Evil eye in the western HighlandsMaclagan, Robert Craig
Religion
Evil eye in the western Highlands
Maclagan, Robert Craig
Evil eye; Folklore; Superstition
A woman gives the following account of what happened to her mother. She
had been married very young, and was sitting by the fire suckling her
first child with her breasts bare. The child had fallen asleep on her
left arm. “My mother heard something behind her, and when she turned
her head, there was a tall, grey-haired, ill-favoured-looking woman
standing. My mother got up hurriedly, and having a great deal of milk,
the milk spouted from her right breast into the fire. The _cailleach_
gave an unpleasant laugh and said, ‘The milk has gone along with the
pee.’ My mother answered pleasantly enough, ‘Oh no, the milk and pee
will be all right,’ and gave the _cailleach_ what she wanted. She was a
Tiree _cailleach_, and they were all looked upon as being bad ones. The
next time my mother was going to give her baby a drink she found she
had not a drop of milk for him. The baby was crying, and when he would
cry she would cry too, and what was to be done? This state of things
lasted for a day, and my father then went for assistance from a person
supposed to be skilled.”
The expression used by the Tiree woman was understood by the reciter to
mean the milk that should have nourished the child was to turn into
water in the mother’s system, and be so discharged.
Yawning has been ascribed to the effect of the Evil Eye.
An Islay man said: “_Bha piuthair aig an te nach maireann agus bha i
cho boidheach ’sa chunnaic sibh riomh. Aon uair thainig boireannach a
stigh agus thoiseach i air a chaileag a mholadh gu ro mhor. Well, cha
robh a bhean sin ach gann air dol amach nur a thoiseach a chaileag air
meunanaich, agus cha robh fad gus an robh i cho dona agus gun robh iad
a saoilsinn gum bitheadh i air falbh._”
(“My late wife had a sister, and she was as pretty as ever you saw.
Once a woman came in and commenced praising the girl excessively. Well,
scarcely was that woman gone out of the house when the girl began to
yawn, and it was not long till she was so bad that they thought that
she would be away (die).”)
In the case of a child which was quite quiet and looking well, with
the mother sitting nursing it, a neighbouring woman, who is not much
liked in the place, came in. She sat a little while, and was no time
away until the child began to cry. It cried long and bitterly, and
its mother got into a fearful state, protesting of the other woman:
“_Co fior’s tha mi beo, chronaich i mo phaisde_” (“As true as I am
alive she injured my child”). It is interesting to note that in this
case “a little white powder” prescribed by a qualified practitioner
counteracted that Evil Eye.
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