Chapter VI: The Celtic Year (1)

_Bliadhna_, a year, has been derived by writers on Celtic antiquities from _Bel-ain_, “the ring or circle of Baal,” but the derivation is at variance with etymological analogies, as well as inadmissible from there being no satisfactory evidence that Baalim worship ever extended to the Celtic tribes. It can only be regarded as part of that punning affectation with which Gaelic scholarship is disfigured. The initial _bl_ occurs in many words which have in common the idea of _separation_, and _bliadhna_ is likely connected with such words as _bloigh_, a fragment; _ball_, a spot, a limb, and denotes merely a division, or separate portion, of time.

The notations of the Celtic year belong to the Christian period, old style. If there are any traces of Pagan times they are only such as are to be gathered from a few names and ceremonies.

The four seasons are known as _earrach_, spring, _samhradh_, summer, _fogharadh_, harvest, and _geamhradh_, winter. The final syllable in each of these names is _ràidh_, a quarter or season of the year, a space of three months; and the student of Gaelic will note that the long and heavy vowel, of which it consists, is, contrary to the common rule affecting long vowels, shortened and made an apparently indifferent terminal syllable. It is still deemed, in many parts of the Highlands, unlucky to be proclaimed in one quarter of the year and married in the next, and the circumstance is called being “astride on the seasons” (_gobhlach mu’n ràidh_). It is an old saying, that the appearance of a season comes a month before its actual arrival; _mìos roi gach ràidh choltas_, _i.e._ a month before each season, is seen its appearance. The character of the seasons is described in an old riddle,

“Four came over,
Without boat or ship,
One yellow and white,
One brown, abounding in twigs,
One to handle the flail
And one to strip the trees.”[50]

There can be no doubt the origin of the names given to them belongs to a period anterior to Christianity.

_Earrach_, spring, is derived from _ear_, the head, the front, the east. In naming the four quarters of the heavens, the face, as in the case of the Hebrew names, is supposed to be toward the east. The right hand (_deas_) is the name given to the south, and the adjective _tuaitheal_, from _tuath_, the north, means “wrong, to the left, against the sun.” Hence also, _toirt fo’n ear_, lit. to take a thing from the east, means to observe; _earalas_, foresight, _i.e._ the having a thing in view; _earar_, the day after to-morrow, _i.e._ the day in front of it. The Latin _bos_, and the Greek ἔας or ἦς would indicate that the ancient Celtic name of the season was _fearrach_, and if so it may be connected with _fear_, vir, a man, the first _par excellence_, _for_, before, _furasda_, easy, etc. _Eàrr_ means the tail, and the long syllable shows it to be only another form of _iar_, west, behind, after, the opposite of _ear_. Frequently these names for east and west are known as _sear_ and _siar_, as _e.g._ _cha-n fhearr an gille shiar na’n gille shear_, “the lad from the west is no better than the lad from the east,” that is, it is but six of the one and half a dozen of the other.

_Samhradh_, summer, according to old glossaries, is from obs. _samh_, the sun, and means the sun season or quarter. This corresponds with the English name, which is evidently a softened form of _sun-mer_. _Samh_ is now used to denote “the suffocating smell produced by excessive heat.”[51] In Tiree, it is the name given to the hazy heavy appearance of the Western ocean, and few expressions are more common than _samh chuain t-siar_, the oppressive feeling of which the uneasy sea on the west side of the island is productive. In the North Hebrides _samh_ means the ocean itself. A common description over the whole Highlands of an intolerable stench is _mharbhadh e na samhanaich_, _i.e._ it would kill the savage people living in caves near the ocean, as giants were fabled to do.

_Fogharadh_, autumn, is likely connected with _fogh_, said to mean ease, hospitality, and _foghainn_, to suffice, with the same root idea of _abundance_.

_Geamhradh_, winter; Lat. _hiems_, Gr. χεῖμα. No doubt _geamh_ is of the same origin as the Greek and Latin words, but it does not find its explanation in the Greek χεω, to pour. From its being found in _gèamhlag_, a crow-bar, _gèimheal_, a chain, _geamhtach_, short, stiff, and thick, there seems to have been a Gaelic root implying to bind, to be stiff, which gives a suitable derivation for the name of the season of frost and ice.

_Mios_, a month, is supposed to be connected with _mias_, a round platter, from the moon’s round orb completing its circle within the month. Greek μήν, Eol. μεις, a month; Lat. _mensis_; Sanscr. _mâsas_, a month, _mâs_, the moon. These show that undoubtedly the origin of the word is connected with the moon. The names in the Greek, Latin, and Teutonic languages show that there was originally an _n_ in the word, and the Gaelic, as well as Sanscrit, bears testimony to the same fact, by the long vowel. It is a common thing in Hebrew for _n_ at the end of a syllable and in the middle of a word to be assimilated to an immediately succeeding consonant, and it is more likely it so disappeared in some languages than that it was assumed by others. Another Gaelic name for the moon, _ré_, is also used to denote a portion of time; _ri mo ré_, during my lifetime.

Computation of time, however, by months and days of the month, as at present, was entirely unknown to the Highlander of former days; and even yet, the native population do not say “on such a day of such a month,” but so many days before or after the beginning of summer or other season, or before and after certain well-known term days and festivals, as St Bride’s day, St Patrick’s day, Whitsunday (_caingis_), Hallowtide (_Samhuinn_), etc. The time is always reckoned by the old style, and this difference of notation is at first confusing to a stranger. For instance, when told that the ling fishing on the West Coast lasts from the middle of spring till five weeks of summer, it will take a little thought on his part to realise that this means from the beginning of April to about the 18th of June. Names for the months are to be found in dictionaries, but they are obviously manufactured from the Latin names, and confined to modern printed Gaelic.

A connected account of the festivals and days by which the year was marked, must begin with the festivities by which its advent was celebrated.

NOLLAIG.

The seven days from Christmas to the New Year were called _Nollaig_, and in the good easy-going olden times no work was done during them, but men gave themselves up to friendly festivities and expressions of goodwill. Hence the sayings, “The man whom Christmas does not make cheerful, Easter will leave sad and tearful,”[52] and “There is no Christmas without flesh.”[53] Christmas day was called “the day of big Nollaig” (_Latha Nollaig mhór_), and the night before it “the night of Cakes” (_oidhche nam bannagan_); while New-Year day was known as “the day of little Nollaig” (_Latha Nollaig bhig_), and the night before it “the night of blows” (_oidhche nan Calluinnean_).

The name _Nollaig_ is from the Latin _natalis_, as is made certain by the Welsh word being _Nadolig_; and therefore corresponds to the English Christmas. Various explanations are given of the name of the night before it. Some say _bannag_ means “a feast of women,” from _bean_, a wife, a feast of rejoicing, such as is customary when a child is born, being prepared by women this evening in memory of the birth of Christ. Others say the _bannag_ is the cake presented by them to every one who entered the house that night. If the word means a cake, it is only applied to Christmas cakes or those used on this day. When there was a person of means, he took every one he met that week, especially the poor, to his house, and gave him his _bannag_, a large round cake (_bonnach mòr cruinn_).

New-Year’s night, or Hogmanay, was variously known as “the night of the candle” (_oidhche Choinnle_) and “the night of the blows or pelting” (_oidhche nan Calluinnean, a Challuinn_). The former name may have been derived from some religious ceremonies being performed by candle-light, as is suggested to be the origin of the English name Candlemas (2nd February), or from a candle being kept lighted till the New Year came in. The other name is said to be from the showers of rattling blows given to a dry cow’s hide used in the ceremonies of the evening, _colluinn_ being also used to denote a thundering blow, or what is called in the Lowlands “a loundering lick” (_stràic mhòr_). Thus, _thug e aon cholluinn air_ (he gave him one resounding blow); _bi tu air do dheagh cholluinneachadh_ (you will be severely beaten). The word, however, as was long ago pointed out by Lhuyd (_Archæologia Britannica_, 1707) is from _Calendae_, the first day of every month, this being the beginning of the whole year, and the night being in the Highlands reckoned as preceding the day.

CALLUINN.

Towards evening men began to gather and boys ran about shouting and laughing, playing shinty, and rolling “pigs of snow” (_mucan sneachda_), _i.e._ large snowballs. The hide of the mart or winter cow (_seiche a mhairt gheamhraidh_) was wrapped round the head of one of the men, and he made off, followed by the rest, belabouring the hide, which made a noise like a drum, with switches. The disorderly procession went three times _deiseal_, according to the course of the sun (_i.e._ keeping the house on the right hand) round each house in the village, striking the walls and shouting on coming to a door:

“The _calluinn_ of the yellow bag of hide,
Strike the skin (upon the wall)
An old wife in the graveyard,
An old wife in the corner,
Another old wife beside the fire,
A pointed stick in her two eyes,
A pointed stick in her stomach,
Let me in, open this.”[54]

Before this request was complied with, each of the revellers had to repeat a rhyme, called _Rann Calluinn_ (_i.e._ a Christmas rhyme), though, as might be expected when the door opened for one, several pushed their way in, till it was ultimately left open for all. On entering each of the party was offered refreshments, oatmeal bread, cheese, flesh, and a dram of whisky. Their leader gave to the goodman of the house that indispensable adjunct of the evening’s mummeries, the _Caisein-uchd_, the breast-stripe of a sheep wrapped round the point of a shinty stick. This was then singed in the fire (_teallach_), put three times with the right-hand turn (_deiseal_) round the family, and held to the noses of all. Not a drop of drink was given till this ceremony was performed. The _Caisein-uchd_ was also made of the breast-stripe or tail of a deer, sheep, or goat, and as many as choose had one with them.

The house was hung with holly to keep out the fairies, and a boy, whipped with a branch of it, may be assured he will live a year for every drop of blood he loses. This scratching and assurance were bestowed by boys on one another, and was considered a good joke.

Cheese was an important part of the refreshments, and was known as the Christmas cheese (_Càise Calluinn_). A slice, cut off at this feast, or a piece of the rind (_cùl na mulchaig_), if preserved and with a hole made through it, has strange virtues. It was called _laomachan_, and a person losing his way during the ensuing year, in a mist or otherwise, has only to look through the hole and he will see his way clearly. By scrambling to the top of the house, and looking through it down the _fàr-lus_ (the hole in the roof that served in olden times for chimney and window), a person can ascertain the name of his or her future husband or wife. It will prove to be the same as that of the first person seen, or heard named. A piece of _laomachan_ is also valuable for putting under one’s pillow to sleep over.

In this style the villagers, men and boys, went from house to house, preceded in many cases by a piper, and drowning the animosities of the past year in hilarity and merriment.

CHRISTMAS RHYMES (_Rann Calluinn_).

In general the rhymes used, when seeking admittance, varied but little in different districts. Sometimes an ingenious person made a rhyme suitable to the place and people, and containing allusions to incidents and character that increased the prevailing fun. The following is one of the most common of the class:

“I have come here first
To renew the Hogmanay;
I need not tell about it,
It was kept in my grandfather’s time.
The Calluinn Breast-stripe is in my pocket,
A goodly mist comes from it;
The goodman will get it first,
And shove its nose into the fire upon the hearth.
It will go sunwise round the children,
And particularly the wife will get it;
’Tis his own wife best deserves it,
Hand to distribute the Christmas cakes.
Rise down, young wife,
And young wife who hast earned praise;
Rise (and come) down, as you were wont,
And bring down our _Calluinn_ to us.
The cheese, that has the smooth face,
And butter eye has not blinked;
But if you have not that beside you,
Bread and flesh will suffice.
There is water in my shoes,
And my fingers are cut,
There is in beside the fire,
What will cure my complaint,
And if you have room to move,
Rise and bring down the glass.”

The following New-Year’s rhyme must have tried the breath of the speaker and the patience of his listeners considerably. It consists probably of several separate rhymes tagged together, and the allusions it contains to the “big clerk of the street,” etc., make it highly probable the ceremonies of the evening were remains of the Festival of Fools, and had their origin in the streets of Rome. The rhyme is given as it came to hand.

“Bless this cheerful dwelling,
With a musical voice,
That it be like a royal palace,
Without being wasteful.
Bless each man
Who surrounds this gathering,
From the one grown grey with seniority
To the one of infant’s age.
Bless our gentle men,
And our young children,
All who chance at this time
To come to Donald’s.
Men! this begins my tale
And I must tell it.
Ho! each black, black generous one!
Hò-go! each generous one!
Divide this portion
My servant harrowed!
More produce!
Then it was that Margaret said,
‘O dear! more produce!’
Then said Mary,
‘My dearest dear!
Martin is behind the door,
Listening to us!’
‘That is his excuse,’ said she.
Hu fudar! hei fedar!
Up with you, you cajoler!
Fierce icinesses rose
On Donald,
He levelled at Margaret
Fair abuse!
He gave a tap to the harp,
And the strings sounded.
He quickly drew a _crambat_
And tried to tune it.
‘You have done a mischief,’ said the clerk,
‘That I don’t regret!
Utter ruin has come upon you,
With your broken stick!’
‘You have a healing vessel,’
Said the harper.
‘When you are tried with it a second time,
’Twill make the stick whole;
So your share be yours of the healing cup.
O dearest sir!
May that stick of many virtues
Be full of produce!’
I went on candle night to hold New Year revel,
In the house of fat puddings,
I asked admittance at the door,
Coaxingly with fair words;
The big clerk of the street spoke
A senseless word,
‘If my gold crook were in my hand,
I would not let your head whole from the door.’
I took the north turn to the door,
That was a north turn of mischief to me;
I struck the big toe of my foot
In the face of a stone,
The pin fell, the pan fell,
The harrows in the door fell,
They made a cling clang clattering!
Rise down, young wife,
And honest dame, that hast carried praise,
Be womanly as thou wert wont,
And bring our Christmas gifts to us.
The smoothed-faced cheese,
And entrails prepared with juice;
But if these are not convenient,
Bread and cheese will suffice.
It was not greed with open mouth
That brought me to the town,
But a hamper
On my servant’s back!
A white servant catch me,
Fatness burns me!
Open and let me in!
‘True for him,’ said the goodman, ‘let him in.’”

The following rhyme was appointed for all who had nothing else to say:

“I do not dislike cheese,
And have no aversion to butter;
But a little drop from the cask
My throttle is in quest of.”

NEW-YEAR NIGHT.

It was a practice not to be neglected to keep the fire alive in the house all night. No one was to come near it but a friend, and, as an additional security against its going out, candles were kept burning. Hence, the other name given to the night, _Oidhche Choinnle_, _i.e._ candle night. There was a rhyme (which the writer has not been able to recover) to be said when feeding the fire. By this means evil was kept away from the house for the subsequent year. If the fire went out no kindling could be got next day from any of the neighbours. The first day of the year was a quarter-day, on which it was unlucky to give fire out of the house. It gave the means to witches and evilly-disposed people to do irreparable mischief to the cattle and their produce. The dying out of the fire was, therefore, a serious inconvenience in days when lucifer matches were unknown. The women made use of the occasion to bake bread for next day.

Old men, provident of the future, watched with interest the wind the old year left (_ghaoth dh’fhàgas a Choluinn_). That would prove the prevailing wind during the ensuing year, and indicated its chief characteristics, as the rhyme says:

“South wind—heat and produce,
North wind—cold and tempest,
West wind—fish and milk,
East wind—fruit on trees.”[55]

NEW-YEAR’S DAY

(_Latha na Bliadhn’ ùr_); also called the Day of Little Christmas (_Latha nollaige bige_).

On getting up in the morning the head of the family treated all the household to a dram. After that a spoonful of half-boiled sowens (_cabhruich leth-bhruich_), the poorest food imaginable, was given for luck. Sometimes the sowens were whole boiled, and in some places the well-to-do farmer’s wife left a little over night at the house of every poor man on the farm. The custom of having this dish of sowens was known in the central Highlands, and in Lorn, but does not seem to have extended to Mull, Morven, or the Western Islands. The salutations of the season were duly given by the household to one another, and to every person they met: “A good New Year to you” (_Bliadhna mhath ùr dhuit_), “The same to you, and many of them” (_Mar sin duit fhein is mòran diu_). The boys rushed away out, to play at their everlasting game of shinty, and a more sumptuous breakfast than ordinary was prepared.

Nothing was allowed to be put out of the house this day, neither the ashes of the fire nor the sweepings of the house, nor dirty water, nor anything else, however useless, or however much in the way. It was a very serious matter to give fire out of the house to a neighbour whose hearth had become cold, as the doing so, as already said, gave power to the evil-minded to take away the produce from the cattle. Indeed it was ominous that death would occur in the household within the year. Hospinian tells that at Rome, on New-Year’s Day, no one would allow a neighbour to take fire out of his house, or anything composed of iron (Ellis’s _Brand’s Antiquities_, i. 13).

It was unlucky for a woman to be the first to enter the house, or if the person were empty-handed. A young man entering with an armful of corn was an excellent sign of the year’s prosperity; but a decrepit old woman asking kindling for her fire was a most deplorable omen. The same belief that some people are lucky as first-foots led to the “curious custom” in the Isle of Man known as the _Quaaltagh_ (Ellis’s _Brand_, i. 538). That word differs only in spelling from the Gaelic _còmhalaich_, or _còmhaltaich_, a person, the meeting of whom is ominous of good or bad fortune. To ensure a good omen, a party of young men went in every parish in Man from house to house on New-Year’s Day singing luck to the inmates. It was deemed an omen of good to see the sun this day.

Towards mid-day the men gathered in some suitable place, the largest and most level field in the neighbourhood, for the great Shinty Match (_Iomain mhòr_). A match was formed between adjoining districts and villages, or, if the village itself was populous, by two leaders, appointed for the purpose, choosing one alternately from those present till the whole gathering was gone through. It was decided who was to choose first by the one leader holding his shinty stick (_caman_) vertically, or up and down, and throwing it to the other, who caught somewhere about the middle. The two then grasped the stick alternately, the hand of the one being close above that of the other, and the one who grasped the end, so that he could swing the stick three times round his head, had the first choice. Sometimes, to decide the point quickly, one asked the other which he would have, “foot or palm” (_chas no bhas_), meaning which end of the shinty stick he made choice of, the “foot” being that by which the stick is held, the “palm,” that with which the ball is struck. On a choice being made the club was thrown into the air, and the matter was decided by the point of it that pointed southwardly more summarily than by the “heads and tails” of a copper coin.

In the game a wooden ball (_ball_) was used in the daytime, when men could guard themselves against being struck by it; but when the game was played at night, in the dusk or by moonlight, a ball of hair or thread called _crìod_ was used. The object of the game was to drive this ball “hail” (_thaghal_), that is between and beyond certain marks at the two ends of the field. Of course the two parties had opposite “hails.” The play commenced by setting the ball in a suitable place, and giving the first blow, called _Buille Bhàraich_, to the chief, proprietor, priest, minister or other principal person present. A player stood opposite to him, and if the ball was missed at the first blow, as sometimes happened from excessive deliberation, want of skill and practice, etc., whipped it away in the other direction, and, without further ceremony, every person ran after it as he chose, and hit it as he got opportunity. Two or three of the best players on each side were kept behind their party, “behind hail” (_air chùl taghail_), as in the game of football, to act as a guard when their adversaries too nearly sent the ball “home.” Sometimes the company was so fairly matched that nightfall put an end to the sport without either party winning “a hail.” Every player got as much exercise as he felt inclined for. Some did little more than walk about the field, others could hardly drag themselves home at night with fatigue. Much can be said in behalf of the game as the best of out-door sports, combining healthy, and, when the player chooses, strong exercise with freedom from horse-play.

A piper played before and after the game. The women, dressed in their best, stood looking on. At the end the chief, or laird, gave a dinner, or, failing him, a number were entertained in the house of a mutual friend. In the evening a ball was given, open to all.

New-Year’s Day, like the first of every quarter of the year (_h-uile latha ceann ràidhe_), was a great _saining_ day, _i.e._ a day for taking precautions for keeping away evil from the cattle and houses. Certain ceremonies were carefully observed by the superstitious; juniper was burnt in the byre, the animals were marked with tar, the houses were decked with mountain ash, and the door-posts and walls, and even the cattle, were sprinkled with wine.

By New-Year’s Day the nights have begun to shorten considerably. It is a Gaelic saying that there is “an hour of greater length to the day of little Christmas” (_uair ri latha Nollaige bige_), and this is explained to be “the hour of the fuel lad” (_uair a ghille chonnaidh_). The word uair means “a time” as well as an hour; and the meaning perhaps is, that owing to the lengthening of the day the person bringing in firewood has to go one trip less frequently for fuel to make a light.

Christmas Day (_La Nollaige mòire_) was said to lengthen _fad coisichean coilich_, a cock’s stride or walk, and the expression was explained to mean that the bird had time to walk to a neighbour’s dunghill, crow three times, and come back again.

The same sayings are current in the Highlands as in the south. “A green Yule makes a fat kirkyard” has its literal counterpart in _’S i Nollaig uaine ni an cladh miagh_ (_i.e._ _reamhar_) and in _’S blianach Nollaig gun sneachda_ (_i.e._ Lean is Yule without snow).

There is no reason to suppose that any Pagan rites connected with the period of the winter solstice were incorporated with the Yule or _Nollaig_ ceremonies. The various names connected with the season are of Christian origin; the superstitions, as that of refusing fire and allowing nothing out of the house, can be traced to Rome; the custom of a man dressing himself in a cow’s hide, as suggested by Brand (i. 8), with every probability, is a vestige of the Festival of Fools, long held in Paris on New-Year’s Day, and of which it was part that men clothed themselves in cow-hide (_vestiuntur pellibus pecudum_). The holding of a singed piece of skin to the noses of the wassailers is more likely to have originated in the frolics of the same festival than in any Pagan observance. The meaning of the custom is obscure, but its character is too whimsical to be associated with any Pagan rite.

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.

(_Da latha dheug na Nollaig._)

These were the twelve days commencing from the Nativity or Big _Nollaig_, and were deemed to represent, in respect of weather, the twelve months of the year. Some say the days should be calculated from New-Year’s Day. “Whatever weather there is on the twelve days beginning with the last of December, the same will agree with the weather in the corresponding month” (Pennant). In Ireland the twelve days were held to stand for the twelve Apostles, and “on Twelve Eve in Christmas they used to set up as high as they can a sieve of oats, and in it a dozen of candles all round, and in the centre one larger, all lighted. This in memory of our Saviour and his Apostles, lights of the world” (Brand, i. 25). The same, no doubt, was the origin of the Highland notation. They are also looked upon as the twelve days between old and new style. There is evidence in the saying, that “an hour and a half is added to Candle Day” (_uair gu leth ri Latha Coinnle_), that some such custom was known of old in Scotland as in Ireland; and though Candle Night (_Oidhche Choinnle_) is now a name given to Christmas night, there is a probability it originally denoted Twelve Eve, or the Feast of the Epiphany.

WINTER SEASON.

The period during which the above festivities occurred, and sometime before and after _Nollaig_, was popularly known as “The Black cuttings of Christmas” (_Gearra dubha na Nollaig_), from its liability to tempestuous weather. The sky is then lowering and dark, the “level” sun gives little warmth, and high winds prevail.

The _Dùlachd_ of winter extended over the six weeks preceding the middle of spring (_gu meadhon an Earraich_). Some (_e.g._ _Highland Society’s Dict._, _sub voce_) call it _Dùbhlachd_, and translate it simply “wintry weather.” Others call it _Dùdlachd_, and denote by it “the depth of winter.” The word is a contraction of _duaithealachd_, from _duaitheil_, extremely coarse and rough, an epithet applied to stormy weather. Thus, _nach duaitheil an t-sìd?_ is it not desperately coarse weather? _Ceann reamhar an duaithealais_, “the thick end of coarseness,” denotes extremely rough usage.

Handsel Monday (_Di-luain an t-sainnseil_) was the first Monday after New-Year’s Day, and was the principal day in the whole year for _deachainn_, _i.e._ for making trials and forecasts of the future. It derives its name from _sainnseal_, Scot. handsel, a present or gift in his hand given this day to every visitor to a house. _Sainnseal sona_ is “a happy or fortunate present.” In some districts cock-fighting was practised in the schools, and children brought a gratuity (in money) to the schoolmaster. In other districts this was not the case till Shrovetide (_Di-màirt Inid_).

In Skye the day is called _Di-luain Traosda_; and it is from it the 12 days, corresponding in weather to the 12 months of the year, are computed.

FEBRUARY (_Faoilleach_).

The name _Faoilleach_ is said to mean “Wolf-month,” from _faol_, wild, whence also _faol-chu_, a wolf, lit. a wild dog. It embraces the last 14 days of winter and the first 14 days of spring, the former being called the winter Faoilleach (_am Faoilleach geamhraidh_), the latter the spring (_am Faoilleach Earraich_). It is also known as “the Dead Month” (_a’ marbh mhiòs_). Winter is still ruling the inverted year, and all nature seems to be dead. The trees have long lost their foliage, the grass gives no sign as yet of returning growth, and fields and fallows are bare. When over all there is a coating of snow the name of “Dead Month” appears peculiarly appropriate. The time, being reckoned by old style, corresponds almost exactly to the present month of February, and the saying that “every month in the year curses a fair February.” is amply corroborated by the Gaelic sayings regarding it. Old men liked it to commence with a heavy storm and end with a calm, or (to use their own words) “to come in with the head of a serpent and go out with a peacock’s tail” (_tighinn a stigh le ceann na nathrach, ’s dol amach le earball peucaig_). There are to be three days of calm during it, according to the saying, “Three days of August in February, and three days of February in August” (_trì la Faoilleach san Iuchar, ’s trì la Iuchar san Fhaoilleach_). Both the February calm and the August storm, however, have become proverbial for their uncertainty and short duration. “February calm and August wind” (_Fia’ Faoilleach is gaoth Iuchar_) are the most fickle things in the world. In the north it was said mist in February means snow next day (_Ceò san Fhaoilleach, sneachda maireach_). Old people said, “Better the land be plundered than a calm morning in February.”[56] The most unreasonable of expectations is to expect black “brambles in February” (_smeuran dubha san Fhaoilleach_).

It is unfortunate if the heat of this season is such, as old men say they have seen it, that the cattle run with the heat; but it is a healthy sign of the season if men go about with their hands wrinkled with the cold till they resemble an animal’s hoof, and kept in their pockets (anciently belts) for warmth.

“Wild month, wild month, hoof in belt
Much rejoicing should be held;
Cows and sheep running in heat,
Weeping and wailing then are meet.”[57]

It was said to be as unnatural to hear thunder at this time as to hear a calf lowing in its mother’s womb (_laogh a geumraich am broinn a mhàthiar_).

_Earrach beag nam Faochag._

“The little Spring of Whelks” is the period from Christmas (_Nollaig_) to St Bride’s day, or beginning of February. That species of shellfish is then at its best, and the soup made from it, called _siabh_ or _brochan fhaochag_, was deemed as good as flesh.

ST. BRIDE’S DAY.

St. Bridget’s, or St. Bride’s day (_Feill Brìde_, _Brithid_) is the first day of spring, consequently the middle of the _Faoilleach_, the 1st of February, O.S., but the 13th New Style. It is frequently confounded with Candlemas, but that day is the 2nd February, whereas St. Bride’s Day is the 1st—this mistake is made by Martin (_West. Isl._, 1716, p. 119). He says that on the 2nd of February “the mistress and servants of each family take a sheaf of oats, and dress it up in woman’s apparel, put it in a large basket, and lay a wooden club by it, and this they call Briid’s Bed; and then the mistress and servants cry three times, Briid is come, Briid is welcome” (Brand, i. 56). The custom is long extinct in the parts of the Highlands with which the writer is acquainted and the only particulars connected with it he has heard are, that on St. Bride’s Day a bed of birch twigs (_leaba bharraich_) was made by the women, and that they then cried at the door, “Bride, Bride, come in, your bed is ready” (_Brìde, Brìde, thig astigh, tha do leaba dean-te_).

As in the case of many Gaelic festivals, ceremonies, and other antiquities, the origin of St. Bride’s Day is to be traced directly to Ireland. St. Bridget, we are told, was the first nun in Ireland, and founded her first cell where the city of Kildare now stands, in 585. She was a native of Ulster, and, after building monasteries and performing miracles, became Patroness of Ireland. In 1185 her body was found in the same vault with those of St. Patrick and St. Columba. A well near her church in Fleet Street, London, gave its name, Bridewell, to a palace given by Edward VI. to the city, for a workhouse and a house of correction. The honoured name of St. Bride, who during many ages was celebrated for her sanctity and piety, has thus by accident become associated with the criminal population.

It is a sign of the approaching spring that on this day the raven begins to build, and larks sing with a clearer voice. It has been explained in another part of this work, that there was a belief, the serpent had to come out of its hole seven days previous. The rhyme regarding the raven ran:

“A nest on St. Bridget’s day,
An egg at Shrovetide,
And a bird at Easter;
If the raven have not these,
Then it dies.”[58]

The corrections of the observations which it embodies is confirmed by White (_Nat. Hist. of Selborne_), who gives Feb. 14-17 as the period at which the raven builds.

In Tiree this was the day on which cock-fighting was practised, and gratuities were given to the schoolmaster. In the evening it was customary to have a ball.

The period from _Nollaig_ to _Feill Brìde_, was reckoned at one month and three days.

SPRING.

The _Faoilleach_ introduces a series of names, peculiarly Celtic, and (so far as the writer is aware), having no equivalents in any other language. The divisions of time denoted by them extend to the beginning of summer, each name, in accordance with the genius of the Gaelic language, as shown in names of places, nicknames, etc., is descriptive. Almanacs have long superseded the ancient notations, and it is not now an easy matter to arrange them in their proper order, or to reconcile the accounts retained by tradition with Almanac notation. The length of time ascribed to each seems to have varied in different districts.

_Feadag_, THE WHISTLE,

succeeds immediately to the Wolf-month (_Faoilleach_), though some place it before _Cailleach_, and about St. Patrick’s day. In M’Leod and Dewar’s Dictionary it is said to be the third week in February, which reckoned by O.S. is from 1st to 8th March, N.S. It is thus made to succeed the _Faoilleach_, and the same seems the opinion of Hugh M’Lachlan, of Aberdeen, a most learned and accomplished man. In a poem on spring, he says:

“Season in which comes the flaying Wolf-month,
Cold hail-stones, a storm of bullets,
_Feadag_, _Sguabag_, the _Gearran’s_ gloom
And shrivelling _Cailleach_, sharp bristled.”

It extends to three days, and its boisterous character is shewn in the rhyme:

“Feadag, Feadag, mother of the cold Faoilleach,
It kills sheep and lambs,
It kills the big kine one by one,
And horses at the same time.”[59]

_Gobag_, THE SHARP-BILLED ONE,

lasts for a week, others say three, four, and nine days.

_Sguabag_, THE SWEEPER,

seems the same as the three days called “The Eddy winds of the Storm Month” (_Ioma-sguaba na Faoilleach_). The appearance of spring is now to be seen, but the bad weather is not yet past. The worst weather comes back occasionally, and there are fewer gusts of wind, uncertain in their coming and duration, that well deserve the name of “Eddy winds from February.”

_Gearran_, A GELDING, OR PERHAPS _Gearan_, COMPLAINT.

It is quite possible the latter may have been the original name, as there is always associated with it a period called _Caoile_, Leanness. It extends over a month, and in Skye is made to succeed to the _Faoilleach_. There was a rule known to old men, that “the first Tuesday of March (O.S.) is the last Tuesday of Gearran” (_a chiad Di-mairt de’n mhàrt an Di-mairt mu dheire de ’n Ghearran_). In Tiree, from which the lofty hills of Rum form a conspicuous sight, and to the green appearance of which in frosty weather, their snow-covered summits form a striking contrast, it is said, that at the season “the big mare of Rum turns three times to her colt,” _i.e._ from cold and hunger. The expression refers to times when a little hardy breed of horses was found in the Western Islands, like Shetland ponies, and left to shift for themselves during winter. It was also said:

“Then said Gearran to Faoilleach,
Where left you the poor stirk?
I left it with Him who made the elements,
Staring at a stack of fodder.
If I catch it, said the May month,
With the breath in the points of his ears,
I will send it racing to the hill
With its tail upon its shoulders.”[60]

The beast will pull through if it can “lift its ear higher than its horn,” which at that age (one year), it ought to do.

The high winds coming at this time, and well known in the south as the winds of March, were said in their violence to “send seven bolls of driving snow through one augur hole” (_Chuireadh an Gearran seachd bola catha, stigh air aon toll tora, leis co gailbheach’s a bha ’n t-sìd_).

The Gearran is deemed the best time for sowing seeds. The high winds dry the ground, and all agricultural seeds are the better of being put in “a dry bed” (_leaba thioram do’ n t-sìol_). It is a disputed point what precise date.

The Perthshire rhyme also testifies to the still stormy character of the weather. The calling the Gearran short supports the opinion of many, that it was properly only seven days:

“Then, said the short Gearran,
I will play you a trick that is no better,
I will put the big cow in the mud,
Till the wave comes over its head.”[61]

Some say the Gearran is the month before St. Patrick’s day O.S., others fourteen days before it and fourteen days after, _i.e._ before and after 29th March.

_A Chailleach_, the old wife.

This old wife is the same as the hag of whom people were afraid in harvest, the last done with the shearing had to feed her till next harvest, and to whom boys bid defiance in their New-Year day rhyme, viz.: “The Famine, or Scarcity of the Farm.” In spring she was engaged with a hammer in keeping the grass under.

“She strikes here, she strikes there,
She strikes between her legs,”

but the grass grows too fast for her, and in despair she throws the hammer from her, and where it lighted no grass grows.

“She threw it beneath the hard, holly tree,
Where grass or hair has never grown.”[62]

_Trì làithean nan ōisgean_, THREE HOG DAYS.

In the rural lore of the south of Scotland, the three hog days are held to be the last three days of March, and to have been borrowed by that month from April (Brand, ii. 42). Dr. Jamieson (_Etym. Dict. of Scot. Lang._) says, “Some of the vulgar imagine, that these days receive their designation from the conduct of the Israelites in borrowing the property of the Egyptians.”

There is a Highland explanation also connecting them with the departure from Egypt. They were days borrowed by the Israelites for the killing of the Paschal lamb. “Some went on this side of the hillock, some on that” (_Chàidh cuid an taobh so ’n Chnoc_, etc.).

They are perhaps the days called in Tiree “_trì latha na bo ruaidhe_” _i.e._ “the red cow’s three days.”

_Mhàrt_, SEED-TIME.

This name is doubtlessly derived from the Latin _Mars_, in which case it ought to correspond to the month of March, O.S. It does not commence till the 24th of that month. The word has come to signify a busy time of the year, whether seed-time or harvest, usually, however, the former. _Saothair a Mhàrt_ is the “busiest time of spring”; _a ghaoth luath luimeineach Mhàrt_ means “the bare swift March wind,” frequently mentioned in _Winter Evening Tales_ to denote great speed, and _a Mhàrt tioram blath_ means “dry genial March.” It is a favourable sign of the season when the ground is saturated with wet at its beginning. Old men wished,

“The full pool awaiting March,
And house-thatch in the furrows of the plough land;”[63]

and deemed it a good sign if the violence of the wind stripped three layers of thatch (_trì breathan de thugha_) from the houses. The advice for sowing seed now is:

“Let past the first March (_i.e._ Tuesday),
And second March if need be,
But be the weather good or bad,
Sow thy seed in the true March.”[64]

Others say, “though you cannot send a pebble against the north wind” (_ged nach cuireadh tu dòirneag an aghaidh na gaoth tuath_) you are to sow.

“A night in March is swifter than two in harvest” (_Is luaithe oidhche sa Mhàrt na dhà san fhogharadh_).

_Inid_, SHROVETIDE.

The Gaelic name is from Lat. _Initium_, this being the beginning of Lent. It was always reckoned as “The first Tuesday of the Spring Light” (_chiad Di-màirt de’n t-solus Earraich_), _i.e._ of the new moon in spring. It is a moveable feast, and this is a simple way of calculating it. The plan adopted by the English Church is more complicated—Shrovetide is always the seventh Tuesday before Easter, and Easter is “the first Sunday after the first full moon, which happens on or after the 21st March; but if the full moon is on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday following.”

Shrovetide was called “_an Inid bheadaidh_” (shameless Shrovetide), because the day of the festival was held to precede the night, while, in the case of all the other festivals, the night or vigil was held to precede the day. A good reason for this will be found in a natural aversion to begin the austerities of Lent.

It has been already told[65] (art. Diabolus) how Michael Scott, or, according to Skye tradition, Parson Sir Andro of Rigg, near Storr in that island, went to Rome, riding on the devil, and first ascertained from the Pope the rule for calculating the day.

In schools it was the day for cock-fighting, and giving gratuities to the schoolmaster. The latter custom was observed with more correctness on the first Monday of the year, being the day allotted for presents. The practice of cock-fighting is extinct in the Highlands, but presents to the schoolmaster are universally practised. The boy and girl who give the largest donation (and it seldom exceeds a shilling) are declared King and Queen of the school, and have the privilege of asking “a play” (_i.e._ a holiday) for the school.

The names connected with cock-fighting, still to be found in the Highlands, being Latin, shew the practice is not of native growth. Each boy came to the school with a dunghill cock under his arm. The head of the bird was covered and its tail taken out, to make it more ready to fight, and fight better when let loose opposite another bird.

Runaway cocks were called _fuge_, and the name is still given to boys who shirk fighting. Shouts followed the defeated bird of “run, run, cock with one eye” (_fuge, fuge, coileach cam_), and its owner had to pay a penalty of some pence.

Shrovetide was one of the great days for _saining_ cattle, juniper being burned before them, and other superstitious precautions were taken to keep them free from harm.

Those curious or anxious about their future husbands or wives made a cake of soot (_Bonnach sùith, B. Inid_), of which they partook, putting the rest below their pillows to dream over.

It was believed that if there was fair weather at _Inid_ it would be foul weather at Easter, and _vice versâ_, as the rhyme has it:

“Shrovetide said to Easter,
Where will I get a place to play myself?
Give to me a winter palace,
And I will build a summer house for you.”[66]

_Carghas_, LENT,

is the period from Shrovetide to Easter. It extends to 40 days, and refers to the miraculous fasts of Moses, Elias, and our Lord. The Gaelic mode of calculation was, “Seven short weeks from Shrovetide till Easter” (_seachd seachdainean gearr goirid Eadar Inid is Càisg_). The name _Carghas_ is a corruption _Quadragesima_, Ital. _Quaresimo_, 40, just as _Inid_ is from _Initium_. _Inid a charghuis_ is just “the beginning of the forty days.”[67]

ST. KESSOCK’S DAY (_Féill mo Cheasaig_)

was March 10/22. It is said, “On the Feast of St. Kessock every eel is pregnant” (_Latha Feill mo Cheasaig bithidh gach easgann torrach_).

The Saint was Bishop in Scotland in 560, and has given a name to Kessock Ferry (_Port a Cheasaig_), near Inverness, and to a market held at Callander, Perthshire, for hiring, on the 22nd March, or 10th old style. The fair is known as “Tenth-day,” but among the Gaelic-speaking population as “_Féill mo Cheasaig_.” A rock at the west end of the village is known as “_Tom a Cheasaig_.”

ST. PATRICK’S DAY (_Feill Pàruig_)

is the middle day of spring and that on which the night and day are of equal length, March 17/29. A certain sign of the day is held in the Hebrides to be a south wind in the morning and a north wind at night.

The saint comes from Ireland to see his parishioners in Barra and other places on the west of Scotland, and has a favourable wind coming and returning. He is in Highland lore described as “Patrick who blessed Ireland” (_Pàdruig a bheannaich Eirinn_), and is said to have been married to the daughter of Ossian, bard, and last, of the _Feinne_. He was born A.D. 373, but it is disputed whether his native place was Scotland, or Wales, or England, or France. There can be no question that in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland the more lively and kindly recollections of him have been retained. Numerous places called after him are found scattered over Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

After this day (_seach gun leum an Fhéill Pàruig_) (lit. once Patrick’s Festival has jumped) the limpet is better than the whelk, and is said in consequence to treat it with great indignity.

_Latha Feill Pàruig_
_Muinidh bhairneach air an fhaochaig._

Another piece of shore information connected with this season is that with the advance of spring “as horses grow lean, crabs grow fat” (_mar is caoile ’n t-each, ’s ann is reamhrad am partan_). Others have it, “When the horse is lean, the whelk is fat” (_Nuair bhios an t-each caol bi ’n fhaochag reamhar._)

The reviving influences of the spring are now making themselves visible, according to the saying, “There is not an herb in the ground, but the length of a mouse’s ear of it is out on St. Patrick’s Day” (_Chaneil luibh san talamh, nach’ eil fad cluas luch dhi mach, latha Féil Pàruig_).

Old men liked the days immediately preceding it to be stormy, and to see, as they said, “the furrows full of snow, of rain, and the thatch of houses” (_a chlaisich làn sneachda, làn uisge, ’s tugha nan tighean_).

There are particularly high tides on St. Patrick’s Day, and the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, according to the saying,

“The spring tides of Lady Day
And the mad tides of St. Patrick’s Day.”[68]

_Marbhladh na Feill Pàruig_, the deadening of St. Patrick’s Day, means the quiet calm waters that sometimes occur at this season; others say _Bogmharbhlainn_, and say it means the swelling (_tòcadh_) observable at the time in the sea (from the increasing heat).

LADY DAY (_Féill Moire_).

This was known as _Féill Moire an t-sanais_ (St. Mary’s Vigil of annunciation) to distinguish it from _Féill Moire Mòr_ (the Big St. Mary’s-day), the assumption of the Virgin, which was the middle day of autumn. It is March 25/April 6.

SHORE OR MAUNDY-THURSDAY.

This was the Thursday before Easter, and was known in the Hebrides as “_La Brochain Mhòir_,” the Day of the Big Porridge. It was now getting late in the spring, and if the winter had failed to cast a sufficient supply of seaweed on the shores, it was time to resort to extraordinary measures to secure the necessary manure for the land. A large pot of porridge was prepared, with butter and other good ingredients, and taken to the headlands near creeks where seaweed rested. A quantity was poured into the sea from each headland, with certain incantations or rhymes, and in consequence, it was believed, the harbours were full of sea-ware. The ceremony should only be performed in stormy weather. Its object no doubt was, by throwing the produce of the land into the sea, to make the sea throw its produce on the land.

GOOD FRIDAY (_Di-haoine na Ceusa_).

The Gaelic name means literally Crucifixion Friday. The day was the Friday before Easter, and was observed in memory of our Lord’s Passion. There was hardly any belief that had a stronger hold on the Highlander’s mind than that on no account whatever should iron be put in the ground on this day. So great was the aversion to doing so that the more superstitious extended the prohibition to every Friday. As a matter of course no ploughing was done, and if a burial was to take place, the grave was opened on the previous day, and the earth was settled over the coffin with a wooden shovel. The origin of the observance perhaps was that our Saviour’s sepulchre had been previously prepared, being a new tomb hewn out in the rock.

It was said that if the day be cold, it is colder than any other, in fact the coldest day of the whole year.

EASTER (_Càsg_).