“Tha Seathan nochd na mharbhan,”
“Tha Seathan nochd na mharbhan,”
“Tha Seathan nochd na mharbhan,”
“Tha Seathan nochd na mharbhan,”
the names being those now denoted by John.
(Lit. month for hanging dogs.)
This is but a boyish and sportive name given to the month precedingLùnasdal, or first of August,the time of greatest scarcity with the poor. The stores of last harvest are exhausted, and the new supplies are not yet come in. If there is a scarcity of food for the dogs, it is recommended as the best thing that can be done, to hang them. Besides, the excessive heat makes it advisable to get rid of all superfluous dogs.
(Lit. Martin of the Bag’s Day.)
July 4-16 received its title of the Translation of Martin from being the day on which the remains of St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, 397, “the apostle of the Gauls” (who also gives his name to the Martinmas term) were transferred to the Cathedral of Tours. In Scotland the day is called St. Martin of Bullions Day, and it was a proverb that if the deer rise dry and lie down dry on it, that is if the morning and evening be dry, it will be a dry season till harvest; and it was a general belief over Europe that rain on this day betokened wet weather for the next twenty days.
The Day of St. Martin of the Bag is commonly translated St. Swithin’s day, which is the 15th. St. Swithin was Bishop of Winchester, and no name of an English Bishop is found in the Gaelic calendar.
This, being a quarter day, formed a great day with old women for saining cattle, and performing thoseceremonies by which evil was to be kept away from them for the next three months. Tar was put on their tails and ears, charms (òradh) were said at their udders, red and blue threads were put on their tails, and various observances were gone through with balls of hair (rolag), plants, fire about the earthenware pipkins (crogain) in which milk or butter was to be put, etc. Curds and butter were specially prepared for a great feast held this day, at which it was highly important that everyone got as much as he cared for.
On Lammas day, the gad-fly “loses one of its eyes” (Latha Lùnasdal caillidh chreithleag an leth shùil). The creature is not so vicious after this date.
Lùnasdalis not a word of Gaelic origin, at least no satisfactory Gaelic etymology can be given for it. It is perhaps a contraction of the Latin,luna augustalis, the August moon. The Roman month was lunar, and was reckoned from the first appearance of the moon’s slender crescent in the sky. The moon in the harvest months is of more consequence to the husbandman than at any other season, and has always been taken notice of for its splendour. The temperature of the night air has much to do with this. The Gaelic bears its own testimony to it, in giving distinctive names to the autumn moon.
The corresponding English name, Lammas, had very likely the same origin, and it is a contraction ofLunamas. The derivation of it from Lamb-mas is an “affectationof punning,” and that suggested by Gen. Vallancey from La-ith-mas, “a day of eating fruit,” is extremely fanciful. The omission ofnin the middle of a word, for the sake of brevity or from inadvertence, frequently occurs. Soghas been elided inLùnasdal. Augustus, which was adopted as the name of the sixth monthB.C.6, becameeastin Cornish andeostin Armoric.
TheIucharconsists of 14 days of summer and 14 days of autumn, and Lammas Day, O.S., being the first of autumn, corresponds to the present month of August. It is regarded, in point of weather, as the opposite ofFaoilleach, the “storm month” of February.
The name is derived from an obsolete verbfiuchadhto be hot. Lhuyd (Archæolog. Brit.) rendersfiuchaeh, boiling, andfiuchadh, a spring,scatebra. In another place he givesfiuchadhas an equivalent of the Latinæstus. In some districts of the north, the name of the season is still calledFiuchar. Linlithgow, celebrated for its wells, is known in the Highlands asGleann Iuch, and the Linlithgow measures are calledtomhaís Ghlinn Iuch. The dropping offinitial, as in the case of the Greek digamma, is too common to need illustration.
This is the middle day of autumn (latha meadhon an fhogharaidh), August 15-27. It was counted a greaterday than St. Mary’s Day (Féill Moire) in spring, and was called “the Big St. Mary’s Day.” Harvest operations were now vigorously pushed forward, and hence the saying, “Big St Mary’s Feast in harvest, sheaf and binding and men with their coats off” (an Fhéill Mhoire mòr a’s t-fhogharadh sguab ’us ceangal ’s daoin’ as an léintean).
This day is the first of the rutting season among deer, and it was held that if the night before it (oidhche na Féill Ròid), be wet, or (as it was expressed), “if the deer took his head wet into the rutting season” (ma bheir e cheann fliuch san dàmhair), there will be a month after it of dry weather, and the farmer need be under no apprehension as to securing his crops. The belling of red deer among the hills on this night is magnificent.
The night succeeding Roodmas was called “the night of the nut,” “the night of the Holy Nut” (oidhche na cnò, na cnò Naomh), a name, the reason of which is doubtful. Some say it arises from this night dividing harvest in unequal halves, as the kernel is divided in the nut. Brand (i. 353) mentions a custom of going a nutting upon Rood Day, and it seems to have been a popular belief that on this day the devil goes a nutting. This does not explain why the nut is called the Holy Nut.
The Holy Rood is the same as the Cross.
is also known in the Roman Catholic districts of the Highlands, as “the Riding Day” (latha na marcachd). On the level green of Borg (machaire Bhorg), in Barra, a great race is held, the women bringing the horses, and sitting behind the men on horseback. In the scamper that ensues, it is a lucky sign if the woman tumbles off. All the expenses of the festivity are borne by the women, each of whom takes with her to the racecourse a large thick bannock of oatmeal, made with treacle, butter, etc.
is the first day of winter, and is also known as All-Saints’ Day (Latha nan uile Naomh), Nov. 1-13. It was a sign of a bad winter if it fell upon a Wednesday, according to the saying: “When Hallowmas is on Wednesday, it is afflictive after it” (Nuair is Di-ciadaìn an t-samhainn is iargaineach na déigh).
The coming of winter was hailed with more fun and merriment than any other season of the year. The cold was now fairly set in, the fruits of the summer, down to the very nuts, were gathered, and the young became desirous of learning their fate with regard to that subject of anxiety in every age, their future husbands and wives. This natural welcoming of winter explains the ceremonies of the day, and the games of the evening. Hardly any of them have reference tothe practices or deities of the nations of antiquity or to Scripture, and this explanation must be sought for in Pagan times.
On the last day of autumn children gathered ferns, tar-barrels, the long thin stalks calledgàinisg, and everything suitable for a bonfire. These were placed in a heap on some eminence near the house, and in the evening set fire to. The fires were calledSamhnagan. There was one for each house, and it was an object of ambition who should have the biggest. Whole districts were brilliant with bonfires, and their glare across a Highland loch, and from many eminences, formed an exceedingly picturesque scene. Some find in them traces of the worship of the invariable Baal, but there is no reason to look upon them otherwise than as the natural and defiant welcome of the season, in which fires are most required, when the heat of the year is departed, and cold and frost and rushing winds cover all things with gloom. Bonfires are kindled on all occasions of public rejoicing, or excitement, and Hallowmas fires are a natural expression of the change of season. It is possible a deity was originally associated with the practice, but there is now no trace of him in name or practices of this day.
As the evening wore on, the young people gathered to one house, and an almost endless variety of games (cleasan) were resorted to, with the object in every case of divining the future lot of the company. Were they tomarry or not, was it to be that year or never, who was to be married first, what like the future husband or wife was to be, their names, trade, colour of hair, size, property, etc.? were questions of great importance, and their answer was a source of never-failing entertainment. The modes of divination are of interest, from the light they throw on the character of the people among whom they prevailed, and from an antiquarian point of view, as remains of Pagan times.
A shoe caught by the tip and thrown over the house, fore-indicates the future by its position on the ground on the other side. In whatever direction the toe points, the thrower will go before long, and it is very unlucky if the shoe be found with the sole uppermost, misfortune is “making for” him. A thin, fine shoe, used in this manner, led the man, fished up from the Green Island, to remark, after some years of silence:
“A thin shoe, little valued,It is hard to say who will wear it.”[71]
“A thin shoe, little valued,It is hard to say who will wear it.”[71]
“A thin shoe, little valued,It is hard to say who will wear it.”[71]
“A thin shoe, little valued,
It is hard to say who will wear it.”[71]
He might well say so, for the owner of the shoe died in a few days.
The white of eggs, dropped in a glass of pure water, indicates by certain marks how many children a person is to have. The impatience and clamour of the children often made the housewife perform this ceremony for them by daylight, and the kindly mother, standingwith her face to the window, dropping the white of an egg into a crystal glass of clean water, and surrounded by a group of children, eagerly watching her proceedings, formed a pretty picture.
When the fun of the evening had fairly commenced, the names of eligible, or likely as possible matches, were written on the chimney place, and the young man, who wished to essay his fortune, was blindfolded and led up to the list. Whatever name he put his finger on would prove to be that of his future wife.
Two nuts were put on the fire beside each other, representing two individuals, whose names were made known to the company. As they burned together, or flared up alone, or leaped away from each other, the future marriage of the pair, or haughty rejection of each other, was inferred.
A dish of milk and meal (fuarag, Scot. crowdie), or of beat potatoes, was made, and a ring was concealed in it. Spoons were given to the company, and a vigorous attack was made on the dish. Whoever got the ring would prove to be the first married. This was an excellent way of making the taking of food part of the evening’s merriment.
Apples and a silver sixpence were put in a tub of water. The apples floated on the top, but the coin lay close to the bottom. Whoever was able to lift either in his mouth, and without using his teeth, was counted very lucky, and got the prize to himself.
By taking an apple and going to a room alone, dividing it there into nine pieces against the name of the Father and the Son, eating eight pieces with the back to a looking glass and the face looking over the left shoulder, and then throwing the ninth piece over the same shoulder, the future husband or wife was seen in the glass coming and taking the piece of apple away.
A person, going in the devil’s name to winnow in a barn alone, will see his future partner entering the door.
An unmarried woman, taking a ball of thread and crossing a wall on her way, went to a kiln or other out-house. Here, holding one end of the thread, she threw the ball in the dark into the eye of the kiln (sùil àth), or over one of the rafters or a partition wall, in the name of a sweetheart whom she had before fixed on in her mind, and calling out “who is down there at the end of my little rope?” (co so shìos air ceann mo ròpain?), at the same time she gave the thread a gentle pull. In reply, some one or something pulled the thread at the other end, and a voice called out the name of her future husband. There is a story of a tailor having hid himself in anticipation of this mode of divination being resorted to, and when the ball was thrown he caught it and gave the thread a tug. In answer to the question “who is this at the end of my little rope?” he said, “I am the devil” (Tha mise, ’ndeamhan), and the woman to whom this frightful answer was given never tried divination again.
Young women sowed hemp seed (fras lìn) over nine ridges of plough land, saying “I sow hemp seed, and he who is to be my husband, let him come and harrow it” (Tha mi cur fras lìn, ’s am fear bhios na fhear ’dhomh, thigeadh e ’s cliathadh e). On looking back they saw the figure of their future husband. Hallowe’en being the night preceding the first day of a lunar month was always dark, and this ceremony was rendered more awful by a story that a woman once saw herself coming after her, and never recovered from the effects of the vision.
By dipping his shirt sleeve in a well to the south (tobar mu dheas), and then pulling off the shirt and placing it to dry before the fire, the anxious youth, if he does not oversleep himself, will see his sweetheart entering through the night and turning the shirt.
On putting an odd number of keys in a sieve, going to a barn alone, and there riddling them well “with the wrong hand turn” (car tuaitheal), the destined one will come and put the odd key right.
By holding a mouthful of water in the mouth, and going to listen (farcluais) at a neighbour’s window, the first name overheard will prove to be that of one’s intended.
The same knowledge was obtained by biting a piece of the last cart that sent in the corn, and with it in themouth going, without speaking, to listen (farcluais) under a neighbour’s window.
A common practice was to go and steal kail stocks. Unless the plants are pulled surreptitiously, without the knowledge or consent of their owner, they are of no use for the purpose of divination. A number of young people go together, and having cautiously and with difficulty made their way into a kailyard, pull each one the first stock that comes to hand after bending down. It must be the first that the hand meets. The plant is then taken home and examined by the light, and according to its height, straightness, colour, etc., will be the future husband or wife. A quantity of soil adhering to it signifies money and property. When put for the night above the lintel of the door, it affords indications by the first person entering below it in the morning; and, put below the pillow, it is excellent to dream over.
A straw, drawn at random from a stack, indicates by the number of grains upon it what family a person is to have.
Three ears of corn similarly pulled and placed below the pillow for the night, will cause dreams of the future husband reaping them.
A plate of clean water, one of dirty water, and one empty being placed on the floor, and a napkin thrown over the eyes, the dish in which the person blindfolded puts his forefinger, indicated a maid, or widow, or none at all.
A piece of flesh being buried this night, if any living creature was found in it in the morning, the person burying it would be married; but if not, he never would.
If water, in which the feet had been washed, were kept in the house this night,[72](and the Fairies were apt to enter the house when that was the case), a person putting a burning peat in it will see the colour of his sweetheart’s hair in it.
If a mouthful of the top sod of the house wall (fòid fàil na h-anainn), or a mouthful from the clod above the lintel of the door (àrd-dorus) be taken into the house in one’s teeth and any hair be found in it, it is of the same colour as that of the future wife of the person who performs the rite.
One of the chief performances of the evening was for young women to go to a Boundary Stream (allt crìche), (if between two neighbouring proprietors so much the better,) and with closed eyes to lift from it three stones between the middle finger and thumb, saying these words:
“I will lift the stoneAs Mary lifted it for her Son,For substance, virtue, and strength;May this stone be in my handTill I reach my journey’s end.”[73]
“I will lift the stoneAs Mary lifted it for her Son,For substance, virtue, and strength;May this stone be in my handTill I reach my journey’s end.”[73]
“I will lift the stoneAs Mary lifted it for her Son,For substance, virtue, and strength;May this stone be in my handTill I reach my journey’s end.”[73]
“I will lift the stone
As Mary lifted it for her Son,
For substance, virtue, and strength;
May this stone be in my hand
Till I reach my journey’s end.”[73]
The stones were for putting below the head when going to sleep.
Many other modes of divination were practised too tedious to mention, by slices from the plough, different metals, eating a stolen raw salt herring, sprinkling corn in front of the bed, etc., etc. These observances can hardly be characterised as superstitions; they proceeded from a spirit of fun more than from any belief in their efficacy. There are in every community many weak and simple people who are easily imposed on, and made to believe almost anything; but the divinations of Hallowe’en left an abiding impression on few minds.
St. Finan’s Eve is the longest night in the year, and hence it is said of a very stupid person, “he is as dark as the night of St. Finan, and that night is pretty dark” (Tha e co dorcha ri oidhche Feill Fionnain, ’s tha ’n oidhche sin glè dhorcha). The shortest day is called, in the Mackay country, the extreme north of Sutherlandshire, “The Day of the Three Suppers” (Latha nan trì suipeirean).
On this night it was said “the rain is wine and the stones are cheese” (Tha ’n t-uisge na fhìon ’s na clachan nan càise), and it was considered a joke to persuade boys to go out and see. “I remember,” says one who is a shrewd intelligent man, “about fifty years ago, when I was a little boy, sitting quite contentedly onthe Eve of St. Finan’s Day sipping with a spoon from a big tub of water, in the full hope that the next spoonful would prove to be wine.”
The name is derived from St. Finan, confessor, Bp. of Clonard, in Ireland, in the sixth century. This day is now fixed as the 12th December, but in the Highlands it is the shortest in the year, whatever day of the calendar that may fall upon. In olden times it was much esteemed, as the rhyme shows:
“St. Finnan’s night of festivities,And Christmas night of great cheer.”[74]
“St. Finnan’s night of festivities,And Christmas night of great cheer.”[74]
“St. Finnan’s night of festivities,And Christmas night of great cheer.”[74]
“St. Finnan’s night of festivities,
And Christmas night of great cheer.”[74]
Besides giving a name to the days of the calendar the saints were employed to designate local markets, St. Kessock’s Day (Fèill mo Cheasaig) at Callander has been already mentioned. St. Connan’s Day (Feill Connain) is the autumn market in Glenorchy;Feill Fhaolainis held at Killin;Feill Ceitat Kenmore; and in other places we haveFeill Peadair,F. Aindreis, etc. Old men spoke ofFeill an Diomhanais, the festival of St. Idleness, a holiday frequently observed by a great many people.Latha na Sluasaid, Shovel Day, means the day of one’s burial.Bliadhna na Braoisge, Grinning Year, andLa Luain, Moon-day (i.e.Monday come-never), mean the same thing, the Greek Kalends.Bliadhna nam Brisgeinean, the Year of Silverweed roots, was shortly after Culloden, and is remembered inTiree as a year of great scarcity. The land had been neglected in previous years from the disturbed state of the country, and in spring the furrows were white with roots (brisgeinean), and people made meal of them.
These play a more important part in Highland superstition than even the seasons of the year. The names by which they are known are not Celtic; two, Wednesday and Thursday, are of Scandinavian or Teutonic origin, and the rest are from the Latin. The superstitions, as might be expected, can in most cases be traced directly to incidents in Scripture history. The division of time into weeks was introduced with the Christian religion from Ireland, and the Irish must be held responsible for the names adopted. Neither in the names nor in the superstitions is there any trace of an age anterior to Christianity.
Dĭ, which is prefixed to each name, in the sense ofday, is kindred with the Latindies, and occurs in slightly modified forms in all the Celtic dialects. It is curious that in Gaelic it occurs in no other form or combination in the sense of “day,” and a suspicion is thereby created that it is merely an adaptation of the Latin word, an easier adaptation, because there are words of similar sound and kindred meaning in Gaelic.
The nameDòmhnachfor our Lord is not common. It is evidently derived from the LatinDominus. It occurs in the proper nameMaol-DòmhnaichLudovic, lit. the bald one (i.e.the shaven priest) of our Lord, a name still to be found in Skye, and formed likeMaol-Mhoire, Miles (lit. the priest of St. Mary),Maol-Ciaran,Maol-Ruainidh, etc. There is a streamlet near Strowan, in Blair Athole, calledallt Dòmhnach, the streamlet of our Lord; and aTobar an Dòmhnach, the well of our Lord, in Balmeanach, in the west of Tiree. In a charm for fulling cloth the expression occurs, “if he (the wearer of the cloth) enter field or fight, the full succour of our Lord be his” (Slàn chomraich an Dòmhnach da).
The day is also known as “an Dòmhnach” without the prefix ofdi. Other names are those occurring in Scripture, Sabbath, etc.
The plant pulled on Sunday is, according to a proverbial expression, without good or harm (luibh an Dòmhnach gun mhath gun chron).
Luainis said in dictionaries to be a Gaelic name for the moon, agreeing in origin with the Latinluna. It is used only in the name of this day, and in the expressionla luain, a poetic phrase for Monday come-never,i.e.“never more.” The adjectiveluaineach, restless,is supposed to be derived from it, but is a word never applied to the moon. It applies to whatever moves restlessly by fits and starts, from place to place, without staying long in one place, and never to anything on account of change of shape or form. Its derivation fromla uaine, green day, is absurd, and there are grounds for suspicion, thatluainis a word manufactured by ancient Gaelic grammarians from the Latin.
It was deemed unlucky to commence ploughing (stretching the team, as it was called,sìneadh na seisrich), or any kind of work on Monday. It will be proceeded with too quickly or too slowly, according to the adage,
“Work commenced on Monday,Will be (too) quick or will be (too) slow.”[75]
“Work commenced on Monday,Will be (too) quick or will be (too) slow.”[75]
“Work commenced on Monday,Will be (too) quick or will be (too) slow.”[75]
“Work commenced on Monday,
Will be (too) quick or will be (too) slow.”[75]
It was deemed, however, a good day for removing or “flitting” upon, just as Saturday was the reverse.
“Saturday removal is to the north,Monday removal to the south,Though I had but a lambOn Monday I would it remove.”[76]
“Saturday removal is to the north,Monday removal to the south,Though I had but a lambOn Monday I would it remove.”[76]
“Saturday removal is to the north,Monday removal to the south,Though I had but a lambOn Monday I would it remove.”[76]
“Saturday removal is to the north,
Monday removal to the south,
Though I had but a lamb
On Monday I would it remove.”[76]
Old men called it “the key of the week” (iuchair na seachdain).
The name is obviously enough fromdies martis, the Latin name.
This was a good day to begin ploughing upon, and it was ominous of good luck if any of the harness broke and the ploughing was stopped for the day. Such a belief could exist only in the easy-going olden days.
Much ingenuity has been spent on the etymology of this word by those who delight in recondite meanings, and believe that every word in Gaelic must be traced to a Gaelic origin. What Lhuyd says of radicals and primitives is equally applicable to other words. It is a very common error in etymology to endeavour to derive all the radical words of our Western European languages from the Latin or Greek; or indeed toderive the Primitives of any one language from any particular tongue. When we do this we seem to forget that all have been subject to alterations, and that the greater and more polite any nation is, the more subject they are (partly from improvement, and partly out of a luxurious wantonness) to remodel their language. Nearly all words connected with ecclesiastical affairs both in English and Gaelic have been imported from the Latin and Greek, undergoing only such changes as the difference of language requires. When or why thename of a Scandinavian deity, and not a Roman name, was adopted by the British and Irish churches to designate this or any other day is a different question. We must seek (and this is a rule lamentably neglected by Gaelic etymologists), the true explanation of words in any language that offers one that is probable and rational; otherwise we make “a useful art ridiculous,” and the etymologist degenerates into “a trifling conjecturer.”
The Latin name of this day isdies mercurii, which name was adopted in the Welsh, Cornish, and Armoric, but the Teutonic names are derived from the Scandinavian deityOdinorWoden, who was supposed to correspond to Mercury. This was the designation adopted in Gaelic, both Irish and Scottish. Like the French the Gaelic has now, and represents that sound bygorc. Thus,gad, withe;gul, wail;cosd, waste;clòimh, wool;cnuimh, worm;curaidh, warrior, etc. Sometimes, as pointed out under Whitsuntide (caingis), the corresponding English sound iswh. SoWoden’s-day, Wednesday, becameDi-ceden.
The derivationciad aoin’, first fast, is open to the objection that there was no fast on Wednesday in the Celtic or any other church, that the use of the wordaoin’, to denote a fast, is secondary, and derived from Friday (di-haoine), the true fast day, and that the final syllable, being the essential one, would with such a derivation, be heavily accented, instead of falling awayinto a mere terminal syllable. The graveiainDi-ciadainis accounted for by theoin Woden being long.
There was a malediction used to young women, “The disease of the woman be upon you, who put the first Wednesday comb in her head” (Galar na tè chuir a chiad chìr Chiadna na ceann). The disease was that she died childless.
Many would not begin sowing seed in spring, but on this day or Thursday. It was also counted a lucky day to begin ploughing upon.
A witch, in the island of Coll, being asked by a person, who had detected her in her unhallowed pranks, to visit a farm-house in shape of a hare, said, that as the day was Wednesday she could do nothing. Why her power was limited on this day does not appear.
The Latin name,dies Iovis, has been similarly followed, with slight alteration, by the Cymric branch of the Celts; while the Gaelic names are taken fromThor,Tor, and in some dialectsThordan, the Scandinavian deity, son of Odin.
This is a lucky day for a calf or lamb to be born upon, for beginning the weaving of cloth, and on which the hair should be cut, as the rhymes testify:
(1) “Thursday the day of benign Colum-cillA day to take possession of sheep,To put cloth in warp, and settle cow on calf.”(2) “Cut your hair and beard on Thursday,And blunt the nail on Saturday.”[77]
(1) “Thursday the day of benign Colum-cillA day to take possession of sheep,To put cloth in warp, and settle cow on calf.”(2) “Cut your hair and beard on Thursday,And blunt the nail on Saturday.”[77]
(1) “Thursday the day of benign Colum-cillA day to take possession of sheep,To put cloth in warp, and settle cow on calf.”
(1) “Thursday the day of benign Colum-cill
A day to take possession of sheep,
To put cloth in warp, and settle cow on calf.”
(2) “Cut your hair and beard on Thursday,And blunt the nail on Saturday.”[77]
(2) “Cut your hair and beard on Thursday,
And blunt the nail on Saturday.”[77]
It is unlucky if Beltane day, the first of summer, falls upon a Thursday, according to the saying, “Many a woman will be without an infant son, when Beltane falls on Thursday” (Is iomadh té bhios gun mhacan baoth dar is ann air Di’rdaoin bhios a Bhealltainn). M’Intosh (Gael. Prov., 146) has it, “Woe to the mother of a wizard’s son, when Beltane falls on a Thursday.” A similar prejudice existed against Hallowmas (Samhain), the first of winter, falling on a Wednesday.
Here the Gaelic names revert to the Latin. Venus is etymologically connected with the Gael,bean, a wife, asFrigais with the Germanfrau. In Armoric the name of the day isdar guener, and says Lhuyd (p. 9) “’Tis observable that the initialguis common to the Britons, with the French, Spaniards, and Italians; and that the Romans frequently begin such words with an V consonant.” The Gaelic word would be pronounced in the same manner, though spelleddi-Fhaoine, which probably is the more correct form.Aoineis said in dictionaries to mean a fast, but in that sense never came into popular use, and is not found in song or proverb.
The number of superstitions attached to the day were very numerous, and this origin is to be traced to Friday, being the day of the Crucifixion. On Good Friday (Di-haoine na Ceusa), the anniversary of our Lord’s Passion, the various beliefs had twofold force. So much was it a belief that the powers of evil have more power on this day than on any other, that it was a common saying, “Friday is against the week” (Tha Di-haoine an aghaidh na seachdain).
On Friday and on Sunday it was not deemed proper to go and see a sick person. Most took such a visit in anything but good part, and many would as soon see death coming to the house as a sympathising friend. In their opinion there was little difference.
The more superstitious would not allow iron to be put in the ground, and consequently no graves were dug and no ploughing was proceeded with. Commonly, however, ploughing was abstained from only on Good Friday.
It was not lucky (sealbhach) on Friday to cut one’s hair or nails, to sharpen knives, commence work, count animals, or go near the fire. In Argyllshire and the Highlands generally it is deemed unlucky for marriages, but in the south it is a favourite day, and in Appin, Perthshire, people did not care to be married on anyother day. The aversion of seafaring men to leave on this day is well known.
On Fridays the fairies visited men’s houses, and people were careful not to say anything to give them offence. Friday was not called by its own name, but “the day of yonder town” (la bhaile ud thall), and if any one unfortunately mentioned the proper name, the evil was averted by the bystanders adding “on the cattle of yonder town.” Old women in Tiree averted the evil consequences of sharpening knives on Friday by saying “on the farm of Clark,” alluding to a big strong man of that name to whom a general dislike was entertained, and who was said to have entered a fairy hillock and compelled the inmate to give him a cure for his sore leg.
The aversion of the elves to iron was a prominent feature in their character, and dislike to putting iron in the ground was perhaps aversion to disturb (especially with what the elves disliked so much) the earth under the surface of which that easily offended race lives. The “little folk” are quick to take offence, and dislike hearing the name of Friday, seeing iron sharpened, or the earth disturbed with it. When there was any occasion to mention the creatures, all danger of evil consequences is averted by saying, “A blessing on their journeying and travelling, this is Friday and they will not hear us.”
In the western islands it was a bitter curse to wish that “the number of Friday” or “the cross of the numberof Friday” might come upon a person (crois àireamh na h-aoine dh’ amas ort). To count three times cattle, chickens, men, etc., on this day was followed as a certain result by none of them being alive at the end of the year. Many in Tiree remember that in their youth a sure method of putting an old woman in a rage was to begin counting her chickens on a Friday. She seldom allowed them to get beyond three or four. The superstition probably arose from a belief that it was on Friday King David numbered the Children of Israel.
People did not like to kill a cow, a sheep, or other beast, or cut or mark calves or lambs on Friday, and there were many who would not allow their cattle to be shifted from one place to another. They would not alter their fold. If,e.g.the day was come for removing cows to the summer hill pastures, the more superstitious would not allow it to be done if the day was Friday.
As work commenced on Monday proceeded too quickly or too slowly, work began on Friday was said to be always hurriedly done, “it will be running” (bi i na ruith). “A person born on Friday is always in a hurry” (Bi neach a rugadh Di-haoine driopail); hence the malediction, “The running, or hurry, of Friday be upon you” (Ruith na h-aoine ort).
“A threatening Friday makes a tearful Saturday” (’Si ’n Aoine bhagarach ni ’n Sathurna deurach), and if it came on to rain early on Friday, or (as the sayingwas) if Friday caught the rain “in its mouth” (Nan glacadh an t-aoine na bhial e), it would be wet all day.
This, as might be expected, was not deemed a lucky day to begin work upon. It was not deemed of much consequence whether ploughing began or not, but the manufacture of cloth should on no account be begun. “The warp prepared on Saturday will have the delay of the seven Saturdays upon it” (An rud theid a dheilbh Di-Sathuirne, bi stad nan seachd Sathurn’ air). No spinning was to be done after sunset, but other work might proceed as usual. All work should stop at 9 p.m. It is still considered a bad thing among the old people in Kintail to work past that hour.
There is a man in Tiree who will not allow a newly-engaged servant to come home to enter on his service on Saturday. On one occasion, when the term-day happened to be Saturday, he persuaded the servant man to come on Friday, though only to stand in the house for a few minutes, that the evil omen might be averted.
New moon on Saturday was deemed a presage of stormy weather. “Saturday light goes seven times mad before it goes out” (Solus Sathurna gabhaidh e na seachd cuthaich mun d’ theid e mach).
An evil wish is “The end of the seven Saturdays be upon you” (Deire nan seachd Sathurn’ ort), Macintosh’sProv., p. 78; and in Cowal it is a vicious saying of one woman to another, “Worse than that will come upon you, the disease of the seven Saturdays will come upon you” (Thig na ’s miosa na sin ort, thig galar nan seachd Sathurn’ ort).
The objection to removing on Saturday has been already mentioned under Monday.[78]The same objection is entertained in Ireland.
The end of the week is very grateful to the labouring man. “Alas! and alas! is Monday, but my love is Saturday” (och is och! Di-luain, ach ’s e mo luaidh Di-Sathuirne).
Expressions denoting high wind are: “the blowing of hillocks out of their places” (seideadh nan cnoc), “a wind to take the tails off horses” (Bheireadh i na h-earbuill bhar nan each), and “blow the barn over the house” (chuir an t-sabhuill thar an tighe); heavy rain takes “pieces out of the ground” (mìrean as an talamh), and gives “milk to the whales” (bainne do na muca mara), it being supposed that in heavy rain whales lie on the surface to cool themselves; heavy snow “confines the infirm to their cots” (chròdhadh e na giùigirean), strong robust men can go about their business. A dead calm is called “the calm of birds” (fia’ nan ian); on days when not a hair is moved by the wind, and the sea is unruffled, the young fry of fish come tothe surface, and sea-birds, themselves also conspicuous in such weather, can look about them for their prey.
The first breath of wind after a calm comes from the south, hence “When the wind is lost look for it in the south” (Nuair a bhios gaoth air chall iarr a deas i). After a heavy fall of rain the wind comes west, as is told in the saying, “West wind after fat rain” (Gaoth ’n iar ’n déigh uisge reamhar). If frost comes on, when rivers and pools are swollen, and the ground is very wet, it does not last long; “the freezing of the full pool does not rest long” (reodhadh an lodain làin, cha mhair e fada). The heaviest rain comes from the north (or rather north-east), and the longest drought from the south; “there is no rain but from the north, or lasting dry weather but from the south” (Cha-n uisge ach o’n tuath, ’s cha turadh buan ach o’n deas). The frequency with which the violence of the wind moderates after a shower of rain has given rise to the proverb “after wind comes rain” (an déigh gaoth mhor thig uisge), to denote that after loud merriment and laughter come sorrow and the cares brought by reflection. “It is north wind that dissipates mist” (’s i gaoth tuath sgaoileas ceò); “the first day of south wind, and the third day of north wind” (chiad latha de ’n ghaoth deas ’s an treas latha de ’n ghaoth tuath),i.e.they are moderate then, and are best for crossing ferries on. “A speckled chequered summer makes a white, sunny harvest” (ni samhradh breac riabhach fogharadh gealgrianach). The south-west, being the direction from which rain commonly comes, is known in the Hebrides as “Cachlaidh na Buigeuisg,” the gateway of soft weather.
Both the sun (a Ghrian) and moon (a Ghealach) are feminine in Gaelic, and the names are simply descriptive of their appearance. There is no trace of a Sun-God or Moon-Goddess. The rootgrinGriandenotes horrent or bristling, and alludes to the sun’s rays. It is said by some writers, that the name is connected with Apollo Grannua, but the connection is a mere accidental similarity in the initial letters. The rootgr, denoting what is streaming or bristling, occurs ingruag, a wig, flowing hair;greann, a surly look, a bristling of the hair as on an enraged dog;grāin, aversion, from the turning up of nose and stomach and bristling appearance of one much disgusted, so abhorrence, etc.Gealach, the moon, is fromgeal, white. The namesluan,easga, oreasgannare given in dictionaries, but have disappeared from common use. With the former is supposed to be connectedluaineach, restless, andluaisg, to move.R’denotes any planet.
The moment the moon begins to increase is calledgob soillse(lit. the bill or beak of the light). The height of the tide, which follows his changes, isbolgreothairt(lit. the swollen womb of spring tide). The moon’s increase isfās, and when waning she issan earra-dhubh(lit. in her black boundaries).[79]
At the instant the moon begins to increase, (air gob na gealaiche) the horns of cows are loose on their pith (slabhagan), and may be pulled off and stuck on again. It is told that a dispute having arisen on one occasion as to the correctness of an almanac, about the moon’s change, the old man who raised the question proved himself to be in the right by turning round and drawing the horn from one of his cows, as a sheath is taken from a knife, and sticking it on again. The story is told of a man who lived in Sconser, Isle of Skye, of more than one person in Tiree, and was doubtless told of people in various places.
It was said that there is never any north wind atgob gealaich.
The first time an unmarried person sees the new moon, he should stoop down and lift whatever meets his hand. If, on taking it to the light, any hair be found among it, its colour will prove to be that of the future husband or wife. It is unlucky to see the new moon for the first time when washing one’s hands, or with the hand on the face.
In olden times great regard was paid to the increase and wane of the moon. Garden seeds, as onions, kail, etc., if sown in the increase, ran to seed, but if sown in the wane, grew as pot-herbs. Withies or slender twigs (Caol) intended for creels and baskets were cut only in the wane. Twigs cut in the increase proved brittle. Trees cut in the increase were believed to bud again, but not those cut in the wane. Eggs laid during the wane were preserved for hatching, rather than those laid during the increase. Hens came from the former; cocks from the latter. Birds hatched in the increase were deemed difficult to rear, and it was doubtful if any of them would ultimately survive. HenceEòin an fhàs, birds of the increase, is a name given to weakly pining children. They are worthless for hatching.
Many would not cut (i.e.castrate) an animal, calf, or foal, or pig, during the increase of the moon, and it was a belief that cows seek the bull only in the first and third quarters of the moon, and never at neap tides. A man in Islay pretended to tell, from the time the cow paid her visit to the bull, whether her offspring would prove a bull-calf or a cow-calf. If in the first quarter, the former; if in the wane, the latter.
The second moon in autumn, the harvest moon, or first after the autumnal equinox, was variously known asGealach an abachaidh, “the ripening moon,”from a belief that crops ripen as much by it as they do during the day;Gealach bhuidhe nam broc, “the badger’s yellow moon,” these wary animals being engaged, it was said, in taking home their winter supplies;Gealach an t-sealgair, “the hunter’s moon”; and the last moon in harvest, extending for a month before Hallowmas (Samhain). The first of winter was known asGealach a ruadhain, “the reddening moon,” during which vegetation grew as much by night as in the day.
It was said there was no north wind at the exact period of the appearance of new moon (gob gealaich).