Chapter VII: Part 7

To counteract this deleterious result the possible sufferer has to be put under the protection of a higher Power, and so, if the person coveting remembers, a simple “God bless” will ward off evil. But the Evil Eye is not the sole property of the active-minded Christian, and even when it is so it is not necessarily a simple matter to suggest to him that he is breaking the tenth commandment; in fact there may be a difference of opinion on the matter, and it will not do to leave to the other’s goodwill your security from loss and damage. A curative ritual has been excogitated. In these ceremonies the Trinity is frequently made, or, let us say, called on to take a part. The curative water is prepared on three metals—gold, silver, and copper—the magic thread has three knots on it, and sickness thus divided into three is destroyed, say by burning two portions, one in the name of the Father, the other of the Son, while that given over to the influence of the Holy Spirit, which may be naturally supposed to counteract the covetous instinct, remains attached to the sufferer in the third and unburned knot. To show that this symbolism is carried out fairly consistently, we would call attention here to the use of the three-knot charm in the procuring for sailors of a favouring breeze. Readers must take it on our authority that there are numberless accounts of the giving of a three-knotted thread for this purpose, and the usual instructions for its use fully bear out our contention. After starting one knot is to be unloosed, and the breeze will be favouring and probably gentle. To expedite matters the second knot may be untied, and the result will be increase in the force of the favouring wind, but on no account must the third knot be interfered with, or the breeze will rise to a gale, and none will be able to answer for the effect. Compare the above statement with what appears in the Gospel of St. John iii. 8: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Add to this Genesis i. 2: “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

This is not to be considered as a reasonable deduction from the texts quoted. It merely shows that the authority may seem to give support to a connection being suggested as existing between the Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit of the Trinity, and the uncertainty and force of the wind which is put under its governance.

But when we come to symbols and metaphors we open a wide field which need not be restricted by what is within the domain of the Church. The fact stares us in the face that the _uisge a chronachaidh_ (the water of (against) injury) is more frequently prepared from one metal—silver—even than from three. It is in fact frequently called Silver Water. There can be here no traceable connection with a Trinity. The idea seems to be that the white metal represents an eye. Seeing that the principal medium of exchange among the people is silver, as things go, it is not very far fetched to make a silver coin stand for what is acknowledged to be hurtful from the point of view of covetousness, seeing that St. Paul tells us, 1 Timothy vi. 10, that “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Having this in mind, we can easily see how the adherence of a silver coin to the bottom of a wooden or other vessel comes to be relied on as settling the cause of an illness, whether it be the Evil Eye or something else. The round white coin staring at you, as it were, from the bottom of the cogue says “Eye” as distinctly as it is possible. If it does not adhere no suggestion of an eye is made, consequently the sickness in question arises from something else. We do not hear of a copper, and very rarely of a gold coin being used by itself. We hear of gold being used in the form of the marriage ring, but the symbolism here is the same as in the serpent stones and the honeycombed stones in Kintyre, it represents an eye by its form.

A reciter from the Chanonry, Ross-shire, says he has frequently seen women take the ring off their finger, and hurriedly putting water on it in a dish, dash the water over their children if they saw a person coming to call about whom they had any suspicion. This was with a view to prevent _cronachadh_, either witchcraft or the Evil Eye.

This connection with an eye explains also how the giving away of a darning needle means the giving away of one’s luck. This seems somewhat peculiar to the island of Arran. We give the following as a sample:—

An Arran reciter said: “Bettie many a time tells me of a woman they have beside them who never darns stockings or anything else. One day this woman came in and asked Bettie for a darning needle. Bettie suspected it was for no good end she wanted it and would have refused it, but the woman having seen it went and took it with her. For some time thereafter Bettie was very unlucky. Things were going against her, and one night she dreamed that somebody came to her and said, ‘Why did you give away your darning needle? You have given away your luck with it.’ When she got up in the morning she just went into the woman’s house, and seeing the darning needle stuck in a pincushion, she went and took it with her.”

Bettie here had given away the magic eye of its owner, which acted as a counter charm to the Evil Eyes of others. The above is not the only power inherent in a darning needle in Arran. There, stuck in the cap or bonnet, it is as complete protection against the under-world as represented by fairies, as elsewhere a knife is frequently quoted as being.

SHOWING WHO IS THE MISCHIEF MAKER

We are so easily content to waive aside these superstitions when they come in our way, as if they were the unconsidered dreamings of the insane. Not one of them but has its origin, generally no doubt in a misguided fancy, but still based on something real enough to the mind of the believer, even if it be a mind of childlike simplicity. But when _eolas_ men and women take on themselves to find out for the instruction of their clients to whom the Evil Eye damaging them belongs, one begins to doubt but that there is more of the wisdom of the serpent than of the simplicity of the dove in this part of their performance. We have already mentioned a case in which the _eolas_ woman described to the reciter’s cousin “exactly” the man and woman who had harmed her child, though neither man nor woman had been mentioned to her, and the reciter expressed wonder at the knowledge so displayed.

This spotting the doer is evidently a little more difficult of belief to many than the other notions they entertain about the Evil Eye. Thus, a reciter says that one professor confirmed the owner’s suspicions, a fact openly admitted, but added, “It was said that she told them whose eye had taken the milk away.” In another, “It was believed he could also tell who had done the mischief?”

But in some cases the individual is straightforwardly given. Five reciters at least mentioned that, and in one of these the reciter accepted the nomination as indubitable because they had met “the very man she mentioned on the road.”

There can be no doubt that some of these _eolas_ people have deliberately offered to disclose the personality of the one doing the harm. The owners of the sick animal have refused to have such information given them, stating that they would be entirely content with a cure without knowing any ill of a neighbour. Refinement of feeling of this sort is foreign to many, however, and indeed it is to be excused in a thorough believer, if for no other reason than the well-known principle that “prevention is better than cure.” Some of the indications are particularly vague.

“He asked if a dark-haired man had been praising the cow, and when they said that they didn’t know, ‘Well,’ said he, ‘it was a man with black hair (_ceann dubh_) that injured your cow, with the Evil Eye!’”

In another case the identified doer, as previously mentioned, had brown hair.

In some cases, though no names are mentioned, it is quite clear that identification was intended. Thus, in one of the cases cured by a cord, the professor stated that the child had been injured by a mother and her daughter. “My man said that that was quite true, but that they had no ill-will to us, and why should they do that?” To that the woman said, “That it was likely that they did not know themselves that they were doing it.”

In another thread-cured case, the man operating said that it had been injured by drovers who wanted to buy the animal in question. We may conclude that the _eolas_ man knew that drovers had been in the neighbourhood.

Similar cases have already been mentioned, the particularity of the description pretty clearly demonstrating that the professor would have been more candid if, instead of asking whether a dark and a fair woman with a blue shawl had been calling, they had said there had been, and that they were responsible.

But this describing the individual without naming him is evidently a trick of the trade. A farmer’s wife consulting an _eolas_ man without at first the consent of the farmer, the professor described to the couple the appearance of the man who had done the mischief. We then learn that from the description they knew at once who the man was, and also that he had been in the byre shortly before the cow had taken ill.

It was probably a safe enough decision to credit strange drovers with an injury of the sort, their stay in the district being of course but a temporary one; but one suspects local jealousy in the following case, when a woman, desirous of getting back her vanished butter, was told that those doing the injury were not a musket-shot from her house. This was in Islay, and some Jura people staying in the neighbourhood, it was concluded they were those pointed at.

A parallel appears in the case already mentioned, where all Tiree _cailleachs_ are slumped as dangerous. One suspects that in the following case an undesirable neighbour had been suggested.

There were three farmers side by side in the parish of Kilbrandon. The one in the centre was not nearly so successful as his neighbours. The unfortunate farmer went to A—— to consult a certain _eolas_ man. By him he was told it was no wonder he was not getting on, for he had on each side of him “those who were doing him harm, and until he would remove he would never get on.” Taking the hint he looked about him, removed to another farm, and succeeded very well.

When in doubt, the professor, in some cases at any rate, acquires by examination assurance of the presence of an individual to accuse. Having put the string on a sick cow and the cow being cured apparently, “she (the _eolas_ woman) came to the lassie that had been herding the cow and said to her: ‘You saw a man among the cows to-day, and you heard him saying that that cow was a good one.’” The girl said, “Yes.” The woman then said: “The man was J. G.,” and the girl again said, “Yes.” The woman then told them that it was the said J. G. who had done the harm. They all knew him quite well. “And now,” added Mrs. M. in telling her story, “if that woman had no knowledge, how could she have known who had been among the cows on that day, or who had done the mischief.”

In some cases a description is given of a method of identification of the owner of the Evil Eye. Formerly we described how a woman consulted shut her eyes, and opening them after an interval, informed her interrogator that anything she saw of the nature of a burden was what was pressing on the sick animal. In that instance it was said to be a horse collar.

Probably in this case the woman satisfied herself of the gravity of the illness by comparing it with the relative weight of the burden.

In another case in which Thursday and Sunday were said to be the lucky days for the preparation of the _uisge a chronachaidh_, and it took from Wednesday to Sunday to prepare the stuff, the blame was at the end of that time laid to the charge of a stranger from Tiree. One can scarcely doubt that in that case the time was utilised to make inquiries.

In addition to these more crude methods there are indications of the dark-room business carried on in more civilised places almost to the present day. There was a man who lived at Balloch in the island of Lewis much consulted, and believed to be specially skilful in dealing with cases of the Evil Eye. “For a consideration he would produce the likeness of those who had done the harm, showing it to the injured. He would take them into a little room he had, where he would show them the likeness of the owner of the Evil Eye.”

Another traditional method of identification was “to make some one pass before the inquirer, and the one who had done the harm would be of the same name.” We say traditional in this case, because we have no information about smoke-raising, crystal balls, or anything of the kind, and are therefore inclined to refer it back to the Biblical account of Saul’s interview with Samuel.

That the story of the magic mirror has found its way into the Western Highlands, however, is made clear by the following. A lighthouse-keeper is our informant.

Five men meeting his neighbour outside the lighthouse stopped him and informed him that having left their boat on the beach, when they went back to it they found it had a hole, and they wished to see in the looking-glass who had done the mischief. When the lighthouse-keeper assured them that he had no such looking-glass, and expressed astonishment that they would believe in such nonsense, they seemed somewhat displeased. In recounting this incident afterwards the light-keepers learned that an impression had gone abroad in the place that there was a particular mirror at the station that had the property of showing who those were that had taken part in cases of witchcraft. It is easily comprehensible how the reflectors in a lighthouse might be spoken of as of peculiar efficacy, with the usual “Three Crows” result.

The difficulty of course is to distinguish between claims advanced of the possession of a power, of which, under the circumstances, a demonstration cannot be demanded, and the actual carrying out of some impressive hanky-panky. The following is an illustration:—

A messenger being sent for a cure, and having received it, the scientist told him that if the cow had been his own she could make the shadow (_faileas_) of the one who had done the mischief to pass before him, or, if the woman who was the owner of the cow had come, she could have done it for her.

One can scarcely be accused of a want of Christian charity if he suggests that if the professor had had the owner before him he would not have claimed the powers he did.

In the story already related of Campbell of Skipness showing the injurious one in a carefully darkened barn, the reciter, also a Campbell, had all the appearance of believing in the story, but as it was told of a relative of his great-grandfather’s, no one can say what are the accretions time has added to the facts of the case.

We have pointed out that even the Church has been brought in contact with the Evil Eye scientist, and the following information from a well-informed, clever, middle-aged lady, the sister of a clergyman whose father took an interest in traditional Gaelic matters, as she does herself, was heard from a Sutherlandshire minister who recited it to her mother. The milk of their cows being unsatisfactory, the housekeeper asked leave to consult an _eolas_ man. The minister was very angry, but the housekeeper stuck to her text and carried out her purpose, telling the minister, “_Na gabhadh sibhse gnothuch sam bith leis, agus chi mise de ni mi_.” (“Take you nothing to do with it, and I’ll see what I’ll do.”) She got the _eolas_ man, and he asked for a basin of the sort of watery stuff they were getting instead of milk. When he got it he closed up every hole and crevice, even stuffing up the key-hole. Then he put the milky water on the fire, and when it was hot he took a knife and began to cut with it through the pot of milk. While at this work a woman came to the door, screamed, and wanted to get in; but he cried to her that he would give her plenty of it, and he continued cutting away through the milk. Still she screamed and begged him to let her come in, but he said he would not until she would promise to give up her wicked work and give the _toradh_ back to the minister’s cow, all the time continuing cutting with the knife. She answered she would promise everything he wanted, for every cut of the knife was going through her heart. The man then opened the door and took the pot off the fire, and from that time the supply of milk, both for quantity and quality, was satisfactory. In this case also, though the authority is thoroughly respectable, it is impossible to say what actually took place. In fact it may be that our informant may have mistaken a traditional recitation as the experience of the reciter himself. Though told àpropos of the Evil Eye, looking at the story in all its bearings, it looks as if it had been, if it happened at all, a case of pull devil pull baker between two witches, one of whom was supposed to be taking the minister’s milk.

But your witch, male or female, still exists, and his presence probably does not conduce to harmony in his neighbourhood. Two brothers lived beside the father of our reciter in J——. They had a bit of land between them, and their dwelling-houses stood end to end under one roof. The wife of the one brother suspected the wife of the other of injuriously affecting her dairy products by the Evil Eye. She persuaded her husband to take her part, and he crossed to I—— to consult one having the reputation of witchcraft there. The witch resolved to go in person to examine into the matter, and he accompanied the man home, where he assured the couple who considered themselves injured that he would bring the injurer crying to their door. The suspected woman, already much annoyed, sent for the reciter’s mother to come to her, who found her sitting in tears. The visitor encouraged her, told her it was all nonsense and advised her not to be downcast, and returned home. Shortly thereafter she had a visit from the woman complaining, who told her with glee that the man consulted had put them on a plan for finding out who was injuring their milk. The mutual friend received this information coldly, and proceeded to point out that there were no grounds for suspecting any one outside her own house, and advised her to go home, well clean her dishes and keep her eye on her daughter, assuring her that if she did that she would probably have satisfaction with her milk and cream. The result was quite satisfactory, as it turned out to be as suspected, that the daughter helped herself in her mother’s absence.

PUTTING ELSEWHERE

The procedure of the _eolas_ woman in Bernera (Harris), given above, burning two of the knots of the charmed string to carry off the disease, stating as she put each knot in the fire, “The disease and the sickness I would put on the top of the fire,” it is evident that the evil was treated as something capable of being destroyed, in that case by the action of fire. The same idea appears in the following:—

The reciter remembered when misfortune came to their cattle. One cow after another died, and then a horse died, and her brother, a good deal older than herself, saying he could stand it no longer, went to consult an _eolas_ man. The latter professed to understand the case, said it was an Evil Eye that had done the mischief, and offered there and then to make the individual appear before him so that he would know who it was. Her brother refused to accept this offer, and the proposition made to him then was that the illness should be transferred to the cattle of the wrong-doer. This also met with disapproval, and then it was proposed that the illness should be thrown in the sea. The cure in this case was connected with waving the tether over the sick horse.

In another Islay case where the _dosgach_ was supposed to have come to the locality with a newlymarried wife of one of two brothers, a reputed curer was consulted. He made out that it was a case of _buidseachas_, and he offered to put the _dosgach_ on any of the consulters’ neighbours’ cattle. This did not meet with the farmer’s approval, as he was unwilling that his neighbours should suffer, so he declined to mention any name, but recommended that the evil effect should be put in the sea. One can scarcely doubt that, there being cattle sickness in the district, the chances were in favour of the cattle of any named person being affected, so that even if the offer had been accepted and the farmer committed himself as desiring harm to his neighbour, the _eolas_ man’s credit or discredit would have been maintained. He must by this time have had a fair idea of the disposition of the man he was dealing with, and probably expected that his offer next made to show him for half-a-crown the individual in fault would be refused. It was so, and the reciter gave the reason for this refusal, viz. that it would be _an t-aibhisdear_ (the adversary, the devil), who would appear in the likeness of a man. This explains sufficiently the reason influencing those who refuse such offers, even if one did see an appearance which was recognisable. The evidence that the individual shown did it was unreliable. The devil has been a deceiver from the beginning, and if the vision was that of him masquerading, doubtless for his own purposes, he might be deceiving the inquirer.

The above story was told by the daughter of one of the two brothers concerned, and she vouches for the truth of it, having heard her father and uncle talk of it often and often. She added a curious incident, which seems to have had something to do with the diagnosis of the case. The man consulted the “Red Witch,” as he was called, and sent the farmer back “for the twelve points of the sick cow.” It was explained that this meant the tips of the horns, ears, hoofs, &c. These were examined, and the opinion expressed that the cow could not be cured, for the mischief had got too near her heart, but it could be lifted from all the rest, so that it would not trouble them any more. She further explained that they were led to understand that it was two brothers who were doing the harm, and we notice that it was two brothers who were consulting the witch doctor. She said that the sickness was put into the sea.

From another case we get information of how this could be done. “A stirk of my father’s was ill, and we sent to a man for a cure. He sent a bottle with instructions that part of it was to be sprinkled on the stirk, and the rest thrown into the sea. As soon as what was in the bottle went on the beast, its horns got warm. We threw the rest of the stuff into the sea as ordered, and after that the stirk got quite well.”

It has been pointed out already that there is no witchcraft necessary to the Evil Eye, but that the processes for its cure undoubtedly are witchcraft. The following will show the idea prevalent as to the powers of transferring illness.

The reciter, an Islay woman, said: “There was a lad at service with Malcolm here beside us. He was one of the T.’s. He used to come our way, and my father said to me not to have too much to do with him, for there was something wrong about him (hereditary witch power). Well, while that lad was beside us every foal that we had died. One day my father went towards the march between ourselves and Malcolm. It was pretty early, and he noticed the dog sniffing between two little hillocks there. He went over to see what the dog was at, and what did he find but a foal’s head buried under the ground. It was the head of a foal of Malcolm’s that had died, and the lad had buried it at our march to put the trouble upon us. My father was terribly angry (_fuasach angrach_), for he would not do the like to another man. He lifted the head and threw it into a drain, where it would not do any harm and away from every man. _Ach coma leibh_ (but all the same), the time of one of our mares was out, and when she cast (her foal), what was there but two heads on the foal.” The reciter went on to say that that lad left Malcolm and went to Fair Peter, but Peter got his burning with him, for while he was with him the foals were dying on him, Besides the harm that was done to what belonged to his master, he (the lad) got a piece of a dead calf and put it on a neighbour’s land, and with this that neighbour’s calves “began to go on him.”

This story was told apparently with full belief, and the only conclusion we can draw from it, seems either that some cattle sickness prevailing in the neighbourhood was credited to the unfortunate lad, or else that for some revengeful or other purpose of his own he had damaged the stock of his master.

We have another account of the same belief from a native of Kilbrandon, Seil Island, where a belief in the Evil Eye was exceedingly common. He said: “When a beast dies, there being a suspicion that the death has been caused by such an Eye, the owner buries it stealthily, not on his own ground, but on the ground of some other person, the idea being that if buried on his own ground the influence of the Evil Eye would be likely to remain, and he might lose still more beasts, but by burying the animal on the ground of another he transfers the evil from himself to the person on whose land it was buried.” The reciter knew of the following instance of this:—

A very superstitious family, who believed in and were much afraid of witchcraft and the Evil Eye, lost some of their beasts and were quite sure that the Evil Eye was the cause of death. The head of the family, watching a convenient opportunity, went at night and buried them in the dunghill of another man who lived a distance of about two miles from him. No one knew this at the time, and it was only when putting out the manure they found the remains of the beasts and came to know that they had been buried there.

It would be unfair to encourage the belief that the professors of _eolas_ always give themselves to spreading evil reports of neighbours. One being called in where the butter supply was unsatisfactory, after advising the use of earthenware dishes in preference to wooden ones for gathering the milk, the dairymaid asked if she could tell her who had taken the _toradh_. The answer was, “Is not your name A.?” On being answered that that was so, the _eolas_ woman said, “It may have been yourself.”

APPENDIX

An attempt has been made to give an honest account without literary varnish of the present-day influence of the belief in an Evil Eye in the Gaelic-speaking districts of Scotland. It is difficult to be certain that nothing of moment has escaped observation. The influence of Bible texts, no doubt used divorced from their contexts generally, as well as the protective power of the Divinity, have been pointed out as influencing the superstitious. One other instance we would give from the island of Luing, which has been handed in since the rest has been in type.

The reciter said: “I knew a real good woman who always, when the first meal of the season was got from the mill, sent a pitcherful of it here and there to the poor people round about. But there were some to whom she would give none, because she suspected them of having evil in their hearts, and that if they got a pitcherful they could take all the strength out of what she kept for her house use. You see, Hezekiah should not have shown the King of Babylon all his treasures.” Compare 2 Kings xx. 12-19, and Isaiah xxxix. Evidently the idea was that the King of Babylon was envious of Hezekiah’s possessions, as the others might have been of the good lady’s meal.

Mention has been made of the belief that the Evil Eye could split the rocks themselves. A traditional account of such an incident comes from the island of Coll. “One time a man was carrying a quern (hand corn-mill) on his back in a poke, and was met by a servant of St. Columba. Thinking the quern was a cheese, he coveted it, and when the man came to take it out of the bag he found it in two. Columba said of it, ‘_B’e farmad na suil a bhris a’ chlach_.’(‘It was the envy of the eye that broke the stone.’)” The same story reached us at the same time from a Breadalbane source. A local laird who hurt his own cattle, and whose dairymaid had to slam the byre door in his face, met a girl on her way home from the shieling. The girl had a quern (_muileann brath_) in a bag on her back. When she passed the laird looked after her, and supposing what she was carrying was a _ceapag caise_ (a small cheese), he put his eye in it. When the girl reached home the mill-stone was in halves, his Evil Eye had broken it.

Some verses describing the powers of a certain Macandeoir, give us a lesson in popular comparative philology:—

“_A Mhurach biorach lom na suil olc.
Gonadh thu maigheach’s a fhiadh.
Gonadh thu ’t-iasg a bhiodh ’san loch
Nuair a shealladh thu orra gu dlu.
Latha caogda thu d shuil a bha olc,
Cha bhiodh luathas ’nan cleith
’S bhiodh gach creutair dhiudh na’n corp.
A Mhurach Macandeoir
Gonadh thu Para Caimbeal
Gonadh thu’ shleisdean ‘sa chnamhan.
’S d’ fhag thu e bioradh fann._”

(“Oh Murdoch, piercing, bare, of the bad eye,
You would wound hare and the deer.
You would wound the fish that would be in the loch
When you looked closely at them.
The day you cocked (winked) your wicked eye
There would be no motion (quick movement) in their bosom
And each creature of them a corpse.
Murdoch Macandeoir
You would pierce Para Campbell,
You would pierce his thighs and his bones
And you left him wounded, weak.”)

The respected correspondent who sends this and the writer differed as to the word here translated “wound.” The original spelling suggested that _gonadh_ was the word, and it corresponds with the other information received in like cases, but the reciter explained, and sticks to it, that it means “to covet.” Now the word _gionach_ means “greedy” “gluttonous,” and _gonadh_ means “wounding” “bewitching,” thus, _gonadh ort_ is a form of imprecation. The philologist will tell us they have nothing to do with each other, and this may be admitted from his point of view, but not from the popular one.

Murdoch here immortalised was credited with the power of destroying the winter supply of beef, even after the slaughter of the animal. “When I was a little lad, my father and my uncle William bought a cow from him in winter. It was customary to buy a fat cow, kill it, and divide it so as to have a cheap and good supply. The beast was killed and hung in the barn. The same day Murdoch passed, and they knew that on returning he would call to see how the animal bought from himself turned out after killing. They were in a fix to prevent his seeing her without offending him, and the plan they took was to close the barn, locking the door and giving the key to some one who, if inquiries were made, would not tell where it was. Murdoch called, asked if the cow was killed, and said he wanted to see her. They then proceeded to the barn, but of course could not get in. An apparent search was then made for the missing key, which naturally they could not find. Murdoch was disappointed, but asked if she had killed well. They said she had, and expressed regret that they could not let him see her. So they prevented him laying his eye upon her after killing; before that, while she was his own, of course his eye would not harm her.” The latter remark is not in accordance with the belief in other places.

A native of Bute enables us to give another illustration of care taken to keep an Evil Eye from dead meat. A woman of whom, as our reciter said, there could be no doubt she had a “bad eye,” asked some fishers to take her along the coast in their boat. Not liking to refuse, they agreed. They had a fine catch of salmon with them at the time, which she praised loudly as they lay in the net at her feet. “Well, for many a day after that we got no good from that net. We might every bit as well look to the hills for fish as to it, and were quite sure it was that woman that had taken its luck from it with her ‘bad eye.’ Many a time after that we had to try to keep things out of her sight, and it was not easy; she would be up and out as early as ourselves, no matter how early we would be. I have seen us up at four in the morning, and even at two, trying to get the salmon boxed before she would get her eyes on them.”

We must add one other protective formula from the neighbourhood of Ardrishaig. “This,” said the reciter, “is a good protection against injury by an Evil Eye. I used it always with reference to the young chickens, and found it kept them from being hurt by any greedy person.” The words are: “_Beannachd Dhia air do shuil; sop muin mu do chridhe._” (“The blessing of God on your eye; a splash of urine about your heart.”)

The translation is given as received, but a “sop ” is a “wisp,” “a loose bundle,” “a cowardly fellow.” Attention has been called on pages 119 and 136 to the _iubhar_, and on 171 to the _Fachan_. Compare the darning needle’s use and its one eye to the following found among the Wallons of Belgium. “_Li bwegne_, le borgne. Cette singulière appellation s’explique par la ressemblance vague que le gland et ses levres presentent avec un œil et ses paupières. Expression populaire: _sain-ni s’bwegne_, saigner son borgne, c’est-a-dire [Greek: pisser].”[14]

The same significance is applied to the same thing in the same way in Arabic, _El aaouar_ (The one-eyed).[15]

[14] “Kruptadia,” viii. p. 24.

[15] “The Garden,” p. 138. Sheikh Nefzaoui. Paris 1886.

This is “a word to the wise” which cannot here be considered further in detail, but undoubtedly has much to do with the preventative of the Evil Eye mentioned, and further explanation of much before alluded to will be evident to the one who can read between the lines when we mention that _maistir_ is in ordinary Gaelic urine, and _maistrich_ is a verb, to churn, to shake together.

One other hint. A native of Garmouth on Spey said, “I have often heard people saying that one peacock feather given away to a person is unlucky to the one that gets it, but that more than one is all right. One time Sandy took one to his landlady’s little boy. He noticed that the landlady looked displeased, and it soon disappeared. When he was telling me about it, I said, ‘Why did you not take two to her?’ He replied he would have done so, but he did not want to yield to her _freits_ (superstitious fancies).”

Compare this with what immediately precedes it, and notice that the offering of a single eye—a single feather—of the bird in question carried with it an evil influence.

A CHRIOCH

_Le durachd do
E. M. K.
mo leth-shuil’s mo dha chluais!_

INDEX

_Acallam na Senorach_, 3

Acquaintances, divided into two classes, 46

Admiration, expressions of, to be avoided, 76

Albumen, 198

Alum, 144

_Amhairc, droch_, 5

Animal, 110, 140, 145, 146, 150

_An t-olc_, 11

Antiseptic, 132

Augury, 198

Bad e’e, 2

eye, 25, 30, 43, 54, 207, 208

One, held by the, 106

Bardic Irish stories, 123

Bawbees, 154

_Beannachadh_, 98, 116, 124, 208

_Dia_, 116

Beliefs, 23

_Bhioball_, 95

_Bhuidseachas, sgil mu_, 13

Biblical account, 214

Bitten, 85

Black Art, 114, 123

pokes, 189

thorn, sloe, 138

Bless, 77, 115

Blessed, 115

Father, 160

for the purpose of keeping away the Evil Eye, 114

Blessing seems merely preventative, 117

Blight, 45, 152

by the Evil Eye, 69, 79

Blinked, 45, 164

_Bodach granda_, 96

Bonnet, darning needle stuck in a, 204

Bothan, 117

Bottle, 109, 113, 136, 137, 146, 147, 153, 177, 191, 221

Bridge, 165

_Bruchag_, 131

_Buidseach_, 197

_dh’ oibrich am_, 14

Henderson, 142

Hendry, 95

_Buidseachas_, 11, 13, 14, 182, 220

Burning stick, 143

waved over it, 131

Burnt, if any man’s work shall be, 125

_Burrach_, 121

Butter not to be seen by anybody, 86

_Cac eun_, 18

Cailb, Samon, Sinand, 26

_Cailleach_, 134

_Cairbre_, 123

_Caorain dearg_, 114

Cap under her two knees, 106

“Carmina Gadelica,” 104

Cat cure, 196

_Ceapag caise_, 205

_Chaoran, slat de’n_, 95

Charm, 137, 146, 153, 159, 197, 198

Charm, operated a, 77

Charmed string, 21

Charms, 6, 149

Chickens, _air an cronachadh_, 66

Cholic, 62

_Chratachan_, 95

Christian dogma, 163

_Chronachadh, air a_, 23, 44, 62, 76, 102, 112, 151, 157, 161

injury by, 153

Churn, 123

horse nail tied to the, 121

nailing the shoe of a colt to the, 121

scalding the, 173

staff, 130, 143

Churning, 29, 37, 57, 65, 99, 122, 124, 129, 198

spoiled by the Evil Eye, 72, 73, 78

Cinder, 128

Circle formed by the thread, 143

Circular motion, 145

_Clach-na-sùil_, 169

Cloth thrown over the churn, 86

Clothing, burning a piece of the, 125

_Cluais_, 193

Coat, wrong side out, 131

Coins, 157, 158, 163

or brooch, 159

three, seem to be the essential number, 159

Columba, 160, 205

Cook protects ducklings, 86

Cormac’s Glossary, 5

_Corp creadha_, 9

Covetous, 200

desire, 1, 2

glance, 3

Cow’s head and horns, 161

_Cron_, 81

meaning of, 6, 16, 30

_Cronachadh_, 12, 13, 15, 22, 34, 88, 97, 98, 103, 124, 135, 154,
165, 203

_air a_, 57, 91

_air an_, 11, 15, 16, 32, 54, 92, 186, 187

_air do shuil_, 18

cases of, 32, 150

cure in cases of, 22

_fhuair mi_, 13

is just envy, 42

is quite common, 41, 167

is still in it, 35, 78, 79

Crown piece, 159

Curative, 117, 184

ritual, 201

water, 201

Cure, 181, 215

view to its, 48

Cured by magic, 56

thread, 53

Darning needle, 169, 203

Decalogue, 200

_Deide_, 92, 93, 94

Deity, 115

_Dh’itheas_, 19

Diagnosis, 139, 162, 180, 198

Dish struck on the bottom three times, 161

Divinity, 204

_Dosgach_, 15, 219, 220

Drawing the tether, 89

_Droch sgeul_, 23, 39, 44, 46, 102, 194

Drovers, 112

looked on with suspicion, 48, 49

Druids, affinity to smiths, 84

Ear, nicking the, 134

_Eibhleag as an teine_, 128, 173

_Eolas_, 6, 91, 92, 152, 176, 188, 189, 190

_a’ chronachaidh_, 62, 91, 94

applied for, 97

_deide_, 93, 94

_gach ni’n aite fein_, 94

_greim_, 94

his father had, 98

is from father to daughter, 102

made the, 112

makin’, 173

man, 110, 136, 150, 167, 184, 186, 194, 210, 212, 216, 219

_nathrach_, 94

performance, 97

practitioner of, 23, 149

professor of, 149, 172

professors of, 96

_sul_, 94

was kept in the family, 103

woman, 109, 112, 147, 165, 168, 184, 210, 213

Eructation connected with the Evil Eye and witchcraft, 83

Evil Eye, 1, 5, 10, 13, 16, 197, 200, 203, 205, 207, 210, 219

action of an, 55

anybody may have the, 24

avoiding suspicion of, 32

belief in, 1, 12, 20, 45, 88, 154, 163

belief that he himself had an, 33

believed in, 33, 43, 140

believer in the, 8, 129, 158

case of the, 51, 148, 190

cases of the, 146

casting the, 26

cattle more liable to damage from the, 53

churning spoiled by the, 61, 124, 129

counteracting the, 48, 131

cows dying from effect, of the, 56

developed by relation of sexes, 1

different from witchcraft, 89

difficulty of evolving a theory, 67

distinction between possessing an, and doing harm with it, 35

doubts as to the existence of an, 65

effects of the, 7

eggs injured by the, 66

fowls affected by the, 61, 65, 130

having the, 45

horses liable to be affected by the, 61

hurt by the, 82, 97, 113, 161, 166

indirect advantage to those credited with the, 69

is involuntary, 36

is not always involuntary, 40

literary evidence of the, 3

locality of belief in the, 20

modes of expressing the, 17

no visible benefit to possessor, 68

origin of, 1, 7

or witchcraft, 114

people who possess the, may suffer loss, 7

possession of the, ascribed to females oftener than to males, 24

possessors of the, disliked, 24

possessors of the, to be charged to their face, 29, 30

possessors of the, unlucky to meet, 26, 27, 28

reputation of an, 28, 129

scientists, 216

serpent’s stone, a cure for the, 170

stirks more rarely affected than cows by the, 54

survival of belief in, 10, 140

symptoms, 51

their, 195

to be referred to active covetousness, 40

to cure the, 145

to keep away the, 44, 131

water, 157

women, believers in the, more than men, 23

young more liable to the influence of the, 45

Eye, 4, 17, 161, 203

diabolical, 18

envious, 70

had struck, 180

has fallen upon her, 34

my, 47

put his, in her, 83

shall not spare, 45

_Facail_, 94

_airson eolas_, 94

_ceart_, 94

_Fachan_, 171

_Farmad na sul_, 205

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 155

_Fhear mhosach_, 107

_Fiam_, 4

_Fios_, 6, 141

_Fios-achd_, 6

_Fiosrachadh_, or _eolas_, 98

Foal, 222

Folklorists, 2

Formula, 101, 145, 158, 173, 193, 208

_Galar’s easlainnte_, 144

_Garbh sgeith_, 19

_Gearr fheidh_, 94

_Geas-arachd_, 6

Germicide the, 133

_Ghonadh, air a_, 17

_mo_, 127

_Ghuidhe i ris an fhear mhosach_, 107

_Gisreag_, 149

Glance, envious, 5

Gold, silver, and copper, 163, 201

cure, 166

ring and silver coin, 166

or earring, 161

_Gonadh_, 146, 246

Green lint, 147

_Greim_, 94

Ground, must not touch the, 136, 137

emptied it on the, 156

Harm, 99, 222

Heifer, 59

Hendry, witch, 96

Holy Ghost, 176

Honeysuckle, 195

Horse collar, 146, 213

repeating its name three times, 189

shoe in the churn, 73

front o’t, 173

to sprinkle the water over the, 189

Humming, 53, 147

a symptom of the Evil Eye, 53

Hurtful eye, 33

Hurting and healing, united in one person, 99

_Iadh-shlait_, 195

Ill-will, 60

Incantation, 60, 97, 134, 144, 145, 146, 147

form of, 104

processes, 165

repeats an, 59, 164

Injured, 76, 86

by _cronachadh_, 151

by Evil Eye, 56, 183

the cow, 107

Injury, protection against, 44, 45, 114, 123

_Iubhar_, 119, 120

Ivy, 196

Juniper wood, 119, 136

Kicking, 56, 80

Knife, 216

Knowledge, 98

of healing, 98

the result of inquiry, 98

to cause injury, 99

_Laochain_, 196

_Laogh_, 13, 14

Lint, 147

Lips, 159

Living and the dead were wont to pass, 183

Look, a foal hurt by a mere, 80

a horse hurt by a mere, 80

cows hurt by a mere, 80, 81

Look, his would _cronach_ it, 103

milk hurt by a mere, 81

Loup, 60

Lucky, 38

Magic eye, 204

fluid, 137

mirror, 114

thread, 201

_Maistir_, 209

_Maistirich_, 209

Malevolent, 98

Manure, 223

Marriage ring, a sixpence, and a penny, 162

Medicine bag, 141

_Meise de mhin_, 111

Melted lead, 198

Metal, 202

Milk, 90

a drink of, given to any one suspected of the Evil Eye, 122, 123

deterioration of, 90

taking a mouthful of, 90

Miscall, 117

Mislook, 5

Mordant, 144

Motive, 54

_Muin_, 208

_Mulach an teine_, 144

_Nathrach_, 94, 170

_leigheas airson lot_, 94

Neck, 141

bare, 157

_Neonain, Bun ’us Barr_, 94

Neutralise any bad influence, 129

Nicking the ear, 134

_Nos Origines_, 141

_Obair_, 144

_Oidche Bhealtuinn_, 132

_Olc_, 95

Operator, 145, 155, 156, 159

Overt act, 54

Paid, 109

Pail, half-crown piece in the, 154

Paper, put salt on a, 117

Pay, they do nothing without, 106

Payment, he did not want, 109

Pee, the milk has gone along with the, 57

Perform his charms by means of a bridle, 149

Performance, 97, 199

Peter, Paul, Mary, 176

_Piseach_, 6

_Pisearachd_, 6, 184, 185, 188

_Piseog_, 6

_Pisreag_, 6

Pokes, three wee, 188

Practice, 200

Practitioner of _eolas_, 23, 149, 158, 172

qualified, 52

unlicensed, 53

Practitioners vary, 164

Praised, animals she had, died, 87

butter scattered by being, 78

hen taken in dead by being, 79

pig injured by being, 79

Preventative, 117, 131, 132, 154, 163

charms, 141

Professional, 22

Professor, 210

of _eolas_, 96

Prognostications, 198

Protection of the Deity, 115

Quern, 205

Quey, 59

Quey, _air a cronachadh_, 66

blind, 59

calves, 193

Rag, burn a, 125

Remedy, 113

Request, 48

Rhyme, 154

Rift, 82

_Roin_, 94

Rowan, 118, 119, 133

_Sack of Da Derga’s Hostel_, 25

Saint Bridget, 160

_Salainn, dorlach_, 94

Salmon, 207, 208

Salt, a preservative, 83

and urine, sprinkled with, 136

used as a cure and preventative, 176

Sell, risky to refuse to, 49, 88

Serpent’s stone, 170, 171, 203

Seven small stones, 168

_Sgeith_, 19

_Sgil mu’n chronachaidh_, 111

_Sheirbhis, pris airson a_, 111

_Sheumais Eoin’s Pheadair_, 148

_Ruaidh_, 151

Shilling, 109, 161

_Shuil, an droch_, 16, 23

_bhuail an droch_, 16

_Fluich do_, 127

_ghabh an droch_, 17

_mo_, 116

_thuit an droch_, 17

Sign of the Cross, 159

that it was the Evil Eye, 162

Silver brooch, 160

coin, 30, 115, 155, 156, 158, 165, 166, 203

cure, 161

gold and copper, 161

piece, 108

Silver, white, 108

Sixpence to give her, 108

Skill, 101

Skilled, 51, 60, 71

Skin, 144

Slime, 170

Smiths, 84

_Snaithnean_, 145

_Snathainn cronachaidh_, 141

_dearg_, 95, 142

_Snuim_, 95, 142

Son of Mary, 160

_Sop_, 208

Sorcery, 6

Spells, 6

Spilling, 186

Spirit of health and healing, 160

Spit, 126

Spitting into the healing water, 165

Spot from which three parishes could be seen, 182

Sprinkle, used regularly to, 135

Sprinkled, 147, 152, 153, 155, 156, 157, 161, 164, 168, 193

_Sreang a’ chronachaidh_, 141

Stanes, bunch o’ sea-shore, 169

Stirk, 221

Stone, water dashed against, 155

Stones, and silver, performance with, 167
certain, used for curing in Evil Eye cases, 167

in the pokes, 189

taken from a particular burn, 167

_Suil sanntach_, 42

Tar, an Islay application against the Evil Eye, 132

_T-aibhisdear_, 220

Tether, waving it three times over the horse, 149

_Teum_, 17, 85

Thread, cure, 211

different colours used, 147

green, 148

must always be green lint, 147

red, 145, 146, 147

three knots on the, 145, 201

to be put three times round the child’s neck, 147

woollen, 145, 146

Threads, two, one black, and one white, 148

Three articles, 148

_Tiomnadh nuadh_, 94

_Tobar, ris an taobh deas_, 152

_o’n taobh deas_, 181

Toothache, curing of, 93

_Toradh_, 216, 223

bring back the, 109

meaning of, 5, 6

power of taking away, 101

Transmission of _eolas_, 102

_Tre tsuilib na sochaiae_, 4

Trinity, 104, 161, 182, 190, 201, 202

Turf, square of, 9

_Ubag_, 141

Udder, 77

_Uisge a’ chronachaidh_, 164, 202, 214

_bonn airgeid air a chuir ann am bowl_, 151

_dhoirteadh air an t-airgiod_, 157

_fior_, 182

Uncanny ways, 77

Urine as a preventative, 164, 209

sprinkling, 178

stale, 135, 139

strong, 138

Usual proviso, 153

Uvula, fallen, 148

Vet is no use, 91

Veterinary surgeon, 109

Vomit, 102

Water, 113, 124, 158, 159, 181, 186

absolutely putrid, 138

and copper coin, and a darning needle, 169

and stones, 167

and two threads, 148

as a diagnostic of _cronachadh_, 158

bottle of, 71, 152, 158

from a march over which the living and the dead pass, 182

from where the living and the dead pass, 161

must be poured on silver, 148

of silver, 154, 160

poured on three silver coins, 167

sprinkled on the child’s face, 115

Whisky, 198

Wish, 15

Witch, 6

Witch, burning, 137

cure, 221

doctor, 103, 221

Hendry, 96

of Endor, 96

reputed, 83

Witchcraft, 55, 129, 158, 215, 217, 221

Witchery, 6, 14

and the Evil Eye, 129, 223

protecting against, 135

resorted to as a cure, 55

white, 96

Wizard, a strong, 186

may have the Evil Eye, 56

red, 57

Wooden bicker, 159

Word, a, must not be spoken, 157

Words, 104, 145, 164, 172

good, 104, 145, 164

Yarn, ball of, 143

different colours of, 142

red, 144

three ply, 143

Yawn, 82

Yawning, an effect of the Evil Eye, 151

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Edinburgh & London