Clach Nathrach – The Serpent Stone

Another anecdote noted down by John Ewen (Iain Eòghann) MacRury, from Torlum, Benbecula, concerns the serpent stone or clach nathrach. Since classical times there has been a strong connection between serpents and healing. One only needs to think of the logo for the British Medical Association with a rod and a single snake wrapped around it. Sometimes this symbol is mistaken for a caduceus, a winged staff with two serpents entwined, carried by Hermes, the messenger of the gods, which later became known as a symbol of peace. Rather the BMA’s logo symbolises the rod of Asclepius, a son of the God Apollo, who was a practitioner of medicine in Greek mythology. No mention of the druidic cult would seem to be complete without the mention of the serpent’s egg or adder stone which was believed to have magical properties.

Clach Nathrach
Is an accumulation
of liquid matter from
the mouth of the
serpent and is alw-
ays found among
rank heather where
it is spiralled by
the serpent going con
stantly round the
stem or stalk till
all the matter ronan
is accumulated on it.
It gets very hard and
of a darkish colour
and light in proportion
to its size. I remember
when in School in Uig
Lewis of seeing one
about the size of a
small hen egg. It was
found by the herd-
boy of Croulista who
was sometimes attend
ing school with me
on the South side
of Suanaval hill.
It was greatly val
ued by the more in
tellegent people who
saw it, as it is
good for taking
away any bad or
rotten matter on
a wounded swelling or
cut. Serpents are
common enough
in Uig, but not of
a big Size. I remem
ber of one being killed
on the public
road in the glen betw-
een Balnakill and
Miavaig Uig. It would
be about a foot
long but very thick
in proportions to its
length. Since then I
have seen plenty of
serpents but the
biggest was in the
Island of Mull in 1889.
It was dead on the public road
between Daircraig
and Tobermory.

Elsewhere in Carmina Carmichael, Carmichael provides some more detail in rather wide-ranging entry under the header ‘nathair’:

A product called ‘clach-nathrach,’ serpent stone, is found on the root of the long ling. It is of steel-grey colour, has the consistency of soft putty when new and of hard putty when old, and is as light as pumice-stone, which it resembles. It is of a globular form, and from one to three inches in diameter. There is a circular hole, about a quarter of an inch in width, through the centre. This substance is said to be produced by the serpent emitting spume round the root of a twig of heather. The ‘clach-nathrach’ is greatly prized by the people, who transmit it as a talisman to their descendants.

There are many sayings dealing with the serpent:–

‘Tha e ann an grath na nathrach dhuit.’
He is in the spirit of the serpent towards thee.

‘The nimh na nathrach aig dhuit.’
The venom of the serpent he has towards thee.

‘Cho carach ris an nathair nimhe.’
As twistful as the sepent venomous.

‘Cleas na nathrach cur a chraicinn.’
The trick of the serpent changing the skin.

‘Cochul nathrach is olc a dh’fheumadh tu.”
The sheath of the serpent badly wouldst thou need.

According to the Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, serpents were also associated with healing. Serpent stones (clach nathrach) were a sort of bead used in healing rites to cure diseases for people or livestock, or else they were used to aid women in labour or to protect against enchantment. The sloughed skin (cochall) of a snake, or the severed head, could also be used for healing. Either the stone or the skin was placed in water, which was then given to the patient either a bewitched person or beast to drink in order to aid healing, presumably after a charm had been sung over it. It was commonly thought that these stones had once been used by the druids themselves, and they were sometimes also referred to in Ireland and Wales as ‘druid’s glass’.

References:
Black, Ronald (ed.), The Gaelic Otherworld (Edinburgh, 2005), pp. 219–21.
CW 1/81 fos. 52r–54r.
Carmina Gadelica, ii, p. 335.
Image: The rod of Asclepius.

Channelled Wrack – Feamainn-chìreann

On 14 February 1895, John Ewen (Iain Eòghann) MacRury, from Torlum, Benbecula, noted down a fairly long list of different types of seaweed, giving their Gaelic equivalents, and also writing down interesting details and observations about their properties. The twenty-first item on the list is known in Gaelic as feamainn-chìrean (sometimes cìreanach), which, rather pleasingly, has its equivalent in English as channelled wrack. As can be seen from the following note its properties were well-known and, apart from producing the most productive kelp, was extremely useful for the manufacture of cattle feed, which helped to produce good quality livestock, something which the Western Isles are still renowned for to this very day:

Feamuinn Chirinn the
most productive of all
seaweed for Kelp it grows
higher than any other marine
plant. Just at the height
of tide and unlike other
sea weed is generally ex
posed to the elements of
nature for a period of 18
hours out of the twenty
four hours. It is one of the
best feeding stuff for cattle
when well boiled. The juice
should be allowed to cool
and two pints given to each
beast when stalled at night
and much as a person
could lift twice in his
hand of the feminn [sixed
bith boan?] or clean chaff
or oats or bear or any
other sort of corn, three
times a week during the
month of March and April
It regulates cattle and cle
ans the inside and gives
a very glossy appearance
to the new hair in Summer.

Edward Dwelly notes in his Gaelic dictionary similar properties: ‘feamainn-chìrean or chìreag. It is known as feamainn chìreanach in Uist, and feamainn-chìreag in Skye and Lewis. It is only a few inches in length and grows only on rocks that are seldom under the water during neap-tides. It has a strong laxative property, often being plucked off the rocks and boiled, when it is given to cattle that are suffering from dryness.’ The initials appended to this piece of information are JM and by looking up Dwelly’s authorities that he quotes from throughout his work it can be revealed that this was Rev. John MacRury of Snizort [Skye & Uist.]. This was John Ewen’s elder brother and it may well be the case that this information noted down by him came as a result of an enquiry made by his brother who served as a minister in the isle of Skye for over twenty years until his death in 1907.

Interestingly enough, dúlamán, Irish Gaelic for channelled wrack, is the subject of a popular folk-song whereby the practice of collecting seaweed during times of scarcity is referenced throughout:

Dúlamán na binne buí, dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, b’fhearr a bhí in Éirinn
Tá ceann buí óir ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá dhá chluais mhaol ar an dúlamán maorach
Bróga breaca dubha ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá bearéad agus triús ar an dúlamán maorach


Seaweed from the yellow cliff, Irish seaweed
Seaweed from the ocean, the best in all of Ireland
There is a yellow gold head on the Gaelic seaweed
There are two blunt ears on the stately seaweed
The Irish seaweed has beautiful black shoes
The stately seaweed has a beret and trousers


Reference:
CW 1, fos. 100r–100v.
Dwelly, Edward, The Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary (Glasgow, 1994), p. 421.
Image: Channelled Wrack or Feamainn-chìreann.

Dustaidh: A Bad Kelper

As mentioned in a previous blog, John Ewen (Iain Eòghann) MacRury from Torlum, Benbecula, supplied a great deal of traditional lore, of many different varieties, to Alexander Carmichael. Here, for example, is an anecdote recorded on 18 May 1895 regarding the word ‘Dustaidh’, apparently an English loan-word. The kelp industry (obair na ceilpe) was a mainstay for the economic well-being of the Western Isles for several generations. Kelp – a type of seaweed – was converted by burning it in kilns and the resulting ash was used for many purposes, particularly in the production of soda and iodine. The alkaline product from the ash was also used in the manufacture of soap and glass, and is still used today for this purpose. The versatility of the alginate derived from seaweed can also be seen through its use as a thickening agent in such diverse products as ice-cream, jelly and toothpaste. With regard to the Western Isles, the ending of the Napoleonic Wars, which led to cheaper sourcing of soda ash from continental Europe, meant that the kelp industry had all but collapsed by around 1830. During the boom years, landlords wishing to exploit the profits from this lucrative industry – the price of soda ash had risen astronomically from two pounds per ton in 1760 to twenty pounds per ton by 1808 – crowded families into crofting communities on the western seaboard to create pools of cheap or virtually free labour. The resultant economic collapse was disastrous not only for the profit-mongering landlords but more so for the islanders who faced either involuntary or voluntary eviction as well as an uncertain future.

Dustaidh a modern name for
a bad kelper. The kelp industry
was carried on rigorously on the
West during the later end of last
century and the present century.
A man that did not burn the
seaweed well and in the
usual manner, was known as to
have a great deal of duast
dust, which would require to be
reburnt with some well seasoned
seaweed very carefully. There was
a man in North Uist known as dust-
aidh dust-man after being a season
kelp making in Rona it would not
stick together and the ground officer
who was also kelp officer gave him
a lump sum for his dust and
procured another practical man
to reburn it with his own sea
weed deducting the allowance made
to dustaidh. I cannot say what
became of dustaidh, but a daugh-
ter of his was in Carinish very
recently have only one issue
as son who was also know[n]
as dustaidh og, young duster.
She was know as nighean ruadh
dhustaidh – red daughter of –
duster. She was a very upright
industrious woman, and never
thought of the name, no more than
her Christian name Mary.


Reference:
CW1, fos. 109v–110r
Image: Kelp

Two Anecdotes About Bonnie Prince Charlie

From whom Alexander Carmichael collected these two short anecdotes about Bonnie Prince Charlie was not noted down by him at the time. They both refer to when the Prince was a fugitive on the lam in South Uist. It would seem likely, then, that Carmichael’s source was a Uist tradition bearer. Here, more than many other parts of the Highlands and Islands at that time, was a safe haven for the Prince and his comrades: the island was thoroughly Jacobite, mainly Roman Catholic, and fairly isolated. The greatest risk was taking a boat to the island because it was then that he would have been most exposed and liable to be undone. Nonetheless, this was not the first time that the Prince had to reply upon the loyalty and expertise of Hebridean mariners and so he managed to escape unscathed journeying to and fro from the Outer Hebrides. The first of these anecdotes reflects the loyalty and affection shown to the Prince by the South Uist people. As the man in question – Eachann mac Mhurchaidh ’icilleMhoire, who may have been a Morrison, belonging to Drimisdale – managed to steer the search party in the opposite direction from where the Prince was hiding. The second anecdote, involving Flora MacDonald, is rather amusing but reflects the concern showed by his Highland heroine to make sure that he looked the part when he was, presumably, dressed as Betty Burke.

The Prince drank the milk of her
black sheep from a girl milking sheep
Brai[gh] Bhornish. The P[rince] was com[in]g
from Bornish. Mary Nighean
mhic neill

A man met party of red sold[iers]
in search of Prince. They asked him
abo[u]t the P[rince]. He said had just parted
with him. Take us to him & we will give
a reward. I will. He took them in con[trary]
dir[ection] for they were near P[rince] not ¼ mile
& took them up Driomor & all fell
away but one when near farthest
part mount[ain] this other asked bheil
sinn fad uai[th] nis. Sin fad an
d fhag mis a mhic na bitse & he
struck him in the ear & felled him
& left him there! & took himself off
Eachan mac Mhurchai[dh]
ic Ille Mhoire. Dreumsdale.


Flora struck P[rince] with towel because
he did not wash milk boyns
right when soild[er]s pass[in]g. This
was sorest blow he ever got he said.


References:
CW1, fos. 5–6.
Linklater, Eric, The Prince in the Heather (London, 1965).
Image: Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1722–1788) by Antonio David.

A Method of Recovering Stolen Goods

John Ewen MacRury (1853–1909)

A remarkable method – which may be termed witchcraft – was said to have been a favoured way in which to claim the recovery of stolen goods. This particular tradition was recorded not by Alexander Carmichael – although he may have been aware of it – but rather by his friend and colleague John Ewen (Iain Eòghann) MacRury of Torlum, Benbecula. Born in Benbecula around 1853, MacRury was nearly twenty years younger than Carmichael. He died in Airdrie Poor House aged fifty-four in 1909. Between 1887 and 1895 he gathered in a great deal of material at the behest of Carmichael who remembered him as: ‘A highly intelligent man, for whose knowledge of old lore I am greatly indebted in this work.’ The following example of his collecting, where the original spelling has been retained, was entitled in the notebook as ‘Togal an Doinis’ or rather ‘Togail an Donais’, which, in other words, was ‘Raising the Devil’. No reciter is noted down from John Ewen – he was a tradition bearer himself – but it is likely that he heard this anecdote from someone in Uist:

This extraordinary stroke
of art in olden times
was very effectual am-
ong the inhabitants of
the North. When anything
was stollen, and no
clear clue attached could be found
to any person in par-
ticular, all under sus-
pission were named out
by the looser to the
party gifted with the
art, their names were
written on parchment
or paper, and if the
party could not write
there was a different
mark for every one
under suspission.
The paper was fould
ed longways, and rub
bed between the pa[l]ms
of his hand, and in
the name of the Dev
il allowed to fall
gently into a basin
or a big bowl full
of cold water. If the
name of the guilty
party was among them
it would go to the
bottom and the rest
would float on
on the surface. Then the party
possessed of the art
was to inform the thief
of what happened and
unless the stolen
property was restored
to the right
ful owner within three days
the whole affair was
proclaimed publicly
and would be compelled
to submit.
They greatly object
ed to the raising of
the D[evil] as several y[ea]rs
famine was
sure to follow in
the township after
that.

References:
CW1, fos. 32r–33.
Carmina Gadelica, ii, p. 381.
Image: John Ewen MacRury (1853–1909). Reproduced with the kind permission of Calum Laing.

The Surname Livingstone or Mac an Leigh

Continuing with the theme of a recent blog, another enquiry sent in by a reader elicited a response in the Celtic Review from Alexander Carmichael’s pen as follows:

REPLY Mr. Niall Campbell’s note in the October 1909 issue of the Celtic Review is interesting and informative. It seems, however, probable that the name Mac-an-leigh (Livingstone) originated in two ways, i.e. Mac an leigh, Son of the Physician, of which the equivalent is to be found in the Manx Clegg or Legge; and Mac-Dhun-sleibh corresponding to the Irish Donlevy.

The late Dr. Alexander Macbain gives much information regarding Livingstones in his papers on Gaelic Personal Names and Etymological Dictionary. It would be a most natural thing to have such a name as ‘son of the physician’ in Gaelic.

I may mention that besides Eilean an t-Sagairt in Lochanan Dubh there is Eilean an t-Sagairt in Loch Etive near Achnacloich, so that two islands of the same name are in the same neighbourhood. ALEXANDER CARMICHAEL.

It may be imagined that Carmichael had a personal interest in the matter as he wrote, rather effusively as it happens, about the Barons of Bachuil, who were indeed Livingstones. Perhaps it was modesty that prevented him from mentioning his own article in his reply and so he name-checked a better authority than he in the form of Dr Alexander MacBain (1855–1907). There can be little doubt that the most famous Livingstone is the one remembered for being a missionary and an explorer of darkest Africa. Carmichael mentions him thus in his article about the Barons:

Donald Livingstone, the son of Neil Livingstone, was in the local Fencibles of his day. During the annual drills at Oban and Stirling he made the acquaintance of his namesake and distant kinswoman, Catherine Livingstone, whose father was a farmer at Bailemore in Kerrara, opposite Oban. When his regiment was finally disbanded Donald Livingstone married Catherine Livingstone and brought her home with him to Ulva. Things, however, did not prosper in Ulva with the young people, and after a time they removed to Blantyre on the Clyde. Donald Livingstone had a son, Neil, the father of David Livingstone, whose name will live while courage, honesty, and humanity are admired among men.

References:

Carmichael, Alexander, ‘The Barons of Bachuill’, The Celtic Review, vol. V (1908–09), pp. 356–75.

Carmichael, Alexander, ‘Reply’, The Celtic Review, vol. 6, no. 23 (Jan., 1910), p. 288.

Image:

Dr David Livingstone (1813–1873). Reproduced with the permission of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Columba of the Graves and Tombs

As may be remembered Alexander Carmichael’s printed output after the publication of the first two volumes of Carmina Gadelica was almost solely restricted to the Celtic Review. This journal, founded in 1904, and lasting until just before the outbreak of the First World War, was edited by Carmichael’s daughter, Ella, under the consulting editorship of Prof. Donald MacKinnon, the first incumbent of the Chair of Celtic at the University of Edinburgh. The year of MacKinnon’s death also saw the Celtic Review fold thus it would seem the impetus to continue publication was lost through this. Responding to a query from J. M. Mackinlay, Alexander Carmichael gave the following reply in the Celtic Review:

Calum-cille nam feart ’s nan tuam. Columba of the graves and tombs. (Carmina Gadelica, vol. i. p. 249 [recte 246].)

In the Celtic Review of April Mr. J. M. Mackinlay asks the meaning of this phrase. Like many other passages in the work, this was translated tentatively. I am under the impression that the phrase refers to the many churches, with burying-grounds attached, named after St. Columba.

Feart is a grave, a graveyard; tuam is a tomb, a place of tombs, a chambered place of burial.

Tung is also applied to a chambered place of burial, and sometimes to an underground house. ALEXANDER CARMICHAEL.

The context for the query was the last verse from Beannachadh Buana or ‘Reaping Blessing’, collected by Carmichael from Angus MacDonald, a crofter from Gearrynamoine, South Uist:

Air sgath Mhicheil mhil nam feachd,
Mhoire chneas-ghil leac nam buadh,
Bhride mhin-ghil ciabh nan cleachd,
Chaluim-chille nam feart ’s nan tuam,
Chaluim-chille nam feart ’s nan tuam.

Translated by Carmichael thus:

For the sake of Michael head of hosts,
Of Mary fair-skinned branch of grace,
Of Bride smooth-white of ringleted locks,
Of Columba of the graves and tombs,
Columba of the graves and tombs.

Not content with just one query, J. M. Mackinlay also merited a response from Alexander Carmichael’s son-in-law, William John Watson, soon-to-be Rector of Edinburgh Royal High School and afterwards the second holder of the Chair of Celtic Languages, Literature, History and Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. It can be seen that Watson was not shy in flexing his onomastic muscles, and his scientific method of enquiry can be easily discerned:

In last number Mr. J. M. Mackinlay queries whether Maolrithe (Carmina Gadelica, i. 285) is ‘to be identified with St. Maolrise, otherwise St. Finlagan, who is believed to have given name to Knock Mulreesh in Islay, near which is his chapel Cill Fheileagan.’

Maolrithe is none other than Maelruba, the genitive being used as nominative. The pronunciation is seen in Amulree, Maelruba’s ford.

Mr. Mackinlay also asks if Maolruain is a diminutive of St. Maelrubha. It is not. Maolruain is an independent name, occurring twice in the Martyrology of O’Gorman. The latter part of the compound is found with extension in the Irish word ruanad, a champion, whence the very common Irish name Maol-ruanaidh.

Whatever ‘St. Maolrise’ may be, Finlagan is a place-name, meaning ‘little white hollow,’ well known in connection with the Lords of the Isles. W. J. W.

References:
Carmichael, Alexander and Watson, William J. [W.J.W.], ‘Replies’, The Celtic Review, vol. 4, no. 13 (July, 1907), p. 96.
Carmina Gadelica, i, p. 246.
Image: St Columba, Calum Cille