FOLK LORE

Or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century

With an Appendix, Shewing the Probable Relation of the Modern Festivals of Christmas, MayDay, St. John's Day, and Hallowe'en, to Ancient Sun and Fire Worship

by

JAMES NAPIER, F. R. S. E. , F. C. S. , &c. , Author of _Manufacturing Art in Ancient Times_, _Notes and Reminiscencesof Partick_, &c. , &c. 

Paisley: Alex. Gardner. 

1879

CONTENTS. 

PREFACE, v. Introduction, 1Birth and Childhood, 29Marriage, 43Death, 56Witchcraft, Second Sight, and the Black Art, 67Charms and Counter Charms, 79Divining, 105Superstitions Relating to Animals, 111Superstitions Concerning Plants, 122Miscellaneous Superstitions, 132

APPENDIX. 

Yule, Beltane, and Hallowe'en Festivals, 145Yule, 149Beltane, 161Midsummer, 170Hallowe'en, 175

PREFACE

The doctrine taught concerning Satan, his motives and influence in thebeginning of this century, supplied the popular mind with reasons toaccount for almost all the evils, public and private, which befellsociety; and as the observed ills of life, real or imaginary, greatlyoutnumbered the observed good occurrences, the thought of Satan was moreconstantly before the people's mind than was the thought of God. Practically, it might be said, and said with a very near approach totruth, that Satan, in popular estimation, was the greater of the two;but theoretically, the superiority of God was allowed, for Satan it wasbelieved, was permitted by God to do what he did. It was commonly said, "Never speak evil of the Deil, for he has a long memory. " This Satanicbelief gave rise to a great amount of Folk Lore, and affected the wholesocial system. Historians who take no account of such beliefs, butregard them as trivialities, cannot but fail to represent faithfully thecondition and action of the people. Folk Lore has thus an importanthistorical bearing. Every age has had its own living Folk Lore, and, beside this, a residuum of waning lore, regarded as superstitious, andso it is at the present day. When we speak of the Folk Lore of ourgrandfathers and great-grandfathers, we believe that we are speaking ofbeliefs which have past away, beliefs from which we ourselves are free;but if we consider the matter carefully we will find that in manyrespects our beliefs and practices, although somewhat modernized, areessentially little different from those of last century. Among thebetter educated classes it may be said that much of the superstitions offormer times have passed away, and as education is extended they willmore and more become eradicated; but at present, in our rural districtsespecially, the old beliefs still linger in considerable force. Manythink that the superstitions of last century died with the century, butthis is not so; and as these notions are curious and in many respectsimportant historical factors, I have thought it worth while to jot downwhat of this Folk Lore has come under my observation during these lastsixty years. 

In this collection I do not profess to include all that may come underthe head of Folk Lore, such, for example, as the reading of dreams andcups, spaeing fortunes by cards or other methods--that class ofsuperstitions by which designing persons prey upon weak-minded people. 

One principal object which I had in view in forming this collection, wasthat it might supply a nucleus for the further development of thesubject. The instances which I have adduced belong to one locality, theWest of Scotland, and chiefly the neighbourhood west of Glasgow, butdifferent localities have different methods of formulating the samesuperstition. By comparison, by separation of the local accretion fromthe constant element, an approach to the original source and meaning ofa superstition may be obtained. 

I have hope that the Folk Lore Society, just instituted, will considersuch details and variations, and endeavour to trace their history andorigin, and fearlessly give prominence to the still existingsuperstitions, and exhibit their degrading influence on society. 

FOLK LORE. 

CHAPTER I. 

_INTRODUCTORY. _

The primary object of the following short treatise is to give an accountof some of those superstitions, now either dead or in their decadence, but which, within the memory of persons now living, had a vigorousexistence, at least in the West of Scotland. A secondary object shall beto trace out, where I think I can discover ground for so doing, theorigin of any particular superstition, and in passing I may notice theduration in time and geographical distribution of some superstitions. But, on the threshold of our inquiry, it may be of advantage to pauseand endeavour to reach a mutual understanding of the precise meaning ofthe word Superstition--a word apparently, from the varied dictionaryrenderings given of it, difficult to define. However we may disagree inour definitions of the word, we all agree in regarding a superstitioustone of mind as weak and foolish, and as no one desires to be regardedas weak-minded or foolish, we naturally repel from ourselves as best wecan the odious imputation of being superstitious. There are few who seekto know what superstition in its essence really is; most people aresatisfied to frame an answer to suit their own case, and so it happensthat we have a multiplicity of definitions for the word, many of whichare devoid of scientific solidity, and others have not even the merit ofintelligibility. A recent definition, extremely elastic, was propoundedby a popular preacher in a lecture delivered before the Glasgow YoungMen's Christian Association and reported in the newspapers, --"Superstitionis Scepticism, " which may be legitimately paraphrased "Superstition isnot believing what I believe. " Although this definition may be verygratifying to the self pride of most of us, we must nevertheless rejectit, and look for a more definite and instructive signification, and forthis end we may very properly consult the meanings given in severalstandard dictionaries and lexicons, for in them we expect to findprecision of statement, although in this instance I believe we shall bedisappointed. Theophrastus, who lived several centuries before theChristian era, defines "Superstition" according to the translation givenof his definition in the _Encyclopædia Metropolitana_, as "A cowardlystate of mind with respect to the supernatural, " and supplies thefollowing illustration: "The superstitious man is one, who, having takencare to wash his hands and sprinkle himself in the temple, walks aboutduring the day with a little laurel in his mouth, and if he meets aweasel on the road, dares not proceed on his way till some person haspassed, or till he has thrown three stones across the road. "

Under "Superstition, " in the _Encyclopædia Metropolitana_, the followingdefinitions are given:--

 1st. --Excess of scruple or ceremony in matters of religion: idle worship: vain reverence: a superfluous, needless, or ill-governed devotion. 

 2nd. --Any religious observance contrary to, or not sanctioned by, Scripture or reason. 

 3rd. --All belief in supernatural agency, or in the influence of casual occurrences, or of natural phenomena on the destinies of man which has no foundation in Scripture, reason, or experience. 

 4th. --All attempts to influence the destiny of man by methods which have no Scriptural or rational connection with their object. 

_Walker's Dictionary_:--

 "Unnecessary fear or scruple in religion: religion without morality: false religion: reverence of beings not properly objects of reverence: over-nicety: exactness: too scrupulous. "

_Chambers' Dictionary_:--

 "A being excessive (in religion) over a thing as if in wonder or fear: excessive reverence or fear: excessive exactness in religious opinions and practice: false worship or religion: the belief in supernatural agency: belief in what is absurd without evidences: excessive religious belief. "

These dictionary meanings do not, of course, attempt to decide whatshould be the one only scientifically correct significance of the term, but only supply the varying senses in which the word is used inliterature and in common speech, but they suffice to show that it isused by different persons with different significations, each personapparently gauging first his own position, and defining superstition assomething which cannot be brought to tell against himself. 

After pondering over the various renderings, it occurred to me that thefollowing definition would embrace the whole in a few words: _Religionfounded on erroneous ideas of God. _ But when I set this definitionalongside the case of an otherwise intelligent man carrying in histrousers' pocket a raw potato as a protection against rheumatism, andalongside the case of another man carrying in his vest pocket a piece ofbrimstone to prevent him taking cramp in the stomach; and when Iconsider the case of ladies wearing earrings as a preventive against, orcure for, sore eyes; and, again, when I remembered a practice, veryfrequent a few years ago, of people wearing what were known as galvanicrings in the belief that these would prevent their suffering fromrheumatism, I could not perceive any direct connection between suchsuperstitious practices and religion, and the construction of a newdefinition was rendered necessary. The following, I think, covers thewhole ground: _Beliefs and practices founded upon erroneous ideas of Godand nature. _ With this meaning the term "Superstition" is employed inthe following pages, and if the definition commend itself to the reader, it will at once become apparent that the only way by which freedom fromsuperstition can be attained is to search Nature and Revelation forcorrect views of God and His methods of working. Notwithstanding ourpretensions to a correct religious knowledge, a pure theology, andfreedom from everything like superstition, it is strange yet true, that, if we except the formulated reply to the question in the WestminsterCatechism, "What is God, " scarcely two persons--perhaps no twopersons--have exactly the same idea of God. We each worship a God of ourown. In one of the late Douglas Jerrold's "Hedgehog Letters" heintroduces two youths passing St Giles' Church at a lonely hour, whenthe one addresses the other thus:--"The old book and the parson tell usthat at the beginning God made man in his own image. We have nowreversed this, and make God in our image. " A sad truth, although notnew; Saint Paul made a similar remark to the philosophic Athenians; butthe remark applies not to this age or to Saint Paul's age alone--itsapplicability extends to every age and every people. As Goethe remarks, "Man never knows how anthropomorphic he is. " Our minds instinctivelyseek an explanation of the cause or causes of the different phenomenaconstantly occurring around us, but instinct does not supply thesolution. Only by patient watching and consideration can this be arrivedat; but in former ages scientific methods of investigation were eithernot known, or not cared for, and so men were satisfied with merelyguessing at the causes of natural phenomena, and these guesses were madefrom the standpoint of their own human passionate intelligence. Alongside the intelligence everywhere observable in the operations ofnature they placed their own passionate humanity, they projectedthemselves into the universe and anthropomorphised nature. Thus came mento regard natural phenomena as manifestations of supernatural agency;as expressions of the wrath or pleasure of good or evil genii, andalthough in our day we have made great advances in our knowledge ofnatural phenomena, the majority of men still regard the ways ofprovidence from a false standpoint, a standpoint erected in theinterests of ecclesiasticism. Churchmanship acts as a distorting medium, twisting and displacing things out of their natural relations, andalthough this influence was stronger in the past than it is now, stillthere remains a considerable residuum of the old influence among us yet. For example, we are not yet rid of the belief that God has set aparttimes, places, and duties as specially sacred, that what is not onlysinless but a moral obligation at certain times and places becomessinful at other times and places. Ecclesiastical influence thusfamiliarises us with the distinctions of secular and sacred, and we hearfrequent mention made of our duties to God and our duties to man, of ourreligious duties and our worldly duties, and we frequently hear religionspoken of as something readily distinguishable from business. But notonly are these things separated by name from one another, they are oftenregarded as opposites, having no fellowship together. Hence has arisenin many minds a slavish fear of performing at certain times and incertain places the ordinary duties of life, lest by so doing they angerGod. In certain conditions of society such belief, erroneous though itbe, may have served a useful purpose in restraining, and thereby so farelevating a rude people, just as now we may see many among ourselvesrestrained from evil, and influenced to the practice of good, by beliefswhich, to the enlightened among us, are palpable absurdities. 

Before reviewing the superstitious beliefs and practices of ourimmediate forefathers, we may, I think, profitably occupy a short timein gaining some general idea of the prominent features of ancient Paganreligions, for without doubt much of the mythology and superstitiouspractice of our forefathers had a Pagan origin. I shall not attempt anyexhaustive treatise on this subject, for the task is beyond me, but aslight notice of ancient theology may not here be irrelevant. The lateGeorge Smith, the eminent Assyriologist, says:--

"Upwards of 2000 years B. C. The Babylonians had three great gods--_Anu_, _Bel_, and _Hea_. These three leading deities formed members of twelvegods, also called great. These were--

 1. Anu, King of Angels and Spirits. Lord of the city Eresh. 

 2. Bel, Lord of the world, Father of the Gods, Creator. Lord of the city of Nipur. 

 3. Hea, Maker of fate, Lord of the deep, God of wisdom and knowledge. Lord of the city of Eridu. 

 4. Sin, Lord of crowns, Maker of brightness. Lord of the city Urr. 

 5. Merodash, Just Prince of the Gods, Lord of birth. Lord of the city Babylon. 

 6. Vul, the strong God, Lord of canals and atmosphere. Lord of the city Mura. 

 7. Shama, Judge of heaven and earth, Director of all. Lord of the cities of Larsa and Sippara. 

 8. Ninip, Warrior of the warriors of the Gods, Destroyer of wicked. Lord of the city Nipur. 

 9. Nergal, Giant King of war. Lord of the city Cutha. 

 10. Nusku, Holder of the Golden Sceptre, the lofty God. 

 11. Belat, Wife of Bel, Mother of the great Gods. Lady of the city Nipur. 

 12. Ishtar, Eldest of Heaven and Earth, Raising the face of warriors. 

"Below these deities there were a large body of gods, forming the bulk ofthe Pantheon; and below these were arranged the Igege or angels ofheaven; and the anunaki or angels of earth; below these again camecurious classes of spirits or genii, some were evil and some good. "

The gods of the Greeks were numbered by thousands, and this at a timewhen--according to classical scholars--the arts and sciences were attheir highest point of development in that nation. Their religion was ofthe grossest nature. Whatever conception they may have had of a firstcause--a most high Creator of heaven and earth--it is evident they didnot believe he took anything to do directly with man or the phenomena ofnature; but that these were under the immediate control ofdeputy-deities or of a conclave of divinities, who possessed both divineand human attributes--having human appetites, passions, and affections. Some of these were local deities, others provincial, others national, and others again phenomenal: every human emotion, passion and affection, every social circumstance, public or private, was under the control orguardianship of one or more of these divinities, who claimed from mensuitable honour and worship, the omission of which honour and worshipwas considered to be not only offensive to the divinities, but as likelyto be followed by punishment. The vengeance of the deities was thoughtto be avertable by the performance of certain propitiatory deeds, or byoffering certain sacrifices. The kind of sacrifice required had relationto the particular department over which the divinity was supposed to beguardian; and these deeds and sacrifices were in many cases most grossand offensive to morality. The phenomena of nature, being under thedirection of one or more divinities, every aspect of nature was regardedas an expression of anger or pleasure on the part of the divinities. Thunder, lightning, eclipses, comets, drought, floods, storms--anythingstrange or terrible, the cause of which was not understood, was ascribedto the wrath of some divinity; and men hastened to propitiate, as bestthey might, the divinities who were supposed to be scourging orthreatening them. These deputy-gods were supposed to occupy the spacebetween the earth and moon, and, being almost numberless and invisible, their worshippers held them in the same dread as if they possessed theattribute of omniscience. 

For the purpose of guiding men in their relations towards these gods, there existed a large body of men whose office it was to understand thedivinities, their natures and attributes, and direct men in theirreligious duties. This body of men acted as mediums between the gods andthe people, and not only were they held in high esteem as priests, butfrequently they attained great power in the State. Often this priestlyincorporation had greater influence and control than the civil power;nor is this to be wondered at, when we remember that they were supposedto be in direct communication with the holy gods, in whose hands werethe destinies of men. 

The sun, the giver and vivifier of all life, was the primary god ofantiquity, being worshipped by Assyrians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, andHebrews under the name of Baal or Bell, and by other nations under othernames. The priests of Baal always held a high position in the State. Asthe sun was his image or symbol in heaven, so fire was his symbol onearth, and hence all offerings made to Baal were burned or made to passthrough the fire, or were presented before the sun. Wherever, in theworship of any nation, we find the fire element, we may at once suspectthat there we have a survival of ancient sun-worship. 

The moon was regarded as a female deity, consort of the sun or Baal, andwas worshipped by the Jews under the name of Ashtoreth, or Astarte. Herworship was of the most sensual description. The worship of sun and moonformed one system, the priests of the one being also priests of theother. 

Apart from the priestly incorporation of which we have spoken, there wasanother class of men who assumed knowledge of supernatural phenomena. These were known as astrologers or star-gazers, wizards, magicians, witches, sooth-sayers. By the practice of certain arts and repetition ofcertain formula, these pretended to divine and foretell events both of apublic and private nature. They were believed in by the mass of people, and were consulted on all sorts of matters. By both the civil andecclesiastical authorities their practices and pretensions weresometimes condemned, and themselves forbidden to exercise their peculiargifts, but nevertheless the people continued to believe in them andconsult them. Their pretensions were considerable, extending even toraising and consulting the spirits of the dead. 

This leads me to notice the ancient belief concerning the souls of thedeparted. By almost all nations, Jews and Gentiles, there was aprevailing belief that at death the souls of good men were takenpossession of by good spirits and carried to Paradise, but the souls ofwicked men were left to wander in the space between the earth and moon, or consigned to Hades, or Unseen World. These wandering spirits were inthe habit of haunting the living, especially their relations, so thatthe living were surrounded on every side by the spirits of their wickedancestors, who were always at hand tempting them to evil. However, therewere means by which these ghosts might be exorcised. A formula forexpelling wicked spirits is given by Ovid in Book V. Of the Fasti:--

"In the dread silence of midnight, upon the eighth day of May, thevotary rises from his couch barefooted, and snapping his fingers as asure preventative against meeting any ghost during his subsequentoperations, thrice washing his hands in spring water, he places nineblack beans in his mouth, and walks out. These he throws behind him oneby one, carefully guarding against the least glance backwards, and ateach cast he says, 'With these beans I ransom myself and mine. ' Thespirits of his ancestors follow him and gather the beans as they fall. Then, performing another ablution as he enters his house, he clashescymbals of brass, or rather some household utensil of that metal, entreating the spirits to quit his roof. He then repeats nine timesthese words, 'Avaunt ye ancestral manes. ' After this he looks behind, and is free for one year. "

Some nations in addition to a personal formula for laying the ghosts ofdeparted relatives, had a national ritual for ghost-laying, a publicfeast in honour of departed spirits. Such a feast is still held inChina, and also in Burmah. In 1875 the following placard was postedthroughout the district of Rangoon, proclaiming a feast of forty-ninedays by order of the Emperor of China:--

"There will this year be scarcity of rice and plenty of sickness. Evilspirits will descend to examine and inquire into the sickness. If peopledo not believe this, many will die in September and October. Should anypeople call on you at midnight, do not answer; it is not a human beingthat calls, but an evil spirit. Do not be wicked, but be good. "

But I do not propose to write a treatise on Pagan theology, nor do Ipropose to trace in historical detail the progress through whichChristian and Pagan beliefs have in process of time become assimilated, when I have occasion, I may notice these things. I intend, as I said atthe beginning, to deal with superstition, no matter from what source itmay have arisen, recognising superstition to be as alreadydefined--beliefs and practices founded upon erroneous ideas of God andthe laws of nature. In many things, I believe, we are yet toosuperstitious, and our popular theology, instead of aiding to destroythese erroneous beliefs, aids them in maintaining their vitality. Orthodox Christians believe in a general and also in a specialprovidence; the ancients, on the other hand, believed that all eventswere under the control and direction of separate and special divinities, so that when praying for certain results, they addressed the divinityhaving control over that phenomenon or circumstance by which they wereaffected, and when their desires were gratified, they expressed theirthankfulness by offerings to that divinity. If their desires were notgranted, they regarded that circumstance as a token of displeasure onthe part of that divinity, and besought the aid of their priests andsooth-sayers to discover the reason of his anger, and offered sacrificesand peace offerings. Now, orthodox Christians in the same circumstancespray to God for special and personal blessings, and when they aregranted, they feel grateful, and sometimes express their gratitude. Acommon method of expressing this gratitude is by giving something to thechurch. Thus we find in our church records entries like the following:--

From ---- ----, As a thank-offering for the recovery £ S. D. Of a dear child. ------- " ---- ----, Peace-offering for reconciliation with an old friend. ------- " ---- ----, Offering for the preservation of a friend going abroad. ------- " ---- ----, Thank-offering for a fortunate transaction in business. -------

Such offerings are remarked upon favourably by the leaders of theChurch, and regarded as examples worthy of being imitated by all piousChristians. But should the prayers not be granted, there is no gift. Thenon-fulfilment of their desires is regarded perhaps not altogether as anevidence of God's displeasure, but at least as a token that what wasasked it was not His pleasure to grant. They make little enquiryconcerning the real cause of failure, but take credit to themselves forhumbly submitting to God's will. This unenquiring submission is often, however, both sinful and superstitious. Every result has its cause, andit is surely our duty, as far as observation and reason can guide us, to discover the causes which operate against us. The great majority ofthe afflictions and misfortunes which befall us are punishments for thebreakage of some law, the committal of some sin physical or moral, andthis being the case, it behoves us to find out what law has beentransgressed, what the nature of the sin committed. This principle isacknowledged by our religious teachers, but the laws which have beenbroken, have not been wisely sought after. The field of search has beenalmost exclusively the moral, or the theological field; whereas thecorrect rule is, for physical effects, look for physical causes; formoral effects, moral causes. This rule has not been followed. A fewcases illustrative of what I mean will clearly demonstrate thesuperstitious nature of what is a widely diffused opinion among thereligious societies of this country at the present time. 

Forty-six years ago, when cholera first broke out in this country, itwas immediately proclaimed to be a judgment for a national sin; and soit was, but for a sin against physical laws. I well remember theindignation which arose and found expression in almost every pulpit inthe country, when the Prime Minister of that day, in reply to a petitionfrom the Church asking him to proclaim a national fast for the removalof the plague, told his petitioners to first remove every source ofnuisance by cleansing drains and ditches, and removing stagnant pools, and otherwise observe the general laws of health, then having done allthat lay in our power, we could ask God to bless our efforts, and Hewould hear us. All sorts of absurd causes were seriously advanced toaccount for the presence of this alarming malady. One party discoveredthe cause in a movement for the disestablishment of religion. Anotherconsidered it was a judgment from God for asking the Reform Bill. TheRadicals proclaimed it to be a trick of the Tories to prevent agitationfor reform, and added that medical men were bribed to poison wells andstreams. The non-religious displayed as great superstition in thismatter as did the religious. Large bills, headed in large type "CholeraHumbug, " were at that time posted on the blank walls of the streets ofGlasgow. The feeling against medical men was then so intense, that someof them were mobbed, and narrowly escaped with their lives. In Paisley, considered to be the most intelligent town in Scotland, a doctor, whowas working night and day for the relief of the sufferers, had his houseand shop sacked, and was obliged to fly for shelter, or his life wouldhave been sacrificed to the fury of the mob. 

When we read that epidemics which broke out in the times of ourforefathers, were ascribed to such absurd causes as the introduction offorks, or because the nation neglected to prosecute with sufficientvigour alleged cases of compact with the devil, we wonder at and pitytheir ignorance, and rejoice that we live in a more enlightened age. Butthe fact is, that among the mass of the people there is really no greatdifference between the present and the past. There is a close familylikeness in this matter of superstition between now and long ago, andthis state of matters will continue so long as a knowledge of physicalscience--that science which treats of the laws by which God is pleasedto overrule and direct material things--is not made a religious duty. There are physical sins and there are moral sins, and the punishment forthe first is apparently even more direct than for the second, for inthe case of physical sins we are punished without mercy. Through neglectof these laws, we are continually suffering punishment, shortening andmaking miserable our own lives and the lives of those dependent upon us;and periodically judgments descend on the careless community, in theform of severe epidemics. Any religion which advocates practices, orteaches doctrines inconsistent with our physical, intellectual, or moralwell-being, cannot be from God, and _vice versa_; and this is a strongargument in favour of Christianity _as taught by its Founder_. I wish Icould say the same of the Christianity taught by our ecclesiastics, either Protestant or Catholic. 

The introduction into the heathen world of the fundamental truths thatthere is but one God, omnipotent and omniscient, who overrules everyevent, that He has revealed Himself through His Son as a God of love andmercy, and that man's duty to Him is obedience to His laws, was a mightystep in advance of the gross conceptions of idolatry formerly prevalentamong these nations. But neither heathens nor Christians had for a longtime any clear idea that the overruling of God in Providence wasaccording to fixed laws. Being ignorant on this point, they ascribed tounseen supernatural agency, working in a capricious fashion, allphenomena which appeared to differ from, or disturb the ordinary courseof events. Upon such matters heathen and Christian ideas commingled, andthus heathen ideas and practices were incorporated with Christian ideasand practices. Then, when ecclesiastical councils met to determinetruth, and formulate their creeds, these combined heathen and Christianideas being accepted by them, became dogmas of the Church, andhenceforth those who differed from the dogmatic creed of the Church, oradvocated views in advance of these confessions, were regarded asenemies of truth. Naturally, as the Church became powerful she becamemore repressive, and opposed all enquiry which appeared to lead toconclusions different from those already promulgated by her, andfinally, it became a capital offence to teach any other doctrines thanthose sanctioned by the Church. The beliefs of the members of thesecouncils being, as we have already seen, a mixture of heathen andChristian ideas, the Church thus became a great conservator ofsuperstition; and to show that this was really so, we may adduce oneexample:--Pope Innocent VIII. Issued a Bull as follows:--"It has come toour ears that members of both sexes do not avoid to have intercoursewith the infernal fiends, and that, by this service, they afflict bothman and beast, that they blight the marriage bed, destroy the births ofwomen and the increase of cattle, they blast the corn on the ground, thegrapes of the vineyard and the fruits of the trees, and the grass andherbs of the field. " The promulgation of this Bull is said to haveproduced dreadful consequences, by thousands being burned and otherwiseput to death, for having intercourse with the fiends. 

We regret to say such beliefs and such means of repressing free enquirywere not confined to one branch of the Christian Church. Protestants aswell as Roman Catholics, when they had the power, suppressed many of thepractices of heathenism after a cruel fashion, but at the same timefostered the superstitions and Pagan beliefs which had originated thesepractices, and punished those who protested against these beliefs. Thesame method of procedure is in operation at the present day. Nevertheless, the introduction of Christianity into the heathen worldmade a wonderful revolution in their religious practices as well as intheir beliefs. Their idols and the symbols of their divinities wereabolished, along with the sacrifices offered to these. Their greatfestivals, at which human sacrifices were offered and abominablepractices committed, were so modified as to be stripped of theirimmorality and cruelty, and while being retained--retained because theycould not be utterly abolished--they were Christianized, --that is, aChristian colouring was given to them, --and they became Church festivalsor holydays, --a subject I will treat more fully of in another chapter. 

It is not, as I have already said, my intention to trace the gradualdevelopment of our modern idea of Providence, our ascription ofuniversal government, of all direction of the phenomena of nature and oflife to the one only omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God, butrather to place before the reader the practices and beliefs whichprevailed in this country during the early years of the present century. And from this survey we shall discover what a mass of old Pagan ideasstill survived and influenced the minds and practice of the people, --howthey yet clung to the notion that many of the phenomena of nature andlife were under the control of supernatural agents, although they didnot regard these agents, as what in olden times they were considered tobe--divinities, but believed them to be a class of beings living upon orwithin the earth, and endowed by the devil with supernatural powers. 

In the northern sagas, and in the old ballads and saintly legends ofthe Middle Ages--supernatural agents who played a prominent part--thereare giants of enormous size and little dwarfs who can make themselvesinvisible, and do all sorts of good to their favourites, and harm totheir enemies. We are also introduced there to dragons and othermonsters which have human understandings, and, guided by a wickedspirit, could do great mischief. Such beings took the place of theancient divinities, and in many cases when the hero or saint is in greatstraits, in combat with these evil spirits or fiends, Jesus Christ comesto their assistance. One instance will exemplify this:

 "O'er him stood the foul fiends, And with their clubs of steel, Struck him o'er the helmit That in deadly swound he fell. But God his sorrow saw, To the fiends his Son he sent; From the earth they vanished With howling and lament. The Christian hero thanked his God, From the ground he rose with speed, Joyfully he sheathed his sword, And mounted on his steed. "

 _Illustrations of "Northern Antiquities. "_

By the beginning of this century these ideas of the _personel_ ofsupernatural agencies had become slightly modified in this country atleast, giants and dragons having given way to fairies, brownies, elves, witches, etc. The Rev. Mr. Kirk, of Aberfeldy, published a workdescriptive of these supernatural beings. He says they are a kind ofastral spirits between angels and humanity, being like men and women inappearance, and similar in many of their habits; some of them, however, are double. They marry and have children, for which they keep nurses;have deaths and burials amongst them, and they can make themselvesvisible or invisible at pleasure. They live in subterranean habitations, and in an invisible condition attend very constantly on men. They arevery fond of human children and pretty women, both of which they willsteal if not protected by some superior influence. Women in childbedstand in danger of being taken, but if a piece of cold iron be kept inthe bed in which they lie, the spirits won't come near. Children are ingreater danger of being stolen before baptism than after. Theysometimes, to supply their own needs, spirit away the milk from cows, but more frequently they transfer the milk to the cows of some personwho stands high in their favour. This they do by making themselvesinvisible, and silently milking and removing the milk in invisiblevessels. When people offend them they shoot flint-tipped arrows, and bythis means kill either the persons who have offended them or theircattle. They cause these arrows to strike the most vital part, but thestroke does not visibly break the skin, only a _blae_ mark is the resultvisible on the body after death. These flint arrow-heads areoccasionally found, and the possession of one of these will protect thepossessor against the power of these astral beings, and at the same timeenable him or her to cure disease in cattle and women. These flints wereoften sewed into the dresses of children to protect them from theEvil-eye. There were many other means of protection against the power ofthese beings, which we shall have occasion to refer to again. There isone method, however, which may be mentioned now. If, when a calf isborn, its mouth be smeared with a balsam of dung, before it is allowedto suck, the fairies cannot milk that cow. Those taken to fairyland losethe power of calculating the lapse of time, although they are notunconscious of what is going on around them. Those spirited away tofairyland may be recovered by their friends or relatives, by performingcertain formula, or--and this was often the method resorted to--byout-witting the fairies, getting possession of their stolen friends, andthen doing or saying something which fairies cannot bear, upon whichthey are forced to depart, leaving the recovered party behind them. 

The following information concerning the government, &c. , of fairyland, is taken from Aytoun:--The queen of fairyland was a kind of feudatorysovereign under Satan, to whom she was obliged to pay _kave_, or tithein kind; and, as her own fairy subjects strongly objected to transfertheir allegiance, the quota was usually made up in children who had beenstolen before the rite of baptism had been administered to them. Thisbelief was at one time universal throughout all Scotland, and was stillprevalent at the beginning of this century. Charms were quite commonlyemployed to defend houses from the inroads of the fairies before theinfants were baptised; but even baptism did not always protect the babyfrom being stolen. During the period of infancy, the mother required tobe ever watchful; but the risks were especially great before baptism. Itis difficult to define exactly the power which the queen of elfland had, for besides carrying off Thomas the Rhymer, she was supposed to havecarried off no less a personage than James IV. From the field ofFlodden, and to have detained him in her enchanted country. There wasalso a king of elfland. From the accounts extracted from or volunteeredby witches, &c. , preserved to us in justiciary and presbyterial records, he appears to have been a peaceable, luxurious, indolent personage, whoentrusted the whole business of his kingdom, including the recruitingdepartment, to his wife. We get a glimpse of both their majesties in theconfessions of Isabella Gowdie, in Aulderne, a parish in Nairnshire, whowas indicted for witchcraft in 1662. She said--"I was in Downie Hills, and got meat there from the queen of the fairies, more than I could eat. The queen is brawly clothed in white linen, and in white and browncloth; and the king is a braw man, well-favoured, and broad-faced. Therewere plenty of elf bulls rowting and skoyling up and down, andaffrighted me. " Mr. Kirk says "that in fairyland they have also books ofvarious kinds--history, travels, novels, and plays--but no sermons, noBible, nor any book of a religious kind. " Every reader of Hogg's_Queen's Wake_ knows the beautiful legend of the abduction of "BonnyKilmeny"; but in Dr. Jamieson's _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_we have found amongst these heroic and romantic ballads another legendmore fully descriptive of fairyland. In this legend, a young lady iscarried away to fairyland, and recovered, by her brother:--

 "King Arthur's sons o' merry Carlisle Were playing at the ba', And there was their sister, burd Ellen, I' the midst, amang them a'. Child Rowland kicked it wi' his foot, And keppit it wi' his knee; And aye as he played, out o'er them a'. O'er the kirk he gar'd it flee. Burd Ellen round about the aisle To seek the ba' has gane: But she bade lang, and ay langer, And she came na back again. They sought her east, they sought her west, They sought her up and down, And wae were the hearts in merry Carlisle, For she was nae gait found. "

Merlin, the warlock, being consulted, told them that burd Ellen wastaken away by the fairies, and that it would be a dangerous task torecover her if they were not well instructed how to proceed. Theinstructions which Merlin gave were, that whoever undertook the questfor her should, after entering elfland, kill every person he met till hereached the royal apartments, and taste neither meat nor drink offeredto them, for by doing otherwise they would come under the fairy spell, and never again get back to earth. Two of her brothers undertook thejourney, but disobeyed the instructions of the warlock, and wereretained in elfland. Child Rowland, her youngest brother, then arminghimself with his father's claymore, _excalibar_--that never struck invain--set out on the dangerous quest. Strictly observing the warlock'sinstructions, after asking his way to the king of elfland's castle ofevery servant he met, he, in accordance with these instructions, when hehad received the desired information, slew the servant. The last fairyfunctionary he met was the hen-wife, who told him to go on a littlefurther till he came to a round green hill surrounded with rings fromthe bottom to the top, then go round it _widershins_ (contrary to thesun) and every time he made the circuit, say--"Open door, open door, andlet me come in, " and on the third repetition of this incantation theywould open, and he might then go in. Having received this information, he fulfilled his instructions, and slew the hen-wife. Then proceeding asdirected, he soon reached the green hill, and made the circuit of itthree times, repeating the words before mentioned. On the thirdrepetition of the words the door opened, and he went in, the doorclosing behind him. "He proceeded through a long passage, where the airwas soft and agreeably warm, like a May evening, as is all the air inelfland. The light was a sort of twilight or gloaming; but there wereneither windows nor candles, and he knew not whence it came if it wasnot from the walls and roof, which were rough and arched like a grotto, and composed of a clear transparent rock incrusted with _sheep'ssilver_, and spar and various bright stones. " At last he came to twolofty folding doors which stood ajar. Passing through these doors, heentered a large and spacious hall, the richness and brilliance of whichwas beyond description. It seemed to extend throughout the whole lengthand breadth of the hill. The superb Gothic pillars by which the roof wassupported were so large and lofty, that the pillars of the "Chaury Kirkor of the Pluscardin Abbey are no more to be compared to them than theKnock of Alves is to be compared to Balrimes or Ben-a-chi. " They were ofgold and silver, and were fretted like the west window of the ChauryKirk (Elgin Cathedral), with wreaths of flowers, composed of diamondsand precious stones of all manner of beautiful colours. The key stonesof the arches, instead of being escutcheoned, were ornamented also withclusters of diamonds in brilliant devices. From the middle of the roof, where the arches met, was hung, suspended by a gold chain, an immenselamp of one hollowed pearl, and perfectly transparent, in the centre ofwhich was a large carbuncle, which, by the power of magic, turned roundcontinually, and shed throughout all the hall a clear mild light likethat of the setting sun. But the hall was so large, and these dazzlingobjects so far removed, that their blended radiance cast no more than apleasing mellow lustre around, and excited no other than agreeablesensations in the eyes of Child Rowland. The furniture of the hall wassuitable to its architecture; and at the further end, under a splendidcanopy, sitting on a gorgeous sofa of velvet, silk and gold, and"kembing her yellow hair wi' a silver kemb, "

 "Was his sister Burd Ellen. She stood up him before, God rue or thee poor luckless fode (man), What hast thou to do here? And hear ye this my youngest brother, Why badena ye at hame? Had ye a hunder and thousand lives Ye canna brook are o' them. And sit thou down; and wae, oh wae! That ever thou was born, For came the King o' Elfland in, Thy leccam (body) is forlorn. "

After a long conversation with his sister, the two folding doors wereburst open with tremendous violence, and in came the King of Elfland, shouting--

 "With _fi_, _fe_, _fa_, and _fum_, I smell the blood of a Christian man, Be he dead, be he living, with my brand I'll clash his harns frae his harn pan. "

Child Rowland drew his good claymore (_excalibar_) that never struck invain. A furious combat ensued, and the king was defeated; but ChildRowland spared his life on condition that he would free his sister, BurdEllen, and his two brothers, who were lying in a trance in a corner ofthe hall. The king then produced a small crystal phial containing abright red liquor, with which he anointed the lips, nostrils, ears andfinger tips of the two brothers, who thereupon awoke as from a profoundsleep, and all four returned in triumph to "merry Carlisle. " The Rev. Mr. Kirk's descriptions of the subterranean homes of the fairies and oftheir social habits are just the counterparts of the fairyland of thisbeautiful ballad legend. There can be little doubt that such beliefs arebut survivals in altered form of what were in still more ancient timesreligious tenets. What were formerly divinities have given place to themore lowly fairies, brownies, &c. , and from the position of Pagan godsthey have, through the opposing influence of Christianity, been removedto the other side, and became servants of the devil, actively opposingthe kingdom of Christ. Some have supposed that the fairies may haveoriginally been considered to be descendants of the Druids, for somereason consigned to inhabit subterranean caves under green hills in wildand lonely glens. Others have identified them with the fallen angels. One thing is certain, that the notion that there exists supernaturalmen, women, and animals who inhabit subterranean and submarine regions, and yet can indulge in intercourse with the human race, is of very greatantiquity, and widely spread, existing in Arabia, Persia, India, Thibet, among the Tartars, Swedes, Norwegians, British, and also among thesavage tribes of Africa. In the west of Scotland there was a class offairies who acted a friendly part towards their human neighbours, helping the weak or ill-used, and generally busying themselves with actsof kindness; these were called "brownies. " The fairies proper were amerry race, full of devilment, and malicious, tricky, and troublesome, and the cause of much annoyance and fear among the people. Besides thesesupernatural beings--brownies, fairies, &c. --there existed a belief inpersons who were possessed of supernatural powers--magicians, sorcerers, &c. About the Reformation period, these persons were considered to be inthe actual service of the devil, who was then thought to be raising amore determined opposition than ever to the spread of the kingdom ofGod, and adopting the insidious means of enlisting men and women intohis service by conferring upon them supernatural powers; so that by thiscontract they were bound to do mischief to all good Christian people;and the more mischief they could do the greater would be the favoursthey received from their master. This belief was not confined to theignorant, but was equally accepted by the educated and by the Church. Measures were taken to frustrate the devil, and the faithful wererecommended to make search for those who had compacted with his SatanicMajesty, and laws were enacted for the punishment of the compacters whenfound. The faithful, under the belief that they were fighting the battleof the Lord, brought numbers of poor wretches to trial, many of whom, strangely enough, believed themselves guilty of the crime imputed tothem. After trial and conviction, they were put to death. The beliefthat the devil could and did invest men and women with supernaturalpowers affected all social relations, for everything strange andunaccountable--and, in a non-scientific age, we can readily conceive howalmost everything would be brought into this category--was ascribed tothis cause, and each suspected his or her neighbour; even the truestfriendship was sometimes broken through this suspicion. The laws againstwitchcraft in this country were abrogated last century, but theabrogation of the law could not be expected to work any sudden change inthe belief of the people; at most, the alteration only paved the way forthe gradual departure of the superstition, and since the abrogation ofthe law the belief has been decaying, but still in many parts of thecountry it lingers on till the present time, instances of which appearevery now and again in the newspapers of the day. 

CHAPTER II. 

_BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. _

When writing of fairies I noticed, --but as it is connected with birth, Imay here mention it again, --a practice common in some localities ofplacing in the bed where lay an expectant mother, a piece of cold ironto scare the fairies, and prevent them from spiriting away mother andchild to elfland. An instance of this spiriting away at the time ofchild-bearing is said to have occurred in Arran within these fiftyyears. It is given by a correspondent in _Long Ago_:--"There was a womannear Pladda, newly delivered, who was carried away, and on a certainnight her wraith stood before her husband telling him that the yearlyriding was at hand, and that she, with all the rout, should ride by hishouse at such an hour, on such a night; that he must await her coming, and throw over her her wedding gown, and so she should be rescued fromher tyrants. With that she vanished. And the time came, with thejingling of bridles and the tramping of horses outside the cottage; butthis man, feeble-hearted, had summoned his neighbours to bear himcompany, who held him, and would not suffer him to go out. So therearose a bitter cry and a great clamour, and then all was still; but inthe morning, roof and wall were dashed with blood, and the sorrowfulwife was no more seen upon earth. This, " says the writer, "is not a talefrom an old ballad, it is the narrative of what was told not fifty yearsago. "

Immediately after birth, the newly-born child was bathed in saltedwater, and made to taste of it three times. This, by some, wasconsidered a specific against the influence of the evil eye; but doctorsdiffer, and so among other people and in other localities differentspecifics were employed. I quote the following from _Ross' Helenore_:--

 "Gryte was the care and tut'ry that was ha'en, Baith night and day about the bonny weeane: The jizzen-bed, wi' rantry leaves was sain'd, And sic like things as the auld grannies kend; Jean's paps wi' saut and water washen clean, Reed that her milk gat wrang, fan it was green; Neist the first hippen to the green was flung, And there at seelfu' words, baith said and sung: A clear brunt coal wi' the het tangs was ta'en, Frae out the ingle-mids fu' clear and clean, And throu' the cosey-belly letten fa', For fear the weeane should be ta'en awa'. "

Before baptism the child was more liable to be influenced by the evileye than after that ceremony had been performed, consequently beforethat rite had been administered the greatest precautions were taken, thebaby during this time being kept as much as possible in the room inwhich it was born, and only when absolutely necessary, carried out ofit, and then under the careful guardianship of a relative, or of themid-wife, who was professionally skilled in all the requisites ofsafety. Baptism was therefore administered as early as possible afterbirth. Another reason for the speedy administration of this rite wasthat, should the baby die before being baptised, its future was notdoubtful. Often on calm nights, those who had ears to hear heard thewailing of the spirits of unchristened bairns among the trees and dells. I have known of an instance in which the baby was born on a Saturday, and carried two miles to church next day, rather than risk a week'sdelay. It was rare for working people to bring the minister to thehouse. Another superstitious notion in connection with baptism was thatuntil that rite was performed, it was unlucky to name the child by anyname. When, before the child had been christened, any one asked the nameof the baby, the answer generally was, "It has not been out yet. " Let itbe remembered that these notions were entertained by people who were notRomanists, but Protestants, and therefore did not profess to believe inthe saving efficacy of baptism, --who could answer every question in theShorter Catechism, and repeat the Creed, and Ten Commandments, to thesatisfaction of elder and minister. But all this verbal acquaintancewith dogma was powerless to eradicate, even, we may venture to say, fromthe minds of elder and minister, the deeply-rooted fibres of ancientsuperstition, which had been long crystallised in the Roman CatholicChurch, and could not be easily forgot in that of the Protestant. 

When a child was taken from its mother and carried outside the bedroomfor the first time after its birth, it was lucky to take it up stairs, and unlucky to take it down stairs. If there were no stairs in thehouse, the person who carried it generally ascended three steps of aladder or temporary erection, and this, it was supposed, would bringprosperity to the child. 

A child born with a caul--a thin membrane covering the head of somechildren at birth--would, if spared, prove a notable person. Thecarrying of a caul on board ship was believed to prevent shipwreck, andmasters of vessels paid a high price for them. I have seen anadvertisement for such in a local paper. 

When baby was being carried to church to be baptised, it was ofimportance that the woman appointed to this post should be known to belucky. Then she took with her a parcel of bread and cheese, which shegave to the first person she met. This represented a gift from thebaby--a very ancient custom. Again, it was of importance that the personwho received this gift should be lucky--should have lucky marks upontheir person. Forecasts were made from such facts as the followingconcerning the recipient of the gift:--Was this person male or female, deformed, disfigured, plain-soled, etc. If the party accepted the giftwillingly, tasted it, and returned a few steps with the baptismal party, this was a good sign; if they asked to look at the baby, and blessed it, this was still more favourable: but should this person refuse the gift, nor taste it, nor turn back, this was tantamount to wishing evil to thechild, and should any serious calamity befall the child, even yearsafter, it was connected with this circumstance, and the party who hadrefused the baptismal gift was blamed for the evil which had befallenthe child. It was also a common belief that if, as was frequently thecase, there were several babies, male and female, awaiting baptismtogether, and the males were baptised before the females, all was well;but if, by mistake, a female should be christened before a male, thecharacters of the pair would be reversed--the female would grow up witha masculine character, and would have a beard, whereas the male woulddisplay a feminine disposition and be beardless. I have known where sucha mistake has produced real anxiety and regret in the minds of theparents. We have seen that it was not until after baptism that the childwas allowed out of the room in which it was born, except under theskilful guardianship of a relative or the midwife; but, further thanthis, it was not considered safe or proper to carry it into anyneighbour's house until the mother took it herself, and this it wasunlucky even for her to do until she had been to church. Indeed, fewmothers would enter any house until they had been to the house of God. After this had been accomplished, however, she visited with the babyfreely. In visiting any house with baby for the first time, it wasincumbent on the person whom they were visiting to put a little salt orsugar into baby's mouth, and wish it well: the omission of this wasregarded as a very unlucky omen for the baby. Here we may note thesurvival of a very ancient symbolic practice in this gift of salt. Saltwas symbolical of favour or good will, and covenants of friendship invery early times were ratified with this gift; sugar, as in thisinstance, is no doubt a modern substitute for salt. Among Jews, Greeks, and Romans, as well as among less civilised nations, salt was used intheir sacrifices as emblematic of fidelity, and for some reason or otherit also came to be regarded as a charm against evil fascinations. ByRoman Catholics in the middle ages, salt was used to protect childrenfrom evil influences before they had received the sacrament of baptism. This practice is referred to in many of the old ballads and romances. In a ballad called _The King's Daughter_, a child is born, but incircumstances which do not admit of the rite of baptism beingadministered. The mother privately puts the baby into a casket, and, like the mother of Moses, sends it afloat, and as a protection placesbeside it a quantity of salt and candles. The words of the ballad are--

 "The bairnie she swyl'd in linen so fine, In a gilded casket she laid it syne, Mickle saut and light she laid therein, Cause yet in God's house it had'na been. "

Let us return to the mother and child whom we left visiting at afriend's house, and receiving the covenant of friendship. It was unsafeto be lavish in praise of the child's beauty, for although suchcommendation would naturally be gratifying to the mother, it would atthe same time increase her fears, for the _well faured_ ran the greatestrisk from evil influences, and of being carried off by the fairies. There was also the superadded danger of the mother setting heraffections too much upon her child and forgetting God, who then injealousy and mercy would remove it from her. This latter was a verywidespread superstition among religiously-minded people, even amongthose who, from their education, ought to have known better. I wellremember the case of a young mother, --a tender loving woman, who, quitein keeping with her excitable affectionate nature, was passionately fondof her baby, her first-born. But baby sickened and died, and the poormother, borne down with grief, wept bitterly, like Rachel refusing to becomforted. In the depth of her affliction she was visited by both herpastor and elder. They admonished her to turn her mind from the selfishsorrow in which she was indulging, and thank God for His kindly dealingtoward her, in that He had removed from her the cause of sin on herpart. She had been guilty, they said, of loving the baby too much, andGod, who was a jealous God, would not suffer His people to set theiraffections on any object in a greater degree than on Himself; andtherefore, He, in his mercy toward her, had removed from her the objectof her idolatry. The poor woman in her agony could only sob out, "Surelyit was no sin to love my own child that God gave me. " The more correctterm for such a theological conception would not be superstition, butblasphemy. 

Another danger from which children required to be shielded was thebaneful influence of the _evil eye_. Malicious people were believed topossess the power of doing harm by merely looking upon those whom theywished to injure. This belief is very ancient. From ProfessorConington's _Satires of A. Persius Flaccus_, I extract the followingnotice of it:--"Look here--a grandmother or a superstitious aunt hastaken baby from his cradle, and is charming his forehead and hisslavering lips against mischief by the joint action of her middle fingerand her purifying spittle; for she knows right well how to check theevil eye. Then she dandles him in her arms, and packs off the pinchedlittle hope of the family, so far as wishing can do it, to the domainsof Licinus, or the palace of Croesus. 'May he be a catch for my lord andlady's daughter! May the pretty ladies scramble for him! May the groundhe walks on turn to a rose-bed. ' But _I_ will never trust a nurse topray for me or mine; good Jupiter, be sure to refuse her, though she mayhave put on white for the occasion. "

The Romans used to hang red coral round the necks of their children tosave them from falling-sickness, sorcery, charms, and poison. In thiscountry coral beads were hung round the necks of babies, and are stillused in country districts to protect them from an evil eye. Coral bellsare used at present. The practice was originated by the Roman Catholicsto frighten away evil spirits. 

I have quite a vivid remembrance of being myself believed to be theunhappy victim of an evil eye. I had taken what was called a _dwining_, which baffled all ordinary experience; and, therefore, it was surmisedthat I had got "a blink of an ill e'e. " To remove this evil influence, Iwas subjected to the following operation, which was prescribed andsuperintended by a neighbour "skilly" in such matters:--A sixpence wasborrowed from a neighbour, a good fire was kept burning in the grate, the door was locked, and I was placed upon a chair in front of the fire. The operator, an old woman, took a tablespoon and filled it with water. With the sixpence she then lifted as much salt as it could carry, andboth were put into the water in the spoon. The water was then stirredwith the forefinger till the salt was dissolved. Then the soles of myfeet and the palms of my hands were bathed with this solution thrice, and after these bathings I was made to taste the solution three times. The operator then drew her wet forefinger across my brow, --called_scoring aboon the breath_. The remaining contents of the spoon she thencast right over the fire, into the hinder part of the fire, saying asshe did so, "_Guid preserve frae a' skaith. _" These were the first wordspermitted to be spoken during the operation. I was then put in bed, and, in attestation of the efficacy of the charm, recovered. To my knowledgethis operation has been performed within these 40 years, and probably inmany outlying country places it is still practised. The origin of thissuperstition is probably to be found in ancient fire worship. The greatblazing fire was evidently an important element in the transaction; norwas this a solitary instance in which regard was paid to fire. Iremember being taught that it was unlucky to spit into the fire, someevil being likely shortly after to befall those who did so. Crumbs leftupon the table after a meal were carefully gathered and put into thefire. The cuttings from the nails and hair were also put into the fire. These freaks certainly look like survivals of fire worship. 

The influence of those possessing the evil eye was not confined tochildren, but might affect adults, and also goods and cattle. But forthe bane there was provided the antidote. One effective method ofchecking the evil influence was by _scoring aboon the breath_. In mycase, as I was the victim, _scoring_ with a wet finger was sufficient;but the suspected possessor of the evil eye was more roughly treated, _scoring_ in this case being effected with some sharp instrument so asto draw blood. I have never seen this done, but some fifty years ago aninstance occurred in my native village. A child belonging to a poorwoman in this village was taken ill and had convulsive fits, which werethought to be due to the influence of the evil eye. An old woman in theneighbourhood, whose temper was not of the sweetest, was suspected. Shewas first of all invited to come and see the child in the hope thatsympathy might change the influence she was supposed to be exerting; butas the old woman appeared quite callous to the sufferings of the child, the mother, as the old woman was leaving the house, scratched her withher nails across the brow, and drew blood. This circumstance raisedquite a sensation in the village. Whether the child recovered after thisoperation I do not remember. Many other instances of the existence ofthis superstitious practice in Scotland within the present century mightbe presented, but I content myself with quoting one which was related ina letter to the _Glasgow Weekly Herald_, under the signature F. A. :--"Iknew of one case of the kind in Wigtownshire, in the south of Scotland, about the year 1825, as near as I can mind. I knew all parties verywell. A farmer had some cattle which died, and there was an old womanliving about a mile from the farm who was counted no very canny. She washeard to say that there would be mair o' them wad gang the same way. Soone day, soon after, as the old woman was passing the farmhouse, one ofthe sons took hold of her and got her head under his arm, and cut heracross the forehead. By the way, the proper thing to be cut with is anail out of a horse-shoe. He was prosecuted and got imprisonment forit. "

This style of antidote against the influence of an evil eye was commonin England within the century, as the following, which is also takenfrom a letter which appeared in the same journal, seems toshow:--"Drawing blood from above the mouth of the person suspected isthe favourite antidote in the neighbourhood of Burnley; and in thedistrict of Craven, a few miles within the borders of Yorkshire, aperson who was ill-disposed towards his neighbours is believed to haveslain a pear-tree which grew opposite his house by directing towards it'the first morning glances' of his evil eye. Spitting three times in theperson's face; turning a live coal on the fire; and exclaiming, 'TheLord be with us, ' are other means of averting its influence. "

We must not, however, pursue this digression further, but return to ourproper subject. It was not necessary that the person possessed of theevil eye, and desirous of inflicting evil upon a child, should see thechild. All that was necessary was that the person with the evil eyeshould get possession of something which had belonged to the child, suchas a fragment of clothing, a toy, hair, or nail parings. I may note herethat it was not considered lucky to pare the nails of a child under oneyear old, and when the operation was performed the mother was careful tocollect every scrap of the cutting, and burn them. It was considered agreat offence for any person, other than the mother or near relation, inwhom every confidence could be placed, to cut a baby's nails; if someforward officious person should do this, and baby afterwards be takenill, this would give rise to grave suspicions of evil influence being atwork. The same remarks apply to the cutting of a baby's hair. I haveseen the door locked during hair-cutting, and the floor sweptafterwards, and the sweepings burned, lest perchance any hairs mightremain, and be picked up by an enemy. Dr. Livingstone, in his book onthe Zambesi, mentions the existence of a similar practice among someAfrican tribes. "They carefully collect and afterwards burn or bury thehair, lest any of it fall into the hands of a witch. " Mr. Muntermentions that the same practice is common amongst the Patagonians, andthe practice extends to adults. He says that after bathing, which theydo every morning, "the men's hair is dressed by their wives, daughters, or sweethearts, who take the greatest care to burn the hairs that may bebrushed out, as they fully believe that spells may be wrought byevil-intentioned persons who can obtain a piece of their hair. From thesame idea, after cutting their nails the parings are carefully committedto the flames. "

Besides this danger--this blighting influence of the evil eye whichenvironed the years of childhood--there was also this other danger, already mentioned, that of being spirited away by fairies. The dangerfrom this source was greater when the baby was pretty, and what fondmother did not consider her baby pretty? Early in the century, alabourer's wife living a few miles west of Glasgow, became the mother ofa very pretty baby. All who saw it were charmed with its beauty, and itwas as good as it was bonnie. The neighbours often urged on the motherthe necessity of carefulness, and advised her to adopt such methods aswere, to their minds, well-attested safe-guards for the preservation ofchildren from fairy influence and an evil eye. She was instructed neverto leave the child without placing near it an open Bible. One unhappyday the mother went out for a short time, leaving the baby in itscradle, but she forgot or neglected to place the open Bible near thechild as directed. When she returned baby was crying, and could by nomeans be quieted, and the mother observed several blue marks upon itsperson, as if it had been pinched. From that day it became a perfectplague; no amount of food or drink would satisfy it, and yet withal itbecame lean. The _girn_, my informant said, was never out its face, andit _yammered_ on night and day. One day an old highland woman havingseen the child, and inspected it carefully, affirmed that it was a fairychild. She went the length of offering to put the matter to the test, and this is how she tested it. She put the poker in the fire, and hung apot over the fire wherein were put certain ingredients, an incantationbeing said as each new ingredient was stirred into the pot. The childwas quiet during these operations, and watched like a grown person allthat was being done, even rising upon its elbow to look. When theoperations were completed, the old woman took the poker out of the fire, and carrying it red hot over to the cradle, was about to burn the signof the cross on the baby's brow, when the child sprung suddenly up, knocked the old woman down and disappeared up the _lum_ (chimney, )filling the house with smoke, and leaving behind it a strong smell ofbrimstone. When the smoke cleared away, the true baby was found in thecradle sleeping as if it never had been taken away. Another case wasrelated to me as having occurred in the same neighbourhood, but in thisinstance the theft was not discovered until after the death of thechild. The surreptitious or false baby, having apparently died, wasburied; but suspicion having been raised, the grave was opened and thecoffin examined, when there was found in it, not a corpse, but a woodenfigure. The late Mr. Rust, in his _Druidism Exhumed_, states that thissuperstition is common in the North of Scotland, and adds that it isalso believed that if the theft be discovered before the apparent deathof the changling, there are means whereby the fairies may be propitiatedand induced to restore the real baby. One of these methods is thefollowing:--The parents or friends of the stolen baby must take thefairy child to some known haunt of the fairies, generally some spotwhere peculiar _soughing_ sounds are heard, where there are remains ofsome ancient cairn or stone circle, or some green mound or shady dell, and lay the child down there, repeating certain incantations. They mustalso place beside it a quantity of bread, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, and flesh of fowl, then retire to a distance and wait for an hour ortwo, or until after midnight. If on going back to where the child waslaid they find that the offerings have disappeared, it is held asevidence that the fairies have been satisfied, and that the human childis returned. The baby is then carried home, and great rejoicing made. Mr. Rust states that he knew a woman who, when a baby, had been stolenaway, but was returned by this means. 

CHAPTER III. 

_MARRIAGE. _

The next very important event in man's life is marriage, and naturally, therefore, to this event there attached a multitude of superstitiousnotions and practices, many of which, indeed, do still exist. The timewhen marriage took place was of considerable importance. One veryprevalent superstition, common alike to all classes in the community, and whose force is not yet spent, was the belief that it was unlucky tomarry in the month of May. The aversion to marrying in May findsexpression in the very ancient and well-known proverb, "Marry in May, rue for aye, " and thousands still avoid marrying in this month who canrender no more solid reason for their aversion than the authority ofthis old proverb. But in former times there were reasons given, varying, however, in different localities. Some of the reasons given were thefollowing:--That parties so marrying would be childless, or, if they hadchildren, that the first-born would be an idiot, or have some physicaldeformity; or that the married couple would not lead a happy life, andwould soon tire of each other's society. The origin of this superstitionis to be found in ancient heathen religious beliefs and practices. Wehave already noticed the ancient belief that the spirits of deadancestors haunted the living, and I have given a formula whereby asingle person could exorcise the ghosts of his departed relatives, and Ihave also mentioned that national festivals to propitiate the spirits ofthe dead were appointed by some nations. Now, we find that among theRomans this national festival was held during the month of May, andduring its continuance all other forms of worship were suspended, andthe temples shut; and further, for any couple to contract marriageduring this season was held to be a daring of the Fates which few werefound hardy enough to venture. Ovid says--

 "Pause while we keep these rites, ye widowed dames, The marriage time a purer season claims; Pause, ye fond mothers, braid not yet her hair, Nor the ripe virgin for her lord prepare. O, light not, Hymen, now your joyous fires, Another torch nor yours the tomb requires! Close all the temples on these mourning days, And dim each altar's spicy, steaming blaze; For now around us roams a spectred brood, Craving and keen, and snuffing mortal food: They feast and revel, nor depart again, Till to the month but ten days more remain. "

Superstitions of this sort linger much longer in the country than intowns, and the larger the town the more speedily do they die out; but, judging from the statistics of late years, this superstition has still afirm hold of the inhabitants of Glasgow, the second city of the Empire. During the year 1874 the marriages in May were only 204, against 703 inJune; but as the removal term occurs at the end of May, that mustmaterially affect the relations, in this respect, between May and June, and accounts, in part, for the great excess of marriages in June. Butif the average of the eleven months, excluding May, be taken, thenduring that year there was a monthly average of 441, against 204 inMay--being rather more than double. For the ten years preceding 1874, the average of the eleven months was 388, against 203 in May. As if tocompensate for the restraint put upon the people in May, _Juno_, thewife of Jupiter, after whom June was named, and whose influence wasparamount during that month, took special guardianship over births andmarriages; hence June was a lucky month to be born in or get married in, and thus June is known as the marrying month. Here, again, our registersshow that the number of marriages are in June nearly double the averageof the other months, excluding May and June. The average during the tenyears is, for the ten months, 375 per month, whilst the average for Juneis 598. It may be noticed in passing that, in Glasgow, January and Julystand as high as June, owing, doubtless, to the holidays which occurduring these two months making marriage at those times more convenientfor the working classes. 

There were many marriage observances of a religious or superstitiouscharacter practised in ancient Rome which were quite common among uswithin this century, especially in the country districts, but which noware either extinct or fast dying out. When a Roman girl was betrothed, she received from her intended a ring which she wore as evidence of herbetrothal. When betrothed she laid aside her girlish or maidendress, --some parts of which were offered as a sacrifice to the householdgods, --and she was then clothed in the dress of a wife, and secludedfrom her former companions, and put under training for her new duties. When the time drew near for the consummation of the ceremony, it becamean important consideration to fix upon a lucky day and hour for the knotto be tied. With this object astrologers, sooth-sayers, and others ofthat class were consulted, who, by certain divinations ascertained themost auspicious time for the union to take place in. When the dayarrived every occurrence was watched for omens. A crow or turtle doveappearing near was a good omen: for these birds symbolized conjugalfidelity. The ceremony was begun by sacrificing a sheep to Juno, thefleece being spread upon two chairs on which the bride and bridegroomsat: then a prayer was said over them. The young wife, carrying adistaff and spindle filled with wool, was conducted to her house, acake, baked by the vestal virgins, being carried before her. Thethreshold of the house was disenchanted by charms, and by annointing itwith certain unctuous perfumes; but as it was considered unlucky for thenew-made wife to tread upon the threshold on first entering her house, she was lifted over it and seated upon a piece of wool, a symbol ofdomestic industry. The keys of the house were then put into her hand, and the cake was divided among the guests. The first work of the youngwife was to spin new garments for her husband. It will be seen that manyof these practices were mixed up with superstitious notions, many ofwhich were prevalent in this country sixty years ago, and some of whichstill remain in country districts. Sixty years ago when a young womanbecame a bride, she in a great measure secluded herself from society, and mixed but little even with her companions, and on no account wouldshe show herself at church until after her marriage, as that wasconsidered very unlucky. The evening before the marriage her presentsand outfit were conveyed to her future home under the superintendence ofthe best maid (bridesmaid), who carried with her a certain domesticutensil filled with salt, which was the first article of the bride'sfurnishing taken into the house. A portion of the salt was sprinkledover the floor as a protection against an evil eye. The house being setin order, the best maid returned to the bride's house where a company ofthe bride's companions were met, and then occurred the ceremony ofwashing the bride's feet. This was generally the occasion of much mirth. And this was in all probability a survival of an old Scandinavian customunder which the Norse bride was conducted by her maiden friends toundergo a bath, called the bride's bath, a sort of religiouspurification. On the marriage day, every trifling circumstance whichwould have passed without notice at other times was noted and scannedfor omens of good or evil. If the morning was clear and shining, thisbetokened a happy cheerful life; if dull and raining, the contraryresult might be anticipated. I have known the following incidents causegrave concern about the future prospects of the young couple:--A clot ofsoot coming down the chimney and spoiling the breakfast; the brideaccidentally breaking a dish; a bird sitting on the window sill chirpingfor some time; the bird in the cage dying that morning; a dog howling, and the postman forgetting to deliver a letter to the bride until he wasa good way off, and had to return. Some of these were defined for good, but most of them were evil omens. The ceremony was generally performedat the minister's residence, which was often a considerable distanceoff. The marriage party generally walked all the way, but if thedistance was unusually great, the company rode the journey, and this wascalled "a riding wedding. " There were two companies--the bride's partyand the bridegroom's party. The bride's party met in the bride'sparents' house, the best man being with them, and the groom's party metin his parents' house, the best maid being with them--the malesconducting the females to their respective parties. At the timeappointed the bride's party left first, followed immediately by thegroom's party--each company headed by the respective fathers. They soarranged their walk that both parties would reach the minister's housetogether. As soon as the ceremony was concluded, there was a rush on thepart of the young men to get the first kiss of the newly-made wife. Thiswas frequently taken by the clergyman himself, a survival of an oldcustom said to have been practised in the middle ages. This custom isreferred to in the following old song. The bridegroom, addressing theminister, says:--

 "It's no very decent for you to be kissing, It does not look weel wi' the black coat ava, 'Twould hae set you far better tae hae gi'en us your blessing, Than thus by such tricks to be breaking the law. Dear Watty, quo Robin, it's just an auld custom, And the thing that is common should ne'er be ill taen, For where ye are wrong, if ye hadna a wished him You should have been first. It's yoursel it's to blame. "

The party now returned in the following order: first, the two fathers incompany together, then the newly-married couple, behind them the bestman and the best maid, and the others following in couples as theymight arrange. There were frequently as many as twenty couples. Oncoming within a mile or so of the young couple's house, where the motherof the young good man was waiting, a few of the young men would start ona race home. This race was often keenly contested, and was termed_running the brooze_ or _braize_. The one who reached the house firstand announced the happy completion of the wedding, was presented with abottle of whiskey and a glass, with which he returned to meet themarriage procession, and the progress of the procession was generally soarranged that he would meet them before they arrived at the village ortown where the young couple were to be resident. He was thereforeconsidered their _first foot_, and distributed the contents of hisbottle among the party, each drinking to the health of the young marriedpair, and then bottle and glass were thrown away and broken. The wholeparty then proceeded on their way to the young folks' house. To be thesuccessful runner in this race was an object of considerable ambition, and the whole town and neighbourhood took great interest in it. Atriding weddings it was the great ambition of farmers' sons to succeed inwinning the _braize_, and they would even borrow racing horses for theoccasion. 

The origin of this custom of running the _braize_--it was so pronouncedin the west county--has long been a puzzle to antiquarians. Probably itis the survival of a custom practised by our Scandinavian forefathers. AScandinavian hero or warrior considered it beneath his dignity to courta lady's favour by submitting the matter of marriage to her decision. When he saw or heard of a beauty whom he decided to make his wife, heeither went direct and took her away by force from her home, or hegained the right to make her his bride by success in battle with hisopponents. Often, however, one who was no hero might gain the consent ofthe parents to his marriage with their daughter, she having little or novoice in the matter; and when she and her friends were on their way tothe church, some heroic but unapproved admirer, determined to win her byforce of arms, having collected his followers and friends who were everready for a fight, would fall upon the marriage cortege, and carry offthe bride. Under those circumstances there was often great anxiety onthe part of both the groom's and bride's relations, who remained at homewhen they had reason to apprehend that such attack might be made, andso, whenever the marriage ceremony was over, some of the company hastedhome with the glad news; but commonly youths stationed themselves at thechurch-door, ready to run the moment the ceremony was over, and whetheron foot or horseback, the race became an exciting one. He who firstbrought the good news received as a reward a bowl of brose, and suchbrose as was made in those days for this occasion was an acceptableprize. Although the necessity for running ceased, the sport occasionedby these contentions was too good and exciting to be readily given up, but it came to be confined to those who were at the wedding, and manyyoung men looked forward eagerly to taking part in the sport. The prizewhich originally was brose, came to be changed to something morecongenial to the tastes and usages of the times, viz. , a bottle ofwhiskey. In this way, I think, we may account for the custom of "runningthe braize. " It has been mentioned already that the best man went withthe bride to the minister. His duty it was to take charge of the brideand hand her over to the bridegroom, a duty now performed by the bride'sfather, and in this now obsolete custom, I think we may find a stillfurther proof that the management and customs of the marriage processionwere founded upon the old practice of wife-capture. The best man isevidently just the bridegroom's friend, who, in the absence of thebridegroom, undertakes to protect the bride against a raid until shereaches the church, when he hands her over to his friend the bridegroom. 

To meet a funeral either in going to or coming from marriage was veryunlucky. If the funeral was that of a female, the young wife would notlive long; if a male, the bridegroom would die soon. 

After partaking of the _braize's_ hospitality, --for the bottle ofwhiskey was his by right, --the wedding party proceeded to the house ofthe young couple, and in some parts of Scotland, at the beginning of thecentury, the young wife was lifted over the threshold, or first step ofthe door, lest any witchcraft or _ill e'e_ should be cast upon andinfluence her. Just at the entering of the house, the young man's motherbroke a cake of bread, prepared for the occasion, over the young wife'shead. She was then led to the hearth, and the poker and tongs--in someplaces the broom also--were put into her hands, as symbols of her officeand duty. After this, her mother-in-law handed her the keys of the houseand furniture, thus transferring the mother's rights over her son to hiswife. Again the glass went round, and each guest drank and wishedhappiness to the young pair. The cake which was broken over the youngwife's head was now gathered and distributed among the unmarried femaleguests, and by them retained to be placed under their pillows, so thatthey might dream of their future husbands. This is a custom stillpractised, but what is now the bridescake is not a cake broken over thebride's head, but a larger and more elaborately-prepared article, whichis cut up and distributed immediately after the marriage ceremony. Younggirls still put a piece of it under their pillows in order to obtainprophetic dreams. In some cases, this is done by a friend writing thenames of three young men on a piece of paper, and the cake, wrapped init, is put under the pillow for three nights in succession before it isopened. Should the owners of the cake have dreamed of one of the threeyoung men therein written, it is regarded as a sure proof that he is tobe her future husband. After drinking to the health and happiness of theyoung couple, the wedding party then went to the house of thebridegroom's father where they partook of supper, generally a verysubstantial meal; and this being finished, the young people of the partybecame restless for a change of amusement, and generally all thenrepaired to some hall or barn, and there spent the night in dancing. Itwas the custom for the young couple, with their respective parents andthe best man and the best maid, to lead off by dancing the first reel. Should the young couple happen to have either brothers or sisters olderthan themselves, but unmarried, these unfortunate brethren danced thefirst reel without their shoes. Probably this has its origin in the oldJewish custom of giving up the shoe or sandal when the right or prioritypassed from one to another. For an instance of this see Ruth iv. 7. Having danced till far on in the morning of next day, the young couplewere then conducted home. The young wife, assisted by her femalefriends, undressed and got to bed, then the young man was sent into bedby his friends, and then all the marriage party entered the bedroom, when the young wife took one of her stockings, which had been put in bedwith her, and threw it among the company. The person who got this was tobe the first married. The best man then handed round the glass, and whenall had again drank to the young couple, the company retired. Thiscustom was termed _the bedding_, and was regarded as a ceremonynecessary to the completion of the marriage; and there can be littledoubt that it is a survival of a very ancient ceremony of the samefamily as the old Grecian custom of removing the bride's coronet andputting her to bed. This particular form of ceremony was also found inScotland, and continued to comparatively modern times. Young Scotchmaidens formerly wore a snood, a sort of coronet, open at the top, called the virgin snood, and before being put to bed on the marriagenight this snood was removed by the young women of the party. Thiscustom is referred to in an ancient ballad. 

 "They've ta'en the bride to the bridal bed, To loose her snood nae mind they had. 'I'll loose it, ' quo John. "

On the morning after some of the married women of the neighbourhood metin the young wife's house and put on her the _curtch_ or closs cap(_mutch_), a token of the marriage state. In my young days unmarriedwomen went with the head uncovered; but after marriage, never were seenwithout a cap. On the morning after marriage the best man and maidbreakfasted with the young couple, after which they spent the day in thecountry, or if they lived in the country, they went to town for achange. Weddings were invariably celebrated on a Friday, --the reason forthis preference being, as is supposed, that Friday was the day dedicatedby the Norsemen to the goddess, Friga, the bestower of joy andhappiness. The wedding day being Friday, the walking-day was a Saturday;and on Sunday the young couple, with their best man and best maid, attended church in the forenoon, and took a walk in the afternoon, thenspent the evening in the house of one of their parents, the meetingthere being closed by family worship, and a pious advice to the youngcouple to practise this in their own house. 

If the bride had been courted by other sweethearts than he who was nowher husband, there was a fear that those discarded suitors mightentertain unkindly feelings towards her, and that their evil wishesmight supernaturally influence her, and affect her first-born. This evilresult was sought to be averted by the bride wearing a sixpence in herleft shoe till she was _kirked_; but should the bride have made a vow toany other, and broken it, this wearing of the sixpence did not preventthe evil consequences from falling upon her first-born. Many instanceswere currently quoted among the people of first-born children, undersuch circumstances, having been born of such unnatural shapes andnatures that, with the sanction of the minister and the relations, themonster birth was put to death. Captain Burt, in his letters from theHighlands, written early in the eighteenth century, says that "soonafter the wedding day the newly-married wife sets herself about spinningher winding sheet, and a husband that shall sell or pawn it is esteemedamong all men one of the most profligate. " And Dr. Jamieson says--"Whena woman of the lower class in Scotland, however poor, or whether marriedor single, commences housekeeping, her _first care_, after what isabsolutely necessary for the time, is to provide _death linen_ forherself and those who look to her for that office, and _her next_ toearn, save, and _lay up (not put out to interest)_ such money as maydecently serve for funeral expenses. And many keep secret thesehonorable deposits and salutary _mementoes_ for two or threescoreyears. "

This practice was continued within my recollection. The first care ofthe young married wife was still, in my young days, to spin and getwoven sufficient linen to make for herself and her husband their _deadclaes_. I can well remember the time when, in my father's house, thesethings were spread out to air before the fire. This was doneperiodically, and these were days when mirth was banished from thehousehold, and everything was done in a solemn mood. The day was kept asa Sabbath. The reader will not fail to observe in some of these moderncustoms and beliefs modified survivals of the old Roman practices andsuperstitious beliefs. 

CHAPTER IV. 

_DEATH. _

It is not surprising that the solemn period of death should have beensurrounded with many superstitious ideas, --with a great variety of omensand warnings, many of which, however, were only called to mind after theevent. In the country, when any person was taken unwell, it was verysoon known over the whole neighbourhood, and all sorts of remedies wererecommended. Generally a doctor was not sent for until the patient wasconsidered in a dangerous state, and then began the search for omens orwarnings. If the patient recovered, these premonitions were forgotten, but if death ensued, then everything was remembered and renderedsignificant. Was a dog heard to howl and moan during the night, with hishead in the direction of the house where the patient lay; was thereheard in the silent watches of the night in the room occupied by thesick person, a tick, ticking as of a watch about the bed or furniture, these were sure signs of approaching death, and adult patients hearingthese omens, often made sure that their end was near. Many pious peoplealso improved the circumstance, pointing out that these omens wereevidence of God's great mercy, inasmuch as He vouchsafed to give atimely warning in order that the dying persons might prepare for death, and make their peace with the great Judge. To have hinted, under suchcircumstances, that the ticking sounds were caused by a small wood mothtapping for its mate, would have subjected the hinter to the name ofinfidel or unbeliever in Scripture, as superstitious people always tookshelter in Scripture. 

Persons hearing a tingling sound in their ears, called the _deid bells_, expected news of the death of a friend or neighbour. A knock heard atthe door of the patient's room, and on opening no person being found, was a sure warning of approaching death. If the same thing occurredwhere there was no patient, it was a sign that some relation at adistance had died. I was sitting once in the house of a newly marriedcouple, when a loud knock was heard upon the floor under a chair, as ifsome one had struck the floor with a flat piece of wood. The young wiferemoved the chair, and seeing nothing, remarked with some alarm, "It ishasty news of a death. " Next day she received word of the death of twoof her brothers, soldiers in India, the deaths having occurred nearly ayear before. There was no doubt in the mind of the young wife that theknock was a supernatural warning. The natural explanation probably wasthat the sound came from the chair, which being new, was liable toshrink at the joints for some time, and thus cause the sound heard. Thiscracking sound is quite common with new furniture. 

If, again, some one were to catch a glimpse of a person whom they knewpassing the door or window, and on looking outside were to find no suchperson there, this was a sign of the approaching death of the personseen. There were many instances quoted of the accuracy of this omen, instances generally of persons who, in good health at the time of theirillusionary presence, died shortly after. Another form of thissuperstition was connected with those who were known to be seriouslyill. Should the observer see what he felt convinced was the unwellperson, say, walking along the street, and on looking round as thepresence passed, see no person, this was a token of the death of theperson whose spectre was seen. I knew of a person who, on going homefrom his work one evening, came suddenly upon an old man whom he knew tobe bed-ridden, dressed as was formerly his wont, with knee breeches, blue coat, and red nightcap. Although he knew that the old man had forsome time been confined to bed, so distinct was the illusion that he bidhim "good night" in passing, but receiving no reply, looked behind andsaw no one. Seized with fright, he ran home and told what he had seen. On the following morning it was known through the village that the oldman was dead. And his death had taken place at the time when the youngman had seen him on the previous evening. This was considered aremarkably clear instance of a person's wraith or spirit being seen atthe time of death. However, the seeing of a person's wraith was notalways an omen of death. There were certain rules observed in relationto wraiths, by which their meaning could be ascertained, but these rulesdiffered in different localities. In my native village a wraith seenduring morning, or before twelve noon, betokened that the person whosewraith was seen would be fortunate in life, or if unwell at the time, would recover; but when the wraith was seen in the afternoon or evening, this betokened evil or approaching death, and the time within whichdeath would occur was considered to be within a year. This belief inwraiths goes back to a very early period of man's history. The ancientPersians and Jews believed that every person had a spirit or guardianangel attending him, and although generally invisible, it had the powerof becoming visible, and separating itself for a time from the person itattended, and of appearing to other persons in the guise of theindividual from whom it emanated. An excellent example of thissuperstitious belief is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. WhenPeter, who was believed to be in prison, knocked at the "door of thegate" of the house where the disciples were met, the young woman whowent to open the door, on recognising Peter's voice, was overjoyed, and, instead of opening, ran into the house, and told the disciples Peter wasat the door. Then they said "It is his angel" (wraith). Thus the wholecompany expressed their belief in attending angels. The belief inwraiths was prevalent throughout all Scotland. It is beautifullyintroduced in the song of "Auld Robin Gray. " When the young wifenarrates her meeting with her old sweetheart, she says, "I thought itwas his wraith, I could not think it he, " and the belief survives insome parts of the country to the present day. 

If a dying person struggled hard and long, it was believed that thespirit was kept from departing by some magic spell. It was thereforecustomary, under these circumstances, for the attendants to open everylock in the house, that the spell might be broken, and the spirit letloose. J. Train refers to this superstition in his _Mountain Muse_, published 1814:--

 "The chest unlocks to ward the power, Of spells in Mungo's evil hour. "

After death there came a new class of superstitious fears and practices. The clock was stopped, the looking-glass was covered with a cloth, andall domestic animals were removed from the house until after thefuneral. These things were done, however, by many from old custom, andwithout their knowing the reason why such things were done. Originallythe reason for the exclusion of dogs and cats arose from the beliefthat, if either of these animals should chance to leap over the corpse, and be afterwards permitted to live, the devil would gain power over thedead person. 

When the corpse was laid out, a plate of salt was placed upon thebreast, ostensibly to prevent the body swelling. Many did so in thisbelief, but its original purpose was to act as a charm against the devilto prevent him from disturbing the body. In some localities the plate ofsalt was supplemented with another filled with earth. A symbolicalmeaning was given for this; that the earth represented the corporealbody, the earthly house, --the salt the heavenly state of the soul. Butthere was an older superstition which gave another explanation for theplate of salt on the breast. There were persons calling themselves "_sineaters_" who, when a person died, were sent for to come and eat the sinsof the deceased. When they came, their _modus operandi_ was to place aplate of salt and a plate of bread on the breast of the corpse, andrepeat a series of incantations, after which they ate the contents ofthe plates, and so relieved the dead person of such sins as would havekept him hovering around his relations, haunting them with hisimperfectly purified spirit, to their great annoyance, and withoutsatisfaction to himself. This form of superstition has evidently a closerelation to such forms of ancestor-worship as we know were practised bythe ancients, and to which reference has already been made. 

Until the funeral, it was the practice for some of the relations orfriends to sit up all night, and watch the corpse. In my young days thisduty was generally undertaken by youths, male and female friends, whovolunteered their services; but these watchings were not accompanied bythe unseemly revelries which were common in Scotland in earlier times, or as are still practised in Ireland. The company sitting up with thecorpse generally numbered from two to six, although I have myself beenone of ten. They went to the house about ten in the evening, and beforethe relations went to bed each received a glass of spirits; aboutmidnight there was a refreshment of tea or ale and bread, and the samein the morning, when the relations of the deceased relieved thewatchers. Although during these night sittings nothing unbefitting thesolemnity of the occasion was done, the circumstances of the meetinggave opportunity for love-making. The first portion of the night wasgenerally passed in reading, --some one reading aloud for the benefit ofthe company, afterwards they got to story-telling, the stories beinggenerally of a ghostly description, producing such a weird feeling, thatmost of the company durst hardly look behind them for terror, and wouldstart at the slightest noise. I have seen some so affected by this fearthat they would not venture to the door alone if the morning was dark. These watchings of the dead were no doubt efficacious in perpetuatingsuperstitious ideas. 

The reasons given for watching the corpse differed in differentlocalities. The practice is still observed, I believe, in some places;but probably now it is more the result of habit--a custom followedwithout any basis of definite belief, and merely as a mark of respectfor the dead; but in former times, and within this century, it wasfirmly held that if the corpse were not watched, the devil would carryoff the body, and many stories were current of such an awful resulthaving happened. One such story was told me by a person who had receivedthe story from a person who was present at the wake where the occurrencehappened. I thus got it at second hand. The story ran as follows:--Thecorpse was laid out in a room, and the watchers had retired to anotherapartment to partake of refreshments, having shut the door of the roomwhere the corpse lay. While they were eating there was heard a greatnoise, as of a struggle between two persons, proceeding from the roomwhere the corpse lay. None of the party would venture into the room, andin this emergency they sent for the minister, who came, and, with theopen Bible in his hand, entered the room and shut the door. The noisethen ceased, and in about ten minutes he came out, lifted the tongs fromthe fireplace, and again re-entered the room. When he came out again, hebrought out with the tongs a glove, which was seen to be bloody, andthis he put into the fire. He refused, however, to tell either what hehad seen or heard; but on the watchers returning to their post, thecorpse lay as formerly, and as quiet and unruffled as if nothing hadtaken place, whereat they were all surprised. 

From the death till the funeral it was customary for neighbours to calland see the corpse, and should any one see it and not touch it, thatperson would be haunted for several nights with fearful dreams. I haveseen young children and even infants made to touch the face of thecorpse, notwithstanding their terror and screams. If a child who hadseen the corpse, but had not been compelled to touch it, had shortlyafterwards awakened from a sleep crying, it would have been consideredthat its crying was caused by its having seen the ghost of the deadperson. 

If, when the funeral left the house, the company should go in ascattered, straggling manner, this was an omen that before long anotherfuneral would leave the same house. If the company walked away quickly, it was also a bad omen. It was believed that the spirit of the lastperson buried in any graveyard had to keep watch lest any suicide orunbaptized child should be buried in the consecrated ground, so that, when two burials took place on the same day, there was a striving to befirst at the churchyard. In some parts of the Highlands thissuperstition led to many unseemly scenes when funerals occurred on thesame day. 

Those attending the funeral who were not near neighbours or relationswere given a quantity of bread and cakes to take home with them, butrelations and near neighbours returned to the house, where their wiveswere collected, and were liberally treated to both meat and drink. Thiswas termed the _dredgy_ or _dirgy_, and to be present at this wasconsidered a mark of respect to the departed. This custom may be theremnant of an ancient practice--in some sort a superstition--whichexisted in Greece, where the friends of the deceased, after the funeral, held a banquet, the fragments of which were afterwards carried to thetomb. Upon the death of a wealthy person, when the funeral had left thehouse, sums of money were divided among the poor. In Catholic times thiswas done that the poor might pray for the soul of the deceased. In theDanish _Niebellungen_ song it is stated that, at the burial of the heroSeigfried, his wife caused upwards of thirty thousand merks of gold tobe distributed among the poor for the welfare and repose of his soul. This custom became in this country and century in Protestant times anoccasion for the gathering of beggars and sorners from all parts. At thefuneral of George Oswald of Scotstoun, three miles from Glasgow, therewere gathered several hundreds, who were each supplied with a silvercoin and a drink of beer, and many were the blessings wished. A similargathering occurred at the funeral of old Mr. Bogle of Gilmourhill, nearGlasgow; but when announcement was made that nothing was to be given, there rose a fearful howl of execration and cursing both of dead andliving from the mendacious crowd. The village of Partick in both thesecases was placed under a species of black-mail for several days bybeggars, who would hardly take any denial, and in many instancesappropriated what was not their own. I am not aware that this custom isretained in any part of the country now. 

As the funerals fifty years ago were mostly walking funerals, the coffinbeing carried between two spokes, the sort of weather during the funeralhad its omens, for in these days the weather was believed to be greatlyunder the control of the devil, or rather it was considered that he waspermitted to tamper with the weather. If the day was fine, this wasnaturally a good omen for the soul's welfare. I remember that thefuneral of the only daughter of a worthy couple happened on a wet day, but just as the funeral was leaving the house the sun broke through andthe day cleared, whereupon the mother, with evident delight, as shestood at the door, thanked God that Mary was getting a good blink. Stormy weather was a bad omen, being regarded as due to Satan'sinfluence. Burns refers to this belief in his "Tam o' Shanter. " Whenreferring to the storm, he says:--

 "Even a bairn might understand The deil had business on his hand. "

The following old rhyme mentions the most propitious sort of weather forthe christening, marriage, and funeral:--

 "West wind to the bairn when gaun for its name, Gentle rain to the corpse carried to its lang hame, A bonny blue sky to welcome the bride, As she gangs to the kirk, wi' the sun on her side. "

The wake in the Highlands during last century was a very common affair. Captain Burt, in his letters from Scotland, 1723, says that when aperson dies the neighbours gather in the evening in the house where thedead lies, with bagpipe, and spend the evening in dancing--the nearestrelative to the corpse leading off the dance. Whisky and otherrefreshments are provided, and this is continued every night until thefuneral. 

Pennant, in his tour through the Highlands, 1772, says that, at a death, the friends of the deceased meet with bagpipe or fiddle, when thenearest of kin leads off a melancholy ball, dancing and wailing at thesame time, which continue till daybreak, and is continued nightly tillthe interment. This custom is to frighten off or protect the corpse fromthe attack of wild beasts, and evil spirits from carrying it away. 

Another custom of olden times, and which was continued till thebeginning of this century, was that of announcing the death of anyperson by sending a person with a bell--known as the "deidbell"--throughthe town or neighbourhood. The same was done to invite to the funeral. In all probability, the custom of ringing the bell had its origin in thechurch custom, being a call to offer prayers for the soul of thedeparted. Bell-ringing was also considered a means of keeping away evilspirits. Joseph Train, writing in 1814, refers to another practicecommon in some parts of Scotland. Whenever the corpse is taken from thehouse, the bed on which the deceased lay is taken from the house, andall the straw or heather of which it was composed is taken out andburned in a place where no beast can get at it, and in the morning theashes are carefully examined, believing that the footprint of the nextperson of the family who will die will be seen. This practice of burningthe contents of the bed is commendable for sanitary purposes. 

CHAPTER V. 

_WITCHCRAFT, SECOND-SIGHT, AND THE BLACK ART. _

That the devil gave to certain persons supernatural power, which theymight exercise at their pleasure, was a belief prevalent throughout allScotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But at the sametime this compacting with the devil was reprobated, nay more, was acapital offence, both in civil and ecclesiastical law, and during thesetwo centuries thousands of persons were convicted and executed for thiscrime. But during the latter part of the seventeenth century the civilcourts refused to convict upon the usual evidence, to the great alarmand displeasure of the ecclesiastical authorities, who considered thisrefusal a great national sin--a direct violation of the law of God, which said--"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. " To arrest thepunishment which this direct violation of God's written law was supposedto incur, prayers were offered, and fasts were appointed. 

As samples of the kind of evidence on which reputed witches wereconvicted and executed, I extract the following from the Records ofLanark Presbytery, 1650:--"Likewise he reported that the Commissionersand brethren did find these poynts delated against Janet M'Birnie, oneof the suspected women, to wit:

"1st. That on a time the said Janet M'Birnie followed Wm. Brown, sclater, to Robert Williamson's house in Water Meetings, to cravesomewhat, and fell in evil words. After which time, and within four andtwenty hours, he fell off ane house and brake his neck. 

"2nd. After some outcast between Bessie Achison's house and JanetM'Birnie's house, the said Janet M'Birnie prayed that there might bebloody beds and a light house, and after that the said Bessie Achisonher daughter took sickness, and the lassie said there is fyre in my bed, and died. And the said Bessie Achison her gudeman dwyned. 

"3rd. It was alleged that the said Janet M'Birnie was the cause of thedispute between Newton and his wife, and that she and others were thedeath of William Geddese. And also that they fand against MarianLaidlaw, another suspected, these particulars: that the said Marian andJean Blacklaw differed in words for the said Marian's hay; and afterthat the said Jean her kye died. "

They were remitted for trial. In these same Records there is in 1697 thefollowing entry:--"Upon the recommendation of the Synod, the Presbyteryappoynts a Fast to be keeped upon the 28th instant, in regard to thegreat prevalence of witchcraft which abounds at several places at thistime within the bounds of the Synod. "

At this time the laws against witchcraft had become practically a deadletter, but it was not till 1735 that they were repealed. Still, theabolition of the legal penalty did not kill the popular belief in thepower and reality of witchcraft; and even now, at this present day, wefind proof every now and again in newspaper reports that this beliefstill lingers among certain classes. Within these fifty years, in avillage a little to the west of Glasgow, lived an old woman, who was notpoor, but had a very irritable temper, and was unsocial in her habits. Alittle boy having called her names and otherwise annoyed her, shescolded him, and, in the heat of her rage, prophesied that before atwelvemonth elapsed the devil would get his own. A few months after thisthe boy sickened and died, and the villagers had no hesitation inascribing the cause of death to this old woman. Again, a farmer in theneighbourhood had bought a horse, and in the evening a servant wasleading it to the water to drink, when this same old woman, who wassitting near at hand, remarked upon the beauty of the horse, and askedfor a few hairs from the tail, which the servant with some roughnessrefused. When the stable was entered next morning the horse was founddead. On the above circumstance of the old woman's request being relatedto the farmer, he regretted the servant's refusal of the hairs, and saidthat, if the same woman had asked him, he would have given every hair inthe tail rather than offend her, showing thereby his undoubted belief inthe woman's power. Fortunately for her, she lived in a storeyedbuilding--in local vernacular, a _land_--or in all probability her housewould have been set on fire in order to burn her. At the same time, while she was hated and dreaded, everybody for their own safety paid herthe most marked respect. Had she lived a century earlier, such evidencewould have brought her to the stake. In 1666, before the LanarkPresbytery, a woman was tried for bewitching cattle:--

"The said William Smith said that she was the death of twa meires, andElizabeth Johnstone, his wife, reported that she saw her sitting ontheir black meire's tether, and that she ran over the dyke in thelikeness of a hare. "

This belief in the ability of witches to convert themselves into theappearance of animals at pleasure was prevalent even during thiscentury. In 1828, or there-about, there died an old woman, who whenalive had gone about with a crutch, and it was reported of her, andgenerally believed, that in her younger days she had the power ofwitchcraft, and that one morning as she was out about some of herunhallowed sports, disporting herself in the shape of a hare, that a manwho was out with a gun saw, as he thought, in the moonlight, a hare, andfired at it, breaking its leg; but it took shelter behind a stone, andwhen he went to get the hare, he found instead a young woman sittingbandaging with a handkerchief her leg, which was bleeding. He knew her, and upon her entreaty promised never to disclose her secret, and everafter she went with a crutch. I have heard similar stories told of otherwomen in other localities, showing the prevalence of this form ofbelief. As those who had dealings with the devil were believed to haverenounced their baptism or their allegiance to Christ, they never wentto church, and hated the Bible. Therefore, all who did not follow thecustom of believers were not only considered infidels, but as havingenlisted in the devil's corps, and such people in small localities werekept at an outside, and suspected, being regarded as capable of anywickedness, and untrustworthy. I remember several persons, both men andwomen, against intercourse with whom we were earnestly warned, and wereinstructed that it was not even safe to play with their children. 

There were other supernatural powers thought to be possessed by certainpersons, which differed from witchcraft in this, that they were notregarded as the result of a compact with the devil, but in some caseswere thought to be rather a gift from God. For example, there wassecond-sight, a gift bestowed upon certain persons without any previouscompact or solicitation. Sometimes the seer fell into a trance, in whichstate he saw visions; at other times the visions were seen without thetrance condition. Should the seer see in a vision a certain persondressed in a shroud, this betokened that the death of that person wouldsurely take place within a year. Should such a vision be seen in themorning, the person seen would die before that evening; should such avision be seen in the afternoon, the person seen would die before nextnight; but if the vision were seen late in the evening, there was noparticular time of death intimated, further than that it would takeplace within the year. Again, if the shroud did not cover the wholebody, the fulfilment of the vision was at a great distance. If thevision were that of a man with a woman standing at his left hand, thenthat woman will be that man's wife, although they may both at the timeof the vision be married to others. It was reported that one havingsecond-sight saw in vision a young man with three women standing at hisleft side, and in course of time each became his wife in the order inwhich they were seen standing. These seers could often foretell comingvisitors to a family months before they came, and even point out placeswhere houses would be built years before the buildings were erected. Theseer could not communicate the gift to any other person, not even tothose of his own family, as he possessed it without any conscious act onhis part; but if any person were near him at the time he was having avision, and he were consciously to touch the person with his left foot, the person touched would see that particular vision. I had aconversation with a woman who when young was in company with one who hadthe gift of second-sight. They went out together one Sabbath evening, and while sitting on the banks of the Kelvin the seer had a vision, andtouched my informant with her left foot, and she also saw it. It rosefrom the water like the full moon, and was transparent; and in it shesaw a young man whom she did not know, and her own likeness standing athis left side. Before many weeks were passed, a new servant-man came tothe farm where my informant was then serving, and whom she recognised asthe person whose image she had seen in the vision, and in little morethan a year after the two were married. 

Deaf and dumb persons were considered to possess something likesecond-sight, by which they were enabled to foretell events which happento certain persons. This is a very old belief. I extract the followingfrom _Memorials of the Rev. R. Law_:--

"Anno 1676. --A daughter of the laird of Bardowie, in Badenoch parish, intending to go fra that to Hamilton to see her sister-in-law, there isat the same time a woman come into the house born deaf and dumb. Shemakes many signs to her not to go, and takes her down to the yaird andcutts at the root of a tree, making signs that it would fall and killher. That not being understood by her or any of them, she takes thejourney--the dumb lass holding her to stay. When the young gentlewomanis there at Hamilton, a few days after, her sister and she goes forth towalk in the park, and in their walking they both come under a tree. Inthat very instant they come under it, they hear it shaking and comingdown. The sister-in-law flees to the right, and she herself flees to theleft hand, that way that the tree fell, so it crushed her and woundedher sore, so that she dies in two or three days' sickness. "

Until about 30 years ago, a deaf and dumb man was in the habit ofvisiting my native village, who was believed to possess wonderful giftsof foresight. This _dummy_ carried with him a slate, a pencil, and apiece of chalk, by use of which he gave his answers, and often hevolunteered to give certain information concerning the future; he wouldoften write down occurrences which he averred would happen to parties inthe village, or to persons then present. He did not beg nor ask alms, but only visited certain houses as a sort of friend, and information ofhis presence in the village was quickly conveyed to the neighbours, sothat he generally had a large gathering of women who were all friendlyto him, and he was never allowed to go away without reward. When anystranger was present he would point them out, and write down theinitials of their name, and sometimes their names in full, without beingasked. He would also, at times, write down the names of relatives ofthose present who lived at a distance, and tell them when they wouldreceive letters from them, and whether these letters would contain goodor bad news. He disclosed the whereabouts of sailor lads and absentlovers, detected thefts, foretold deaths and marriages, and the names ofthe parties on both sides who were to be married. He wrote of a youngwoman, a stranger in the village, but who was present on one of hisvisits, and was on the eve of being married to a tradesman, that shewould not be married to him, but would marry one who would keep hercounting money; which came to pass. The tradesman and she fell out, andafterwards she married a haberdasher, and for a long time was in theshop as cashier. This woman still lives, and firmly believes in theprophetic gift of _dummy_. Another woman, a stranger also, asked himsome questions relative to herself; he shook his head, and for a longtime refused to answer, desiring her not to insist. This made her themore anxious, and at last he drew upon the slate the figure of a coffin. This was all the length he would go. In less than twelve months thewoman was in her grave. During one of his visits the husband of one ofthe women who attended him was seriously ill, and the wife, a stouthealthy woman, was anxious to hear from _dummy_ the result of herhusband's illness. He wrote that the husband would recover, and that shewould die before him; and she did die not long after. In short, this_dummy_ was a regular prophet, and his predictions were implicitlybelieved by all who attended upon him. In his case there was nopretension to visions, the form which he allowed his gift to assume wasthat of intuition. Some few men in the village suspected the _dummy's_honesty, and thought that he heard and assiduously and cunningly pickedup knowledge of the parties; but such doubts were regarded as borderingupon blasphemy by the believers in _dummy_. I was never present at anyof these gatherings, but my information is gathered from those who werepresent. Some months ago I was talking to an ordinarily intelligentperson on this subject, and he gave it as his opinion that dumb personshad their loss of the faculties of hearing and speech recompensed tothem in the gift of supernatural knowledge, and he related how a certainwidow lady of his acquaintance had been informed of the death of herson. This son was abroad, and she had with her in the house a mute, whoone day made signs to her that she would never see her son again, and afew weeks after she received word of his death. 

There was another phase of supernatural power, different fromwitchcraft, and which the devil granted to certain parties: this wascalled the _Black Airt_. The possession of this power was mostlyconfined to Highlanders, and probably at this present day there arestill those who believe in it. The effects produced by this power didnot, however, differ much from those produced by witchcraft. A farmer inthe north-west of Glasgow engaged a Highland lad as herd, and myinformant also served with this farmer at the time. It was observed bythe family that, after the lad came to them, everything went well withthe farmer. During the winter, however, the _kye_ became _yell_, and thefamily were consequently short of milk. The cows of a neighbouringfarmer were at the same time giving plenty of milk. Under thesecircumstances, the Highland lad proposed to his mistress that he wouldbring milk from their neighbour's cows, which she understood to be byaid of the _black airt_, through the process known as _milking thetether_. The tether is the rope halter, and by going through the formof milking this, repeating certain incantations, the magic transferencewas supposed capable of being effected. This proposal to exercise the_black airt_ becoming known among the servants, they were greatlyalarmed, and showed their terror by all at once becoming very kind tothe lad, and very watchful of what he did. He was known to have in hispossession a pack of cards; and during family worship he displayed greatrestlessness, generally falling asleep before these services wereconcluded, and he was averse to reading the Bible. One night, for a fewpence, he offered to tell the names of the sweethearts of the twoservant-men, and they having agreed to the bargain, he shuffled thecards and said certain words which they did not understand, and thennamed two girls the lads were then courting. They refused to give himthe promised reward, and he told them they would be glad to pay himbefore they slept. When the two men were going to their bed, which wasover the stable, they were surprised to find two women draped in blackclosing up the stable door. As they stepped back, the women disappeared;but every time they tried to get in, the door was blocked up as before. The men then remembered what the lad had said to them, and going towhere he slept, found him in bed, and gave him the promised reward. Hethen told them to go back, and they would not be further disturbed. Nextmorning, the servant-men told what had taken place, and refused toremain at the farm any longer with the lad; and the farmer had thus topart with him, but he and the servants gave him little gifts that theymight part good friends. My informant believed himself abovesuperstition, yet he related this as evidence of the truth of the _blackairt_. 

It is a very old belief that those who had made compacts with the devilcould afflict those they disliked with certain diseases, and even causetheir death, by making images in clay or wax of the persons they wishedto injure, and then, by baptizing these images with mock ceremony, thepersons represented were brought under their influence, so that whateverwas then done to the image was felt by the living original. Thissuperstition is referred to by Allan Ramsay in his _Gentle Shepherd_:--

 "Pictures oft she makes Of folk she hates, and gaur expire Wi' slow and racking pain before the fire. Stuck fu' o' preens, the devilish picture melt, The pain by folk they represent is felt. "

This belief survived in great force in this century, and probably incountry places is not yet extinct. Several persons have been named to mewho suffered long from diseases the doctor could not understand, nor doanything to remove, and therefore these obscure diseases could only beascribed to the devil-aided practices of malicious persons. In somecases, cures were said to have been effected through making friends ofthe supposed originators of the disease. The custom not yet extinct ofburning persons in effigy is doubtless a survival of this oldsuperstition. 

A newly-married woman with whom I was acquainted took a sudden fit ofmental derangement, and screamed and talked violently to herself. Herfriends and neighbours concluded that she was under the spell of theevil one. The late Dr. Mitchell was sent for to pray for her, but whenhe began to pray she set up such hideous screams that he was obliged tostop. He advised her friends to call in medical aid. But this conducton the part of the woman made it all the more evident to her relationsand neighbours that her affliction was the work of the devil, broughtabout through the agency of some evil-disposed person. Several suchpersons were suspected, and sent for to visit the afflicted woman; and, while they were in the house, a relation of the sufferer's secretly cutout a small portion of the visitor's dress and threw it into the fire, by which means it was believed that the influence of the _ill e'e_ wouldbe destroyed. At all events, the woman suddenly got well again, and as aconsequence the superstitious belief of those who were in the secret wasstrengthened. 

CHAPTER VI. 

_CHARMS AND COUNTER CHARMS. _

During these times when such superstitious beliefs were almostuniversally accepted--when the sources from which evils might beexpected to spring were about as numerous as the unchecked fancies ofmen could make them--we must naturally conceive that the people whobelieved such things must have lived in a continual state of fear. Andin many instances this was really the case; but the common result wasnot so, for fortunately the bane and antidote were generally foundtogether, and the means for preventing or exorcising these devil-imposedevils were about as numerous as the evils themselves. I have already ina former chapter mentioned incidentally some of these charms andpreventives, but as this incidental treatment cannot possibly cover thefield, I shall here speak of them separately. 

Tennant, in his _Tour through Scotland_, states that farmers placedboughs of the mountain ash in their cow-houses on the second day of Mayto protect their cows from evil influences. The rowan tree possessed awonderful influence against all evil machinations of witchcraft. A staffmade of this tree laid above the boothy or milk-house preserved the milkfrom witch influence. A churn-staff made of this wood secured the butterduring the process of churning. So late as 1860 I have seen the rowantree trained in the form of an arch over the byre door, and in anothercase over the gate of the farmyard, as a protection to the cows. It wasalso believed that a rowan tree growing in a field protected the cattleagainst being struck by lightning. 

Mr. Train describes the action of a careful farmer's wife or dairymaidthus:--

 "Lest witches should obtain the power Of Hawkie's milk in evil hour, She winds a red thread round her horn, And milks thro' row'n tree night and morn; Against the blink of evil eye She knows each andidote to ply. "

The same author, writing in 1814, says:--"I am acquainted myself with anAnti-Burgher clergyman who actually procured from a person who pretendedto such skill in these charms two small pieces of carved wood, to bekept in his father's cow-house as a security for the health of hiscows. " The belief in the potency of the rowan tree to ward off evil isno doubt a survival of ancient tree worship. Of this worship, the Rev. F. W. Farrar says:--"It may be traced from the interior of Africa, notonly in Egypt and Arabia, but also onwards uninterruptedly intoPalestine and Syria, Assyria, Persia, India, Thibet, Siam, thePhilippine Islands, China, Japan, and Siberia; also westward into AsiaMinor, Greece, Italy, and other countries; and in most of the countrieshere named it obtains at the present day, combined, as it has been, inother parts with various forms of idolatry. " Were it our object, itcould also be shown that tree worship has been combined withChristianity. The rowan tree was held sacred by the Druids, and is oftenfound among their stone monuments. There is a northern legend that thegod of thunder (Thor), when wading the river Vimar, was in danger ofbeing swept away by its current, but that, grasping a tree which grew onthe bank, he got safely across. This tree was the mountain ash, whichwas ever after held sacred; and when these nations were converted toChristianity, they did not fall away from their belief in the sanctityof the rowan tree. 

Not many years ago, I was told of a miraculous make of butter which wasreported to have occurred in the west of Lanarkshire a short timebefore. One morning, a farmer's wife in that district and hermaid-servant wrought at the kirn, but, do as they would, no butter wouldappear. In this dilemma, they sat down to consider about the cause, andthen they recollected that a neighbouring woman had come into thekitchen, where the kirn was standing the previous evening, to borrowsomething, but was refused. The servant was at once despatched with thearticle in question, and half-a-dozen eggs as a gift, to the old woman, and instructed to make an apology for not having given the loan theevening before. The woman received the gift, and gratefully expressedher wish that the farmer and his wife would be blest both in theirbasket and their store. The effect, said my informant, was miraculous. Before the servant returned, the butter began to flow, and in suchquantity as had never before been experienced. 

Apropos of this superstition with reference to milk, the followingincident occurred not many years back in the West Highlands. An oldwoman, who kept a few cows, was in sore distress of mind because someof her ill-disposed neighbours had cast an evil eye upon them, inconsequence of which their milk in a very short time _blinked_ (turnedsour), and churn as she might, she could never obtain any butter. Shehad tried every remedy she knew of, or that had been recommended to her, but without any good effect. At length, in her extremity, she applied tothe parish minister, and laid her case before him. He patiently listenedto her complaint, and expressed great sympathy for her, and then verywisely said, "I'll tell you how I think you will succeed in driving awaythe evil eye. It seems to me that it has not been cast on your cows, buton your dishes. Gang hame and tak' a' your dishes down to the burn, andlet them lie awhile in the running stream; then rub them well and drywith a clean clout. Tak' them hame and fill each with boiling water. Pour it out and lay them aside to dry. The evil eye cannot withstandboiling water. Sca'd it out and ye'll get butter. " The prescription wasfollowed, and a few weeks after the woman called upon the minister andthanked him for the cure, remarking that she had never seen anything sowonderful. 

Mr. Joseph Train, from whose notes we have already quoted, mentions aceremony, not of a private but of a public nature, and embracing a largedistrict of country, at the performance of which he was present. Theobject to be obtained was the prevention of a threatened outbreak ofdisease among the cattle. "In the summer of 1810, " says Mr. Train, "while remaining at Balnaguard, a village of Perthshire, as I waswalking along the banks of the Tay, I observed a crowd of peopleconvened on the hill above Pitna Cree; and as I recollected having seena multitude in the same place the preceding day, my curiosity wasroused, so that I resolved to learn the reason of this meeting in suchan unfrequented place. I was close beside them before any of the companyhad observed me ascending the hill, their attention being fixed upon twomen in the centre. One was turning a small stock, which was supported bytwo stakes standing perpendicularly, with a cleft at the top, in whichthe crown piece went round in the form a carpenter holds a chisel on agrinding stone; the other was holding a small branch of fir on thatwhich was turning. Directly below it was a quantity of tow spread on theground. I observed that this work was taken alternately by men andwomen. As I was turning about in order to leave them, a man whom I hadseen before, laid his hand on my shoulder, and solicited me to put myfinger to the stick; but I refused, merely to see if my obstinacy wouldbe resented; and suddenly a sigh arose from every breast, and angerkindled in every eye. I saw, therefore, that immediate compliance withthe request was necessary to my safety. 

"I was soon convinced that this was some mysterious rite performedeither to break or ward off the power of witchcraft; but, so intent werethey on the prosecution of their design, that I could obtain nosatisfactory information, until I met an old schoolmaster in theneighbourhood, from whom I had obtained much insight into the mannersand customs of that district. He informed me that there is a distemperoccasioned by want of water, which cattle are subject to, called in theGaelic language _shag dubh_, which in English signifies 'black haunch. 'It is a very infectious disease, and, if not taken in time, would carryoff most of the cattle in the country. " The method taken by theHighlanders to prevent its destructive ravages is thus: "All fires areextinguished between the two nearest rivers, and all the people withinthat boundary convene in a convenient place, where they erect a machine, as above described; and, after they have commenced, they continue nightand day until they have forced fire by the friction of the two sticks. Every person must perform a portion of this labour, or touch the machinein order not to break the charm. 

"During the continuance of the ceremony they appear melancholy anddejected, but when the fire, which they say is brought from heaven by anangel, blazes in the tow, they resume their wonted gaiety; and while onepart of the company is employed feeding the flame, the others drive allthe cattle in the neighbourhood over it. When this ceremony is ended, they consider the cure complete; after which they drink whiskey, anddance to the bagpipe or fiddle round the celestial fire till the lastspark is extinguished. "

Here, within our own day, is evidently an act of fire-worship: a directworship of Baal by a Christian community in the nineteenth century. There were other means of preventing disease spreading among cattlepractised within this century. When murrain broke out in a herd, it wasbelieved that, if the first one taken ill were buried alive, it wouldstop the spread of the disease, and that the other animals affectedwould then soon recover. Were a cow to cast her calf: if the calf wereto be buried at the byre door, and a short prayer or a verse ofScripture said over it, it would prevent the same misfortune fromhappening with the rest of the herd. If a sheep dropped a dead lamb, theproper precaution to take was to place the lamb upon a rowan tree, andthis would prevent the whole flock from a repetition of the mishap. 

It was an old superstition that the body of a murdered person wouldbleed on the presence or touch of the murderer. We find this beliefmentioned as far back as the eleventh century. In an old ballad of thatperiod occurs the following passage:--

 "A marvel high and strange is seen full many a time-- When to the murdered body nigh the man that did the crime, Afresh the wounds will bleed. The marvel now was found-- That Hagan felled the champion with treason to the ground. "

Several centuries after this, we find it mentioned in another ballad, entitled "Young Huntin":--

 "O white were his wounds washen, As white as a linen clout, But when Lady Maisry she cam' near, His wounds they gushed out. "

The reason for this marvel was ascribed by the Rev. Mr. Wodrow, to thewonderful providence of God, who had said, "thou shalt not suffer amurderer to live, " and had, in order that the command might be justlycarried out, provided the means whereby murderers might be readilydetected. This superstition certainly survived within this century, andI have heard many instances adduced to prove the truth of bleedingtaking place on the introduction of the murderer. 

Another curious form of belief was prevalent among some persons, thatthe body of a suicide would not decay until the time arrived when, inthe ordinary course of nature, he would have died. This was founded uponanother belief, that there is a day of death appointed for every man, which no one can pass; but as man is possessed of a free will, he may, by his own wicked determination, shorten the union of his soul and body, but that there his power ends: he cannot in reality kill either soul orbody, for were he to possess this power, he would possess the power toalter the decrees of God, which is a power impossible for man topossess. This was a mad, not deep, sort of metaphysics; but there wassufficient method in its madness to cause it to gain the suffrages of alarge number of people. It was affirmed that those who had examined intothe matter had found that the bodies of suicides were mysteriouslypreserved from decomposition until the day arrived on which they wouldnaturally--that is, according to God's decree--have died. About the year1834, I was taking a walk along the banks of the canal north of Glasgow, and sat down beside a group of well-dressed men, who were conversing ongeneral topics, and amongst other things touched on the matter ofsuicides--proximity to the canal probably suggested the subject. One ofthe group pointed out a quiet spot where he affirmed that _Bob Dragon_, an old Glasgow celebrity, had been buried. Bob, he said, had committedsuicide; but his relations being aware that, in consequence of this act, his property, according to law, became forfeited to the Crown, had himburied secretly in this out-of-the-way spot, and obtained anothercorpse, which they put into the coffin in his house. But, several yearsafter, some persons who were digging at this quiet spot on the canalbank discovered the real body of Bob--the throat being cut--and thecorpse as fresh as the day on which the act was committed. Bob'srelations, on hearing of this discovery, gave the finders a handsomegift to rebury the body and keep the matter secret. Within the last tenyears I have heard the same affirmation made respecting persons who havedrowned themselves. 

Persons whose _yea_ is unvaryingly _yea_, and whose _nay_ is unvaryingly_nay_, generally resort to no form of oath or imprecation to gaincredence to their statements, for their truthfulness is seldom called inquestion--at least, where they are well known. But with those who arelax in their statements--who tell the truth or tell lies just as for themoment the one or the other appears to suit them best--the case isdifferent. When they speak something strange or important, they findtheir veracity questioned, and require to place themselves incircumstances where it may be thought they are under compulsion, fortheir own welfare, to speak the truth. Commonly, they ask Providence toinjure them in some way if in the present instance they have said thething which is not true. Well, it was believed in the days of which Iwrite, and within my own day, that Providence did interfere in this way, and many stories were current in confirmation of this belief. One suchwill suffice as an illustration. A married woman, _enciente_ for thefirst time, having had words with her husband about something she deniedhaving either said or done, wished that, if her statement were untrue, she might never give birth to the child. She was taken at her word, forshe lived many years in delicate health, but the child was never born. The villagers who remembered her said that at times she _swelled_ as ifshe was about to be confined, and at other times was as _jimp_ as ayoung girl. 

Akin to belief in the potency of such wishes as were uttered as tests oftruthfulness was doubtless the generally accredited, though of courseseldom witnessed, form of compact with the devil. When a person agreedto serve the devil, his Satanic Majesty caused the mortals who soughthis service and favour to place one hand under their thigh and the otherover their head, and wish that the devil would take all that lay betweentheir hands if they were unfaithful to their vow. The form of oath byexpression of a wish was common to both Jews and Gentiles. 

There was another kind of wish which was believed to obtain fulfilmentduring life, that was the expressed wish of the innocent against thosewho had wronged them. The belief in the fulfilment of such wishes wasgrounded on the theological supposition that God in his justice would intime punish the wrong-doer. I remember a rather pertinent example ofthis: a proof they would have said in former days--a coincidence wewould say in these days. A simple-minded--_half-witted_--young woman wastaken advantage of by a young man resident in the neighbourhood, to thepublic scandal of the village. He denied the paternity of the baby, andmade oath to that effect before the kirk-session. As he did so, thegirl, looking at him, wished that the hand he held up might lose itscunning, as evidence of God's judgment upon the false swearer. In lessthan a year from that time a disease came into his right hand, and hewas never afterwards able to use it. Not many years ago, I saw the sameman going through the village selling tea, and, as he passed along thestreet, many of the older inhabitants remarked how wonderfully _PoorMeg's_ wish had been fulfilled. 

Employment of certain charms to influence for good or evil prevailed inthis century to a great extent. Some of these it is difficult to traceto their origin. About forty years ago, a certain married couple livedunhappily together. The wife did all she could to make her husbandcomfortable, but still he abused her without cause. At length, aftersuffering much, she applied to a woman who professed to have power overthe affections, and for this purpose prepared love philters. The womangave her a charm, which was to be sewn between the lining and cloth ofher husband's vest without his knowledge. She carried these instructionsout, and with extraordinarily successful results, for, while the husbandwore this vest, he never gave her so much as an angry word. 

One Walter Donaldson was in the habit of beating his wife, and makingher life bitter. She made application to Isabell Straguhan, whopossesses magic influences, who took pieces of paper and sewed themthick with thread of divers colours, and put them in the barn among thecorn. From that time forth the said Walter never lifted hand against hiswife, nor did once find fault with her whatsoever she did, and wasentirely subdued to her love. 

The following was related to me as a fact, by a person who said that hetried it:--There is a certain crooked bone in a frog, which, whencleaned and dried over a fire on St. John's eve, and then ground fineand given in food to any person, will win the affections of thereceiver to the giver, and in young persons will produce a desire foreach other's society, culminating eventually in marriage; also, when amarried couple do not agree well together, it will reconcile them, andbring about a mutual affection. 

At the commencement of this century, belief in the influence of themandrake plant over the affections still existed in this country. Beliefin this plant is as old as history. Leah, the neglected wife of Jacob, doubtless intended to influence her husband by the use of it, whilstRachel procured the plant for a different purpose, but for both purposesit was considered efficatious, and in both cases, the narrative shows, successful. By both eastern and western nations this plant was creditedwith wonderful powers, even to the extent of working miracles. In thiscountry it was believed to be watched by Satan, but if the plant werepulled during certain holy seasons, or by holy persons, Satan could notonly be robbed with impunity, but he would become the servant of theperson who pulled the plant, and do for him whatever he desired; but woeto the unholy person who attempted to pull the plant, especially at anon-sacred time; he drops down dead, and Satan possesses his soul. 

It was a prevalent belief that the seventh son in a family had the giftof curing diseases, and that he was by nature a doctor who could effectcures by the touch of his hand. It was reported that such a man residedin Iona, who had effected cures by rubbing the diseased part with hishand on two Thursdays and two Sundays successively, doing so in the nameof the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It was requisite to thecure that no fee should be taken by such endowed persons. In the Westof Scotland the formula of cure was different in different localities;in some parts a mere touch was all that was necessary, in others, andthis was the more general method, some medicine was given to assist thecure. 

Written charms were also believed in as capable of effecting cures, or, at least, of preventing people from taking diseases. I have known peoplewho wore written charms, sewed into the necks of their coats, if men, and into the headbands of petticoats if women. These talismans, in manycases, I have little doubt, did real good in this way, that theysupplied their wearers with a courage which sufficed to brace up theirnervous system--which drove out fear, in fact, --a very importantcondition for health, as physicians well know. These talismans were sogenerally and thoroughly believed in, and so numerous and apparentlywell-attested were the evidences of their beneficial effects, that inyears not long past, medical men believed in their efficacy, andpromulgated various theories to account for it. 

It was also an accepted belief that diseases could be transferred toanimals, and even to vegetables. Cures held to be so effected were, according to one medical theory, cures by "sympathy. " A few instances, culled from a work published during the latter half of the seventeenthcentury (1663), entitled _The Usefulness of Experimental Philosophy_, will illustrate this theory:--A medical man had been very ill of anobstinate _marasmar_ (?) which so consumed him that he became quite askeleton, notwithstanding every remedy which he had tried. At length hetried a sympathetic remedy: he took an egg, and having boiled it hardin his own urine, he then with a bodkin perforated the shell indifferent parts, and then buried it in an ant-hill. As the ants wastedthe egg he found his strength increase, and he soon was completelycured. A daughter of a French officer was so tormented by a _paronychia_(?) for four days together, that the pain kept her from sleeping; by theorder of a medical man she put her finger into a cat's ear, and withintwo hours was delivered from her pain. And a councillor's wife was curedof a _panaritium_ (?) which had vexed her for four days by the samemeans. In both cases the cat had received the pain in its ear andrequired to be held. The gout is cured by sympathy: by the patientsleeping with puppies, they take the disease, and the person recovers. Aboy ill with the king's evil could not be cured, his father's dog tookto licking the sores, the dog took the sores, and the boy was completelycured. A gentleman having a severe pain in the arm was cured by beatingred coral with oak leaves, and applying it to the part affected tillsuppuration: a hole was then made in the root of an oak towards theeast, and the mixture put into it and the hole plugged up with a peg ofthe same tree, and from that time the pain did altogether cease; andwhen afterwards the mixture was removed from the tree, immediately thetorments returned worse than before. Sir Francis Bacon records a cure ofwarts: he took a piece of lard with the skin on it, and after rubbingthe warts with it the lard was exposed out of a southern window toputrify, and the warts wore away as it putrified. Harvey tried to removetumours and excrescences by putting the hand of a dead person that haddied of a lingering disease upon them till the part felt cold. Ingeneral the application was effective. 

This idea of cure by sympathy retained its hold on the people till thiscentury, and is not yet entirely gone. 

There was another theory, which we may call the magnetic theory. Thephilosophy of this theory contended that "The body when diseasedresembled a gun; when loaded, it contains powder and ball, which, by themere touch of a little spring, sets the whole machinery of the gun inmotion, whereby the ball is expelled. So also the mere touch or outwardcontact of certain bodies or substances has power, like a magnet, to setin action the machinery of nature by which the disease isdispelled--sometimes slowly, but often suddenly like the bullet from thegun. Helmont had a little stone, which, by plunging in oil of almonds, imbued the oil with such sanative power that it cured almost anydisease. It was sometimes applied inwardly, sometimes outwardly. Agentleman who had an unwieldy groom procured for him a small fragment ofthis stone, and, by licking it with the tip of his tongue every morning, in three weeks he was reduced in bulk round the waist by a span withoutaffecting his general health. A gentleman in France who procured a smallfragment of this stone cured several persons of inveterate diseases byletting them lick it. The stone _Lapis Nephriticus_ bound upon the pulseof the wrist of the left hand prevents stone, hysterics, and stops theflux of blood in any part. A compound metal called _electrum_, which isa mixture of all metals made under certain constellations and shapedinto rings and worn, prevents cramps and palsy, apoplexy, epilepsy, andsevere pains; and in the case of a person in a fit of the fallingsickness, a ring of this metal put on the ring finger is an immediatecure. A little yarrow and mistletoe put into a bag and worn upon thestomach, prevents ague and chilblains. A powder made of the commonmistletoe, given in doses of three grains at the full of the moon topersons troubled with epilepsy, prevents fits; and if given during a fitit will effect an immediate and permanent cure. A woman with rupture ofthe bladder was reported to have been cured by wearing a little bag hungabout her neck containing the powder made from a toad burnt alive in anew pot. The same prescription was also said to have cured a man ofstone in the bladder. "

Such theories left ample room for the creation of all sorts of curecharms, and when such ideas prevailed among the educated in the medicalprofession, we need not be surprised that they still survive among manyuneducated persons, although two centuries have gone since. In 1714 oneof the most eminent physicians in Europe, Boerhaave, wrote of chemistryand medicine:--"Nor even in this affair don't medicine receive someadvantage; witness the cups made of regulus of antimony, tempered withother metals which communicate a medicinal quality to wine put in them, and it is ten thousand pities the famous _Van Helmont_ should have beenso unkind to his poor fellow creatures in distress as to conceal from usthe art of making a particular metal which he tells us, made into rings, and worn only while one might say the Lord's Prayer, would remove themost exquisite hæmorrhoidal pains, both internal and external, quiet themost violent hysteric disorders, and give ease in the severest spasmsof the muscles. 'Tis right, therefore, to prosecute enquiries of thisnature, for there is very frequently some hidden virtues in thesecompositions, and we may make a vast number of experiments of this kindwithout any danger or inconvenience. "

As it illustrates the theories just mentioned, we notice here theinfluence attributed to the wonderful Lee Penny. This famous charm is astone set in gold. It is said to have been brought home by Lochart ofLee, who accompanied the Earl of Douglas in carrying Robert the Bruce'sheart to the Holy Land. It is called Lee Penny, and was credited withthe virtue of imparting to water into which it was dipped curativeproperties, specially influential to the curing of cattle when diseased, or preventing them taking disease. Many people from various parts ofScotland whose cattle were affected have made application within thesefew years for water in which this stone has been dipped. It is believedthat this stone cannot be lost. It is still in the possession of thefamily of Lochart. 

Ague, it was believed, could be cured by putting a spider into a goosequill, sealing it up, and hanging it about the neck, so that it would benear the stomach. This disease might also be cured by swallowing pillsmade of a spider's web. One pill a morning for three successive morningsbefore breakfast. 

There were numerous cures for hooping-cough of a superstitiouscharacter, practised extensively during the earlier years of thiscentury, and some are still recommended. The following are a few ofthese. Pass the patient three times under the belly, and three timesover the back of a donkey. Split a sapling or a branch of the ash tree, and hold the split open while the patient is passed three times throughthe opening. Find a man riding on a piebald horse, and ask him whatshould be given as a medicine, and whatever he prescribes will prove acertain cure. "I recollect, " says Jamieson, "a friend of mine that rodea piebald horse, that he used to be pursued by people running after himbawling, --

 "Man wi' the piety horse, What's gude for the kink host?"

He said he always told them to give the bairn plenty of sugar candy. Puta piece of _red_ flannel round the neck of a child, and it will ward offthe hooping cough. The virtue lay not in the flannel, but in the redcolour. Red was a colour symbolical of triumph and victory over allenemies. Find a hairy caterpillar, put it into a bag, and hang it roundthe neck of the child. This will prove a cure. Take some of the child'shair and put it between slices of bread and butter, and give it to adog; if in eating it, the dog cough, the child will be cured, and thehooping cough transferred to the dog. A very common practice at thepresent day is to take the patient into a place where there is a taintedatmosphere, such as a byre or a stable, a gas work, or chemical work. Ihave seen the gas blown on the child's face, so that it might breathsome of it, and be set a coughing. If during the process the child takea _kink_, it is a good sign. This idea must, I think, be of modernorigin. 

It was believed that if a present were given, especially if it weregiven to a sweetheart, and then asked back again, the giver would have astye on the eye. Again, a stye on the eye was removable by rubbing itwith a wedding ring. I suspect these two superstitions are portions ofan ancient allegory, which, in time loosing their figurative meanings, came to be treated as literal facts. 

Warts, especially when they are upon exposed parts of the body, aresometimes a source of annoyance to their possessors, and various andcurious methods were taken for their removal. From their position on thebody they also were regarded as prognostications of good or bad luck. Tohave warts on the right hand foreboded riches; a wart on the faceindicated troubles of various kinds. 

We have already noticed the cure recommended by the learned Sir FrancisBacon. The following are a few of the cures which were believed inwithin this century. Rub the wart with a piece of stolen bacon. Rub thewart with a black snail, and lay the snail upon a hedge or dyke. As theanimal decays so will the wart. Wash the wart with sow's blood for threedays in succession. 

Upon the first sight of the new moon stand still and take a smallportion of earth from under the right foot, make it into a paste, put iton the wart and wrap it round with a cloth, and thus let it remain tillthat moon is out. The moon's influence and the fasting spittle are veryold superstitions. 

The moon or Ashtoreth, the consort of Baal, was the great female deityof the ancients, and so an appeal to the moon for the purpose ofremoving interferences with beauty, such as skin excrescences, was quiteappropriate. Moon worship was practised in this country in prehistorictimes. Bailey, in his _Etymological Dictionary_, under article "Moon, "says, "The moon was an ancient idol of England, and worshipped by theBritons in the form of a beautiful maid, having her head covered, withtwo ears standing out. The common people in some counties of England areaccustomed at the prime of the moon to say '_It is a fine moon. Godbless her. _'"

From a custom in Scotland (particularly in the Highlands) where theyoung women make courtesy to the new moon by getting upon a gate orstyle and sitting astride, they say--

 "All hail to the moon, all hail to thee, I prithee good moon declare to me This very night who my husband shall be. "

Every one knows the popular adage about having money in the pocket whenthe new moon is first seen, and that if the coins be turned over at thetime, money will not fail you during that moon. To see the new moonthrough glass, however, breaks the charm. It was a prevalent belief thatif a person on catching the first glimpse of new moon, were to instantlystand still, kiss their hand three times to the moon, and bow to it, that they would find something of value before that moon was out. Suchpractices are evidently survivals of moon worship. How closely does thislast practice agree with what Job says (chap. Xxxi, 26), --"If I beheldthe sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my hearthath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this alsowere an iniquity to be punished by the Judge: for I should have deniedthe God that is above. "

The good influence of the fasting spittle in destroying the influence ofan evil eye has been already referred to in the previous pages, but itwas also esteemed a potent remedy in curing certain diseases. To moistena wart for several days in succession with the fasting spittle removesit. I have often seen a nurse bathe the eyes of a baby in the morningwith her fasting spittle, to cure or prevent sore eyes. I have heard thesame cure recommended for roughness of the skin and other skin diseases. Maimonides states that the Jews were expressly forbidden by theirtraditions to put fasting-spittle upon the eyes on the Sabbath day, because to do so was to perform work, the great Sabbath crime in theeyes of the Pharisees which Christ committed when he moistened the claywith his spittle and anointed the eyes of the blind man therewith on theSabbath day. To both Greeks and Romans the fasting spittle was a charmagainst fascination. Persius Flaccus says:--"A grandmother or asuperstitious aunt has taken baby from his cradle, and is charming hisforehead and his slavering lips against mischief by the joint action ofher middle finger and her purifying spittle. " Here we find that it isnot the spittle alone, but the joint action of the spittle and themiddle finger which works the influence. The middle finger was commonly, in the early years of this century, believed to possess a favourableinfluence on sores; or, rather, it might be more correct to say that itpossessed no damaging influence, while all the other fingers, in cominginto contact with a sore, were held to have a tendency to defile, topoison, or canker the wound. I have heard it asserted that doctors knowthis, and never touch a sore but with the mid-finger. 

There were other practices and notions appertaining to the spittle andspitting, some of which continue to this day. To spit for luck upon thefirst coin earned or gained by trading, before putting it into thepocket or purse, is a common practice. To spit in your hand beforegrasping the hand of a person with whom you are dealing, and whose offeryou accept, is held to clinch the bargain, and make it binding on bothsides. This is a very old custom. Captain Burt, in his letters, saysthat when in a bargain between two Highlanders, each of them wets theball of his thumb with his mouth, and then they press their wet thumbballs together, it is esteemed a very binding bargain. Children in theirgames, which are often imitations of the practices of men, make use ofthe spittle. When playing at games of chance, such as _odds or evens_, _something or nothing_, etc. , before the player ventures his guess heconsults an augury, of a sort, by spitting on the back of his hand, andstriking the spittle with his mid-finger, watching the direction inwhich the superfluous spittle flies, from him or to him, to right orleft, and therefrom, by a rule of his own, he determines what shall behis guess. Again, boys often bind one another to a bargain or promise bya sort of oath, which is completed by spitting. It runs thus:

 "Chaps ye, chaps ye, Double, double daps ye, Fire aboon, fire below, Fire on every side o' ye. "

After saying this, the boy spits over his head three times, and withoutthis the oath is not considered binding; but when properly done, and thepromise not fulfilled, the defaulter is regarded as a liar, and is keptfor a time at an outside by his companions. 

When two boys made an arrangement (I am speaking of what was the customfifty years back), either to meet together at a stated time or to dosome certain thing, the arrangement was confirmed by each spitting onthe ground. 

When a number of boys or girls were trying to find out a puzzle or guessput to them, and which they failed to unravel or answer, and when theywere searching for something which had been hidden from them, and whichthey could not discover, the usual method of acknowledging that theywere outwitted was by spitting on the ground; in the language of theday, they would be requested to "spit and gie't o'er, " that is, own thatthey were beaten. The propounder of the puzzle, or the party who hadhidden the object, was then bound to disclose the matter. 

When two boys quarrelled, and one wet the other boy's buttons with hisspittle, this was a challenge to fight or be dubbed a coward. 

Mahomet held that bad dreams were from the devil, and advised thedreamers to seek protection by addressing a short prayer to God, andthen spitting three times over their left shoulder. He furthercounselled them to tell the dream to no one, and by following theseinstructions no harm, such as the dreams had foreshadowed, would befallthem. 

In the case of a person bitten by a dog, a few hairs taken from thedog's tail, and placed upon the wound either upon or under a poultice, was regarded as a protection from evil consequences, such ashydrophobia. I know of an instance in which this remedy was applied solately as 1876. This practice is unmistakeably the origin of the toper'sproverb when suffering from headache in the morning, "Take a hair of the dog that bit you. "

I will not enter into the subject of faith in the influence of relics. Such beliefs existed in Scotland in my young days, and it is almostunnecessary to say that belief in such things is older than history. Inmy youth there was also a belief in the virtue of precious stones, whichadded a value to them beyond their real value as ornaments. Aninvestigation into this matter would tend to throw much light upon manyancient practices and beliefs, as each stone had its own symbolicmeaning, and its own peculiar influence for imparting good andprotecting from evil and from sickness, its fortunate possessor. Probably John's description of heaven with its windows of agate, itsdoors of pearls or carbuncles, its foundations of amethyst, withsapphires blue, and sardines clear and red, had relation to the popularbeliefs of the time. I have seen at Mill More, Killin, stones which arereported to have been used by St. Fillan for curing all sorts ofdiseases; and there are not a few persons at the present day who wearcertain polished stones about their persons as a protective influenceagainst certain diseases. 

The ancient Jews had a superstitious idea respecting precious stones, which gave that strong desire for their possession, which is stillcharacteristic of the race. 

The Diamond was an antidote to Satanic temptation. 

Ruby made the possessor brave. 

Topaz preserved the bearer against being poisoned. 

Amethyst preserved from drunkenness. 

Emerald promoted piety. 

Sardonyx dispelled unholy thoughts. 

There is a legend that God gave to Abraham a precious stone which hadthe power of preserving him from all kinds of sickness. 

When any person was troubled with a morbid hunger accompanied with painin the stomach, it was believed that that affliction was caused by thesufferer having swallowed some animal, which continued to live in thestomach, and that when this was empty it knawed the stomach and producedthe pain felt. Several strange instances illustrative of the truth ofthis theory were current in my native village. Let one case suffice. Anold soldier having on some long march been induced through extremethirst to drink from a ditch, had swallowed some animal. Years after hewas taken ill, and came home. His hunger for food was so great that hecould scarcely be satisfied, and notwithstanding the great quantities offood which he consumed, he became thinner and thinner, and his hungerwas accompanied with great pain. Doctors could do him no good. At lengthhe met with a skilly old man, who told him that there was an animal inhis stomach, and advised him to procure a salt herring and eat it raw, and on no account to take any drink, but go at once to the side of apool or burn and lie down there with his mouth open, and watch theresult. He had not lain long when he felt something moving within him, and by and bye an ugly toad came out of his mouth, and made for thewater. Having drank its fill, it was returning to its old quarters, whenthe old soldier rose and killed it. Many in the village had seen thedead toad. After this the man recovered rapidly. Many other stories ofpeople swallowing _asks_ (newts), and other water animals which lived intheir stomachs, and produced serious diseases, were current in my youngdays. This gave boys a great fear of stretching down and drinking from apool, or even a running stream. 

CHAPTER VII. 

_DIVINING. _

There is another class of superstitions which have prevailed from agesthe most remote to the present day, although now they are dying out--atleast, they are not now employed to determine such important matters asthey once were. I refer to the practice of divining, or casting lots. Inearly times such practices were regarded as a direct appeal to God. Fromthe Old and New Testaments we learn that these practices were resortedto by the Jews; but in modern times, and among Western nations, the lotwas regarded as an appeal to the devil as much as to God. I have knownpeople object to the lot as a sinful practice; but, at the same time, they were in the constant habit of directing their own course by such anappeal, as, for instance, when they were about to travel on someimportant business, they would fix that, if certain events happened, they would regard such as a good omen from God, and would accordinglyundertake their journey; but if not, they would regard thenon-occurrence as an unfavourable omen, and defer their journey, insubmission, as they supposed, to the will of God. In modern times, thepractice of casting lots to determine legal or other important questionshas been abandoned by civilized nations; but the practice still existsin less civilized communities, and is employed to determine such seriousmatters as involve questions of life or death, and it still survivesamong us in trivial matters, as games. 

In my young days, a process of divining, allied to casting lots, wasresorted to by young women in order to discover a thief, or to ascertainwhether a young man who was courting one of them was in earnest, andwould in the future become that girl's husband. The process was calledthe Bible and key trial, and the formula was as follows:--A key andBible were procured, the key being so much longer than the Bible that, when placed between the leaves, the head and handle would project. Ifthe enquiry was about the good faith of a sweetheart, the key was placedin Ruth i. 16, on the words, "Entreat me not to leave thee: where thougoest I will go, " etc. The Bible was then closed, and tied round withtape. Two neutral persons, sitting opposite each other, held out theforefingers of their right hands, and the person who was consulting theoracle suspended the Bible between their two hands, resting theprojecting parts of the key on the outstretched forefingers. No onespoke except the enquirer, and she, as she placed the key and Bible inposition, repeated slowly the whole passage, "Entreat me not to leavethee, " John or James, or whatever the name of the youth was, "for wherethou goest I will go, " etc. If the key and Bible turned and fell off thefingers, the answer was favourable; and generally by the time the wholepassage was repeated this was the result, provided the parties holdingup the key and Bible were firm and steady. For the detection of a thief, the formula was the same, with only this difference, that the key wasput into the Bible at the fiftieth Psalm, and the enquirer named thesuspected thief, and then repeated the eighteenth verse of that Psalm, "When thou sawest a thief then thou consentest with him, " etc. If theBible turned round and fell, it was held to be proof that the personnamed was the thief. This method of divining was not frequentlypractised, not through want of faith in its efficacy, but throughsuperstitious terror, for the movement of the key was regarded asevidence that some unseen dread power was present, and so overpoweringoccasionally was the impression produced that the young woman who waschief actor in the scene fainted. The parties holding the key and Biblewere generally old women, whose faith in the ordeal was perfect, andwho, removed by their age from the intenser sympathies of youth, couldtherefore hold their hands with steadier nerve. It is only when firmhands hold it that the turning takes place, for this phenomenon dependsupon the regular and steady pulsations in the fingers, and when heldsteadily the ordeal never fails. 

There were various other methods for divining or consulting fate ordeity. M'Tagart refers to a practice of divining by the staff. When apilgrim at any time got bewildered, he would poise his staffperpendicularly, and there leave it to fall of itself; and in whateverdirection it fell, that was the road he would take, believing himselfsupernaturally directed. Townsmen when they wished to go on a pleasureexcursion to the country, and careless or unsettled which way to go, would apply to this form of lot. In the old song of "Jock Burnie" thereoccurs the following verse:--

 "En' on en' he poised his rung, then Watch'd the airt its head did fa', Whilk was east, he lapt and sung then, For there his dear bade, Meg Macraw. "

This practice was common with boys in the country fifty years ago, bothfor determining where to go for pleasure, or if in a game one of theirnumber had hidden, and could not be found, as a last resort the stickwas poised, and in whatever direction the stick fell, search was renewedin that direction. 

Such things as these seem trifling, and it would seem folly to treatthem seriously; but they were not always trifling matters. Some of ourBiblical scholars say that it was to this kind of divining that theprophet Hosea referred when he said, "Their staff declareth unto them, "and at the present day there are nations who practice such methods fordetermining important affairs of life. 

The New Zealand sorcerers use sticks for divining, which they throw intothe air, and come to their decisions by observing in which directionthese sticks fall. Even in such matters as sickness or bodily injury, the direction in which the falling sticks lie, or it may be a certainstick in the group, directs the way to a physician. In ancient times theMagian form of divining was by staves or sticks. The diviner carriedwith him a bundle of willow wands, and when about to divine he untiedthe bundle and laid the wands upon the ground; then he gathered them andthrew them from him, repeating certain words as if consulting somedivinity. The wands were of different lengths, and their numbers variedfrom three to nine, but only the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 belonged toheaven, the even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8 belonged to earth. The Chinesedivine after this fashion at the present day. From such ideas hasdoubtless arisen the saying that there is luck in odd numbers, a beliefwhich, after a fashion, still prevails. 

The virtue and mysterious power of the divining rod is still believed bymany, and has frequently been resorted to during this century for thepurpose of discovering water springs and metallic veins. The divinertakes a willow wand with a forked end: the forked points are held in histwo hands, the other end pointing horizontally in front of him, and ashe walks slowly over a field he watches the movements of the rod. Whenit bends towards the earth, as if apparently strongly attracted thereto, he feels certain he is passing over a spring or metallic vein. But thephenomenon, it is believed, will not take place with every one who maytry it, there being only certain parties, mediums as we would name themin these days, who have the gift of operating successfully; and suchparties obtained great fame in countries and districts where water wasscarce, as they were able to point out the exact spots where wellsshould be dug, and also in such counties as Cornwall, where they couldpoint out the spots where a mine could profitably be sunk. Again andagain within these few years have warm controversies been carried on inpublic papers on the question of the reality of the virtue and power ofthe _dousing rod_ for discovering minerals or mineral veins. Some haveargued that a hazel rod is as perfect as a willow rod, and have adducedinstances of its successful application. 

There was another form of divining essentially an appeal to the lot, inwhich a stick was used, and which was frequently employed to determinematters of considerable importance. Boys resorted to it in their gamesin order to determine between two parties, to settle for example whichside should take a certain part in a game, or which of two lads, leadersin a game, should have the first choice of associates. A long stick wasthrown into the air and caught by one of the parties, then eachalternately grasped it hand over hand, and he who got the last hold wasthe successful party. He might not have sufficient length of stick tofill his whole hand, but if by closing his hand upon the end projectingfrom his opponent's hand, he could support the weight of the stick, thiswas enough. 

The various methods of divining which are generally regarded as moderninventions, such as the many forms of divining by cards, the reading ofthe future from the position of the leaves of tea in a tea-cup, etc. , wewill pass by without comment, only remarking that the prevalence amongus still of such superstitious notions shows that men, notwithstandingour boasted civilisation, are still open to believe in mysteries which, to common sense, are incredible, without exhibiting the slightest traceof scepticism, and without taking any trouble to investigate the truthof the pretensions, contenting themselves with a saying I have oftenheard--"Wonderful things were done of old which we cannot understand, and God's hand is not yet shortened. He can do now what He did then. "And so they save themselves trouble of reasoning, a process which, tothe majority, is disagreeable. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

_SUPERSTITIONS RELATING TO ANIMALS. _

Many other superstitious notions still exist among us with respect tocertain animals, which have, no doubt, had their origin in remotetimes--some of them, doubtless, being survivals of ancient forms ofanimal worship. The ancient Egyptians worshipped animals, or heldcertain animals as symbols of divine powers. The Jews made a division ofanimals into clean and unclean, and the ancient Persians held certainanimals in detestation as having a connection with the evil spirit;while others were esteemed by them as connected with the good spirit orprinciple. Other ancient nations held certain animals as more sacredthan others, and these ideas still exist among us, modified andtransformed to a greater or less extent. The robin is a familiar exampleof a bird which is held in veneration by the popular mind. The legend ofthe robins in the _Babes in the Wood_ may have increased thisveneration. There was a popular saying that the robin had a drop ofGod's blood in its veins, and that therefore to kill or hurt it was asin, and that some evil would befall anyone who did so, and, conversely, any kindness done to poor robin would be repaid in some fashion. Boysdid not dare to harry a robin's nest. 

The _yellow yite_, or yellow hammer, was held in just the oppositeestimation, and although one of the prettiest of birds, their nests wereremorselessly harried, and their young often cruelly killed. When young, I was present at an act of this sort, and, as an illustration of courageand affection in the parent bird, I may relate the circumstance. Thenest, with four fledglings, was about a quarter of a mile outside thevillage. It was carried through the village to a quarry, as far on theopposite side. The parent bird followed the boys, uttering a plaintivecry all the way. On reaching the quarry, the nest was laid on theground, and a certain distance measured off, where the boys were tostand and throw stones at it. While this was being done, the parent birdflew to the nest, and made strenuous efforts to draw it away; and whenthe stones were thrown, it flew to a little distance, continuing itscry; and only flew away when it was made the mark for the stones. Theseboys would never have thought of doing the same thing to a nest ofrobins. It was said to have a drop of the devil's blood in its veins, and that its jerky and unsteady flight was a consequence of this. Thehatred to the yellow hammer, however, was only local. The swallow wasalso considered to have a drop of the _deil's_ blood in its veins; but, unlike the yellow hammer, instead of being persecuted, it was feared, and therefore let alone. If a swallow built its nest in a window-corner, it was regarded as a lucky omen, and the annoyance and filth arisingtherefrom was patiently borne with under the belief that such a presencebrought luck and prosperity to the house. To tear down a swallow's nestwas looked upon as a daring of the fates, and when this was done by theproprietor or tenant, there were many who would prophesy that death orsome other great calamity would overtake, within a twelvemonth, thefamily of the perpetrator. To possess a hen which took to crowing like acock boded ill to the possessor or his family if it were not disposed ofeither by killing or selling. They were generally sold to be killed. Only a few years ago I had such a prodigy among a flock of hens which Ikept about my works, and one day it was overheard crowing, when one ofthe workmen came to me, and, with a solemn face, told the circumstance, and advised me strongly to have it destroyed or put away, as some evilwould surely follow, relating instances he had known in Ireland. Thissuperstition has found expression in the Scotch proverb: "Whistlingmaids and crowing hens are no canny about a house. "

Seeing magpies before breakfast was a good or bad omen according to thenumber seen up to four. This was expressed in the following rhyme, whichvaries slightly in different localities. The following version wascurrent in my native village:--

 "One bodes grief, two's a death, Three's a wedding, four's a birth. "

Chambers in his Scottish Rhymes has it thus:--

 "One's joy, two's grief. Three's a wedding, four's a birth. "

I knew a man who, if on going to his work he had seen two _piets_together, would have refrained from working before he had takenbreakfast, believing that if he did so it would result in evil either tohimself or his family. 

If a cock crew in the morning with its head in at the door of the house, it was a token that a stranger would pay the family a visit that day;and so firm was the _faith_ in this that it was often followed by works, the house being _redd_ up for the occasion. I remember lately visitingan old friend in the country, and on making my appearance I was hailedwith the salutation, "Come awa, I knew we would have a visit fromstrangers to-day, for the cock crowed thrice over with his head in atthe door. " If a horse stood and looked through a gateway or along a roadwhere a bride or bridegroom dwelt, it was a very bad omen for the futurehappiness of the intending couple. The one dwelling in that directionwould not live long. 

If a bird got any human hair, and used it in building its nest, theperson on whose head the hair grew would be troubled with headaches, andwould very soon get bald. 

It is still a common belief that crows begin to build their nests on thefirst Sabbath of March. 

A bird coming into a house and flying over any one's head was an unluckyomen for the person over whose head it flew. 

It was said that eggs laid upon Good Friday never got stale, and thatbutter made on that day possessed medicinal properties. 

If a horse neighed at the door of a house, it boded sickness to some ofthe inmates. 

A cricket singing on the hearth was a good omen, a token of comingriches to the family. 

If a bee came up in a straight line to a person's face, it was regardedas a forerunner of important news. 

If a servant wilfully killed a spider, she would certainly, it was said, break a piece of crockery or glass during that day. 

Spiders were, as they are still, generally detested in a house, and wereoften very roughly dislodged; but yet their lives were protected by avery old superstition. There is an old English proverb--

 "If you wish to live and thrive, Let the spider run alive. "

When my mother saw a spider's web in the house she swept it away veryroughly, but the spider was not wilfully killed. If it was not seen itwas considered all right, but if it fell on the floor or was seenrunning along the wall, it was brushed out of the room; none of us wereallowed to put our foot on it, or wilfully kill it. This care for thelife of the spider is probably due to the influence of an old legendthat a spider wove its web over the place where the baby Christ was hid, thus preserving his life by screening him from sight of those who soughtto kill him. Stories of a similar character are related in connectionwith King Robert Bruce, and several other notable persons during timesof persecution, who, while hiding in caves, spiders came and wove theirwebs over the entrances, which, when their enemies saw, convinced themthat the parties they were in search of had not taken refuge there, orthe webs would have been destroyed. 

The common white butterfly was a favourite with children, and to catchone and preserve it alive was considered lucky. Care was taken topreserve them by feeding them with sugar. But the dark brown andspotted butterflies were always detested, and were named witchbutterflies. Ill luck, it was believed, would attend any one who keptone alive, but to kill one was an unlucky transaction, which would beattended by evil to the killer before evening. 

Beetles were held in aversion by most people, and if one was found uponthe person, if they were at all nervous, it was sufficient to cause afit, at least would set them screaming with a shudder of detestation. But there was a variety of small beetles with a beautiful bronzecoloured back, called _gooldies_ by children, which were held in greatfavour. They were sometimes kept by children as little pets, and allowedto run upon their hands and clothes, and this was not because of theirbeauty, but because to possess a _gooldie_ was considered very lucky. Tokill a beetle brought rain the following day. 

The lady bird, with its scarlet coat spotted with black, was anothergreat favourite with most people. Very few would kill a lady bird, assuch an act would surely be followed by calamity of some sort. Childrenwere eager to catch one and watch it gracefully spreading out its wingsfrom under its coat of mail, and then taking flight, while the group ofyouthful onlookers would repeat the rhyme, "Lady bird, lady bird, fly away home, Your house is on fire, and your children at home. "

or

 "Lady lady landers, fly away to Flanders. "

But these practices were not altogether confined to children. Grown upgirls, when they caught a lady bird, held it in their hands, andrepeated the following couplet--

 "Fly away east or fly away west, And show me where lives the one I like best. "

Its flight was watched with great anxiety, and when it took thedirection which the young girl wished, it was not only a sort ofpleasure, but a proof of the augury. 

If a person on going to his work, or while going an errand, were to seea hare cross the road in front of him, it was a token that ill luckwould shortly befall him. Many under such circumstances would returnhome and not pursue their quest until the next meal had been eaten, forbeyond that the evil influence did not extend. This superstition is veryold, but it is not in every country or age connected with the hare. Wehave already seen in a quotation from Ovid that this superstitionexisted in his day, (page 2. ) Probably the hare has been adopted in thiscountry from the belief that witches assumed the form of that animalwhen on their nightly rambles, for how was the wayfarer to know that thehare which he saw was not a transformed witch, intent on working himmischief?

The cat was always a favourite in a family, and nothing was more unluckythan for one to die inside the house. I have known cases where, whensuch a misfortune occurred, the family were thrown into greatconsternation, surmising what possible form of evil this omen portendedto them. Generally when a cat was known to be ailing, the animal wasremoved from the house and placed in the coal cellar, or otherouthouse, with plenty of food, and kept there until it either recoveredor died. With the ancient Egyptians the cat was one of their favouriteanimals. The death of a cat belonging to a family was considered a greatmisfortune. Upon the occurrence of such an event the household went intomourning, shaving off their eyebrows, and otherwise indicating theirsorrow. In Scotland it was believed that witches often assumed the catform while exercising their evil influence over a family. 

It was pretty generally believed a few years ago that in large fireskept continually burning there was generated an animal called asalamander. It required seven years to grow and attain maturity, and ifthe fires were kept burning longer than that there was great danger thatthe animal might make its escape from its fiery matrix, and, if thisshould happen, it would range round the world, destroying all it came incontact with, itself almost indestructible. Hence large fires, such asthose of blast furnaces in ironworks, were extinguished before theexpiry of the seven years, and the embryo monster taken out. Such anidea may have had its origin in a misinterpretation of some of St. John's apocalyptic visions, or may have been a survival of the legend ofthe fiery dragon whose very breath was fire, a legend common during themiddle ages and also in ancient Rome. Bacon, in his _Natural History_, says--"There is an ancient tradition of the salamander that it liveth inthe fire, and hath force also to extinguish the fire"; and, according toPliny, Book X. Chap. 67, --"The salamander, made in fashion of a lizard, with spots like to stars, never comes abroad, and sheweth itself onlyduring great showers. In fair weather, he is not seen; he is of so colda complexion that if he do but touch the fire he would quenchit. "--_Holland_. This is quite opposite to the modern notion of it thatit was generated in the fire, but such legends take transformationssuitable to the age and locality. 

The goat has been associated both in ancient and modern times with thedevil, or evil spirit, who is depicted with horns, hoofs, and a tail. Inmodern times, he was supposed to haunt streams and woods in thisdisguise, and to be present at many social gatherings. He was popularlycredited with assisting, in this disguise, in the instruction of anovice into the mysteries of Freemasonry, and was supposed to allow thenovice to ride on his back, and go withershins three times round theroom. I have known men who were anxious to be admitted into the orderdeterred by the thought of thus meeting with the devil at theirinitiation. 

While staying at Luss lately, I was informed that a mill near to LochLomond had formerly been haunted by the goat demon, and that the millerhad suffered much from its mischievous disposition. It frequently let onthe water when there was no grain to grind. But one night the millerwatched his mill, and had a meeting with the goblin, who demanded themiller's name, and was informed that it was _myself_. After a trial ofstrength, the miller got the best of it, and the spirit departed. Afterhearing this, I remembered that the same story, under a slightlydifferent form, had been told me when a boy in my native village. Thiswas the story as then told:--A certain miller in the west missed aquantity of his meal every day, although his mill was carefully andsecurely locked. One night he sat up and watched, hiding himself behindthe hopper. After a time, he was surprised to see the hopper beginningto go, and, looking up, he saw a little manakin holding a little cappiein his hand and filling it at the hopper. The miller was so frightenedthat this time he let him go; but, in a few minutes, the manakinreturned again with his cappie. Then the miller stepped out from hishiding-place, and said, "Aye, my manakin, and wha may you be, and what'syour name?" To which the manakin, without being apparently disturbed, replied, "My name is Self, and what's your name?" "My name is Self, too, " replied the miller. The manakin's cappie being by this time againfull, he began to walk off, but the miller gave him a whack with hisstick, and then ran again to his hiding-place. The manakin gave aterrible yell, which brought from a hidden corner an old woman, crying, "Wha did it? Wha did it?" The manakin answered, "It was Self did it. "Whereat, slapping the manakin on the cheek, the old woman said, "If Selfdid it, Self must mend it again. " After this, they both left the mill, which immediately stopped working. The miller was never afterwardstroubled in this way, and, at the same time, a goat which forgenerations had been observed at gloaming and on moonlight nights in thedell, and on the banks of the stream which drove the mill, disappeared, and was never seen again. 

To meet a sow the first thing in the morning boded bad luck for the day. 

If a male cat came into the house and shewed itself friendly to any one, it was a lucky omen for that person. 

To meet a piebald horse was lucky. If two such horses were met apart, the one after the other, and if then the person who met them were tospit three times, and express any reasonable wish, it would be grantedwithin three days. 

If a stray dog followed any person on the street, without having beenenticed, it was lucky, and success was certain to attend the errand onwhich the person was engaged. 

CHAPTER IX. 

_SUPERSTITIONS CONCERNING PLANTS. _

Superstitions connected with plants were more numerous than thoseconnected with animals. We have already noticed widespread prevalence oftree worship in early times. The Bible is full of evidence bearing uponthis point, from the earliest period of Jewish history until the time ofthe captivity. Even concerning those Kings of Judah and Israel who arerecorded to have walked in the ways of their father David, it isfrequently remarked of them that they did not remove or hew down the_groves_, but permitted them to remain a snare to the people. In severalinstances the word translated grove cannot properly be applicable to agrove of trees, but must signify something much smaller, for it is inthese instances described as being located in the temple. It cantherefore refer only to a tree or stump of a tree, or it may be only thesymbol of a tree. The story of the tree of good and evil, and the treeof life, has been the origin of many superstitious notions regardingtrees. The notion that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was anapple tree, caused the apple to have a great many mystic meanings, andgave it a prominent place in many legends, and also brought it intoprominence as a divining medium. In many parts of Scotland the apple wasbelieved to have great influence in love affairs. If an apple seed wereshot between the fingers it was understood that it would, by thedirection of its flight, indicate the direction from which that person'sfuture partner in life would come. If a couple took an apple on St. John's eve and cut it in two, and if the seeds on each half were foundto be equal in number, this was a token that these two would be soonunited in marriage; or if the halves contained an unequal number ofseeds, the one who possessed the half with the greater number would bemarried first. If a seed were cut in two, it denoted trouble to theparty holding the larger portion of the seed. If two seeds were cut, itdenoted early death or widowhood to one of the parties. If the applewere sour or sweet, the flavour indicated the temper of the parties. There was a practice common among young people of peeling an apple in anunbroken peel, and throwing the peeled skin over the right shoulder inorder to ascertain from the manner in which it fell, first, whether theperson who threw it would be married soon, and second, the trade orprofession of the person to whom they would be married. If the skinafter being thrown remained unbroken, they would be married soon, andthe person to whom they would be married was ascertained from the formwhich the fallen skin presented; this form might assume the shape of aletter, in that case it was the initial letter of the unknown partiesname, or it might assume the form of some trade tool, &c. Imaginationhad free scope here. The apple tree itself was considered a lucky treeto have near a house, but its principal virtue lay in the fruit. 

_Holly_. This name is probably a corruption of the word holy, as thisplant has been used from time immemorial as a protection against evilinfluence. It was hung round, or planted near houses, as a protectionagainst lightning. Its common use at Christmas is apparently thesurvival of an ancient Roman custom, occurring during the festival toSaturn, to which god the holly was dedicated. While the Romans wereholding this feast, which occurred about the time of the wintersolstice, they decked the outsides of their houses with holly; at thesame time the Christians were quietly celebrating the birth of Christ, and to avoid detection they outwardly followed the custom of theirheathen neighbours, and decked their houses with holly also. In this waythe holly came to be connected with our Christmas customs. (See chapteron Festivals. ) This plant was also regarded as a symbol of theresurrection. The use of mistletoe along with holly is probably due tothe notion that in winter the fairies took shelter under its leaves, andthat they protected all who sheltered the plant. The origin of kissingunder the mistletoe is considered to have come from our Saxon ancestors, who regarded this plant as dedicated to _Friga_, the goddess of love. 

The _Aspen_ was said to have been the tree on which Judas hanged himselfafter the betrayal of his Master, and ever since its leaves havetrembled with shame. 

The _Ash_ had wonderful influence. The old Christmas log was of ashwood, and the use of it at this time was helpful to the futureprosperity of the family. Venomous animals, it was said, would not takeshelter under its branches. A carriage with its axles made of ash woodwas believed to go faster than a carriage with its axles made of anyother wood; and tools with handles made of this wood were supposed toenable a man to do more work than he could do with tools whose handleswere not of ash. Hence the reason that ash wood is generally used fortool handles. It was upon ash branches that witches were enabled to ridethrough the air; and those who ate on St. John's eve the red buds of thetree, were rendered invulnerable to witch influence. 

The _Hazel_ was dedicated to the god _Thor_, and, in the Roman CatholicChurch, was esteemed a plant of great virtue for the cure of fevers. When used as a divining rod, the rod, if it were cut on St. John's Dayor Good Friday, would be certain to be a successful instrument ofdivination. A hazel rod was a badge of authority, and it was probablythis notion which caused it to be made use of by school masters. Amongthe Romans, a hazel rod was also a symbol of authority. 

The _Willow_, as might be expected, had many superstitious notionsconnected with it, since, according to the authorized version of theEnglish Bible, the Israelites are said to have hung their harps onwillow trees. The weeping willow is said to have, ever since the time ofthe Jews' captivity in Babylon, drooped its branches, in sympathy withthis circumstance. The common willow was held to be under the protectionof the devil, and it was said that, if any were to cast a knot upon ayoung willow, and sit under it, and thereupon renounce his or herbaptism, the devil would confer upon them supernatural power. 

The _Elder_, or _Bourtree_ had wonderful influence as a protectionagainst evil. Wherever it grew, witches were powerless. In this country, gardens were protected by having elder trees planted at the entrance, and sometimes hedges of this plant were trained round the garden. Thereare very few old gardens in country places in which are not still seenremains of the protecting elder tree. In my boyhood, I remember that mybrothers, sisters, and myself were warned against breaking a twig orbranch from the elder hedge which surrounded my grandfather's garden. Wewere told at the time, as a reason for this prohibition, that it waspoisonous; but we discovered afterwards that there was another reason, viz. , that it was unlucky to break off even a small twig from a bourtreebush. In some parts of the Continent this superstitious feeling is sostrong that, before pruning it, the gardener says--"Elder, elder, may Icut thy branches?" If no response be heard, it is considered that assenthas been given, and then, after spitting three times, the pruner beginshis cutting. According to Montanus, elder wood formed a portion of thefuel used in the burning of human bodies as a protection against evilinfluences; and, within my own recollection, the driver of a hearse hadhis whip handle made of elder wood for a similar reason. In some partsof Scotland, people would not put a piece of elder wood into the fire, and I have seen, not many years ago, pieces of this wood lying aboutunused, when the neighbourhood was in great straits for firewood; butnone would use it, and when asked why? the answer was--"We don't know, but folks say it is not lucky to burn the bourtree. " It was believedthat children laid in a cradle made in whole or in part of elderwood, would not sleep well, and were in danger of falling out of the cradle. Elder berries, gathered on St. John's Eve, would prevent the possessorsuffering from witchcraft, and often bestowed upon their owners magicalpowers. If the elder were planted in the form of a cross upon a new-madegrave, and if it bloomed, it was a sure sign that the soul of the deadperson was happy. 

The _Onion_ was regarded as a symbol of the universe among the ancientEgyptians, and many curious beliefs were associated with it. It wasbelieved by them that it attracted and absorbed infectious matters, andwas usually hung up in rooms to prevent maladies. This belief in theabsorptive virtue of the onion is prevalent even at the present day. When a youth, I remember the following story being told, and implicitlybelieved by all. There was once a certain king or nobleman who was inwant of a physician, and two celebrated doctors applied. As both couldnot obtain the situation, they agreed among themselves that the one wasto try to poison the other, and he who succeeded in overcoming thepoison would thus be left free to fill the situation. They drew lots asto who should first take the poison. The first dose given was a stewedtoad, but the party who took it immediately applied a poultice of peeledonions over his stomach, and thus abstracted all the poison of the toad. Two days after, the other doctor was given the onions to eat. He atethem, and died. It was generally believed that a poultice of peeledonions laid on the stomach, or underneath the armpits, would cure anyone who had taken poison. My mother would never use onions which hadlain for any length of time with their skins off. 

So lately as 1849, Mr. J. B. Wolff, in the _Scientific American_, statesthat he had charge of one hundred men on shipboard, cholera raging amongthem; they had onions on board, which a number of the men freely ate, and these were soon attacked by the cholera and nearly all died. As soonas this discovery was made, the eating of the onions was forbidden. Mr. Wolff came to the conclusion that onions should never be eaten during anepidemic; he remarks, "After many years experience, I have found thatonions placed in a room where there is small-pox, will blister anddecompose with great rapidity, --not only so, but will prevent the spreadof disease;" and he thinks that, as a disinfectant, they have no equal, only keep them out of the stomach. 

It was believed that, when peeling onions, if an onion were stuck on thepoint of the knife which was being used, it would prevent the eyes beingaffected. 

The common _Fern_, it was believed, was in flower at midnight on St. John's Eve, and whoever got possession of the flower would be protectedfrom all evil influences, and would obtain a revelation of hiddentreasure. 

_St. -John's-Wort_. In heathen mythology the summer solstice was a daydedicated to the sun, and was believed to be a day on which witches heldtheir festivities. St. -John's-Wort was their symbolical plant, andpeople were wont to judge from it whether their future would be lucky orunlucky; as it grew they read in its progressive character their futurelot. The Christians dedicated this festive period to St. John theBaptist, and the sacred plant was named St. -John's-Wort or root, andbecame a talisman against evil. In one of the old romantic ballads ayoung lady falls in love with a demon, who tells her

 "Gin you wish to be Leman mine, Lay aside the St. -John's-wort and the vervain. "

When hung up on St. John's day together with a cross over the doors ofhouses it kept out the devil and other evil spirits. To gather the rooton St. John's day morning at sunrise, and retain it in the house, gaveluck to the family in their undertakings, especially in those begun onthat day. Plants with _lady_ attached to their names were in ancienttimes dedicated to some goddess; and in Christian times the term wastransferred to the Virgin Mary. Such plants have good qualities, conferring protection and favour on their possessors. 

From the earliest times the _Rose_ has been an emblem of silence. _Eros_, in the Greek mythology, presents a rose to the god of silence, and to this day _sub rosa_, or "under the rose, " means the keeping of asecret. Roses were used in very early times as a potent ingredient inlove philters. In Greece it was customary to leave bequests for themaintenance of rose gardens, a custom which has come down to recenttimes. Rose gardens were common during the middle ages. According toIndian mythology, one of the wives of Vishna was found in a rose. InRome it was the custom to bless the rose on a certain Sunday, called_Rose Sunday_. The custom of blessing the golden rose came into vogueabout the eleventh century. The golden rose thus consecrated was givento princes as a mark of the Roman Pontifs' favour. In the east it isstill believed that the first rose was generated by a tear of theprophet Mahomet, and it is further believed that on a certain day in theyear the rose has a heart of gold. In the West of Scotland if a whiterose bloomed in autumn it was a token of early death to some one, but ifa red rose did the same, it was a token of an early marriage. The redrose, it was said, would not bloom over a grave. If a young girl hadseveral lovers, and wished to know which of them would be her husband, she would take a rose leaf for each of her sweethearts, and naming eachleaf after the name of one of her lovers, she would watch them till oneafter another they sank, and the last to sink would be her futurehusband. Rose leaves thrown upon a fire gave good luck. If a rose bushwere pruned on St. John's eve, it would bloom again in the autumn. Superstitions respecting the rose are more numerous in England than inScotland. 

The _Lily_ had a sacredness associated with it, probably on account ofChrist's reference to it. It was employed as a charm against evilinfluence, and as an antidote to love philters; but I am not aware ofany of these uses being put in practice during this century. 

The four-leaved _Clover_ had extraordinary influence in preserving itspossessor from magical and witch influence, and enabled their possessorsalso to see through any deceit or device which might be tried againstthem. I have seen a group of young women within these few yearssearching eagerly for this charmed plant. 

The _Oak_, from time immemorial, has held a high place as a sacred tree. The Druids worshipped the oak, and performed many of their rites underthe shadow of its branches. When Augustine preached Christianity to theancient Britons, he stood under an oak tree. The ancient Hebrewsevidently held the oak as a sacred tree. There is a tradition thatAbraham received his heavenly visitors under an oak. Rebekah's nurse wasburied under an oak, called afterwards the oak of weeping. Jacob buriedthe idols of Shechem under an oak. It was under the oak of Ophra, Gideon saw the angel sitting, who gave him instructions as to what hewas to do to free Israel. When Joshua and Israel made a covenant toserve God, a great stone was set up in evidence under an oak that was bythe sanctuary of the Lord. The prophet sent to prophesy against Jeroboamwas found at Bethel sitting under an oak. Saul and his sons were buriedunder an oak, and, according to Isaiah, idols were made of oak wood. Abimelech was made king by the oak that was in Shechem. From theseproofs we need not be surprised that the oak continued to be held inveneration, and was believed to possess virtues overcoming evil. Duringlast century its influence in curing diseases was believed in. Thetoothache could be cured by boring with a nail the tooth or gum tillblood came, and then driving the nail into an oak tree. A child withrupture could be cured by splitting an oak branch, and passing the childthrough the opening backwards three times; if the splits grew togetherafterwards, the child would be cured. The same was believed in as to theash tree. In the Presbytery Records of Lanark, 1664:--"Compeirs MargaretReid in the same parish, (Carnwath), suspect of witchcraft, andconfessed she put a woman newlie delivered, thrice through a greenhalshe, for helping a grinding of the bellie; and that she carried asick child thrice about ane aikine post for curing of it. " Such means ofcuring diseases were practised within this century, and many thingsconnected with the oak were held potent as curatives. 

CHAPTER X. 

_MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS. _

Glamour was a kind of witch power which certain people were supposed tobe gifted with; by the exercise of such influence they took command overtheir subjects' sense of sight, and caused them to see whatever theydesired that they should see. Sir Walter Scott describes the recognisedcapability of glamour power in the following lines:--

 "It had much of glamour might, Could make a lady seem a knight. The cobwebs on a dungeon wall, Seem tapestry in lordly hall. A nutshell seem a gilded barge, A sheeling seem a palace large, And youth seem age, and age seem youth, All was delusion, nought was truth. "

Gipsies were believed to possess this power, and for their own ends toexercise it over people. In the ballad of "Johnny Faa, " Johnny isrepresented as exercising this power over the Countess of Cassillis--

 "And she came tripping down the stairs, With a' her maids before her, And soon as he saw her weel faured face, He coost the glamour o'er her. "

To possess a four-leaved clover completely protected any one from thispower. I remember a story which I heard when a boy, and the narrator ofit I recollect spoke as if he were quite familiar with the fact. Acertain man came to the village to exhibit the strength of a wonderfulcock, which could draw, when attached to its leg by a rope, a large logof wood. Many people went and paid to see this wonderful performance, which was exhibited in the back yard of a public house. One of thespectators present on one occasion had in his possession a four-leavedclover, and while others saw, as they supposed, a log of wood drawnthrough the yard, this person saw only a straw attached to the cock'sleg by a small thread. I may mention here that the four-leaved cloverwas reputed to be a preventative against madness, and against beingdrafted for military service. 

One very ancient and persistent superstition had regard to the directionof movement either of persons or things. This direction should always bewith the course of the sun. To move against the sun was improper andproductive of evil consequences, and the name given to this direction ofmovement was _withershins_. Witches in their dances and other pranks, always, it was said, went _withershins_. Mr. Simpson in his work, _Meeting the Sun_, says, "The Llama monk whirls his praying cylinder inthe way of the sun, and fears lest a stranger should get at it and turnit contrary, which would take from it all the virtue it had acquired. They also build piles of stone, and always pass them on one side, andreturn on the other, so as to make a circuit with the sun. Mahommedansmake the circuit of the Caaba in the same way. The ancient dagobas ofIndia and Ceylon were also traversed round in the same way, and the oldIrish and Scotch custom is to make all movements _Deisual_, or sunwise, round houses and graves, and to turn their bodies in this way at thebeginning and end of a journey for luck, as well as at weddings andother ceremonies. "

To go _withershins_ and to read prayers or the creed backwards weregreat evils, and pointed to connection with the devil. The author of_Olrig Grange_, in an early poem, sketches this superstition verygraphically:--

 "Hech! sirs, but we had grand fun Wi' the meikle black deil in the chair, And the muckle Bible upside doon A' ganging withershins roun and roun, And backwards saying the prayer About the warlock's grave, Withershins ganging roun; And kimmer and carline had for licht The fat o' a bairn they buried that nicht, Unchristen'd, beneath the moon. "

If a tree or plant grew with a twist contrary to the direction of thesun's movement, that portion was considered to possess certain powers, which are referred to in the following verse of an old song:--

 "I'll gar my ain Tammy gae doun to the Howe And cut me a rock of the widdershins grow, Of good rantree for to carry my tow, And a spindle of the same for the twining o't. "

Pennant refers to some other practices in Scotland in his day, that wereno doubt survivals of ancient heathen worship. Such as on certainoccasions kindling a fire, and the people joining hands and dancingthree times round it south-ways, or according to the course of the sun. At baptisms and marriages they walked three times round the churchsun-ways. The Highlanders, in going to bathe or drink in a consecratedfountain, approach it by going round the place from east to west on thesouth side. When the dead are laid in their grave, the grave isapproached by going round in the same manner. The bride is conducted tothe spouse in presence of the minister round the company in the samedirection; indeed, all public matters were done according to certainfixed ideas in relation to the sun, all pointing to a lingering ray ofsun worship. 

If a fire were slow or _dour_ to kindle, the poker was taken and placedin front of the grate, one end resting on the fender, the other on thefront bar of the grate, and this, it was believed, would cause the fireto kindle quickly. This practice is still followed by many, but beingcompelled now to give an apparently scientific reason for their conduct, they say that it is so placed to produce a draught. But this it does notdo. The practice originated in the belief that the slow or dour fire wasspell-bound by witchcraft, and the poker was so placed that it wouldform the shape of a cross with the front bar of the grate, and thus thewitch power be destroyed. In early times when the poker was placed inthis position, the person who placed it repeated an _Ave Marie_ or_Paternoster_, but this feature of the ceremony died out, and with itthe reason for the practice was forgotten. I have seen it done inprivate houses, and very frequently in the public rooms of country inns. Indeed, in such public rooms it was the common practice when the servantput on a fire, that after sweeping up the dust she placed the poker inthis position, and left the room. Probably she had no idea why she didit, but merely followed the custom. 

In a general chapter, such as this, I can find room for some thingswhich could not properly find a place in other chapters. The subject ofomens has by no means been exhausted. The late George Smith, in his workupon the Chaldean Account of Genesis, says that in ancient Babylonia, 1600 B. C. , everything in nature was supposed to portend some comingevent. Without much exaggeration, the same might be said of the peopleof this country during the earlier part of this century. 

On seeing the first plough in the season, it was lucky if it were seencoming towards the observer, and he or she, in whatever undertaking thenengaged, might be certain of success in it; but, if seen going from theobserver, the omen was reversed. 

If a farmer's cows became restive without any apparent cause, itforeboded trouble to either master or mistress. 

On going on any business, if the first person met with was plain-soled, the journey might be given up, for, if proceeded with, the business tobe transacted would prove a failure; but, by turning and entering thehouse again, with the right foot first, and then partaking of foodbefore resuming the journey, it might be undertaken without misgiving. 

It was unlucky to walk under a ladder set up against a wall, but ifpassing under it could not be avoided, then, if before doing so, youwished for anything, your wish would be fulfilled. 

It was unlucky to eat twin nuts found in one shell. 

If the eye or nose itched, it was a sign that the person so affectedwould be vexed in some way that day. If the foot itched, it was a signthat the owner of the foot was about to undertake a strange journey. Ifthe elbow itched, it betokened the coming of a strange bedfellow. If theright hand itched, it signified that money would shortly be received byit; and, if the left hand itched, that money would shortly have to bepaid away. 

If the ear tingled, it was a sign that some one was speaking of theperson so affected. If it were the right ear which did so, then thespeech was favourable; if the left ear, the reverse. In this lattercase, if the persons whose ears tingled were to bite their littlefingers, this would cause the persons speaking evil of them to bitetheir tongues. 

To break a looking-glass, hanging against a wall, was a sign that deathwould shortly occur in the family. 

If a daughter's petticoat was longer than her frock, it shewed that herfather loved her better than her mother did. 

If you desired luck with any article of dress, it should be worn firstat church. 

If a person unwittingly put on an article of dress outside in, it was anomen that he or she would succeed in what they undertook that day; butit was requisite that this portion of dress should remain with the wrongside out until night, for, if reversed earlier, the luck was reversedalso. 

To weigh children was considered an objectionable practice, as it wasbelieved to injure their health, and cause them to grow up weakly. 

If a child cut the upper teeth before the lower, it was very unlucky forthe child. 

If a cradle were rocked when the child was not in it, it was said togive the child a headache; but if it so happened that the child was tooold to be rocked in a cradle, but its baby clothes were still in thehouse, then this incident portended that its mother would have anotherbaby. 

To make a present of a knife or a pair of scissors, and refuse to acceptanything in return, was said to cut or sever friendship between giverand receiver. 

If, at a social gathering, a bachelor or maid were placed inadvertentlybetwixt a man and his wife, the person so seated would be married withina year. 

If a person in rising from table overturned his chair, this shewed thathe had been speaking untruths. 

To feel a cold tremor along the spine was a sign that some one wastreading on the spot of earth in which the person so affected would beburied. 

If a person spoke aloud to himself, it was a sign that he would meetwith a violent death. 

If a girl married a man the initial letter of whose name was the same asher own, it was held that the union would not be a happy one. Thisnotion was formulated into this proverb--

 "To change the name and not the letter. Is a change for the worse, and not for the better. "

If thirteen people sat down to dinner, the first who rose from tablewould, it was said, either die or meet with some terrible calamitywithin a year's time. 

When burning caking coal it often happens that a small piece of fusedmatter is projected from the fire. When this took place the piece wassearched for and examined, and from its shape certain events wereprognosticated concerning the person in whose direction it had fallen. If shaped like a coffin it presaged death, if like a cradle it foretolda birth. I have seen such an incident produce a considerable sensationamong a group sitting round a fire. 

To find the shoe of a horse and hang it behind the house door wasconsidered to bring good luck to the household, and protection fromwitchcraft or evil eye. I have seen this charm in large beer shops inLondon, and I was present in the parlour of one of these beer shops whenan animated discussion arose as to whether it was most effective to havethe shoe nailed behind the door, or upon the first step of the door. Each position had its advocates, and instances of extraordinary luckwere recounted as having attended each position. 

If a youth sat musing and intently looking into the fire, it was a signthat some one was throwing an evil spell over him, or fascinating himfor evil. When this was observed, if any one without speaking were totake the tongs and turn the centre coal or piece of wood in the grateright over, and while doing so say, "_Gude preserve us frae a' skaith_, "it would break the spell, and cause the intended evil to revert on theevil-disposed person who was working the spell. I have not only seen theoperation performed many times, but have had it performed in my ownfavour by my worthy grandmother, whose belief in such things could neverbe shaken. 

If the nails of a child were cut before it was a year old, the chanceswere that it would grow up a thief. 

To spill salt while handing it to any one was unlucky, a sign of animpending quarrel between the parties; but if the person who spilledthe salt carefully lifted it up with the blade of a knife, and cast itover his or her shoulder, all evil consequences were prevented. InLeonardo de Vinci's celebrated painting of the Last Supper, the painterhas indicated the enmity of Judas by representing him in the act ofupsetting the salt dish, with the right hand resting on the table, grasping the bag. 

If a double ear of corn were put over the looking glass, it preventedthe house from being struck by lightning. I have seen corn stalks hungover a looking glass, and was told that it brought luck. 

It was customary for farmers to leave a portion of their fieldsuncropped, which was a dedication to the evil spirit, and called goodman's croft. The Church exerted itself for a long time to abolish thispractice, but farmers, who are generally very superstitious, were afraidto discontinue the practice for fear of ill luck. I remember a farmer aslate as 1825 always leaving a small piece of a field uncropped, but thendid not know why. At length he gave the right of working these bits to apoor labourer, who did well with it, and in a few years the farmercultivated the whole himself. 

Water that had been used in baptism was believed to have virtue to curemany distempers. It was a preventive against witchcraft, and eyes bathedwith it would never see a ghost. 

To see a dot of soot hanging on the bars of the grate indicated a visitfrom a stranger. By clapping the hands close to it, if the currentproduced by this, blew it off at the first clap, the stranger wouldvisit that day. Every clap indicated the day before the visit would bemade. This is still a common practice, of which the following linestaken from _Glasgow Weekly Herald_, 1877, is a graphic illustration:--

 "_Rab_-- Eh! Willie, come your wa's, and peace be wi' ye; Wi' a' my heart, I'm truly glad to see ye. Wee Geordie, wha sat gazing in the fire, In that prophetic mood I oft admire, Declar'd he saw a stranger on the grate-- And Geordie's auguries are true as fate. He gied his hands a dap wi' a' his micht, And said that stranger's coming here the nicht, Wi' the first clap it's off. Ye see how true Appears the future on wee Geordie's view. What's in the wind, or what may be the news, That brings ye here, in heedless waste o' shoes?"

An eclipse of the sun was looked on as an omen of coming calamity. Thisis a very ancient superstition, and remained with us to a very latedate, if it is even yet extinct. In 1597, during an eclipse of the sun, it is stated by Calderwood that men and women thought the day ofjudgment was come. Many women swooned, the streets of Edinburgh was fullof crying, and in fear some ran to the kirk to pray. I remember aneclipse about 1818, when about three parts of the sun was covered. Thealarm in the village was very great, indoor work was suspended for thetime, and in several families prayers were offered for protection, believing that it portended some awful calamity; but when it passed offthere was a general feeling of relief. 

Fishers on the West Coast believe that were they to set their nets sothat in any way it would encroach upon the Sabbath, the herrings wouldleave the district. Two years ago I was told that herrings were veryplentiful at one time at Lamlash, but some thoughtless person set hisnet on a Sabbath evening. He caught none, and the herrings left andnever returned. 

I know several persons who refuse to have their likeness taken lest itprove unlucky; and give as instances the cases of several of theirfriends who never had a day's health after being photographed. 

In addition to the many forms of superstition which we have beenrecalling, there were, and still are a great many superstitionsconnected with the phenomenon of dreaming, but as the notions in thisseries were very varied, differing very much in different localities, and everywhere subject less or more to the fancy of the interpreter, andas I believe that the notions and practices now in vogue in thisconnection are of comparatively recent origin, I will not enter upon thesubject. 

APPENDIX. 

YULE, BELTANE, & HALLOWE'EN FESTIVALS:

_Survivals of Ancient Sun and Fire Worship. _

History and prehistoric investigations have shown quite clearly thatprehistoric man worshipped the Sun, the giver and vivifier of all life, as the supreme God. To the sun they offered sacrifices, and at statedperiods celebrated festivals in his honour; and at these festivals breadand wine and meat were partaken of, with observances very similar inmany respects to the practices of the Jews during their religiousfeasts. But although the sun was the supreme deity, other objects werealso worshipped as subordinate deities. These objects, however, weregenerally in some manner representative of sun attributes; for example, the Moon was worshipped as the spouse of the Sun, Venus as his page. Thepleiades and other constellations, and single stars were also deified;the rainbow and the lightning were sun servants, the elements, the sun'soffspring. Many animals and trees were reverenced as representatives ofsun attributes. Above all, fire was worshipped as the truest symbol ofthe sun upon earth, and all offerings and sacrifices in honour of thesun were presented through fire; thus sun and fire worship becameidentified. 

In Britain sun-worship appears to have been purer in prehistoric than itafterwards was in historic times, purer also than the sun-cult ofhistoric Egypt, Greece, or Rome; that is, there appears to have been inBritish sun-worship less of polytheism than prevailed in Egypt, Greece, or Rome. But during the historic period, the numerous invasions and thecolonizations of different portions of this country by the Romans andother nations, who brought with them their special religious beliefs andformulæ of worship, caused the increase of polytheism by the comminglingof the foreign and native elements of belief, and later on, these weremixed with Christianity, and in these mixings all the elements becamemodified, so that now it is very difficult to separate with certaintythe aboriginal, invasional, and Christian elements. 

From many indications it seems more than probable that the sun-cult inprehistoric Britain was very similar, even in many minor points, to thesolar worship of the ancient Peruvians. At the same time, there is notthe slightest probability that these two widely separated sun-cults everhad a common point of historical connection, nor, in order to explaintheir similarities, is such an historical explanation necessary. Quitesufficient is the explanation that both possessed in common a humannature, emotional and intellectual, moving on the same plane ofchildlike intelligence, and that both from this common standpoint hadregard to the same striking and regularly recurring scenes of naturalphenomena. Prescott thus describes the worship of these ancientPeruvians:--"The Sun was their primary God; to it was built a vasttemple in the capital, more radiant with gold than that of Solomon's;and every city had a temple dedicated to the sun, and blasphemy againstthe sun was punished with death. The principal festivals of the yearwere at the equinoxes and solstices. That at midsummer was the grandest. It was preceded by a three days' fast; then every one who had time andmoney visited the city. Great fires were kindled from the sun's rays orby friction, from which sacred fires people kindled their hearth;" allhousehold fires having previously been extinguished. Poor countries anddistricts, where the arts were in a backward condition, instead ofhaving temples like the Peruvians, dedicated mountains and stone circlesto the great luminary. It is the all but universal opinion that in thiscountry, centuries before the Christian era, the religion of the peoplewas Druidism; but this is merely the name of a system, and is equivalentto our saying that the present religion of our country isPresbyterianism, a statement which conveys no idea of the nature of ourreligious worship. The Druids were a priestly order who governed thecountry, and directed the worship of the people, the principal objectsof worship being, as we have already said, the sun and fire. "TheDruids, " says the late Rev. James Rust, "formed an ecclesiastico-politicalassociation, and professed to explain the deep mysteries respecting Godand man, and were the sacerdotal rulers, and called in consequenceDruids or mystery-keepers. They were not allowed to commit anything towriting respecting their mysteries, and no one was allowed to entertheir order till after a prolonged probation, terminating in swearingmost solemnly to keep their mysteries secret for ever; and by this meansthey obtained great power and influence over all classes of the people. "

Concerning the name Druid, the writer in the _EncyclopediaMetropolitana_ says, "The name Druid is derived from _deru_, an oak. "The Druids were an order of priests; they were divided into threeclasses, resembling the Persian magi. The first class were the Druidsproper; they were the highest nobility, to whom was entrusted allreligious rites and education. The second class were the bards; theywere principally employed in public instruction, which was given inverse. The third class was called _Euvates_; whose office it was todeliver the responses of the oracles, and to attend the people whoconsulted them. The knowledge of astronomy and computation of timepossessed by the Druids was of a high order, and, no doubt, was the formof worship imported from Chaldea. 

It is known that the Phoenicians had colonized Britain at least 1000years B. C. , and doubtless they would bring with them their form ofworship, their gods being the sun, the moon, and fire. We may here finda very early source for the institution of sun-worship in these islands, if we can believe that such a very partial colonization as was effectedby the Phoenicians could work a religious similarity throughout theentire island. I think it probable that sun-worship existed before thePhoenicians came to the island, but they may have elevated its practice. Following the writer in the _Encyclopedia Metropolitana_, we are toldthat in addition to their worship of the sun, the Druids "held sacredthe spirits of their ancestors, paid great honour to mountains, lakes, and groves. Groves of oak were their temples, and their places ofworship were open to heaven, such as stone circles. They had also aceremony of baptism, dipping in the sacred lake, as an initiatory rite, and had also a sacrament of bread and wine. They paid great reverence tothe egg of the serpent, the seed of the oak, and above all, themistletoe that grew upon the oak; and they offered in sacrifice to thesun and fire, men and animals. "

Many of the localities where their worship was observed in this countrycan still be identified through the names which these places still bear. One or two are here given, because they refer to sun-worship:--

Grenach (in Perthshire), means _Field of the Sun_. 

Greenan (a stream in Perthshire), means _River of the Sun_. 

Balgreen (a town in Perthshire and other counties), means _Town of theSun_. 

Grian chnox (Greenock), means _Knoll of the Sun_. 

Granton, means _Sun's Fire_. 

Premising, therefore, that sun-worship and Druidical customs form theoriginal base of all our old national festivals, we will now directattention to the great festival of

_YULE. _

The term _Yule_ was the name given to the festival of the wintersolstice by our northern invaders, and means _the Festival of the Sun_. One of the names by which the Scandinavians designated the sun was_Julvatter_, meaning _Yule-father_ or _Sun-father_. In Saxon thefestival was called _Gehul_, meaning _Sun-feast_. In Danish it is_Juul_; in Swedish _Oel_. Chambers supposes that the name is from a rootword meaning _wheel_. We have no trace of the name by which the Druidsknew this feast. The Rev. Mr. Smiddy in his book on _Druidism inIreland_, says, "Their great feast was that called in the Irish tongue_Nuadhulig_, meaning _new all heal_, or new mistletoe. When the day camethe priests assembled outside the town, and the people gathered shouting_all heal_. Then began a solemn procession into the forests in search ofthe mistletoe growing on the favourite oak. When found, the priestsascended the tree, and cut down the divine plant with a golden knife, which was secured below upon a linen cloth of spotless white; two whitebulls were then conducted to the spot for the occasion, and theresacrificed to the sun god. The plant was then brought home with shoutsof joy, mingled with prayers and hymns, and then followed a generalreligious feast, and afterwards scenes of boisterous merriment, to whichall were admitted. "

From other accounts of this sun feast at the winter solstice in thiscountry, we are given to understand that besides white bulls there werealso human victims offered in sacrifice. The mistletoe gathered wasdivided among the people, who hung the sprays over their doorways as aprotection from evil influences, and as a propitiation to the sylvandeities, and to form sheltering places for those fairy beings during thefrosts. The day after the sacrifices was kept as a day of rejoicing, neighbours visited each other with gifts, and with expressions of goodwill. 

From all I have been able to gather respecting this great sun feast atthe winter solstice as it was celebrated in this country in prehistorictimes, I am of opinion that the sacrifices were offered to the sun onthe shortest day, to propitiate his return, and that that day was a dayof great solemnity, but that the day following when the mistletoe wasdistributed and hung up, was a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving on thisaccount, that the sacrifices had proved acceptable and efficacious, thesun having returned again to begin his course for another year, and thisday was the first day of the year. 

I am aware that the Romans appointed the first of January as the firstday of the year as early as B. C. 600, and dedicated it to the goddess_Stranoe_. This, however, could not affect the inhabitants of Britain, at least not until the Roman invasion, and this influence did not reachour northern counties. There can be little doubt, I think, that thegreat festival of the Romans, the Saturnalia, held in honour of_Saturn_, the father of the gods, and which lasting seven days, including the winter solstice, was introduced into this country, and incourse of time became identified with the Druidical festival of thenatives. Other elements conspired to modify the ancient druidicalfestival. After the Romans withdrew their armies from the island at thecommencement of the fifth century, other invaders took their place. Saxons, Jutes, Angles, and Normans occupied large tracts of the country;but as these were mostly all sun-worshippers, their festivals andceremonies would, for the most part, coincide with the native usages, and whatever peculiarities they might bring with them in the matter offormulas, would take root in the localities where they were settled, andeventually the indigenous and introduced formulas would coalesce. Another element which materially influenced and, _vice versa_, wasmaterially influenced by Pagan formulæ, was Christianity. Introducedinto Rome at a very early period, it was for a long time opposed assubversive of the established religion of the empire. Now, during thefestival of the Saturnalia, the Romans decorated their houses, bothinside and out, with evergreens, the Christian converts refraining fromthis were easily discovered and set upon by the people, were broughtbefore the judges and condemned, in many cases, to death, for theirinfidelity to the national gods. But as a result of this severity theChristians learned to be politic, and during the Saturnalia, hungevergreens round their houses, while they kept festival within doors incommemoration of the birth of Christ. This Christian festival, with itsheathen attachments, soon spread throughout the Roman empire, and thusbecame introduced into Britain also. It appears however, that the day onwhich this feast was kept differed in different localities, untiltowards the middle of the fourth century Julius I. , Bishop of Rome, appointed the 25th December as the festival day for the whole Church, anedict which was universally obeyed. As was to be expected, many of theceremonies and superstitious beliefs emanating from the Saturnalia weremerged in the customs of the Christian feast, and do still survive inmodified forms till the present day. In many of our Christmas customs wecan thus perceive the influence of the self-preservation policy of theearly Roman Christians, and in the survival of many other pagan customsin this and other of our festivals, we can trace the influence ofanother policy, the worldly-wise policy of the Roman Church. 

At the close of the sixth century, Pope Gregory sent St. Augustine, orAustin, to this country as a missionary, and by his preaching, manythousands of the people were converted to Christianity. This Pope'sinstructions to Augustine concerning his treatment of heathen festivals, were that "the heathen temples were not to be destroyed, but turnedinto Christian churches; that the oxen killed in sacrifice should stillbe killed with rejoicing, but their bodies given to the poor, and thatthe refreshment booths round the heathen temples should be allowed toremain as places of jollity and amusement for the people on Christianfestivals, for it is impossible to cut abruptly from hard and roughminds all their old habits and customs. He who wishes to reach thehighest place must rise by steps, and not by jumps. "

From the enunciation of this policy, we can readily understand how thefestive observances connected with heathen worship remained in theChristian observance. I have stated what is supposed to have been theDruidical manner of keeping this festival of the winter solstice, but Ihave not seen any account of how the festival was observed in thiscountry when Augustine arrived as missionary. I have no informationconcerning the manner in which the oxen were sacrificed, nor thecharacter of the refreshment booths round the temples. We know thatthere were booths in connection with heathen temples where women werekept, but whether this practice was indigenous in Britain, or wasimported into this country by the Romans, or whether Pope Gregory mayhave written without any special knowledge of the customs here, butmerely from his knowledge of heathen customs in general, we do not know. Nothing is said in these instructions about changing the day of keepingthe festival from the solstice to the 25th of December. It is probablethat no change of date was made at this time, at all events we may, fromthe following circumstance, infer that the change, if made, did notreach the northern portion of the island. Haco, King of Norway, in thethe tenth century fixed the 25th December as the day for keeping thefeast of Yule. King Haco's fixing on this particular date would be aresultant from the Romish edict, for the Norwegians were at this timeChristians, although their Christianity was a conglomerate of heathensuperstition and church dogma. 

According to Jamieson, the eve of Yule was termed by the Northmen_Hoggunott_, meaning Slaughter night, probably because then the cattlefor the coming feast were killed. During the feast, one of the leadingtoasts was called _minnie_, meaning the cup of remembrance, and Dr. Jamieson thinks that the popular cry which has come down to our times as_Hogmany, trol-lol-lay_, was originally _Hogminne, thor loe loe_, meaning the feast of Thor. After the Reformation, the Scotch transferredHogmanay to the last day of December, as a preparation day for the NewYear. The practice of children going from door to door in little bands, singing the following rhyme, was in vogue at the beginning of thiscentury in country places in the West of Scotland:--

 "Rise up, gudewife, and shake your feathers, Dinna think that we are beggars, We're girls and boys come out to-day, For to get our Hogmanay, Hogmanay, trol-lol-lay. 

 "Give us of your white bread, and not of your gray, Or else we'll knock at your door a' day. "

This rhyme has a stronger reference to Yule or Christmas than to the NewYear, and is doubtless a relic of pre-Reformation times. 

At the Reformation, the Scottish Church, probably following the dictumof Calvin, who condemned Yule as a pagan festival, forbade the people toobserve it because of its heathen origin; but probably the more potentreason was that it was a Romish feast, for no objection was made againstkeeping the New Year or _hansell Monday_, on which occasion practicessimilar to those of Yule were observed, and I believe it was thenon-condemnation of these later festivals which enabled the ScottishChurch to abolish Yule. In fact, it would appear that the Yule practiceswere simply transferred from a few days earlier to a few days later, andthereby retained their original connection with the close of the year. Prior to the Church interference there is no evidence that the first ofJanuary was observed by the people as a general feast, but even withthis safety valve of a popular and yearly festival, the Churchencountered great difficulty in abolishing Yule. A few instances of theopposition of the people will suffice. 

The Glasgow Kirk Session, on the 26th December, 1583, had five personsbefore them who were ordered to make public repentance, because theykept the superstitious day called Yule. The _baxters_ were required togive the names of those for whom they had baked Yule bread, so that theymight be dealt with by the Church. Ten years after this, in 1593, an Actwas again passed by the Glasgow Session against the keeping of Yule, andtherein it was ordained that the keepers of this feast were to bedebarred from the privileges of the Church, and also punished by themagistrates. 

Notwithstanding these measures, the people still inclined to observeYule, for fifty-six years after, in 1649, the General Assembly appointeda commission to make report of the public practices, among others, "Thedruidical customs observed at the fires of _Beltane_, _Midsummer_, _Hallowe'en_, and _Yule_. " In the same year appears the following minutein the session-book of the Parish of Slains. --(See Rust's _DruidismExhumed_. )

26th Nov. , 1649. --"The said day, the minister and elders being convenedin session, and after invocation of the name of God, intimate that Yulebe not kept, but that they yoke their oxen and horse, and employ theirservants in their service that day as well as on other work days. "

Dr. Jamieson quotes the opinion of an English clergyman in reference tosuch proceedings of the Scotch Church:--"The ministers of Scotland, incontempt of the holy-day observed by England, cause their wives andservants to spin in open sight of the people upon Yule day, and theiraffectionate auditors constrain their servants to yoke their plough onYule day, in contempt of Christ's nativity. Which our Lord has not leftunpunished, for their oxen ran wud, and brak their necks and lamed someploughmen, which is notoriously known in some parts of Scotland. " Bygoing back to the time of the Reformation, and finding what then werethe practices of the people in the celebration of the Yule festival, andthen by comparing these with the practices in vogue at the commencementof this century during the New Year festivities, we shall be led toconclude that the principal change effected by the Church was onlyrespecting the time of the feasts, and we can thus perceive that theveto was not directed against the practices _per se_, but only againstthe conjunction of these practices, Pagan in their origin, with a feastcommemorative of the birth of Christ. As they could not hold Christmaswithout retaining the Yule practices along with it, they resolved toabolish both. 

Let us then pursue this retrospect and comparison. About the time of theReformation the day preceding Yule was a day of general preparation. Houses were cleaned out and borrowed articles were returned to theirowners. Work of all kind was stopped, and a general appearance ofcompletion of work was established; yarn was reeled off, no lint wasallowed to remain on the rock of the wheel, and all work implements werelaid aside. In the evening cakes were baked, one for each person, andduly marked, and great care was taken that none should break in thefiring, as such an accident was a bad omen for the person whose cake metwith the mishap. These cakes were eaten at the Yule breakfast. A largepiece of wood was placed upon the fire in such time that it would bekindled before twelve p. M. , and extreme care was taken that the fireshould not go out, for not only was it unlucky, but no one would obligea neighbour, with a kindling on Yule. 

On Yule eve those possessing cattle went to the byre and stable andrepeated an _Ave Marie_, and a _Paternoster_, to protect their cattlefrom an evil eye. 

On Yule morning, attention was paid to the first person who entered thehouse, as it was important to know whether such a person were lucky orotherwise. It was an unfriendly act to enter a house on Yule day withoutbringing a present of some kind. Nothing was permitted to be taken outof the house on that day; this prohibition of course, did not extend tosuch things as were taken for presents. Servants or members of thefamily who had gone out in the morning, when they returned to the housebrought in with them something, although it might only be some trivialarticle, say for instance, garden stuff. This was done that they mightbring, or, at least, not cause bad luck to the household. Masters orparents gave gifts to their servants and children, and owners of cattlegave their beasts, with their own hand their first food on Yule morning. After mass in church, a table was spread in the house with meat anddrink, and all who entered were invited to partake. On this dayneighbours and relations visited each other, bearing with them meat anddrink warmed with condiments, and as they drank they expressed mutualwishes for each other's welfare. If not a Christian day, it was at leasta day of good will to men. In the evening, the great family feast washeld. In the more northern parts, where the Scandinavian nationalelement was principally settled, a boar's head was the correct dish atthis feast, and, by the better class, was always provided; but thecommon people were content with venison, beef, and poultry, beginningtheir feast with a dish of plum porridge. A large candle, prepared forthe occasion, was lighted at the commencement, and it was intended tokeep in light till twelve p. M. , and if it went out before it wasregarded as a bad omen for the next year; and what of it was leftunconsumed at twelve o'clock was carefully laid past, to be used at thedead wake of the heads of the family. 

Now, let us compare with this the practices current at Hogmanay (31stDecember), and New Year's Day, about the commencement of this century. In doing so, I will pass over without notice many superstitiousobservances which, though curious and interesting, belong rather to thegeneral fund of superstitious belief than to the special festival at NewYear, and confine myself to those which were peculiar to the time. In mygrandfather's house, between sixty and seventy years ago, on the 31stDecember (_Hogmanay_), all household work was stopped, rock emptied, yarn reeled and _hanked_, and wheel and reel put into an outhouse. Thehouse itself was white-washed and cleaned. A block of wood or largepiece of coal was put on the fire about ten p. M. , so that it would beburning briskly before the household retired to bed. The last thing doneby those who possessed a cow or horse was to visit the byre or stable, and I have been told that it was the practice with some, twenty yearsbefore my recollection, to say the Lord's Prayer during this visit. After rising on New Year's Day, the first care of those who possessedcattle was to visit the byre or stable, and with their own hands givethe animals a feed. Burns followed this habit, and refers to it in oneof his poems:--

 "A gude New Year I wish thee, Maggy, Hae, there's a rip to thy auld baggie. "

The following was the practice in my father's house in Partick, betweenfifty and sixty years ago, on New Year's day:--On _Hogmanay_ evening, children were all washed before going to bed. An oat bannock was bakedfor each child: it was nipped round the edge, had a hole in the centre, and was flavoured with carvey (carroway) seed. Great care was taken thatnone of these bannocks should break in the firing, as such an occurrencewas regarded as a very unlucky omen for the child whose bannock wasthus damaged. It denoted illness or death during the year. Parents satup till about half-past eleven, when the fire was covered, and everyparticle of ash swept up and carried out of the house. All retired tobed before twelve o'clock, as it was unlucky not to be in bed as the NewYear came in. A watchful eye was kept on the fire lest it should go out, for such an event was regarded as very unlucky, and they would neithergive nor receive a light from any one on New Year's day. Neither fire, ashes, nor anything belonging to the house was taken out of it on thatday. In the morning we children got our bannocks to breakfast. They weresmall, and it was unlucky to leave any portion of them, although thiswas frequently done. The first-foot was an important episode. To visitempty-handed on this day was tantamount to wishing a curse on thefamily. A plane-soled person was an unlucky first-foot; a pioussanctimonious person was not good, and a hearty ranting merry fellow wasconsidered the best sort of first-foot. It was necessary for luck thatwhat was poured out of the first-foot's gift, be it whiskey or otherdrink, should be drunk to the dregs by each recipient, and it wasrequisite that he should do the same by their's. It was against rule forany portion to be left, but if there did happen to be an unconsumedremnant, it was cast out. With any subsequent visitor these particularswere not observed. I remember that one year our first-foot was a man whohad fallen and broken his bottle, and cut and bleeding was assisted intoour house. My mother made up her mind that this was a most unfortunatefirst-foot, and that something serious would occur in the family duringthat year. I believe had the whole family been cut off, she would nothave been surprised. However, it was a prosperous year, and a bleedingfirst-foot was not afterwards considered bad. If anything extraordinarydid occur throughout the year, it was remembered and referred toafterwards. One New Year's day something was stolen out of our house;that year father and mother were confined to bed for weeks; the causeand effect were quite clear. During the day neighbours visited eachother with bottle and bun, every one overflowing with good wishes. Inthe evening the family, old and young, were gathered together, those whoduring the year were out at service, the married with their families, and at this meal the best the family could afford was produced. It was ahappy time, long looked forward to, and long remembered by all. 

_BELTANE. _

Beltane or Beilteine means _Baals fire_, Baal (Lord) was the name underwhich the Phoenicians recognized their primary male god, the Sun: firewas his earthly symbol and the medium through which sacrifices to himwere offered. Hence sun and fire-worship were identical. I am of opinionthat originally the Beltane festival was held at the Spring equinox butthat its original connection with the equinox, in process of time wasforgotten, and it became a festival inaugurative of summer. There issome difference of opinion as to the particular day on which theBeltane festival was held in this country. Dr. Jamieson, Dr. R. Chambers, and others who have studied this subject say that the 1st May(old style) was Beltane day. Professor Veitch; in his _History andPoetry of the Scottish Border_, (p. 118, ) says, speaking of theDruids:--"They worshipped the sun god, the representative of the brightside of nature--Baal, the fire-giver--and to him on the hill tops theylit the fire on the end of May, the Beltane. " And again, in his remarkson _Peblis to the Play_, (p. 315, ) he says:--"The play was not the namefor a stage play, but indicated the sports and festivals which tookplace at Peebles annually at Beltane, the second of May, not the firstof May, as is usually supposed. These had in all probability come inplace of the ancient British practice of lighting fires on the hill topsin honour of Baal, the sun god, hence the name _Baaltein_, Beltane, i. E. Baal's fire. The Christian Church had so far modified theceremonial as to substitute for the original idolatrous practice that ofa day of rustic amusements. A fair or market at the same period whichlasted for eight days had also been instituted by Royal charter. Buteven the practice of lighting fires on the hill tops was late in dyingout, with the usual tenacity of custom it survived for long all memoryof its original meaning. "

The Professor writes very positively as to Beltane day being the secondday of May, not the first day as is supposed. The Royal Charter grantedto the Burgh of Peebles for holding a fair or market on Beltane day, isgiven in the Burgh Records of Peebles, p. 85:--"As also of holding, using, enjoying, and exercising within the foresaid Burgh weekly marketdays according to the use and custom of the said Burgh, together withthree fairs, thrice in the year, the first thereof beginning yearly uponthe third day of May, called Beltane day, the same to be held andcontinued for the space of forty-eight hours thereafter. " The date ofthe Charter is 1621, but it is evident that the third of May had beenpreviously kept as Beltane day. The Professor is also mistaken instating that the Beltane fair of Peebles was to be kept for eight days. The third fair, held in August, continued eight days, but the fairs inMay and June were kept for two days according to the Charter. That therewere two days known as Beltane at the beginning of last century isevident from a book of Scotch proverbs published in 1721 by James Kelly, A. M. , in which occurs the following, --

 "You have skill of man and beast, Ye was born between the Beltans. "

In all probability the discrepancy as to the day originated through theChurch substituting a Christian festival for a heathen one; and althoughthe date was changed, yet through force of custom the name of the oldfestival was retained, and in localities where the power of the Churchwas comparatively weak, the older, the original day for the festivalwould probably be kept as well as the newly appointed Church festival. This view of the matter is rendered probable from the fact that theChurch did institute a great festival, to be held on the third of May, to commemorate the finding of the cross of Christ. The legend is asfollows:--When the Empress Helena was at Jerusalem about the end of thethird century, she discovered the cross on which Christ was crucified, and had it conveyed to the great church built by Constantine her son. This cross was exhibited yearly to the people, and many miracles werewrought by it. A festival, as I have said, was instituted incommemoration of the discovery, and this was held on the third of May, and was called _Rood_ or _rude_ day. Churches were built and dedicatedto the Holy Rood, among which was that which is now Holyrood Palace. Where the Church was powerful, as in Edinburgh and Peebles, Rood daywould be the important festival, and Beltane would gradually becomeincorporated with it, the names Beltane day and Rood day becomingsynonymous. Thus we may account for Edinburgh and Peebles keepingBeltane on the third day of May, while in Perth and other northerncounties where the Church influence was weaker, the festival would bekept according to the older custom on the first of May. 

In Druidical times the people allowed their fires to go out on Beltaneeve, and on Beltane day the priests met on a hill dedicated to the Sun, and obtained fire from heaven. When the fire was obtained, sacrificeswere offered, and the people danced round the fire with shoutings tillthe sacrifices were consumed; after which they received portions of thesacred fire with which to rekindle their hearths for another twelvemonths. Besides mountains, there were evidently other localities wheresacrifices and the ritual of Sun-worship were observed, and whichreceived appropriate names in accordance with their character as sacredplaces. Some of these names still survive, as for instance:--

_Ard-an-teine_--The light of the fire. 

_Craig-an-teine_--The rock of the fire. 

_Auch-an-teine_--The field of the fire. 

_Tillie-bet-teine_--The knoll of the fire; and so through a great manyother names of places we find traces of the Baal and fire worship. Sowidespread and numerous are the names which recall this ritual, that wecan see quite clearly that the spirit of their religion thoroughlydominated the people. In Ireland, at Beltane, the Pagan Kings are saidto have convoked the people for State purposes. The last of theseheathen kings convoked a grand assembly of the nation to meet with himon _Tara_, at the feast of Beltane, which the old chroniclers say wasthe principal feast of the year. 

Respecting this feast, Dr. Jamieson says, introducing a quotation fromO'Brien, "_Ignis Bei Dei Aseatica ea lineheil_, or May-day, so calledfrom large fires which the Druids were used to light on the summits ofthe highest hills, into which they drove four-footed beasts, usingcertain ceremonies to expiate for the sins of the people. The Paganceremony of lighting these fires in honour of the Asiatic god Belus gaveits name to the entire month of May, which to this day is called_Me-na-bealtine_, in the Irish, _Dor Keating_. " He says again, speakingof these fires of _Baal_, that the cattle were driven through them andnot sacrificed, the chief design being to avert contagious disordersfrom them for the year. And quoting from an ancient glossary, O'Briensays, "The Druids lighted two solemn fires every year, and drove allfour-footed beasts through them, in order to preserve them fromcontagious distempers during the current year. " I am inclined to thinkthat these notices describe a sort of modified or Christianized Beltane, that driving the cattle through the fire was a substitute for the olderform of sacrificing cattle to the sun. Until very lately in differentparts of Ireland, it was the common practice to kindle fires in milkingyards on the first day of May, and then men, women, and children leapedthrough them, and the cattle were driven through in order to avert evilinfluences. They were also in the habit of quenching their fires on thelast day of April, and rekindling them on the first day of May. Incertain localities in Perthshire, so lately as 1810, (I have referred tothis before), the inhabitants collected and kindled a fire by friction, and through the fire thus kindled they drove their cattle in order toprotect them against disease, and at the same time they held a feast ofrejoicing. 

As already mentioned, the Romans held several festivals at the beginningof summer, and many of their observances on these occasions wereintroduced into this country, and became incorporated with the Beltanepractices. For example, the Romans held a festival in honour of _Pales_, the goddess of flocks and sheepfolds. The feast was termed _Palilia_. Lempriere states that some of the ceremonies accompanying the feastconsisted in "burning heaps of straw, and in leaping over them; nosacrifices were offered, but purifications were made with the smoke ofhorse's blood, and with the ashes of a calf that had been taken from thebelly of its mother after it had been sacrificed, and with the ashes ofbeans; the purification of the flocks was also made with the smoke ofsulphur, also of the olive, the pine, the laurel, and rosemary. Offerings of mild cheese, boiled wine, and cakes of millet wereafterwards made. Some call this festival _Palilia_, because thesacrifices were offered to the divinity for the fecundity of theirflocks. " There was also a large cake prepared for _Pales_, and a prayerwas addressed to the divinity by shepherds, as thus given by Dr. Jamieson:--

 "O let me propitious find, And to the shepherd and his sheep be kind; Far from my flocks drive noxious things away, And let my flocks in wholesome pastures stray. May I, at night, my morning's number take, Nor mourn a theft the prowling wolf may make. May all my rams the ewes with vigour press, To give my flocks a yearly due increase. "

The Romans held another festival in honour of the goddess _Flora_. Itbegan on the 28th April, and lasted three days. The people wore garlandsof flowers, and carried them about with branches of newly-budded trees. There was much licentiousness connected with this feast. 

Reference has already been made to another Roman festival which wascelebrated early in May. This was called the _Lamuralia_, and itspurport was to propitiate the favour of the ghosts or spirits of theirancestors. I am of opinion that the English May feasts are a survival ofthe _Floralia_, and, as kept during the middle ages, were not free fromsome of the indecencies of the _Floralia_. In my remembrance, the firstof May, in the country west of Glasgow, was honoured by decking thehouses with tree branches and flowers. Horses were also similarlydecked. The Church did not attempt to abolish these heathen festivals, but endeavoured to dominate them, and substitute for legends of heathenorigin connected with them legends of Church origin. In this theypartly succeeded. The following account of the Beltane festival, as itwas kept in some districts in Perthshire at the close of last century, taken from the statistical accounts of certain parishes, will shew howpersistent these ancient customs were, and also how some other festivalslatterly became amalgamated and identified with Beltane:--

"In the Parish of Callander, upon the first day of May, " says theminister of the parish, "all the boys in the town or hamlet meet on themoors. They cut a table on the green sod, of a round shape, to hold thewhole company. They kindle a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milkin the consistence of a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which isbaked at the fire upon a stone. After the custard is eaten up, theydivide the cake into as many portions, and as similar as possible, asthere are persons in the company. They blacken one of these portionswith charcoal until it is perfectly black. They put all the bits of cakeinto a bonnet. Every one blindfolded draws a portion--he who holds thebonnet is entitled to the last. Who draws the black bit is the devotedperson to be sacrificed to Baal, whose favour they mean to implore inrendering the year productive of substance for man and beast. There islittle doubt of these human sacrifices being once offered in thecountry, but the youth who has got the black bit must leap through theflame of the fire three times. " I have myself conversed with old menwho, when boys, were present at, and took part in these observances; andthey told me that in their grandfathers' time it was the men whopractised these rites, but as they were generally accompanied with muchdrinking and riot, the clergy set their faces against the customs, andsubjected the parties observing them to church discipline, so that incourse of time the practices became merely the frolic of boys. 

In the Parish of Logierait, Beltane is celebrated by the shepherds andcowherds in the following manner. They assemble in the fields and dressa dinner of milk and eggs. This dish they eat with a sort of cake bakedfor the occasion, having small lumps or nipples raised all over itssurface. These knobs are not eaten, but broken off, and given asofferings to the different supposed powers or influences that protect ordestroy their flocks, to the one as a thank-offering, to the other as apeace-offering. 

Mr. Pennant, in his _Tour through Scotland_, thus describes the Beltaneobservances as they were observed at the end of last century. "The herdsof every village hold their Beltane (a rural sacrifice. ) They cut asquare trench in the ground, leaving the turf in the middle. On thatthey make a fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, oatmeal, butter, and milk, and bring besides these plenty of beer andwhiskey. Each of the company must contribute something towards thefeast. The rites begin by pouring a little of the caudle upon theground, by way of a libation. Every one then takes a cake of oatmeal, onwhich are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particularbeing who is supposed to preserve their herds, or to some animal thedestroyer of them. Each person then turns his face to the fire, breaksoff a knob, and, flinging it over his shoulder, says--'_This I give tothee_, ' naming the being whom he thanks, '_preserver of my sheep_, ' &c. ;or to the destroyer, '_This I give to thee, (O fox or eagle)_, ' _sparemy lambs_, ' &c. When this ceremony is over they all dine on the caudle. "

The shepherds in Perthshire still hold a festival on the 1st of May, butthe practices at it are now much modified. 

As may readily be surmised, there were a great many superstitiousbeliefs connected with Beltane, some of which still survive, and tend tomaintain its existence. Dew collected on the morning of the first day ofMay is supposed to confer witch power on the gatherer, and giveprotection against an evil eye. To be seen in a field at day-break thatmorning, rendered the person seen an object of fear. A story is told ofa farmer who, on the first of May discovered two old women in one of hisfields, drawing a hair rope along the grass. On being seen, they fled. The farmer secured the rope, took it home with him, and hung it in thebyre. When the cows were milked every spare dish about the farm-housewas filled with milk, and yet the udders remained full. The farmer beingalarmed, consigned the rope to the fire, and then the milk ceased toflow. 

It was believed that first of May dew preserved the skin from wrinklesand freckles, and gave a glow of youth. To this belief Ferguson refersin the following lines:--

 "On May day in a fairy ring, We've seen them round St. Anthon's spring, Frae grass the caller dew to wring, To wet their een; And water clear as crystal spring, To synd them clean. "

_MIDSUMMER. _

To sun worshippers no season would be better calculated to excitedevotional feelings towards the great luminary than the period when heattained the zenith of his strength. It is probable, therefore, that ashis movements must have been closely observed, and his various phasesregarded by the people, in the language of Scripture, "for signs and forseasons, for days and for years, " that the turning points in the sun'syearly course, the solstices, would naturally become periods of worship. That the Summer solstice was an important religious period is renderedprobable from the following curious observation concerning Stonehenge, which appeared in the Notes and Queries portion of the _Scotsman_newspaper for July 31, 1875. The _Scotsman's_ correspondent states that"a party of Americans went on midsummer morning this year to see the sunrise upon Stonehenge. They found crowds of people assembled. Stonehenge, " continues the writer, "may roughly be described ascomprising seven-eighths of a circle, from the open ends of which thereruns eastward an avenue having upright stones on either side. At somedistance beyond this avenue, but in a direct line with its centre, stands one solitary stone in a sloping position; in front of which, butat a considerable distance, is an eminence or hill. The point ofobservation chosen by the excursion party was the stone table or altarnear the head of, and within the circle, directly looking down. Themorning was unfavourable, but, fortunately, just as the sun wasbeginning to appear over the top of the hill, the mist disappeared, andthen, for a few moments, the onlookers stood amazed at the spectaclepresented to their view. While it lasted, the sun, like an immense ball, appeared actually to rest on the isolated stone of which mention hasbeen made. Now, in this, " says a writer in the _New Quarterly Magazine_for January, 1876, commenting upon the statement of the _Scotsman's_correspondent, "we find strong proof that Stonehenge was really a mightyalmanack in stone; doubtless also a temple of the sun, erected by a racewhich has long perished without intelligible record. "

I think it is not a very fanciful supposition to suppose, from the stillexisting names of places in this country bearing reference tosun-worship, that there were other places than Stonehenge which wereused as stone almanacks "for signs and for seasons, " and also fortemples. _Grenach_ in Perthshire, meaning _Field of the Sun_, wherethere is a large stone circle, may have been such a place; and_Grian-chnox_, now Greenock, meaning _Knoll of the Sun_, may haveoriginally marked the place where the sun's rising became visible at acertain period of the year, from a stone circle in the neighbourhood. Asfar as I have been able to discover, there remains to us little trace ofthe manner in which the midsummer feast was kept in this country inprehistoric times, but so far as traces do remain, they appear toindicate that it was celebrated much after the same manner as theScottish Celts are said to have celebrated Beltane. Indeed, the CelticIrish hold their _Beilteme_ feast on the 21st June, and their fires arekindled on the tops of hills, and each member of a family is, in orderto secure good luck, obliged to pass through the fire. On this occasionalso, a feast is held. A similar practice was common in West Cornwall atmidsummer. Fires were kindled, and the people danced round them, andleaped singly through the flames to ensure good luck and protectionagainst witchcraft. The following passage occurs in _Traditions andHearthside Stories of West Cornwall_, by William Bottreill, 1873:--"Manyyears ago, on Midsummer eve, when it became dusk, very old people in thewest country would hobble away to some high ground whence they obtaineda view of the most prominent high hill, such as Bartinney-Chapel, Cambrae, Sancras Bickan, Castle-au-dinas, Cam-Gulver, St. Agnes-Bickan, and many other beacon hills far away to the north and east which viedwith each other in their midsummer night blaze. They counted the fires, and drew a presage from the number of them. There are now but fewbonfires to be seen on the western heights; yet we have observed thatTregonan, Godolphin, and Carnwath hills, with others far away towardsRedruth, still retain their Baal fires. We would gladly go many miles tosee the weird-looking, yet picturesque dancers around the flames, on acairn or high hill top, as we have seen them some forty years ago. " Theancient Egyptians had their midsummer feasts, as also had the Greeks andRomans. During these festivals, we are told that the people, headed bythe priests, walked in procession, carrying flowers and other emblems ofthe season in honour of their gods. Such processions were continuedduring the early years of the Christian Church, and the Christianpriests in their vestments went into the fields to ask a blessing on theagricultural produce of the year. Towards the beginning of the twelfthcentury the Church introduced the _Feast of God_, and fixed the 19thJune for its celebration. The eucharistic elements were declared to bethe actual presence of God, and this, the consecrated Host or Godhimself was carried through the open streets by a procession of priests, the people turning out to do it honour, kneeling and worshipping as itpassed. This feast of God may have absorbed some of the ancientmidsummer practices, but the _Feast of St. John's Day_, which is heldupon the 24th June, has in its customs a greater similarity to theancient sun feast. On the eve of St. John's day, people went to thewoods and brought home branches of trees, which they fixed over theirdoorways. Towards night of St. John's Day, bonfires were kindled, andround them the people danced with frantic mirth, and men and boys leapedthrough the flames. Leaping through the flames is a common practice atthese survivals of sun festivals, and although done now, partly for luckand partly for sport, there can be little doubt but that originallyhuman sacrifices were then offered to the sun god. 

There was quite a host of curious superstitions connected with thismidsummer feast, especially in Ireland and Germany, and many of thesewere similar to those connected with the feast of _Hallowe'en_ inScotland. In Ireland, in olden times, it was believed that the souls ofpeople left their sleeping bodies, and visited the place where deathwould ultimately overtake them; and there were many who, in consequence, would not sleep, but sat up all night. People also went out on St. John's eve to gather certain plants which were held as sacred, such as_the rose_, _the trifoil_, _St. John's wort_, and _vervain_, thepossession of which gave them influence over evil. To catch the seed ofthe fern as it fell to the ground on St. John's eve, exactly at twelveo'clock, was believed to confer upon the persons who caught it the powerof rendering themselves invisible at will. 

In my opinion, the great prehistoric midsummer festival to the sun godhas diverged into the two Church feasts, Eucharist and St. John's day;but St. John's day has absorbed the greater share of old customs andsuperstitious ideas, and so numerous are they that the most meagredescription of them would yield matter for an hour's reading. 

_HALLOWE'EN. _

The northern nations, like the Hebrews, began their day in the evening. Thus we have Yule Eve, and Hallow Eve (Hallowe'en), the eveningspreceding the respective feasts. The name Hallowe'en is of Christianorigin, but the origin of the feast itself is hidden in ancientmythology. The Celtic name for the autumn festival was _Sham-in_, meaning Baal's Fire. The Irish Celts called it _Sainhain_, or_Sainfuin_; _Sain_, summer, and _Fuin_, end, --i. E. , the end of summer. The Hebrews and Phoenicians called this festival _Baal-Shewin_, a namesignifying the principle of order. The feast day in Britain and Irelandis the first of November. The Druids are said on this day to havesacrificed horses to the sun, as a thank-offering for the harvest. AnIrish king, who reigned 400 A. D. , commanded sacrifices to be made to amoon idol, which was worshipped by the people on the evening of_Sain-hain_. Sacrifices were also offered on this night to the spiritsof the dead, who were believed to have liberty at this season to visittheir old earthly haunts and their friends, --a belief this, which wasentertained by many ancient nations, and was the origin of many of thecurious superstitious customs still extant in this country onHallowe'en. Dr. Smith, commenting in _Jamieson's Dictionary_ on thesolemnities of Beltane, says, "The other of these solemnities was heldupon Hallow Eve, which in Gaelic still retains the name of_Sham-in_, --this word signifying the Fire of Peace, or the time ofkindling the fire for maintaining peace. It was at this season that theDruids usually met in the most central places of every country to adjustevery dispute and decide every controversy. On that occasion, all thefires in the country were extinguished on the preceding evening, inorder to be supplied next day by a portion of the holy fire which waskindled and consecrated by the Druids. Of this, no person who hadinfringed the peace, or become obnoxious by any breach of law, or guiltyof any failure in duty, was to have share, till he had first made allthe reparation and submission which the Druids required of him. Whoeverdid not, with the most implicit obedience, agree to this, had thesentence of excommunication passed against him, which was more dreadedthan death; none being allowed to give him house or fire, or shew himthe least office of humanity, under the penalty of incurring the samesentence. " The ancient Romans held a great and popular festival at theend of February, called the _Ferralia_. At this season, they visited thegraves of their departed friends, and offered sacrifices and oblationsto the spirits of the dead; they believed that the spirits of thedeparted, both the good and the bad, were released on that particularnight, and that, if they were not propitiated, these spirits would hauntthroughout the coming year their undutiful living relatives. In allprobability, though the time of celebration is different, these Romanceremonies and the Hallowe'en ceremonies in this country had a commonorigin. In the year 610, the Bishop of Rome ordained that the heathenPantheon should be converted into a Christian church, and dedicated toall the martyrs; and a festival was instituted to commemorate the event. This was held on the first of May, and continued to be held on this daytill 834, when the time of celebration was altered to the first ofNovember, and it was then called _All Hallow_, from a Saxon word, _Haligan_, meaning to keep holy. This change was doubtless made in orderto supply a Christian substitute for some heathen festival--in allprobability the festival of _Sham-in_, which, as we have seen, was anold Druidical feast. Some time after this alteration in the time ofholding the feast in honour of the martyrs, in 993, another festival wasinstituted for the purpose of offering prayers for the souls of those inpurgatory, and this feast was kept on the second of November, and wascalled _All Souls_. The following legend was either invented as aplausible reason for instituting this additional feast, or the legend, being previously well known and accepted as truth, was really the _bonafide_ reason for the institution:--"A pilgrim, returning from the HolyLand, was compelled by storm to land upon a rocky island, where he founda hermit, who told him that among the cliffs of the island was anopening into the infernal regions, through which huge flames ascended, and where the groans of the tormented were distinctly audible. Thepilgrim, on his return, told the Abbot of Clugny of this, and the Abbotappointed the second day of November to be set apart for the benefit ofsouls in purgatory, which was to be kept by prayers and almsgiving. " Itis easy to perceive that, while in the festival of Hallowe'en we havethe survival of the old Druidical festival of thank-offering to thesun-god for the ingathering of the fruits of the earth, we have also inthese two festivals of _All Saints_ and _All Souls_ the survival of theancient _Ferralia_, or festival to the dead, when offerings were made toboth good and bad spirits, to prevent them haunting the living; and thuswe can account for the prevalence of the numerous superstitionsconcerning ghosts and evil spirits connected with the festival ofHallowe'en. That these Church feasts were regarded as the substitute forthe _Ferralia_ of Pagan Rome is verified by Father Meagan in his work on_The Mass_. We quote from Jamieson:--"Such was the devotion of theheathen on this day by offering sacrifices for the souls in purgatory, by praying at the graves, and performing processions round thechurchyards with lighted tapers, that they called the month the month ofpardons, indulgences, and absolutions for souls in purgatory; or, asPlutarch calls it, the purifying month, or season of purification, because the living and dead were supposed to be purged and purified onthese occasions from their sins by sacrifices, flagellations, and otherworks of mortification. " Plutarch, I think, must have referred to themonth of February as the purifying month. Father Meagan has not referredto the change of date made by the Church. Doubtless the ChristianChurch, in instituting these festivals, intended, by divesting them oftheir heathen basis, to christianise the people; but, like Naaman ofold, the worshippers, while they worshipped in the buildings inconformity with the regulations of their new teachers, yet retained manyof their old Pagan beliefs and ceremonies, and even their teachers werenot thoroughly de-Paganised, --and so the old and new commingled andcrystallized together. 

In all the four festivals we have been considering, there survive relicsof fire-worship, and through all there runs a similarity of observanceand belief; but the special practices are not everywhere joined to thesame festival in all localities. In this part of the country, thespecial observances connected with Hallowe'en were, in other parts ofthe country, observed in connection with the summer festival. Now, however, we are glad to say, these superstitious ceremonies and beliefsin their old gross forms are fast passing away, or have become somodified that we can scarcely recognise their relations to the oldfire-worship. 

In 1860, I was residing near the head of Loch Tay during the season ofthe Hallowe'en feast. For several days before Hallowe'en, boys andyouths collected wood and conveyed it to the most prominent places onthe hill sides in their neighbourhood. Some of the heaps were as largeas a corn-stack or hay-rick. After dark on Hallowe'en, these heaps werekindled, and for several hours both sides of Loch Tay were illuminatedas far as the eye could see. I was told by old men that at the beginningof this century men as well as boys took part in getting up thebonfires, and that, when the fire was ablaze, all joined hands anddanced round the fire, and made a great noise; but that, as thesegatherings generally ended in drunkenness and rough and dangerous fun, the ministers set their faces against the observance, and were secondedin their efforts by the more intelligent and well-behaved in thecommunity; and so the practice was discontinued by adults and relegatedto school boys. In the statistical account of the parish of Callander, the same practice is referred to. It is stated that "When the bonfirewas consumed, the ashes of the fire were carefully collected in the formof a circle, and a stone put in near the circumference for every personin the several families concerned in getting up the fire; and whateverstone is moved out its place or injured before next morning, the personrepresented by the stone is devoted or fey, and is supposed not to livetwelve months from that day. " In all probability this devoted person wasin olden times offered as a sacrifice to the fire god on the great dayof sacrifice, which was the festival day. The belief that the spirits ofthe dead were free to roam about on that night is still held by many inthis country. Indeed, where the forms of the feast have all butdisappeared, the superstitious auguries connected with it survive. Burnsparticularises very fully the formulæ of Hallowe'en, as practised inAyrshire in his day, and as this poem is well known, it would besuperfluous to follow it in detail here; but I cannot refrain fromdrawing attention to the suggestions which one of the practices which hementions affords in favour of the supposition that it is a relic of anancient form of appeal to the fire god--I refer to the practice ofburning nuts. It seems likely that in ancient times the priests, whoclaimed prophetic power through the reading of auguries, used thismethod of deciding the future at this particular season of the year, andchiefly during the holding of the feast. 

Although I have confined my remarks to the four feasts, Yule, Beltane, Midsummer, and Hallowe'en, because they are the oldest and most properlynational, there were a number of other heathen feasts, emanatingprincipally from Roman practice, which the Church converted intoChristian feasts, notably what is now called Candlemass. On the secondday of February, the Romans perambulated their city with torches andcandles burning in honour of _Februa_; and the Greeks at this sameperiod held their feast of lights in honour of Ceres. Pope Innocentexplains the origin of this feast of Candlemass. He states that "Theheathens dedicated this month to the infernal gods. At its beginningPluto stole away Proserpine, and her mother Ceres sought for her in thenight with lighted torches. In the beginning of this month the idolaterswalked about the city with lighted candles, and as some of the holyfathers could not extirpate such a custom, they ordained that Christiansshould carry about candles in honour of the Virgin Mary. " This method ofkeeping the feast of Candlemass does not now prevail in this country; sofar as the laity are concerned, the festival may be said to have diedout, but according to Dr. Brewer, the festival is kept by the RomanCatholic Church as the time for consecrating the candles used in theChurch service. 

Formerly there were other public festivals, as Lammas, Michaelmass, &c. , which the Church had substituted for heathen feasts which have ceased tobe public festivals, and I trust we may indulge the hope that the timeis not far distant when, instead of all such festive relics ofheathenism, the Church and people will substitute one daily festival ofobedience to the honour of the founder of Christianity, viz. , thefestival of a righteous life. 

INDEX. 

 Page. 

Acts of Assembly against keeping Popular Festivals, 155Acts of Sessions against keeping Yule, 155Ague, A Cure for, 95All Hallow's Festival, its Origin, 177Animals in People's Stomachs, 103Anthropomorphism, 5Appendix, 143Appointment of 25th December for Christmas, 152Apple, The, Superstitions concerning, 122Aspen, Superstitions connected with, the 124Ash, Superstitions connected with, the 124Astoreth, The, of the Jews, 10Augustine's, St. , or Austin's Mission, 152Auguries connected with Funerals, 64Aytoun on Fairyland, 21

Baal, Name of Sun-God, 10, 161Babies Carried off by Fairies, 34, 40Babies to be taken up a Stair first time taken out, 31Bannocks at Yule and New-Year's Day, 160Baptism, Early Practices at, 31Baptismal Water, 140Bedding at Weddings, 53Beetles, Superstitions connected with, 116Beilteine, Baal's Fire, 161Belief in Fairies in this Country, 27 in Ghosts Visiting People, 176 in Witchcraft still Survives, 68Beltane, 161 Customs in Ireland, 166 Festival in Perthshire, 168 Day, First of May, 162 Held in some Counties on 3rd May, 162Birds Flying over a Person's Head, 114Black Art, The, 75Blessing the Candles to be Used in Church, 181Bonfires at Hallowe'en, 179Bonny Kilmeny, 22Booths in connection with Temples, 153Bottreill's Hearth Stories of West Cornwall, 173Boutree, or Bourtree, Defence against Evil-Eye, 126Breaking Looking-Glass on the Wall, 137Bride's Cake, Practices connected with, 51Bull of Innocent VIII. Against making Compacts with the Devil, 17

Candlemas, Relation of, to Festival of Februa, 181Casting of Calf by Cows Prevented, 84Cats Dying in the House not Lucky, 117Caul, Child's, its Influence, 32Celtic Irish hold Beltane at Midsummer, 172Celtic Names of Places indicate Sun-Worship, 149Ceremonies on St. John's Day, 174Changing of Babies by Fairies, 46Charms and Counter Charms, 79 for Curing Diseases, 91, 93Child Rowland in Elfland, 26Children Cutting Teeth, 137Cholera, its First Visit to this Country, 14 National Fast for, Refused, 15Christianity consistent with Nature, 16Christian Creeds not always consistent with Nature, 16Christmas Fixed to be kept on the 25th December, 152Church's, The, Enactments against Devil's Devices, 27Church, The, Punishing Deviation from her Creed, 17Clover, Four-Leaved, its Influence, 130Coal Explosions, Prognostics concerning, 138Cock Crowing with his Head to the Door, 114Cold Tremour, foreboding Death, 138Coral Beads, their Influence, 36Cornwall, Beltane Fires in Midsummer, 172Cows, Restive, foreboding Evil, 136Cricket in the House, 114Cure for an Evil Eye, 36Cutting the Nails of Young Children, 139

Deaf and Dumb possessing Second Sight, 72Death Warnings, 56Defending the Bride against Evil Influences, 51, 54Deid Bell, 66Deification of Stars, 145Devil conferring Supernatural Power, 28 Making Compacts with the, 77Dew-Collecting on First May, 170Different Nations modifying Customs, 151Dirgy, or Dredgy, after Funerals, 63Disease Transferred to the Lower Animals, 92, 96Divining by Bible and Key, 106 by Cups, 110 by a Staff, 108Double Ears of Corn, 139Dousing Rod to find Springs or Mineral Veins, 109Dress put on Wrong Side Out, 137Druids, 147Druidism in Ireland, 150Druidical Customs at Beltane, 164Duties of New-Married Wife in Old Times, 55

Ear Tingling, 137Ecclesiastical Influence Leading to Wrong Ideas of God, 6Eclipses Portending Evil, 141Eggs Laid upon Good Friday, 114Elder, or Bourtree, The, 125English Opinions of Yule Feasts in Scotland, 156Evil Eye, Influence of, 30, 35, 37Exorcising Ghosts, 11Extracts from Presbytery Records on Witchcraft, 67

Fairy Legend, A, 119Fairies, What They Are, 26Fairies, Brownies, and Elfs, by Rev. Mr. Kirk, 19Fairyland, its Government, 21Family Feasts at New-Year, 161Fascinating Children Prevented, 139Fasting Spittle, 98Feast of God, 173Feasts to Evil Spirits, 12Ferralia Festival like Hallowe'en, 176Ferns, Common, its Seed, 128Festivals of Druids at Winter Solstice, 153Fire, the Earthly Symbol of the Sun, 10Fire-Worship in Scotland in 1810, 84Fires Kindled on Mountains at Midsummer, 173First of May Customs, 167First-Footing at Yule, 156First-Foot to Present a Gift, 160Flora, Goddess, her Feast at Beltane, 167Floralia, or First of May Observances, 167Foot Itching, Sign of, 137Formula for Exorcising Ghosts, 11Forks, their First Use and Effects of, 15Four-Leaved Clover, 130Funeral Customs, 63 Old, in Highlands, 65

Guardian Angels, 59Gems, their Significance, 102Glamour, 132Giants and Dwarfs of Middle Ages, 19Girl's Petticoat Longer than Frock, Omen of, 137Goat, Beliefs concerning, 119Goodman's Croft, 140Golden Rose, 129Gods of the Babylonians, B. C. 2000, 7 Greeks in Classical Times, 8God, Different Ideas concerning, 5Haco Fixing 25th December for holding Christmas, 154Hades, 11Hallowe'en Practices, 175Hallowe'en Practices in Perthshire, 180Hand over Hand Divining, 110Hand Itching, its Meaning, 137Hansel Monday, 155Hare Crossing Road, Seeing a, 117Hazel, The, 125Hen, A, Crowing like a Cock, 113Herring-Fishing on Sabbath, its Consequences, 142Hogmanay, 154Hooping-Cough, Cure for the, 95Holly, The, 123Holy Fire, 176Holyrood, Origin of, 163Horse Shoe, Protection from Witchcraft, 139Horse, A, Neighing Towards a House, 114Human Hair in Birds' Nests, 114Hydrophobia, How to Prevent, 101

Influence of Charms, 89Influence of May Dew, 170Influences, The Evil, Communicated by Dress, 39Initial Letters of Man and Wife's Name, 138Intermixing of Heathen with Christian Practices, 18Intercourse held with Infernal Fiends, 17Isabella Goudie's Confessions, 22Itching of the Nose, 136

Jamieson, Dr. On Pales' Customs, 167

Killing Spiders, 115Kirk, Rev. Mr. , on the Nature of Fairies, 20Knife Presented as a Gift, 138

Ladybirds, 116Lammas Festival, 181Lamuralia, an Ancient Festival, 167Lee Penny, The, 95Legend of Burd Ellen, 22Legend of Purgatory, 177Lily, The, 130Like Wakes: and reasons for keeping them, 61Love Charms, 89Luck for new dress, How to procure, 137Lucky Animals, 120Lucky People to meet first, 32 as First Foot, 160

Making Effigies to Torment People, 77Mandrake, its Influence, 90Marriage Customs Sixty Years Ago, 46 Party meeting a Funeral, 51Marrying in May, 43Merlin the Wizard, 23Metals made under certain Constellations, 93Michælmas, 181Midfinger free from Canker, 99Midsummer Feast among the Ancients, 173 Festivals in this Country, 170Milk Bewitched, 81Milking the Tether, 75Mistletoe Gathering, 150 its Influence, 124Modern Superstitions, 34Money given to Poor at Funerals, 64Moon Worship, 98 a Female Deity, 10Murders discovered by Bleeding of Corpse, 85Murrain in Cattle Prevented, 84Mutes have Supernatural Gifts, 72

Names of Places connected with Fire Worship, 164 with Sun Worship, 172Natural Phenomena ascribed to Divinities, 9New Year's Day, an Ancient Roman Festival, 151 Observances, 159 Festival, 154New Moon, Prognostics, 98New Zealand Divining, 108

Oak, a Sacred Tree, 131Oaths to Satan, 88O'Brien on Beltane, 165Observances at Loch Tay on Hallowe'en, 178 at Yule, 156Odd Numbers Lucky, 109Old Religions mixing with Christianity, 179Omens connected with Bees, 115 with Magpies, 115Onion, a Disinfectant, 127Origin of Hallowe'en, 177 of All Souls, 177Overturning Chair on Leaving Table, 138

Pales, Goddess of Flocks, 166Palilia, Ancient Festival, 166Pennant's Account of Beltane in the Highlands, 169People Selling themselves to the Devil, 27Person first met in the Morning, 136Peruvian Ancient Sun Worship, 146Phoenicians in Britain 1000 B. C. , 148Photographs not Lucky, 142Place at Dinner, 138Plants Gathered on St. John's Eve, 174Plough first seen in Season, 136Portends for Good or Evil, 136Prayers Unanswered, Cause not Sought, 14 said Backwards, 134Prayers to the Gods, 13Precious Stones: their Virtue, 102Preparations made for Yule, 156Priests, their Office and Power, 9Professor Veitch on Beltane, 162Providence--General and Special, 18Purgatory, Proof for, 172

Recovering Stolen Babies, 40Red Colour a Charm, 80Relics in Curing Diseases, 102Repeal of Law against Witchcraft, 68Ringing Bells at Funerals, 66Robin Redbreast, 111Rocking an Empty Cradle, 137Rood Day Changed to Beltane, 162Roman Festivals in Spring, 166 Marriage Customs, 45Rose, an Emblem of Silence, 129Running the Broose, 49Rowan Tree Protection against Witchcraft, 79

Sacred Fire Practice this Century, 83Salamander, The, 118Salt: its Influence, 33 to Spill: its Significance, 139Scissors Presented as a Gift, 138Scoreing aboon the Breath, 38Second Sight, 71Session: Acts against keeping Yule, 155Seventh Son a Doctor, 90Sheep Prevented Casting their Lambs, 84Sham-in, Ancient Feast of Druids, 175Shepherds keeping Beltane in Perthshire, 169Sin Eaters, 60Speaking Aloud to One's Self, 138Spell to make a Fire Kindle, 135Spider, A Legend concerning, 115Spittle Confirming Bargain, 100Spittle, Customs connected with, 100Social Habits of Elfland, 26Sorcerers, 108Souls of the Departed, 11Sooth Sayers, 10Sow to Meet in the Morning, 120St. Augustus, 152St. John's Day Festival, 174St. John's Wort: a Talisman, 128Stealing Children and Youths by Fairies, 21Star Gazers, 10Stonehenge, 171Strangers on the Grate, 140Stye, Cause of, 96Stye, Cure for, 97Suicides, Superstition relating to, 85Sun Worship in Ancient Times, 146Sun, Primary God of the Ancient, 9Survival of Sun Worship, 145Superstitious Rites with a Corpse, 60Superstition, Meaning of, 2Swallows, Omens connected with, 112Sympathetic Cures, 91

Thank-offering for Answer to Prayer, 13Theory of Curing by Charms, 91Touching for Disease, 91Touching of a Corpse to Prevent Dreaming of it, 63Twin Nuts in One Shell, 136

Visions, Seeing, 72Visit to Stonehenge on Midsummer, 171

Warts, Cure for, 97Weighing Children Unlucky, 137Willow, The, 125White Butterfly, 115Wishes Fulfilled, 87Wishes against Self: an Oath Fulfilled, 88Withershins, 133Witches, A, Account of Fairyland, 22Witches Changing their Shape, 70Wizards, 10Wodrow's Opinion on Murdered Corpse Bleeding, 85Woman Carried away by Fairies in Arran, 29Wraiths, 58Written Charms, 91

Yellow Hammer, The, 112Yule: its Meaning, 149Yule converted into Christmas, 154Yule Observances Transferred to New Year's Day, 157