Evil eye in the western HighlandsMaclagan, Robert Craig
Religion
Evil eye in the western Highlands
Maclagan, Robert Craig
Evil eye; Folklore; Superstition
We have already seen a case, in which a woman on her own showing
demonstrates that it was the influence of others which caused her to
believe in the power of the Evil Eye; but conviction has in some cases
been carried to the minds of men as a result of experience. A man
taking a valuable horse from the west coast of Kintyre to Tarbert was,
after leaving Musadale, offered a considerable sum for it. He said he
would not, could not sell the beast, and though the offer was raised to
sixty pounds, he still refused and went on his way. Before he reached
Tayinloan the horse fell dead on the road. The owner of the horse,
considered to be a religious man, after this incident could not be
shaken in his belief in the Evil Eye.
In another case, a woman having got from her mother a hen, a first-rate
layer, an acquaintance came in and the conversation turned upon the
excellence of the bird, frankly acknowledged by the owner, who added
her own quota of praise. The visitor was no time gone when the hen
“clapped her wings, fell down, and died.” Mrs. G. declared that it has
been her firm belief ever since that it was a case of _cronachadh_.
GIVING AWAY MILK DANGEROUS
All have heard of the belief in the power of witches to acquire
for themselves, among other things, the milk and butter of their
neighbours. This apparently requires some deliberate act of magic,
“drawing the tether,” as they say in the north of Ireland, or even
milking the pot chain, as reported in the Highlands. In only one case,
as reported, was this danger ascribed to the owner of an Evil Eye, and
the writer is still of opinion that his lady friend, who said, “If
an evil-disposed person who possesses an Evil Eye gets a little milk
from another, he or she will be able to operate through that to injure
all the milk that remains, and even the cows,” had not differentiated
in her own mind the “Evil Eye” from “witchcraft.” We will repeat the
incident.
A suspected woman, living near, one time asked her servant if she
could get a little milk daily, her own cow giving none at the time.
The servant girl told the lady that the woman was asking milk, and
then added, “I will not give it her.” Her mistress said, “Oh, you may
give it; she needs it, and you can spare it quite well.” The girl said
it was not that, but showed that she was afraid of the woman getting
what she asked, and thus taking their milk from them and perhaps
injuring the cow. Her mistress said there was no fear of that, and the
girl yielded, adding, “I know what I’ll do.” What she did was to put
pinches of salt and of sugar in the milk the woman was to get that
evening, and to take the first mouthful (_bolgam_) of it herself. This,
according to prevalent ideas in the district, would hinder the receiver
of the milk having any power to do harm for the remainder of that
season. This performance seems a common precaution in cases where milk
is given to suspected persons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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