Evil eye in the western HighlandsMaclagan, Robert Craig
Religion
Evil eye in the western Highlands
Maclagan, Robert Craig
Evil eye; Folklore; Superstition
Even more common than injury to cows and calves is the deterioration of
milk. Mrs. McL., appealing to her husband for confirmation, told how
that in the winter-time she began to churn sometime after dark. Her
husband helped her with it, and they had just finished, and she was
going to stop and take off the butter, when a young man came in. When
he went away she went back to her churn, but not a bit of butter could
she get. To gather it she took another turn of churning, but the milk
only swelled and went over the churn mouth. The butter was all gone. It
was this young man’s Evil Eye.
Another nearly similar case to the above, and they could be
considerably added to, happened to the mother of the reciter, who
was churning, and a woman, supposed to possess an Evil Eye, and also
suspected of a measure of witchcraft, coming in, “the butter got
scattered into a kind of grainy substance, and do what she would the
churner could not get it to gather again.”
Horses, of course, are liable to the malign influence of the Evil
Eye. —— had a nice white horse which he used to lend on hire to
the minister. It was much admired, and one day when it came home a
neighbour, who bore the owner no goodwill, came forward and, standing
beside the horse, said in Gaelic, “You have got fine limbs;” he then
walked away. Shortly afterwards the horse threw itself down on the
ground and kicked as if in great pain. It was at first supposed to be
an attack of colic, and the son walked it out a little, but so soon as
it entered the stable it fell down and was like to die. A woman with
skill being consulted, cured the horse and confirmed their suspicion of
it being a case of Evil Eye.
Ministers’ horses do not escape any more than those of laymen. A Mull
woman related the following:—The minister, whose grave you may see
there, had a fine horse. His man had it out ploughing, and without
previous illness or warning of any kind, it fell down and could not
plough another furrow. The minister came to see it.
“_A mhinistear, tha an t-each air a chronachadh. Feumaidh mi dhol
airson eolas a chronachaidh._”
“_Eisd, eisd, cha dean thu sin. Tha fios agad nach eil mise a’
creidsinn ann a leithid sin._”
“_Direach falbhaidh sibhse a steach, agus managie mi fein an t-each._”
(“Minister, the horse is _air a cronachadh_, and I must go for _eolas
a chronachaidh_.” “Hush, hush, you will not do that; you know that I
do not believe the like of that.” “Just you go in, and I’ll manage the
horse myself.”)
We may finish the incident which tells how the minister did as was
suggested, and how, as soon as he was out of sight, off the lad set for
what he considered skilled assistance. Having got it, in less than
three hours the horse was quite well and ploughing. When the minister
was again looking on, the lad remarked on the rapid recovery from the
process used, but the minister was unconvinced.
“_Cha’n eil mi dol a thoirt creideas da leithid sin idir._”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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