Folklore of the Scottish Highlands

by Anne Ross

  One way in which witches were alleged to sink vessels was to place a cuach, a small round wooden dish, in a milk-pail full of water. They would then begin certain incantations and the dish would capsize; at that moment the ship would sink at sea. Some years before Campbell wrote, a boat was lost between Raasay and Skye. The witches responsible for this crime were seen at work near a stream in the Braes of Portree. There were three of them, and, in this instance, the presence of a man was also necessary. They floated a cockleshell in a pool and then arranged a number of black stones round the edge of the pool. They began to recite an incantation, and when it reached its climax, the black stones began to bark like dogs; the cockleshell disappeared and the ship sank.

  There were male witches — magicians — as well as female, and certain of these achieved a widespread notoriety. It was believed that those who had practised the black arts in life were restless after death; they could cause a lot of trouble until they were safely buried. A Tiree tradition tells of a headstone which had been placed at the grave of a man who had been supposed to be a master of the dark art; the stone would not remain in the same place, but was constantly found in a different position. Eventually it had to be secured at the head of the grave by a chain. One sure means of detecting a witch was as follows: early on the morning of the first Monday of each quarter, the smoke from the house of one who was a witch could be seen to ‘go’ against the wind. In this manner it was believed a witch could be identified.

  22The Witches’ cat

  The most famous witch story of the western Highlands concerns the hero MacGille Chaluim Ratharsaidh (Iain Mac Gille Chaluim of Raasay). He is an historical figure and the legend is widely believed to be true. He was drowned on 19 April 1671 on his way home from visiting the Earl of Seaforth in Lewis. Tradition holds that his death was due to the evil powers of his muime ‘foster-mother’, who enlisted the aid of several famous witches to raise a terrible storm in order to destroy him. Iain’s foster-mother lived on a small island to the north of Trotternish in Skye. No one knew what Iain had done to arouse her violent hatred in this way. He left Lewis on a clear, calm day. When his foster-mother, who was keeping watch on the sea from her island, saw his ship approaching, she placed a large vessel and a small vessel to float in the milk. She was a milk-maid on the island, and she set the calf-herd at the door of the shieling where he could see both Iain’s ship and the two vessels floating in the milk. She herself stood by the fire, with one foot in the slabhraidh (pot-chain) again, and began incanting; immediately the little vessel began to be violently agitated. The boy then cried out that the small dish was going sunwise round the big dish; the violent motion then made it go widdershins (tuathail — anti-sunwise). It shook the side of the milk vessel, then turned upside down and floated, bottom up. At that very moment Iain’s ship disappeared and the boy saw it no more. When the galley was halfway to the island off Trotternish, three ravens (the form taken on by the triple war goddess of ancient Ireland) were seen hovering about the boat in the wild storm that had developed so suddenly. Soon after this, 20 birds flew into the boat and took on the form of frogs (23). Then, all the witches of Scotland assembled round Iain’s doomed ship. Even so, they were powerless to sink it until Iain cried ‘What the Devil brought you here?’. The naming of the Evil One sealed his fate. He became quite distracted by all the birds and the frogs. Eventually a huge raven (24) landed on the gunwale beside him and he drew his sword to kill it, and in his rage and confusion he drove it right through the gunwale, where it stuck. Tradition varies as to what followed. Some say that Iain’s ghost appeared before his widow and said:

  23The Witches’ frog

  Friday came the wind

  And stirred itself to rage and fury;

  Tell thou the mother of my body

  That it was the evil ones that brought death.

  The spirit allegedly repeated these lines three times. In 1861 a storyteller in Skye said that Iain’s foster-mother drowned her charge in order to obtain money; as soon as she had succeeded in her evil ploy she is said to have bitterly regretted it. The man who told this story also recited the lament traditionally sung by Iain’s wife when the news of his tragedy reached her:

  24The Witches’ raven

  As I sit on the beach

  Without joy or gladness,

  Never more shall I raise a blithe song

  After the Friday of my woe.

  The greyhounds are unstirring,

  Without tail-wagging or rejoicing,

  Without welcome from the noble

  Whose forebears were manly.

  Without coursing or huntsmen,

  Without trek to the hill,

  To the heights of the hunt,

  To the rough peaks of the Cuillin.

  These are some examples of the hundreds of stories of witches who, in days gone by — and even not so long ago — used to terrorise the simple peoples of the Highlands and the Islands of the west with their alleged powers of sinking ships, raising storms by means of threads and wooden bowls; who took the milk from people’s cows, caused woe by their evil glance, and turned themselves into a variety of animals (25) for the forwarding of their dark pursuits. And even today, although rarely spoken of, there are certain people living in remote areas who cause some misgiving in the minds of their neighbours whose belief in the old powers of evil are still not quite extinct.

  Over and above straightforward witchcraft, many people were believed to have certain powers, sometimes extremely limited, which enabled them to work woe or well on their fellows.

  Although the power of the Droch Shùil, ‘Evil Eye’, was usually attributed to witches, it could be possessed by one who meant no ill and hated the ‘gift’. These people were quite unable not to blight things they admired. Over and above rowan branches, horseshoes and certain plants, some stones could assist in turning aside this unfortunate power. It could also be averted by drinking three mouthfuls of water which had been poured over silver (i.e. a silver coin); each mouthful must be taken in the name of the Trinity. The following incantation was sometimes made:

  It is my own eye,

  It is God’s eye,

  It is the eye of the Son of God

  Which shall repel this,

  Which shall combat this.

  Among their numerous alleged powers, witches were accredited with the ability to delay the birth of a child. This was brought about by means of a ball of black thread which was kept in a black bag at the base of the witch’s weaving loom, where it could not be seen. If the ball of thread was found and removed, then the power of the witch was destroyed. One story told in the Highlands has it that a child was kept in its mother’s womb for 22 years by means of witchcraft. When it was born, it had hair, teeth and a beard. This unlikely legend seems to hark back to early Celtic mythological tales in which a supernatural woman gives birth to a child who is already a mature and fully-armed warrior! One tale of this kind related by Campbell concerns the mother of a well-known Highland character, Ailein nan Sop (Allan of the Straws). She was a servant, who was made pregnant by a married man. The wife learnt of this, was duly enraged, and went to a local witch for help. The witch gave her a certain bone, and told her that as long as the bone was kept, the birth of the child would be prevented. Allan remained in his mother’s womb for 15 months beyond the normal period of her pregnancy. When the husband, who had fathered the child, came to realise that his wife was responsible for this unnatural delay in the birth, he decided to outwit her. He arranged that his jester should come home one day, apparently very drunk, and smashing things around him as he made his unsteady way through the house. When he was reprimanded for this, he was to say that he had been in a house where a long overdue child had been born. The wife, on hearing this, thought that the witch had failed in her powers, and in fury, seized the bone and threw it into the fire. It disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke; Allan was then born at once, with a full set of teeth!

  25The Witches’ eagle

 
A great variety of amulets could be used to keep the dread powers of witchcraft at bay. Martin records that in Harris a species of nuts called Molluka were to be found; some of these were used as charms against the Evil Eye or witchcraft in general, the most efficacious being the white variety. The nuts came from the Spice Islands and were washed up on the beach. They were placed about the necks of children to protect them; one of their great virtues was that if any evil was being planned against the wearer, the white nut would turn black. Martin attests to the truth of this, although he is unable to offer any rational explanation for it. The Steward of Harris, one Malcolm Campbell, told Martin that some weeks before his arrival there, all his cows gave blood instead of milk for several days. A wise neighbour told his wife that this was caused by witchcraft, and that the spell could be removed without undue difficulty. She was advised to take one of the white nuts and put it in the bottom of the pail into which she was about to milk the cows — this species of nut was known as the Virgin Mary’s Nut. She did as she was told; the first cow to be milked gave nothing but blood, as before, but the nut turned dark brown. She used the nut again, and from that moment, all the cows gave pure milk.

  Belonging as it does to the category of folk belief connected with witchcraft, good and bad, the widespread belief in the power of certain people, voluntarily or involuntarily, to inflict woe on others by means of a glance of their eye, is one of the most rich and interesting aspects of Highland folklore. Carmichael collected a huge body of lore about the Evil Eye, and recorded many fascinating methods and incantations whereby its powers may be overcome:

  Four to work sickness with Evil Eye,

  Man and woman, youth and maid

  Three to repel ill will,

  Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

  Deeply-rooted and ancient traditions underlie the widespread belief in this evil power; it filled people with dread, and many feared it so much that their whole lives were hemmed in and affected by tabu connected with it. A certain rhyme must be said on the first Monday of the quarter, a dangerous day:

  The first Monday of the quarter,

  Take care that luck leave not thy dwelling.

  The first Monday of the Spring quarter,

  Leave not thy cattle neglected.

  According to Carmichael, some men observed this injunction so closely that they kept their beasts indoors all day on those ominous occasions, only letting them out at nightfall, lest the Evil Eye should fall on them. Only the eye of their owner was permitted to rest on them.

  There were many antidotes for this form of witchcraft, and Carmichael was given an interesting example of this by a man who was a stonemason. One Spring, his father was busy with the ploughing when a man from the other side of the loch came across to see if he could get some oat seed. He was given this, and went home the way that he had come. He was very grateful for the favour that he had received. On the instant that he turned away, the man’s mare apparently fell down dead. The mason’s father ran into the house shouting that the man to whom he had been so generous had put the ‘Eye’ on his horse. The man was then followed so that he could repair the serious damage he had caused. The offender was one of the unfortunates who could not prevent his power, and he was extremely distressed about the occurrence. He explained his powerlessness over his unfortunate faculty. He then went three times sunwise round the mare, singing a rune of aiding and praying to the Trinity to undo the damage that the Eye had done to the animal. As soon as he had finished this ritual, the mare lifted her head and rose up alive and fit. The man with the ‘Eye’ said again how the episode had distressed him, but that he had no means of averting it.

  There are innumerable fascinating charms for the Evil Eye in the Highlands. According to one woman, a native of Bonar Bridge, in order to counteract the ‘Eye’ one must rise early in the morning and go to a boundary stream over which the living and the dead have passed — a very magical point. One must then lift a small palmful of water from the lower side of the bridge, in the name of the Trinity. Next one must retrace one’s steps with the palmful of water in a wooden bowl, and sprinkle the sacred liquid on the backbone of the animal on which the Evil Eye has rested. All must be performed in the name of Christianity. Next the water in the bowl must be sprinkled behind the fire-flag again in the name of the Trinity. According to this informant, to follow the procedure closely would be certain to bring about complete healing in the stricken animal and destroy the force of the Evil Eye:

  Thy strait be on the fire-flags,

  Thine ailment on the wicked woman.

  A moving incantation, a splendid blend of pagan magic and Christian faith was collected by Carmichael in the island of Barra. Three mouthfuls of water in which a silver coin had been placed must be drunk by the victim, the first mouthful in the name of the Father, the second in the name of the Son, and the third in the name of the Holy Ghost:

  It is mine own eye,

  It is the eye of God,

  It is the eye of God’s Son,

  Which shall repel this,

  Which shall combat this.

  He who has made to thee the eye

  Surely lie it on himself,

  Surely lie it on his affection,

  Surely lie it on his stock.

  On his wife, on his children,

  On his means, on his dear ones,

  On his cattle, on his seed,

  And on his comely kine.

  On his mares, grey and brown,

  On his geldings in the plough,

  On his flocks black and white,

  On his corn-barns, on his coarse meal.

  On the little fairy women

  Who are reeling in the knoll,

  Who are biding in the heath,

  Who are filling the cavities.

  Another means of countering the power of the Evil Eye was recorded by Carmichael at Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire. One must take a clay vessel and go, once again, to running water, over which both the living and the dead cross. On the lower side of the bridge where this happened, one must go down on the right knee, lift a palmful of water in the hollows of the hands and put it in the dish, repeating the following words:

  I am lifting a little drop of water

  In the holy name of the Father;

  I am lifting a little drop of water

  In the holy name of the Spirit.

  One must then rub a little of the sacred water into the two ears of the person, or on the part afflicted by the ‘Eye’, and down the spine of the afflicted animal saying:

  Shake from thee thy harm,

  Shake from thee thy jealousy,

  Shake from thee thine illness,

  In name of Father,

  In name of Son,

  In name of Holy Ghost.

  The remainder of the water must then be poured on a grey stone or a fixed rock, so that its holy powers should not be abused. The name of the person or of the animal must be mentioned at the same time as the healing water is being applied.

  Threads were used both to enchant and to remove enchantment in the Highlands, as well as to cure certain maladies, and this persisted well into living memory. The charm of the threads was made to sick animals, generally cattle. The threads in question were made into a cord of three ply and of three colours. This was symbolic of the Trinity — black, symbolic of the condemnation of God; red, symbolic of the Crucifixion; white, symbolising the purification of the spirit. The cord was twisted three times round the tail of the animal which had been bewitched, and it was then tied in a very complex triple loop. Carmichael records how in February 1906 a Benbecula man came across to North Uist in order to buy a horse. Observing a fine animal outside the house of a certain crofter, he praised the beast and continued on his way. He had hardly passed out of sight when the horse had fallen to the ground and was rolling in agony. People knew this Benbecula man was reputed to have the ‘Eye’, so the owner of the horse immediately went to a woman versed in counteracting this distressing power. She twined with her te
eth three threads of three ply, and different colours, and instructed the owner of the animal to tie these, one after the other, round the base of the horse’s tail, in the name of the Trinity. He did as the woman advised, and at once the animal recovered. The charmer told the horse’s owner that she had inherited this knowledge and power from her father, a very devout Christian, much given to prayer. She apparently was able to ascertain from the beginning of her prayer whether the illness had been brought about by natural sickness or by the Evil Eye. If the sickness was natural, then she would advocate conventional cures; if due to witchcraft, then she brought about the remedy by the power of her prayer. She maintained that the Evil Eye of a man, although less venomous than that of a woman, was more difficult to counteract then that of a woman. A common effect of their powers on all true charmers or healers is the illness and weakness that they themselves experience after having performed their cure, sometimes almost to the point of death. To remove the damage brought about by witchcraft involved a severe struggle against the powers of evil and inevitably resulted in total mental and physical exhaustion. Such white witches or charmers believed that their power came from God and that it was incumbent upon them to use it, no matter how unpleasant the consequences to themselves may be. Not to use the gift would involve its weakening and ultimate loss.