Transcriber’s Notes Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised except in the Gaelic passages, but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. Italics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold= and superscripts thus y^{en}. EVIL EYE IN THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ THE GAMES AND DIVERSIONS OF ARGYLESHIRE. Demy 8vo, viii.-270 pp., cloth, uncut, 10s. 6d. net. _This volume forms No. 47 of the Publications of the Folk-Lore Society._ EVIL EYE IN THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS BY R. C. MACLAGAN, M.D. AUTHOR OF “THE GAMES AND DIVERSIONS OF ARGYLESHIRE” LONDON DAVID NUTT, 57-59 LONG ACRE 1902 Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. At the Ballantyne Press CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 EVIL EYE 10 LOCALITY OF BELIEF 20 SOCIAL POSITION OF BELIEVERS 22 DESCRIPTION OF POSSESSORS OF EVIL EYE 24 OBJECTION TO MEETING AN EVIL EYE 28 AVOIDING SUSPICION OF EVIL EYE 32 ACTION OF EVIL EYE INDEPENDENT OF POSSESSOR 35 EVIL EYE TAKES EFFECT EVEN ON THINGS NOT SEEN 37 MORAL SOURCE OF THE EVIL EYE 40 THINGS THAT SPECIALLY ATTRACT 43 STRANGERS SPECIALLY LIABLE TO BE ACCUSED OF THE POSSESSION OF THE EVIL EYE 46 PEOPLE SHOULD GIVE WHEN ASKED 48 SYMPTOMS IN ANIMALS ASCRIBED TO EFFECT OF EVIL EYE 51 BENEFIT TO THE OWNER OF AN EVIL EYE 68 DISADVANTAGE TO THE OWNER OF AN EVIL EYE 70 CONSEQUENCE OF DIRECT PRAISE 76 A LOOK DOES IT 80 AVOIDING THE LOOK 84