Prayers, blessings, charms, and incantations: What Carmichael did and didn't print before Carmina Gadelica

From his papers we can calculate that during the time he lived in Uist, between 1864 and 1882, Alexander Carmichael recorded at least 62 charm texts. But in actual fact, Carmichael would print hardly any of this rich corpus under his own name before he published the first two volumes of Carmina Gadelica in 1900. What did appear was a number of prayers and blessings among other ‘old hymns’ included in ‘Grazing and Agrestic Customs of the Outer Hebrides’, Carmichael’s unorthodox contribution to Appendix A of the Napier Commission’s Report into the Condition of the Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1884), 451–82; these were republished in Lord Archibald Campbell’s Records of Argyll (Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1885), 385–98. Some of these appeared again in the paper Carmichael gave on 24 December 188 about ‘Uist Old Hymns’ to the Gaelic Society of Glasgow, a revised version of a newspaper report of which was printed in the Society’s Transactions, i (1887–91), 34–47.

Now, it seems significant that neither of these pieces, ‘Grazing and Agrestic Customs’ or ‘Uist Old Hymns’, actually contains any item whatsoever which Carmichael would include in the second volume of Carmina Gadelica, the one mostly taken up with Uibe or Incantations. What we do have in these articles are what he was to describe in the first volume of CG as Achaine or Invocations: that is, blessings and prayers. This inevitably brings us to the delicate and problematic distinction between blessings and prayers, and charms and incantations. The Gaelic scholar Alexander Macbain, whom we’ll meet again shortly, anticipates a common, but by no means uncontroversial, modern definition of the latter when he writes:

An incantation consists of a formula of words which is recited to bring about certain physical results to which the meaning of the words has some correspondence more or less direct. [Alexander Macbain, ‘Gaelic incantations’, Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, xvii (1890–1), 222].

But strict, watertight divisions between the two genres are difficult to uphold. Macbain admits as such a few pages later on:

The exact line of demarcation on the one hand between what is an incantation and what is a prayer or hymn, and on the other hand between an incantation and an ordinary secular song, is often difficult to draw. [ibid., 230]

We can build on Macbain’s suggestion by suggesting that, pragmatically and in general, it was felt that charms tended to focus upon specific ailments or accidents, to ‘bespell’ people, or to protect them against evil eye. Of course prayers could also function to protect or cure; charms, however, often needed to be recited by a specific class of people to be efficacious: the luchd-eòlais, or ‘cunning folk’ in English. Charms were usually more ‘performance pieces’ than prayers, often delivered with the assistance of an object or an amulet, in specific places, at specific times, and under specific conditions of enactment. Most importantly of all, charms had to be kept secret. Often a charm couldn’t be given to just anybody. If it were to retain its efficacy, it had to be handed down under certain restrictions: a woman had to give a charm text to a man or vice versa, for example. Once the charm had been given to somebody else, the original reciter might lose their power to use it. Prayers, on the other hand, were much more portable, and much more public.

In both ‘Grazing and Agrestic Customs’ and ‘Uist Old Hymns’, it’s notable that Carmichael never uses the words ‘charm’ or ‘incantation’. We have ‘hymns’, ‘prayers’, ‘invocations’, ‘croons’, and ‘dedicatory hymns’, but no charms. If anything, Carmichael appears keen to play down the category: although he reprints six pieces from the Napier Commission Report in ‘Uist Old Hymns’, it may be significant that this time he misses out the Beannachadh Buachailleachd (‘Herding Blessing’) and the Rann Buachailleachd (‘Herding Rune’), prayers to protect cows which to our eyes shade suspiciously into charms to be recited by milkmaids and cattle herds. Mention is certainly made in ‘Uist Old Hymns’ of a Eòlas Ceartais, but this piece is described as a prayer rather than a charm for justice, and is not printed in the article. Incidentally, this was probably the Eòlas Ceartais obtained from Catrìona Macintosh, Staoidhligearraidh, on 20 May 1875 (CW87/17 [fos.12v–13]), and printed as Ora Ceartais, no. 20 in CG i, 52–3.

Two questions for the next blog on this subject: Which charms recorded by Alexander Carmichael had been published before Carmina? And why was he apparently so reluctant to see them in print once more?

References:
Alexander Carmichael, ‘Grazing and Agrestic Customs of the Outer Hebrides’, Parliamentary Report into the Condition of the Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1884), 451–82.
_____. ‘Prayers and hymns of the Hebrides’ in Lord Archibald Campbell (ed.), Records of Argyll (Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1885), 385–98.
_____. ‘Uist old hymns’, Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Glasgow, i (1887–91), 34–47.
Alexander Macbain, ‘Gaelic incantations’, Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, xvii (1890–1), 222–66.

Images:
Staoiligearraidh, home of Catriona Macintosh

Breac anns an Tobar

St Andrew's Well, Isle of Lismore, Argyllshire

 

A bricein in Tob (Tobar) D (Domhnull) nan

Ord 140 yrs (years) old. A strange

lad took it out Then put it

back & Stop ad cuir cann (ceann)

on. The trout died.

This is quite an unusual entry in Carmichael’s notebooks dated 27 September 1883 and collected from John Livingstone 'Muillear Mòr', Portnacroish, Appin aged 73 years. The mention of trout in wells is not very common although it does get a mention in Seán Ó Suilleabháin’s A Handbook of Irish Folklore: is a trout or other fish supposed to inhabit the well permanently? Is it considered unlucky to meddle with this fish?

With a bit of research it was discovered that a trout or even an eel living in a well was a good omen, especially if they appeared at the time of pilgrimage. If the fish was removed there were often consequences. Here is a story related to Sunday’s Well, Walshestown, Co. Cork:

The story is to the effect that a local woman carried home water from the well to boil potatoes, but unfortunately the eel had been drawn out at the same time. To her amazement the water remained cold after hours of boiling until her husband found out what had happened and returned the eel and water to the well. But this did not appease the offended spirit, who caused the well to dry up; and it has remained dry to the present day. (Cordner, 30)

On further research to the Scottish Studies Archive a handful of references to trout in wells were discovered in the MacLagan Manuscripts and the oral recordings:

           

            From Mrs McLean, Kintra, Islay.

Tobar a’bhric, is the name of a well on Lic. Which is now a part of the Estate of Ballinaby, in Islay. It is said to have got this name because it has never yet been seen without a trout in it. Long ago offerings used to be made to it and old people treated it with much respect, under the belief that it possessed healing properties.

            From William Forbes, Camuserney, Perthshire (oral recording summary)

Wells: this well, only wishing well he knows of. Called tobar taimh in Gaelic. Quite a number of wells in the area, but he does not know their names. There was a village well until recently. The women cleaned it out each year. 1 trout always kept in it, which they fed. Trout quite a pet. When it died, no fish for many years, then replaced.

From Stephen Bichan, Rendall, Orkney (oral recording summary)

Fish in wells: has heard of eels in wells in North Isles, not in Deerness; but there is a saying that a girl expecting a love-child has "a trout in the well".

A well in Kilbride is mentioned by Martin Martin in his A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland :

           

I saw a little Well in Kilbride in the South of Skie, with one Trout only in it; the Natives are very tender of it, and tho they often chance to catch it in their wooden Pales, they are very careful to preserve it from being destroy’d; it has been seen there for many Years: there is a Rivulet not far distant from the Well, to which it hath probably had access thro some narrow Passage.

He also refers to Skye and the well of Lough-Siant well and the surrounding area:

There is a  little fresh-water Lake within ten Yards of the said Well; it abounds with Trouts, but neither the natives nor Strangers will ever presume to destroy any of them, such is the Esteem they have for the Water.

References

CW120/188 f.52

MacLagan Manuscripts, Volume 25, pps 5319-5320

Oral Recordings 1964 17 a6 and 1967 115 A11

Cordner, W. S., ‘The Cult of the Holy Well’, Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 9 (1946), 24-36.

Martin, Martin A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (Glasgow : T.D. Morison, 1884), 141.

Ó Súilleabháin, Sean A Handbook of Irish Folklore (Detroit: Singing Tree Press, 1970), 279.

Images

St Andrew's Well, Isle of Lismore, Argyllshire, taken by Ciorstag, August 2009.

Tracking Down Treasures

Last Sunday the team made their way through beautifully snowy glens to Fort William to carry out a significant piece of work for the project. Fort William is home to the West Highland Museum, where the majority of the artefacts collected by Alexander Carmichael are held. Indeed, the museum has looked after the collection for a long time, first taking it in as a loan from Michael Carmichael, one of Alexander's grandsons, in 1948 before it was gifted to the museum in 1992.

Domhnall Uilleam placing a winnowing riddle for Carsten to photograph

In addition to research, this phase of the project aims to catalogue all the objects collected by Carmichael. In order to make a useful online catalogue photographs are required, so we hired Highland photographer Carsten Flieger to work with us. Now, the collection is complicated enough, with Uist plaids, Jacobite tartans, bronze brooches, bone pins, fossils, wool carders, sea bean charms, oil lamps and swords to contend with without adding in the fact that a large proportion of the collection is on display. Luckily for us museum volunteer and former curator Sally Archibald had given up her time to help us identify objects in storage and carefully remove and replace objects on display. No mean feat given the weight of some of the display cases - it's not just the tango that takes two.

Guinevere proving the worth of a porridge breakfast with the charms display case

The variety of objects, their dispersal throughout the museum and the need to consult different lists compiled over the years made the task quite complicated, however we soon had a production line of sorts going. Working from the largest objects to the smallest, prioritising items on display and trying to keep things made of similar materials together were key. Over the five days we were in Fort William, of the 200 or so items which were produced Carsten took over 300 photographs. What we've seen so far is first-class and we can hardly wait to see them all properly: ruddy-red tartans, shiny sea beans, ferocious flax combs. However, we're going to have to wait as we still have some objects to to photograph, which, now we have some experience, we know will probably take another two days.

Carsten and the bright lights making sure everything looks as it should

We are grateful to the West Highland Museum, especially manager Colleen Foggo for letting us work for as long as possible each day to get through the material and for being patient with us as we roved the different floors and rooms of the museum seeking out Carmichael-collected objects. We are indebted to Sally Archibald for the extraordinary energy and work she put into locating and identifying items.

Sally and Kirsty try to identify a brooch

The museum re-opens following its winter closure next week, so if you're in Fort William, do go in as it's well worth the time.

Òran a’ Gheòcaire

Just for Lent: a blog about the ‘Glutton’s Song’ (‘Cruachan Ben as crowdie, Loch Awe cream …’) recorded by Alexander Carmichael from Donald Maclean, husband of Catrìona MacColl from Lismore, while on a visit to the Isle of Coll in September 1887.

Tha e air a bhith greiseag mhath bho nochd am blog mu dheireadh anns a’ Ghàidhlig; an-diugh, cuiridh sinn fo ur comhair pìos beag mu rannan éibhinn, agus an Carghas dìreach a’ tòiseachadh. Seo thugaibh Òran a’ Gheòcaire, co-dhiù mar a sgrìobh Alasdair MacGilleMhìcheil sìos e bho aithris Dhomhnaill MhicGillEathain, tuathanach Àirigh Leòid, ’s e air chuairt ann an Eilean Chola a’s t-fhoghar 1887:

            The Song of the Glutton

Cruachan Beann bhi na ghruitheam (curds & butter mixed)
Loch du’aich bhi na uac[hd]ar
Gach beinn s gach monadh bhi nan caise
S an gleann so lamh rium lan fuaraig
            O b’eibhinn an t-aran
            Strac thairis da’n im
            Saoil m bu chunnart ar bathadh
            Na m bu bhlathach bu chuan
            Siuil mhuice us crainn gheire
            S mor an t-eireac[hd]as cuain sid!

                        Oran a gheocaire
From Donald Maclean Airileoid, Coll
                                    Sep 1887 [CW131A, fo.126]

Ged a chanas an sluagh-chunntas gum b’ ann ann an Eilean nam Muc a rugadh Domhnall MacGillEathain, timcheall air 1825, b’ ann air tac Chille Mhoire ann an Eilean Rùma a bha na daoine aige air a bhith a’ fuireachd airson sia glùintean. Ann an 1860 phòs Domhnall Catrìona NicColla á Lios Mór; bha ochdnar de theaghlach aca. Faodaidh amharas a bhith againn gun robh Catrìona càirdeach do dh’ Alasdair taobh a mhàthar, agus b’ e siud a thug air dhol air chéilidh air tac Àirigh Leòid ann an Cola ’s e air chuairt ann an Eilean Thiriodh aig deireadh an t-Sultain 1887. Gu dearbh, leis mar a rugadh Catrìona ann an 1836, bhiodh e coltach gun robh an dithis Liosach air a bhith eòlach air a chéile bho aois òig.

Tha e follaiseach gun robh na briathran a’ fairtleachadh air Domhnall aig deireadh an òrain. Seo mar a théid na rannan gu léir a chur sìos anns a’ phàipear-naidheachd Mac-Talla ann an 1901: chaidh an clò-bhualadh an uair sin le Alasdair MacGillEathain Mac na Ceàrdaich ’na chruinneachadh Mactalla nan Tùr (1909).

        Guidhe a’ Gheocaire

Nam faighinn-sa m’ iarrtas,
            B’ e mo mhiann air an uair seo
Cruachan Beann bhith ’na ghruthaim
            Is Loch Odha bhith ’na uachdar,
Is gach gleann a tha làmh ris
            Bhith làn blàth bhainne buaile.
Cha bhiodh cùram gum bàtht’ sinn
            Nam bu bhlàthach bu chuan dhuinn.
            O, b’ éibhinn an t-aran
            Is stràic thairis de’n ìm air!

Bhiodh taoibh dhìonach a’ m’ bhàta
            De bhuntàta math suaite;
Druim dìreach de dh’ aran,
            Is rol mharag mu’n cuairt air;
Bhiodh a tobhta de chabhraich,
            ’S bhiodh an dram ’dol mu’n cuairt innt’;
’S mi gun iomaireadh gu làidir,
            Is ràimh chàis’ air a gualainn.
            O, b’ éibhinn an t-aran,
            Is stràic thairis de’n ìm air!

Tagairtean:
CW131A, fo.126
Cruinneachadh Maclean Sinclair NSARM MG 1, leabh. 2660 àirn 74–5.

Alexander Maclean Sinclair (deas.), Mactalla nan Tùr (Sydney, CB, 1909), 100–1.
_____, The Clan Gillean (Charlottetown, 1899), 399.
Mac-Talla, ix, 41 (12 Giblein 1901)

Dealbh:
Cruachan Beann agus Loch Odha

Who else was collecting Gaelic charms?

Alexander Carmichael was by no means the only Gaelic speaker collecting and publishing charms at the end of the nineteenth century. In the next few blogs we’d like to take a brief look at Carmichael’s contemporaries – all of them men – who took an interest in Gaelic charms and incantations, in order to give readers an idea of what they gathered and how they presented their finds to the public. Carmichael may well have collected the lion’s share of these fascinating items, but there is much more to Gaelic charm collection than Alexander Carmichael alone.

We saw in the previous blog how, in January 1842, the Rev. Norman MacLeod, ‘Caraid nan Gàidheal’, printed a seun or battle charm in the periodical he was then editing, Cuairtear nan Gleann. The article, entitled ‘Saobh-chràbhadh nan Gàidheal anns na lìnntibh a chaidh seachad’ (‘Superstition of the Gaels in ages past’), allowed the minister to have his cake and eat it: both to print an item which he knew would be of great interest to his readers, while at the same time giving him an opportunity to inveigh against the ‘saobh-chràbhadh’ and ‘nithe faoine’ (foolish or vain things) of an earlier generation of supposedly less enlightened Gaels.

‘Caraid nan Gàidheal’ didn’t have long to wait for some feedback. Two issues later he printed a five-page letter from ‘G— C—’, again on ‘Saobh-chràbhadh nan Gàidheal’. I see, stated G. C., that you write that ‘gach ni mu shèun, mu ghisreagan, mu gheasan, agus mu dhruidheachd’ (‘everything about seun, enchantments, spells, and druidism’) has now been forgotten.

Bu ro thaitneach leam so a chluinntinn, nam b’urrainn domh a chreidsinn gu’n robh e fìor; ach tha dearbh-chinnte agam gu’m bheil mòran de na nithean faoin agus peachdach so fathast air an cleachduinn air feadh na Gàidhealtachd, agus gu’m bheil sluagh lionmhor a toirt làn ghéill dhoibh.

I should be very pleased to hear this, if I could believe it were true; but I am absolutely certain that many of these vain and sinful things are still in use throughout the Highlands, and that numerous people believe in them totally.

In his letter, G. C. plays the same game as MacLeod, going into fascinating detail about charms and folk cures for cattle and horses then current – indeed apparently exceptionally common – in the Isle of Skye, as well as giving an example of silver water used to quench bleeding. The final page is devoted to a tirade, not just against practitioners of witchcraft, but against those who pay them:

Tha iadsan, mar an ceudna ag àicheadh freasdail agus maitheas an Tighearna. Tha iad a dol airson còmhnuidh agus dìon chum a nàimhdean. Tha iad a cur an làmh ris gach barail mhearachdaich, bhreugaich, mhì-dhiadhaidh, a tha aig luchd nan gisreagan: agus an aon seadh, ’s iad is coireach ann am peacaidhean na muinntir eile; oir mar biodh iadsan a toirt duais seachad airson upagan a’s eòlais, cha b’fhada gus an sguirte dhaibh. Cha’n eil buidseach ’san dùthaich a bhiodh air an dragh dol troimh cleasan mar faigheadh i pàigheadh air a shon.

They also deny God’s dispensation and mercy. They go to His enemies for help and protection. They add their hand to every mistaken, lying, irreligious opinion held by the charmers: in one way, they are responsible for the sins of the others; for if they didn’t reward charms and incantations, it wouldn’t be long before they’d cease. There isn’t a witch in the country who’d be bothered going through her tricks unless she received payment for it.

G. C. ends the letter by urging MacLeod to continue his campaign in demonstrating the foolishness and sinfulness of these customs.

Who then was G. C.? In a brief but important article in the Review of Scotttish Culture about seuntan entitled ‘Lead hearts and runes of protection’, Professor Hugh Cheape makes the astute suggestion that the writer was Gilleasbaig Cléireach or the Rev. Archibald Clerk (1813–87), none other than the Rev. Norman MacLeod’s son-in-law [Review of Scottish Culture, 18 (2006), 155n.5]. Like MacLeod’s correspondent, Clerk had recently been in the Isle of Skye: he had served as minister of Duirinish between March 1840 and November 1841, and had written a description of the parish for the New Statistical Account. When we compare G. C.’s Gaelic letter in Cuairtear nan Gleann with Clerk’s English report in the NSA about the prevalence of charms in his parish, it’s clear from both tone and subject matter that they were written by the same man.

Yet the people generally are unacquainted both with the letter and the spirit of true religion, and there is much superstition, the sure concomitant of ignorance, still lingering among them. Our limits forbid us to enter at any length on this subject, but we may remark, that while it is now rare, though not unknown, to use charms or incantations for curing the diseases of the human frame, these means are daily resorted to for curing the diseases of cattle. ‘Silver water,’ as it is called, ‘fairy arrows,’ and ‘charmed stones,’ are still held to be possessed of much efficacy, and they who have power to call forth their virtues are held in high estimation. [NSA, 14, 348]

Four months later another ‘Saobh-chràbhadh nan Gàidheal’ article appeared in Cuairtear nan Gleann.

This time two charms were printed, a Eòlas nan Sùil [sic], for sore eyes, and a Eòlas an t-Snìomh to be recited by the practitioner while massaging a sprained ankle. The first one, to be recited over a vessel of water (with which to wash the affected eye) containing a silver coin, was obtained:

o sheann duine còir a chleachd e fad iomadh bliadhna, ’sa tha nis a’ tuigsinn nach ’eil ann ach amaideachd pheacach.

from a decent old man who used it for many years, but who now understands it’s nothing but sinful foolishness.

Eòlas nan Sùil.

Obie nan geur shùl,
An obie ’s feàrr fo’n ghréin;
Obie Dhé, an uile-mhòr.
Féile Mhàiri, féile Dhé,
Féile gach sagairt ’s gach cléir;
Féile Mìchael nam feart,
’Chàirich anns a’ ghréin a neart.

The Charm of the Eyes

Charm of the sharp eyes,
The best charm under the sun;
The charm of God, the great.
Feast of Mary, feast of God,
Feast of every priest and every cleric;
Feast of virtuous Michael,
Who laid in the sun his strength.

The second charm is an example of the very common bone-to-bone charm, known throughout Europe and far beyond. The writer, probably once more the Rev. Norman MacLeod, apparently gets the gender of St Brìde wrong!

Eòlas an t-Snìomh

Chaidh Brìde mach
Air maduinn mhoich
Le càraid each.
Bhris fear ac’ a chas.
Chuir e glùn ri glùn,
A’s cnàimh ri cnàimh,
A’s feith ri feith.
Mar leighis esan sin,
Cha leighis mise so.

The Charm of the Sprain

Bride went out
In the early morning
With a pair of horses.
One of them broke his leg.
He put knee to knee,
And bone to bone,
And sinew to sinew.
Unless he healed that,
I shall not heal this.

Thirty years later, on 20 June 1872, these two charms were reprinted in one of the many remarkable columns which the Rev. Alexander Stewart compiled under the pen-name ‘Nether-Lochaber’ for the Inverness Courier. As Alexander Macbain rather acerbically notes in one of his folklore notebooks, Stewart presented ‘these Cuairtear charms cooly as his own, even their errors’ [CW511D, fo.79^v]. We can, however, forgive ‘Nether’ his creative pilfering: as a hook to intrigue his readers, it certainly worked. After coming across Stewart’s ‘charms’ column, Alexander Carmichael was inspired to despatch to his friend some similar items which he himself had recently written down in Uist, and then to collect some more: these were the kernel of what was to become, three decades later, Carmina Gadelica i–ii.

References:
Hugh Cheape, ‘Lead hearts and runes of protection’, ROSC: Review of Scottish Culture, 18 (2006), 149–55.
Clerk, Rev. Archibald, ‘Duirinish’, New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834–45), vol. 14, 322–60.
G. C. [‘Gilleasbaig Cléireach’, i.e. Rev. Archibald Clerk], ‘Saobh-chràbhadh nan Gàidheal’, Cuairtear nan Gleann, 25 (1 March 1842), 9–14.
[Rev. Norman MacLeod], ‘Saobh-chràbhadh nan Gàidheal anns na lìnntibh a chaidh seachad’, Cuairtear nan Gleann, 23 (8 January 1842), 309–12, edited and reprinted in Rev. Norman MacLeod, Caraid nan Gàidheal (Glasgow: William MacKenzie, 1867), 338–43.
_____. ‘Saobh-chràbhadh nan Gàidheal’, Cuairtear nan Gleann, 29 (1 July 1842), 137.

For another article about charms and folk cures (despite the reference to himself in the third person, it was probably also written by the Rev. Archibald Clerk), see:
‘Cas air Allaban’, ‘Buidseachd sa’ Ghàidhealtachd’, Cuairtear nan Gleann, 37 (1 March 1843), 13–16.

Image:
Duirinish Parish Church, built 1832, where the Rev. Archibald Clerk preached 1840–1.

Gaelic Battle Charms - 1

Here is Alexander Carmichael describing the genre of protective charm or seun in Carmina Gadelica ii, 26:

‘Sian’ or ‘seun is occult agency, supernatural power used to ward away injury, and to protect invisibly. Belief in the charm was common, and examples of its efficacy are frequently told.

Carmichael gives various examples of seuntan, for protecting cattle and ensuring long life, but the most spectacular instances are those which protect in battle.

A woman at Bearnasdale, in Skye, put such a charm on Macleod of Bearnaray, Harris, when on his way to join Prince Charlie in 1745. At Culloden the bullets showered upon him like hail, but they had no effect. When all was lost, Macleod threw off his coat to facilitate his flight. His faithful foster-brother Murdoch Macaskail was close behind him and took up the coat. When examined it was found to be riddled with bullet-holes. But not one of these bullets had hurt Macleod!

The battle seun was not just well-known in Gaelic tradition because of its remarkable effects. It was one of the very few charms which had found its way into print, and as a result it must have been a curio discussed in Highland céilidh houses. This printed version was collected about 1800 from an old man – probably an army veteran – in Glen Forsa in Mull and printed by the Rev. Norman MacLeod (1783–1862). Here is what the minister, under his pen-name Caraid nan Gàidheal, wrote about the seun in the periodical he edited, Cuairtear nan Gleann, in January, 1842:

   Bha aon seòrsa do shaobh-chràbhadh cumanta bho shean sa’ Ghàidhealtachd, ris an abradh iad sèun – seòrsa do rann air a cur suas ann an criomanan anairt, agus air uairibh saighead-shìth, air am fuaigheal gu teann san aona bhréid. Bha so air a ghiùlan fo’n léine, dlùth do’n chridhe; agus bha earbsa mhòr aig daoine gòrach gu’n robh cumhachd mòr aige an dìon o gach olc agus gàbhadh.
   Fhuair sinn sèun do’n t-seòrsa so, bha air a chleachdadh ann am Muile bho chionn fhada. Cha’n eil dùil againn gu bheil cailleach, no bodach, no balachan beag, co amaideach a nis san dùthaich sin, ’s gu’n tugadh iad creideas air bith d’a leithid. Mar chuimhneachan air na làithibh a thréig, tha sinn a nis ’ga thoirt seachad; agus le so crìochnaichidh sinn na bha againn ri ràdh air an àm mu na nithe faoine so.

   There was one type of superstition which was once common in the Gàidhealtachd called a ‘seun’ – a sort of verse put [or set] up in fragments of linen, and sometimes [?with] a fairy-arrow, sewn tightly into a single piece of cloth. This was carried under the shirt, close to the heart: and silly folk strongly trusted that it had a great power to protect them from every evil and danger.
   We acquired a seun of this kind which was used in Mull a long time ago. We don’t expect that any old woman, old man, or little boy in that country is now so foolish as to believe anything of the sort. In remembrance of bygone days, we give it here; and with this we’ll finish what we had to say at this juncture about these vain things.

Despite the minister’s pious hopes, it seems that in some parts of the Highlands belief in the seun remained strong long after the days of Caraid nan Gàidheal. We’ll finish this blog by reprinting the charm itself with a translation. Note how it looks as if Alexander Carmichael has adapted the text for his Sian a Bheatha Bhuan in CG ii, 28–31.

It’s interesting that Carmichael ascribes this text on CG ii, 378 to Duncan Cameron (c. 1818–1900), the policeman from Morvern whom Carmichael so respected for his knowledge of old lore. It might just be possible (a big if!) that Cameron had heard the text from the Rev. Norman MacLeod himself, who had been brought up in Morvern, or from his youngest brother John (1801–82), who had succeeded his father as minister of the parish. It might even be the case that the minister was given the charm by one of Cameron’s family. Here is the text as published in Cuairtear nan Gleann:

Seun

a fhuaradh o chionn da-fhichead bliadhna o sheann duine

ann an gleann-forsa, ann an eilean mhuile.

 Air a shon, ’s air a shealbhadh,

An sèun a chuir Brìde mu nighean Dhordheal –
An sèun a chuir Muire mu ’mac
Eadar a buinn ’s a bràghad,
Eadar a cìoch ’s a glùn,
Eadar a sùil ’s a falt.
Claidheamh Mhìcheil air a thaobh;
Sgiath Mhìcheil air a shlinnein.
Cha’n eil eadar nèamh a’s làr
Na bheir buaidh air Rìgh nan gràs.
Cha sgoilt ruinn thu,
’S cha bhàth muir thu.
Bratach Chriosd umad;
Sgail Chriosd tharad.
O mhullach do chinn gu bonn do choise,
Tha sèun an àigh orsa nis.
Falbhaidh tu an ainm an Righ,
’S thig thu ’n ainm do Cheanntaird.
’S le Dia, ’s na cumhachdan còmhla, thu.
Cuiridh mi an sèun Di-luain
An astar cumhann biorach droighin.
Falbh a mach ’s an sèun mu d’ chóm,
’S na biodh bonn do eagal ort!
Dìridh tu mullach nan siùchd [sic: stùchd],
’S cha leagar thu taobh do chùil.
’S tu mac Eala chiùin sa’ bhlàr;
Seasaidh tusa ’measg an àir;
Ruithidh tusa troimh chòig ceud,
’S bi ’idh fear d’eucorach an sàs.
Sèun Dhè umad!
Sluagh dol far riut!

A Seun

acquired forty years ago from an old man

in glen forsa, in the isle of mull

For him and for his prosperity,

The seun which St Bride put about the daughter of Dordheal –
The seun which Mary put about her Son,
Between [i.e. including] the soles of her feet and her throat,
Between her breast and her knee,
Between her eye and her hair.
St Michael’s sword by his side;
St Michael’s shield on his shoulder-blades.
There is nothing between heaven and earth
Which will overcome the King of grace.
No blades shall cleave you,
Sea shall not drown you.
The mantle of Christ about you,
The shadow of Christ over you.
From the top of your head to the sole of your foot,
The seun of luck is now on you.
You shall go in the name of the King,
And you shall come in the name of your Master.
With God and the powers together are you.
I will make the seun on Monday
On a narrow, sharp, thorny path.
Go out with the seun about your body,
And don’t be at all afraid;
You shall climb to the summit of the rocky mountains,
And you won’t be knocked down from behind.
You are the son of the calm Swan in the battle;
You shall stand amidst the slaughter;
Your shall run through five hundred,
And your enemy shall be caught in distress.
The seun of God about you!
A host going with you!

As well as giving another English translation of the charm, the Rev. John Gregorson Campbell MacLean in his Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1902), 69, supplies the following anecdote:

A charm of this kind was given to a smith in Torosay, Mull, by his father. Afterwards he entered the army and engaged in thirty battles. On his return home without a wound he said, he had often wished he was dead, rather than be bruised as he was by bullets. He was struck by them, but on account of the charm they could not pierce him.

References:

CG ii, 26–31.

Rev. John Gregorson Campbell (ed. Ronald Black), The Gaelic Otherworld (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2006), 212–13, 466–7 nn.724–36.

[Rev. Norman MacLeod], ‘Saobh-chràbhadh nan Gàidheal anns na lìnntibh a chaidh seachad’, Cuairtear nan Gleann, 23 (8 January 1842), 309–12, edited and reprinted in Rev. Norman MacLeod, Caraid nan Gàidheal (Glasgow: William MacKenzie, 1867), 338–43.

Image:

The Black Watch at Ticonderoga, 1758

Highland Place-Names in the Carmichael Watson Collection

For this issue, we would like to welcome as guest blogger Dr Jake King of Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, who as part of his work has been busy researching place-name evidence in the Carmichael Watson Collection.

The aim of Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba is to find the correct authoritative Gaelic forms of place-names.  As a researcher, part of my work is finding out what Gaelic forms were recorded by past scholars. Over the last few years I have been editing the unpublished notebooks of the Rev. Charles M. Robertson (MS selection at the National Library of Scotland) and to a lesser extent the notebooks of Prof. William J. Watson in the Carmichael Watson Collection. Throughout Robertson’s notes he made reference to his ‘cuttings books’, and I had previously been unable to discover the whereabouts of these, presuming them lost. After recent correspondence with Dòmhnall Uilleam however, we have discovered this collection, which also includes those of Watson and Alexander Macbain (the foremost place-name scholar of the generation prior to Watson). These people were the best Gaelic scholars of their day, and these newspaper cuttings contain many fascinating bits of information ranging from snippets to whole article series.  Here are some highlights:

I found the snippet pictured here loose, undated and unreferenced between two pages of Robertson’s place-names press cuttings book. The context puts it at some time in 1918. It is the published minutes of the executive Council of An Comunn Gaidhealach:

The meeting also agreed to proceed with the publication of a school map of Scotland for the Highland schools showing the place names in Gaelic. The Rev. Charles M. Robertson, Kilmachomaig U. F. Church Islay, is to provide the ‘copy’ for the publishers, and an application for a grant is to be made to the Carnegie Trust.

If anyone knows of any such Gaelic map was ever printed please get in touch!

About a century ago, William J. Watson set up a Mòd entry for papers on place-names,  hoping that this would encourage place-name research. The Gaelic writer Henry Whyte (1852–1913), a native of Easdale, entered this competition under his pen-name ‘Fionn’. His first paper on the place-names of Muckairn from the Oban Times in 1907 is known to Gaelic scholars and toponymists, but this collection contains a hitherto unknown sequel, on his native parish of Kilbrandon and Kilchattan. The value of the discovery of a survey of an entire Highland parish by a reliable native Gaelic speaker cannot be overestimated.

One of the problems I have had in editing the notebooks of Robertson is how to date them. They are not internally dated, and although some references give a terminus ante quem, I was not previously able to narrow the date ranges with much accuracy. CW538 and 539 has changed all that. These are two boxes of old newspapers stored in old envelopes. The content of the newspapers are in themselves interesting, but the addresses and date stamps on the recycled envelopes inadvertently give a fairly detailed account of Robertson’s residences over his life and as such help me to gain some context about the notebooks. By way of example, I can now surmise that the Sutherland notebooks were gathered while he lived in Kinbrace from 1899–1900, or that his Skye Gaelic article and place-names notebooks were researched while he was minister at Ardvasar in Sleat 1904–5.