CHAPTER VI.SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.
Buarach-bhaoi, lamprey.—TheBuarach-bhaoi(lit. wild or wizard shackle), called alsoBuarach na Baoi(the shackle of the furious one), was believed to be a leech or eel-like animal to be found at certain fords and in dark waters, that twisted itself like a shackle round the feet of passing horses, so that they fell and were drowned. It then sucked their blood. It had nine eyes or holes in its head and back, at which the blood it sucked came out. Hence it was calledBuarach-bhaoi nan sùilean claon(the furious shackle of the squinting eyes). In Skye, it was believed the animal was to be found in Badenoch. It was said to haunt the dark waters of Loch Tummel (Tethuil, hot flood, from the impetuosity of the river), in Perthshire, and was also known on the west coast of Argyllshire. The word is translated ‘lamprey’ in dictionaries, but the description suggests the tradition of some species of gymnotus or electric eel.
Cirein Cròin, Sea Serpent.—This was the largest animal in the world, as may be inferred from a popular Caithness rhyme:
“Seven herring are a salmon’s fill,Seven salmon are a seal’s fill,Seven seals are a whale’s fill,And seven whales the fill of a Cirein Cròin.”
“Seven herring are a salmon’s fill,Seven salmon are a seal’s fill,Seven seals are a whale’s fill,And seven whales the fill of a Cirein Cròin.”
“Seven herring are a salmon’s fill,Seven salmon are a seal’s fill,Seven seals are a whale’s fill,And seven whales the fill of a Cirein Cròin.”
“Seven herring are a salmon’s fill,
Seven salmon are a seal’s fill,
Seven seals are a whale’s fill,
And seven whales the fill of a Cirein Cròin.”
To this is sometimes added, “seven Cirein Cròin are the fill of the big devil himself.” This immense sea-animal is also calledMial mhòr a chuain, the great beast of the ocean,cuartag mhòr a chuain, the great whirlpool of the ocean, anduile-bhéisd a chuain, the monster of the ocean. It was originally a whirlpool, or the sea-snake of the Edda, that encircled the whole world.
Gigelorum.—TheGiolcam-daoram, or Gigelorum, is the smallest of all animals. It makes its nest in the mite’s ear and that is all that is known about it.
Lavellan.—This animal is peculiar to the north, where it is said to be able to hurt cattle from a distance of forty yards: “Lavellan, animal in Cathanesia frequens, in aquis degit, capite mustelae sylvestri simile, ejusdemque coloris, bestia est. Halitu Bestiis nocet. Remedium autem est, si de aqua bibant in quâ ejus caput coctum est.” (Sibbald’sScot. Ill., lib. 3, fol. 11.) Pennant, when at Ausdale, Langwell, Caithness-shire, says: “I inquired here after the Lavellan, which, from description, I suspect to be the water shrew mouse.The country people have a notion that it is noxious to cattle; they preserve the skin, and, as a cure for their sick beasts, give them the water in which it has been dipt. I believe it to be the same animal which, in Sutherland, is called the water mole.” It is also mentioned by Rob Donn, the Sutherland bard, in his satirical song on “Mac Rorie’s Breeches”: “Let him not go away from the houses, to moss or wood, lest the Lavellan come and smite him.”
Bernicle Goose, Cadhan.—In the Hebrides, as in England, the Bernicle Goose was believed to grow from the thoracic worm, attaching itself to floating wood that has been some time in the water, often so closely as to hide the surface of the log.Calum na Cròige, a native of Croig in Mull, who went about the country some thirty or forty years ago, the delight of youngsters by his extraordinary tales of personal adventures and of wonders he had seen, and the energy with which, sitting astride on a stool, he raised with their assistance the anchor, hoisted sail, and performed other nautical feats, told that in the Indian seas, he and a comrade jumped overboard to swim to land. They swam for a week before reaching shore, but the water was so warm they felt no inconvenience. The loveliest music Calum ever heard was that made by Bernicle Geese as they emerged from barnacles that grew on the soles of his feet!
Eels (Easgunn).—It is still a very common belief in the Highlands that eels grow from horse hairs. In avillage of advanced opinions in Argyllshire, the following story was heard from a person who evidently believed it:
“In the island of Harris, in a time of scarcity, a person went out for fish, and succeeded only in getting eels. These animals are not eaten in the Highlands and his wife would not taste them. The man himself ate several. By and by he went mad, and his wife had to go for succour to a party of Englishmen, who had a shooting lodge near. On arriving with loaded guns, the sportsmen found the eel-eater in the fields fighting a horse. He was so violent that they had to shoot him. On inquiry it turned out that the cause of his madness and fighting the horse was that the eels he had eaten had grown from horse hairs!”
Whale.—The round-headed porpoises, or caaing whales (mucun bearraich, lit. dog-fish pigs), derive their Gaelic name from being supposed to grow from dog-fish. An overgrown dog-fish, still retaining its own shape, is calledBurraghlas.
Herring.—The food of the Herring is said to consist of crustacea and small fishes, but there is ordinarily so little appearance of food in their stomach that an easier explanation has been found in saying, they live on the foam they make with their own tails! A door-keeper at Dowart Castle is said to have successfully warned a M‘Kinnon from Skye of the dangers awaiting him at the banquet to which he had been invited, byasking him if they were getting any herring in the north at present, and then praising the herring as a royal fish (iasg righ) that never was caught by its mouthful of food or drink (air a bhalgum no air a ghreim). On hearing this remark M‘Kinnon turned on his heel and made his escape.
Flounder.—According to Sutherland tradition, the wry mouth of the flounders (Leòbag, as it is called in the north) arose from its making faces at the rock-cod. A judgment (which children, who make faces, are liable to) came upon it, and its mouth remains as it then twisted it. In Tiree and Iona the distortion is said to have been caused by St. Columba. Colum-Kil met a shoal of flounders and asked:
“Is this a removal, flounder?”
“Yes it is, Colum-Kil crooked legs,” said the flounder.
“If I have crooked legs,” said St. Columba, “may you have a crooked mouth,” and so the flounder has a wry mouth to this day.
Lobster.—The three animals that dart quickest and farthest in the sea, according to a popular and perhaps truthful rhyme, are the lobster, mackerel, and seal. “The dart of lobster, the dart of mackerel, and the dart of seal; and though far the lobster’s dart, farther is the mackerel’s dart, and though far the mackerel’s dart, farther is the seal’s dart.”
Serpents.—A serpent, whenever encountered, oughtto be killed. Otherwise, the encounter will prove an omen of evil. The head should be completely smashed (air a spleatradh), and removed to a distance from the rest of the body. Unless this is done, the serpent will again come alive. The tail, unless deprived of animation, will join the body, and the head becomes abeithis, the largest and most deadly kind of serpent.63A person stung by one should rush to the nearest water. Unless he reaches it before the serpent, which also makes straight for it, he will die from the wound.
Another cure for the sting is water in which the head of another serpent has been put. There was a man in Applecross who cured epilepsy by water in which he kept a living serpent. The patient was not to see the water. Farquhar, the physician, obtained his skill in the healing art from being the first to taste the juice of a white serpent. He was a native of Tongue, in Sutherlandshire, and on one occasion was met by a stranger, who asked him where he got the walking-stick he held in his hand. The stranger further got him to go to the root of the tree from which the stick had been cut, take a white serpent from a hole at its foot and boil it. He was to give the juice without touching it to thestranger. Farquhar happened to touch the mess with his finger, and it being very hot, he thrust his finger in his mouth. From that moment he acquired his unrivalled skill as a physician, and the juice lost its virtue.
A week previous to St. Bridget’s Day (1st February, O.S.) the serpents are obliged to leave their holes under ground, and if the ground is then covered with snow they perish. In the popular rhyme relating to the subject the serpent in Argyllshire and Perthshire is called the ‘daughter of Edward,’ but in Skyean rìbhinn, the damsel. In both cases the name is probably a mere euphemism suggested by the rhyme to avoid giving unnecessary offence to the venomous creature.
Rats and Mice.—When a place is infested to a troublesome extent with rats or mice, and all other means of getting rid of the pests have failed, the object can be accomplished by composing a song, advising them to go away, telling them where to go, and what road to take, the danger awaiting them where they are, and the plenty awaiting them in their new quarters. This song is called the Rat (or Mouse) Satire, and if well composed the vermin forthwith take their departure.
When the islet of Calv (an Calbh, the inner door), which lies across the mouth of Tobermory harbour, was let in small holdings, the rats at one time became so numerous that the tenants subscribed sixpence a-piece,and sent forIain Pholchrainto Morven, to come and satirize the rats away. He came and made a long ode, in which he told the rats to go away peaceably, and take care not to lose themselves in the wood. He told them what houses to call at, and what houses (those of the bard’s own friends) to avoid, and the plenty and welcome stores—butter and cheese, and meal—to be got at their destination. It is said that after this there was an observable decrease in the number of rats in the island!
An Ardnamurchan man, pestered with mice, in strong language tried to get them away, and all who have had experience of the annoyance, will heartily join him in his wishes. The poet, with whips and switches, gathers the mice in a meadow near a stream, and sends a number of the drollest characters in the district to herd them, and ‘old men, strong men, striplings, and honest matronly women, with potato beetles,’ to chase them. At last he gets them on board a boat atEabar an ròin, and sends them to sea.
“The sea roaring boisterously,The ocean heaving and weltering,The tearing sound of sails splitting,The creaking of the keel breaking,The bilge water through the hull splashingLike an old horse neighing.”
“The sea roaring boisterously,The ocean heaving and weltering,The tearing sound of sails splitting,The creaking of the keel breaking,The bilge water through the hull splashingLike an old horse neighing.”
“The sea roaring boisterously,The ocean heaving and weltering,The tearing sound of sails splitting,The creaking of the keel breaking,The bilge water through the hull splashingLike an old horse neighing.”
“The sea roaring boisterously,
The ocean heaving and weltering,
The tearing sound of sails splitting,
The creaking of the keel breaking,
The bilge water through the hull splashing
Like an old horse neighing.”
And leaving them in this evil plight, the song ceases.
Cormorant.—This bird passes through three stages of existence; it is “seven years a scart (pelecanus cristatus),seven years a speckled loon (colymbus arcticus), and seven years a cormorant (pelecanus carbo)” (Seachd bliadhna na sgarbh, seachd bliadhna na learg, ’s seachd bliadhna na bhallaire bodhain).
Magpie.—The pyet (piaghaid) is called ‘the messenger of the Campbells’ (Gille ruith nan Caimbeulach), a name also given (for what reason the writer has not been able to ascertain) to a person who is ‘garrulous, lying, interfering with everbody’ (gobach, briagach, ’g obair air na h-uile duine). It is said of a meddling chatterbox, “What a messenger of the Campbells you have become!” It is ‘little happiness’ (beagan sonais) for any one to kill a magpie.
Beetles.—TheCeardalanor dung-beetle is spared by boys when met with, but thedaolagor clock is mercilessly killed. The reason assigned is, that when the former met those who came to seize the person of our Saviour, and was asked how long since he had passed, it said, “twenty days ago yesterday” (fhichead latha gus an dé, chaidh Mac Dhé seachad), but the latter said, “it was only yesterday” (an dé, an dé chaidh Mac Dhé seachad). Hence, when boys hammer the life out of a ‘clock,’ they keep repeating with savage unction, “The day before yesterday, wretch” (air a bhò ’n dé, bhradag), or a rhyme:
“Remember yesterday, yesterday,Remember yesterday, wretch,Remember yesterday, yesterday,That let not the Son of God pass.”
“Remember yesterday, yesterday,Remember yesterday, wretch,Remember yesterday, yesterday,That let not the Son of God pass.”
“Remember yesterday, yesterday,Remember yesterday, wretch,Remember yesterday, yesterday,That let not the Son of God pass.”
“Remember yesterday, yesterday,
Remember yesterday, wretch,
Remember yesterday, yesterday,
That let not the Son of God pass.”
Emmet (Caora-Chòsag).—This animal is shaken between the palms of the hand and laid upon the table. It is believed by boys to indicate the weather of the following day, by lighting on its back or belly and the alacrity with which it moves away.
Skip-Jack.—This insect (Gobhachan,i.e.little smith orBuail a Chnag, give a knock), when laid on its back emits a loud crack in springing to its proper position. It is a favourite amusement of boys when they get hold of one to make it go through this performance. In Skye, when watching it preparing to skip, they say,
“Strike with your hammer, little smith.Or I will strike your head.”64
“Strike with your hammer, little smith.Or I will strike your head.”64
“Strike with your hammer, little smith.Or I will strike your head.”64
“Strike with your hammer, little smith.
Or I will strike your head.”64