miles, over rocks and
rough road, galloped at full speed till home was reached.*

In many of the deep pools of the streams and rivers guardian-
demons were believed to reside, and it was dangerous to bathe
in them.t

Sometimes, when a castle or mansion was being sacked, a
faithful servant or two contrived to rescue the plate-chest, and
to cast it into a deep pool in the nearest stream. On one
occasion a diver was got to go to the bottom of such a pool to
fetch up the plate of the neighbouring castle. He dived, saw
the plate-chest, and was preparing to lift it, when the demon
ordered him to go to the surface at once, and not to come back.
At the same time the demon warned him that, if he did come
back, he would forfeit his life. The diver obeyed. When he
reached the bank he told what he had seen, and what he had
heard. By dint of threats and promises of large reward, he
dived again. In a moment or two afterwards his heart and
lungs rose and floated on the surface of the water. They had
been torn out by the demon of the pool.

It was the common opinion that some rivers and streams
were more bloodthirsty than others, and, therefore, seized more
victims than their milder companions. When an accident did
happen, comparisons of course were drawn between the number
that had been drowned in this and the next stream or river, and
the stream or river was spoken of with a sort of awe, as if it
were bloodthirsty and a living creature.

* Cf . Henderson, pp. 272, 273.

t Songs of the JRvsawn People, pp. 148, 161, 152.

f2

CHAPTER XIII.

GHOSTS.

I HERE was hardly a mansion in the country in which
there was not a haunted room. In one room a lady
had been murdered and her body buried in a vault
below it. Her spirit could find no rest till she had
told who the murderer was, and pointed out where the body lay.
in another, a baby-heir had its little life stifled by the hand of an
assassin hired by the next heir after the baby. The estate was got,
but the deed followed the villain beyond the grave, and his spirit
could find no peace. Night after night the spirit had to retui*n
at the hour of midnight to the room in which the murder was
committed, and in agony spend in it the hours till cock-crowing,
when everything of the supernatural had to disappear.

In the wall of another had an unjust relative, that the estate
might become his own, concealed its title-deeds. But there was
no rest for him in the other world till the title-deeds were given
back, and the estate had returned to the rightful heir. Come he
must to the room in whose wall the documents of the estate lay
hid.

Generation after generation must those troubled spirits return
to the scene of their life, and wait till some one was found bold
enough to stay in the haunted room over night, and question the
spirits what they wanted.

Now and again one was found with heart enough to face the
spirit. The haunted room was made ready. He, who was to
do the daring deed, about nightfall entered the room, bearing
with him a table, a chair, a candle, a compass, a crucifix, if one
could be got, and a Bible. With the compass he cast a circle on
the middle of the floor, large enough to hold the chair and the
table. He placed within the circle the chair and the table, and
on the table he laid the Bible and the crucifix beside the lighted /

GHOSTS. 69

candle. If he had not a crucifix, then he drew the figure of a
cross on the floor within the circle. When all this was done, he
seated himself on the chair, opened the Bible, and waited for the
coming of the spirit. Exactly at midnight the spirit came.
Sometimes the door opened slowly, and there glided in noiselessly
a lady sheeted in white with a face of woe, and told her story to
the man on his asking her in the name of God what she wanted.
What she wanted was done in the morning, and the spirit rested
ever after. Sometimes the spirit rose from the floor, and some-
times came forth from the wall. One there was who burst into
the room with strong bound, danced wildly round the circle, and
flourished a long whip round the man's head, but never dared
to step w^ithin the circle. During a pause in his frantic dance
ho was asked, in God's name, what he wanted. He ceased his
dance, and told his wishes. His wishes were carried out, and
the spirit was in peace.

Excessive grief for a departed friend, combined with a want
of resignation to the will of Providence, had the efiect of keeping
the spirit from rest in the other world. Rest could be obtained
only by the spirit coming back and comforting the mourner by
the assurance that it was in a state of blessedness.

When a murder was committed and not discovered, often has
the spirit of the murdered one continued to come back and
torment the murderer till a confession of the crime was made,
and justice satisfied.

Sometimes the spirit itself was the executioner of vengeance.
A man murdered his lady-love ; he escaped to sea. One stormy
night a bright light was seen at a distance ; every eye was upon
it. It came nearer and nearer. As it came nearer, it began to
assume a human form. Nearer yet, till it was close to the ship.
It bore the look of a beautiful lady with sorrow and reproach on
every feature. Among the crew

** There was silence deep as death ;
And the boldest held his breath
For a time."

A voice came from the lady calling one of the sailors by name.
Well did he know that voice. It was a voice he once loved to

/

70 GHOSTS.

hear ; but now it struck terror into him, and he trembled in
every limb ; there was a spell on him. He must come forth,
and over the bulwarks and down the ship's side ; the lady-ghost
clasped him in her arms, and both disappeared in a '^ flash of
fire."

The belief was that not only houses, but also that certain
spots, woods, part? of public roads, bridges, and some church-
yards were haunted by ghosts. In one spot candles have
burned night after night. Across this part of a road what
seemed a body of men marched in close array. Near this wood
every night appeared a sheeted ghost. The chm^ch-bell in this
churchyard has been heard ringing at midnight loud above the
howl of the storm. Those who were aware of such haunted
places, after nightfall made a long round-about to avoid passing
them.*

* Cf . Henderson, chap, x., and F. L. Record^ vol. i. pp. 20 — 23, and vol. ii.
pp. 176, 177.

\

CHAPTER XIV.

WITCHES.

HE belief in witches was universal. The witch was
usually an old woman, who lived in a lonely house
by herself, and kept all her affairs very much to
herself. Her power was derived from Satan, was
very ^reat, and ranged over almost everything. By various
ways she could cause disease in man and beast ; raise storms to
destroy crops, sink ships, and do other destructive work;
steal cows' milk, and keep herself well supplied with milk
and butter, though she had no cow. To do this last she was
able to turn herself into a hare. At times, however, she used
her power for the benefit of those who pleased her. She could
euro diseases, discover stolen goods, and tell who the thief was.
Such a woman was dreaded, and all her neighbours tried to live
on good terms with her, bore from her what they would bear
from no one else, and, if she asked a favour, would have granted
it, however much it cost to do so. If one was unfortunate
enough to fall out with her, something untoward was sure to
happen to the ofiender, and that too in no long time after the
quarrel. A horse died, or the cow's milk was taken away, or a
calf began to dwine, or an arm or a leg was broken, or a hand
was cut, or disease fell on the ofiender or on some member of
the family. Sometimes the witch, instead of sending upon her
enemy a single disaster, set herself to give all manner of petty
annoyances, dogging him in all directions.

Here is a tradition : — A man had incurred the illwill of a
witch. He could not leave the house without being followed by
his enemy. His life in a short time became a burden to him.
He told his case to a reputed man of wisdom. He was advised
to get a gun, load it with a crooked sixpence instead of a ball.

72 WITCHES.

go out after sunset, when, of course, the witch would be after
him. He was to use every artifice to conceal the gun, and to
get his tormentor between him and the point of sunset. The
moment he caught a glimpse of her by the last rays of the
twilight, "atween 'im an the sky," he was to fire. The man
did so, and he was left in peace ever after.

The power of witchcraft was sometimes possessed by men. It
was also inherent in certain families, and went down fi'om
generation to generation.*

* Cf. Heuderson, pp. 180, &c., and F. L. Rccordy vol. i. pp. 23—26.

CHAPTER XV.

"black airt" and devil compacts.

u

LACK AIRT " was firmly believed in. If the pro-
ficients in this science did not make a compact
with Satan, they were very much in communion
with him. He was regarded as the fountain from
which it sprang. It was looked upon as a kind of wisdom by
which men came to be able to know the hidden essence of
things, the virtues of herbs for cure or poison, to have power
over nature in many of her workings, power to cure disease,
to guard against witches and fairies, to remove their spells, to
discover thieves, and even to see into the future. Under the
teaching they got some of the students reached a high degree of
oxpertness, and became a match for the devil himself in cunning,
and were even able to outwit him.

Spain and Italy, particularly Italy, were the countries in
which the science was most flourishing, and in which it was
taught most efficiently, and thither all, who wished to become
adepts in it, went. Its study was carried on in dark rooms
under famous teachers; and, on leaving the class-rooms, the
students had to pass through a long black passage at the end of
which stood the prince of darkness watching to catch the last
one. No sooner had the last word of the professor's lecture been
spoken than out rushed the students, and made for the light pell-
mell through the black passage shouting " Deel tack the hin-
most ! " The devil, on one occasion, clutched at a student ; ho
met one who was more than a match for him. The student
called out, " There is another behind me ! " His sable majesty
looked first to tliis side, and then to that. He saw what seemed
a man ; he rushed upon it and seized it. It was the student's
shadow. Ever after the student was shadowless.

74 "black AIRT " AND DEVIL COMPACTS.

Devil Compacts.

It was believed that many went further than the students of
" Black Art," and actually made compacts with the devil. Such
a compact was made at midnight in some lonely churchyard, or
amid the ruins of some castle. Those who did so, were they
men or women, became bound to give themselves up soul and body
to Satan at the end of a certain number of years, on a fixed day
and at a fixed hour, or at the time of their death. For this they
received power to do almost everything man could conceive — to
control tlie elements, to send disease on man or beast, to make
crops unfruitful, to destroy them by wind or rain, to amass as
much wealth as they wished to spend upon their evil passions —
in short, to do what wicked work they set their minds to. A
wild wanfon life did such lead, often with the appearance of
unbounded wealth and happiness far beyond the reach of most
men. Their whole time seemed one round of success and joy.

The time fixed by the contract might be prolonged, but, if the
conti'act was not renewed, go they must at the hour appointed.

A mail had made such a contract. He had, to all appearance,
lived a life of comfort and success. The time for him to go
drew very near. When he began to think of his doom, horror
took hold of him. He told his terrible secret to some of his
friends. They did what they could to cheer him, and make him
forget it. On the last night they met with him, and kept him
surrounded, persuading him and themselves that, if it should
come to the worst, they would bo able to defend him. Hour
after hour passed, and they began to think that the devil had
forgotten. The appointed hour came. Next moment a knock
was heard at the door. All eyes were turned to it. It opened,
and in stalked the devil. There was no delay. He rushed upon
his thrall, and both disappeared in fire, leaving behind them
nothing but smoke and stench.

At times a few of like thought and manner of life joined
together, and made a compact with the prince of darkness. They
took the name of " The Hell-fire Club." They met at night
among the ruins of some old castle, or in a vault of it, if such

" BLACK AIRT " AND DEVIL COMPACTS. 75

was still entire. For hours they carried on their orgies, drink-
ing, swearing, scoffing at the Bible, turning everything sacred
into ridicule, and putting God Himself to defiance. To crown
all, once a year in the darkness of the night, in their usual meet-
ing-place, they partook of the Communion in the devil's name,
and renewed their contract with him. Such men were noted
for their drunken, debauched, reckless, defiant lives. It was
said of them that most of them commonly came to an untimely
end. This one was drowned ; the next one was thrown from a
horse ; tliis other one in a fit of remorse put an end to his days
by hanging himself; and another, by drowning himself. Such
of them as did die a natural death were seized with some terrible
disease, and, after the greatest sufierings, passed away in agony
of soul and body, cursing God and man with their last breath.
Vengeance in some way or other overtook them all.*

* Cf . Henderson, p. 279.

CHAPTER XVL

RIDDLES.

GREAT source of amusement among the folk was,
and still is, at least among the young, a kind of
riddles in rhyme. One characteristic of many of
them is the horrible descriptions they contain, and
these descriptions generally turn out to be something very inno-
cent. The riddles have in most cases the appearance of being
very old.

" There wiz a man of Adam's race,
Who had a certain dwelling-place,
It was neither in earth, heaven, nor hell.
Come, tell me where that man did dwell ?"

" Jonah in the whale's belly."

" Two brothers dear,
Two sisters' sons are we.
Our father's our grandfather.
And whose sons are we ?"

" Lot's."

" As I leukit our my father's castle wa',
I saw a bunch o' waans.

An nae ane can coont them but God's ain ban's?"

" The hair of the head."

" As I leukit our ma father's castle,
I saw a bodie stanin;
I took aff's head and drank's bleed.
And left's body stanin ?"
" A bottle."

((

It's lang an its roon,
An its as black's coal,
Wi' a lang and a plump hole ?"

« A bottle."

RIDDLES. 77

" As I gecd our the Brig o' Dee
I met Geordie Bnchan;
I took afE his head, an drank his bleed,
An left his body stan'in ?"

" A bottle of whisky."

" An it's naither Peg, Meg, nor Margit
Its my true love's name;
An it's naither Peg, Meg, nor Margit,
An thrice I've told her name ?"

"Ann."

" As I went to Westminster school,
I met a Westminster scholar.
He palled off his hat
And drew off his gloves,
And I have told you the name of the scholar ?"

** Andrew."

" There wiz a king met a king
In a narrow lane,
Said the king to the king,

* Where hac ye been ? '

' I hae been where ye hac been,
Iluntin at the roe.'

* Will ye lend me yir dog ? '

* Yes, I will do so.

Call npon him, call upon him.'

* What is his name ? '

* I have told yon twice,

And I will tell you again ?' "

« Bean."

" Caul kail, aul' kail.
Nine days' aul' kail,
Boilt in a pot, fried in a pan,
Spell ye that wi' four letters if ye can ?"

« That."

" Aberdeen and Aberdour,
Spell that in letters four ?"

" That."

" There was a man raid through this toon —
Gray Thistle was his name ;
His girth was gold, his bridle bold,
i\nd thrice I've told his name?"

" Was."

78 . RIDDLES.

" It is in every mountain,
It's not in any hill,
It's not in all the world,
And yet it's in the mill ?"

« The letter m."

" The minister an the schoolmaister
An maister AndreAv Lamb
Goed oot t' view the gairden
Fahr three pears hang,
Ilky ane pu'd a pear
An still twa hang ?"

" The minister and the elder and lang John Lamb
Geed a' till a pear tree
Where three pears hang,
And ilky ane pu'd a pear
And still twa pears hang ?"

" John Lamb is both minister and elder."

" Three hail cakes,
Three half cakes,
Three quarters o' anither,
Atween the piper and his wife
And the fiddler and his mither.
Divide without breaking the cakes ?"

" The piper's wife is the fiddler's mother."

" Ten teeth withoot a tongue,
It is gneede sport t' aul' an young ;
Take it oot o'ts yallow fleece
An kittle't on the belly piece ?"

" A fiddle."

" As I went to the school alone
I found a little pennerie;
'Twas painted oot, 'twas painted in,
'Twas painted our wi' poverty:
'T would kill a bull, 't would kill a bear,
'T would kill a thousand men and mehr ?"

« Hunger."

• " Humpity Dumpity sat on a wall,
Humpity Dumpity got a great fall,
The king wi' a' his men
Cudna lift Humpity Dumpity again y '

An egg."

((

UIDDLES. 79

" I geed by a hoosie,
An it wiz fou o' meht,
But there wiz naither door nor window
T' lat me in to eht ?"

"An egg."

" I think you live beneath a roof
That is upheld by me;
I think you seldom walk abroad,
But my fair form you see;
I close you in on every side,
Your very dwelling pave,
And probably I'll go with you
At last into the grave ?"

« Wood."

** There wiz a man bespoke a coat.
When the maker it home did bring.
The man who made it would not have it.
The man who spoke for't cudna use it,
And the man who wore it cudna tell
Whether it suited him ill or well ?"

" A coffin."

" It's as roon as a mill-wheel,
An luggit like a cat ;
Though ye sud clatter a' day,
Ye'd never clatter that ?"

" A tub."

" A countrie loon cam doon the toon
Wi' three feet up and twa feet doon,
Wi' the moo of the livin an the head o' the dead,
Come tell me my riddle an I'll gee ye ma head ?"

" A boy with a pot on his head."

" Three feet ecmist, cauld an deed,
Twa feet ncthmcst, flesh an bleed ;
The head o' the livin
An the mou o' the deed ?"

" A man with a metal pot on his head."

" Pee pee pattie.
Three feet an a timmer hattie ?"

** A pot with a wooden cover.

" Father, mother, sister, In-other,
A' lies in ae bed.
An diz na touch each other ?"

" The bars of a grate."

u

80 lllDDLES.

" Lang legs,
Short thighs,
Little head,
An no eyes ?"

« The tongs."

" Chick, chick, cherry,
A' the men in Kirry,
Cadna clum chick, chick-cherry ?"

« Smoke."

" As I geed t' ma father's f ehst
I saw a great notorious behst
Wi' ten tails an forty feet,
An aye the behst crape oot an eat ?"

" A ten-onsen pleugh."

" Haiiy oot, an hairy in,
His the hair but wints the skin ?"

" A hairy rope."

" As 1 leukit our ma father's castle wa'
A saw the dead carryin the livin awa ?"

" A ship."

" A riddle, a riddle, a rot tot tot,
I met a man wi' a red, red coat,
A staff in han' an a stehn in's throat,
Come, tell me my riddle an a'U gee you a groat?"

" A cherry."

<' It's as fite's milk.
It's as saft's silk.
It hiz a beard like a buck,
An a tail cocking up ?"

" An onion."

" Hobbity-bobbity sits on this side o' the bum,
Hobbity-bobbity sits on that side o' the bum.
An gehn ye touch hobbity-bobbity,
Hobbity-bobbity 'ill bite you ?"

« A nettle."

" Robbie-Stobbie on this side o' the dyke,
Robbie-Stobbie on that side o' the dyke.
An gehn ye touch Robbie-Stobbie,
Robbie-Stobbie 'ijl bite ye ?"

" A nettle."

RIDDLES. 8 1

'' It's as white's milk
An as black's coal,
An it jumps on the dyke
Like a new shod foal?"

" A magpie."

" Reddicy roddichy rins on the dyke,
Keep awa' yir clockin hen,
I carena for yir tyke?"

" A worm."

" Lang man legless
Cam till my door staffless,
Hand awa' yir cocks an hens,
Yir dogs an cats I fehr na?"

" A worm."

" It sits high
An cries sair,
Hiz the head,
Bit wints the hair?"

" The town clock."

" It's as roon's the meen
An as dear's crystal,
In ye dinna tell me ma riddle
A'U shot ye wi' ma pistal?"

"A watch."

There wiz a thing of four weeks old
When Adam was no more,
And ere that thing was five months old
Adam was four score?"

" The moon."

" Fite bird f eatherless.
Flew oot o' Paradise,
An lichtit on yon castle wa'.
An Lord Lan'lcss
Took it up han'less.
An raid awa' horseless?"

" A snowflakc."

** Bank-fou an brae-fou^
Though ye gaither a' day.
Ye winna gaither a stoup-fou?"

« Miet."

G

82 BIDDLES.

" I sat wi' my love,
• I drank wi' my love,
And my love she gave mc licht;
And I will give you a pint o' wine
To read ray riddle rieht?"

" A man murdered his lady love."

" Oot atween twa woods, and in atween twa waters?"

" A woman going to fetch water in two wooden pails."

" What is it that goes out hlack, and comes in white?"

" A hlack cow on a snowy day."

*' Dee ye ken fuh Scatterty's cat vnnna eat salmon ?"

** Because she canna get it."

" At what season of the year are there most holes in the ground ?"

" In autumn, when the crop is all cut."

" Spell withered girss wi' three letters?"

'' Hay."

. ** What is neither in the house, nor out of the house, and still is ahout the
house ?"

" A vrindow."

" What prophet was with Adam in Paradise and with Noah in the Ark ? — He
does not helieve in the Resurrection, hut he does not deny a word of the Christian
faith." « The cock."

" What is it that gangs wi'ts hehd down ?"

" A nail in a horse's shoe."

** Where did Noah strike the first nail of the ark ?"

" On the head."

" Faht twa hlack things is't it lies at your bedside an gapes for your behns ?"

" Your shoes."

" Faht is't gangs our an our the water an never touches it ?"

" Your shadow."

" Would ye raither lie on a bed o' bibbles or a bed of scarlet ?"

" The bed of scarlet means hell."

" Faht's the difference between a black doo an a fitan ?"

" Fitan is the whiting, the fish."

" How many toad's tails wid it need to gang t' the meen ?"

" Ane, gehn it be lang eneuch."

" Faht is't that grows wi' its head down ?"

" An icicle."

CHAPTER XVII.

MARRIAGE.

" Your vessels, and your spells, provide,
Your charms, and everything beside."

[EANS were frequently taken to find out who was to
be the husband or wife. There were various modes
of doing this. Some of the incantations could be
performed at any time, whilst others could be gone
through only on Hallowe'en. Here are two that could be per-
formed at any time.

The first time one slept on a strange bed a ring was put on
the finger, one of the shoes was placed below the bed, the bed
was entered backwards. The future husband or wife was seen
in a dream.

The maid who was desirous of seeing who was to be her
husband had to read the third verse of the seventeenth chapter
of the Book of Job after supper, wash the supper dishes, and
go to bed without the utterance of a single word, placing below
her pillow the Bible, with a pin stuck through the verse she
had read. The future husband was seen in a dream.

The first time the note of the cuckoo was heard the hearer
turned round three times on the left heel against the sun,
searched in the hollow made by the heel, and in it a hair of the
colour of the hair of the future husband or wife was found.

To find out whether the lover would remain true and become
the husband, three stalks of the Carl-doddie, or Ribwort (Plantago
lanceolata)y were taken when in bloom. They were stripped of
their blossom, laid in the left shoe, which was placed under the
pillow. If the lover was to become the husband, the three
stalks were again in full bloom by morning. If tlie lover was
to prove untrue, the stalks remained without blossom,

g2

84 MARRIAGE.

Of those that were performed on Hallowe'en, the following
were most common : —

Pulling the Castoc, — You went to the kail-yard, and with
eyes blindfolded pulled the first stock of cabbage or greens,
touched. According to the quantity of earth that remained
attached to the root and according to the form of the stock,
whether well or ill-shapen, were augured the amount of worldly
means and the comeliness of the future husband or wife. It
was placed inside the door, and the baptismal name of the young
man or young woman, who entered first after it was placed,
was to be the baptismal name of the husband or wife, according
as it was a young woman or a young man that had pulled and
placed the castoc.

Sowing Lint-seed, — When the shades of evening were falling,
the maiden had to steal out quietly with a handful of lint-seed,
and walk across the ridges of a field, sowing the seed, and re-
peating the words:-

** Lint-seed I saw ye,
Lint-seed I saw ye;
Lat him it's to be my lad
Come aifter me, and pu* me."

On looking over the left shoulder she saw the apparition of him
who was to be her mate crossing the ridges, as it were, in the
act of pulling flax.*

Fathoming a Rick. — This incantation was performed by measur-
ing or fathoming with the arms round a stack of oats or barley
three times, against the sun. In going round the third time the
apparition of the future husband or wife was clasped when the
arms were stretched out for the last time.

Wining the Blue- clue. — In this incantation the person had to
go to the kiln secretly and in the gloamin, carrying a clue of
blue worsted thread. This clue was cast into the kiln-logie. The
end of the thread however was retained, and the performer
unrolled the clue, forming a new one. Towards the end it was
held tight. It was then demanded who held the thread. A
voice answered, giving the name of the future husband or wife.

* Cf. F. L. Record, vol. i. p. 33 (107).

MARRIAGE. 85

Winnowing Com. — Go to the barn secretly ; open both doors,
as if preparing to winnow corn. Take a sieve or a waichtj and
three times go through the form of winnowing corn. The appa-
rition of the future husband entered by the one door to the wind-
ward, passed through the barn, and made his exit by the other
door.

Washing the Sleeve of the Shirt — The maiden went to a south-
running stream, or to a ford where the dead and the living
crossed, and washed the sleeve of her shirt. She returned homo,
j)ut on a large fire, and hung the shirt in front of it. She went
to bed, and from it kept a careful watch. The apparition of him
who was to be her partner in life came and turned the wet sleeve.*

Boasting Peas. — A live coal was taken, and two peas (nuts were
not always to be had) were placed upon it, the one to represent
the lad and the other the lass. If the two rested on the coal and
burned together, the young man and young woman (represented
by the two peas) would become man and wife ; and from the
length of time the peas burned and the brightness of the flame
the length and happiness of the married life were augured. If
one of the peas started off from the other, there would be no
marriage, and through the fault of the one whom the pea, that
started ofl^, represented.

Eating an Apple in Front of a Looking-glass. — This incanta-
tion had to be done in secret, like most of the others. An apple
was taken and sliced off in front of a looking-glass. Each piece
before being eaten was stuck on the point of the knife and held
over the left shoulder of the performer, who kept looking into
the glass and combing the hair. The spectre of the man who
was to be her husband appeared behind her, stretching forth his
hand to lay hold of the piece.

By Tliree Caps or Wooden Basins, — Three wooden basins
were placed in a line on the hearth ; one was filled with pure,
another with dirty, water, and the third was left empty. The
performer was blindfolded, and a wand or stick was put into her
hand. She was led up to the caps, when she pointed towards
one of them. This was done three times, the position of the caps

* Cf. F, L, Record, vol. i. p. 33 (108).

86 MARRIAGE.

being changed each time. " The best of three " decided her
fate ; that is, choosing the same cap twice. The choice of the
cap with the pure water indicated an honourable marriage ; the
choice of that with the diii;y water betokened marriage, but in
dishonour. If the choice fell on the empty cap, a single life was
to be the lot.

The young women of Fraserburgh, in days " a long time
ago," anxious to find out about their lovers and marriage, used
the following mode of divination on Halloweven. They went
to the village of Broadsea, which was hard by, and drew a straw
from the thatch of one of the houses, the older the thatch so
much the better. This straw was taken to a woman in Fraser-
burgh who was famed for her wisdom. She broke it ; and, if
things were to move in the right way with the maiden in her
love and marriage, she drew from the broken straw a hair of the
same colour as the husband's-to-be.

As for the number of the family, it was divined in the follow-
ing fashion : — The inquirer into the ftiture went to the stackyard,
took a position beside a stack of oats, with the back turned
towards it, and from over the head pulled a stalk of oats. The
number of grains on the stalk represented the number of the
family. If the stalk drawn from the stack by a female wanted
the tap-pucklej or top grain, she went to the marriage bed
deflowered.

To gain love there were various methods. The roots of the
orchis were dug up. The old root is exhausted, and when cast
into water floats — this is hatred. The new root is heavy, and
sinks when thrown into water — this is love, because nothing
sinks deeper than love. The root — love — wa* dried, ground,
and secretly administered as a potion; strong love was the
result.

Two lozenges were taken, covered with perspiration and stuck
together, and given in this form to the one whose love was
sought. The eating of them excited strong aflection.

There was another method talked of, but it was of such a
nature as that it must be passed over in silence.

Unluckily for all these charms, the love gained by them was

MARRIAGE. 87

dissipated by marriage, and the hatred of the one on whom the
charm had been wrought became as strong as the love had
been.

When a live coal tumbles from the fire on the hearth towards
one who is unmarried, it is regarded as a tokei\ that marriage is
at hand. Hence the saying " Fire bodes marriage."

When a young womanV apron-string or garter unloosed
itself, she was at that time the subject of her lover's thought.

If a girl mend her clothes on her back she will be forsaken by
her lover.

If a woman is forsaken by her lover, she has but to write out
the CIX. Psalm, send the copy of it to him, and he will never
thrive.

When a young man and a young woman were seen in com-
pany, those boys who had manners not very refined used to cry : —

^^ Lad and lass
Wi' the fite cockade,
Mairrit in the coal-hole
An kirkit i' the bam."

Or, more shortly : —

" Cookie doss,
Lad and lass
Mairrit in a coal-hole."

The lore about colours was embodied in these words: —

" Bine
'S love tme,

Green

'S love deen.

Yellow
'S forsaken.*

•

Wooing was for the most part carried on under cover of
night. At a late hour the young man set out for the abode of
his lady-love. By the time he arrived all the family had retired
to rest. He tapped at the window. The happy maiden,

" Wha kens the meaning o' the same,"

was quickly at the door, undid the bar and admitted her lover.

* Cf. Henderson, p. 35, and F, L, Record^ vol. i. p. 12 (44, 46).

88 MARRIAGE.

If he could not be admitted by the door, the window was lifted,
and he made his entrance by it

The marriage was commonly arranged between the two with-
out the knowledge of the parents. At times the mothers might
be let into the secret, but it was only after all the arrangements
were completed the subject was broken to the fathers. The
marriage day was either Tuesday or Thursday, more rarely
Saturday, during the increase of the moon, and any month
except May.* It was, however, unlucky for two of a family to
be married during the same year.

In the interval between the final contract of marriage and its
celebration the young woman was busy getting in order all her
providan for her future home. One or more days were given to
the thiggin of wool from her friends and neighbours. If she
had been thrifty, her feather bed, bolster, and pillows, blankets,
sheets, &c., had been for some time ready in anticipation of the
coming event. On a day some weeks before the marriage the
affianced, accompanied by the bride's mother or sister, went to
a neighbouring village to buy the bonnie things, that is, the
bridal dress, &c., when it was the custom for the young man to
present dresses to the mother and sisters of her who was to be
his wife. Besides the providan already spoken of, the young
woman brought a chest of drawers, or, if that was too costly, a
kisL All the providan was sent to the ftiture home a few days
before the marriage, and it was sent unlocked and unbound. To
have sent it locked or bound would have entailed difficult travail.

The guests were invited by the bride and bridegroom. The
bride, commonly alone, sometimes, however, attended by her
who was to do the office of " best maid," called on her friends,
and gave them a personal invitation. She chose two young men
to lead her to church. The bridegroom, sometimes alone, and
sometimes accompanied by the young friend who was to stand
as his " best man," gave personal invitations to his party, and
at the same time asked two young women to lead him to church.
The invitations were all given, and all the arrangements fully
made, before the minister was invited. To have done otherwise

* Cf. Henderson, p. 34. Usi nnziali, p. 196, De Gubematis.

MARRlAaE. 89

would not have been lucky. A present of a hat was made to
the minister by those in better circumstances.

It was customary for each guest to make a present to the
bride and bridegroom. It usually took the form of something
required for the marriage feast, as a fowl, a few pounds of
butter, a bottle of whisky, &c. The present was often reserved
till the morning of the marriage- day, when there was a rivalry
who should give hansel.

Great preparations were made for the feast, and from the
brewing of the bridal ale and the baking of the bridal bread
omens were drawn. With respect to the ale, if the wort boiled
up on the far-off side of the pot, it was accounted unlucky ; if in
front, lucky. If it fermented strongly, or, as it was expressed,
if it was strong on the barm, good fortune was augured. It
was the same if the ale was strong when presented at the feast.
In baking the cakes, great care was taken with the first cake
lest it should be broken — a broken cake portending unhappiness.

On the Saturday evening previous to the Suuday on which
the proclamation of banns, called the heuchin nicht, was made,
the bridegroom, if at all possible, presented himself at the house
of the bride. A few friends were also present, and a small
feast was given. Along with the bride's father, or brother, or
it might be with a friend, the young man went to the Session-
Clerk to give in the names for proclamation of banns, or,
as it was called, to " lay doon the pawns." The banns were
proclaimed three times, either on three, two, or one Sunday.
For the young woman to have appeared in church on the Sunday
on which the banns were published would have been the cause
of troubles of many kinds during the married life. Between
the Sunday on which the banns were published and the day of
the marriage it was customary for the young friends of both
bride and bridegroom on meeting them to " rub shoulders "
with them, as if to catch the infection of marriage.*

On the evening before the marriage there was the "feet-
washing." A few of the bridegroom's most intimate friends
assembled at his house, when a large tub was brought forward

* Cf. Henderson, p. 36.

90 MARRIAGE.

and nearly filled with water. The bridegroom was stripped of
shoes and stockings, and his feet and legs were plunged in the
water. One seized a besom, and began to rub them lustily, while
another was busy besmearing them with soot or shoe-blacking, and
a third was practising some other vagary.* Such a meeting could
not take place without the board of hospitality being spread.

The state of the weather on the marriage day was watched
most narrowly, and omens were drawn from it. There might
be heard on all sides such expressions as " He's gloomin gey
sehr on ir," if the day was gloomy ; " He's blinkin fell cantie
on ir," if the day was alternately bright and cloudy; or, " She's
greetin unco sehr," if the day was rainy, although a shower of
rain was propitious : —

*' Happy's the cx)rps, an happy's the bride
It gits a shoor i' thir side."

A bright sunny day indicated as much happiness as can fall to
the lot of man in time : —

•' *' Happy's the bride the sin shines on,
Happy's the corps the rain falls on."t

The bride was usually dressed by her maid, and every article
of dress must be new. The bridal dress could on no account be
fitted on. When it came to be put on, if it did not fit, it could
not be cut or altered, but adjusted the best way possible. If the
marriage shoes were too little, evils of many kinds were fore-
boded. Something borrowed must be worn. A ring was
accounted of most virtue.

If it was a younger sister that was married, she had to give
her elder sister green garters.

The guests arrived at an early hour, those invited by the bride
at her home, and those invited by the bridegroom at his. Break-
fast was served up, and consisted of two courses, oatmeal por-
ridge made with milk, well overlaid with sugar, and curds and
cream. In later times a tea-breakfast was served. After break-
fast it was no unusual thing for all to join in dancing till the
hour of going to church came.

* Usi nnzially pp. 121 and following, De Gnbematis.
t Cf . Henderson, p. 34.

MABIilAQE. 91

Two men, called the sensy were despatched from the house of
he bridegroom to demaud the bride. On making their appear-
ance a volley of fire-arms met them.* When they came up to
the door of the bride's home they asked,

" Does bide here ? "

" Aye, faht de ye wint wee ir ? "

" We wint ir for ," was the answer.

" Bit ye winna get ir."

" But we'll tack ir."

" Will ye come in, an taste a moofu o' a dram till we see
aboot it ? "

And so the sens entered the house, and got possession of the bride.

Both parties arranged their departure from their respective
homes in such a way as to arrive at church about the same time
— the bride*s party always having the preference. The bride,
supported by the two young men formerly chosen by herself,
walked at the head of her party, and when she set out she was
on no account to look back. Such an action entailed disaster of
the worst kind during the married life. The bridegroom, sup-
ported by two young maidens, walked at the head of his party.
On leaving, a few old shoes and besoms or scrubbers were
thrown after both bride and bridegroom. In each party there
was one that carried a bottle of whisky and a glass, and there
was another that carried bread and cheese. The person first
met received a glass, with bread and cheese, and then turned
and walked a short distance. Great attention was paid to the
first jit, A man on horseback, or a horse drawing a cart, after
the introduction of carts, was deemed most lucky. Each party
was accompanied by pipers, and a constant firing of guns and
pistols was kept up.

The church door had been opened by the beadle or bellman,
who was in attendance to lead the bridegroom to the bride-steel —
that is, the pew that was set apart for the use of those who were
to be married. The bride was now led forth and placed beside
him, and great care was used to have her placed at the proper

* Ralston 's Songs of the Russian People, pp. 284, 286. Usi mtziali, pp. 131,
132, De Guberaatis. Cf. Henderson, p. 38.

92 MARRIAGE.

Side. To have placed her improperly would have been unlucky
in the extreme. Next to the bride stood her '^ best maid."
This office, though accounted an honour, was not unattended
with risk. If the bride was enceinte, the maid would within a
year fall into the same disgrace. Three times a bridesmaid was
the inevitable prelude of remaining unmarried. Next to the
bridegroom stood the " best young man." On no account could
the bride and bridegroom meet on the marriage day till they met
on the bride-stool. Such a meeting would have been followed by
some calamity or series of calamities. After the celebration of
the marriage the minister frequently kissed the bride.'* In cer-
tain districts, the bride pinned a marriage favour to the minister's
right arm. The two received the congratulations of all present.

The bridegroom paid the beadle his fee, usually a sixpence.
It was no unusual thing for one of the party to go round the
guests, and make a collection for him, in addition to his fee,
when each contributed a half-penny or a penny.

The procession was again formed, led by the bride, supported
by the two sens. Then followed the bridegroom, supported by the
bride's two best maidens ; and with music and the firing of guns
and pistols the two parties, now united, marched along the
ordinary road to the home of the bridegroom. On no account
was it lawful to take any bye-roads, however much shorter they
might be, either in going to church or in returning from it.
Bread and cheese and a dram were given as before to the first fit
on the homeward journey. On coming near the house a few of
the swiftest runners of the unmarried set out "to win the kail,"
and he or she who did so was the first of the party to be married.f

When the bride arrived, she was welcomed by the bridegroom's
mother, if alive. If she was dead, the welcome was given by
one of the bridegroom's nearest relatives. When passing over
the threshold there was held over the bride's head a sieve con-
taining bread and cheese, which were distributed among the
guests. They were sometimes scattered around her, when there
was a rush made by the young folks to secure a piece. At times
an oatmeal cake was broken over her head. In later limes a

* Cf. Henderson, p. 39. t -^*^^« PP* 37, 41.

MARRIAGE. 93

thin cake of " short-bread," called the bride-cake, was substi-
tuted for the oatmeal cake. It was distributed among the guests,
who carefully preserved it, particularly the unmarried, who placed
it below their pillows to "dream on."* In some districts, when
the sieve was in the act of being placed over her head, or the
bread broken, it was the bridegroom's duty to snatch her from
below it. She was led straight to the hearth, and into her hands
was put the tongs, with which she made up the fire. The besom
was at times substituted for the tongs, when she swept the hearth.
The crook was then swung three times round her head, in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and with the prayer,
"May the Almichty mack this umman a gueede wife." The
last act of her installation as " gueedwife " was leading her to
the gimaly or mehUbowiey and pressing her hand into the meal
as far as possible. This last action, it was believed, secured in
all time coming abundance of the staff of life in the household.

In some of the villages it was usually the custom for children
to assemble round the door, and demand ba-sillerj when a few
coppers were given them. Pieces, however, were ordinarily
given.

A good many beggars commonly gathered together, and they
were regaled most plentifully, and, if any of f hem had a hanker-
ing after punch or whisky, it was not spared.

Now followed the feast, which was laid out in the bam when
the marriage was at a farm or croft, or in any other dwelling
large enough and reasonably suitable. In villages the guests
were at times divided into parties, and the feast was spread in
several houses. The feast was at times paid for by each guest,
and when such was done it was called a " penny wedding," or
" penny bridal." Such feasts gave rise at times to a good deal
of excess, and the great authority in the parish — the Kirk-session
—enacted laws for their suppression. Thus in 1708 :—

"The session [of CuUen] considering that many abuses are committed at
penny weddings by a confluence of idle people that gather themselves mainly to
hear the mnsick did and do hereby enact that whoever afterwards shall have
pypers att their wedding shall forfeit their pauns and that they should not meet
in a change hous the Sunday after their marriage under the same pain."

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 36. Songs of the Rnsdan People, p. 280.

94 MARRIAGE.

The Presbytery also enacted laws for the prevention of excesses
at " brydalls " :—

** At Dranbennand, August 25th, 1631. — ^In respect of the many abuses and
disorders that falls out at penny brydals, special! of plays and drunkennes, it is
ordained that no persone heirefter sail be maryed wines thai consigne pands that
thai be no abuse at theair brydall, vnder paine of tenne pund." *

All the tables belonging to the household were called into use,
and a few might be borrowed. If these were not sufficient, deals
were placed on barrels, or mason's trestles, or boxes. The seats
consisted of deals laid on chairs, or the old naves of cart-wheels,
or, in comers, on two bags of com or here laid on their sides,
one above the other. The dishes and spoons were very varied,
for they had been gathered in for the occasion from friends.
The bride got the seat of honour, the head of the table ; and the
guests arranged themselves according to their fancy. Those,
however, who were accounted more honourable, were placed
nearest the bride. The bridegroom did not take his seat at table.
His charge was to serve and to look after the comfort of all the
guests.

The feast was abundant. First came a course of milk-brotli,
made of barley ; barley-broth made from beef, or mutton, or
fowls, formed the second course. The third course consisted of
rounds of beef, legs of mutton, and fowls by the dozen. Last
of all came puddings, cooked in every variety of dish, and eaten
from saucers, and swimming in cream. Home-brewed ale
flowed in abundance from first to last of the feast. When the
tables were cleared, big bottles fall of whisky were brought in,
along with punchbowls, each holding a punch-ladle made of
wood, and placed before patriarchs renowned for their skill in
making punch. With a firm hand each laid hold of a bottle,
and poured into his bowl for a time. He then looked at the
quantity in the bowl, and to make sure of the quantity he held
up the botde before him, and measured with the eye what he
had poured in. Then he slowly added the sugar, scanning care-
fully what he cast in. The water was poured boiling over the

* Extracts from the Preshytery Book of Strathhogie^ p. 4. Spalding Club.
Aberdeen, A.D. 1843.

MARRIAGE. 95

whisky and sugar. The mixture was stirred till the sugar was
melted. He then took a glass and poured a little of the mixture
into it, and tasted it with a knowing smack of the tongue. The
glass was handed to another connoisseur of the delicious beverage.
It was pronounced good. All the glasses were filled and handed
round. The health of the bride and bridegroom was proposed.
The glasses were drunk off at once, and the toast received with
" a' the honours three." Round after round was drunk, each to a
toast or sentiment, and the glass emptied at each ; bowl afl«r bowl
was made till the hour for dancing came. The tables, with their
contents, were moved away, and the seats were ranged round the
wall, so that the whole area of the barn was left clear for dancing.

The dancing was begun by the shaimit reel. This dance was
performed by the bride, the bride's maidens, the bridegroom,
and the best young men. Tlie music to which it was danced
was called the shaim-sprinffy and the bride had the privilege of
choosing the music. The male dancers then paid the musician
his fee. Another dance was performed by the same six, after
which the floor was open. In some districts the shaimiUreel
was danced by the bride and her best maid, with the two sens as
partners. After it was danced the bride fixed a marriage favour
on the right arm of her partner in the dance, and the best maid
fixed one on the left arm of her partner. The two sens then paid
the fiddler. Frequently the bride and her maid asked if there
were other young men who wished to win favours. Two jumped
to the floor, danced with the bride and her maid, and earned
the honour on the left arm. Dancing was carried on far into
the morning with the utmost vigour, each dance being begun
and ended by the partners saluting each other.*

At intervals the dancing ceased, and all seated themselves,
when bread and cheese and home-brewed ale and punch reeking
hot were served round. Punch flowed most freely during the
whole night, and, to keep up the supply of it, a few old men
established themselves commonly in the best room, or hut eiriy
and, if the party was large, the firlot was substituted for punch-
bowls, and there the patriarchs sat and brewed and pledged each

* UH nuzialiy chap, xviii. p. 170, De Gubernatus.

96 MARKUGE.

other's health, and with grasped hands again and again sworo
eternal friendship, and dealt out the inspiriting beverage in
large decanters to young women, who carried it to the barn to
the dancers, and who, every time they returned empty-handed,
reported the progress of the mirth. The old men would go and
satisfy themselves that the young folk were behaving in a manner
worthy of the occasion and their fathers. Under the influence
of punch and music and example they forgot their years, and
were back again to the days of youth. Each jumped to the
floor with a young maiden in her teens, and saluted her with a
kiss that made the kaibbers of the barn echo. "When all were
ready, they shouted to the fiddler to play up, and away they
sprang as if they were but " sweet ane and twenty," snapped
the fingers, and hooched

« TiU reef an' rafters a' did dirU."

The time for separating came. It was in vain the bride
retired in secret. No sooner was she missed than there was a
rush to the bridal chamber, which was burst open and filled in
an instant to perform the ceremony of beddan. After the bride
was in bed a bottle of whisky, with a quantity of bread and
cheese, was handed to her. She gave each a " dram " and a
piece of the bread and cheese. One of her stockings was then
given her, and it she threw over her left shoulder amongst the
onlookers. Strong and long was the contest for it, as the one
who remained possessor of it was the first of that company who
would be married. The guests then retired.

The one who fell asleep first was the first to die. " My ane's
awa noo," an aged woman was heard to say not long ago, with
the tears in her eyes, " an a myne weel he fell asleep first. A

speert at (another widow) gelm she mynt filk o' tliem fell

asleep first, bit she said she didna myne."* In other places it
was augured that the one who awoke first was the first to depart.

If the husband arose before the wife, he carried the pains and
sorrows of child-bearing.

The kirkin was usually attended by a considerable company ;
but time reduced the company to the bride's maids and the best

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 42.

MARRIAGE. 97

young man. The party never under any consideration took a
bye-path to church, however much shorter or more convenient
it might be than the ordinary '^ kirk road," nor did they enter
church till the service was well begun ; to have done otherwise
would have entailed misfortune. If two bridal parties were in
church at once, it was an endeavour which should get out first,
as the one that left last did not enjoy success and happiness.
The party was entertained to a feast by the newly-married pair.
Such feasts were at times held in " change houses," when a
good deal of drinking was carried on, much to the scandal of
decent folk. Kirk-sessions at times stepped forward to put a
stop to such practices. Thus in Cullen : —

(1786.) " It was observed by some members of session that a practice prevailed
in the parish of people's meeting together in the publick-houses upon the Lord's
Day for what they called kirking feasts, where they sat and drank and gave
offence to their Christian neighboors."

Early marriage rules among the fishing population. — Their
occupation calls for this. Much of its work, such as the gather-
ing of the bait, the preparing of it, the baiting of the fishing-
lines, the cleaning and curing of the fish, and the selling of them,
is done by women.

The mode of bringing about and arranging the marriage is
not uniform. Here is one mode. When a young man wishes to
marry, his father is told. The father goes to the parents of the
young maiden on whom his son has fixed his fancy, gives a
detail of what he is worth as to his worldly gear, and recounts
all his good qualities. If the offer is accepted, a night is fixed,
when the two meet along with their friends, and the final
arrangement is made. This meeting goes by the name of the
beukin nichty or the nicht o* the greeance.

On an evening shortly before the marriage day, or on the
evening before the marriage, the bride and bridegroom set
out in company, often hand in hand, to invite the guests.
The bridegroom carries a piece of chalk, and, if he finds the
door of any of his friends' houses shut, he makes a cross on it
with his chalk. This mark is understood as an invitation to the
marriage. A common form of words in giving the invitation

H

98 MAKKIAGE.

is: '^ Ye ken falit's adee the morn at twal o'clock. Come our,
an fess a' yir oose wi ye," or, ** Come ane, come athegeethir." *
The number of guests is usually large, ranging from forty to a
hundred or a hundred and twenty.

On the morning of the marriage day, the bride, after being
decked in bridal array, goes the round of her own friends in
company with her " best maid," and repeats her invitation to
such as she wishes to be of her party. The bridegroom, accom-
panied by his "best man," does the same, and repeats his invita-
tion to those he wishes to be of his party.

If the bride and bridegroom are of the same village, and if
the church is within convenient distance, the marriage ceremony
takes place in it. The bride with her party heads the procession
to and from the church. If the church is at too great a distance,
and if there is a schoolhouse or a public hall in the village, the
ceremony takes place in it. It is, however, often performed in
the house of the bride's father. During the time the guests are *
absent, the feast is spread, and by the time they return every-
thing is ready.

If the bride and bridegroom live in different villages, the two
companies commonly meet in some convenient house between
the two villages, and in it the marriage rite is performed. The
bride and her company continue their journey to the house of
the bridegroom's father, or to the bridegroom's house, where
the marria:^e feast is spread. In days gone by, in some of the
villages, the bride put a sixpence or a shilling into her stocking
or her shoe. Before entering church or the house in which the
marriage rite was to be celebrated the " best man " that led the
bride had to put down the heel of her shoe.

It was not an unusual thing for the bridegroom, on entering
the house in which he was to be married, to put down the heel
of his shoe.

In one, if not more, of the villages, when the marriage takes
place at the home of the bride, after the rite is concluded, the
whole of the marriage party makes the circuit of the village.

'*' Usi nuzialif p. 119. De Gnbematis.

MABBIAGE. 99

The bride is married in full travelling attire, and all the women
present are in the same costume. Special notice is taken of the
pcstjit^ and the success of the future life is divined from it. A
man with a white horse is deemed most propitious.

When a sailor is married, immediately on the conclusion of
the rite, the two yomigest sailor-apprentices in the harbour at
the time march into* the room carrying the Union Jack. The
bride is completely wrapped in it along with the youngest
apprentice, who has the privilege of kissing her under the flag.

When the bride is entering her ftiture home, two of her
female friends meet her at the door, the one bearing a towel or
napkin, and the other a dish filled with various kinds of bread.
The towel or napkin is spread over her head, and the bread is
then poured over her. It is gathered up by the children who
have collected round the door. In former times the bride was
then led up to the hearth, and, after the fire had been scattered,
the tongs was put into her hand, and she made it up.

It is usual, at least among the well-to-do fishermen, for the
bride to bring to her new home a chest of drawers, a iis^, a
feather bed, four pairs of white blankets, two pairs of barred,
two bolsters, four pillows, sheets, one dozen towels, a table-cloth,
all the hardware, cogs, tubs, and a sheelin coug.

The young maiden begins commonly at an early age to collect
feathers for her bed and pillows, and her admirers or her
affianced lend help by shooting wildfowl for her. Out of her
first earnings is bought a kist^ and she goes on adding one thing
to another till her providan is complete.

The husband's part is to provide the chairs, tables, &c., and
all the fishing gear.

The bride's plinisan is taken home with as much show as
possible, and in some villages always much aft;er the same
fashion. There are two carts, however poor it is. In the one
cart are placed, and in the following order, the chest of drawers,
over it the bed, over it the blankets, and on the top of all the
bolsters and pillows. In the other cart are carried the kist, tubs,
&c. The carts are followed by a train of women, each carrying
something that cannot be put on the carts without the danger

h2

100 MARRIAGE.

of being broken, as a looking-glass, a picture, a chimney orna-
ment.*

In Crovie, in Banffshire, the marriage very often takes place
on Saturday. During the week of the marriage the bridegroom
does not go to sea. The bride's plinisan is taken home on
Thursday. It is counted unlucky to take it home on Friday.
In one case the carter who was to take the plinisan from
Gardenston to Crovie could not do so on Thursday, but on
Friday. Such a thing could not be allowed, and afl:er nightfall
it was put into a boat and taken across the bay. One part of it
is always a stool.

The bridegroom is not allowed to enter the house during the
time of the feast. His turn is aft;er all the guests have been
served.

In Rosehearty marriages were commonly held on Thursday,
and the bride's plinisan was .taken home on Wednesday. The
bed was made up on that day, and on that night the bride-
groom and his two best men slept on it. The bridal bed was
made up by a young maiden— the bride's sister, if she had one ;
if not, by her nearest-of-kin. Sometimes a sixpence was nailed
to the back of the bun bed.

In Gardenston the bridal bed was made up by a woman giving
suck, '^ having milk in her breasts," under the belief that if any
other woman did so there would be no family. In Gardenston
at the beddan the room was filled with the unmarried. The
bride went to bed first. The bridegroom drew off his stocking
and threw it among the bystanders. The one who caught it
would be the next to enter the married state.

In Boddam the bride returned to her father's house, and
passed the night there, and next day went back to her own
house.

Kind friends commonly make presents. In one village, the
day after the marriage, the wives or mothers of those who sail
in the boat with the bridegroom present themselves, each with
a basin filled with oatmeal.

* UH nnziali, pp. 113—115. De Gubematis.

BfABRUGE. 101

In others of the villages, when the bride is taken to another
village, her female friends and well-wishers make their appear-
ance at her home on the day after the marriage, carrying their
creels, which contain the little gifts they are to present. These
gifts consist of dried fish, meal, pieces of stoneware, — whatever
is needed for household use. The bride entertains them to tea,
and tradition has it, at times, to a cup more cheering than tea,
and that the wives, before separating, have taken to the green
to dance when music could be got

CHAPTER XVIIL

PLAGE BHTMES.

HE name of Thomas the Rhymer even yet is well-
known in the North, and his sayings are spoken of
with much deference by many of the old folks.
These sayings have now lost their virtue. They
were to stand true only till " the saut cam abeen the mehl,"
that is, till the price of salt exceeded that of meal. This was
the case at the time a heavy tax was levied on salt. So high
was the price of salt that the poor could not afford it; and
those living on the sea-coast were in the habit of using sea-water
in the boiling of potatoes, and such other articles of food. Hence
the proverb, " to set one up wi' saut."

Many of the rhymes on places are attributed to Thomas the
Rhymer.

Aikeybrae is a small hill in the parish of Deer. On it there
was, at no very distant period, a number of stones, which bore
the name of Cummin's Craigs, near which one of the Cumyns,
Earl of Buchan, was, according to tradition, thrown from his
horse, and killed. He called Thomas the Rhymer Thomas the
Liar. Thomas, upon this, uttered the doom of his slanderer in
the following words: —

" Tho' Thomas the Lyar thou callest me,
A sooth tale I shall tell to thee:
By Aikey-side
Thy horse shall ride,
He shall stmnble, and thon shalt fa';
Thy neck-bone shall brack in twa,
And dogs shall thy banes gnaw,
And, mangre all thy kin and thee,
Thy own belt thy beir shall be."

The site of the stones is now believed to be occupied by a
quarry.

PLAGE RHYMES. 103

The following is the tradition about the lands of Auchmedden
in Aberdour. Thomas the Rhymer's prediction was that —

" As long's there's an eagle in Pennan,
There will be a Baird in Auchmedden."

For long a pair of eagles built their nest in the cliffs near the
village of Pennan, and the Bairds protected them with tlie
greatest care, and fed them by placing daily on a ledge of rock
near their eirie a quantity of food. William Baird joined Prince
Charlie, and was an officer of his bodyguard at CuUoden. He
continued in hiding for some years, and afterwards took up his
abode at Echt House, where he died in 1777. Auchmedden
was not confiscated, but Mr. Baird was obliged to sell it in 1750
to relieve himself of the debt he had contracted to support the
cause of the Stuarts ; it was bought by the Earl of Aberdeen.
At that time the eagles left their home. Lord Haddo, eldest son
of the Earl of Aberdeen, married Christian Baird of Newbyth.
The eagles returned, and continued to build their nest till the
estate passed from the Aberdeen family to the Honourable Wil-
liam Gordon. Again the birds disappeared. When the estate
came into the hands of Robert Baird, about the year 1855, one
eagle took up its abode in the Pennan Kocks, but it soon after
disappeared.

" The water o' Awn (Avon) rins sae clear,
It wud deceive a man o' a hnndred year."

The river Avon flows in a strong stream, clear as crystal, from
Loch Avon, a lonely loch hemmed in by Cairngorm, Ben Mac-
dhui, and Benamain, in the top of Banffshire. It flows past
Inchrory, Tomintoul, and falls into the Spey. During its whole
course it is remarkable for the clearness of its water. Many
cases of drowning are said to have happened arising from the
ignorance of those who attempted to ford it at places where the
water is much deeper than it looks, owing to its clearness.

Banff forms the subject of various proverbs. One in use in
the North is : —

" Gang t' Banff
An buff ben-leather."

104 PLACE RHYMES.

Another is : —

" Gang t' Banff
An bottle skate."

The one in use in the West of Scotland is : —

" Gang t' Banff and bettle [or bittle] beans."

In Lothian the saying is : —

" Gang t* Banff and bind bickers."

" Gae to Banff
An buy bend-leather."

" Banff it is a boroughs toon,
A kirk withoot a steeple,
A midden o' dirt at ilky door,
A very unceevil people."

Whatever may have been the truth of this saying at one time,
it has lost its sting now. Its church has a handsome steeple.
The town is a model of cleanness. Another version puts the
assertion in the last line in another light, and in the true
light: —

** Banff it is a boroughs toon,
A kirk withoot a steeple,
A bonnie lass at ilky door,
And fine ceevil people."

" Gang t' Birse
An bottle skate."

In parts of Banffshire this is spoken to one who is importunate
in asking, to get rid of him.

" Boyne fouck; Buchan bodies;
Strila lairds; barfit ladies."

This saying, no doubt, has come from the Boyne, and shows
in what estimation the " fouck " of the Boyne held their neigh-
bours.

<< Buck, Belrinnes,
Tap o* Noth, an Bennochie,
Is four laun marks fae the sea."

This is a saying applicable to the Moray Firth.

PLAGE BHTMES. 105

The rhyme about the Cabrach, attributed in the district to
Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon, is : —

" I hae a kintra caa'd the Cabracb,
The folk's dabrach,
The water's Bushter,
An the corn's trushter."

The Kushter, or Royster, is a stream that flows about a mile
north of the church, having its source in the heights to the
westward.

*^ Caimmuir an Caumbyke,
Bnmblin Steens and Stoney Dykes.
Atween the centre an the pole
Great Csesar lies intil a hole."

On Cairnmuir and Cairnbyke, which are in the parish of
Pitsligo, were at one time several tumuli. Who Caesar was
cannot be divined.

" Caul Camonsie stans on a hill,
And mony a fremit ane gangs theretil."

Carnousie is a fine estate with a neat old-fashioned mansion,
situated on a height above the Deveron, in the parish of Forglen.
It has been thought that the words of the last line have reference
to the frequent change of owners.

" A' the wives o' CJorncaim
Drilling np their ham yam;
They hae com, they hae kye,
They hae webs o' claith forbye."

Corncairn is a district in Banffshire, not far from the Knock.
The rhyme praises the thrift of its goodwives.
The rhyme about the parish of Cruden is : —

" Cmsh-da^e the field and parish then were styled,
Tho' time and clever tongues the name hath spoiled."

^* Culblean was burnt, and Gromar harriet,
And dowie's the day John Tam was marriet."

In explanation of these lines tradition has the following to say.
During the wars of Montrose and Dundee, the district of
Strathdee was visited by bands of MacGregors from Rannoch,

106 PLACE RHT1UE8.

and Grants and Macintoshes firom Badenoch, to rednce to order
the disaffected. After a time they themselves took to evil ways,
and plundered wherever they conld. The marriage of one of the
Cromar men was to be celebrated with great pomp, and the
indwellers were invited to a man. This was known to the free-
hooters, and a foray on a grand scale was planned. On the
marriage day, when the coontry was left defenceless, they swept
over the district, carried off the cattle and flocks of the inhabitants,
and burnt several of their dwellings. This aroused the vengeance
of the people, and they arose to drive their enemies from their
hiding-places. The only effectual way of doing this was by
setting fire to the forest of Culblean.

Another tradition says that it was Mackay, after the battle of
Killiecrankie, that set fire to the forest, in forcing the Pass of
Ballater, and at the same time wasted the Strath of Dee with
fire and sword, and levied a contribution on the day John Tom
was married — an event set forth in the lines : —

•* Wo to the day John Tom was married,
Culblean was bnmed, and Cromar was harried."

CuUen, in Banffshire, seems to have stood low in public
opinion : —

" Aiberdeen 'ill be a green
An Banff a borrows toon, .
An Torra 'ill be a restin place,
As men walk up and doon;
Bit Cnllen 'ill remain the same,
A peer fool fisher toon."

" Fin the ween cams aff o' Cullycan
It's naither gude for baist nor man."

This is a weather-saw current in Macduff. Cullycan is a
headland to the east of the borough. The saw embodies the evil
effects of the east winds.

** Daach, Sanchin, an Keithock Mill,
O' Tam o' Rivven owned the will;
Balveny, Cnlts, and Clunymoire,
Anchindroin, an many more."

" Tam o' Eivven " was Thomas Gordon of Euthven, who fell
fighting against the Abbot of Grange. Tradition says that

PLACE RHTMES. 107

Thomas Gordon, of Ruthveii, laid claim to certain lands that
belonged to the Abbey of Grange, on the Balloch Hill.
The Abbot of Grange was not a man to stoop to give up
what belonged to the Church, and he made ready to uphold
his claim in the only way open to him — by arms. Tam,
with his followers, met the brave Abbot and his men on the
north shoulder of the Little Balloch. Both Tam and the Abbot
were killed. The spot where the Abbot fell is called the Monk's
Cairn, and is about 300 yards north-east of the top of the hill.
At the bottom of the hill is a hollow called the Gordon's How,
to which Tam was carried wounded to death. Here, beside a
spring of water, the Gordon died. The words of the rhyme show
the wide extent of Tam o' Eiwen's domains.

« When Dee and Don shall rin in one,
And Tweed shall rin in Tay,
The bonnie water of Urie
Shall bear the Bass away."

The Bass is a pretty artificial mound, perhaps a Hill of Justice,
on the banks of the Urie, near Inverurie.

When a church was in the act of building at Deer, owing to
some cause no one was wise enough to account for, no progress
could be made. At last a voice was heard crying : —

** It is not here, it is not here,
That ye're to big the kirk o* Deer,
Bnt on the tap o' Tillery,
Where many a corpse shall after lie."

" A church accordingly was built on a knoll or small mount,
embraced by a semicircular bend of the Ugie, and, as was
customary, a piece of ground was set apart for a burial-place, so
that the weird is fully verified in the great numbers of interments
that have taken place during the lapse of centuries in a wide and
populous parish."

" Dipple, Dindurcas,
Dandilieth, and Dcvey (Delvey),
Is the f oar bonniest haughs
On the banks o' the Spey."

" A mile o* Don 's worth twa o* Dee,
Except for salmon, stone, and tree."

s ■

108 PLAGE RHTMES.

The following extract from ^' View of the Diocese of Aberdeen "
explains this rhyme. " The banks of the Dee consist of a thin,
dry soil, abounding with wood and stone, and overgrown frequently
with heath ; whereas those of Don consist of soil more deep and
fat, affording good corn-fields. Some even go so far as to affirm
that not only the corn, but also the men and beasts are taller
and plumper on Don than on Dee."

The Old Bridge of Don — the Brig o' Balgownie — was built
five centuries and a half ago. Byron refers to it in ^^ Don
Juan " in the following lines : —

*< As Anld Langsjne brings Scotland, one and all,
Scotch plaids, Scotch swords, the blue hills, and clear streams,
The Dee, the Don, Balgownie's Brig's black wall.
All my boy feelings, all my gentler dreams."

He adds this note — " The Brig of Don, near the Auld town of
Aberdeen, with its one arch and its black, deep, salmon-stream
below, is in my memory as yesterday. I still remember, though
perhaps I may misquote the awful proverb which made me to
pause to cross it, and yet lean over it with childish delight, being
an only son, at least by the mother side. The saying, as recol'
lected by me, was this, but I have never heard nor seen it since
I was nine years of age : —

" Brig o' Balgownie, black's yer wa' ;
Wi' a wife's ac son, and a meer's ae foal,

Doon ye shall fa'."

Another version of the first line is :—

" Brig o' Balgownie tho' wicht be your wa',"

The second line has another version : —

*' Wi' a mither's ae son, and a mare's ae foal."

.^■^ " Caul may the ween blaw

Aboot the yits o' Eden."

This saying relates to the old castle of Eden, a lonely keep in
ruins, not far from the present mansion on the banks of the
Deveron. The tradition is that a vassal of the laird of Eden
had incurred his lord's displeasure ; he was condemned to die,

PLACE RHYMES. 109

and no entreaty of liis wife was able to soften the laird's heart.
When entreaty failed she uttered curses, and one of them was
the words given above.

According to the following Fochabers must have enjoyed an
unenviable notorieiy : —

" Aw sing a sang, aw ming a mang,
A cyarliu an a kid;
The drnnkon wives of Fochabers
Is a* rinnin wid."

Of Fraserburgh, now the great centre of the herring fishing
on the north-east coast, the rhyme is : —

" Aberdeen will be a green,
An Banff a borough's toon,
But Fraserbroch 'ill be a broch
When a' the brochs is deen."

There are two versions of a " prophecy " about Fyvie Castle : —

« Fyvyns riggs and towers
Hapless shall your mesdames be.
When ye shall hae within your methes,
From harryit kirk's land, stanes three—
Ane in Preston's tower,
Ane in my lady's bower.
And ane below the water-yett.
And it ye shall never get."

Fyvie, Fyvie, thou'se never thrive
As lang's there's in thee stanes three:
There's ane intill the highest tower,
There's ane intill the ladye's bower.
There's ane aneth the water-yett,
And thir three" stanes ye'se never get."

The tradition is as follows : The walls of Fyvie Castle stood
wall-wide for seven years and a day waiting for the arrival of
Thomas the Rhymer. At last he appeared before the walls, and
a violent storm of wind and rain burst over the place ; round
the spot where Thomas stood, however, there was a dead calm as
he spoke the fate of the castle. The tradition goes on to say that
two of the stones have been found, but the one below the ^* water-
yett," that is, the gate leading to the Ythan, has as yet baffled
search.

110 PLACE RHYMES.

" If evyr maydenis malysono
Dyd licht upon drye lande,
Let nocht beo fnnde in Forvye's glebys,
Bot thystl, bente^ and sande."

Furvie, or Porvie, was at one time a separate parish ; it now
forms part of the parish of Slains. Much, if not most of it, is
now covered with sand. Tradition says that the proprietor to
whom the parish belonged left three daughters as heirs of his
fair lands; they were however bereft of their property, and
thrown houseless on the world. On leaving their home they
uttered the curse contained in the foregoing words. In course
of no long time a storm, which lasted nine days, burst over the
district, and turned the parish of Porvie into a desert of sand ;
this calamiiy is said to have fallen on the place about 1688.

" Schoudy,
Poudy,

A pair o' new sheen,
Up the Gallowgate, doon the Green."

Both the Gallowgate and the Green are in Aberdeen.

« The Grole o' the Gehrie (Garioch),
The bowmen o* Mar:
Upon the Hill o* Benochie
The Grole wan the war."

This seems to refer to some skirmish between the Marmen and
the Garioch men that was fought out on Bennochie. Tradition
has no voice in it.

" Fin a dyke gangs roon the Bog o* Gicht,
The Gordon's pride is at its hicht."

Much of what now forms the beautiful policies of Gordon Castlo
was the " Bog of Gight," and the common saying in years not
very long gone past was, that the last Dul^e of Gordon died
about the time the " Bog " was wholly inclosed.

** Twa men sat down on Ythan brae,

The ane did to the tither say,
< An what sic men may the Gordons of Gight hae been ? ' "

The castle and the estate of Gight, in the parish of Pyvie, came
about the year 1479 into the possession of William Gordon,

PLACE BHYMES. Ill

third son of the second Earl of Huntly, by a sister of the Earl of
ErroU. He was killed at the battle of Flodden in 1513.

" When the heron leaves the tree
The laird o' Gight shall landless be."

On the 12th May, 1785, Catherine Gordon of Gight married
the Honourable John Byron. The estate was sold soon after the
marriage. Tradition says that about the time of the marriage
the falcons, which had built their nest for many a year in a fine
tree near the castle, left and took up their abode in the woods
of Haddo House.

Another prophecy was: —

** At Gight three men a yiolent death shall dee,
And after that the land shall lie in lea."

In the year 1791 Lord Haddo fell from his horse on the
" Green of Gight," and was killed. Some years after a servant
on the home farm met a violent death. The third violent death
took place not many years ago. The home farm was to be turned
into lea. Part of the house had to be pulled down.. One of the
men engaged in this work remarked that the prophecy had not
come to pass. Shortly after, part of the wall fell upon him, and
crushed him to death.

" The guile, the Gordon, an the hiddie-craw
Is the three worst things that Moray ever saw."

" The guile " is the marigold {Chrysanthemum segetum)^ only
too plentiful in some of the lighter sandy soils of Morayshire,
and hinders in no small degree the crops. Pennant suggests
that " the Gordon " may refer to the plundering expeditions of
Lord Lewis Gordon, a son of the Marquis of Huntly, and the
companion of Montrose in his wars.

" A misty May and a dropping June
Brings the bonny land of Moray aboon."

Much of Morayshire is of a sandy nature, and the crops in
May and June require a good deal of moisture, or else they become
stunted.

112 PLAGE RHTMES.

Inverugie, in the parish of St. Fergus, was the seat of the
Earl Marischal. Thomas the Rhymer had his saying against
the family, which he uttered from a stone which stood near the
castle : —

" Invenigie by the sea,
Lordless shall thy land be;
And underneath thy hearth- stane
The tod shall bring her birds hame."

Concerning the stone the prophecy is : —

" As lang's this stane stands on this craft
The name of Keith shall be alaft;
But when this stane begins t' fa'
The name of Keith shall wear awa'."

The stone was removed in 1763, and built into the church of
St. Fergus, which was then in course of erection.

In 1715 the property of the Earl Marischal was attainted.
The estate of St. Fergus was then bought from the Crown by
the York Buildings Company. The trustees of this Company
sold it in 1761 to George, Earl Marischal, son of the attainted
earl. It was bought in 1764, the year after the stone was
removed, by Lord Pitfour, one of the senators of the College of
Justice, and it remains in the possession of that family.

" Fae Kilbimie t' the sea
Ye may stap fae tree till tree."

Kilbimie is not far from the Ord, a few miles to the west of
Banff. The rhyme indicates a very different state of matters
in by-gone days from what now exists. The iract of land at
present between Kilbirnie and the sea is all under the plough,
and few trees are growing to adorn the landscape.

** He (or she) is like the dogs o' Keith, he*s aye on hoch."

This saying is applied to one who is much given to going
about in an idle way.

** Mama shall be claid in reed
An Mormond hill rin doon wi' bleed,
An a' the peace that evcr'll be
'III be atween Mormond an the sea."

Mama lies in the parish of Strichen ; and Mormond, partly in
Strichen, and partly in Fraserburgh and Eathen.

PLACE RHYMES. 113

" The fonr great landmarks on the sea
Is Monnt Mar, Lochnagar, Clochnaben, and Bennochie."

These are all hills in Aberdeenshire, and two of them are well
known in poetry.

There is a ^shorter version of this saw which contains the
names of but two hills. " The chief hill here (in Garioch) is that
of Bennochie. It has seven heads, the chief of which, being a
round peak, is called The Top ; which, being seen afar off, and
also affording a wide prospect to one who stands upon it, has
given occasion to the name ; for Bin-na-chie signifies The Hill
of Light (though others expound it as The Hill of the Pap,
because of the resemblance The Top bears to a nipple): and
accordingly there is an old verse which says: —

" There are two landmarks off the sea,
Oochnabin and Bennochie."

" Pit fae ye, Pitfodels,
There's men i' the Meams."

It is difficult to tell what is the meaning of those words.

« The Pot o' Pittentyoul,
Fahr the deel gya the youl.'*

The " Pot o' Pittentyoul " is a small but romantic rook pool
in a little stream called the " Burn o' the Biggins," which flows
past the village of Newmills of Keith. On the edge of the pool
are some hollows worn away by the water and the small stones
and sand carried down by the stream. These hollows, to a
lively imagination, have the shape of a seat, and the story is,
that the devil at some far-back time sat down on the edge of the
pool, and left his mark.

** Fin the rumble comes fae Pittendrum,
The ill weather's a' t' cum;
Fin the rumble comes fae Aberdour,
The ill weather's a' our."

This is a saw respecting the weather sometimes heard repeated
in the parish of Pitsligo. Pittendrum lies on the east side of the
parish, and, when a storm is approaching from the east, the swell

I

114 PLACE RHYMES.

of the sea, which comes before the storm bursts, breaks on the
beach not far from Pittendrum. Hence the noise. Aberdour lies
to the west of the parish.

Eattrayhead is a ridge of rocks running out into the sea on
the coast of the parish of Crimond ; it is dangerous to shipping,
and has seen many a wreck. Its safeguard has been put into
the following lines : —

" Keep Mormond Hill a handspike high,
And Rattray Brigs y'ill not come nigh."

« The road t' the Kirk o' Rivven (Ruthven),
Fahr gangs mair dead nor liyin."

Ruthven, in Cairnie, had once a church, and the churchyard
is still in existence.

*' At two fall times, and three half times,
Or threescore years and ten,
The ravens shall sit on the stanes o' St. Brandon
And drink o' the blood o' the slain."

The stones of St. Brandon, the patron saint of Banff, stood on
a field about a mile to the west of Banff. Tradition has it that a
battle between the Scots and the Danes was fought on this
field. Near the same place is the Brandon How (pronounced
locally Brangin How), where long ago St. Brandon's Fair was
held; this fair is now held in Banff. Bain, called "the Brangin
sob," is looked for about this time.

In the parish of Cruden, not far from the Hawklaw, there is
a well dedicated to St. Olaus, whose virtues are set forth in the
words : —

" St. Olav's well, low by the sea.
Where pest nor plagne shall never be.

Or,

« The Brig o' Turra
'S half-wye atween Aberdeen and Murra.'*

« The Brig o' Turray
'S half-way between Aberdeen and Elgin in Murray."

Turriff was noted for a skirmish between the Royalists and
Covenanters.

" This infall (known afterwards commonly by the name of

PLACE RHYMES. 115

'the Trott o' Turra,' in derisione) fell out May fourteenth, 1639,
earlye in the morning." " Weary fa' the Trott o' Turra" was
for long on the lips of the folk as a kind of proverb.

" Little Ugie said to Muckle Ugie

* Where shall we twa meet ? *
* Doon in the Hanghs of Bora
When a' man is asleep/ "

Another version of the first line is,

« Ugie said t' Ugie."

The two streams that form the Ugie meet in the parish of
Longside, on the Haughs of Rora.

Druidical Circles.

"Druidical Circles" and monoliths were looked upon with
awe; and there were few that would have dared to remove
them. Here is a tradition of a monolith on the farm of Achor-
rachin in Glenlivet. The farmer was building a steading, and
took the stone as a lintel to a byre-door. Disease fell upon
the cattle, and most unearthly noises were heard during night
all round the steading. There was no peace for man or beast.
By the advice of a friend the stone was taken from the wall, and
thrown into the river that ran past the farm. Still there was
no peace. ^Che stone was at last put into its old place in the
middle of a field. Things then returned to their usual course.
The stone stands to the present day in the middle of the field,
and in some of its crevices were seen, not many years ago, small
pieces of mortar.

At Killishmont, near Keith, Banffshire, was a piece of ground
called "the Helliman Rig." It lay on the top of a rising
ground, and commanded a very wide A^ew of the country,
stretching for many miles over the hills of Banfi^ and Moray.
In a part of it the rock — a kind of slate — came to the surface.
In the rock were cut out nine cups in three rows. Tradition has
it that a tenant long ago began to cultivate it. No sooner had
the plough touched it than one of the oxen fell down dead. It
is not very many years since it was brought under cultivation.

I 2

116 PLACE RHYMES.

Unfortunately the piece of the rock containing the cups was
broken and lost.

Such a piece of land was at times called the ^^ Guidmahn's
Craft." The matter of dedicating a piece of land to the devil
engaged the attention of the Church.

" Att Botarie, 25"» November, 1640— The said day, compeired William Seif-
yright and Oeorge Stronach, in Glas, and being accascd of sorcerie, in 'alloting
and gining over some laDd to the old goodman (as they call it),denyed the same ;
and, becaus it vas so alledgit, they promised to manure said land. The brethren,
taking the mater to their considerationn, continowed their censure till the per-
formance of this their promis."

Sir William Gk)rdon, of Lesmore, on an occasion of a visita-
tion of the parish of Rhynie (" 13th Augusti, 1651 "),

" being asked whither or no ther was any land in that parisch that was giuen
away (as is commonly said) to the goodman, and used not to be laboured ;
answered, it was reported to him that ther [was] some of that in his owne maines,
hot that he had a mynd, be the assistance of God, to cause labour the samen ;
quherupon he was commended for his ingenuitie in declareing it, and exhorted
to take pames shortly to hane it laboured." *

Caves.

It is told of many of the caves along the sea-coast that bag-
pipers had entered them and walked along them playing, some-
times for a short distance and sometimes for miles, according to
the length of each cave, till they came below this and the next
farm-kitchen, and this and the next rising ground, but that by
some spell on them they could never return, and that at times
they might still be heard discoursing music at the spots at which
their progress inland underground was stopped.

The same belief was entertained of many of the caves inland.

* ExtracU from the Prethytcry Book of Strathhogie, pp. 71, 208, 209.
Spalding Club. Cf. Henderson, p. 278.

CHAPTER XIX.

PLACE AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS.

Aberdeen.

N the ballad of ' The Battle of Harlaw,' the burgh of
Aberdeen is styled " brave ": —

" The Provost of brave Aberdeen,

With trumpets and with tuck of dmm,
Came shortly in their armonr sheen."

In the ballad of the ^ Duke of Gordon's Three Daughters,'
Aberdeen is characterised as " bonnie ": —

** The Dnke of Gordon has three daughters,
Elizabeth, Margaret, and Jane;
They wad na stay in bonnie Castle Gordon,
But they wad go to bonnie Aberdeen."

Drum.

The laird of Drum and his brother laird of Lawrieston are

mentioned in the ballad of ^ The Ballad of Harlaw ' in this

way; —

** The strong undoubted laird of Dmm,
The stalwart laird of Lawrieston,
With ilk their forces all and some.

Duff.

DuflP is the family name of the Earl of Fife. The family has
gone on for several generations, adding, from a beginning not
at all large, land to land, so that the estates now bulk largely in
the shires of Banff, Aberdeen, and Moray. Hence, probably,
has arisen tba prpyerb " DufFs luck."

1 18 PLACE AND FAMILT CHARACTERISTICS.

Fraser.

Thomas the Rhjoner has delivered himself regarding the
family of Saltoun. There are several versions of the "pro-
phecy ": —

" Qahen there's ne'er a cock o* the North,
Y'll find a Firzell in Philorth.

Another form is : —

" While a cock craws i' the North,
There'U be a Fraser at Philorth."

A third form, with two additional lines, not of a flattering
nature, may still be heard in the district : —

" As lang as there is a cock o' the North,
There'll be a Fraser in Fhilorth.
There'll be ane t' win an twa t' spen'
Till the warl come till an en'."

The Frasers' characteristic was " bauld," and Lord Saltoun,
in the ballad of ^ The Battle of Harlaw,' is called " worthy
Lord Saltoun."

The Gk)RD0NS.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Gordons
had great power in the North. Their possessions were very large.
Much that was done in the North was done by them. Hence
arose the proverb, " The Gordons hae the guidin o't"

The Gt)rdons are, by the ballad-writers, characterised as
" gay."

" Fonr-and-twenty nobles sit in the king's ha',
Bonnie Glenlogie is the flower amang them a'.

In came Lad j Jane, skipping on the floor.

And she has 'chosen Glenlogie 'mong a' that was there.

She tamed to his footman, and thns she did say —
* O what is his name and where does he stay? '

' His name is Glenlogie, when he is from home,
He is of the gay Gordons ; his name it is John.'

PLACE AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS. 119

* Glenlogie, Glenlogie, an you will proye kind,
My love is laid on you; I am telling my mind.'

He turned about lightly, as the Gordons does a' ;

* I thank you, Lady Jean ; my love's promised awa'."

" The Battle of Otterburn " says :~

" It fell about the Lammas tide
When muirmen win their hay,
That the doughty Earl of Douglas rade
Into England to fetch a prey.

And he has ta*en the Lindsay light,
With them the Gordons gay.

The Gordons gay in English blude
They wat their hose and shoon."

Another version of the fest words is : —

" The Gordons guid in English bluid
Did dip their hose and shbon."

During the reign of James II. several rebellions broke out
in the North. Alexander de Seton, first Earl of Huntly, was
sent by the King to bring the rebel chiefs to order. He defeated
the Earl of Crawford at Brechin in 1542, but he was not long
after defeated by the Earl of Moray at a place called the Bog of
Dunkinty. Hume of Godscroft, in his ^ History of the House of
Douglas,' gives the following account of Huntly's disaster : —
" Huntly had the name of the victory (at Brechin), yet could
not march forward to the King as he intended, and that partly
because of his great losse of his men, partly for that he was
advertised that Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray, had invaded
his lands, and burnt the Piele of Strathbogie, Therefore he
returned speedily to his own country, which gave Crawford
leisure and occasion to pour out his wrath against them who had
so treacherously forsaken them by burning and wasting their
lands. Huntly being returned to the North, not only recom-
pensed the damage done to him by the Earl of Murray, but also
compelled him out of his whole bounds of Murray ; yet it was
not done witliout conflict and mutual harm ; for Huntly, coming
to Elgin in Murray, found it divided — the one half standing for
him, the other half (and almost the other side of the street)

1 20 PLACE AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS.

standing for the Earl of Murray, wherefore he burnt the half
which was for Murray ; and hereupon rose the proverb,

* Halfe done as Elgin was burnt/

While he was there Murray assembled his power, which, con-
sisting mostly of footmen, he sate down upon a hill some two or
three miles off, called the Drum of Pluscardine, which was
inaccessible to the horsemen. Huntly furrowed his lands, to
draw him from the hill, or at least to be revenged of him that
way, thinking he durst not come into the plain fields, and not
thinking it safe to assault him in a place of such disadvantage.
But Murray, seeing Huntly's men so scattered, came out of his 4
strength, and falling upon four or five thousand horsemen,
drave them into a bogue, called the Bogue of Dunkintie, in the
bounds of Pittendriech, full of quagmires, so deepe that a speere
may be thrust into them and not find the bottom. In this bogue
many were drowned, the rest slain, few or none of that com-
pany escaping. There are yet (1646) to be scene swords, Steele
caps, and such other things, which are found now and then by
the country people who live about it. They made this round
rhyme of it afterwards : —

* Where left thou thy men, thou Gordon so gay ? '

* In the Bogue of Dunkintie, mowing the hay.' "

Besides the characteristic of '^ gay," which belonged to the
Gordons, that of " gude " is put to the credit of their clan. The
laird of Auchindoun, in the ballad of ^ The Battle of Ben-
rinnes,' is alluded to thus: —

" Gude Auchindoun was slain himseP
Wi' seven mair in batell."

Gordon Castle, the mansion of the Dukes of Gordon, and now
of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, on the bank of the Spey,
near Fochabers, used to be called by the folk " bonnie Castle
Gordon." It is so styled in the ballad of ' The Duke of Gordon's
Three Daughters ' : —

" O, if I were at the glens o* Foudlen,
Where hunting I hae been;
I could find the way to bonnie Castle Gordon)
Without either stockings or shoon."

place and family characteristics. 121

Hay.

There stands in front of Slains Castle a stone, which has been
preserved with the utmost care by the family of Erroll, and of
which the following is the tradition. It is the stone on which
the great hero of the battle of Luncarty seated himself after
putting the enemy to rout. " Yielding to the quick respiration
of a wearied man, he gave utterance to the sound, ' Hech,
hey I ' which, softened into Hai/, is said to have acquired for
him the name^ and thus originated the name of the family."
The King on heai'ing the exclamation said : —

" Hech, heigh, say ye,
And Hay shall ye be."

Tlie Hays are styled " the handsome." The character given
to the Earl of Erroll in the ballad of ' The Battle of Benrinnes '
is "noble" and "gude":-

" The first man in conncil spak,
Gade Errol, it was he."

Earl of Mar.
The Earl of Mar is spoken of in the ballad of < The Battle of
Harlaw ' in this way: —

" To hinder this prond enterprise

The stout and mighty Earl of Mar,
With all his men in arms did arise,

Even frae Cargarf to Craigievar.
And thas the martial Earl of Mar

Marched with his men in right array."

Ogilvie.

Of Lord Ogilvie the ballad of ' The Battle of Harlaw ' speaks
thus: —

" With him the brave Lord Ogilvy,
Of Angus Sheriff-Principal.''

Strathbogie.

Strathbogie gets the epithet of " fair " in the ballad of ' The
Battle of Harlaw ' : —

" And then through fair Strathbogie lands
His purpose was for to pursue."

122 PLACE AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS.

And the same in the ballad of ^ The Battle of Benrinnes ' : —

** Then Hnntlie, to preTcnt that peril,
He sent right hastilie,
Unto the noble Earl of Errol,
Besonght him for sapplie.
* Sae lang*s a man will stand bj me,
Shall Hnntlie hae support,
For gin he lose fair Strathbogie,
The Slaines will come to hnrt' "

• Towib-Barclay.

" Tollie Barclay of the glen,
Happy to the maids bnt never to the men.*'

This weird was said to follow the death of the heir male, who
seldom survived his father, and so strong a hold had this in the
belief of the people that it was by them assigned as the reason
for the sale of the estate in 1753.

CHAPTER XX.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

SECTION L — FOUR-FOOTED BEASTS.

The Mole.

MOLE burrowing near the foundation of a dwelling-
house was looked upon as an indication that the in-
dwellers were within a short time to change their
abode. If the burrowing was carried round the
whole house, or a considerable part of it, the death of some one
of the inmates was looked upon as not far distant *

If one take a mole and rub it between the hands till it dies,
the power of healing a woman's festered breast lies ever after in
the hands. All that has to be done is to rub the breast between
the hands.

When one is laid in the grave, he is said at times " to be
heakenin the moles."t

The Cat.

The cat bore a bad character in every respect, t

Cais were believed to have a strong propensiiy to suck the
breath of a sleeping baby. Such an act was regarded as very
dangerous, and was believed to end in death if it was continued
for any length of time. §

A cat dying in the house was a warning of the death of one
of the indwellers.

Few cared to shoot a cat, as it was believed that he who was
foolhardy enough to do so would, within a short time, meet with
disaster of some kind, or prove unfortunate in his ordinary
work for a time. It is said in story that one, who was unwise

* I'aune populaire de la I^avce, vol. i. p. 14 (5). f -^^w^. p. H (16).

{ Cf . Ralston's Sorifft of the Russian Peoplcy p. 405.

§ Cf. Henderson, p. 116, F, L, Record^ vol. i. p. 25 (88), vol. ii. p. 205, and
Choice NoteSy p. 188.

124 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPBliSTITIONS.

enough to use his gun against a cat, shortly afterwards nearly
cut off his fingers with a sickle ; and that this other one, who
was fond of poaching, for weeks after shooting a cat, did not see
a single hare, and had not a chance of hitting a single bird.

When a family had to remove from one house to another, the
cat was always taken. To have left it was deemed unlucky. It was
taken for another reason — as a protection against disease. Before
a member of the family entered the new abode the cat was thrown
into it. If a curse or disease had been left on the house, the cat
became the victim and died, to the saving of the family's lives.

If a cow or other domestic animal was seized with disease, one
mode of cure was to twist a rope of straw (a raip) the contrary
way, join the two ends, and put the diseased animal through the
loop along with a cat. The disease was transferred to the cat,
and the animal's life was saved by the cat dying.

Many counted it unlucky to meet a black cat at any time.
And there have been those who always carried an old iron nail
to throw at a black cat which crossed their path. By this act all
evil was warded off.

It was deemed highly unlucky for a bride setting out to be
married to meet a eat.

To meet a cat as ihejirst ft was looked upon as indicating
the failure of what was to be undertaken, or foreboding an
accident or bad news within a short time. " To meet the cat in
the momin " is a proverbial expression addressed to one- who
has returned from an unsuccessfiil mission, or met with a piece
of bad fortune during the day.

It was a notion that a male cat, when he jumped, emitted urine,"
and at times semen. Hence great care was used to keep male
cats at a distance from food, for another notion was, that, if a cat
did chance to jump over food, the one, who was unfortunate
enough to partake of it, conceived cats.

The following extract shows the prevalence of the opinion : —

"At Botarie, Ist March, 1654.

" The said day, Mr. James Gordon related to the Presbytrie that Jean Symson,
parochiner of Rothemay, fomicatrix with John Wat, a boy of abont fourteen
yeirs of age, had come to him, alleadging she had cats in her bellie, desireing a
testiiicat to physicians in Aberdein for cure, which he refused ; that she had

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 125

gone, together with her mother, Issohell Crichton, and gotten drinks for destroying
these cats, as she alleadgcd, and yet, notwithstanding of all, was now found to
be with childe." *

The common saying about greedy, selfish, ill-intentioned men
or women, when they were known to do a kind action, was,
" They're like the cats, they nivver dee guide bit oot o' an ill
intention." Of such as had the audacity and adroitness to stand
well in whatever untoward circumstances they might be placed
the saying was, and still is, " They're like the cats, for they aye
licht o' their feet."

If cats sit by the fire, lick their forepaws, and then rub them
over their ears, face, and whiskers, rain is looked upon as sure
within a short time. The saying is, "It's gyain' t' be rain, the
cat's washin' her face."t A cat sneezing indicated rain.j:

Here is a rhyme about a cat and a mouse, which was usually
sung to children ; when the last line was sung the singer made
a clutch at one of the children, in imitation of the cat seizing
moosie : —

" A cattie at a mill door sat spinnin, spinnin,
Fin by comes a moosie rinnin, rinnin.
Says the moosie t' the cattie,

* Faht are ye deein, my winsome laidie ? '

* Spinnin a sark t' my braw new son,'
Quo' the cat, quo' she.

* Weel may he brook it, my winsome laidie.'

* If he disna brook it ill, he'll brook it weel,'
Quo' the cat, quo* she.

* A swypit my hoosie clean the streen, my winsome laidie.'

* Ye didna sit in't fool than,'
Quo' the cat, quo' she.

* An I fan' a penny in't, my winsome laidie.'

* Ye didna wint siller than,'
Quo' the cat, quo' she.

* An I bocht cheese wee't, my winsome laidie.'

* Ye didna wint meht than,'
Quo' the cat, quo' she.

^ An I ate it np my winsome laidie.'

* So will I eat you.' "

♦ Extracts from the Prcshytery Book of Strathboffie, p. 247. Spalding Club.
Aberdeen, A.D. 1843.
t Cf. Henderson, p. 20G. t I^'fd- P. 206.

126 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

The cat forms the subject of several rhymes, no doubt from
its being so often a pet of tlie fireside.

** Ding dong, ding dong,
Fah's this it's dead ?
It's pair pnssy banthrons
O' asehrhehd.
A* them it kent her,
Fin she wiz alive,
Gome til her beereal
Atween four and five."

Another version of the first lines is : —

" Ting, tang, alang."

Here are two more cat-rhymes : —

" * Pussy cat, pussy cat,
Fahr hae ye been ? *

* I've been t' London
Seeing the king.'

* Pussy cat, pussy cat,
Faht got ye there ? '

' I got a wee moosie
Aneth the king's chair.' "

*' Cheetie puss, cattie puss, meau-au-an,
Fahr '11 we gang i' the sneaw-au-au ? '

* We'll gang t' the boggie, an worry a hoggie.
An seen we'll get beenies t' gneaw-au-au.' "

The Dog.

It was believed that a dog would not approach a fey person,
i.€, a person who was soon to die. When a member of a family
was ill, watch was kept how the dog behaved towards the sick
one. The approach of the animal to the sick one gave good
hope of a recovery. A dog howling at night was the omen of
the death of a member of the family, or of one nearly related to
the family, or of some one in the neighbourhood.*

The dog had the power of seeing ghosts.f Many a time has
it happened to the belated traveller, as he was returning home
through some lonely wood, or crossing some bridge with a deep
dark pool below it, that the faithful dog has come up to his
master, and with drooping tail kept close to him, and neither
coaxing nor threats would make him move a step away from his
master's foot ; waterkelpie, or an evil spirit was stalking beside.

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 48. f ^^^' P» ^8.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 127

K a dog bit one it was a common thing to kill the dog. It
was believed that, if the dog became mad afterwards, the one that
was bitten was seized with hydrophobia.

If a mad dog bit one, the dog was killed at once, the heart
taken out, dried over the fire, ground into powder, and part of
the powder given as a potion. No evil followed from the bite.*

The common notion was that a dog never bit an idiot.

A dog licking a wound or running sore was an efficacious remedy.

A dog eating grass prognosticated rain.

When children got into a sulky humour it was commonly
said to them, " The black dog's sittin' o' the back o' yer neck."
When a child became cross, it was often said, " See the black
dog '11 cum doon the lum and bite ye," and the nurse began to
imitate the barking of a dog. When a child was going where
it ought not to go something like this was said, " Cum back, or
a big dog 'ill take ye."

Without doubt this mode of expression is the same as the one
in Germany and other parts of the Continent about the Boggen-
wolf and Roggenhund, and has its origin far back in the olden
time.

The Porpoise.

The porpoise, or " louper dog," tumbling with forward
motion in the sea, is supposed to indicate the coming of a breeze.
The animal always goes against the wind.

The Mouse.

A roast mouse was a cure for the whooping-cough and for the
jaundice. Three roasted mice had most effect in bringing about
the cure of whooping-cough, f

The Field Mouse.

The field mouse, called " the thraw mouse," running over the
foot of a person, was supposed to produce paralysis in the foot. J

* Cf. F. L. Jlccordi vol. i. p. 43 (110), and Henderson, pp. 159, 160.
f Cf. Henderson, p. 144; F. L. ll('cordf\o\. i. p. 49 (162), and Clunce Xotegy
pp. 225; 226.
X F, L. Record, vol. i. p. 42 (132-135).

128 animal and plant supebstitions.

The Rat.

If rats came to a dwelling-house in more than ordinary
numbers the indwellers were soon to remove. The rats had
come to '' summonce " them out.

If rats left a dwelling-house of a sudden, some took it as a
token that the death of one of the inmates was at hand. Others
regarded such a thing as a sure indication that the house was to
tumble down at no distant date. Sailors looked upon their
departure from a ship as a forewarning of its speedy wreck.

A rat's head was supposed to be poisonous. Cats in con-
sequence did not eat it, though they devoured the body.

The Hare.

Great aversion was shown towards the hare both by the fishing
population and by the agricultural, except in one instance.

It was into a hare the witch turned herself when she was
going forth to perform any of her evil deeds, such as to steal
the milk from a neighbour's cow. Against such a hare, when
running about a farm-steading, or making her way from the
cow-house after accomplishing her deed of taking the cow's milk
to herself, a leaden bullet from a gun had no effect. She could
be hit by nothing but by a crooked sixpence. If such a hare
crossed a sportsman's path, all his skill was baffled in pursuit of
her, and the swiftest of his dogs were soon left far behind.*

The hare was aware of her power, and would do what she
could to annoy the sportsman. She would disappear for a time,
and again suddenly start up beside him, and then off" like the
wind in a moment out of his reach. For hours would she play
in this way with man and dogs. She has been known, however,
to have been hit by the crooked sixpence in an unwary moment.
Then she made to her dwelling with all the speed she could, and
well for her if she reached it before the dogs came upon her.
When the sportsman entered the hut he saw the hare enter,
instead of finding the hare that had cost him so many hours'

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 201-201, and Choice Notes, p. 27.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 129

toil, he found an old woman lying panting and bleeding on the
bed, and it was with difficulty he could prevent the dogs from
tearing her to pieces.

To say to a fisherwoman that there was a hare's foot in her
creel, or to say to a fisherman that there was a hare in his boat,
aroused great ire, and called forth strong words. The word
'' hare " was not pronounced at sea.

To have thrown a hare, or any part of a hare, into a boat
would have stopped many a fisherman in by-gone days from
going to sea ; and if any misfortune had happened, however
long afterwards, it was traced up to the hare *

A hare crossing the path portended mishap on the journey.f
To counteract the evil effects of this untoward event a cross had
to be made upon the path, and spit upon.

Harelip was produced by a woman enceinte putting her foot
into a hare's lair. If the woman noticed she had done so, she
immediately took two stones and put them into the lair. The
evil effects were averted.

It was accounted very lucky if a hare started from amongst
the last cut piece of grain.

The Pig.

The pig was regarded as a kind of unclean animal, although
its flesh is used.

Pigs have from three to five round marks ranged in the shape
of a crescent on the foreleg a little above the ankle. They go
by the name of the " Devil's mark." J

Among some of the fishing population it was accounted very
unlucky for a marriage party to meet a pig.

The men of several of the villages would not pronounce the
word '* swine" when they were at sea. It was a word of ill omen.

The bite of a pig was regarded with horror. It was deemed
impossible or next to impossible of cure, and was supposed to
produce cancer.

* Cf. F. L. Record, vol. i. pp. 200, 201.

t Cf. Henderson, p. 204, and Faune populaire de la France, vol. i. p. 87 (2).

X Cf. Henderson, p. 313, and Choice Notes^ p. 215.

K

1 30 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

Soup made of fresh pork, or " pork-bree," was looked upon
as a sovereign remedy for many diseases — dyspepsia, consump-
tion, &c.

A mysterious dreaded sort of animal, eaUed " the yird swine,"
was believed to live in graveyards, burrowing among the dead
bodies and devouring them.

It was a very common notion that the pig sees the wind.*

To signify that an undertaking had failed there was used the
proverb, " The swine hiz gane throw 't," or ^' The swine hiz
gane throw the kail." A common saying in some parts of
Germany is, " Der Eber geht im Korn." In other parts it is said,
" Die wilden Schweine sind im Komfeld." Professor Manhardt
says in his "Koggenwolf " (p. 1), "An vielen Orten Deutchlands
wamt man die kleinen Kinder, sich in ein Komfeld zu ver-
laufen, ^denn es sitze eine wilde Sau, ein wilder Eber darin.'"

The Horse.

In setting out on a journey, to meet a horse as the " first fit "
wa» accounted a good omen of the success of the journey.f

The meeting of a horse by a bridal party as the " first fit "
was looked upon as a sure proof of a happy marriage.

Omens of good or bad luck were drawn from the lamb or foal
first seen during the season. If the animal's head was towards
the observer, the year would bring prosperity, but, if the animal
was standing in the opposite position, misfortune would crown
the year.

It was the belief that the horse had the faculty of seeing at
night ghosts and hobgoblins. Many is the time the faithful
animal has carried its master though dangers from waterkelpies
and other beings of the realm of spirits. On such occasions,
when the horse reached the stable-door, and was inspected by
the light of the lantern, there was not a hair but had a drop of
sweat hanging from it.

If it was necessary to put to death on a farm a horse from old
age, the skin had to be stripped off"; unless this was done,
another horse would soon fall either by disease or accident.

♦ Cf. F. L, Record, vol. i. p. 205. f Cf. Henderson, p. 116.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 131

When a mare foaled inside the stable, the first time the foal
left the stable it was put forth tail foremost to prevent it lying
down in the middle of a ford when crossing. Sometimes the
stable door was taken off the hinges and laid flat on the ground
in the doorway, and the foal pulled over it.

Let a mare's first secundines be taken and buried, and let the
spot under which it lies be searched from time to time till a four-
bladed clover is found. Whoever finds it and eats it has the power
of opening the most intricate lock simply by breathing upon it.

Waterkelpie often took the form of a beautifiil black horse.
Sometimes he appeared to the weary belated traveller, and used
every art he was capable of to induce him to mount. If the
traveller did so, off started the animal and ran with the speed of
the hurricane to his home, a deep pool, and plunged into it with
his too confiding victim, who perished in the water.

What was called the '' Horse Grace " was in the following
words :—

" It's up the brae ca' me not,
It's doon the brae ca' me not,
It's in fair road spare me not,
An in the stable forget me not."

Here is the wish of an overwrought horse that lived before
the days of Father Matthew : —

" Oh, gin I wir a brewer's horse,
Thongh it wir but half a year,
I wud turn my hehd faar ma tail snd be,
An I wud drink oot a' the beer."

How TO FIND Water.

One mode of discovering where water was to be found was to
keep from water a mare having a foal, and to tether her on the
place where it was wished to dig for water ; the mare, in her
desire to quench her thirst, pawed over the spot under which the
spring lay. If she did not paw, there was no spring within tlie
circuit of her tether. She was removed to another place and
watched. This process of shifting the animal from place to place
was continued till the desired sign was given. Here is a tradi-
tion : The castle of Dundargue, which was built on a headland

k2

132 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

in the parish of Abordour, was at one time besieged. The first
work of the besiegers was to cut off the water which ran to the
castle from a well in an adjoining field, and to efface all trace of
it When water had to be again supplied to the castle, to pre-
vent all fniitlcss digging, a mare having a foal, after being
deprived of water for a time, was tethered near the place where
the well was known to be ; in due course the thirsty animal
})awed the ground right above the well.

The Ass.

One cure for the whooping-cough was the following : — The
patient was plaecil in such a way as to inhale for a time the
breath of the ass. The patient was then passed three times
under the In^lly and over the back of tlie ass, and, last of all,
taken home through a wood.

To ride for a little upon an ass was another mode of cure for
the same disease.

The Sheep.

The sheep was reganleii with particular favour, and treated
with kindness. It was accininted unlucky if the sheep on a farm
Ivifjui to brinsr forth stock of various colours : hence the saving : —

*' Fin the nom begins t' fleck and g«hr.
Ye mar lat oot ihe brrv mehr and mehr :
Fin the sheep Iwiriiis T blaok and brv»k.
Ye mav lack in the vvt at ilkr ncnk."*

In davs not ver\- louir ai^», when a lamb of black colour was
brcnight fonh in a tlook, it was put to death at once; its appear-
auvv was the tl^rt^ninner of inisfonune in some shape to the
flivkmastor.

IVforv a comini: siorm the sheep on the hills ar>? said always
Tv* make for the skeltorw; sjvrs on iho low gn>und ; and when
zhov Tr:sk auvl daiKV like Ia:ii!\«i a sionu is a: hand-

SUvp;::g aruoUi: sh^xn^ was \vkcvl uj on as useful in the cure
o: ar.v I!r.^^r:iii: vl:>ease : K :h tho:r brva:h and uie smel! that
arv^<so :rv>r.: rheiuselves ani e:xorv:r.on:s had virtue in them to
VriUiT alvii: a ourv\ For I:::p:r:r.^ diseases :: was looked upon

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 133

as of good effect to arise early in the morning, and to go into
the byres while they were being cleaned, and if the patient
was able to give help in the cleaning so much the better for
a speedy recovery. To follow the plough and to smell the
newly turned up soil was looked upon as very efficacious in the
cure of the same kinds of diseases. It was the odour of the byre
and of the newly turned up soil in which the curative virtue lay.
A rhyme on the sheep was: —

" * Baa, sheepie, baa,

Fuh mony hoggies hivv ye the day ? '

* A black and a brookit,
A red and a rookit,

They hinna been coontit for mony a day.' "

Cattle.

Cattle do not seem to have played any important part in folk-
lore.

When cattle on the pasture stood holding up their heads and
snuffing, it was looked upon as an indication that rain was not far
distant.

A bull " boorin " at a man was looked upon as an evidence
that the man was of bad character.

The following rhymes about the cow arc still current among
some old-fashioned nurses : —

" Kettie Beardie hid a coo,
Black and fite aboot the moo;
Wisna she a dainty coo,
Dance Kettie Beardie."

" There wiz a piper hid a coo,
An he hid nocht to give her,
He took his pipes an played a tune.
An bad her weel consider.
The coo considered very weel,
An gave the piper a penny
T' play the same tune oner again,

* The com rigs &re bonnie.' "

" I've a cherry, I've a chess,
IVc a bonnie bine glaiss ;
I've a dog amo' the com
Blawin' Willie Buck's hom.

134 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

Willie Buck hid a coo,
Black and fito aboot the moo,
They caad her Bell o' Blinty.
She lap our the Brig o' Dee
Like ony cove-o-linty."

SECTION IL— BIRDS.

When the water-hen, or any other bird that builds its nest on
the banks of rivers, or streams, or lochs, places its nest high
above the usual level of the water, it was believed that there
would be more than the ordinary fall of rain to cause flood in
the stream or loch. The bird was endowed by the Father who
cares for all with this knowledge, so that its nest might be
placed out of the reach of danger.

Most birds were believed to pair on Valentine day, but larks
about Candlemas.

If sea-birds kept flying inland in flocks with much noise it
was regarded as an indication of a coming storm.

If they fly high, a breeze is supposed to be not very distant.

Bird Rhymes.

" There wiz a birdie cam t' Scotland,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle,
For t' push its fortune,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle.
Fin the birdie laid an egg,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle,
Filthy fa' the greedy gled
Eet a' the birdie's egg,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle."

The following was the version current in and about Mac-
duff:—

" There wiz a birdie cam' t' Scotland,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle.
For t' push its fortune,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 135

An the birdie laid an egg,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle.
An oot the egg there cam a bird,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle,
An the birdie flew away,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle.
An its mother socht it a' day,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle;
An she got it in a bog,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle;
An she lickit it wi'a scrog,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle;
An she took the birdie hame,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle;
An laid it doon upon a stane,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle;
An pickit oot baith its een,
Hodle, dodle, hodle, dodle."

The Crow.

The crow was a bird of darkness.* He was always associated
with the man skilled in " black airt."

A Morayshire laird had gone to Italy to study " black airt,"
and had returned master of it. A night's frost came, and he
wished to try his power. He ordered his coachman to yoke his
carriage. The coachman obeyed, and brought the carriage.
The laird ordered the coachman to drive to a lock near the man-
sion, and cross it on the ice, with the strict injimction not to
look behind him. He then entered the carriage, and the coach-
man knowing his master's power obeyed, made for the loch,
entered on the ice, and drove with fury over it. When the
horses' forefeet touched the opposite bank, curiosity overcame
command and caution, and the coachman looked behind him, and
saw a large crow perched on the roof of the carriage. In the
twinkling of an eye the black bird had vanished, and crash went
the hind wheels of the carriage through the ice ; but the coach-
man urged on the horses, and the horses pulled stoutly, and the
laird was landed safely.

It was a common belief that many sold themselves to the
devil in exchange for some supernatural evil power — the power

* Cf. Henderson, p. 126.

13G ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

of caasing tempests — tho power of the " ill ee " — the power of
making money, &c.

Such a one, or one who was skilled in " black airt," and had
practised it to the hurt of his fellow men, or one who had been
guilty of some terrible deed that had never been brought to light,
died amid the roar of the tempest in the dead of night. K the
deatli night was wild, wilder yet was the funeral day. Men
with difficulty stood against the strengtli of the storm. The
difficulty was made greater by the weight of the coffin ; for the
coffin of such a one was almost too heavy to be borne by the
usual number of bearers — eight. As they were toiling on in
silence, and in much dread, and with many surmisings, suddenly
appeared at times, as is told in story, a crow and a dove, driving
quick as the storm-wind towards the coffin. Which would
reach first ? Sometime the dove outstripped the crow. Repent-
ance had come into the dead one's heart before leaving earth,
the cry for forgiveness had gone up to the Father of all, and had
been heard. Heaven after all was the home of the departed one.
Sometimes the crow dashed on before the dove, and with such
force as to break through the coffin lid. The dead one had gone
to the other world with sin unforgiven. The demon of evil was
claiming his own.

A crow alighting on a bouse indicated that death was hovering
over it, and that it would soon enter, and take away an inmate.

It was thought very unlucky to desti'oy a rookery. A story
is told of a Buchan proprietor who, for some reason or other, a
good many years ago, destroyed a large rookery near his man-
sion-house. Since that time, as the old people say, nothing has
thriven.*

The act of rooks flying upwards and downwards, and, as it
were, tumbling over each other, was called '' cloddin," and was
looked upon as the forerunner of wind.

If rooks perch themselves in rows on the tops of walls or on
palings, rain is believed to be not far distant.

When a flock of rooks kept wheeling and hovering round and
round much in one spot, it was called '' a craw's weddan."

• Cf. Henderson, p. 122.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 137

Here are two crow rhymes : —

** The craws killt the pasicj O;
The craws killt the pasie, O;
The mnc^le cat
Sat (loon an grat,
At the back o' Johnnie's hoosie, O."

** Craw, craw,
Yir mither's awa'
For poother an lead
T' shot ye a' dead."

The Raven.
A rhyme about the raven was: —

" Pit yir finger in the corbie's hole,
The corbie's nae at hame ;
The corbie's at the back door
Pickin at a behn."

At the same time the one who repeated it put the thumb and
the forefinger together, and asked his companion to put his
finger into the opening so formed ; if he did so, he got pinched.

A " corbie messenger" was applied to one who had been sent
on a message, but who was slow in returning, or who did not
return at all.

In some districts ravens build their nests in the sea-clifis. If
they make short flights inland, it is taken as an indication of
stormy weather ; but, if they make a strong flight inland to a
considerable distance, it is a token of fair weather.

The Magpie.

The magpie was a bird of good or bad omen, according to
circumstances.

If a magpie jumped along the road before the traveller, it was
taken as a sure indication of the success of whatever was on
hand. An old man, now gone for a good many years, used to
tell that, when he was thriving and laying up money, the pyots
used to hop along the road before him on the summer mornings,
as he was carting home the winter store of peats. In other paints
of the country tx) meet a magpie in the morning was unlucky.*

* Fanru' pojmlairc de la France, toI. ii. pp. 139, 140 (11).

138 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

A magpie hopping near the dwelling-house was the unfailing
indication of the coming of good news, particularly from a far
country.

In some districts the following was current about the magpie:

" Ane's joy,
Twa's grief y
Three's a marriage,
Four's death."*

To have shot a magpie was the certain way of incurring all
manner of mishaps.f

It was sometimes called "the deviPs bird,'* J and was believed
to have a drop of the devil's blood in its tongue. It was a common
notion that a magpie could receive the gift of speech by scratch-
ing its tongue, and inserting into the wound a drop of blood
from the human tongue.

A proverb is taken from the magpie : " Ye're like the pyot,
ye*re a' guts and gyangals." It is applied to a person of slender
form and much given to talking and boasting.

The Eedbreast.

The redbreast was regarded with peculiar interest, and was
encircled with a kind of mysterious awe. It was accounted very
unlucky to harm a robin, or to catch one. The robin was always
associated with the wren, and the wren was styled the robin's
wife. The following was a common saying : —

" The robin an the wren
Is God's cock an hen." §

If the redbreast comes near the dwelling-house early in
autumn it is regarded as an indication of an early and a severe
winter. The bird comes where food and shelter are sure.

** Little Robin Redbreast sits on a pole,
Wiggle-waggle wintin's tail macks him look droll."

" Jeny Vran wiz lyin sick, lyin sick, lyin sick,
Jany Vran wiz lyin sick npon a mortal time ;

* Ct F. L, Record^ yoI. i. p. 8 (1) ; Henderson, pp. 126, 127; and Choice
Notes, pp. 61, 89, 130.
t Cf. Henderson, p. 126.

J Faune pojrulaire de la France y yoI. ii. p. 139 (10).
§ Cf. Henderson, p. 123, and Choice Notes^ pp. 14, 90.

\

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 139

In cam Bobin Hedbreest, Bedbreest, Bedbreest,
In cam Bobin Bedbreest wi' sngar saps an wine ;

Says, * Birdie will ye pree this, pree this, pree this ? '

Says, * Birdie will ye pree this, an' ye'U be birdie mine ? '

* I winna pree't tho' I should die, tho' I should die, tho* I should die,

I winna pree't tho' I should die, for it cam not in time.' "

The Lark.

The lark was sometimes called by the name of " the Queen

of Heaven's Hen," and, whatever might have been thought

about robbing the nests of other birds, robbing that of the lark

was looked upon as heinous guilt. Hence the rhymes : —

" Liverockie, lirerockie lee.
Don't herry me,

Or else y'ill be hangit on a high, high tree,
Or droont in a deep, deep sea."

" Mailisons, mailisons mehr nor ten
That hairries the Queen o' Heaven's hen.
Blissins, blissins mehr nor thoosans
That leuks on her eggies an lats them alane."

Another version is : —

** Blissins, blissins ten
That leuks on my nestle.
An lats it alane.
Mailisons, mailisons seven
That hairries the nest o' the Queen o' Heaven."

A weather proverb is drawn from the lark, viz. " As lang's the
liverock sings afore Can'lemas, it greets aifter't."* The usual
time when the lark begins to sing is about the 8th of February.

A proverb, spoken to one who is always putting obstacles in
the way of carrying out any plan by suggesting difficulties, is: —
" Grehn the lift wir t' fa' an smore the liverocks, fahr wid ye get
a hole t' sheet in yir hehd." t Another proverb is : — " Live on
love, as liverocks diz on ley."

The Yellow-hammer.
The yellow-hammer, yalla-yarlin^X yallieckiey had a very bad

♦ FauTW populaire de la Frartce^ vol. ii. p. 208 (7).

t Ihid. vol. ii. pp. 211, 212 (6). % Cf. Henderson, p. 123.

140 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

name, and was often persecuted Its character is summed up
in the following lines: —

" Half a poddock, half a tead,
Half a drap a deiPs bleed,
In a May morning."

The Cock.

The cock was called a prophet. The crowing on the threshold
indicated the arrival of strangers.*

A cock crowing on the roost before midnight was heard with
dread. It was regarded as an omen of death if, on inspection, it
was found that the bird's feet, comb, and wattles were cold. He
was looking towards the quarter where the death would take

place.f

The cock was believed to have the power of seeing evil spirits,
the enemies of man. In many old houses the poultry sat on
roosts over the part of the kitchen where a supply of peats was
kept at hand for fuel. The cock has been seen of a winter even-
ing to come down from his perch, and close in conflict with an
enemy unseen with human eyes, and fight on the kitchen floor,
now backward as if beaten, now forward as if overcoming his
enemy, while the inmates were looking on in silent fear. At last
the foul spirit was beaten ofi*, the cock mounted his roost, crowed
victory, and the household breathed freely and with thankful
hearts. An unseen enemy had been vanquished, and put to flight.

The cock played a considerable part in the cure of epilepsy.
One cure was to bury alive a cock, a black one if he could be
got, below the bed on which the patient slept.} Another cure
was the following: — A live cock, the parings of the patient's
nails, a lock of hair, and ashes from the four comers of the
hearth, were buried together in a hole dug on the spot on which
the afflicted first fell smitten by the disease.

When a cock reached the age of seven years he was believed
to lay a small egg, from which issued, if hatched, a most deadly
serpent called a " cockatrix."

* Choice Notest pp. 13, 189. f Cf. Henderson, p. 49. % Ibid. p. 147.

animal and plant superstitions. 141

The Hen.

When a farm stocking was dispersed by public auction, the
hens were not sold. It was deemed unlucky to sell the poultry.
They were given away to friends and neighbours.

Hens dying in numbers at a farm was an omen of the cattle
dying within a short time.

The crowing of a hen was an indication of the death of a
member of the family in the course of not a long time. She
was put to death at once. Hence the proverb, " Whis'lin
maidens an crawin hens is nae chancy."*

On no account must eggs be sold after sunset, f

It was a common notion that small short hen-eggs produced
female birds, and long eggs, male birds.

A hen ought to be set on an odd number of eggs ; if not,
many, if not all of them, become addled.J

Along the seaboard there were goodwives who set their eggs
when the tide was ebbing, so that hen-birds might be produced.
Putting the eggs below the mother when the tide was rising
secured male birds. Another mode of securing hen-birds was
for the woman who placed the eggs under the hen to carry them
in her chemise to the hatching -nest. To secure birds with
crests, tappit birds, she had to put on a man's hat. That all the
birds might be hatched much about the same time the eggs
were put below the hen all at once, and with the words: —

" A' in thegeethir,
A' oot thegeethir."

Another formula was in the following words : —

*' A've set a heu wi' nine eggs ;
Mnckle Inck amon hir legs.
Donps an shalls gang ower the sea,
Cocks an hens come hame t' me."

The eggs must be put under the hen afi:er sundown. If tlie
eggs were put under the mother bird before sundown, the
chickens came forth blind.

* Cf. Henderson, p. 43, and Choice Notes j pp. 13, 89.

t Cf. Choice Notes, p. 57.

i Cf. Henderson, p. 112, and CImce Notes, p. 13.

142 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

Eggs should not be placed below a hen for hatching during
the month of May. Hence the saying: —

" May chuckens is aye cheepin."

The month of March seems to have been thought the best
month for hatching chickens, from the saying —

" March cocks is aye crawin."

If a hen or duck wandered from the hen-house to lay her
eggs, and if she hatched them afield, it was the belief that, if
when found, she and her brood were taken from the nest and
shut up, the brood, at least many of the birds, would die ; but,
if they were left in the natural state, they would thrive and
come to maturity.

If one found a wild duck's brood, the ducklings were on no
account to be touched with the hand. Touching the young
birds with the hand carried death witli it to them.

It was believed that handling any bird's eggs in the nest made
the bird desert " forhooie " them. The bird had the faculty of
knowing that a human hand had touched them, and she left
them rather than hatch young to be taken away.

If hens and ducks preen themselves with more than usual
care, foul weather is regarded as certain.

The Dove,

The dove was an emblem of all that was good.

A dove flying round and round a person was looked upon as an
omen of death being not far distant, and at the same time a sure
proof that the one so soon to die was going to everlasting happiness.

The dove was used in the cure of disease. Two live doves
were taken, and each was split lengthwise. Fluttering and
bleeding, one was put to the sole of each foot of the patient, and
allowed to remain there till next morning. Then they were taken
" atween the sin an the sky," that is, at the moment of sunrise,
to a spot where the dead and the living never pass, that is, to
the top of a rock or precipice, and there left. A cure was
effected.* »

♦ Cf. Choice Notes, pp. 218, 219.

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS^ 143

The heart, liver, and lungs, torn from a live pigeon and
thrust down the throat of an ox, or a cow, or a calf, were supposed
to act as a laxative.

The Golden Plover.

It was a fancy that the golden plover by its whistling in spring
was giving advice to the farmer : —

" Plew weel, shaave weel, harrow weel."

The Moor-hen.
The cry of the moor-hen is interpreted as

" Come hame — come hame."

The Lapwing.

When the lapwing, "pee wee t," "peeseweep," "wallop," kept
screaming and flying round one, he used to call out: —

" Wallopie, wallopie, weet (or weep),
Harry the nest, an rin awa' wee't."

or: —

" Peesweet, peesweet,
Herry ma nest an awa wee't."

It was the common notion that the Irish had no goodwill to
the lapwing, as it gave its eggs to Scotland and its dirt to
Ireland.

The Wild Goose.

In spring in some districts the flight of the common wild goose
in its migration was anxiously looked for. The arrival and high
flight of the flock were regarded as indications of fair weather.

A weather rhyme current in Morayshire is : —

" Wild geese, wild geese, gangin t' the sea,
Good weather it will be.
Wild geese, wild geese, gangin t' the hill.
The weather it will spill."

The Swan.

Of the swan the common saying is that every time it looks at
its feet it mourns. It does so because their black colour detracts
from its beauty.

144 ANIKAL AND PLANT SUPEBSTITIONS.

SECTION III.— REPTILES, FISH, AND INSECTS.

REPTILES.

The Frog.

If the frogs spawn on the edges of ponds and in ditches that
usually dry up in summer, it is looked upon as the harbinger of a
wet summer. On the other hand if the spawn is all in the deep-
est parts of the ponds, there is to be strong drought in summer.

A cure for the red water, a disease in cows, was to thrust a
live frog down the animal's throat. The larger and yellower the
frog, the more certain and speedy was the cure.*

If a frog is caught alive and its eyes licked with the tongue,
the power of curing any eye-disease lies in that tongue. The
cure is effected by licking the diseased eyes.

The Toad.

The toad was looked upon with loathing. It was believed to
have the power of defending itself by spitting fire, and one
would have been very wary in handling it, lest its ire might be
aroused, and it should vomit forth its poisonous fire.

The toad carried a jewel within its skull according to the
common belief.

The tongue of the toad was of great efficacy in love matters.
Whoever carried the dried tongue of a toad on his breast, could
bend any woman to his will.

FISHES.

The Dog-fish.

To cure toothache, catch a dog-fish, take fi^'om the living fish a
piece of the backbone, and return the fish to the water. The piece
cut from the fish was dried and carried on the person, or otherwise
carefully stored up. If the fish lived, the dried piece of back-
bone was an eflfectual cure; but, if the fish died, it had no virtue.
There were some who prepared such charms, and gave them to
those who stood in need of them. A certain woman possessed her-
self of this charm. It proved a complete cure. She told this to a

* Cf. F^ L, Record J vol. iii. pt. i. p. 81,

ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS. 145

neighbour who was afflicted with toothache. The neighbour begged
that which had wrought such a deliverance. It was given, antj the
woman carefully sewed it into a part of her underclothing, and
carried it on her breast The toothache was soon cured. But so
enamoured of the cure was the borrower, that she would not give it
back to the rightful owner, though asked again and again to do so.

The Eel.

The skin of an eel tied round the leg or the arm was a specific
against cramp when bathing.*

The Herring.

When the herring-fishing is not succeeding the fishermen
sometimes perform certain ceremonies to " raise the herring.''
Several years ago the following charm was enacted in Buckie : —

A cooper was dressed in a flannel shirt, which was stuck all
over with burs, and carried on a hand-barrow in procession
through the village.

It is not many years since the following procession passed
through the streets of Fraserburgh : —

One man, fantastically dressed, headed on horseback the
procession. He was followed by a second man on horseback,
who discoursed music on the bagpipes. Then came, on foot, a
third man, carrying a large flag, and wearing a high-crowned
hat, which was hung round with herrings by the tails. A crowd
followed the three, and cheered most heartily.

It is a common saying that a late harvest betokens a late
herring-fishing.

The Haddock.
The explanation of the black spots on each shoulder of the had-
dock is that they are the marks left by the finger and thumb of Peter
when he opened the fish's mouth to take out the piece of money
to pay the tax for the Temple service for his Master and himself.
The haddock was said to have spoken once, and its words
were: —

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 28.
L

146 ANIMAL AKD PLAKT BUPERSTITIOKS.

" Roast mo an boil me,

Bat dinna bum ma behnSi
Or than I'll be a stranger
Aboot yir hearth stehn?.'*

Tho saying about the spawned haddock, " harrowster," or

" kameril," is that it is not good till it gets three dips in the

" May flood."

The Fluke.

*' Said the treat to the flake,

* Fn diz your moo crook ? '

* My moo was never even
Since I passt Johnshaven.' "

Another version heard on the Moray Firth is : —

" The fitin said to the fluke

* Fait gars your moo crook ? ' "

The answer given is : —

" It crooks because
A' threw it at ma midder."*

The Salmon and the Trout.

The salmon and the trout among some of the fishing popula-
tion were held in great aversion. The word " salmon " was
never pronounced. If there was occasion to speak of salmon, a
circumlocution was used, and it was often named afl»r the tax-
man of the fishings nearest the villages, whose inhabitants
shunned pronouncing the name of the fish. Thus it would be
called " So and So's fish." Sometimes it was called " The
beast" In some of the villages along the north-east of Scot-
land it went by the name of " The Spey codlin."

In going past a salmon cobble in the harbour, a fisherman would
not have allowed his boat to touch it, neither would he have
taken hold of it either by hand or boat-hook to haul past it.

To have said to a fisherman that there was a salmon in his
boat, or to have spoken to him of salmon on his proceeding to
sea, or to have spoken of salmon or even trout when at sea,
aroused his anger and called forth stormy words.

A trout or a salmon caught in the herring-nets, as it some-
times, though rarely, happens, was regarded as a most untoward
event, and was looked upon as the harbinger of the failure of
the fishing during the rest of the season.

• Cf. Henderson, p. 313.

animal and plant superstitions. 147

Insects.

The burying beetle is called a " cancer," from the belief that
its bite produces that terrible disease.

The lady-bird {Coccinella septempunctata)^ called in some
districts " the king," is addressed in these words : —

" Kings Doctor Ellison,
Fahr ill I be mairrt till,
East or Wast, or Norowa.
Tack up yir wings and flee awa."

Another version is : —

" Ladybird, Ladybird,
Flee awa hame,
Yir house is on fire
An yir bairns alane."*

The ant was called "emerteen," and when on being disturbed
it was seen carrying off its eggs it was supposed to be its horse,
and the following words were repeated : —

" Emerteen, emerteen, laden yir horse,
Yir father and yir mither is ded in Einloss."

It was a common opinion that bees did not thrive with those
who had led an unchaste life.

The first swarm of bees of one who intended to be a bee-
keeper must be got in some other way than by purchase. A
bought swarm led but to disaster in bee-keeping.

It was a belief that bees in their hive emitted a buzzing sound
exactly at midnight, on the last day of the year ; that \yas the
hour of the Saviour's birth.

Moths were called " witches," and were looked upon with a
sort of undefinable dread, as being very uncanny.

Spiders were regarded with a feeling of kindliness, and one
was usually very loath to kill them. Their webs, very often
called " moose wobs," were a great specific to stop bleeding.

A spider running over any part of the body-clothes indicated
a piece of new dress corresponding to the piece over which the
spider was making its way.f

A small spider makes its nest — a white downy substance — on
the stalks of standing corn. According to the height of the nest
from the ground was to be the depth of snow during winter.

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 26, and Choice Notes, pp. 39, 40.
t Cf. Henderson, p. 111.

l2

148 ANIMAL AND PLANT SUPERSTITIONS.

The green crab {Carcinas mcenas) is used as bait by the fisher-
men. Its real name was never pronounced, especially during
the time of putting it upon the hook as bait. In Pittulie, if it
had to be named, it was called '' sniffltie fit."

The hair-worm ( Gordius aquaticus) was believed to be pro-
duced jfrom the hair of a stallion's tail *

Omens were drawn jfrom the black snail {Ario7i ater). If it
wa3 seen the first time during the season on any soft substance,
the year would be prosperous and happy ; but, if it was on a hard
substance, there was little but difficulties and trials in the way.f

SECTION IV.

Trees and Plants.

The cross is said to have been made of the wood of the aspen
— ^^ quaking aish." Hence the constant motion of the leaves.}

The bluebell {Campanula rotundifolia) was in parts of Buchan
called "the aul' man's bell," regarded with a sort of dread, and
commonly left unpulled. In other parts it was called " gowk's
thumles."

When the broom and the whin were rich in blossom it was
looked upon as an indication of a good crop.

Thej*e existed among many the same opinion regarding the
blossom on turnips growing for seed.

When there was an abundant crop of wild fruits, there was
to be a severe winter. The good Father of all was providing
for the " fowls of the air."

When potatoes were dug for the first time during the season,
a stem was put for each member of the family, and omens were
drawn of the prosperity of the year from the number and size of
the potatoes growing at each stem . The father came first, and then
the mother, and then each member followed according to age.

The puff-ball (Lyeoperdon bovista) is called "blin' men's
een," and the dust of it is supposed to cause blindness, if it
should by any chance enter the eyes.

* CL Henderson, p. 28. f ^*^^- P- 116, f IHd. p. 161.

CHAPTER XXL

TIMES AND SEASONS AND WEATHER.

The Days of the Week.

ONDAY was accounted an unlucky day on which to
begin a piece of work. There were parents who
would not enter their children at school on this
day.
With regard to the weather, the saw is : —

'' A ham Monanday macks a linen week."

Tuesday was regarded as a lucky day for entering on any new
work, and for sending children to school for the first time.

" Wednesday is aye weather-true,
Father the meen be aul or new."

Friday was specially avoided as the day on which to begin
any piece of work. It was very unlucky for a ship to sail on
this day.*

A Friday with fine weather during a time of wet is called a
" flatterin' Friday," and is supposed to indicate a continuance
of wet weather.

Saturday was looked upon by some as a day of luck to enter
into any undertaking.

A new moon on Saturday was looked upon as tlie forerunner
of stormy weather: —

" A Saiterday meen an' a Sunday's prime
Gehn she cum ance in saiven year
She comes in gueede time."t

The Months.

" FeberwaiTy sud fill the dyke
AVi' black or fite,
Aither wi' caff or strae,
Oritgae." .

* Cf. F, L. Record, vol. i. p. 13 (50, 62), and vol. ii. p. 205.
t Cf. Choice NoU'8, p. 288.

150 TIMES AND SEASONS AKD WEATHEK.

The month of March is an important month in the North with
respect to the preparation of the soil for receiving the seed. It
holds a prominent place in folk-lore in the shape of proverbs
and saws. One proverb is :—

** A peck o' March dust is worth a king's ransom."

Another is : —

*^ A peck o' March dust is worth its waicht in goud."

Other proverbs about March are : —

** March sud come in like an adder's head, an gang oot like a peacock's tail."
<* March sud come in like a boar's head, an gang oot like a peacock's tail."
" March sud come in like a lion an gang oot like a lam'."

There are two versions of the rhyme about the " borrowing
days ^' : —

" March borrowed from April
Three days, and they were ill ;
The first it wiz snaw an sleet.
The second it was caul an weet,
The third it was sic a freeze
The birds' nibs stack t' the trees."

" March said to April —
I see three hoggs on yonder hill.
In ye wud lend me dajris three
I'll dee ma best t' gar them dee."*

Of an April day, when there were alternate showers and sun-
shine, with a good breeze and large clouds fleeting across the
blue sky, it was said, '^ It's an April day, it's sheetin an glintin."

Of May there are various and contradictory sayings: —

" May comes in wi' warm shoors
An raises a' the grais ;
An a' the floors o' May an June
They do incraise."

But there is another side to this picture of the first days of May ;
they were supposed to come accompanied by cold and wet, and
hence they were called the " gab o' May."

Crops in the North of Scotland depend a good deal on the
weather in May, and this fact is embodied in several proverbs.

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 95.

TIMES AND SEASONS AND WEATHEB. 151

'^ Him it lenks at's crap in May
Gangs monmin for aye."

^' May makes the hay."

** A misty May an a drappy June
Fits the fairmer in gueede tune.*'

" A misty May an a drappy Jane
Macks the crap come in soon."

** A misty May and a drappy Jeene
Macks an eer hairst, an seen deen."

Washing the face with dew gathered on the morning of the first
day of May kept it from being tanned by the sun and becoming
freckled.*

*' If Candlemas day be clear and fair,
The half o' winter is t' gang and mair;
If Candlemas day be dark and fonl,
The half o' the winter is deen at Yule."t

If the wind is in the north on the Rood-day, bad weather
follows.

Tlie wind was said to blow during the quarter — the *^ raith "
— in that direction in which it blew during the first day of the
quarter.

The Moon.

It was unlucky to see the new moon for the first time through
a window, or with empty hands.} To have something in the
hand on the first sight of the new moon was lucky, and indicated
a present before the moon had waned. The money in the pocket
must be turned when the first sight of the new moon was caught §
Some there were who, on catching the first sight of the new
moon, kissed the one next them.

The " mairt " or the pig, that was to be salted, must be killed
when the moon was on the increase, else the meat would not
keep well. Bennet made from an animal killed except when the
moon was waxing was of no use.||

♦ Cf. Henderson, pp. 85, 86, and CJioice NbteSf pp. 18, 19.

t Ibid. p. 76, and CJtoice Notes, pp. 180, 293, 294.

X Cf. F. L, Reooi'dt vol. i. p. 11 (28), and Choice Notes^ p. 175 (9).

§ Cf. Henderson, p. 114.

II Cf. F. L, Record, vol. i. p. 11 (29), and vol. ii. p. 32.

152 TIMES AND SEASONS AND WEATHER.

Fish hung in moonlight was supposed to acjquire poisonous
qualities.

It was looked upon as dangerous to sleep with the moon
shining on the face. The whole face, but particularly tlie mouth,
became twisted. This was especially believed in by sailors.
Sleeping in the moonlight might cause madness.

The moon was supposed to exercise great influence in the
ripening of tlie grain — as much, in fact, as tlie sun, if not more.

A halo round the moon is called " a broch," and is thought to
indicate a fall of rain or snow. Hence the proverb, "A broch
aboot the meen 'ill be aboot the midden afore momin."

A small bright circle round the moon is called in some dis-
tricts a "cock's eye," and is supposed to indicate imsettled
weather.

When the new moon is seen soon after her coming in, it is
regarded as a sign of foul weatlier.

When the new moon looks as if " lying on her back," that is
also supposed to indicate foul weather.

If the *^ old " moon is seen as it were lying in the bosom of
the new, it is still regarded as a sign of a coming storm, as it
was in days of old : —

" I saw the new moon late yestreen,
Wi' the auld moon in her arm ;
And I fear, I fear, my master dear,
That we shall come to harm."

Another weather saw drawn from the moon is: —

" Anld meen mist,
New meen drift."

Mock Sun.

A mock sun is in some parts called a "ferrick," and is
believed to indicate the coming weatlier according to its position
— east or west of the sun, or " behind " or " before " the sun.
Hence the saying: —

" A ferrick afore
Ayont the score;
A ferrick ahin
Y'iil shortly fin."

times and seasons and weather. 153

The Bainbow.
When a rainbow appears the following rhyme is shouted at
the top of the voice :* —

" Hainbow, rainbow,
Brack an gang hame,
The cow's wi' a calf,
The yow's wi' a lam,
An the coo 'ill be calvt
Or ye win hame."

Another version of it is : —

" Rainbow, rainbow.
Brack an gang hame;

Yir father an yir mither's aneth the layer-stehn;
Yir coo's calvt, yir mare's foalt,
Yir wife 'ill be dead
Or ye win hame."

A shorter cry is : —

" Rainbow, rainbow.
Brack an gang hame,
Yir father an mither 's aneth the grave stehn."

Thunder, &c.

During thunder it was not unusual for boys to take a piece of
thin wood a few inches wide and about half-a-foot long, bore a
hole in one end of it, and tie a few yards of twine into the hole.
The piece of wood was rapidly whirled round the head, under
the belief that the thunder would cease, or that the thunderbolt
would not strike. It went by the name of " thunner-spell."

Snow.

It was a common saying in parts of Banffshire that the snow
of the coming winter made its appearance — " cast up '^ — during
harvest in the large, white, snowy-looking clouds that rise along
tlie horizon. They were called " Banff bailies," and at all seasons
of the year were looked upon as the forerunners of foul weather.

When it was snowing heavily the following was repeated : —

" Ding on, ding on, ding on drift,
A* the fisher wives is comin fao the kirk.'

* Cf. Henderson, p. 24.

154 TIMES AND SEASONS AND WEATHEB.

When snow is falling in flakes ("flags") the saying is that tlio
folks in Orkney are plucking geese.

Bain.
A shower of rain was greeted with the words : —

" Ding on, ding on daily,
Ilky drap 't fill cap,"

A saw about rain with respect to the hours of the day is : —

" Rain afore seven
Fair afore eleven."*

In wet weather, when a clear opening — called in some districts
(Keith) " a borie "—appears near the sun at sunset, it is looked
upon as indicating a continuance of foul weather.

When rain comes from the south-west with a somewhat clear
horizon, with the appearance that the rain would cease in a
short time, it is called *•' a lauchin rain," and is believed to last
for some time.

When there was much dust blowing along the roads in
summer, rain was regarded not far distant. The common saying
was that the dust would soon be laid.

Mist.

On some parts of the Moray Firth the following was a
weather-saw : —

'* Fin the mist comes fae the sea,
Dry weather it '11 be;
Fin the mist comes fae the hill,
Yell get wattir t* yer mill"

Clouds.

When the wind is south and carrying large heavy clouds
northward, the saw is that "the Earl of Moray will not be
long in debt to the Earl of Mar." By this is meant that the
wind will soon veer towards the north, and that there will be
unsettled weather.

* Choice Nbtd8fP]p. 292, 296.

TIMES AND SEASONS AND WEATHER. 155

Small clouds — "packies, pack-merchans" — moving eastwards
from south, south-west, or west, indicate that the wind will soon
blow from south or south-west.

*' An eyenin red and a momin gray
Is the appearance o' a bonnie day."

The Wind.

If tlie wind is blowing from the south or south-west, and a
cloud begins to appear in the north-west horizon, a sudden burst
of a heavy storm is at hand ; and if any of the fishing boats are
at sea not a moment is lost in making for land.

If, in the evening, the west and north-west horizon become
covered with cloud, with the wind to the south or south-west,
if the wind remains in the same quarter, the following day will
be fine, but if the wind shift to the north-west, or, as the saying
is, go into the face of the cloud, stormy weather follows.

The wind that blows from the west or north-west but towards
evening veers to north is called "the wife it gangs oot at even."
A breeze is at hand (Pittulie).

Along the Moray Firth the fishermen call the noise of the
waves " the song of the sea." If the song is towards the east
the wind will shortly blow fi'om east or south-east. If a " long
song " is heard fi'om the bar at Banff", the wind will blow fi:om
the west.

The swell that often comes before the storm goes by the name
of " the dog afore his maister," and the swell that remains after
the storm has ceased, " tho dog ahin his maister."

CHAPTER XXII.

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR's DAY, &C

RE AT preparation was made for the proper keeping
of Christmas and New Year's Day. Three days
were observed as holidays at Christmas, and one if
not more at the year's eve by tradesmen and
labourers of all kinds. A blacksmith would on almost no con-
sideration work on Christmas — in common language, " file his
ahpron." If, however, any part of a meal-mill that required
his service happened to break, the apron was put on, the fire
kindled, and the broken part mended. It might be, human life
depended on tlie repairing of the mill. Any. work absolutely
necessary for the safety of life, particularly human life, was
done without scruple.

Great exertion was made to have every piece of work finished
before Christmas; and a work that required some length of
time to do, and that could not be carried out between the time
of beginning it and Christmas, was put off, if possible, till afiber
Christmas. If a work was begun between Christmas and New
Year's Day, all speed was made to have it completed before
New Year's Day.

The whole time about Christmas and the New Year was given
up to festivity to a greater or less degree. All the straw for the
cattle had to be in readiness, and for several weeks before
Christmas an additional hour was given to the "flail." Food
and drink of all kinds were laid in store. " Yeel " fish was
bought. Sometimes this was done from fisherwomen who
carried them over the country. Sometimes those in better
circumstances went to the fishing villages, and bought the fish
from the boat, carried ihem home, cured them, and smoked them
on the kihi. The "Yeel kebback" had been prepared a long

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAK'S DAY, &C. 157

time before, and the ale had been brewed more generously than
usual, and was in its prime. Omens were drawn from the way
in which the wort boiled. If the woii; boiled up in the middle
of the pot, there was a " fey " person's drink in the pot. Bread
of various kinds, "bannocks," "soor cakes," "cream cakes,"
" facet cakes," " soft cakes," was stored up. At the baking of
the Yeel bread a cake was baked for each member of the family,
and omens of the lot of the one for whom it was baked during
the coming year were drawn. If the cake broke, it was looked
upon as foreboding death. If only a piece of it broke off, bad
health was augured. It was a habit to keep part of the Yeel
cakes as long as possible, and they have been kept for weeks
and months. It was thought lucky to do so. It was esteemed
very unlucky to count at any time the number of cakes baked.
The saying was " there wis nae thrift in coontit cakes, as the
fairies ate the half o' them." For a household to have wanted
ale, or fish, or a kebback, was looked upon as a forerunner of
calamity during the coming year.

Every means wd& used to have some piece of new dress, no
matter how small. The one who was so unfortunate as to be
withoAit such a piece of dress bore the name of " YeePs jaad."
Children were warned against crying on Christmas Day.*

If a child did cry, it was said "to break Yeel's gird," and that
there would be much crying during the year with the child.

The first part of the festival consisted of " Yeel sones." This
dish was prepared any time between Christmas Eve and an
early hour on Christmas morning. Companies of the young
friends of the household were invited to attend, and it was a
common practice for some of them, after partaking of the dish
in one house, to proceed to another, and then another, and another.

Small basins or wooden " caps " or cogs were ranged in a
row, into which the " sones " was poured. Into one dish the
cook secretly dropped a ring — betokening marriage ; into
another, a button — the emblem of a single life; and into a third,
a sixpence — the token of widowhood. Each guest then chose
a basin,- a cap, or a cog.

♦ Cf . Henderson, p. 72.

158 OHBISTMASy KEW YEAB's DAT, &0.

In drinking the ^^ Teel sones," a small quantity had to be left
in the dish.

If the dish seemed to require longer than the ordinary time
in its preparation, a late harvest or some disaster during it was
augured.

The breakfast on Christmas morning was the best that could
be aflForded— milk porridge, creamy milk, butter, fish, &c To
have flesh for the Yeel dinner great exertion was made, as it
was thought that the cattle would not thrive during the year if
it was awanting. It was a custom not to sit down to the great
dinner of the year till after sunset The Yeel kebback was cut
by the gueedeman. During the whole time of Yeel the diet was
more generous than at other times.

On Christmas Eve a few of the more sportive of the youth in
the villages went along the streets, and besmeared doors and
windows with sones. Others disguised themselves, and went in
companies of three and four, singing, shouting, and rapping at
doors and windows. The houses whose inmates were known to
them they entered with dancing, antic gestures, and all kinds of
daffing. They were called " gysers."*

Balls were among the amusements of the season. A bam,
conveniently situated for the district and sufficiently large, was
selected. It was swept as clean as possible, and filled up with
seats round the wall — deals supported on all manner of supports
— stones, turf, cart-wheel bushes, bags filled with grain, &c. A
plentiful supply of oaten cakes, biscuits, cheese, fish, ale, porter,
whisky, and sugar for the toddy, was got, and committed to the
care of a few of the " hehds o' the ball."

Each young man selected his own partner, went for her to
her own home, conducted her to the ball-barn, danced with her,
saw to her comfort in every way, and when the ball was finished
he guarded her home. In the intervals of the' dance bread and
cheese and different kinds of drink were carried round. There
was generally present a woman to sell "sweeties," and the
young men lavished their favours in these on their sweethearts
and female favourites.

* Cf . Henderson, p. 66.

CHRISTMAS, K£W YBAR's DAT, &0. 159

What was left over of money and provisions fell to the lot of
one or two of the old and needy in the district.

Masonic lodges in certain places held one or other of the days
of Christmas as their " annual day." Before the annual day
came round, the lodges held many meetings for the admission of
new memhers. On the annual day all the members turned out
dressed in their best clothes, and each donned his masonic
paraphernalia according to his rank and office. A procession
was formed, and the town or village was perambulated with
music and flying colours amidst the admiring gaze of crowds of
women and boys and girls. The " walk " was concluded by a
dinner at the village inn, and sometimes by a ball and supper.

The brute creatures were not forgotten in the midst of all this
merriment. All the fourfooted animals of the steading were
served with untlireshed com for their first food. The " clyack
sheaf," which had been carefully stored up by itself, was given
to the oldest animal of the farm, whether horse, cow, or
sheep.

In some districts the " clyack sheaf" was given to the mare
in foal, if there was such an animal on the farm.

In some districts this generous diet of com was given on New
Year's Day.

A fire was kindled in each bjrre on Christmas morning, and
in parts of the country the byres were purified by burning
jimiper in them.

Such as were envious of their neighbours' success, and wished
to draw away their prosperity, creamed the well they drew
water fi'om. This act was believed to be particularly efficacious
in ensuring a rich supply of milk and butter to the one who had
cows, and performed the act on the well of those who also owned
cows. All the utensils used in the dairy were washed with part
of the cream of the well, and the cows received the remainder to
drink. This ceremony was gone through in some districts on
the last night of the year. In a fishing village on the north-east
coast of Aberdeenshire it was performed on the last night of the
year, and a handful of grass was plucked and thrown into the
pail containing the water. It was at the hour of midnight on

160 CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR's DAY, &C.

Christmas Eve Christ was born, and it was at the same hour He
performed His first miracle of turning tlie water into wine.

Nothing was carried forth from the house on Christmas
morning until something was brought in. Water and fuel were
the articles commonly brought in first. By some a handful of
grass, or a small quantity of moss, " fog," was carried in, and
placed on the hearth.*

One would on no account give a neighbour a live coal to
kindle a fire on this morning, t

If the fire burned brightly on this morning it was taken as a
token of prosperity during the coming year. A smouldering
fire indicated adversity. These ceremonies and notions about
Christmas were transferred in some places to New Year's Day
morning.

The last thing done on tlie last day of the year was to " rist "
the fire, that is, cover up the live coals with the ashes. The
whole was made as smooth and neat as possible. The first
thing on New Year's morning was to examine if there was in
the ashes any mark like the shape of a human foot witli the toes
pointing towards the door. If there was such a mark, one was
to be removed from the family before the year was run. Some
climbed to the roof of the house and looked down the " lum "
for the dreaded mark.

The first fire was carefully watched. If a peat or a live coal
rolled away from it, it was regarded as an indication that a
member of the family was to depart during the year.

Some there were who laid claim to divine what kind the
coming harvest was to be from the appearance of the stars
during the last night of the year.

From the way in which the wind blew on New Year's Day
auguries were drawn whetlier the crop of beans and peas would
be good or bad during that year.

Very often on New Year's Day companies of young men in
twos, threes, and fours set out shortly after breakfast to "tliigg"
for an old woman, or an old man, or an aged couple, or an
invalid that might be in narrow circumstances. Carrying a

♦ Cf . Henderson, p. 74. f ^**^« P« 72.

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAK'S DAY, &C. 161

sack to receive the alms of meal and a small bag for the money,
they travelled over a good many miles of the district of the
country in which they Uved, getting a "bossiefa " of meal from
this guidewife and a contribution of money from this other one.
They usually sang the following song: —

" The guide new year it is begun,

B' soothan, b* soothan.
The beggars they're begun to run,

An awa b' mony a toon.
Rise up gueedewife, an dinna be sweer,

B' soothan, b' soothan,
An deal yir chirity t' the peer,

An awa b' mony a toon.
May your baimies n'er be peer,

B* soothan, b* soothan,
Nor yet yir coo misgae the steer,

An awa b' mony a toon.
It's nae for oorsels it we come here,

B' soothan, b' soothan,
It's for sae scant o' gear.

An awa b' mony a toon.
We sing for meal, we sing for maut,

B' soothan, b' soothan,
We sing for cheese an a'thing fat.

An awa b' mony a toon.
Fess naither cog nor yet the mutty, •

B' soothan, b* soothan,
Bit fess the peck fou' lairge and lucky,

An awa b' mony a toon.
The roads are slippery, we canna rin,

B' soothan, b' soothan.
We maun myne oor feet for fear we fa',
■ An rin b' mony a toon."

Then came the question: "Are ye gueede for beggars?"
" Sometimes," was the answer, followed by the question, " Fah
arc ye beggin for ? " " For so-and-so." The alms was then
given, and then came the words of thanks, which were often
improvised in a kind of doggrel.

The young men were invited to sit down, and partake of the
New Year's hospitality. The invitation was refused with the
words, " Na, na, sittin beggars cumna speed." The whisky
bottle and the Yeel kebback were forthwith produced ; or, if

M

162 CHRISTMAS, N£W YEAR'b DAT, &Q.

whisky was refused, ale. The thiggars partook of the good
things, and set out again.

When the bag of meal became too heavy to be carried conve-
niently, it was left in some house, and another bag was substi-
tuted. By such an action as much meal and money were col-
lected for many a poor old worthy as, supplemented by a small
sum from the ^* peer's box," kept want from the door, and the
heart of the receiver was filled with gratitude, and the hearts of
the doers with a feeling of contentment.

On the last night of the year the children, particularly in the
villages, went into the houses asking their " hogminay." Some-
times they joined in companies and sung the following ditty : —

** Rise np, aul wife, an shack yer feathers;
Dinna think it we are beggars;
"We're only baimies come to play—
Rise np an gee*s wir hogminay.
Wir feet^s canl, wir sheen's thin,
Gee's a piece an lat's rin.
We'll sing for bread, we'll sing for cheese,
We'll sing for a' yir orra bawbees.
We'll sing for meal, we'll sing for mant.
We'll sing for siller to buy wir saut." *

Something was usually given to the children — "a piece,"
sweeties, or a bawbee, and away they ran in their innocent glee,
shouting and singing in the full enjoyment of their strong joyous
life.

Raffles formed a part of the Christmas and New Year's
amusements. They were usually set on foot for behoof of some
one in distress. An obliging farmer gave the use of his barn.
It was swept and made all trig, seats around the wall, with a
table in one corner. A fiddler was engaged. The goods to be
raffled were all prepared — tea, sugar, tobacco, &c. &c. In due
time the braw lads and bonnie lasses began to assemble. The
whole was presided over by a few of the wise of the district, and
two or three of them always sat at the raffle table dispensing
justice. At the appointed hour dancing began. When each
dance was finished the young man staked for his partner, and

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 64, 66, 76.

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR's DAY, &C. 163

she threw the dice with her own hand. If he was gallant he
staked again and again. The stakes were of small amount Id,
or 2d. An evening was passed in innocent fun, and good was
done.

Shooting-matches formed a great amusement. Such matches
were set on foot chiefly for the benefit of a poor man or woman,
or of an invalid in poverty. A sheep, or a pig, or a quarter of
an ox, was bought and cut up into pieces of convenient size ; or
a quantity of tea, sugar, and tobacco was purchased, and made
up into parcels of two ounces for the tea and tobacco, and of two
pounds for the sugar. Each piece of meat was put in at so
much per pound, usually from a penny to 2d, above the current
price. So many marksmen entered the lists for it, each paying
his share of the price. The piece fell to the best marksman.
The same mode was adopted with the other articles. In this
way a considerable sum was left over, after paying the current
price of the articles, fol^ the benefit of the one in distress for
whom the match was set on foot.

The target was usually set up at the bottom of a brae for the
sake of safety. When the match was finished, the boys, set free
from school by the " Yeelplay," immediately set#to work to dig
for the balls. The lead so recovered was manufactured at times
anew into balls ; but oflenest into " lead pikes " and " lead bull-
axes " to rule the copy-books at school, as pencils were scarce,
and ruled copy-books were not then in use.

Children had their games of chance, as their seniors had
their card-playing and their "dambrod" or "dams." They
had three games in particular — "the totum," "nivey neeck-
nack," and "headocks or pintacks." The stakes were pins.
A plentiful supply of " spot " and loose pins was got. Great
was the joy when the " Yeel preens " came from the shops, and
anxiously was " Yeelday " looked for, that the games and the
fun might begin. Everyone must have a "totum." Not
content with gaming, the youngsters must trock "totums,"
giving pins in boot, sometimes, however, making a " fair swap."
With thrifty provident children the totum was stored up after
Christmas to serve for other years.

M 2

164 GHBISTMASy NEW TEAR'S DAY, &C.

Card-playing received a full share of attention, and the gaming
was for the most part for money, or " in earnest." The play
was carried on during night, till an early hour in the morning,
either in private houses, or in taverns, or roadside inns, and by
many night after night. When the play was carried on in a
tavern, so much money was deducted at every game from the
" pull " to buy whisky, or, as it was expressed, " for the gueede
o' the hoose." Themutchkin stoup stood on the table, and each
player had a glass, which was replenished from the stoup as it
was emptied. When the stoup itself was emptied, it was again
filled. Bread and cheese or fish were supplied in abundance by
the host or hostess, without additional charge. So passed the
night, and by morning many of the players felt both their heads
and their pockets lighter.

In parts of Buchan it was deemed unlucky to spend money
in any form on " Hansel Monandy." Some went so far as not
to give the smallest thing away. If money was spent, or any-
thing given away, the luck of the year fied with the money or
the gift. In other districts (Banff*) mistresses made small gifts
to their domestics.*

Some were ip the habit of giving, on the morning of that day,
a small quantity of unthreshed oats to the cattle and the horses
on the farm.

Faster Even, Brose Day, or Bannock Nicht.

" First comes Candlemas,
An syne the new meen,
The first Tyesday aifter that's Festren's e'en.
That meen deen, the neist meen fou,
The first Sunday after that's Peace true."

Every one must have a beef dinner on this day. If a farmer
had not flesh for dinner on this day, the cattle would not thrive,
and some of them would assuredly die before the return of the
day.

The chief dish of the dinner was brose made of the beef-bree.
Into this dish was put a ring, and at times a button along with

* Cf . Henderson, p. 77.

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAr'S DAY, &C. 165

the ring. The ring indicated marriage, and the button a single
life. The one who got the ring must on no account make known
the fact till the dish was finished. Whoever got the ring wore
it till next morning, when it was given back to its owner. The
dreams were carefully noted, and prognostications drawn from
them regarding the prosperity or adversity of the coming year.

In the villages parties of the young, each at times carrying a
spoon, went the round of several houses to get their brose.
There was placed on the table a large basin filled with the
savoury food and reeking hot, and round it stood the young,
eager and ready, with spoon in hand. When all was ready
there was a rush, and each carried off a spoonful. Then another
rush and another, amidst laughter and joke, till the basin was
empty.

In the evening bannocks were baked. These bannocks were
composed of beaten eggs, oatmeal, and milk, and were baked
on " tlie girdle." In later times flour was substituted for oatmeal.

Prior to baking the bannocks, the fortune of each of the
unmarried present was read by some one skiUed in such lore.
Each chose an egg and gave it to the fortune-teUer. She care-
fully broke it in the middle on the edge of a wine-glass, and
dropped the albumen into the glass, which contained a little
water. From the figures made by the albumen in the water,
the events of the future life were prognosticated ; and many is
the time the prediction of this one's marriage has come true, for
she was seen in the glass standing before the minister ; of this
boy's becoming a minister, for so-and-so saw " a kirk wi' a
steeple " in his glass ; of this other one's death, for a winding-
sheet appeared in her glass.

The bannocks were baked in presence of all, and all took a
hand in the work. One poured the unbaked mixture on the
girdle, another turned the cake, another took off the cake when
baked, another sat holding a dish to receive the baked cakes,
and all were busy eating the cakes. The evening's amusements
were concluded by the baking of the same ingredients into a cake
of much thicker consistency than the others, which went by the
name of the " sautie bannock." The one who baked it must on

166 CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR'S DAY, &C.

no account utter a single word. During the process of baking
every means was used to make the baker of it break silence. If
tlio baker was betrayed into speaking, her place was taken by
another. Into the cake was put a ring. When baked it was
cut into as many pieces as tliere were unmarried persons present.
Each chose a piece. The one who got the piece containing the
ring was the first to enter into the married life.

On no account was there any spinning on " the muckle
wheel " on this day.

On Eastern's day the men engaged in a game of "ball." This
was done, as some allege, to prevent them fi-om taking " a sehr
back " during harvest. The game might be either by throwing
the ball, or kicking it with the foot — football — or by striking it
with " the club " or '' scuddie."*

Cock-fighting was an amusement indulged in, particularly by
boys at school.

Valentine Day.

On the evening of Valentine Day companies of the young
unmarried men and women mot, and drew " valentines." Tliis
was done in the following way : — The names of all the young men
and women in the neighbourhood were written on slips of paper.
The slips of paper were carefully folded up. The slips bearing
the names of the young men were put into one bag, and those
bearing the names of the yomig women were put into another.
The young men drew from the bag containing the names of the
females, and tlie young women drew from the other. The
young man or young woman whom each drew was the *^ valen-
tine." Of coiu^e there was much merriment, and sometimes
tliere was a little disappointment if tlie wished-for " valentine "
was not drawn. The sHp of paper bearing the name was care-
fully preserved by each, and put below tlie pillow to evoke
dreams, t

Peace Sunday.

In some districts eggs were rolled on the Saturday afternoon
preceding " Peace Sunday." Generally the yoimg had been

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 77. f Cf. F, Z. LWord, toI. ii. p. 125.

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR's DAY, &C. 167

collecting whin blossom to dye the eggs. In cold late springs
there was the risk of not getting the desired blossom, and grave
were the speculations among the young about the whin being in
blossom in sufficient quantity to aflFord the dye.

In other districts there was no rolling of eggs. An egg was,
however, given to each member of the family for breakfast.
The young strictly enjoined the older members not to break, as
was usually done, the shells after eating the eggs. The shells
on that day were reserved for boats, and, if there was a stream
or pond at hand, the young hurried away after breakfast to sail
their shells. If there was neither stream nor pond, a tub wa?
filled with water that the egg-boats might be sailed.

Beltane.

In some districts fires were kindled on the 2nd of May, O.S.
They were called hone-fires. The belief was that on that evening
and night the witches were abroad in all their force, casting ill
on cattle and stealing cows' milk. To counteract their evil
power pieces of the rowan-tree and woodbine, chiefly of rowan-
tree, were placed over the byre doors, and fires were kindled by
every farmer and cottar. Old thatch, or straw, or furze, or
broom was piled up in a heap and set on fire a little after sunset.
Some of those present kept constantly tossing up tlie blazing
mass, and others seized portions of it on pitch-forks or poles,
and ran hither and thither, holding them as high as they were
able, while the younger portion, that assisted, danced round the
fire or ran through the smoke, shouting. " Firel blaze an burn
the witches; fire! firel burn the witches." In some districts
a large round cake of oat or barley-meal was rolled through the
ashes. When the material was burned up, the ashes were
scattered far and wide, and all continued (ill quite dark to run
through them still crying " Fire 1 bum the witches."

Hallowe'en.

In other districts fires were lighted on Hallowe'en. Villagers
and farmers alike must have their fire. In the villages the boys

168 CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR's DAY, &C.

went from house to house and begged a peat from each house-
holder, commonly with the words, *^Ge's a peat t' burn the
witches." In some villages the boys got a cart for the collecting
of the peats. Part of them drew iiie cart, and part of them
gathered the peats. Along with the peats were collected straw,
furze, potato haulm, everything that would burn quickly, all
which were piled up in a heap, and set on fire. One after
another of the youths laid himself down on the groimd as near
the fire as possible so as not to be burned, and in such a position
as to let the smoke roU over him. The others ran through the
smoke, and jumped over him.

When the heap was burned down, the ashes were scattered.
Each one took a share in this part of the ceremony, giving a
kick first with the right foot, and then with the left ; and each
vied with the other who should scatter the greatest quantity.
When the ashes were scattered, some still continued to run
through them, and to throw the half-burned peats at each other,
and at times with no small danger.

At eacji farm, as high a spot as possible, not too near the
steading, was chosen for the fire. Much the same process was
gone through as with the \dllagers' fire. The youths of one
farm, when their own fire was burned down, and the ashes of it
scattered, sometimes went to the neighbouring fire, and lent a
hand in the scattering of its ashes. During the burning of the
fire and the scattering of the ashes, tlie half-yearly servants on
the farm, if they intended changing masters, sang: —

" This is Hallaeven,
The mom is Halladav;
Nine free nichts till Martinmas,
An soon they'll wear away."

CHAPTER XXIII.

COUNTINGS-OUT.

OUNTINGS-OUT" form a curious item of folk-
lore, and seem to be common among diflPerent
nations in a variety of forms. The following have
been collected in Banffshire and Aberdeenshire.
Those who wish to look more into this subject may be referred
to a paper on the " Anglo-Cymric Score " in the Transactions
of the Philological Society, London (volume for 1877-79, pp.
316-372), by Mr. Ellis, one of the vice-presidents of the society.
The following were in use in Fraserburgh : —

" Eenrie, twaarie, tickerie, teven,
AUaby, crockery, ten, or elaiven,
Peen, pan, fusky dam,
Wheedlum, whadlom, twenty-one."

" Eetum, peetum, penny pump,
A' the laadies in a lump;
Sax or saiven in a clew,
A* made wi' candy glue."

" One, two, three, four,
Tack a mell an ding *im our."

" One, two, three, four, five, six, siven,
A' that fisher dodds widna win t' haren.''

** Eerinnges, oranges, two for a penny,
A*m a good scholar for coontin so many.'*

** Ink, pink,
Penny, stink."

*^ Hetum, petum, penny pie,
Pop a lorie, jinkie, jye.
An, tan, toap,
Stan ye oot by
For a bonny penny pie."

170 COUNTINGS-OUT.

" Aneric, twaaric, tickcrie, salyen,
Hallabie, cockabie, ten, a belyven,
Pin, pan, mnskie, dan,
Tweedlum, twadlam, twenty-one."

" I saw a doo flee our the dam,
Wi' silver wings an golden ban;
She leukit east, she lenkit west,
She lenkit fahr t' light on best;
She lightit on a bank o* san'
T' see the cocks o' Cnmberlan*.
Fite pnddin, black trout,
Ye're oot."

" As I geed up the brandy hill
I met my father — he geed wull,
He hid jewels, he hid rings,
He'd a cat wi' ten tails,
He'd a ship wi' saiven sails,
He'd a haimmer dreeye nails.
Up Jack, doon Tarn,
Blaw the bellows, aul' man."

" Mr. Smith's a yery good man.
He teaches his scholars noo an than,
An fin he's deen, he tacks a dance
Up t' London, doon t' France.
He wears a green beaver wi' a snoot,
Tarry eedle, ye're oot."

** Endy tendy, ticker a been,
I sent a letter to the Queen,
The Queen o' Jerusalem sent it t' me,
Ocus, pocus, one, two, three."

" Eentie, teentie, tippenny bun.
The cat geed oot to get some fun.
To get some fun played on a drum
Eentie, teentie, tippenny bun."

" * Mr. Mundie, foo's yir wife ? '

* Verra sick, an like t' die.'

* Can she eat ony butcher meat ? '

* Yes; more than I can buy.
Half a horse, half a coo,
Half three-quarters o' a soo.
She mak's her pottage very thin;
A pound o' butter she puts in.'
Fite puddin, black troot,

Ye're oot".

COUNTINGS-OUT. 171

The following flourished long ago in the parish of Tyrie: —

" Eetam, peetum, j inkle, jie,
Staan ye oot by."

*' Eetum, peetum, penny pie,
Staan ye oot by."

" Eetum for peetnm,
The King cam t' meet him,
And dang John Hamilton doon."

Pitsligo gives : —

" Item, pcetan, peeny pie,
Pop a lorie, jinkie jyc,
Ah day doot,
Staan ye oot by."

Rathen gives : —

" Anery, twaaery, tickery, seiven,
AUaby, crackaby, ten an eleiven,
)Pin, pan, mnsky dan,
Tweedletum, twadletum, twenty-one."

The following were in use in Portsoy : —

" Eerie, aarie,
Biscuit Mary,
Pim, pam, pot."

" Enerie, twaarie, tickcrie, ten,
Allabie, crackabie, ten, or eleevin,
Pim, pam, musky dam,
Queevric, quaavrie, English man."

" Eerie, aarie, ackertie, ann,
Feelicie, faalicic, mixin, John,
Queevrie, quaavrie, Irish man,
Stinklum, stanklum, buck."

" Eetum, pectum, penny pie,
Cock-a-lorie, jinky jye,
Staan ye oot by
For a bonnie penny pie."

" As I gecd up the aipple tree,
A* the aipples stack t' me.
Fite puddin, black trout,
I choose you oot
For a dirty dish clout."

172 COUNTINGS-OUT.

** Eringics, oraugies,
Two for a penny,
Come all 70 good scholars
That counted so many.
The rose is red, the grass is green,
The days are gane
That I hae seen.
Kettle, my spinner.
Cum doon t' yir dinner,
And taste a leg of frog.
Mr. Frog is a very good man.
He takes a dance up to France
Noo an than.''

The foregoing was in use when the number to be counted out
was large.

" Yokie, pokie, yankie, fun,
How do you like your potatoes done ?
First in brandy, then in rum,
That's how 1 like my potatoes done."

In the following formula the syllable ca must be added to the
end of each word : —

" I wud gee a' my livin'
That my wife were as fite an as fair
As the swans that flee our the milldam."

Keith furnishes the following: —

*' Anerie, twaarie, tickrie, ten,
Epsom, bobsum, gentle men,
Pim, pam, whisky dam,
Feedlum, fadlum, twenty-one."

'^ Eerie, airie, ackertie ann,
Hunches, bunches, English man,
Back oot, back in,
Back throw the heelie pin.
Peter cam t' oor door,
Playin at the pipes.
Cum a riddle, fizz oot."

" Anerie, twaarie, tickerie, ten,
Bobsie, munsie, gentle men.
Ting, tang, muskie dam,
Feedlum, fan, twenty-one."

COUNTINGS-OUT. 1 73

" Heotnm, peetam, penny pie,
Pop a lone, j inkle jye,
Eadie, ootside,
Staan ye oot by."

" Anery, twaaery, tickery seven,
Halaby, clackaby, ten and eleven,
Teish, tosh, maca bosh,
Tid, taddle, tiddle, stink."

Banff furnishes the following :—

*' John, rod, tod, rascal."

" Eenitie, feenitie, ficer, ta
Fae, el, del, domina,
Irky, birky, story, rock.
An, tan, toust."

" Eenitie, teenitie, tippinny bnn.
The cat geed oot to get some fun,
She got some fnn,
She played the drum,
Eenity, teenity, tippinny bun."

** Ease, ose, man's nose,
A potty fou o' water brose."

" The moose ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
Doon the moosie ran,
Ickety, dickety, dog, dan."

" Ane, twa, three, four,
Mary at the cottage door
Eating cherries off a plate,
Five, six, seven, eight."

" Eerie, aarie, ecertie, ann
Bobs in vinegar I began
Eat, at
Moose, rat,

I choose you oot for a pennie pie.
Pur."

" * Mr. Mungo, foo's yir wife ? '

* Very sick an like t' die.'

* Can she eat any butcher meat ? '

* Yes; more than I can buy.

1 74 COUNTINGS-OUT.

Half a BOW,

Half an ox, half a quarter of a cow;

She likes her porridge very thin,

A ponnd of butter she puts in.'

I choose you oot

For a penny pie, put."

'' Fussle Beardie hid a coo
Black an fite aboot the moo,
Wizna that a dainty coo
Belongt to Fussle Beardie.*'

*' Fussle Beardie hid a horse;
It hault the cairtie through the moss,
Broke the cairtie, hangt the horse ;
Wizna that a dainty horse
Belongt t' Fussle Beardie."

** Bob Law's lum reeks
Boon about the chimney-cheeks.**

" Rise, Sally Walker, rise if you can.
Rise, Sally Walker, an follow your gueedeman,
Come, choose to the East,
Come, choose to the West.
Come, choose to the very one I love best*

" As I gaed up the brandy hill
I met my father; he geed will.
He'd jewels, he'd rings.
He'd mony fine things,
He*d a cat wi' ten tails.
He'd a ship w' saiyen sails.
Up Jack, down Tom,
Blow the bellows, old man.
Old man had a coat.
He rowed aboot i' the ferry-boat ;
The ferry-boat's our dear.
Ten poun' i* the year.
I've a cherry, I've a chest,
I've a bonny blue vest,
I've a dog amo' the com,
Blawin' Willie Buck's horn.
Willie Buck hiz a coo,
Black an fite aboot the moo.
It jumpit our the Brig o' Muck,
An ran awa fae Willie Buck."

»»

COUNTINGS-OUT. 1 73

" Anerie, twaarie, tickerie, teyen,
Hallaby, crackeby, tenaby, leven,
Pirn, pam, musky, dam,
Feedlnm, faadlom, twenty-one."

" Ees, aas, oos, ink.
Peas, pottage, sma* drink,
Twa an twa's a tippenny loaf,
Twa an twa's it"

** Humble, bumble. Mister Fumble,
Three score an ten.
Learn me to double a hundred
Over an over again."

" Black fish, fite troot,
Eerie aarie, ye're oot."

** John Smith, a folia fine,
Cam t' shoe a horse o* mine.

Shoe a horse,

Ca a nail,
Ca a tacket in its tail.
Black fish, fite troot.
Eerie, aarie, ye*re oot."

" Mr. Dunn's a very good man.
He teaches scholars, now and than;
And when he's done he takes a dance
Up to London, down to France.
He wears a boiuiet wi' a green snoot
Eerie, aarie, ye'er oot."

" * Mr. Murdoch, how's your wife ? '
* Very ill, and like to die.'
' Can she eat any meat 7 '
' Tes, as much as I can buy ;

She makes her porritch very thin,

Pounds o' butter she puts in.'

Black fish, fite troot.

Eerie, aarie, ye're oot."

CHAPTER XXIV.

WASHING DAY.

|N days long ago very little, and many a time no soap
was used in washing. Cow-dung was frequently
employed in the scouring and bleaching of "ham."
A thick ley of it was made, and into it the web was
first put. It lay in this mixture for some time. This process
was called "bookin." After being taken from the "book,*^ it
was washed as clean as possible, then boiled, and spread on the
grass. It was turned, and soaked with water day after day till
the strong smell of the " book '' had left it, and it had become
pretty white and clear. Another ley was made of the droppings
of the poultry, and went by the name of " hen-pen/* Another
common detergent was stale urine, " maister."

Once a year, in spring, there was the great yearly washing,
when every piece of dress, every blanket, everything of bedding,
and ever}i;hing of cloth kind that could be washed, and required
washing, were subjected to a thorough cleansing. A bank near
the well, or a spot on the bank of a neighbouring stream or
river or loch, was chosen. A hole was dug in the earth, and a
few large stones were placed at the sides of the hole to confine
the fire, and to serve as a support for the " muckle pot" or the
kettle. A large fire of peat was kindled in this hole, and the
pot or kettle, filled with water, was placed over it. Tubs were
standing all round, some on stools for hand-washing the
lighter articles that had to be washed by the hand, and some
on the ground for washing by the feet the heavier articles,
and of such as were more than usually soiled. From early
morning till night the work went on, some busy washing
with the hands, some treading with their feet, some spreading
the washed articles to bleach and dry, watering them, turning

WASHIKG DAY. 177

them ; and when dried, shaking them, folding them, and^toring
them up. Such of the articles as required more than one day
to bleach and dry were left during night. To guard them from
thieves a few of the young folks kept watch and ward, passing
the night in song, or in telling ghost and fairy stories, or in
listening to the sweet music of the fairies if the clothes happened
to be near a fairy hillock, for the fairies were usually kind, and
took delight in doing mortals good.
A washing rhyme was : —

" Her it washes on Monanday
Gets a' the ook t' dry.
Her it washes on Tyesday
Is nae far bye.

Her it washes on Wednesday,
She is a dainty dame.
Her it washes on Feersday
Is mnckle t' the same.
Her it washes on Friday
Hiz little skeel indeed.
Her it washes on Satterday,
It's jist a dud for need.''

Ill washing, if the soap did not " rise " on the clothes, there
was a '' fey " person's clothes in the tub.

N

CHAPTER XXV.

FABMIN6.

|HEN one entered upon a farm, it was usual for friends
and neighbours to lend a helping hand. Aid was
given in ploughing. A day was fixed, and each
neighbour sent one or more ploughs according to the
number he had. Qoodly hospitality was not awanting at such
times. But the kind offices of neighbours were not confined to
ploughing the fields of the in-going tenant. They contributed
at least part of the grain to sow the fields. The new tenant,
along with a friend, went fi:om farm to farm, and got a peck or
two from this one, a leppie from the next one, a hathish-cogfiil
from the next one. This was called " thiggin the seed." No
one, however, gave in this way any grain till he himself had
some of his own fields sown.

Thigging was not confined to the gathering of the seed by a
new tenant. A crofter, with a bad crop, at times went the round
of the country during harvest, and begged grain in the fodder.
In* later times this was done with a cart Usually a few sheaves
were given by each farmer and brother-crofter. The poor man
collected in this way a quantity sufficient for his need, and was
able to tide over his distress.

It was only the higher and drier parts of the land that were
cultivated. The low and wet parts were reserved for growing
" rashes " and " sprots," which formed cattle-litter and thatch
for the grain-stacks and houses. The land was not divided into
regular and shapely fields. There was a patch here and a patch
there in the middle of a tract overgrown with heather or whin
or broom, and often choked up with stones. Even in the
cultivated parts of larger size there was no regularity. They
were twisted, bent like a bow, zig-zag, of all shapes, and cut

FARMING. 179

up by "baaks," into which were gathered stones and such
weeds as were taken from the portion under crop.

There was no fixed rotation of crops. Each farmer did as he
thought fit. Here is one system.

The lea was ploughed and sown witli oats. This crop was
called the " ley crap." The next crop was also of oats, and was
named the "yaavel crap." At times a second "yaavel" was
taken. The land was then manured and sown with here. The
crop which followed was the " bar-reet crap," and was of oats.
Then came the second " bar-reet crap," and last of all the
" waarshe crap." The land was then allowed to rest for an
indefinite number of years, according to the fancy of the owner.
It soon ran to a sward of natural grasses.

It was not at all uncommon to leave a " rig " or two unsown for
the wild oats to grow up. They came earlier to maturity than the
cultivated, and thus furnished the staff of life for the time between
the exhaustion of the old crop and the incoming of the new.

Some left a corner uncultivated altogether for '^ the aul man,"
t. e. the devil, or spirit of evil.

The plough was made of wood,. and was of so simple and easy
construction that a man had no difficulty in making one in a
day, or in even less time.

The harrows were of wood, and the tynes of the same material,
and for the most part of birch. The thrifty, foreseeing farmer
often spent part of his winter evenings in preparing tynes.
When prepared they were hung in bundles on the rafters of the
kitchen to dry and harden.

Ropes were made either of hair, willows, bog-fir split up into
canes, broom roots, or heather.

On large farms the plough was drawn by twelve oxen, and
was called a '^ twal ousen plew." Counting from the pair next
the plough, the name of each pair was: —

« Fit yoke,
Hin frock,
Fore frock,
Mid yoke.

Steer-draught o* laan,
Wy\iers."

n2

180 FARMING.

The oxen were driven by the " gaadman." He carried a long
polo, sharpened at one end, or tipped with iron, which he applied
to the animal that was shirking his work. The " gaadman "
usually whistled to cheer the brutes in their work. Hence the
proverb to signify that much exertion had been made with poor
results: — " Muckle fuslan an little red-laan."

The oxen were yoked to the plough by a common rope called
the "soum." The bridle of tiie plough bore the name of the
" cheek-lone," to which the " fit-yoke " was attached by the
" rack-baan." Hence the origin of the two phrases, " a crom
i' the soum," and " a thrum i' the graith," to indicate that a
hitch had taken place in the carrying out of an undertaking.

With such slender-looking materials ^s a wooden plough and
graith made of " sauch waans," one unacquainted with the
strength of such was apt to look down upon the implement.
Tradition has it that a Lord Povost of Aberdeen began, in the
hearing of one of the Dukes of Gordon, to make light of
a "twal-ousen plew." The duke defended, and asserted that
his plough would tear up the " plainstanes " of Aberdeen. The
Provost accepted the challenge. A day was fixed. The duke
hastened home, and had everything made of the best material,
and in the strongest fashion. Oxen, plough, and graith, were
conveyed to Aberdeen, with the Duke's best ploughman and
most skilful " gaadman." On the day appointed, and at the hour
fixed, the " twal-ousen plew " in all its splendour was on the
spot. The duke and the provost, with a crowd of eager on-
lookers, stood round. A small hole had been made to allow the
plough to enter, and it was duly placed in it, and held firm by
the iron grip of a stalwart Gordon, whilst the ^^ gaadman" stood
watching his team. The word was given to begin. The " gaad-
man" struck up his tune and applied the " gaad ": tlie oxen bent
their necks, raised their backs, and tugged; but the stones
remained immoveable. The strain was slackened, and the oxen
drew breath. Again did the " gaadman " try his skill and cheer
on the brutes. When the full strain was felt one of the fit-yoke
shirked the pull. The Duke's keen eye saw what the " gaad-
man " failed to see. It was tlie (critical moment. Everytliing

FARMING. 181

depended on that ox. The duke shouted out " The bred t'
Brockie." In an instant the *' brod " was in Brockie's flank.
Brockie bowed his neck, and curved his back. Down went the
plough, away tugged the oxen, and right and left flew the
'' plainstanes " of Aberdeen before the Duke of Gordon's " twal-
ousen plew."

When the plough was " strykit," i ^., put into the ground
for the first time in autumn or spring, to prepare the soil for the
seed, bread and cheese, with ale or whisky, were carried to the
field, and partaken of by the household. A piece of bread with
cheese was put into the plough, and another piece was cast into
the field " to feed the craws."

When the seed was once taken to the field, it must on no
account be taken back to the bam, if the weather broke, and
prevented it from being sown. It lay on the field till the
weather cleared up and the soil became fit for being sown,
however long the time might be.

Harvesting was done by the sickle, and eight harvesters, four
men and four women, were put on each *^ rig." A binder and
a "stooker" were appointed to each eight reapers. At times
there were only two on each rig. Before commencing work on
the harvest field, each reaper cast a cross on the ground with
the sickle " to keep the wrist from being sprained." During
a wet harvest the sheaves, after having the band drawn up to
the ears, were set up on end singly to dry. This process was
called " gyttin." The reapers when at work looked for a
kindly salutation from the passers-by, and took it ill if such
a greeting was not given. A common one was ^' God speed
the wark."

It was believed by some that a very mysterious animal, which
when met with by the reapers among the corn had the appear-
ance of a grey stone, but which could change its shape, lived
among the corn. When met with, a small quantity of the crop
was left standing around it, and the ears of grain only were cut
off^. This animal looks like the hedgehog.

The " clyack " sheaf was cut by the maidens on the harvest
field. On no account was it allowed to touch the ground. One

182 FABHtKG.

of the maidens seated herself on the ground, and over her knees
was the band of the sheaf laid. Each of the maidens cut a hand-
fiill, or more if necessary, and laid it on the band. The sheaf
was then bound, still lying over the maiden's knees, and dressed
up in woman's clothing. It was carried home in triumph and
carefiiUy preserved till Christmas or New Year morning. On
that morning it was given to a mare in foal, if such was on the
farm, and if not, it was given to the oldest cow. Some left a
few stalks unreaped for the benefit of " the aul' man."

When the " clyack " sheaf .was cut, the reapers threw their
sickles to divine in what direction the farm lay on which they
were to be reapers the following harvest. The sickle was thrown
three times over the left shoulder, and note was taken in what
direction its point lay. The " best o' three " decided the question
— that is, if the point twice lay in the same direction, the reaper
was to reap the next harvest on a farm in that direction.

The reapers on neighbouring farms always vied with each
other who should have the crop first reaped. Those who
finished first fired one or more shots into their neighbours'
fields.

The best produce of the farm was served up for dinner on the
day " clyack " was taken, if it was taken before the hour of
dinner. If the cutting of the crop was finished after the dinner-
hour, then the feast was served as supper. One part of the feast
that could not be dispensed with was a cheese which was called
the *' clyack kebback." Like the " yeel kebback," it must be
cut by the gueedman. The absence of this cheese from the
" clyack " feast, or its being cut by another than the master of
the household, would have been unpropitious.

The one who took the last of the grain from the field to the
stackyard was called the " winter." Each one did what could
be done to avoid being the last on the field, and when there were
several on the field there was a race to get ofi;

The unfortunate " winter " was the subject of a good deal of
teasing, and was dressed up in all the old clothes tliat could bo
gathered about the farm, and placed on the " bink " to eat his
supper.

FABMIKG. 183

When all was safe and snug for the winter season, there was
the '* meel an ale " — that is, a feast in which a dish made of ale,
oatmeal, sugar, with whisky, formed the characteristic dish. In
some districts this feast was called " the winter." Commonly
to it were invited the unmarried folks* from the neighbouring
farms, and the evening was spent in " dance and jollity."

One was not over exact in gathering from the fields all the
scattered ears of grain. Birds had to be fed as well as man, and
some of the bounties of Providence had to be left for the fowls
of the air.

The winnowing of the grain was done by the wind. The bam
had two doors, the one right opposite the other, and between
the two doors, when the wind was suitable, the winnowing was
carried on by means of riddles having meshes of different sizes.
When fans were introduced, there was great prejudice against
the use of them. The wind was looked upon as the means pro-
vided by the Father of all for separating the chaff from the
grain, and to cast it away and use artificial wind was regarded
as a slur on His wisdom and a despising of His gifts. An old-
fashioned man in the parish of Pitsligo, on seeing a neighbour
proceed to winnow his grain with a fan, cried out : — " Eh I
Sauny Milne, Sauny Milne, will ye tak' the poor oot o' the
Almichty's han' ?"

It was the common saying that the produce of the land in
each period of seven years was consumed within that period.

The tradition was that, when mills for grinding grain into
meal were first introduced, those sites were chosen to which
water for driving the wheel flowed naturally. There must be
no artificial embanking, and little or no turning of the water
from its natural run. The site of the mill was fore-ordained
by Providence. Man had merely to use his powers to find out
the site.

The wheel of the mill could be stopped by throwing into the
race some mould taken from a churchyard at midnight, and the
repeating the Lord's Prayer backward during the act of casting
the mould, " the meels," into the water.

184 FARMING.

Cattle.

Cattle, like human beings, were exposed to the influences of
the evil eye, of forespeaking, and of the casting of evil. Witches
and warlocks did the work of evil among their neighbours'
cattle if their anger had been aroused in any way.

The fairies often wrought injury amongst cattle.* Every
animal that died suddenly was killed by the dart of the fairies,
or, in the language of the people, was " shot-a-dead." f Flint
arrows and spear-heads went by the name of " faery dairts,"
whilst the kelts were called "thunderbolts," and were coveted
as the sure bringers of success, provided they were not allowed
to fall to the gi'ound. When an animal died suddenly the canny
woman of the district was sent for to search for the "faery
dairt," and in due course she found one, to the great satisfaction
of the owner of the dead animal.

There were those who were dreaded as buyers, if the purchase
was not completed by them. In a short time the animal began
to " dwine," or an accident befell it, or death speedily followed.
Such had an " ill-ee." | It was alleged that they were well
aware of the opinion entertained of their power, and offered a
price less than that of the market, fully aware that the seller
would rather give the animal at the low price than risk a sale in
the market, or no sale at all, for the same men were believed to
prevent the sale to any other.

One mode of an enemy's working evil among a neighbour's
cattle was to take a piece of carrion, cut the surface of it into
small pieces, and bury it in the dunghill, or put it over the lintel
of the door. Such carrion was called " hackit-flesh." If disease
broke out among the cattle of a farm, the dunghill was carefully
searched for " hackit-flesh." If such a thing was found it was
taken to a short distance from the "toon," and always to a spot
above it, and there burned.

If the "hackit flesh" was not found, and if it was divined

♦ Choice Nates, p. 38. f Cf. Henderson, pp. 185-7.

% Choice Notes, p. 257.

FARMING. 185

that the disease arose from the work of a witch or a warlock,
the carcass of the animal which first died was burned.

Not many years ago two farmers on the north-east coast of
Aberdeenshire, one of whom bore the character of being ^'un-
canny," as all his '^forebeers" had been, quarrelled over a
bargain. A short time after, a horse belonging to the one who
provoked the quarrel was taken ill and died. It was the " un-
canny" man who had done the deed. Within a day of the
death of the first a second was taken ill, and died. It w^s' drawn
forth from the stable to a convenient spot, and piled round. with
a quantity of peats. The heap of fuel was set on fire, and for
several days the pile burned.

Near the same place, but many years ago, a crofter's cow fell
ill, and died. Not long after a second fell ill, and died too. In
a short time the remaining cow was seized with the same disease.
A " skeely " man wast sent for. He came, examined the cow,
and told the owner that the cow would soon die as the other
two had done. He then went into the kitchen and seated him-
self on the " dies," that he might give further instructions. He
told at the same time that all was the work of a near neighbour.
There was, however, only one near neighbour, and the owner
of the cows said it could not be that near neighbour, calling her
by name. The man made no reply to this, but went on to say
that a woman carrying a little black jar would soon enter, and
ask for a little milk, which was on no account to be given.
Scarcely had he finished giving this order, than in walked this
near neighbour, canying a black jar, and asked for a little milk.
It was at once refused. She looked at the man of skill for a
moment, and then seated herself on the "dies "not far from
him. ' While the conversation was being carried on, the woman
with the black jar was trying to move nearer and nearer the
man of skill. But he saw what she was aiming at, and he
moved away little by little, always followed by the woman, both
to all appearance unconscious of each other's movements. At
last the man reached the end of the "dies," and the woman was
coming always nearer. He jumped to the middle of the floor,
and thus saved himself Had the woman laid her hand on him
all his skill was gone.

186 FABMIKa

The cow died. She was dragged away to a convenient spot,
and burnt to ashes in accordance with the man's orders.

About the year 1850 disease broke out among the cattle of a
small farm in the parish of Eesoliss, Black Isle, Eoss-shire.
The farmer prevailed on his wife to undertake a journey to a
wise woman of renown in BanflFshire to ask a charm against the
effects of the " ill ee." The long journey of upwards of fifty
miles was performed by the good wife, and the charm was got.
One chief thing ordered was to burn to death a pig, and sprinkle
the ashes over the byre and other farm buildings. This order
was carried out, except that the pig was killed before it was
burned. A more terrible sacrifice was made at times. One of
the diseased animals was rubbed over with tar, driven forth, set
on fire, and allowed to run till it fell down and died.*

When the quarter-ill made its appearance the ''muckle
wheel " was set in motion, and tui'ned till fire was produced.
From this virgin flame fires were kindled in the byres. At the
same time, if neighbours requested the favour, live coals were
given them to kindle fires for the purification of their home-
steads and turning off the disease. Fumigating the bjrres with
juniper was a method adopted to ward off disease.

Such a fire was called " needfyre." The kindling of it came
under the censure of the Presbytery at times.

"The said day [28 Febniarii, 1644], it was regraited be Mr. Robert Watsone
that ther vas neid fyre raysed vithln his parochin of Grange for the curing of
cattell, etc. The bretherin thoght to referr the mater to the considerationn of
the Provinciall Assemblie."

« 28th Martii, 1649, Mr. Robert Watson regrated the kindling of neidfyre
Tithin his parochin. Referred to the considerationn of the Assemblie of conrse
to bo taken heirwith."

" Penult Mai j 1649, compeired parishoneris of Grange, con-
fessed they ver present at the kindling of neidfyre, and did nothing but as they
ver desired be James Duncan in Keyth. Also, they delated some of their owne

elderis to haue been accessorie thereto all ordained to satisfie

according to the ordinance of the Provinciall Assemblie, vith three dayes
repentance in sackcloth.'* f

The fore-legs of one of the animals that had died were cut

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 148, 149.

t "Extracts from [the Presbytery Book of Strathbogie," pp. 51, 104, 106.
Spalding Club, Aberdeen. A.D. 1843. Cf. Henderson, pp. 167, 168.

\

FABMIK6. 187

off a little above the knee, and hung over the fire-place in the
kitchen.* It was thought sufficient by some if they were placed
over the door of the byre, in tlie " crap o' the wa." Sometimes
the heart and part of the liver and lungs were cut out, and hung
over the fireplace instead of the fore-feet. Boib'ng them was at
times substituted for hanging them over the hearth.

Transferring the disease was another mode of cure. To do
this the carcass was secretly buried on a neighbouring farm ;
but, as this act transferred the disease to the neighbour's cattle,
it was seldom done. The animal was conveyed by night to a
wood or a lone hill-side on a neighbouring proprietor's lands
and bm*ied. Sometimes the dead animal was buried in the
bottom of a ditch dividing farms or proprietors' lands. It is not
over forty years since a farmer in the parish of Keith, on the
lands of the Earl of Fife, carted the carcass of an animal to a
hill on the property of the Earl of Seafield, and there buried it.
In doing this act all care had to be used to avoid detection ; for,
if the actors had been caught in the act, they would have had to
pay dearly for their deed.

A mode of arresting the progress of disease on a farm was the
place on the farm where the dead animal was buried ; it must
be buried '' abeen " the " toon " and not '* aneth " it.

Another series of cures was by draughts prepared in particu-
lar ways.

Let a new shilling be put into a pail or cog andwater poured
over it; such water was considered of great efiicacy in effecting
a cure.

A few years ago a farmer who happened to be in the seaport
village of Portgordon was asked to visit and prescribe for a sick
cow belonging to one of the villagers. He asked if anything
had been done in the way of cure. " Oo aye," said the woman,
" a ga' ir a drink aff o' a new shillin yesterday, in a think she's
been some better sin seen." But the most noted medicine of the
draught kind is furnished by Willox " stone " and bridle. This
stone and bridle have been in possession of the family for
generations. All the virtue lies in the stone and the bridle, and

* Cf. Henderson, p. 167.

188 FARMING.

not in the possessor or operator. A small quantity of water is
poured into a basin. The stone is put into the water and
turned three times round while the words, " In the name of tlie
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," are repeated. The
bridle is then dropped into the water and turned round in the
same way, and with the same words. The water so treated has
the power to cure all manner of disease.*

To keep the witches at a distance there were various methods,
and all of approved value. On bonfire night (1st May, o.s.)
small pieces of rowan-tree and woodbine Were placed over the
byre doors inside the house. Sometimes it was a single rod
of rowan, covered with notches. There is the well-known
rhyme : —

** The rawn-tree in the widd-bin
Hand the witches on cum in."

Another and even more effectual method was to tie to each
animal's tail by a scarlet thread a small cross made of the wood
of the rowan-tree ; hence the rhymes : —

" Rawn-tree in red-threed
Pits the witches t' their speed."

And,

" Rawn-tree in red-threed
Gars the witches tyne their speed." f

When an animal was led away to market the besom was thrown
on it to ward off all harm from witches, the " ill-ee," or " fore-
speaking."

The lialter by which the animal was led went along with it
when sold ; to have taken it off would have been unpropitious.
It was taken off when the animal reached the byre door, and
cast on the roof of the byre, where it was allowed to lie. The
removal of it from the roof would have brought down misfortune
on the beast that had been purchased.

If the seller of an animal was in the least degree suspected of
possessing uncanny powers, the buyer made the sign of the cross
on the animal's side, " to keep a's ain." This was done in an

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 163-166.

t Cf. Henderson, pp. 225, 226; Choice Notes, pp. 38, 39.

FARMING. 189

especial manner if tlie animal was a milch cow, as it prevented
the seller from retaining? the milk though he sold the cow.
When the bargain, was settled on; the buyer and seller struck
hands, or, wetting their thumbs, pressed them together. Both
went to a tent, many of which had been pitched on the market-
green for the sale of refreshments, when payment was made, and
the " blockan ale " drunk. The seller, on receiving payment,
returned a " luck penny " to the buyer, a sixpence, a shilling,
or a larger sum, if it was thought a " stret bargain." *

The Dairy.

The chief enemies of the dairy were the witch and the war-
lock,t that had the power of drawing away the milk and the
cream of the cows. There were various modes of doing so. The
witch with hair streaming over her face and shoulders has been
seen on her knees in the byres beside a blazing fire. Then she has
been known to make the milk pour through the key-hole of tlie
door or from the foot of the couple. J She has been observed to
turn herself into a hare, mount on the cow's back, and sit for a
time, and the milk has departed, whilst she never wanted milk,
though she had no cow at all, or, if she had one, though she
was *^ ferra."

When a neighbour's cow, whose milk was to be taken, was in
the act of calving, a pot was placed beside the fire by the witch.
At the time the calf dropped from the cow, of which the milk-
stealer was informed by one in her service, by

" Some deevlish cantrip slicht,"

the milk poured into the pot, and the milk of the cow could after-
wards be drawn by the witch at any time, and at any distance.

To prevent the milk from being taken away at the time of
calving, the moment the calf dropped from the cow, its mouth
was opened, and a little of the dam's excrement thrust in. If a
witch had her pot beside the fire to draw away the milk, it was

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 119, 120; Notes and Queries ^ 5th series, vol. vi. p. 6.

t Cf Henderson, pp. 183, 184.

:J: Cf. Sorifjs of the Russian People^ p. 391.

190 FABMIKO.

by this act performed ou the calf, filled with dirt instead of
milk.

When the first milk was drawn from the cow after calving, three
"strins '' from each pap were milked through a finger-ring. A
silverone was preferred about Tomintoul. Others putashilling into
thfe cog. An old shilling, called a " cross't shillan,'' or a " crossie-
croon shillan,'' was in the possession of some families, and was
preserved with great care. Those who had not the good fortune
to possess such a treasure made use of a coin current at the
time. Others put into the cog a horse-shoe nail. A stallion's
shoe nail had most efficacy.

A more elaborate method of preserving the milk from the
power of the witch was the following : — Three " strins " from
each dug were milked through a marriage ring into a small pot.
This quantity of milk was hung over the fire till it curdled.
The curds were salted, put into a small piece of cloth, and
hung up within the chimney so high that nothing would dis-
turb it.

Another mode of keeping the witch at a distance was to plait
a piece of cord the contrary way, or with the left hand, and tie
it round the animal's neck "atween the sin in the sky" at
sunset

The first draught of water given to the co\* after calving was
off" a shilling.

When the cow was driven forth for the first time after calving,
the tongs or a piece of iron and a live coal were laid in the byre
door, and the animal passed over them. In other places, instead
of iron, fire and salt were used. If the cow trampled on the
fire, by so much more efficacious was the charm. This ceremony
of placing iron and fire or fire and salt in the byre door was
observed by some with respect not to newly-calved cows alone,
but to all the cattle when they were driven forth to grass in
spring.

In other places the cow was taken from the byre with the " seal "
on her neck. The witch had no power over an animal with the
"seal" on its neck.'

To bring back the milk when taken away there were several

FARMING. 191

methods. The gueedewife when alone and with barred door
took what milk the cow had, and put it into a pot along with
a quantity of needles and pins, or even nails. She put on a
large fire, and hung the pot over it. Before the lapse of a long
time the guilty witch came to the window in agony, and with
the prayer to be relieved, and the promise to restore the milk.
Sometimes the cow's urine was substituted for the milk. Another
method was to catch some of the animal's urine in a bottle, cork
it tightly, and keep it. In no long time the milk-stealer made
her appearance, confessed her wicked deed, and entreated to be
relieved of the disease with which he had been seized.*

A crofter in the north-east of Buchan bought a cow. He
took her home, and everything seemed right and proper witli
the animal when tied up in the byre. But, when she was put
to the pasture, she made straight to a large boulder that was
near the pasture, tore up the earth round the stone, throwing
it over her back and bellowing. It was with difficulty she
could be dragged away from it, and with as much difficulty
kept on the tether. When put to pasture morning after
morning, she ran to the stone, scraped, and bellowed. At
the same time her milk disappeared. A wise man was con-
sulted. A witch had been at work, and the deed had been
done beside the boulder. The cure was as follows : — ^The small
quantity of milk still remaining to the cow was taken from her,
put into a pot with eleven new pins — pins that had "never been
in claith " — and boiled. This boiled milk was then poured round
the foot of the stone. The cow never afterwards went to. the
stone, and her milk returned to its full flow.

A man's cow on the north coast of Buchan fell ill. Her milk
left her. She was under the spell of a witch. A wise man lived
on the east coast of Buchan, and he had to be consulted. The
owner of the cow, along with a friend, set out early for a con-
sultation ; for, generally, on such occasions, two went. On
arriving, they were received by the canny man with the greeting,
" Cum awa', a wiz leukin for ye." The story of the cow was
told him. He gave the owner a powder for the animal, and at

* Cf. Henderson, p. 186.

1 92 FABMINO.

the same time enjoined the two men not to speak to any one in
their journey homewards, and to go straight to the byre, and
administer the powder to the beast. All dn's was carried out
to the letter. The two men then retired to the dwelling-house
to get food. When one of the family shortly after entered the
byre to see if the cow was dead, she was found standing, to all
appearance in perfect health, and with the milk running from
her. The gueedoMrife began to milk, and drew from the cow
two and a-half large pailfrds of milk.

A woman's cow was seized with a fit of lowing and restless-
ness on the pasture. She was under the power of a witch. The
woman went to the nearest wood, and cut a branch of rowan
tree and another of ash. A cross was made from the rowan
tree, and tied with a piece of red thread to the animal's tail
amongst the hair at its point. A small piece was cut oflF the
ash-branch. Three slits crosswise were made in one end of it,
and into each slit was stuck a pin, so that the pins crossed each
other. This was placed above the byre-door on the inside.

Another means to bring back a cow's milk, when taken away
by a witch, was to pour a little of the milk that still remained
on a boulder between the " screef an the stehn," that is, below
the lichen growing on the stone.

Another mode of doing so was to take the churn across run-
ning water, dip it three times in the stream, and carry it back
without speaking to any one.

Sometimes it happened that a cow on her first milk gave a
large quantity of it. After her second calf she gave almost none.
The witch had been at work. The animal had to be sold. When
sold, the reason for selling was told to the buyer. The animal
was resold, and the milk returned to the second buyer.

To prevent a cow from being " forespoken " it was the custom
to draw water from the well on Uie morning of the first day of
each " raith " (quarter) between the sun and the sky, pour it into
a cog or pail over a new shilling, and give it to the animal as a
draught. If a cow was not thriving, or if she was. not giving
the quantity of milk she usually gave, and tliere was a suspicion
that she was forespoken, the suspicion must be put to tlie test

FARMING. 193

and the truth discovered. A little of the cow's milk was put
into a pot with some, needles and pins. If the milk boiled as it
ordinarily does there was no forespeaking. If it boiled up like
water the forespeaking was undoubted. To undo the evil the
milking^ogs were washed with the stale urine of the forespoken
animal.

If the cow's milk had been taken away, merely to discover
who had done the deed, two ceremonies, botli similar, were per-
formed. A pair of trousers was tied over the animal's head,
and she was driven forth from the byre between the sun and
the sky. She went straight to the house of the one who had
taken her milk. In the other ceremony a mare's bridle was
used instead of the pair of trousers.

If lumps appeared in the cow's udder after calving she was
milked into a tin pail, an act which proved an eflFectual cure.
Another mode of cure was to rub the udder with water heated
by plmiging red-hot iron into it.

To increase the quantity of milk at the expense of a neighbour
on the morning of the first day of each " raith " the dew was
gathered off the pasture of his cows, and the milk utensils were
rinsed with it.

A method of increasing the quantity of milk without any
injury to a neighbour was to boil "white gowans" {Chrysan-
themum Leucanthemum)y and to wash all the milk utensils
with the decoction.

For milk to boil over the edge of the pot and run into the
fire was very unlucky, and diminished the quantity of milk given
by the cow or cows. To counteract the evil consequences salt
was immediately thrown into the fire.

The milk utensils were for the most part washed indoors.
This was done to prevent the possibility of wild animals touching
the milk, because, if they did so, the udders of the cows festered.
Such was the custom around Tomintoul. If the utensils were
washed in a stream or pond, great care was employed not to
allow any of the water used in washing to fall back into the
stream or pond. It was scrupulously thrown on the bank, and
always in the direction up the stream. This was done lest the

o

194 FARMING.

frogs should swallow any particle of the milk, in which case all
the milk became thick and stringy, somewhat like " poddock-
cruds."

The " ream-pig " or " ream-bowie " was never washed.
Washing took away all the luck. A sixpence was always kept
in it. A crooked one had most virtue. A frog was kept by
some in it, and bore the name of " paddle-doo " or " gueede
butter-gaitherer. "

A servant unacquainted with such a custom entered on the
service of a gueedewife, who followed the habit of keeping a
^' paddle-doo." The first time the servant creamed the milk she
observed the large overgrown frog in the " ream-bowie." She
immediately seized it, and cast it forth on the dung-hill. After
finishing her work, she told her mistress what she had found,
and what she had done. She received a sharp rebuke, and was
sent to search the dung-hill for the frog. The frog was found,
cai'efully taken up, washed clean, and replaced.

The cream was usually kept for a considerable length of time
— for weeks, and even for months. There was at the bottom of
the utensil in which the cream was kept a small hole into which
was inserted a short tube, stopped by a pin. This tube and pin
went by the name of a ^' cock and pail " and served to draw off
the thin sour part of the cream — the " wig."

When the butter was being churned a crooked sixpence,* or a
cross of rowan-tree, or a horse-shoe was placed below the churn.
When one entered the house during the process of churning, the
hand of the one who entered had to be put to the churn. This
was done to show that there was no evil intended against the
butter-making, and to do away with all effects that might flow
from the ^* ill-e'e " or the " ill-fit." There were persons whose
entrance was dreaded during the process of butter-making.
If such did enter there was either no butter, or it was bad in
quality, or less in quantity than it should have been, and got
only after hours of churning.

That the cow might calve during day, she was let " yeel " on
Sunday.f When the calf fell from the cow it was on no account

* Cf. Henderson, p. 183. f ^(ftes andQiieries^ 6th series, vol. vi. p. 109.

FARMING. 195

touched with the hand first Such an act would have caused
shivering in the young animal, and this shivering might have
gone on to paralysis, and terminated in death. The human
hand, stained with sin, brought about this result. Something
must be between the animal and the human hand the first time
it was touched — a little straw or the apron. Neither was it
safe to lay the hand at any time on the calf s back.*

When a cow was to be taken to market she was not milked
on that morning. Such an act was unlucky, and would have
hurt the sale of the animal. A case of this kind was prosecuted
some time ago in Aberdeen by the Association for Preventing
Cruelty to Animals. The Sheriff decided for the defendants.

If a milch cow was sold in the byre the '^ seal " went along with
her. This was done to prevent the seller, if he had the power,
from retaining the milk, and a witch from taking it away on
her removal to another byre. All the luck that should attend
the beast went with the '^ seal," and all the evil influences to
which she was exposed were warded off by its going along
with the animal.

The "Hird."

The fields in many districts were unfenced, and the cattle
had to be tended, ^^hirdit." The ^* bird " used a stick for
driving the cattle — " a club." If possible the club was of ash.f
This was because, if it had to be used, which was often done by
throwing, it was believed that it would break no bones, and
would not injure the beast if struck. In some districts this club
was ornamented with a carving representing **Jockie's plew."
Tradition has it that at one time there was in use a plough
drawn by thirty oxen. This plough was made of oak, of great
strength, and with one stilt, having a cross piece of wood at its
end for the ploughman to hold it by. Its work was lately to be
seen on many moors in the broad curved ridges that went by
the name of *^ Burrel Rigs." The carving on the "hirdie club"
was very simple ; it consisted of notches cut in a small piece of
the club, smoothed for the purpose, to show in what way the
oxen were yoked. ^' Jockie," as the ploughman was called, was

♦ Cf. ihid, p. 109. t Cf. CMce Notes, p. 24.

02

196 FARMING.

represented by a cross, as well as the two oxen before the last
four. Here is the order in which the oxen were yoked : —

" Twa afore ane,
Three afore five,
Noo ane an than ane.
An foui* comes belive,
First twa an than twa,
An three at a cast,
Double ane an twice twa,
An Jockie at the last.**

In other districts the " hird '^ carved in notches merely the
number of cattle in the herd, giving the bull, if there was one
in the herd, a cross.

Here is a tradition about a ^* hird " and his " club.*' A half-
witted lad during " the '45 " was tending cattle on the haugh
on which Duff House now stands, near the " King's Ford/' in
the river Deveron. A detachment of the royal army crossed the
ford in boats. On reaching the haugh on which the cattle were
grazing the soldiers seized the "hird.** They examined his club,
and found that the number of notches cut on it corresponded
with the number of boats by which they had crossed the river.
The simpleton was taken for a spy, and notwithstanding every
kind of protestation of innocence and remonstrance he was con-
demned to death, carried to a place near the churchyard of
Boyndie, and there hanged against the gable of a house from
the roof-tree that projected beyond the wall.

Each animal had its name, and was trained to answer to it
when called.

Here is a rhyme those who watched the cattle used to repeat
at the top of their voice on seeing each other's cattle wan-
dering : —

" Hirdie, dirdie,
Blaw yir horn,
A' the kye's amo' the com.
Here's ane, here's twa;
Sic a hird a nivir saw.
Here aboot or far awa,
.... dings them a'."

The name of the " hird " whose beast was straying was added
in the last line. The last line sometimes took the form : —

" Deel blaw the birdie's plaid awa."

CHAPTER XXVI.

BOATS AND FISHING.

new boat was always launched to a flowing tide,
sometimes prow foremost and sometimes stern fore-
most. When it was fairly in the water, whisky in
free quantity and bread with cheese were distributed
among those present at the launch. The boat was then named,
and a bottle containing whisky was broken on the prow or stern,
according to the way the boat had been launched. The following
words were at times spoken before breaking the bottle : —

" Eae rocks an saands
An barren lands
An ill men's hands
Keep's free.
Weel oot, weel in,
Wi a gneede shot."

On the arrival of a new boat at its home the skipper's wife,
in some of the villages, took a lapful of com or barley, and sowed
it over the boat. In one village, when a new boat was brought
home, the skipper descended the moment the prow touched the
beach, went for the woman last married in the village, took her
arm, and marched her round the boat, no matter how far the
water reached.

A horseshoe was nailed to some part of the boat — generally
to the mast. A " waith-horse " shoe was most sought after.

The new boat was allowed to take the lead in leaving the
harbour or shore the first time the boats of ihe village put to
sea after its arrival. When it was fairly at sea the other boats
pushed out as fast as possible ; sails were spread to the full, and
strong arms were strained in plying the oars to overtake and
outstrip the new craft. If it kept a-head, and reached the fishing-
ground first, its character was established. When the new boat

198 BOATS AND FISHIKG.

returned from the fisliing-ground, in some of the villages the
owner's wife gave bread and cheese to the men of all the boats
that arrived from the fishing-ground after it. It is said that at
times the new boat lingered so that most of the boats might
reach home before it, and thus as little bread and cheese as
possible might have to be given.

A boat, that had been wrecked with the loss of life and cast
ashore, was allowed to lie, and go to pieces. A fisherman of the
village to which the boat belonged would not have set a foot
in it to put to sea, and a board of it would not have been
carried away as firewood by any of the inhabitants of the village.
The boat was at times sold to a fisherman of another village,
repaired, and did service for many a year.

In some of the villages a white stone would not be used as
ballast. In others a stone bored by the pholas was rejected.
Such a stone bore Hie name of the " hunger steen."

It was the custom in each village for an aged experienced
man to get up in the morning, and examine the sky, and fi*om
its appearance prognosticate the weather for the day. If the
weather promised to be good, he went the round of the village
to awaken the inmates. In doing this great attention was paid
to the '' first fit." In every village there were more than one
to whom was attached the stigma of having an ^^ ill fit." Such
were dreaded, and shunned, if possible, in setting out on any
business.

There lived two such men in one village. Each knew his
neighbour's fame, but he did not know his own. Both had got
out of bed one morning to inspect the sky, and to prognosticate
the weather, and to arouse the village, if the weather was thought
to be favourable for going to sea. Both met, and both took
fright, and returned each to his house, and the village lost a
day's fishing.

The boats belonging to two villages were one afternoon during
the herring fishing season lying at anchor to the west of the
larger village waiting till the time arrived for going to the
fishing-ground. One of the boats outside belonged to a man
who was reputed to have an " ill fit." When he came to go on

BOATS AND FISHING. 199

board his boat, he had to step across another boat or two. When
he put his foot on the boat nearest the shore he was met with an
oath and the words, ^' Keep aff o' ma boat, ye hiv an ill fit."
The man drew back quietly, and turned to the master of the next
boat, and, addressing him by his "tee name," said, " F-^ — ,
a'm sure ye'U lat me our your boat." Permission was readily
granted. The boats put to sea. The only herrings brought

ashore were in F 's boat ; it was the man with the " ill fit "

that gave them.

In many of the villages there were no harbours, and the boats
had to be drawn up on the beach. They had to be pushed into
the water stern foremost. The prow was always turned seaward
in the direction of the sun's course.

A fisherman, on proceeding to sea, if asked where he was
going, would have put out with the thought that he would have
few or no fish that day, or that some disaster would befall him.
He might have returned under fear of being drowned if he went
to sea. Sometimefi such an answer was given as, '^Deel cut oot
yer ill tongue." /when at sea the words, "minister," "kirk,"
"swine," "salmon,'' " trout,'* "dog," and certain family names,
were never pronounced by the inhabitants of some of the vil-
lages, each village having an aversion to one or more of the
words. When the word " kirk ^' had to be used, and there was
often occasion to do so, from several of the churches being used
as land-marks, the word " bell-hoose " or " bell-'oose " was sub-
stituted. The minister was called " the man wi' the black
quyte." A minister in a boat at sea was looked upon with much
misgiving.* He might be another Jonah. /

As it was the belief among the agricijltural population that
cows' milk could be taken away, so among the fishing population
it was believed the fish could be taken away. This power of
taking away the fish was in the eye, and such as had the power
"glowrt the fish oot o' the boat" merely by a look.

When it was suspected that the boat had been forespoken, or
the fish " glowrt oot o' the boat," the boat was put through the
halyards. This was done by making a noose or " bicht " on the

* Chmce Notes, p. 60.

200 BOATS AND FISHING.

halyards large enough to allow the boat to pass through. The
halyard with this noose was put over the prow of the boat, and
pushed under the keel, and the boat sailed through the noose.
The evil was taken off the boat.

It was not lawful in some of the villages to point with the
finger to the boats when at sea ; if such a thing had to be done,
the whole hand had to be used.

On no account must the boats be counted when at sea, neither
must any gathering of men or women or children be numbered.
Nothing aroused the indignation of a company of iishwomon
trudging along the road to sell their fish more than to point
towards them with the finger, and begin to number them aloud : —

" Ane, twa, three,
Faht a fishers I see
Gyain our the brigg o' Dee,
Deel pick their muckle greethy ee."

When a boat was leaving home for another fishing station, as
during the herring season, some had the habit of borrowing an
article of trifling value fi'om a neighbour, but with the intention
of not returning it. The luck of the fishing went along with
the article ; those who were aware of the fact refused to lend.

In Buckie there are certain family names fishermen will not
pronounce. The bann lies particularly heavy on Boss. CouU
also bears it, but not to such a degree. The folks of that village
speak of " spitting out the bad name." If such a name is
mentioned in their hearing they spit, or, in the vernacular,
" chiff." One bearing the dreaded name is called a " chiffer-
oot." If there is occasion to speak of one bearing such a name
a circumlocution is used, as: — " The man it diz so in so," or
'^ The laad it lives at such and such a place," or the ^' Tee-name"
is used. If possible the men bearing these names of reprobation
are not taken as hired men in the boats during the herring-
fishing season. Men with the reprobated names, who have been
hired before their names were known, have been refused their
wages, when the fishing season closed, because the fishing was
unsuccessful with the boats in which they sailed, and because
the want of success was ascribed to th§ir presence in tho boat.

BOATS AND FISHING. 201

Neither would lodgings be rented during the herring season from a
man that bore one of the names that were under the bann. " Ye
hinna hid sic a fishin this year is ye hid the last," said a woman
to the daughter of a famous fisher who had just returned from
Peterhead from the herring fishing. " Na, na ; faht wye cud
we? " was tlie answer. " Oh faht hinert ye this year mair nor
afore?" asked the woman. " Oh faht wye cud we? Ye needna
speer faht wye we cudna. We wiz in a ^ chiffer-oot's ' 'oose ;
we cudna hae a fushin." The house in which the family lived
during the fishing belonged to a man named Ross.

In some of the villages on the east coast of Aberdeenshire it
was accounted unlucky to meet one of the name of Whyte when
going to sea. Lines would be lost, or the catch of fish would be
poor. When a child was being carried to be baptised it was
unlucky to meet one who bore the name of Whyie.

It was accounted unlucky to utter the word " sow " or " swine "
or " pig," particularly during the time when the line was being
baited ; it was sure to be lost if any one was unwise enough to
speak the banned word. In some of the villages on the coast of
Fife, if the word is mentioned in the hearing of a fisherman, he
cries out " Cold iron." Even in church the same words are
uttered when the clergyman reads the miracle about the Gada-
rene swinery. /''^

Haddocks were cleaned, split, and put in salt for a short time.
They were then hung up in the chimney, over a fire of wood,
and smoked or "yellowed." In later times the smoking of
the haddocks was done in small houses erected for the purpose.
In the early part of summer, when the haddocks are still some-
what lean after spawning, many of them are sun-dried, and go
by the name of " speldanes ^* or " spellans." Much of the skate
is prepared by being pressed under heavy stones, and dried in
the sun ; this forms " blaain skate." Cod, ling, and tusk are
split, salted, and sun-dried, and in many parts still carried in
creels. The haddocks were carried over the country for sale by
the women. The creel was, and is yet, carried on the back by a
strap round the shoulders in fi*ont. Below the creel is worn a
plaid ; and the women of different villages have different

202 BOATS AND FISHING.

coloured plaids. Some have them white, some red with a black
check, others blue with a black check. They left home by a
very early hour in companies of tens and scores. As they pro-
ceeded, one went oflF here, and another there, each to supply her
own customers. The bulk of them went to the country villages,
at which they commonly arrived at an early hour, in time to
supply newly cured fish for breakfast They often beguiled
their long way — 10, 12, 15, and 20 miles — with song. In the
villages the fish was sold for money, but in the country districts
they were exchanged for meal, potatoes, aids, turnips, and,
even if money were given, something in the way of barter had
to be added. The creel was often carried home heavier than it
was carried out.

In the outward journey, if the weather was stormy, com-
panies of the women took possession of the houses by the way-
side, if the doors had been left unbarred. After the male
inmates left for the barn to thresh, it was usual for one of the
females of the family to get up, and secure the doors against
their entrance. The railway has modified all this.

The greater part of the cod and ling and other larger cured
fish was taken by the fishermen in their large boats to the
markets in the south of Scotland. On their return they brought
mussels for bait, soap, and other family necessaries, and often a
quantity of stoneware, of which each house generally possessed a
large stock. Sometimes they brought such articles for friends
and customers in the country.

Among the fishermen of each village there was a strong
contest on New Year's Day which boat should first reach the
fishing-ground, " shot " the lines, and draw them, as it was
thought that he who first " drew blood " on that day enjoyed
more than an ordinary share of the luck of the village during
the year. If the weather was such as to prevent the boats from
putting to sea, those who had guns were out along the beach
long before dawn on the watch for the first living creature they
could wound or kill, so that they might have blood shed.

CHAPTER XXVII.

DEATH.

Omens.

" Oh ! c*e8t triste, et je hais la mort.*'

jHEEE knocks were heard at regular intervals of one
or two minutes' duration.* They might be heard
in any part of the dwelling-house, on the entrance
door, on a table, on the top of a " bun-bed/' Their
sound was quite diflferent from any other. It was dull and
heavy, and had something eerie about it. A similar omen was
the " dead-drap." Its sound resembled that of a continued drop
of water falling slowly and regularly from a height, but it was
leaden and hollow. Such sounds were heard at any time during
night or day. Night, however, was the usual time when they
were heard. They were heard first by one, and could not be
heard by a second without taking hold of the one that first heard
them. This was the case with all the sights and sounds that
prognosticated death, and lasted for any length of time.

The noise of the worm that eats the woodwork of houses, ^^the
chackie mill," was looked on as presaging a coming death.t

Before the death of one of the household there was at times
heai'd during the night the noise as if something heavy were
laid down outside the door of the dwelling-house. It was the
sound of the coffin as it was laid down outside the door, before
it was carried into the house.

A murmur as of many human voices was sometimes heard
around the door of the dwelling-house. It was the harbinger
of the murmur of the voices of those who were to assemble for
the funeral.

A picture or a looking-glass falling from the wall portended
a death. If one's portrait fell, death was not far off.

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 48. f -^*w?. p. 46.

204 OMENS.

A death was often made known by the light called a ^^ dead-
ean*le." It was seen moving about the house in which the death
was to take place, and along the road by which the corpse was
to be carried to the grave. Its motion was slow and even.
The light was pale-bluish, wholly unlike any made by human art.*

A crop more than usually good foreshadowed the death of the
goodman, and went by the name of a " fey-crap."

The common tallow candle in burning ofl»n gutters, and the
tallow runs over the edge and down the side of the candle. It
soon hardens. When the flame consumes the candle, at times
the little column formed by the gutter is left standing uncon-
sumed on the edge of the candle. It is called a " coflSn-spehl,"
and is looked upon with suspicion as portending a death in the
family at no very distant period.f

The apparition of the person that was doomed to die within a
short time was seen wrapped in a winding-sheet, and the higher
the winding-sheet reached up towards the head, the nearer was
death. This apparition was seen during day, and it might show
itself to any one, but only to one, who generally fell into a faint
a short time afterwards. If the person who saw the apparition
was alone at the time, the fainting-fit did not come on till after
meeting with others.:^

Three drops of cold blood falling from the nose was the sure
indication of the death of one very nearly related to the one
from whose nose the blood fell.

It was regarded as an omen of death, either of himself or
herself, or of one nearly related, if one showed more than
ordinary joy. §

If the sick person did not sneeze, the disease would end in
death. Sneezing was accounted the turning-point towards
recovery. ||

When one fell sick means were at times used to find out
whether the sickness would end in death. Two holes called

♦ Cf. F, L Beoordf vol. i. p. 53 (178) ; Notes and Queries, 5tli series, vol. ix.
p. 65. t Cf. Henderson, p. 48.

t Ibid. pp. 46-48. § Choice Notes, p. 123.

II Notts and Queries, 5th series, vol. viii. pp. 221, 222.

OMENS. 205

graves, the one the living, and the other the dead, grave were
dug. The sufferer was laid, without being told which was the
living or which was tlie dead grave, between the holes. If the
patient turned with the face to the grave designed as the living,
there would be recovery ; if in the opposite way, death would
follow. The following extract from the Session Records of the
Parish of CuUen (1649) gives a different mode: —

" It was remembered that Marjorie Palmer, halving a sick child, and desirous
to know if the child sonld live or die, digged two or three graves. On she called
the dead grave and another the quick grave, and desyred a woman (who knew
not how the said Marjorie had designed the graves) to go with the child and
putt him in on of the graves for shee beleved that if the child sould be putt in
the quick grave that he would live, and if in the dead grave he sould die. Ther-
for the said Marjorie being accused confessed that she did it out of ignorance be
the information of a woman whom she knew not. Marjorie was debarred from
the Sacrament by order of the Presbytery."

In some districts there was a belief in a sound of a mysterious
kind that was heard before the perpetration of any dreadful
crime, as murder.

A murder was committed at Cottertown of Auchanasie, near
Keith, on the 11th January, 1797. Here is tlie tradition: — On
the day on which the deed was done two men, strangers to the
district, called at a farmhouse about three miles from the house in
which lived the old folk that were murdered. The two strangers
were suspected of being guilty of the crime. Shortly before the
deed was committed a sound was heard passing along the road the
two men were seen to take in the direction of the place at which
the murder was perpetrated. So loud and extraordinary was the
sound that the people left their houses to see what it was that was
passing. To the amazement of everyone, nothing was to be seen,
though it was moonlight, and moonlight so bright that it aroused
attention. Near neighbours met, and discussed what the sound
could be. All believed something dreadful was to happen, and
some proposed to follow the sound. The more cautious, however,
prevailed over the more fiery. One man, of the name of New-
lands, and a man of great courage and strength, was with the
utmost difficulty prevented from following in the wake of the sound.
About the time this discussion was going on, a blaze of fire
arose on the hill of Auchanasie. The foul deed had been accom-

206 OMENS.

plished, and the cottage set on fire. By next day all knew of
what the mysterious sound had been the forerunner.*

Death.

When one was apparently struggling hard in the act of dying,
or, as it was expressed, '^ hid a sair faicht," the " rock " was at
times broken above the head, under the belief that when this
was done the dying person's heart broke, and the struggle ceased.
This action may be compared with the idea contained in the line,

" Gotho coUum retinet, Lochesis net, et Atropos occat."

At other times the dying person was removed from the bed,
and laid on the floor of the apartment, as it might happen that
there were wild fowls' feathers in the pillows or bed, at all times
a cause of a hard struggle in death. This notion about wild
fowls' feathers did not exist among some of the fishing popula-
tion that used the feathers of all kinds of birds, except those of
the pigeon. t

In the very moment of death all the doors and windows that
were capable of being opened were thrown wide open, to give
the departing spirit full and free egress, lest the evil spirits
might intercept it in its heavenward flight. The Esquimo have
the same custom. J

Immediately on death, a piece of iron, such as a knitting-wire
or a nail, was stuck into whatever meal, butter, cheese, flesh, or
whisky were in the house, to prevent death from entering them.
The corruption of these articles has followed closely on the neglect
of this, and the whisky has been known to become white as milk.

All the milk in the house was poured out on the ground. § In
some fishing villages all the onions and butter were cast forth.

The chairs, &c. in the house were sprinkled with water. The
clothes of the dead were also sprinkled with water, and it was
the common belief that they always had a peculiar smell.

♦ Cf. Henderson, pp. 129-136.

t Cf . Henderson, p. 60 ; F, L, Record, vol. i. p. 59 (193), vol. iii. pt. i. p. 127.
% Cf. Henderson, pp. 53-66 ; F, L, Record, vol. i. p. 60 (194), p. 102 ; awice
iV(^«,pp. 117, 118.
§ Cf. F, L. Record, vol i. p. 101,

OMENS. 207

If there was a clock, it was stopped.* If there was a looking-
glass, it was covered with a white cloth,t as were also the
pictures.

All the hens and the cats X were shut up during the whole time
the body was unburied, from the belief that, if a cat or a hen
leaped over it, the person, who was the first to meet the cat or hen
that did so, became blind, not perhaps at the time, but assuredly
before leaving this earth.

The neighbours did not yoke their horses, unless there was a
running stream between the dwellings. In the fishing village

of , on the north-east coast of Aberdeenshire, not a single

spadeful of earth was moved within the village during the time
the corpse was lying unburied.

When the death took place a messenger was despatched for a
Wright, who hastened to the house of death with his " strykin
beuird." The body was washed, and, after being clothed in a
home-made linen shirt and stockings, it was " strykit " on. the
board brought by the wright, and covered with a home-made
linen sheet. Many a bride laid up in store her bridal dress, to
be made into her winding-sheet, and her bridal linen and bridal
stockings, as well as her husband's, to be put on when life's
journey was ended.

When the eyelids did not close, or if they opened a little afl^er
being closed, an old penny or halfpenny piece was laid over the
eyes.

On the breast was placed a saucer or a plate containing a
little salt, to keep the evil spirits away, because they could not
come near Christ's savour of the earth. §

To prevent swelling in the bowels, any small dish with a
little mould was at times placed on them. If this had been
neglected, and swelling made its appearance, a small green turf
was cut, and placed upon it, when, it is alleged, the swelling
immediately disappeared.

A candle or two were kept constantly burning beside the

♦ Cf. Henderson, p. 56 ; Choice Notes, p. 121.

t Cf. Henderson, p. 66 ; Choice Notes, p. 121. X Cf. Henderson, p. 69.

§ Cf. Henderson, p. 66 ; Choiee Notes, pp. 119-121, 174 (4).

208 OMENS.

body. It has happened that the candle has been overturned
and the grave-clothes set on fire and the body burned. This
took place only in the case of those who were believed to have
possessed during their lifetime more than human skill and
power, which they had obtained at the price of their souls from
the Prince of Evil, or of those whose lives had been more than
ordinarily stained, either openly or secretly. Such an untoward
accident was spoken of in whispers, and was looked on as the
dark omen of the Aiture state.

In one instance, at least, the time of the death was observed : —

** Gehn the gneedeman o' a teen
Dee i' the fou' o' the meen,
His faimily 'iU be rich
TiU the wardle be deen."

Drowning.

Tlie bodies of those who were drowned, but not recovered,
were supposed to come to the surface of the water on the ninth
day. It was the weight of the gall that kept the body at the
bottom. On the ninth day the gaJl-bag broke, and the body,
being relieved of the weight, floated.*

A mode of discovering a body drowned in a stream or river,
was to put a loaf into the water at the spot where the unfor-
tunate fell. The loaf floated down the stream till it came above
the body, when it began to whirl round and round.

If one committed suicide by drowning, it was believed the
body did not sink. It floated on the surface.

Murder.

The opinion prevailed till not very long ago, and even yet
lingers, that in a case of murder, if the murderer touches the
corpse, blood flows from the wounds.

The Lyke-wake.

The coffin and grave-clothes were made with all becoming
speed. When all were ready, a day and an hour were fixed

♦ Cf . Henderson, p. 59.

OMENS. 209

for the ^* kistaii " — that is, for laying the body in the coffin, and
a few of the most intimate female friends and nearest relatives of
the deceased were invited to attend. At the appointed time
they came, usually dressed in mourning, and assisted in placing
the body in the coffin, and in making suitable preparation for
the funeral. The board of hospitality was spread, when the
qualities and deeds of the departed formed the subject of con-
versation.

To the other female acquaintances that had not been present
at the " kistan," invitations were sent to come, and take the last
look of the dead — " to see the corpse."

The body was sedulously watched day and night, more par-
ticularly, however, during night. The watching during the
night was called " the lyke " or *^ the waukan." *

A few of the neighbours met every evening, and performed
the kind office of watchers. One of them at least had to be
awake, lest the evil spirits might come, and put a mark on the
body. The time was ordinarily spent in reading the Scriptures,
sometimes by one, and sometimes by another of the watchers.
Some of the passages usually read were the ninety-first Psalm,
the fifteenth chapter of St. John's Gospel, and the fifteenth
chapter of I. Corinthians. Other passages were read besides
these. All conversation was carried on in a suppressed voice.

Sometimes the " waukan " was not so solemn. Practical jokes
have been played upon the timid. Some stout-hearted one placed
himself within the " bun-bed " beside which the dead lay, and,
when those on whom the trick was to be played had entered the
house, and taken a seat, he began to move, at first gently, and
then more freely, and at last he spoke, imitating as far as possible
the voice of the dead, to the utter terror of such as were not in
the secret.

There was a plentifiil supply of new pipes and tobacco, pro-
cured specially for the occasion, and hence the irreverent some-
times spoke of the ^* lyke " as the " tobacco-nicht."

Whisky was also freely given, and in many cases tea, or bread
and cheese with ale were served about midnight.

* Cf. Henderson, pp. 54-56.
P

CHAPTER XXVIII.

BURIAL.

" The storm that wrecks the winter sky
No more disturbs their deep repose
Than summer evening's latest sigh
That shnts the rose."

I HE bam was cleared, swept clean, and fitted up with
seats — deals placed on anything and everything
capable of supporting them. On the middle of the
floor was placed a table covered with a table-cloth,
at the head of which was set an arm-chair for the minister. On
the table was a quantity of bread and cheese, as well as of cut
tobacco, with a number of new tobacco-pipes. Beneath the
table were bottles and jars of whisky, with ale.

The people had been invited to the funeral, or " warnt," by a
special messenger a few days before the fimeral took place. On
arriving, they were received by the nearest relative of the
deceased, and conducted to the bam. Each, as he entered, if he
was a smoker, laid hold of a pipe, filled and lighted it. When
all arrived, and usually the arrivals lasted fi:om one to two hours
and even longer, prayer was offered up by the minister, and in
his absence by an elder or any other that "had the gift."
When the prayer was ended, the whisky was brought forward,'
and toddy was made in bowls, if the company was not very
large, or if the friends of the departed were poor ; but, if the
company was large and the deceased well-to-do, it was brewed
in the firlot. There have been those who were famous for their
joviality in their lifetime giving strict orders on their death-bed
regarding the quantity of whisky to be used at their funeral
obsequies. When the toddy was made and tested, all glasses
were filled and handed round. They were emptied to the
memory of the departed. Bread and cheese followed. The
glasses were again filled and drained to the toast, " Consolation

BURIAL* ' 211

to the friends of the deceased." Then came more bread and
cheese, and a glass or two more of toddy. Such as preferred
" a drap o' the raw geer," or ale, to the toddy, received it.*
When all had eaten or drunken in a manner befitting the
station and means of the dead, prayer was again offered] not,
however, always. It was then announced, " Gehn ony o' ye
wis t' see the corp, ye'll noo hae an opportunity." The com-
pany thereupon left the barn, and, one by one, went into the
apartment of death, uncovered his head, and gently and
reverently laid his hand upon the breast or brow of the dead,f
frequently making a remark on the appearance of the body, as
" He's unco like himsel," " She's a bonnie corp," or " He's
sair altert ; " or on the character of the departed, as " She'll be
a sehr misst umman," or " He wiz a gueede freen t" mony ane."
It was believed that unless the body was touched the image of it
haunted the fancy.

If the body was soft and flabby when the coffin-lid was closed,
it was a sure indication th^t another corpse would at no distant
period of time be carried from the same dwelling J

When the last look had been taken by all the coffin-lid was
closed. Before this was done part of the winding sheet, com-
monly one of the corners, was cut off, and preserved with tender
care beside a lock of the hair of the dead one. Sometimes it
was made into a napkin, which was worn only on the occasion
of a "kistan," or on a Communion Sunday. When all was ready,
or, as it was expressed, " fin the beerial wiz reathy t' lift," two
chairs were placed in front of the door of the dwelling-house,
and the coffin was tenderly borne forth, and laid upon them.
The spokes were then adjusted under it. The coffin was covered
with the mort-cloth, or, if the friends of the deceased were too
poor to pay for it, with a plaid. The coffin of a boy or a girl
was often covered with a sheet, and a child's almost always.
The coffin of a ftill-grown person was carried on spokes by eight

* Choice Note»t p. 121 ; Notes and Quei^ies, 6th series, vol. iv. pp. 326, 397,
vol. V. p. 218.
t Cf. Henderson, p. 57.
X Cf. Henderson, p. 60; F, L, Becordt vol. i. p. 61 (169), vol. iii. pt. i. p. 127.

p 2

212 BURUL.

bearers, who relieved each other, not at regular intervals, but
as fancy struck them, the one nearest the coffin retiring. In
the BKghlands the coffin was sometimes carried shoulder-high,
as the more honourable mode of being borne to the grave. The
"first lift " was taken by the females of the family and near female
relatives or friends that were present.

In some of the fishing villages the coffin of a young unmarried
woman was carried to the grave by her young companions,
dressed in white, with a black ribbon round the waist*

The chairs were overturned as soon as the coffin was lifted off*
them, and were allowed to lie, in some places till sunset, and in
others till one of those that had attended the funeral returned,
when they were lifted, and carefully washed. If not overturned,
the spirit returned from the unseen world.

On the funeral leaving — " the beerial liftin " — all the animals,
such as the horses and cattle, belonging to the farm were loosed
from their stalls, and driven forth. The funeral has been seen to
be followed by the cattle in amazement, with wide nostrils, wild
eyes, and much lowing. Such an occurrence was looked upon
with awe, and was set down as an indication of brute sorrow
and sympathy for the departed.

The ftmeral procession on no account took bye-ways, or moved
a foot from the common path, but moved along the " kirk-road.'*
The road which the deceased had walked to God's house must
be the road along which the mortal remains were carried to
God's acre.

In some parts the bellman went in front of the procession, and
tolled a hand-bell, kept by the kirk-session for the purpose. In
other places the church-bell was tolled as the procession neared
the churchyard.

When the coffin is lowered into the grave and properly laid
each present takes off* his head-covering.

If the churchyard was at a distance, whisky was carried;
and on the road was usually a fixed spot for resting and par-
taking of it. At this spot there was in some places a big stone,
called "the ristin stehn," on which the coffin was laid. Fame has

* Notes and Quei-ies, 5th series, vol. v. p. 364.

BURIAL. 213

it that the quantity now taken in addition to what was formerly
taken not unfrequently put not a few of the coffin-bearers into a
state far from seemly, and that even old scores have been paid
off by broken heads and faces.

When the grave was again covered over with the green sod,
whisky was in many cases partaken of, when each took his way
home. A few of the nearest relatives and intimate friends of the
dead returned to the house, where a dinner was prepared.

The weather on the day of the funer«l was most carefully
observed. A shower on the mould of the open grave — the " meels "
— was taken as an indication that the soul of the departed was
enjoying happiness.* A hurricane told of some foul deed done,
but never brought to light, or of a bad life, however fair to the
eye, or of a compact with Satan.

A coffin more than ordinarily hea^y was remarked ; and there
have been coffins of ^* a heavier weight than lead," which were
with the utmost difficulty carried to the graveyard. Such a
thing was spoken of with awe.f

In B — — , the night after the ftineral, bread and water were
placed in the apartment in which the body lay. The dead was
believed to return that night and partake of the bread and water.
Unless this were done the spirit could not rest in the unseen
world. This curious custom seems to throw light upon what
have been called " food vases " and " drinking cups," found in
round barrows and in the secondary interments in long barrows,
supposed to be of the " bronze age " and of the ancient British
period.

A burial ought not on any account to be looked at from a
window. The one that did so would soon follow.

Peculiar horror was manifested towards suicides. Such were
not buried in the churchyard. It is not much over half a
century since a fierce fight took place in a churchyard in the
middle of Banffshire, to prevent the burial of a suicide in it.
By an early hour all the strong men of the parish who were
opposed to an act' so sacrilegious were astir and hastening to the
churchyard with their weapons of defence — strong sticks. The

* See p. 90. f See p. 136.

214 BURIAL.

churchyard was taken possession of, and the walls were manned.
The gate and more accessible parts of the wall were assigned to
picked men. In due time the suicide's coffin appeared, sur-
rounded by an excited crowd, for the most part armed with
sticks. Some, however, carried spades sharpened on the edge.
Fierce and long was the fight at the gate, and not a few rolled
in the dust. The assailing party was beaten off. A grave was
dug outside the churchyard, close beneath the wall, and the
coffin laid in it. The lid was lifted, and a bottle of vitriol poured
over the body. Before the lid could be again closed, the fumes
of the dissolving body were rising thickly over the heads of
actors and spectators. This was done to prevent the body from
being lifted during the coming night from its resting-place,
conveyed back to its abode when in life, and placed against the
door, to fall at the feet of the member of the family that was the
first to open the door in the morning.

The self-murderer's grave was on the boundary of two lairds'
lands, and was marked by a single large stone or by a small
cairn, to which the passing traveller was bound to cast a stone.

It was the prevailing idea that nothing would grow over the
grave of a suicide, or on the spot on which a murder was com-
mitted.*

After the suicide's body was allowed to be buried in the
churchyard, it was laid below the wall in such a position that
one could not step over the grave. This was done under the
belief that, if a woman enceinte stepped over such a grave, her
child would quit this earth by its own act.

The instrument by which the unfortunate put an end to life
was eagerly sought after, as the possession of it, particularly the
knot of the rope, if death was brought about by hanging,
secured great worldly prosperity. This notion about the knot of
a rope by which one was hanged did not attach simply to a
suicide's rope, but to a criminal's.

Still-bom children and children that died without baptism
were buried before sunrise, from the belief that, unless this were
done, their spirits were not admitted into Heaven, but floated

* jP. L. Record, vol. i. p. 17 (67).

BURIAL. 215

homeless through the regions of space. In some places they
were buried in such a position that one could not step over their
graves.

Graveyards.

There is a great reluctance in burying the first body in a new
graveyard, and as great reluctance in leaving the old church-
yard after a beginning of burying has been made in the new one.
It is told that, when a graveyard on the east coast of Aberdeen-
shire had to be in a great measure closed, nothing would induce the
inhabitants of one of the villages of the parish to bury their dead
in the new one* What was to be done ? A shoemaker, whose
shop was the meeting-place of many of the people of the village,
was equal to the difficulty. One night, when a few of the
villagers were in the shop, the shoemaker announced that there
were "yird swine" in the old graveyard. All were aroused, but
hoped that what the shoemaker said might be a mistake. " No
mistake," said the man, " I can show you one that was got in
the very place." The cry was " Lat*s see 't." A water rat was
produced. "An' that's a yird swine, is 't, the creatir it eats the
dead bodies ? " said the men, standing at a distance, and looking
in horror on the abhorred beast. "Aye, that's the real yird-
swine." The news spread like fire through the village, and
many visited the shop to convince themselves of the dreadftil
truth. The fate of the old graveyard was sealed in that village.*

Graveyards and all connected with them — the earth or " meels"
and the gravestones, and the coffin and the mort-cloth — were
looked upon with awe. Human bones were objects of dread,
and there were those who would have left a house had human
bones been in it. No one would have carried off* a piece of the
wood of a coffin that had been cast up in opening a grave and
thrown into a comer of the churchyard, for it was a custom so
to treat coffins after they had fallen to pieces on the grave being
re-opened to admit new tenants.

Many of the churchyards were reputed as haunted by ghosts
— the ghosts of those who had committed some great crime, and
had died without its being detected and without their revealing

* Cf. Henderson, p. 121.

216 BURIAL.

it, but who now could not rest in their graves till their souls
were disburdened of the load, and they appeared nightly in hope
of coming in contact with some living person bold enough to
meet them, and to whom they could make known their sin, and
to whom they could tell what to do for them to remove the load,
and thus allow them to rest in peace in their graves. Such
graveyards were avoided after nightfall, and such graveyards
made many a benighted traveller take a roundabout way home
if it lay before him in his journey.

Those who sold themselves to the devil to acquire supernatural
powers had to go to the churchyard at twelve o'clock at night,
and in the silence of the night, in the abodes of the dead, make
their infernal compact, and give their souls for the price.

Those who wished to acquire the power of " arresting " man or
beast on their journey, had to go to the churchyard, and, at
twelve o'clock at night, uncover a coffin, and take from it one
of the lid-screws, repeating at the same time the Lord's Prayer
backwards. Such a screw screwed into a human or animal
foot-print from left to right, with the repetition of the Lord's
Prayer backwards, stopped the fiirther progress of the man or
animal.

The mould of the churchyard — " the meels " — was used in
acts of sorcery. Thus " meels " taken at the hour of midnight
from the graveyard and thrown into a mill-race caused the
wheel to stop. The following extract shows anotlier use to
which ^* meels " were put : —

" And anent Issobell Traylle, her consulting with Walker, the witch, shoe con-
fessed the said witch bad hir tack ane moldewort hillock and muild out of the
church yard, and putt it vnder hir gait twys, and that wold mack hir aill to sell.
But shoe denyed shoe requyred it at the said witch, or that shoe practised it." *

* " Extracts from the Presbytery Book of Strathbogie," p. 6. Spalding Club,
Aberdeen. A J). 1843.

GLOSSARY.

Ay I, the first personal pronoun

Abeen^ above

Abooty about

Ae^ one

AforCi before

Ahirii behind

Aifter^ after

Aipple, apple

Alane, alone

Amoriy among

Amo^ among

An, and

Ane, one

Aneth, beneath

Aneuch, enough

Anither, another

Athegeethir, altogether

Atween, between

Aulf old

Aul man, the devil

Awa, away

Ayont, beyond

Back, backward

Baird, the beard

Bairn, a child

Bait-pot, a pot used for boiling
turnips with com or barley
dressings as food for horses

Baith, both

Bank-fou, when the banks of
streams and rivers are full

Bannock, a cake made of oatmeal

and baked on a gridiron
Bap, a small round loaf
Barjit, barefooted
Battenan, becoming stout and

strong
Bank, the lower brace of a couple
Bawbee, a halfpenny
Beenie, a small bone
Beerial, burial
Behn, a bone
Behst, a beast
Ben, inward, towards the fireplace,

as, cum ben
Bench, a sort of open cupboard

hung from the wall
Beuk, to give the names of the

affianced for the proclamation

of the marriage - banns in

church
Bibblie ganger, the nose
Bibbles, mucus from the nose
Bide, to dwell in
Big, to build
Bim, a burden
Bit, but, except
Bit, a piece
Black, to grow black
Black oil, oil made from the milt

of white fish
Bleed, blood
Bleedy, bloody

218

QLOSSABT.

Blin, blind

Blissin^ blessing

Bochty bought

Bodie, a person

Boggie, a small bog or marsh

Bole, a small hole built in the

wall of a house
Bonnie^ beautiful
Bonnie things, the marriage clothes

and ornaments
Brack, to break
Brak, to break
Brae, a slope
Brae-fou, when the slopes are

covered, or when the hollows

are filled
Bree, water in which anything is

boiled
Breeks, trousers
Breest, breast
Broch, borough
Brock, to spoil, to waste
Brod, a goad
Broo, the brow
Brook, broke, past of brack
Brook, spoken of sheep when the

face is black or brown
Broon, brown
Bruckle, a kind of carex
Buff, to beat
Bun-bed, a bed made of wood like

a large cupboard
But, outward
But ein, the best room in the

dwelling-house
Byke, the hook at the end of the

crook by which pots, &c. are

suspended over the fire

Ca, to drive

Caa, to name, to call

Cadger, one who drives fish

through the country for sale
Caff, chaff
Cairry, to carry
Cam, came, past of come
CarHle, a candle
CanHe-gullie, a large knife used

to split up bog-fir into candles
Canny, skilful, careful; having

more knowledge than ordinary
Cap, a small wooden basin
Carena, care not
Carlin, an old woman
Cattie, a small cat
Caul, cold
Caunle, candle
Cheep, to chirp
Chirity, charity
Chucken, chicken »
Claid, to clothe, past claid, past

participle claid
Claith, cloth
Clash, to tell tales
Clash-pyot, a tale-teller
Clatter, to chatter, to speak in-
cessantly
Clippan, a small piece of cloth

cut off
Clockin, applied to a bird when

hatching eggs
Clum, to climl)
Codlin, a codfish
Cog, a dish made of wooden staves

and bound with hoops
Connach, to make a muddle of
Coo, a cow
Coont, to count, to number

GLOSSARY.

219

CoordiBf a coward

Coi'Py a dead body

Craitir^ creature, applied to every
living being

Crap^ crop

Crape, crept, past of creep.

CraWy a crow

Crawin, crowing

Creesch, tallow

Creenie-cranntef the little finger

Crooky the small chain with a hook
in the lower end that hangs over
the fire from which the pots,
&c., are suspended when cook-
ing is going on

Crosst shilling, a shilling having
on it the figure of a cross

Cry, to bring forth a child
' Cyarlin, a big woman of rude
manners

Cudna, could not

Dee, to do; to die

Deed, dead

Deel, devil

Deen, done, past participle of dee

Ding, to strive, to surpass; to

throw, to cast
Ding on, to rain
Dinna, do not
Dirl, to quiver
Dish-clout, a piece of cloth for

wiping dishes
Disna, does not
Diz, does

Doggie, a small dog
Doo, a dove
Boon, down
Doonie, down

Doorie, a small door

Doup, the end, bottom

Dowie, doleful

Dram, a glass of whiskey

Drap, drop

Drappy, rainy

Dreeve, drove

Drill up, to work steadily and
energetically

Dud, a little piece of dress or
cloth

Dummy, a dumb person

Dwine, to waste away

Dyvot, a thin turf used for cover-
ing roofs, &c.

Ee, eye

JEJely, oil

Eely dolly, an oil-lamp made of

two pieces or shells of iron
Eemist, uppermost
^e», eyes
Eer, early

Eest, used, was wont
Eht, to eat
Emerteen, an ant

Fa, to fall

Fae, from

Fah, who

Fahr, where

Faht, what

Faimly, family

Fairt, afraid

Fan, found, past of ^w, to find

Fattenan, becoming fat

Fause, false

Feherwary, February

Feersday, Thursday

220

GLOSSARY.

Fehr^ fear

Fehst, feast

Fessy to fetcli, to bring

Ferrtty applied to a cow not under

milk
Fei/, doomed to die
Fey-crapi a crop betokening death
Filk, which

Filthy fa, ill-luck befall
Fin, to find
Fin, when
Fir-can' le, a candle made of

bog-fir
First -Jity what is first met
Fit, foot
Fite, white

Fite bread, wheaten bread
Fitin, a whiting, the name of a

fish
Fleck, to become spotted with

white
Floor, a flower
Fool, foul, dirty
Forhye, besides
Fore, forward
ForebeerSf forefathers
Forenicht, the evening
Forespeak, to bestow excessive

praise, the consequence of which

is to cause disease in the one

so praised
Fou, full

Fouck, folk, people
Fou 0* the meen, full moon
Freen, a friend
Fremit, strange
Fuh, why

Fun, found, past participle of ^w
Furly to whirl

Fvshing, a fishing
Futher, whether

Gab, the mouth

Gae, to go

Gairden, a garden

Gaither, to gather

Gang, to go

Gar, to force, to compel

Gee, to give

Geed, went, past of go

Geed wuU, lost the way

Gehn, if ; gin is another form

Gehr, to become streaked

Gird, a hoop

Girdle, the round piece of iron on
which oaten cakes are baked

Girnal, the chest that holds the
meal

Girss, grass

Glaiss, a glass

Glowr, to stare

Gouckit, foolish

Goud, gold

Chrais, grass

Greeance, agreement, betrothal

Greet, to weep; past, grat; past
participle, grutten

Green brees, an open cesspool

Greethy, greedy

Growan, growth

Gueede, good; gueedeman, good-
man ; gueedewife, the mistress

Gueede sake, for God's sake

Gya, gave, past of ^ee

Hack, to cut
Hae, to have
Hail, whole

GLOSSARY*

221

Hammer, a liammer

Hairstj harvest

Half-wye, lialf-way

Hame, home

Han, hand

Hanless, unskilful

Hanme, a small hand

Hapwarm, a comfortable piece of

dress
Ham, sack-cloth
Harry, to rob
Hathish, a small dry measure ;

four in a peck
HattiCi a small hat
Hand, to hold

Heeld, held, kept, past of hand
Hehd, the head
Herd, to tend cattle; as a n., one

who tends cattle ; also htrd
Hicht, height
Hielanman, a Highlander
Hiner, to hinder, to prevent
Hirple, cripple; as a verb to halt

in walking
Hogg, a young sheep
Hoosiey a little house
Horsie, a little horse
Hummil, without horns
Hunn, a hound

Ilky, each

Im, him

Incraise, to increase

Intil, into

Ir, her

It, that

Jimp, slender

Jist, just, as an adverb

Kehhach, a cheese

Ken, to know

Kintra, country

Kirk-road, the road along which

the worshippers go to church
Kirsnin, baptism
Kist, a chest
Kistan, the act of putting the dead

body into the coffin
Kittle, to tickle
Kye, cows

Laan, land, an estate

Laan-marh, land-mark

Lad, laad, a male sweetheart

Laid, a load

Laidie, a lady

Lairdie, a little laird

Lairge, large

Lang, long

Lass, a female sweetheart

Lat, to let ; Zaf oot, to enlarge

Layer-stehn, a flat gravestone

ieJ, a large hmTied draught

Leearie, a liar

Leuk, to look

Licht, light

Lit-pot, a pot used for dyeing

ZooTi, a boy

ioM/7, to jump

Loupie, a short jump

Lug, the ear

Luggit, having ears

Lum, a chimney-head made of

wood ; the whole vent
Lyhe, the watching of a dead body

Ma, my
Mailison, a curse

222

GLOSSART.

Mair^ more

Mak, to mak

Mamdge, marriage

Maister, master

Mairritf married

Maugre, in spite of

Maun, must

Maut, malt

MeelSj graveyard mould

Meetly moon

Meer, a mare

Mehl-boivie, the cask tliat holds
the meal for the household

Mehr, more

Meht, meat, used in the sense of
food, sometimes, feast; merry
meht means feast of joy

Misgae, for a cow to slip her calf

Monanday, Monday

Mony, many

Moo, mouth

Moofou, mouthful

Moosie, B, little mouse

MuckUy much, large

Mutty, a small dry measure ; four
in a hathish

ilif^n^, to remember; to pay atten-
tion to

Nae, no

Naither, neither
Nappie, a small nob
Nearie, near
Neesht, next, the other
Neist, next
Neive, the hand
Nestie, a small nest
Nethmest, lowermost
Nmk, a corner

Nib, a bird's bill
Nkhty night
Nivver, never
NoOy now
I^outy cattle

Oo, wool

Oo aye, oh, yes

Oo^, week

Oot, out

Or, before

Orra, spare ; orra bawbees, spare

halfpennies
Ower, over

Fannie, a small pan

Pattie, a small pot

Feat-neuk, a comer or other part

of the house used for holding

peats
Peer, poor

Peer-man, a candlestick
Peer-page, same as peer-man
Piece^ a piece of cake given to a

person
Pistal, a pistol
Pit, to put
Pt< fae, to push away
Plack, a small coin
Pto, to plough; as a w., a plough
PUnisan, furniture of all kinds
Poother, powder
Poddock, a frog
Pottie, a small pot
Pree, to taste

Providan, a marriage outfit
Puir, poor
Pmw, a pound
Pyock, a bag, a sack

GLOSSARY.

223

Quarter, to lodge
Quarterer, a lodger
Queentrt/, country
Quite, a coat
Quo\ quotli, said

JRatd, rode, past participle of ride
JRaip, a rope, commonly applied

only to ropes made of straw or

ruslies
Eaither, rather
Bantle-tree, the beam over the

fire from which the crook hangs
Eashin, made of rushes
Beam, cream
Ream-howie^ a small barrel open

at one end for holding cream
Ream-pig, a jar for holding cream
Redd, to open what is shut, or

stopped up
Reed, red
Reef, roof
Richt, right
Rin,, to run
Rinnin, running
Roon, round

Saands, sands

Sae, so

Saft, soft

Sain, to bless in the name of God

Sair, hand sair, hold tightly

Saitirday, Saturday

Saiven, seven

Sannie, Alexander

Sauch, a willow

Sauf, salt

Saiv, to sow

Scrog, a rugged branch

Seal, what binds cattle to the stall
Sehr, painful, grievous
Sennin, sending
SenSf the two men sent to bring

the bride to be married
Settle, a kind of sofa without any

covering or stuffing
Shaave, to sow
Shall, a shell
Shee, a shoe
Sheelin coug, a wooden dish for

holding the fishing bait when

taken from the shells
Sheen, shoes
Shillicks, the dressings of corn

and here
Shoeie, a little shoe
Shoor, a shower
Shot, a catch of fish
Shot-a-dead, killed by a fairy dart
Shouther, the shoulder
Sicker, sure, firm, steadfast
Siller, silver; money
Silly hoo, a holy cap; the caul

which some children have on

their head when bom
Sin, the sun
Skeel, skill
Skull, an oblong basket with

round ends and a round bottom
Sma, small
Sneaw, snow
Sodger, a soldier
Soo, a sow
Spang, a long jump
Speer, to ask
Staa, stole, past of steal
Stan, to stand
Stap, to step

224

OLOSSAKY.

StaVf a kind of carex

Steed, stood, past of start

Steek, to close, to bhat

Steer, a bull, an ox

Stehn, a stone

Stenty allotted work

Stoup-fou, a full stoup or tankard

Strae, straw

Strety tight; hard, when applied to

a bargain
Strin, as much milk as comes

from a cow's dug by once

pressing it
Stryke, to stretch; to lay out a

dead body ; to put the plough

into the soil for the first time

after harvest
Sud, should
Swallity swallowed
Swypit, swept, past of swype
Syne, then; ainayne, since that

time

Tackit, a small iron nail with a
broad head for driving into the
soles of boots and shoes

Tae, a toe

Tack, to take

Tak, to take

Tap, top

Tap-puckle, the grain on the top
of the ear

2'aul, told, payed ; past of tell

Tead, a toad

The streen, yestreen (yester even),
last night

Thig, to beg

Thir, their

Thoosans, thousands

Three-girded, bound with three
hoops

Threw, twisted, past of thraWy to
twist ; to thraw the moo at
one, to make a wry mouth

ThroOf through

Thunner, thunder

Tippen, the hair that binds the
hook to the line

Tither, other

Toon, town

Tow, a rope

Trance, a passage in a dwelling-
house

Trushter, useless stufif

Tung, tongue; hand yir tung, keep
silence

Twa, two

Twal owsen plew, a plough drawn
by twelve oxen

Tyesday, Tuesday

Umman, woman
Uncanny, dangerous
Unceevil, uncivil

Unco, very before an adjective,
as unco caul, very cold

Vrang, wrong

Vrang wye, wrong way, from left
to right

Wa, a wall

Waan, a wand

Waichty weight

Waicht, a small sieve

Wan, gained, reached, past of

win, to gain, to reach ; to win

hame, to reach home

GLOSSARY,

225

Wardle, the world

Warkj work

Warnuy were not

War sty worst

Wattir, water

Wee, with; also wi

Wee, small

Weel, well

TF6€w, wind

TFicAi, strong

Win, wind

TFi'w, to reach; to gain; see wan

Win onj to mount

Winkie, the eye

Winna, will not

Wint, to want, to wish for

Wintiny without

Wir, were
Wis, to wish
TFessm, wishing
Withooty without
Wiz, was
TFbft, a web
Wudy would
TF^m^, the belly
Wye^ way

Fig^Z mairtf an ox killed at Christ-
mas for home consumption
Yetty a gate
Tir, yevy your
Tit, a gate
F(9wZ, a howl
Tow, a ewe

Q

226

LIST OF WORKS QUOTED IN NOTES ON THE FOLK-
LORE OF THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND.

Choice Notes from " Notes and Queries ** Folk-Lore. London :
Bell and Daldy, 186, Fleet Street, 1859; cited as Choice Notes.

Extracts from ** The Presbytery Book of Strathbogie," a.d. m.dc.xxi
— M.DC.Liv. Aberdeen : printed for Spalding Club m.dccc.xliii. ;
cited in full.

" Faune Populaire de la France,*' par Eugene RoUand, vols. i. ii.
and iii. Paris : Maisonneuve et Cie,, Libraires-Editeurs, 25, Quai
Voltaire ; cited as Faune Populaire de la France.

The Folk-Lore Record, vols. i. ii. and iii. pt. 1. London : Published
for the Folk-Lore Society ; cited as F.-L. Record.

Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and
the Borders, by William Henderson. London : Published for the
Folk-Lore Society by W. Satchel, Peyton, & Co., 12, Tavistock Street,
Covent Garden, W.C, 1879 ; cited as Henderson.

Notes and Queries, Fifth series. London, 20, Wellington Street,
Strand ; cited as Notes and Queries, hth series.

The Songs of the Russian People as illustrative of Sclavonic Mytho
logy and Russian Social Life, by W. R. S. Ralston, M.A. London :
Ellis & Green, 33, King Street, Covent Garden, 1872 ; cited as Songs
of the Russian People, by W. R. S. Ralston.

Storia Comparata degli usi Nuziali in Italia e presso gli altri Popoli
Indo-Europei, by De Gubematis. Milano : E. Treves & Co., Editori,
1869 ; cited as Usi Nuziali, by De Gubematis.

INDEX.

Aberdeen, rhymes on, 106, 117

Aberdour, rhymes on, 103, 113

Agricultural folk-lore, 177-196

Ai key brae, rhymes on, 102

Althash well, 40, 41

Amber beads as curative agents, 40

Animal superstitions, 123-148

Animals kiUed by fairies, 64

Aut, the, 147

Apparition of one soon to die, 204

Apple, love divination by eating, 86

April, 150

Apron-string loose, 87

Avion ateVf 148

Arrestment of horses, 32

Aspen, 148

Ass, the, employed in coring whooping

cough, 132
Auchindroin, rhyme on, 106
" Aul' man's bell," 148
Avon, rhyme on, 103

Bait-pot, 54

Balgownie, rhjrme on, 108

Ballads, singing of, 55

Balls, a village amusement, 158, 159

Balveny, rhjrme on, 106

Banff, rhymes on, 103, 104, 106

"Bannock Nicht," customs on, 164-
166

Banns, proclamation of, 89

Baptism, customs at, 11-13 ; effect of,
on a sick child, 11 ; hospitality at,
12; child must sleep in its baptismal
dress, 12; baptismal water in child's
eyes, 12; baptismal water drunk or
poured under foundation of house,
12

Bargain making among bojrg, 22 ;
sealed among men by pressing the
thumbs together, 189

Bamfans, 183

"Bar-reetcrap," 179

Bass, near Inverury, rhyme on, 107

Bauky 50

Bed, sleeping in strange, to divine
future husband, 83

" Beddan," the, 96

Bees, first swarm of, emit a sound
exactly at midnight on the last day
of the year, 147; must not be pur-
chased, 147

Beggars, wandering, entertained in
family, 67

Belrinnes, rhyme on, 104

Beltane, 167

Bench, 61

Bennochie, rhjrmes on, 104, 110, 113

Besom, thrown after animal when led
away to be sold, 188

" Beverage o' the new claes," 31

Birds, 134-143 ; flying inland, indica-
tion of a coming storm, 134; pair on
Valentine day, 134

Bird rhymes, 134, 135

Birthday rhjrme, 25

Birth, customs at, 4-6

" Blaain skate," 201

" Black Airt," what it was, taught in
Spain and Italy, in dark rooms, devil
watched for last student, 73

Black snail, omens &om, 148

Black speck on teeth, 26

Black speck on wick of a candle, 32

Blood, three drops falling from nose, a
death omen, 204

Blood, to dream of, 29

Bluebell, the, 148

Boats, 197-202; ceremonies on arrival
of new, 197; ceremony on new boat
returning from first fishing, 198 ;
mode of turning when going to sea,
199 ; on leaving for fishing at another
station, something borrowed, 200 ;
when wrecked with loss of life not
used afterwards, 198 ; boats at sea,
not to be pointed at with finger, nor
counted, 200

Boat-ballast, 198

Boat-launch rhyme, 197

Boils, lucky hand to dress, 36, 37

Bones, human, 215

Bonfires, 188

" Bonnie things," 88

Q 2

228

INDEX.

** Borie,'* a weather sign, 154

** Borrowing days," 150

Borrowing by fairies, 63, 64

Boy, code of honour, 21-24; role of the
ring, 21 ; mle of a race, 21, 22 *,
bargain-making, 22 ; oaths, 22 ;
presents, 23 ; the informer, the liar,
23 ; sharing sweetmeats, 23, 24

Boyne, rhyme on, 104

Box-bedf 52

Bread baked by fairies during sunshine
with rain, 65; bridal-bread, 89

Bridal-ale, 89

Bridal-bread, 89

Bridal procession to and from church
101, 102

Bride's maids, 88, 92

Bride-capture, surviyal custom of, 91

Bride-stool, 101

** Broch " round moon a weather sign,
152

Broom in rich flower, a sign of a plen-
tiful crop, 148

" Broon coo's lick," 26

"BroseDay," 164-166

BruckleSy 51

Buchan, 104

Buck, name of a hill, 104

Building materials for dwelling-houses,
50

Bull " boorin " at a man, 133

Bun-bed, 52

Burial, customs at, 210-215

Bnt-eiiif 52

Butter, churning customs, 194; to dream
of, 29 ; cast rorth at death, 206

Cabrach, rhyme on, 105
Caimbyke, rhjrme on, 105
Cairnmuir, rhyme on, 105
Cakes, how seryed up, 31 ; if counted,

eaten by fairies, 65, 157
Calf when dropped not touched with

hand, 194, 195
Campanula rotundifoliat 148
Candlemas-day, rhyme on, 151
Candles carried round the bed at birth,

5 ; burned beside a dead body, 207,

208
" Can'le-guUie," 61
CapSy small wooden basins, 52
Carbon, film of on grate, 32
Carcinas mcenas^ 148
Card playing at Christmas, 164
Camousie, rhyme on, 106
Casting the heart, 43
Casting ill, 34 ; power of, possessed only

by some; modes of doing so, 34;

power to shew who did it, 37

Castoc, pulling the, 84

Cat, to dream of, 29; sucks an infant's
breath, dying in a house, an omen of
death, dangerous to shoot a cat, 123;
taken as a protection against disease
on entering new house, 53, 124 ;
transferring disease^ unlucky to meet,
124; male cat, 124, 126; proverbs,
weather proverbs from cat, 125 ;
rhymes, 125, 126; shut up at the
time of death, 207

Cattle, superstition, 133, 134; holding
up their heads and snuffing a sign
of rain, a bull "boorin," 133 ; on
Christmas mom, 159; forespoken,
fairies among cattle, "HI ee," 184;
working ill among cattle by " hackit
flesh," 184, 185 ; pig sacrificed to
avert disease, diseased animal burnt
to death, " Needfyre," 186 ; cutting
off fore-legs of dead animal and
preserving them to keep off disease,
186, 187; liver and lungs of dead ani-
mal preserved, transferring disease,
arresting disease by burying dead
animal " abeen the toon," 187; cures
by draughts, 187, 188; off a new
shilling, 187; off "Willocks" ball
andbndle, 187, 188; witches among
cattle, 188 ; besom thrown on the
animal when led away to be sold,
halter went along with it when sold,
188 ; sign of cross made on animal
when sold, 188, 189 ; bargain sealed
by pressing thumbs, " blockan ale,'*
"luckpenny,"189

Caul, divination by, 25

Caves, beliefs concerning, 116

" Chackie Mill," 203

Chairs sprinkled with water at death,
206

Chapels, resorted to for cure of disease,
42; for churching of women, 6

Chapman, the, 58

Charming disease, 36

"Cheek lone," 180

Cheese, given at birth-feasts, 4

Chickens hatched a-field must be left
where hatched, 142

Child, the, 7-10; if a boy, wrapped in
a woman's shirt, if a girl, wrapped
in a man's, if operation reversed, no
marriage, palms of hands not washed,
live coal thrown into water in which
new-bom infant washed, sometimes
poured under foundation of dwelling-
house ; child turned heels over head
when dressed, 7; mode of preventing
child from being forespoken, danger

INDEX.

229

Child — contimied
of giving too much praise, 7 ; modes
of finding ont if child forespoken,
evil eye, how to avert, how to cure,
casting ill on a child, " fairy change-
ling," how to bring back child,
cutting first tooth, ** teething ban-
nock," what produces thieving pro-
pensities, child speaking before walk-
ing a liar, a present to a child on
going into a house, 9; cradle, 10;
must cry when baptized, must sleep
in baptismal dress, 12 ; bom with
caul, 25 ; doomed to be hanged, 25,
26 ; bom with feet first had power to
cure lumbago, rheumatism, 45, 46
Christmas, 156-168; number of days
observed, blacksmith would not work,
every piece of work should be finished,
food for man and beast laid in,
"yeel fish," "yeel kebback," 156;
ale for Christmas, bread for Christ-
mas, omens from breaking Christmas
bread, cakes of bread must not be
counted, a child must not cry on first
day of Christmas, a piece of new
dress at Christmas, 157; Christmas
breakfast, Christmas dinner, 158 ;
Christmas morning, fire, omens from,
something carried in &*st, live coal
not given ont on Christmas morning,
160 ; Christmas begging, 160, 162

Christmas games by children, 163

Chrysanthemum Leucunthemum, 193

Churching of mother, 6

Churning superstitions, 194

Circle, small bright, round moon, 162

Clach-na-bhan, tradition of stone so
called, 42

Clay figure, to cast ill by means of, 34

Clochnaben, rhyme on, 113

Clock stopped at the time of a death,
207

" Cloddin " of crows, a weather sign,
136

Clothes of the dead, 206

Clouds, 154, 155

Club, the " Hell-fire," 74, 75

Clunymoire, rhyme on, 106

"Clyack" feast, 182

" Clyack " sheaf, 159, 181, 182

Cock, the, 140; a prophet, crowing on
threshold, crowing at midnight,
power of seeing evil spirits, employed
in the cure of epilepsy, produces a
" cockatrix " egg when seven years
old, 140

** Cockatrix " hatched from an egg
laid by a seven-year-old cock, 140

" Cock*s-eye " round moon a weather
sign, 152

Coffin, 211, 212

" Coffin-spehl," 204

CogSy 52

Colours, rhyme on, 87

Consumption, cure of, 130

Cooking, superstitions about, 30

Com, winnowing, love divination by,
85

Comcaim, rhjrme on, 105

Countings out, 169-175

Cow calving, 194

Cow not milked on day when taken to
market, 195

Cow rhymes, 133, 134

Cradle, superstitions concerning the, 9,
10

Cramp, cure of, 145

Cream kept generally for some length
of time, 194

Cromar, rhjrme on, 105

«* Crook," the, 51

Crooked sixpence lucky to keep in
purse, 31

Oroon piece, 50

Cross, the wood of, 148

Cross, making sign of, on animal when
bought, 188, 189

" Crossie-croon shillan," 190

« Cross't shUling," 190

Crow, 135-137; a bird of darkness,
135, 136 j alighting on a house an
omen of death, unlucky to destroy
rookery, " cloddin," perching on the
top of walls a weather sign, " craws*
weddin," 136; crow rhymes, 137

Cruden, 105

Cryin bannock, 4 ; distributed to
nriends and visitors, 4, 5

Cryin kebback^ 4

Crying of child on first day of Christ-
mas, 157

Cuckoo, love divination by the, 83

Culblean, rhyme on, 105

CuUen, rhyme on, 106

Cults, rhyme on, 106

Cure of a Highlander at Broadford, 37,

38
Curses, 35

Daach, rhyme on, 106

Dairy, 189-195 ; witches in dairy, 189-
192; taking away milk, 189, 190;
dam's excrement put into calf's
mouth when dropped, 189 ; first milk
through a finger-ring, shilling put
into milking pail or cog, or horse-
shoe nail, first milk curdled and pre-

230

INDEX.

Dairy — continued
senred, a " raip " plaited wrong way
ronnd animid's neck, first draught of
vvater off a shilling, cow driven forth
oyer fire and iron, fire and salt, with
seal on neck, 190 ; modes of bringing
back milk, 190-192 ; how to prevent
forespaking, 192, 193

Dandiheth, rhyme on, 107

Dead believed to retnm night after
funeral, 213

« Dead bell," 27

« Dead can'le," 204

«*Dead drop," 203

Dead one, to dream of, 29

Deaf and dumb, 27

Death, 206-208 ; breaking the rock
over the head of one dying, dying
one removed from bed, doors and
windows opened, ceremonies at the
time of death, 206 ; clock stopped,
looking-glass covered, hens and cats
shut up, neighbours did not yoke,
laying out body, penny or halfpenny
laid on eyelids, saucer with salt
placed on body, mould or a green
turf laid on body, candles kept burn-
ing beside body, 207; time of dying,
208

Death-omens, 202-206 ; three knocks,
*' the dead drop," "the chackie mill,"
a heavy sound outside the door, a
murmur as of human voices outside
the house, a picture or looking-glass
falling, 203 ; the ** dead can'le," a
"fey-crop," a " coffin-spehl," ap-
parition of one doomed to die, three
drops of cold blood falling from
nose, joy more than ordinary, not
sneezing, 204 ; the living and the
dead grave, a mysterious sound, 204,
205; dead body soft and flabby, 211;
cat dying in house, 123; hens dying
in numbers, hen crowing, 141

Dee, the river, 107, 108

Deer, kirk of, 107

Delvey, rhyme on, 107

Devil compacts, 74; how made, 74,
216

Devil's bird, the magpie, 108

Devil's mark on foreleg of pig, 129

Dew used to increase quantity of milk,
193

Dindurcas, rhyme on, 107

Dipple, rhyme on, 107

Disease, causes of, 34, 35; casting ill,
34; "ill ee," 34, 35; prayers, fore-
speaking, hidden grave, sudden news,
fright, 36

Disease, cnres of by secret wisdom of
certain men and women, 35; power
of curing certain diseases possessed
by some, 35, 36; motes in the eye
extracted by one family, 36; setting
broken limbs, dislocated joints in an-
other, charming diseases, 36; lucky
hand in dressing boils, 36, 37; power
of a posthumous child, 37; power to
show in a looking-glass the faces of
those who cast ill on man, cure of a
Highlander at Broadford, 37, 38;
articles having the virtue of curing
disease, 38; Willox "ball and bri-
dle," 38,39; "Ee-stehn," 39; wells,
40, 41; « Wallak kirk," 41; chapels,
Clach-na-bhan, 42; cure of " ill ee,"
42; of forespeaking, by casting the
heart, 43; of sleepy fever, 44; of epi-
lepsy, 44, 45; of rickets, 45; of lum-
bago, rheumatism, sprains, 45, 46; of
whooping cough, of eye disease, 46;
of erysipelas, " rose," of sting of
nettle, of ringworm, of toothache,
47, 48; of warts, 48, 49; of hiccup,
49; cure of by dove, 142, 143; pro-
tection against on going into a house,
124

Disease, transferring, 124

Disease among cattle, 184-188

Divination, throwing the staff, 29, 30;
turning back on setting out on a
journey, pajring a visit, 30; new ser-
vant, tea-stalk floating in cup, 31, 32

Dog, the, 126, 127; would not approach
one near death, howling at night,
power to see ghosts, 126; killed if he
bit any one, mad dog*s heart dried
and ground to powder a cure for his
bite, dog did not bite an idiot, run-
ning sore healed by lick of dog, eat-
ing grass a token of rain, sayings,
127

" Dog," the word, not pronounced by
fishermen at sea, 199

Dog-fish, part of backbone, a cure for
toothache, 144

Dog-hole, 52

Dogs, being bitten by, to dream of, 29

" Dog afore his maister," 156

Don, the river, 107, 108

Dove flying round a person an omen
of death, used in the cure of disease,
142, 143

Dreams of white horse, swine, eggs, fresh
fish, butter, fruit, fire, water, tooth,
dogs, cats, one dead, being dead,
shoes, blood, 29

Dresser, a piece of kitchen furniture, 51

INDEX.

231

Dressing of child, 7

Drowning, 208

Druidical circles, traditions concerning,

115
Drum, the name of a place, 117
Ducks hatched a-field must he left, 142
Duff, rhyme on, 117
" Dummy," 27; consulted as to the

unknown, 28
Dying one removed from bed, 206
Dyspepsia, cure of, 130
DyvotSy 50

Eden, rhjrme on, 108

Eel, the, 115

" Ee-stehn," 39

Eggs, to dream of, 29

Eggs of wild birds not to be touched in

nest, 142
Eggs on Peace Sunday, 166, 167
" Elf-shot," 59
Emerteen, 147

Epilepsy, cures of, 44, 45, 140
Erysipelas, cure of, 147
Etiquette at table, 30
Evil eye on a child, 8 ; cure of, 8.
Evil spirits, power of seeing, possessed

by cock, 140
Eye disease, cure of, 46, 144
Eye, motes in, the power to extract, 36

Face rhymes, 14

" Fair Folk," 59

Fairies, modes of keeping them at a
distance from women in child-bed
and infants, 5 ; fallen angels, dwelt in
green hillocks in beautiful palaces,
wells, governed by queen, did not like
name of fairy, called " the fair folk "
and "the gueed neebours," their
behaviour to men, " fairy dairt " or
" elf shot," a protection against them,
house annoyed if built over one of
their abodes, their time of coming
out, the gloamin, spinning, 59 ;
meal mills, paying " teind to hell,"
carried off unbaptized infants, 61 ;
examples, 61, 62; liked human milk,
62 ; enticed men and women away,
62, 63 ; borrowed articles, 63, 64;
animals fell under their anger,
skilled in music, 64 ; fished, baked
bread when sun shining and rain
falling, ate counted cakes, " a furl o'
fairies' ween," 65; among cattle, 184

" Fairy changeling," 8, 9

" Fairy dairt," 59

Fairy wells, 69

Family characteristics, 117-122

Farming, 178-183; new tenant got help
from his neighbours in work and
seed, no seed given away till some
sown, crofters thigged grain in fod-
der during harvest, parts cultivated,
178 ; mode of cropping, a "rig " left
unsown for wild oats, " the aul
man's" part, implements, 179; "twal
ousen plew," 179-181 ; ceremony
when plough "strykit," seed, har-
vesting, mysterious animal among
com, 181; "clyack" sheaf, 181-182;
reapers divining where they were to
reap next harvest, firing snots into
neighbour's field when finished reap-
ing before him, "clyack" feast, 182;
winter, 182-183 ; grain left for the
birds, winnowing of grain, produce
of land consumed in seven years,
mills, stopping mill-wheel, 183

Faster Even, 164-166

Feasts, at birth, 4; at burials, 210; at
marriages, 93-95

Feathers, wild fowl, 206

Feet-washing of bridegroom, 89, 100

Female friends present at the birth, 4

Fergan well, 41

" Ferrick," a weather sign, 162

Fever, sleepy, cures of, 44

" Fey-crap," 204

Field mouse, 127

Fiery spots on bottom of pot, 32

Fighting among boys, 21

Finger rhymes, 14, 15

Finger-ring, first milk after cow calved
milked through, 196

Fingers, slender, meaning of, 26

Fir-candles, carried round the bed at
child-birth, 5; used for lighting the
house, 54

Fire, to dream of, 29; stirring, in a
friend's house, 30; love divination
from, 87

Fire-kinlin, 51

Fire-place, 51

Fireside, evenings at, 54

Fish, 144-146; to dream of, 29; hung
in moonlight poisonous, 152; how
cured, 201; how sold, 201, 202

Fish " glowrt ooto' the boat," 199, 200

Fisherman's prejudice against being
asked where he was going if pro-
ceeding to sea, against the use of
certain words at sea, 199

Fishing, 197-202

Fishing by the fairies, 65

"Fit yoke," 179, 180

"Flags," 154

Fluke, the, 146

232

INDEX.

Foal, omens from seeing first one, 130;
put ont of stable tail foremost for
the first time, 131

Fochabers, rhyme on, 109

« Foonin pint." 50

Foot, paralysis of, 127

" Fore frock,'* 179

ForenichterSy 57

Forespeaking, 7, 8, 35; child, modes of
finding ont, 8; cnre of, 43

Forespei^ng cattle, 184

"Forhooie" nest, 142

Fortnne-telling, 166

Forvie, rhyme on, 110

Fraser, rhyme on, 118

Fraserburgh, rhyme on, 109

Friday an unlucky day, Friday weather,
"flatterin"' Friday, 149

Fright dislodging the heart, 35

Frog, the, spawning on edge of pqnds,
an indication of a wet summer, in
middle of it of a dry summer, thrust
down a cow's throat a cure for "red-
water," mode of gaining power to
cure eye diseases by licking a frog's
eye with tongue, 144; kept in cream
jar, 194

Fruits, to dream of in season, 29; out
of season, 29

Fuarag, 13

Funeral customs, 210-215

" Furl o' fairies' ween," 65

Furniture of household, 51

Fyyie, rhyme on, 109

" Gaadman," 180

Gallowgate, rhyme on, 110

Garioch, rhyme on, 110

Garter loose, 87

Ghost, of a murdered person came back
till murderer found out, executioner
of punishment on the murderer, 69

Ghosts, 68, 70; seen by the horse, 130

Gight, Bog of, 110

Girl baptised first, 13

Golden plover, 143

Goose, the wild, 143

Gordon, 110, 111, 118, 119, 120, 121

Oordius aqvMicus, 148

« Gowk's thumles," 148

Grave clothes, 207

Grave, living and dead, 204, 205

Graveyards, 215, 216

Graveyards, *' yird swine " in, 130, 215

" Green brees," 51

Green crab, 148

" Gueede neebours," 59

« Guidmahn's Craft," 116

« Gysers," 158

« Hackit flesh," 184, 185

Haddock, the origin of black spots on
the shoulders, 145 ; haddock speak-
ing, 145, 146 ; not good till it gets
three dips in the May flood, 146;
how cured, 201

Hair-worm, 148

Hair, strange growth of, on human
body, 26

Halloween, 84-86, 167, 168

Halo round moon, 152

Halter went with sold animal, 188

Hands and feet, large, 26

Hansel for a new dress, 81

" Hansel Monanday," 164

Hare, the, 128, 129 ; dislike of, by fish-
ing and agricultural population, 128 ;
witches, 128, 129 ; fishers and hare,
crossing path unlucky, harelip, lucky
if started from the last cut grain,
129; transformation of witch into, 72,
189

Harelip, 129

" Harkenm the moles," 123

Harrows, 179

Harvesting, 181

Haunted mansions, 68 ; roads, bridges,
graveyards, 70

Hay, the family of, 121

Headache brought on by the hair of
the head being built into a bird's
nest, 26

Heart dislodged bjr sudden news or
fright, 35; restormgwhen dislodged,
43

« HeUiman Rig," 115

Hen, the, 141, 142; unlucky to sell
poultry by public auction, dying in
numbers an omen of death, crowing
of a hen an omen of death, proverb,
141 ; eggs not sold after sunset, short
hen-eggs produced female birds, long
eggs male birds, hen setting, mode
of time of, 141; May, an uiSavonr-
able month, 142; March, favourable,
142 ; shut up at the time of a death,
207

Hens in dwelling-house, 51

Hens and ducks preening themselves
an indication of rain, 142

Herring, the, 145; how to "raise" the
herring, 145

Hiccup, cure of, 49

Hidden grave, going over, a cause of a
rash, 35

" Hinfrock," 179

" Hird," the, 195, 196

" Hh-d " rhyme, 196

« Bird's " club, 195

INDEX.

233

Hogmanay, 162

II008, part of the couples, 50

Hooge-heatiUf 61

Horse, the, arrestment of, 32; as a
" first-fit " good, omens from seeing
first foal, sees ghosts, &c., must he
skinned when dead, 130; how foal
taken out. from the stable for the
first time, mare's seenndines, the
" horse-grace,*' a rhyme, 131 ; black,
the form of water kelpie, 66, 131;
mode of finding water, 131, 132

Horse, white, to dream of, 29

Horses not yoked at the time of a
death, 207

Horseshoe nailed to boat's mast, 197

House, the, 50-53; laying foundation
of, 50, 51 ; unlucky to tsSie possession
of clean, 63; to take away luck
from, 53

Houses of fishing population, 62

Human body, 25-28 ; birthday rhyme,
child bom with caul lucky, Tirtues of
caul, its condition indicated the state
of health of the one bom with it, 25;
child bom feet foremost doomed to
be hanged, 25, 26 ; " broon coo's "
lick, hair on body, mode of finding
out if one is proud, hair when cut
must be burned, omen of slender
fingers, large hands and feet, " lucken
toes," second and third toes equal,
ring finger, black spot on teeth, 26;
ringing in ears, glow in ears, itching
in eyes, in palm of right hand, in
that of left, m soles of feet, sneezing
rhyme, 27

Hnnger, sudden, 30

" Hungry folks' meat," 30

" Hungry hillock," 30

Hydrophobia, cure of, 127

Idiot, not bitten by a dog, 127

Idiots, 28

" 111 ee " possessed by some, 4 ; inherent

in families, 34; cure of, 42; among

cattle, 184
" 111 fit " in fishing villages, 198, 199
Informer, acting the, 23
Insects, 147

Inverugie, rhyme on, 112
Iron, used at point of death, 206
Itching, in eyes, in palms of hands, in

soles of feet, 27

" Jockie's plew," 195, 196
Joy more than usual a death omen,
204

Keith, rhyme on, 112

Keithpck Mill, 106

Kilbirhie, rhyme on, 112

" King, the," an insect, 147

" Kirk," not pronounced by fishermen

at sea, 199
KirUn, the, 96, 97
Kiss, on putting on a piece of new

dress, 31
Kissing next neighbour on first sight

of new moon, 151
«Kistan,"the,209
Kitchen, the, 51
Knifa, a present of, unlucky, 31

"Laamer" beads, as curative agents,

40
Ladybird, 147
Lamps, 55
Lapwing, the, 143
Lark, the, the queen of heaven's hen,

nest not robbed, rhymes, weather

proverb^ proverbs, 139
Laxative for a cow, heart, liver, and

lungs of a dove, 143
Leechcraft, 34-49
Leg and feet rhymes, 15, 16
« Ley crap," 179
« Lies," 26

Light, mode of giving, 54, 55
Limbs broken, dislocated, cure of, 36
Lingering disease, cure of, by sleeping

among sheep, 132, 133
Lint seed, love divination by, 84
Lochnagar, rhyme on, 113
Locks undone in cases of labour, 4
Looking-glass falling, a death-omen,

203
" Louper dog," 127
Love, modes of gaining, 86, 87
Luck, to take away on removing from

a house, 53
" Lucken " toes, 26
"Luck penny," 189
Lumbago, cure of, 45, 46
I/ycoperdon bovista, 148
Lyke-wake, 208, 209
Lying, 23

Magpie, the, 137, 138; jumping along
the road before one lucky, 137;
hopping near dwelling-house an in-
dication of news, a rhyme, to shoot
one unlucky. Devil's bird, a proverb,
138

" Mairt," the, must be killed when the
moon was on the increase, 151

Mar, rhyme on, 110

Mar, Earl of, 121

234

INDEX.

March, 150; fayonrable for hatching
chickens, 141

Mama, 112

Marriage, 83-101; modes of love divi-
nation, 83-86; divination as to num-
ber of family, 86 ; modes of gaining
love, 86, 87; rhymes, 87; wooing, 87,
88; marriage often arranged without
the knowledge of parents, marriage
days, not lucky to marry in May,
not lucky for two of a family to be
married in the same year, providan,
thiggiUy honnie things^ invitation of
guests, minister asked after guests in-
vited, 88 ; a present made to minister,
89; presents made to bride and
bridegroom, 89, 90, 101; bridal bread,
bridal ale, proclamation of banns,
feet washing, 89, 90; weather on mar-
riage day, rhymes, bridal dress, some-
thing borrowed must be worn, green
garters given by a younger sister to
elder if married before her, arrival
of guests, 90 ; sending for bride,
91 ; procession to and from church,
91,92; bride-stool, biide and bride-
groom should not meet till moment
of marriage, beadle paid by bride-
groom, 91 ; bride's reception at
house, 91, 92 ; ba-Hller, 92 ; bridal
feast, 93-95; penny bridals, 93, 94;
shaimit reel, 95; the heddan, first
asleep first dead, husband carrying
pains of labour, 96; the kirkin, 96,
97 ; marriage among fishing popula-
tion, early, 97; mode of arranging,
97 ; invitation of guests, 97, 98 ;
marriage in church, if bride and
bridegroom of the same village, mode
of marriage if of different villages,
sixpence in shoe of bride, bridegroom
put down heel of shoe, 98; some-
times the marriage party made the
round of the village, 98, 99; sailor's
marriage, bride's reception, pro-
vidan, how taken home, 99 ; in
Crovie, 100; bridegroom not allowed
to sit at feast, customs in Roseliearty,
in Gardenston, in Boddam, 100 ; in
other villages, 101

Masonic lodges, 159

May, the month of, 150, 151; not lucky
to marry in, 88; pilgrimages to
wells, 41 ; not favourable for hatch-
ing chickens, 141

Meams, rhyme on, 113

« Meel and ale," 183

" Meels," the, 215, 216

Merry nicht, the, 4

Midwife, the, 4

" Midyoke," 179

Milk, 189-192; ceasing with woman in
labour, 4; boiling over the edge of
pot unlucky, 19; how to find out if
taken from the cow, 193; modes of
bringing back, if taken away, 190-
192; how to increase, 193; poured
out at death, 206

Milk, human, liked by fairies, 62

Mills and fairies, 60; traditions con-
cerning origin of, 183

Mill-wheel, stopping of, 183

** Minister," a word not pronounced at
sea by fishermen, 199

Mist during old moon, 152

Mole, burrowing near foundation of
dwelling, rubbing between hands till
it dies gives the hands the virtue of
of healing a woman's festered breast,
a saying, 123

Monday, an unlucky day, 149

Monday weather, 149

Monoliths, traditions concerning, 115

Months, 149, 150

Moon, the, unlucky to see new moon
through a window or with empty
hands, something in hand means a
present, money turned in pocket,
kissing next neighbour, 151; "lying
on her back,*' influence of on ripen-
ing grain and fruits, old moon lying
in new moon's arms, seen soon after
coming in, a sign of bad weather,
152; on Saturday, 149

Moorhen, the, 143

" Moose wobs," 147

Moray, rhyme on. Ill, 114

Mormond, 112, 114

Mother unchurched and nnsained, and
fairies, 5; not allowed to do much
till churched, 5; nor to enter a
neighbour's house till churched, must
fetch first water from well in her
thimble, must first go upstairs, 6

Moths called witches, 147

Mould placed on a dead body, 207

Mount Mar, 113

Mouse, the, 127

Murder, 208

Murderer, the, 69, 70

Music by the fairies, 64

Nails, spots on, 26

Name not pronounced till after bap-
tism, 11; dislike to tell, 30; of cer-
tain families not pronounced in some
fishing villages, 200, 201

INDEX.

235

« Needfyre," 186

Nettle, cure of sting of, 47

New dress, 31

New servant, divination abont, first

work, 30
New shilling, draught off, 187
New year ceremony in fishing villages,

202
Noises, death omens, 203-5
Number rhymes, 20
Nursery, the, 14-20; rhymes on face,

on brow, &c., 14; on fingers, 14, 15;

on legs, 15; on legs and feet, various

members, 16; on feeding the child,

16, 17; on undressing, on riding, 17;

various, 18, 19; on numbers, 20

Oaths in bargain making, 22
Occupation in the evenings, 55-57
Ogilvie, family of, 121
Omens from fire on Christmas morning,

160
Onions cast forth at death, 206
Orchis roots, a means of gaining love,

86

" Packies," ** pack-merchants," 155

« Paddle doo," 194

Palms of child's hands not washed, 7

Pan and Jtaiber, 50

Peace Sunday, 166, 167

Peas, roasting, love divination by, 85

Peat, 54

Peat-ueuk, 51

Peer-pagey 54

Peer-man, 64

« Penny bridal," 93, 94

Picture falling from wall a death-
omen, 203

Pig, the, 129, 130; unclean, devil's
mark on fore-leg, unlucky for a
bride to meet, wokI not pronounced
at sea, bite causes cancer, 129; pork-
bree a cure for several diseases,
" Yird -swine," pig sees the wind,
sayings, 130; sacrificed to avert dis-
ease among cattle, 186

Pitfodils, 113

Pittendrum, rhyme on, 113

Pittentyoul, rhyme on, 113

Place characteristics, 117-122

Place rhymes, 102-115

Plough, 179, 181

Pools, guardian demons of, 67

Pork-bree a cure for dyspepsia, con-
sumption, 130

Porpoise, 127

Posthumous child, power of, to cure
disease, 37

Potatoes, omens from digging the first,
148

Pottle belli the ringing of, 22

Prayers cause of disease, 35

Presents among boys, 22, 23

Pride, how to find out if one has, bv
hair, 26

Proverbs about cats, 124, 125

Proverbs — ^** Turn the bannock wi a
fawse Mentieth," 31 ; " Dirt's luck,"
53 ; " To meet the cat in the momin,"
124; « They're like the cats, they
nivver dee guide bit oot o' an ill in-
tention," ** They're like the cats, for
thejr aye licht o' their feet," "It's
gyain' t'be rain, the cat's washin' her
face," 125; " Ye're like the pyot,
ye're a' guts and gyangals," 128;
" As lang's the liverock sings afore
Can'lemas, it greets aif ter't," " Gehn
the lift wir t' fa* an smore the live-
rocks, f ahr wid ye get a hole t^sheet in
yir hehd," "Live on love, as liverocks
diz on ley," 139; " A peck o' March
dust is worth a king's ransom," " A
peck o' March dust is worth its
waicht in goud," " March sud come
in like an adder's head, and gang oot
like a peacock's tail," " March sud
come in like a boar's head, an gang
oot like a peacock's tail," " March
sud come in like a lion and gang oot
like a lam'," 150

" Providan," 88

Puff-ball, 148

« Quaking ash," 148

" Quarter-ill," cure of, 186

Quarterer, 67

Queen of Heaven's hen, the lark, 139

« Rack.baan," 180

Racing among boys, 21

Raffies, 162, 163

Rain, tokens of, 125, 127, 136, 154

" Rain, a lauchin," 154

Rain-rhymes, 154

Raini)ow, 153

Maip, trailing the, 53

Mantle-tree, 51

Rash produced by passing over a hid-
den grave, 35

Rat, the, coming to a dwelling-house,
leaving a dwelling-house, or a ship,
head poisonous, 128

236

INDEX.

Raven, the, a rhyme, ** a corbie mes-
senger," flight of, a weather token,
137

«Ream-bowie,"194

" Ream-pig," 194

Redbreast, unlucky to catch one, a
rhyme, coming near house in autumn
an indication of an early winter, 138;
rhymes, 138, 139

Red thread, 188

** Red water,*' cure of, 144

Jteef'treey 50

Rennet, when made, 151

Reptiles, 144

Rheumatism, cure of, 45, 46

Rhymes, nursery, 14-20

Ribwort, lore divination by the, 83

Rick, custom of fathoming a, 84

Rickets, cures of, 45

Riddles, 76-82

Right stocking to be put on first, 31

Ring-finger, 26

Ringing in ears, 27

Ringworm, cures of, 47

Rivers, bloodthirstiness of, 67

" Rock," breaking of, over one dying,
206

Rood-day, 151

Roofs of houses, 50

Rookery, unlucky to destroy, 136

Ropes, 179

Rosemarkie, well of, 42

Rowan tree, 188

Baat-haket, 51

Sailor's marriage, 79, 99

Saining of mother and child, 5, 60, 61

St. Brandon, 114

St. Bridgets, 6

St. aaus, 114

Salmon, named after the taxman of
the fishings, called *'spey coolin"
in some villages, a fisherman did
not allow his boat to touch salmon-
cobble, effect on a fisherman if told
a salmon in his boat, unlucky if one
caught in herring nets, 146 ; the
word not pronounced at sea, 146, 199

Salt thrown into fire to counteract the
ill-luck of the milk boiling into fire,
193; placed on a dead body, 207

Saturday, 149

Sauchin, 106

Scholars, 55

Scissors, a present of, unlucky, 31

" Seal *' of cow, went with cqw when
sold, 196

Secundines of a mare, 131

Seed, superstition concerning, 181

Seed " thriggin," 178

" Sens," 101

Settle, a piece of fomiture, 52

Shaim spring, 95

Shaimit reel, 95

Sharp instrument, present of, unlucky,
31

« Shee wisp," 31

Sheep, the, producing black sheep un-
lucky, black lamb put to death, 132;
sleeping among sheep a cure for
lingering disease, 132, 133 ; rhyme,
133

Shirt, washing sleeve of, a love divina-
tion, 85

Shoes, to dream of a present of, 29; to
dream of loss of, 29

Shooting matches, 163

" Shot-a-dead," 64, 184

Signs, Professor of, at Aberdeen, 56,
57

Silly hoo, 25

Sing before breakfast, unlucky, 31

Sleep in moonlight, dangerous, 152

Snail (black), omens from, 148

Sneezing, 27, 204

« Sniffltie fit," 148

Snow, 153, 154

Snow rh3n[ne, 153

" Sodgers," 32

Songs, 55, 56

" Soum," 180

Souter*s grace, 20

Speaking to a woman in labour, 4

Speck, black, on teeth, 26

" Speldanes," or " spellans,'* 201

Spiders running over clothes, nest on
stalk of com, meaning of, webs, 147

Spinning done by fairies, 59

Spots on nails, 26

Sprains, cure of, 45, 46

Staff, divination by throwing, 29, 30

Stars, a plant, 51

Stars, appearance of on last night of
year, 160

" Steer-draught o*^ laan," 179

Stolen goods unlucky to take back and
keep, 33

Stones, traditions concerning, 115

Storm, sea-birds flying inland indica-
tion of coming, 134

Story-telling, 56

Strathbogie, 121, 122

Straw, breaking of, between two women
with child in one house when one
was seized with labour, 4

Strila, 104

« Strykin beuird," 207

INDEX.

237

Sadden news dislodging the heart, 85
Suicides, 213, 214 ; where buried, the

instrument of destruction, 214
Suicide by drowning, 208
Sun, mock, 152
Sunday sewing undone by the devil,

31
Swan, the, 143
Swine, to dream of, 29
" Swine," the word not pronounced by

fishermen at sea, 199, 201

Tailor, the, 58

Tam o' Rivven, 106

Tap o' Noth, 104

Tea-stalk floating in cup, 31, 32

" Teething bannock," 9

" Teething plaster," 9

" Teind to hell," 5, 60; paid by fairies

with human beings if possible, 5
Theft, 32, 33
" Thigging " by bride, 88
« Thigging " at Christmas, 160-162
"Thigging" song, 161
Thomas the Rhymer, 102
Thread, loye diVination by, 84
Three knocks a death omen, 203
Thunder, 153
" Thunderbolts," 184
Times and seasons, 149-155
« Tippens," 52
Toad, the, defends itself by spitting

fire, carries a jewel in its head, its

tongue powerful in loye matters,

144
" Tobacco-nicht," 209 -
Toes, second and third equal, 26
Toothache, cures of, 47, 48 ; cure of

by part of backbone of dog-fish, 144
Tooth, to dream of loss of, 29
Towie-Barclay, 122
Trout, a fish of ill omen, caught in

herring net unlucky, 146; the word

not pronounced by fisherman at sea,

197
Tuesday, a lucky day, 149
Turning back from a journey, 30
Turra (TurrifE), 106, 214
" Twal onsen plew," 179-181

Udder, how to cure lumps on cow's,

193
Ugie, rhyme on, 115
Unbaptized infants 11; carried off by

fairies, 61, 62
Urie, rhyme on, 107

Valentine day, 166

Village, marriage party proceed round,

98, 99
Visit paying, 30

" Waarshe crap," 179

« Waith-horse " shoe, 197

Wallak Kirk, 41

Warts, cures of, 48, 49

Washing day, 176, 177

Washing rhyme, 177

Water, giving of, to a woman in labour,
4

Water, heated by hot coal being thrown
into, 7

Water, to dream of, 29; mode of find-
ing by a mare, 131, 132

Water-birds building their nest, 134

Water-kelpie, lived in deep pools, of
rivers and streams, took the shape of
a black horse, heard at night, enticed
travellers to destruction, mode of
capture, employment of when caught,
could be killed, 66

Wax figure placed before fire to cause

dl86fliS6 ^4

Weather,' 142, 149-155; on Monday,

149; on day of funeral, 213
Weather proverbs from cats, 125
Weather proverbs in March, 150
Weather rhyme about flight of wild

goose, 148
Weather token from flight of raven,

137
"Weddan* craws,' "136
Well, creaming of, 159
Wells, curative, 40-42
Whin, 148

" White gowans," 198
Whooping-cough, cures of, 46, 132
Wild ducks' brood not to be touched

with hand, 142
Wild fruits, 148
Willox " ball and bridle," 38, 39, 187.

188
Wind, the, 155; seen by pig, 130; crows

"clodding," an indication of, 136;

on first day of quarter or "raith," 151 ;

on Rood-day, 151; on New Year's

Day, 160; used for winnowing grain,

lod

Winding sheet, 211

Windows in houses, 62

Winnowing of grain, love divination

by, 85; performed by the wind, 183
Winter, early indication of, the robin

coming near dwelling - house in

autumn, 138

238

INDEX.

Witch, power from Satan, raised
storms, caused disease, stole cow's
milk, &c., 71; tmmed herself into a
hare, 71, 128; shot by a crooked
sixpence, 71,72, 128; the power pos-
sessed by men, 72; among cattle, 188,
189 192

** Witches *• or moths, 147

Woodbine, 188

Wooing, mode of, 87, 88
" Wyners," 179

*' Yaavl crap," 179
« Yeel's jaad," 157
" Yeel sones," 157
Yellow-hammer, the, 139, 140
" Yird swine,»* 130, 216
Ythan, 110, 111

\

/

II

i;

/

*^

]*■'