Red Thread One of the most persistent superstitious beliefs to have survived until relatively late in the Western Isles (as well as on...

Cailleach A 6/8 jig still popular amongst musicians, especially pipers, is Cailleach an Dùdain (‘The Old Woman of the Mill-Dust’). Al...

Howbeg, South Uist Many traditional tales of Coinneach Odhar or the so-called Brahan Seer were floating around the isles when Alexander C...

Friday saw another milestone for the Carmichael Watson Project as the 2,500th item was catalogued (ref. Coll-97/CW116/16 folio 4v). The item...

Bealltain, Beltane, is the first day of May. On May Day all the fires of the district were extinguished and the 'tein eigin,' need-f...

Another anecdote noted down by John Ewen (Iain Eòghann) MacRury, from Torlum, Benbecula, concerns the serpent stone or clach nathrach . Sinc...

On 14 February 1895, John Ewen (Iain Eòghann) MacRury, from Torlum, Benbecula, noted down a fairly long list of different types of seaweed, ...

As mentioned in a previous blog, John Ewen (Iain Eòghann) MacRury from Torlum, Benbecula, supplied a great deal of traditional lore, of m...

John Ewen MacRury (1853–1909) A remarkable method – which may be termed witchcraft – was said to have been a favoured way in which to cla...