Evil eye in the western HighlandsMaclagan, Robert Craig
Religion
Evil eye in the western Highlands
Maclagan, Robert Craig
Evil eye; Folklore; Superstition
Of two women living beside each other in Islay, one was credited with
the Evil Eye, and supposed to take away the dairy produce from her
neighbours. One year her neighbour for a whole summer was unable to get
a bit of butter from her churning. Her suspicion rested strongly on the
other. Her account of it was as follows: “I tried everything. They told
me to put a horseshoe in the churn, and I did that. Others told me to
put salt in it, and I did that, but neither did any good. I scrubbed
and scrubbed the churn and the milk dishes, but it was of no use. The
milk would only come up with a hissing sound. I was even afraid to use
the sour milk in baking scones, for I was sure there was something not
right about it. The pig got fat that year, for it was getting the most
of the milk. At last I consulted a neighbour, and she told me just
what I knew already, that it was a bad woman beside me that was taking
away the butter. She advised me not to bother any more, and to keep
churning, for the woman would stop her mischief by-and-by, and then
the butter would come back as it had gone. I did as she told me, and
through time the butter came. I was not speaking about it to any one,
for I did not want people to know I believed that she could do so much
harm.”
A well-educated small farmer’s wife, a woman of five-and-thirty, knew
a husband and wife who both possessed the Evil Eye. They were quite
aware themselves that they did, and could not help it. Passing through
a park where several colts were grazing, one of which took their fancy,
they expressed their admiration of it. That evening the colt took ill
and never recovered.
One would think that a little consideration would have made it clear
that with two in the same house equally unfortunate nothing they had
could have succeeded with them, and yet there was no account of this
couple being in worse circumstances than their neighbours.
It certainly is a curious development, the belief already alluded
to of the injurious action of the Evil Eye of the farmer on his own
stock. “W. C. was on intimate terms with a neighbouring farmer, whom he
visited frequently. It was observed that if at any time he (the farmer)
praised an animal, something for certain happened to it afterwards. On
one occasion he talked admiringly of the poultry, and shortly after all
of them died.”
Another reciter said: “In our own time a farmer required to be kept
from going among his own cattle, lest by looking on them they should be
injured.” These cases respectively were in Islay and Harris.
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