Luibh bheag bheag, luibh bheannaichte / A small small plant, a blessed plant

There are numerous accounts of plant lore noted in Carmina Gadelica and within the notebooks at the Centre for Research Collections, and a previous blog highlighted some of the key plants for popular herbal remedies. This blog notes some uses for am mothan / pearlwort including a method for securing a spouse!

The 'mothan' (bog violet?) is one of the most prized plants in the occult science of the people. It is used in promoting and conserving the happiness of the people, in securing love, in ensuring life, in bringing good, and in warding away evil.

When the 'mothan' is used as a love-philtre, the woman who gives it goes upon her left knee and plucks nine roots of the plant and knots them together, forming them into a 'cuach' - ring. The woman places the ring in the mouth of the girl for whom it is made, in the name of the King of the sun, and of the moon, and of the starts, and in name of the Holy Three. When the girl meets her lover or a man whom she loves and whose love she desires to secure, she puts the ring in her mouth. And should the man kiss the girl while the 'mothan' is in her mouth he becomes henceforth her bondsman, bound to her everlastingly in cords infinitely finer than the gossamer net of the spider, and infinitely stronger than the adamant chain of the giant.

The 'mothan' is placed under parturient women to ensure delivery, and it is carried by wayfarers to safeguard them on journeys. It is sewn by women in their bodice, and by men in their vest under the left arm.

 

An old woman in Benbecula said: - 'thug mi am mothan beannaichte do Ruaraidh ruadh mac Roaghail Leothasaich as a Cheann-a-deas agus e air a thuras do Loch-nam-madadh, dol ga fhiachain air bialabh an t-siorram agus fhuair e dheth ge do bha e co ciontach 's a chionta ri mac peachaich' - 'I gave the blessed 'mothan' to red Roderick son of Ranald of Lewis from the South-end (of Uist), and he on his journey to Lochmaddy to be tried before the sheriff, and he got off although he was as guilty of the guilt as the son of a sinner.'  'Ach a Chairistine carson a thug sibh am mothan dh'an duine agus fios agaibh gun robh e ciontach? Saoilidh mi fein nach robh e ceart dhuibh a dhol ga dheanamh' - 'But, Christina, why did you give the 'mothan' to the man when you knew that he was guilty? I think myself it was not right of you to go and do it!'  'O bhidh 's aodaich! a ghraidhean mo chridhe agus a ghaoilean mo dhaoine, cha b' urra dhomh fhein dhol ga dhiultadh. Bhoinich e orm, agus bhochain e orm, agus bhoidich e orm, agus chuir e rud am laimh, agus O! a Righ na gile 's na greine, agus nan corracha ceuta, curra, de b' urra dhomh ghein a gh' radh no dheanamh agus an duine dona na dhubh-eigin na dhear-theinn agus na chruaidh-chas' - 'O food and clothing! thou dear one of my heart, and thou loved one of my people, I could not myself go and refuse him. He beseeched to me, and he swelled to me, and he vowed to me, and he placed a thing in my hand, and oh! King of the moon, and of the sun, and of the beautiful, sublime stars, what could I myself say or do, and the bad man in his black trouble, in his red difficulty, and in his hard plight!' I remembered Bacon and was silent.

To drink the milk of an animal that ate the 'mothan; ensures immunity from harm. If a man makes a miraculous escape it is said of him. 'Dh' ol e bainne na bo ba a dh' ith am motha ' - 'He drank the milk of the guileless cow that ate the "mothan"'. 

Buainidh mi am mothan ,                                                             Pluck will I the ‘mothan,’

Luibh nan naodh alt,                                                                      Plant of the nine joints,

Buainidh agus boinichidh,                                                           Pluck will I and vow me,

Do Bhride bhorr 's dh' a Dalt.                                                      To noble Bride and her Fosterling.

Buainidh mi am mothan,                                                              Pluck will I the ‘mothan,’

A dh’ orduich Righ nam feart,                                                     As ordained of the King of power,

Buainidh agus boinichidh,                                                           Pluck will I and vow me,

Do Mhoire mhor ‘s dh’ a Mhac.                                                   To great Mary and her Son.

Buainidh mi am mothan,                                                              Pluck will I the ‘mothan,’

A dh’ orduich Righ nan dul,                                                         As ordained of the King of life,

Bheir buaidh air gach foirneart,                                                 To overcome all oppression,

Is ob air obi shul.                                                                               And the spell of evil eye. 

Laomachan. 'Little mouldy one', was a rind of cheese used for divination. The cheese must be made on one of the four old festivals of the year: Bealltain, Beltane; Lùnasd, Lùnasdal or Lùnasdain, Lammas; Samhain, Hallowtide; and Fèille Brighde, the Feast of Brigit; but on which of these is now uncertain. The milk used was that of a cow which had eaten the mòthan, pearlwort, for since the plant was sained the cheese was sained also. twelve months after the cheese was made it was used. A small hole was made through the rind, and through this the diviner looked down through the fàrlas, smoke-vent of the house. The name of the first person thus seen through these two orifices was the name of the future spouse. When the loamachan was placed under the pillow, the sleeper would in dreams see his future spouse coming towards him with gifts; were the person seen receding, it indicated a parting. the laomachan safeguarded its wearer from the wiles of the fairies of the mound, from the venom of the hosts of the air, and from the misleading light of the teine mòr or teine sionn, will o' the wisp. For naming, for dreaming and for safeguarding, the laomachan was effective only on the anniversary of the fesitval on which it was made, and only to those who had faith and sincerity of heart; only to those who bowed to them were the names true. Many curious rites and ceremonies connected with the laomachan and its use are now but dimly to be descried through the darkness of ages. 

References

Carmina Gadelica ii, 110-113.

Carmina Gadelica vi, 94-95.

 Image

© Carl Farmer   

Beltane Bannocks

Beltane is an important day in the Celtic calendar that marks the beginning of summer, and the day is still widely celebrated. Fire was, and is, used as a method of purification and the various practices were outlined in previous May day blog entries (anseo agus anseo).

In Carmina Gadelica there is a note about quarter cakes, bannocks that were smaller than the St Michael's strùan, but it is apparent that the tradition was no longer widespread in the late 19th century.

Throughout the Highlands and Islands special cakes were made on the first day of the quarter. As in the case of the 'struan', a large cake was made for the family and smaller cakes for individual members. So far as can now be ascertained, these cakes were round in form. They were named after their dedications. That baked for the first day of spring was called 'bonnach Bride,' bannock of Bride; that for the first day of summer, 'bonnach Bealltain,' Beltane bannock; that for the first day of autumn, 'bonnach Lunastain,' Lammas bannock; and for the first day of winter, 'bonnach Samhthain,' Hallowtide bannock. The names of the individual cakes were rendered into diminutives to distinguish them from the family cake, while the sex of the person for whom they were intended was indicated by the termination, as 'Bridean,' masculine diminutive, 'Brideag,' feminine diminutive, after Bride; 'Bealltan,' 'Bealltag' after Beltane; 'Luinean,' 'Luineag' after Lammas; and 'Samhnan,' 'Samhnag' after Hallowmas. The people repaired to the fields, glens, and corries to eat their quarter cakes. When eating them, they threw a piece over each shoulder alternately, saying: 'Here to thee, wolf, spare my sheep; there to thee, fox, spare my lambs; here to thee, eagle, spare my goats; there to thee, raven, spare my kids; here to thee, marten, spare my fowls; there to thee, harrier, spare my chickens.'

Baking bannocks over an open fire

In a contribution to Folklore 1895 is a note about Beltane bannocks, and variations on the tradition are noticeable. One description reads as follows:


Bannocks were baked the evening before Beltane, the first day of May (O.S.), and were called Beltane bannocks. They were made of oatmeal in the usual way, but they were washed over or "watered" with a thin batter composed of whipped egg, milk or cream, and a little oatmeal. Before being laid on the "brannithr" (Keith), "branner" (other districts), :ie. gridiron, the upper side was rubbed over with this batter. When the underside was sufficiently baked or "fired," the bannock was turned, and the underside was now rubbed over with the batter. The bannock was then allowed to hang over the fire on the gridiron till fully baked. 

On Beltane about mid-day the young folks, each with a bannock, went to the rocks or high grounds, and rolled them down. If a bannock broke in the rolling, the one to whom it belonged would come to some disaster or die before next Beltane. They ate them, but left a "bittie" to the "cuack" or cuckoo. They carried a piece home, and placed it under the pillow in the sweetheart's name, to find out if dreams would reveal the future as to marriage. Eggs were not used in baking the Baptismal and Christmas bannocks. 

JANET DAVIDSON (aged 8I), Kingussie. 

A second account of the bannocks:


At Achterneed, near Strathpeffer, Ross-shire, on the first day of May the children received each an egg and a cake. With these they went to the hill, as many at times as twenty and thirty in company. They gathered material, formed a bonfire, and roasted the eggs in the ashes. Before placing the egg in the ashes, each child put a mark on it so as to be able to identify it when taken from the ashes. The egg and the cake were eaten. The cake was baked between nine and ten o'clock in the morning. It was kneaded entirely in the hand, and not on a board or table like common cakes. It was "fired" or baked in front of the peat fire on the hearth supported by a stone. After being so baked it was put into the child's hand, and not on any table or dish. It must never be put from the hand except to be baked in front of the fire. If laid on anything it was then nothing more than an ordinary bannock. It was called "tcharnican" (spelt phonetically), because it was made wholly in the hand. The word means " hand-cake." Those now sent were baked by a native of the parish of Fodderty, who is now eighty-three years of age. One of them was baked in my presence. 

REV. WALTER GREGOR, LL.D. 

Carmichael also notes that traditionally Thursday was considered a lucky day for all enterprises except when Beltane fell on a Thursday:

'D uair is Ciadaoineach an t-Samhain

Is iarganach fir and domhain,

Ach 's meirg is mathair dh' an mhac bhaoth

'D uair is Daorn dh' an Bhealltain.

When the Wednesday is Hallowmas

Restless are the men of the universe;

But woe the mother of the foolish son

When Thursday is the Beltane. 

Better be wary for Beltane 2014!

References
Carmichael, A. Carmina Gadelica i (Edinburgh: Floris Books, 1900-1972) pp. 163.
Carmichael, A. Carmina Gadelica i (Edinburgh: Floris Books, 1900-1972) pp. 208-9. 
Goodrich-Freer, A. 'More Folklore from the Hebrides', Folklore, 13:1, (1902), pp. 29-62. 
Gregor, W., Davidson, J., Robertson, Munro, Maclean, G., Farquharson, J. and Macintosh, H. 'Notes on Beltane Cakes', Folklore, 6:1 (1895), pp. 2-5. 

Image

©National Museums Scotland. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk

Objects in Focus: Cruisies

The cruisie lamp was the common form of lighting found in the homes of the islands and along the coasts until the introduction of paraffin lamps. Carmichael presents a comprehensive account of the lamps in Carmina Gadelica: 

Giuthas coinnil, giuthas coinnle. Before the introduction of paraffin into the Highlands the people were ill off for light and adopted many expedients to overcome their disadvantages. In the Isles and on the coasts the people, along with tallow candles, used fish oil, seal oil and whale oil [eòlan]. This oil was burnt in ordinary black crusies with the one point for light, but occasionally in a lamp with a circular body with three light points at equal distances. These lamps were sometimes of iron, sometimes of brass and sometimes of copper, and were pretty and effective. This style of lamp was called crùisgein tine (?), the ordinary black lamp being known as crùisgein dubh. On the Mainland, along with tallow candles, the people used bog pine. The bog pine made good light but was not lasting. In some places when the bog pine was good and plentiful little else was used in the houses of the crofters.

Gleanna mìn Moireasan
Far nach ith na coin na coinnlean,
Cha tugainn gaol na comain dhaibh
Gun solus na gun soillse.

The lamp comprised of two iron vessels stacked over each other, the lower being attached to a notched upright bar. The upper of the vessels was separate but hung from a hook on the bar. The lamp was portable and could by positioned at various points around the home to produce the best light. To shape the lamps a thin plate of iron was hammered into a mould and Grant reports that many blacksmiths had such a mould in the corner of their anvils. The shapes were traditionally leaf-shaped but with many variations. In the Carmichael Collection at the West Highland Museum there is part of a square cruisie lamp that was used by craftsmen.

Square Cruisie

Fish-oil and animal fats were used to keep the flame burning. And the wick was traditionally made from the pith of rushes or alternatively yarn. The wick was lit from the fire that was always kept burning.

The word itself is old Scots derived from the Latin crucibulum and is very similar to the French creuset.

In the introduction to a prayer Mary MacRae describes her nightly routine that included the extinguishing the cruisie:

Clos Cadail
Beulachice: Màiri Nic Rath, coitear, Camas Luinge, Cinn Tàile
Ars am beulachie: An dèidh dhomh mo chomhla a dhùnadh agus mo chrùisgein a smàladh agus mo dhol dha m' leabaidh, tha mi guidhe air Tì nan dùl agus air Dia nan gràs, agus ag ràdh ris-

Dhé nan dùl, na dubhr dhomh do shola
Dhé na dùl, na dùin dhomh do shonas,
Dhé nan dùl, na druid dhomh do dhoras,
Dhé na dùl, na diùlt dhomh do thròcair,
Dhé nan dùl, mùch dhomh do dhòlas,
Agus a Dhé nan dùl, crùn dhomh do shòlas,
Agus a Dhé nan dùl, crùn dhomh do shòlas.

Repose of Sleep
Reciter: Mary MacRae, cottar, Camas Luinge, Kintail
The reciter said: After I have closed my door and put out my cruisie (lamp) and gone to my bed, I beseech the Being of life and the God of gracem and say to Him-

O God of life, darken not to me Thy light,
O God of life, close not to me Thy joy,
O God of life, shut not to me They door,
O God of life, refure not to me Thy mercy,
O God of life, quench Thou to me Thy wrath
And O God of life, crown Thou to me Thy gladness,
O God of life, crown Thou to me Thy gladness.


References
Carmina Gadelica iii, 342-3.
Carmina Gadelica vi, 83.
Grant, I. F. Highland Folk Ways (Edinburgh, 1961).

Images
© Carsten Flieger

Book Week Scotland: Hairy Tooth Fairy

A child losing a tooth is one of life's milestones and along with it comes the tradition of the tooth fairy. In Carmina Gadelica, Alexander Carmichael records a version of the tooth fairy custom which is still familiar to us today. As a postscript to the story, he also describes similar customs about cutting hair (hands up who still has a lock of hair among the family heirlooms?) and the threat of doing something which might stop you growing.

An Luch: The Mouse

The little boy or girl who lost a tooth said, ‘A luchag, a luchag, thoir dhomsa fiacaill gheal òir (no airgid) is bheir mise dhut fiacaill gheal chnàimh.’ ‘Little mouse, little mouse, give me a white tooth of gold (or silver) and I will give thee a white tooth of bone.’ (Or the bargain may be the other way about)

After that the child placed the fallen tooth ‘ann am fròg a’ bhalla,’ in a chink of the wall of the house, there to remain until the mouse should replace it with the little tooth of white gold or the little tooth of white silver. And the boy or girl visited the chink many times a day to see if the little mouse had brought the promised tooth.

Is e an dochas dòlais 

A lònaich a’ bhaintighearn.

It was hope amid grief

That sustained the great lady.

-----

A luchag! a luchag!

A luchag bheag bhàidh!

A luchag! a luchag!

A luchag bheag ghràidh!

Thoir thusa dhomhsa

Fiacaill bheag òirgill,

Thoir thusa dhomhsa

Fiacaill bheag airghill,

Is bheir mise dhutsa

‘Na chomhnadh, ‘na dhàil,

Fiacaill bheag bhòidheach bhàn,

Fiacaill bheag ògain chual chnàmh,

Fiacaill bheag òighe chual chnàmh,

Fiacaill bheag ògraidh luath-ghàir.

Little mouse! little mouse!

Little mouse, kindly one!

Little mouse! little mouse!

Little mouse, beloved one!

Give thou to me

A little tooth gold-white,

Give thou to me

A little tooth silver-white,

And I will give to thee

In its stead, in return,

A little tooth of beauteous white,

A little tooth of boy, bone bound,

A little tooth of maid, bone bound,

A little tooth of youngster laughing loud.

Similarly when hair was cut, at the waxing of the moon, the child from whom the hair was taken placed a lock of it in the hole of a wall as high as the hand could reach. After that the little owner of the lock was to grow with the growing moon until the little hear reached as high as the little hand had reached before. The child went every now and then to measure the head against the hair in the wall. Those hopes! And those disappointments!

Phases of the moon

The ‘luch fheòir,’ field-mouse, was believed to exert a bad influence. A child who stepped across a field-mouse would stop growing and would remain a dwarf. Hence to a small person of dwarfish form is said ‘Is tu thug an leum luideach thar na luch fheòir,’ ‘It is thou who gavest the clumsy leap over the field-mouse.’ ‘Is tu thug an leum luch,’ ‘It is thou who gavest the mouse-leap,’ that is, the little leap in growing.

To place the sieve on a child’s head had the same effect; hence the sayings, applied as those above, ‘Chuireadh an criathar air do cheann,’ ‘The sieve was placed upon thine head.’ ‘Is tu thug an leum criathair,’ ‘It is thou who gavest the sieve-leap,’ a small leap in growing.

References: 

Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, (Edinburgh, 1941) pp. 18-19.

Images: 

Toothless child: http://www.vintonville.com/little-dude/toothless/ 

Field mouse: www.lifeonland.org.uk

Phases of the moon: scienceworld.wolfram.com

Book Week Scotland: The Dancing Dairymaid

ook Week Scotland continues with two entries about one woman from Carmina Gadelica. These demonstrate well the personal details which Alexander Carmichael collected and which undoubtedly enhanced the folklore he recorded. It has to be said that on occasion he appears to have confused some people or misrecorded information but given the hundreds of individuals with whom he interacted it isn't entirely surprising that there are a few errors.

Be that as it may, the descriptions of the Harris dairywoman, Màiri Nic Rath [Mary Macrae] in Carmina Gadelica are corroborated by Carmichael's original notes, which are part of the Carmichael Watson Collection: notebook Coll-97/CW87/67 giving us a description of this lively nonagenarian. In addition, the published versions, given below,  mention useful historical information and surprisingly even refer to the literary figures of Bowell and Johnson.

Dia Liom a Laighe

This poem was taken down in 1866 from Mary Macrae, Harris. She came from Kintail when young, with Alexander Macrae, whose mother was one of the celebrated ten daughters of Macleod of Rararsay, mentioned by Johnson and Boswell. Mary Macrae was rather under than over middle height, but strongly and symmetrically formed. She often walked with companions, after the work of the day was done, distances of ten and fifteeen miles to a dance, and after dancing all night walked back again to the work of the morning fresh and vigorous as if nothing unusual had occurred. She was a faithful servant and an admirable worker, and danced at her leisure and carolled at her work like 'Fosgag Mhoire,' Our Lady's lark, above her.

View from Ard an t-Sobhail /Ardintoul.

The people of Harris had been greatly given to old lore and to the old ways of their fathers, reciting and singing, dancing and merry-making; but a reaction occurred, and Mary Macrae's old-world ways were abjured and condemned.

'The bigots of an iron time

Had called her simple art a crime.'

But Mary Macrae heeded not, and went on in her own way, singing her songs and ballads, intoning her hymns and incantations, and chanting her own 'port-a-bial,' mouth-music, and dancing to her own shadow when nothing better was available.

I love to think of this brave kindly woman, with her strong Highland characteristics and her proud Highland spirit. She was a true type of a grand people gone never to return.

Full text of Dia Liom A Laighe

Cailleach Beinne Brice

The wonderful woman who sang this song and many other songs to the writer has been described earlier (i. 4 f.). Mary Macrae, known as Màiri Bhreac, Màiri Bhanchaig, was dairywoman with Alexander Macrae of Hùisinis, Caolas Stiadar, Harris. In her ninety-ninth year she was hale, strong and comely, having been ill but once in her life, and that with smallpox. She had been always an active and excellent worker, bright, cheerful, and good-humoured, and these qualities she retained to the end of her days. She sang this song with remarkable effect, as if she were in her nineteenth rather than her ninety-ninth year.

She attended church every Sunday, no matter what the weather might be. If the tide was out she came across 'Tràigh Chliamain,' St Clement's Strand, which shortened the way, though wet; if the tide was in she had to come round the bay, which made the distance much longer. One stormy day of wind and snow the minister, Mr Charles Maclean, expected no one to come out in such weather; but, lest any should, he went down to the church. To his astonishment he found Mary in her usual place, alone in the church.

'A Mhàiri, a Mhàiri, 'd é thug a mach sibh an diugh ri leithid seo do latha, agus sibh leibh féin?'

'Mary, Mary, what has brought you out on such a day, and all alone?'

'Thug, a Mhaighstir Tearlach, a dh'éisdeachd facal Dé 'ga leughadh agus 'ga mhìneachadh dhomh; agus nar bheil mi liom féin idir, a Mhaighstir Tearlach.'

'To hear the word of God being read and expounded to me, Mr Charles; and I am not alone at all, Mr Charles.'

'Nach bheil, a Mhàiri bhochd?' agus thug am ministir sù­il thuig agus sù­il uaidh mun cuairt na h-eaglais, feuch am faiceadh e neach na neach, ach chan fhac e neach idir. 

'Are you not, poor Mary?' and the minister glanced round the church, if by chance he might see somebody but he saw no one at all. 

'Nar bheil mi liom féin idir, a Mhaighstir Tearlach, is mi nach bheil. Bha triùir chairdean caomh caomhail liom gach ceum dha'n t-slighe tighinn.'

'I am not alone at all, Mr Charles; far from it. There were three dear and loved friends with me every step of the road coming.'

'An robh a nis? Chan fhaic mi iad, a Mhàiri! Có iad, na càit am bheil iad?'

'Were there now? I do not see them, Mary! Who or where are they?'

'Bha triùir chairdean coamh coibhneil liom gach ceum dha'n t-slighe, - an t-Athair agus am Mac agus an Spioraid liom gach ceum dha'n t-slighe,' arsa Màiri. Chuir Màiri Nic Rath agus am freagairt a thug i, gun facal sgoil 'na ceann, agus i faisg air ciad bliadhna dh'aois, gu smaoin am ministir mar nach do chuir dad riamh roimhe na 'na dhéidh.

'Yes, there were three dear kind friends with em every step of the way, - the Father, the Son and the Spirit were with me every step of the way,' said Mary. Mary Macrae and the answer she gave, though she had not a word of schooling in her head and she was close on a hundred years old, made the minister think as nothing before or since.

Shamrock, symbol of the Trinity

Alexander Macrae whose dairywoman Mary Macrae was, had come from Aird an t-Sobhail, Kintail, to live in Harris, and was known as 'Fear H­ùisinis,' the laird of Hùisinis. His brother was Sir John Macrae, general of India. Sir John, who was an able musician, sent to his brother for this song, and played it before Queen Victoria upon the pipes.

Mary Macrae, dairywoman, said that this song was sung by a woman whose mind was deranged by a sudden fright when she was but newly risen from childbed. She fled to the hills and lived in the 'frìth,' forest, with the deer, going with them wherever they went. The people of the town-land often saw and followed her, but they could not keep her in sight, far less catch her. At length a 'brocair,' foxhunter, found her asleep and came upon her from behind.

'Shuain an sealgair a folt fada m'a ghàirdean doisgeil, agus cha b'àil leatha teicheadh. Mo ghaol air féin! nach e bha tapaidh!' arsa seann Mhàiri bhochd.
The hunter twined her long hair around his left arm, and she had no wish to flee. My love on himself! was he not brave!' said poor old Mary. 

The sudden start she got put back her heart in its place, and she became quiet and gentle. The hair of her head reached down to her heels, and her body was covered all over with downy hair, a touching sight to see. The hunter put his 'breacan-guaille,' tartan shoulder-plaid, about her, and she came home with him quite quietly. This happened in Lochaber.

Full text of the song Cailleach Beinne Brice

References: 
Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, vol i (Edinburgh, 1900) pp. 4-5, 
Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, vol v (Edinburgh, 1954) pp. 168-173
Images: 
Initial letter from Carmina Gadelica, vol i (Edinburgh, 1900 p. 22.
MacNicol dairymaid by R. R. MacIan, 1842.
View from Ard an t-Sobhail /Ardintoul panorama: copyright of http://www.highlandpanoramas.co.uk
Deer picture from http://favim.com/image/130659/

Book Week Scotland: Carmina Gadelica

Book Week Scotland takes place this week, so we thought we'd mark it with excerpts from the extraordinary creation that is Carmina Gadelica. Although its title means 'Gaelic incantations', it is not simply a book of religious or devotional lyrics. Alexander Carmichael and, indeed, the editors of the later volumes were careful to include extra information about each 'incantation' whether it was about the reciters, the characters, the history, the language or the places involved. The plethora of detail makes Carmina Gadelica one of those books in which you will inevitably find something new and intriguing.

This first excerpt is a tale entitled 'The Cow of Blessings' or 'Bò nam Beannachd' which accompanies 'The Charm of the Wild Heifers' 'Òra na Aighean Fiadhaich' and appropriately enough mentions a book.

The Cow of Blessings, collected from Catherine MacNeill, Ceann Tangabhall, Barra.

The reciter said: When Colum Cille was dwelling in the Aoi (Iona), a poor little wretched woman came to put her trouble to him and to ask his advice, for Colum Cille was the world's head of wisdom and the head of healing of the universe.

The poor woman said, 'My man died when he was coming home from the strand of periwinkles, and my son was drowned when he was swimming to the Isle of Women to visit his mother, and I am left with three orphans without pith or power. I have a lovely little heifer, but she will not give milk for the children and she will not take to her calf, and I know not under the white sun what to do or which way to turn.'

Colum Cille said to the poor little woman, 'I have made prattlings of cows and incantations of horses in my day and in my generation. I had them in a skin book, and I had the skin book in the window. The skin book was stolen from me, and I lost the charms for cattle and the incantations for horses, and I have none of them available this day. But I will make a rune for thee, poor little woman, which thou shalt sing to they heifer, and before thou shalt have finished the rune the little heifer shall have taken to her calf. And the name of this rune is "The Charm of the Wild Heifers".' And Colum Cille sang the charm to the poor little woman with the tears streaming down his cheeks.

Colum Cille was the best at speaking and the best at singing and the best at melody that was born of woman.

The Charm of the Wild Heifers

My heifer beloved, be not alone,

Let thy little calf be before thee;

See yon bramble bush a-bending,

And bowing down with brambles.

He ho-li-vó 's a vó ri ag,

Ri ag vó, take to thy calf!

Coax thy pretty one to thyself,

Till thou sendest to the fold a herd;

Columba's tending shall be thine behind them,

He made this lilt for thyself.

Certain is the gentle proverb,

The cow of blessings is the cow of calves;

The cow of curses is the moorland cow,

That has never quenched our thirst.

Often afield is the calfless cow

Seldom within is the calfless cow,

Despised among cattle is the calfless cow, 

Refuse among cattle the calfless cow.

Head to shoulder is the calfless cow,

Foot to mountain is the calfless cow,

At the edge of the fold is the calfless cow,

Cow without profit is the calfless cow.

On crest of hill is the calfless cow,

On floor of glen is the calfless cow,

At the edge of the fold is the calfless cow,

Nor butter nor crowdie from the calfless cow.

In desert glens strays the calfless cow,

Ugly and bristling of shag is the calfless cow,

Leaper of walls is the calfless cow,

Dirt of byre is the calfless cow.

The black heifer is reconciled,

Thou wilt make lowing to thy pretty on;

Thou wilt come home with droves,

Thou will quench the thirst of hundreds.

My little black heifer thou! my little black heifer!

The same lot is mine and thine.

May thy little black calf not be lost to thee;

But mine only son beloved is beneath the sea.

He ho-li-vó 's a vó ri ag,

Ri ag vó 'a vó ri ag,

Ri ag vó 's a vó ri ag,

Ri ag vó, take to thy calf!

Bò nam Beannachd' agus 'Òra na Aighean Fiadhaich' 'sa Ghà­idhlig

References: Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica: Ortha nan Gàidheal, vol IV (Edinburgh, 1971), pp.55-59.
Image: Black cow and heifer from http://www.6666ranch.com

Objects in Focus: Wool Carding Combs

The production of wool was an important craft in the Highlands and Islands in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the Carmichael notebooks there are plenty references to its manufacture: the different types of wool, fleece being pulled, baskets and even fairy lore associated with wool.

In the Carmichael Collection, at the West Highland Museum, there is a pair of wool carders that were used to make yarn. These carders are made of wood and rectangular in shape, there is a pad of leather on each with fine teeth protruding through. This particular pair was manufactured in Glasgow by R. McIntyre.

The entire process of wool-working from the raw material to the finished cloth was known as calanas. This pair of carding combs would have been used in the production of ordinary cloth, a different comb was used for very fine cloth. 

At what stage in the production of yarn were the carding combs used? Here is a breakdown of the various stages:

• The fleece was sheared.

• The fleece was washed, dyed and dried. CW120/320 is a list of native dyes from South Uist. 

• The wool was separated and straightened by using the carding combs. A handful of wool was placed on the teeth of one carder and the other carder brushed the wool repeatedly in the one direction.

• Once the wool was brushed thoroughly, the carder was brought in the opposite direction to remove the wool from the fine teeth. This created a sausage-like shape, called a rolag, and made the wool easier to spin.

• The wool was then made into yarn by using a spindle and whorl. This method was carried out by hand and was later replaced by the spinning wheel.

© School of Scottish Studies. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk

The end result was a continuous length of yarn that could easily be worked with.

The carding and spinning was carried out by women, often in pairs to keep a steady production line going. Carmichael notes in Carmina Gadelica iv:

The industry of these women is wonderful, performed lovingly, uncomplainingly, day after day, year after year, till the sands of life run down. The life in a Highland home of the crofter class is well described in the following lines:-

Air oidhche fhada gheamraidh

Theid teanndadh ri gniamh

A toir eolas do chloinn

Bith an seann duine liath,

An nighean a cardadh,

A mhathair a sniamh,

An t-iasgair le a shnathaid

A caramh a lian.'

© School of Scottish Studies. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk

In the long winter night

All are engaged,

Teaching the young

Is the grey-haired sage,

The daughter at her carding,

The mother at her wheel,

While the fisher mends his net

With his needle and his reel.

The School of Scottish Studies Archive has some amazing images in their collections, some of which are included here.

References
Carmina Gadelica, iv, 294-5.
CW1/56folio 22r, line 8 to folio 22r, line 15
CW89/173folio 35v, line 7 to folio 35v, line 19
CW111/82folio 18r, line 17 to folio 18r, line 25
CW120/320folio 92v, line 1 to folio 95r, line 19
CW126f/90folio 207r, line 10 to folio 207r, line 13
Images
Kissling Collection, School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.
Carders copyright Carsten Flieger