Evil eye in the western HighlandsMaclagan, Robert Craig
Religion
Evil eye in the western Highlands
Maclagan, Robert Craig
Evil eye; Folklore; Superstition
“Man, what will we say to the wife? But come away in and see what she
has got to say.” When we went in the wife asked us if we had got the
ring in the pig, and her man answered, “No, and I am sorry to tell you
the pig has broken her leg.”
“How did that happen?” she asked, and her husband said, out of pure
fun, “Oh, I don’t know, unless W. M.’s eye has fallen upon her.” That
was enough. Up W. got in a wild rage, and said he would not sit under
such a suspicion, and off he marched, terribly offended.
At the time of writing a reciter, a woman, admits that at K. in A. a
man is living whom his neighbours believe to have the Evil Eye, and
people not only do not like to meet him, but go out of their way to
avoid him when going on important matters. It is told of him that
a donkey belonging to a woman kicked his horse. The donkey’s owner
expressed a hope that he would not come to know of it, lest he should
hurt her beast. Her fear was justified, as it turned out, for the
man saw the donkey kick the horse, and however he managed it, people
believed that he put _cronachadh_ on the donkey, for it turned ill and
shortly died.
ACTION OF EVIL EYE INDEPENDENT OF POSSESSOR
It must be difficult, one would think, for any reasonably
kindly-intentioned person to accept as proved that they had an Evil
Eye. But a distinction is made between possessing an Evil Eye and doing
mischief with it. A native of Glen Urquhart, Inverness-shire, among
others says that there it is understood a person may possess an Evil
Eye and do mischief with it without intending it, and without knowing
that he has done it. When a person knows that he has an Evil Eye, and
does mischief with it intentionally, the ill-doing is usually supposed
to be more or less connected with witchcraft.
Many believe the injury from the Evil Eye is quite independent of the
will of the possessor. A farmer, a believer, said: “When we were in
the old place more than thirty years ago, there was a man living upon
the hill who would often be helping the farmers round about when they
were throng. He had the Evil Eye; but he could not help it. He would
be sorry for it himself; many a one would be scolding him for hurting
their beasts.”
Another says: “_Cronachadh_ is still in it, and those that have got the
Evil Eye cannot help it. They sometimes do harm with their eye when
they do not intend it, and even when they do not know that they are
doing it.”
This seems a thoroughly rooted idea in Islay, and a Tiree man informs
us that there it is also thought that injury by an Evil Eye is
involuntary on the part of the person who has such an eye, and not
necessarily malicious or intended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account