Folklore of the Scottish Highlands (21 page)

Hogmanay of the sack,

Hogmanay of the sack,

Strike the hide,

Strike the hide.

Hogmanay of the sack,

Hogmanay of the sack.

This ritual rhyme was, of course, chanted in Gaelic. Its very monotony imparted a certain eerie relentlessness to the ceremony. When it was finished, another carol or chant would be sung at the door of the house; this would praise — in anticipation — the generosity of the occupiers and would request entry and reward. In some areas the skin was singed by the man of the house, and the fumes it gave off were believed to have powers of purification, imparting health to all the family for the next 12 months. A New Year’s Blessing, widely used and having a number of variants, could also be heard both in the islands and the Gaelic mainland. Pennant records, for the Dingwall region of Easter Ross, that he was told in the locality that on New Year’s Day the people burned juniper before their cattle in order to protect them — another custom going back to Druidic times. He also learnt that on the first Monday of every quarter, the beasts were sprinkled with urine — a potent evil-averting substance. The houses were decorated with holly in order to keep out the fairies, always a troublesome race; it was believed that if a boy were whipped with a branch of this plant it was an assurance that he would live for as many years as the drops of blood drawn by the sharp holly — a painful way of ensuring longevity! Cheese, as we have seen, was believed to have magical properties, and was eaten on this occasion. A slice of it was preserved, and if this happened to have a hole through it, it was believed to have special virtues. This sacred slice was known as
laomacha
, and a person who had lost his way at any time during the ensuing 12 months had only to look through the hole in the slice and he would know where he was — this was especially valuable to one lost on the hill in mist. It was regarded as a very magical festival in every respect, and games of all kinds were played (
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). Some of these were concerned with the endlessly fascinating desire to find out who one’s future husband or wife was destined to be. Sometimes the boys in the Hogmanay procession were preceded by a piper. No matter how long or short the chant was, some words at least must be recited. It was the tradition to keep the fire, which was usually ‘smoored’ or extinguished at night, alive all through New Year’s Night. Only a friend might approach the sacred blaze, and the candles were likewise kept burning in the house.

This custom gave rise to another name for the festival,
Oidhche Choinnle
, ‘Candlemas’. These various rites were performed in the belief that, by observing them, evil would be kept from the dwelling for the ensuing year. When the fire was being fuelled on this night, a special incantation was recited, but Campbell was unable to obtain an example of this. If the fire went out that night, it boded ill for the coming year, and no neighbour would provide kindling to light it on the following day. Ritual even accompanied the extinguishing or ‘smooring’ of the everyday fires; the putting out of the flames was called in Gaelic
smàladh an teine
. The main fuel used in the Highlands and Islands was, of course, peat; wood was scarce, and although much more coal is used today, peat is still burnt. The fire was not entirely extinguished but kept barely smouldering during the night. Until very recently the fire was in the centre of the floor of the so-called ‘black’ houses, and the embers were smoothed out evenly on the hearth; these were then covered over with large peats and ashes to prevent the fire from blazing up in the night, but to ensure easy kindling in the morning. The whole process was regarded with superstition, and was accompanied by many incantations. One incantation, taken down by Carmichael invokes:

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Five of the ivory chessmen found at Vig, Isle of Lewis, in 1831. National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland

The Sacred Three

To save,

To shield,

To surround

The hearth,

The house,

The household,

This eve,

This night,

On this eve

This night,

And every night,

Each single night.

There are many variants of invocations for this important function of smooring the fire, all of a sacred nature, and going right back to the ancient pagan belief in the miraculous power of fire. The kindling in the morning, on which all domestic comfort depended, had its own repertoire of charms and incantations for blessing:

I will raise the hearth-fire

As Mary would.

The encirclement of Bride and of Mary

On the fire, and on the floor,

And on the household all.

Who are they on the bare floor?

John and Peter and Paul.

Who are they by my bed?

The lovely Bride and her Fosterling.

Who are those watching over my sleep ?

The fair loving Mary and her Lamb.

Who is that at the back of my head ?

The Son of Life without beginning, without time.

Deeply and sincerely Christian as these devout Highlanders were, they managed to keep the essence of the old religion in being by turning from the many pagan gods and goddesses — although, as we have seen, some of these were retained underneath a veneer of Christianity — to the many saints and angels, as well as the Virgin and the Trinity, thus continuing to surround themselves with divine protection, of a Christian kind, but according to the ancient pre-Christian formulae.

To return to the important festival of New Year, Campbell, in his
Witchcraft
, notes that
Latha na Bliadhn’ Ùr
, ‘New Year’s Day’, was also known as the Day of Little Christmas. After the family had got up in the morning, the head of the house gave a dram of whisky to each member of the household; then a strange custom followed in some areas; a breakfast was provided of half-boiled sowens (fermented porage) — austere fare for a festive occasion. This was supposed to bring luck to the household. Campbell does say that this tradition was not observed in Mull, Morvern or the Western Isles. Then each member of the family exchanged traditional greetings and did likewise with every person they met. The boys then went off to play shinty and meanwhile a late and luxurious breakfast was prepared. Apparently, no substance of any kind was allowed to be removed from the house on New Year’s Day — dirty water, sweepings from the floor, ashes and so on. If a neighbour’s fire had gone out one must not give fire from one’s own house to him; this was regarded as one of the most unlucky things that could be done. It would ensure a death within that family during the coming year; it also gave power to the black witches to take away the produce from the cattle. No woman should enter the house first on this portentous day.

Là Féill Bhríde
, St Bride’s Day

This most important festival is of particular interest in that not only has an ancient Celtic calendar festival been taken over into Christianity, but a pagan goddess, Bride, or Brigit, has become a Christian saint, and in the Hebrides is held to be the midwife of the Virgin Mary. St Bride’s feast-day is on 1 February, the time of one of the four great calendar festivals of the pagan Celtic year,
Imbolc
, a pastoral feast to celebrate lactation of the ewes, which began at that time. Bride was deeply loved in the Highlands, and until the nineteenth century very elaborate ritual was associated with her special day. In origin, the daughter of the Irish god, the Dagda (
Deagh Dia
, ‘Good god’), and envisaged, like so many Celtic deities in triple form, she was also venerated in Celtic Europe, and gave her name in the form Brigantia, ‘the High One’, to the powerful confederacy of Celtic tribes in North Britain, the Brigantes, ‘Devotees of Brigantia’. It is clear that she was a very important Celtic deity. She was taken over into Christianity as St Brigit of Kildare, and her association with the land and the stock is always stressed in the earliest written references. A perpetual fire was kept burning in her honour at Kildare, constantly attended by nine Virgins. As the midwife of the supreme birth, she was much invoked in the Highlands by women in child-bed who sought her assistance in an easy and safe delivery. Very complex and elaborate ceremonies took place on 1 February. Carmichael records that at one time, in the Catholic islands, the genealogy or
sloinntearachd
— always a passion amongst the Celts — of Bride was recited; it was chanted, and believed to be helpful in a variety of situations. Hymns were also sung to the goddess-saint on her feast day, but even in Carmichael’s time, there were only fragmentary folk memories of them extant. The day was known in Gaelic as
Là Féill Bhrìde
, ‘St Brigit’s Feast Day’.

A legend was current in the Hebrides as to how the saint delivered Christ in the stable in Bethlehem; immediately after his birth she placed three drops of spring water on his brow, in the name of the Trinity. For this reason, people used to say, she is called
Muime Chriosda
, ‘the Foster-mother of Christ’. He in his turn was known as
Dalta Brìde
‘the Foster-Son of Bride’. This is an extremely important relationship in the Highlands, the tradition of fosterage being deeply rooted in Celtic traditions from earliest times, and the bond between foster-mother and foster-son being almost closer than that of parent and child. Carmichael, who made an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of Highland folklore and custom when he collected these vestigial remains of a once-elaborate ritual, records that when a woman was in labour, the midwife would go to her door, place her hands on the jambs, and beg Bride to enter by saying:

Bride! Bride! come in,

Thy welcome is truly made,

Give thou relief to the woman.

And give the conception to the Trinity.

An easy birth was believed to indicate that the saint was well-disposed towards the family; a difficult delivery suggested the opposite. The midwife placed three drops of pure water on the new-born infant’s brow, just as Bride is alleged to have done to the baby Christ.

Diardaoin Chaluim-Chille
, ‘St Columba’s Day’

In discussing Highland Calendar Festivals, we have seen that Pennant mentions how on the first Monday of every quarter the people in the Conon region used to sprinkle their cattle with urine — urine being widely believed to have strong apotropaic powers. He then goes on to mention that ‘in some parts of the country there is a rural sacrifice, different from that before-mentioned’. He observed that a cross was cut on some sticks, which were then dipped in pottage; the Thursday before Easter one of each of these was placed over the sheep-cot, the stable, or the cow-house, to protect the stock. Maundy Thursday was, of course, St Columba’s Day —
Diardaoin Chaluim-Chille
, one of the best-loved of the Highland saints. The Day was observed in a variety of different ways throughout the Highlands. It was looked upon as a lucky day for all activities, including setting out on a journey. On the eve of St Columba’s Day, the woman of the house used to make a bannock of oats or rye and she would place a small silver coin in this. The cake was then toasted in front of a fire which had been kindled from one of the sacred woods — oak, yew, or rowan. On Maundy Thursday the head of the house would take the cake and cut it into as many pieces as there were children in the family, all of the same size. These were placed in a basket and each child helped himself to a piece; the child who got the coin was given the crop of lambs for the year, or at least part of them. In coastal regions a very pagan practice occurred; offerings were made to some now obscure sea-god. This strange custom persisted down into the twentieth century. In Lewis, for example, the god was called Shony, a corruption no doubt of some ancient pagan divine name. A man would wade up to his waist in the sea and pour ale into it at midnight on the Eve of Maundy Thursday; various chants are known, and one recorded by Carmichael is as follows:

O God of the sea,

Put weed in the drawing wave

To enrich the ground,

To shower on us food.

Everyone behind the man performing this ritual took up the chant; often the ceremony would be followed by food and drink and merry-making. The patently pagan custom was seriously frowned on by the Protestant Church, but persisted nevertheless. Thursday, because of its associations with St Columba, was always regarded as a lucky day, except, apparently, when Beltain fell on a Thursday. The following incantation used to be said on St Columba’s Day:

Thursday of Columba benign,

Day to send sheep on prosperity,

Day to send cow on calf,

Day to put the web in the warp.

Day to put coracle on the brine,

Day to place the staff to the flag,

Day to bear, day to die,

Day to hunt the heights.

Day to put horses in harness,

Day to send herds to pasture,

Day to make prayer efficacious,

Day of my beloved, the Thursday,

Day of my beloved, the Thursday.

Di-Dòmhnaich-Càisg
, ‘Easter’

Easter Sunday was observed in the Highlands by preparing and eating certain kinds of pancakes made of eggs, milk and meal or flour. The tradition of taking quantities of hard-boiled eggs dyed in various substances was also prevalent amongst the young; these were rolled and then eaten; this custom persists in many places to the present day. Good Friday was also observed, and in many areas the sanctity of this day was remembered throughout the year. For example, the time of the marking of the lambs was once thought to be fraught with potential evil and danger. Invocations and special rites were widely regarded as being necessary to avoid disaster. The marking was traditionally done on a Thursday, St Columba’s Day. It was customary never to mark the lambs on a Friday, or to draw blood on that day. Carmichael records that the Highlanders tended never to use iron in any form on Friday. A blacksmith in Benbecula, and a Protestant not a Catholic, would, according to Carmichael, never open his smithy on a Friday. He used to say, apparently, that ‘that was the least he could do to honour his Master’. The pieces cut from the lambs’ ears were carefully buried beyond reach of bird or beast. It was believed that a certain plant grew from them, which was known as
gearradh-chluasach
; when this plant is ripe, it is cut, tied up in a bunch and hung from the beam above the door of the lamb cot. This custom still persisted until Carmichael’s time.