The Mac-Rories, a sept of the Mac-Larens, in Perthshire, were descendants of one who thus received his name. His parents, having lost a previous child before its baptism, were advised to change the name. They were on their way through the Pass, called _Laìrig Isle_, between Loch Erne and Glen-dochart, to have their second child baptized, when they were met by one Rory Mac Pherson. He was an entire stranger to them, but turned back with them, as a stranger ought to do to avoid being unlucky, and the child was called after him. _Clann ’ic-Shimigeir_, a sept of the Mac Neills, have also a road name. _Delivery of Cattle and Horses._—Before delivering a cow to the buyer at a market, the seller should pass the end of the rope, by which she is led, three times round his body. When taking delivery of a horse, from one of whom you are not sure, you should come _deiseal_ between him and the horse, and take hold of the halter inside his hand, that is, between him and the horse. Otherwise, the seller’s eye will be after the beast. _Trades._—Masons were said to be able to raise the devil, or, as the Gaelic expression more forcibly describes it, “to take the son of cursing from his roots” (_macmollachd thoirt as a fhriamhaichean_). Smiths, being people who work among iron, were deemed of more virtue against the powers of evil than any other tradesmen. Tailors were looked upon with a feeling akin to that entertained in the south, where “nine tailors made a man.” The reason probably was that in olden times every man fit to bear arms thought it beneath him to follow a peaceful occupation, and only the lame and cripple were brought up as tailors. Tinkers are known as _Luckd-Ceaird_, that is literally ‘tradesmen,’ and the name is a memory of days when they held the first rank as hand-craftsmen. _Saor_, a joiner, means literally ‘a free-man,’ whence it would appear that from the earliest times the trade was highly esteemed. _Iron._—An oath on _cold iron_ was deemed the most binding oath of any; when people swore on their dirks it was only because it was at the time the cold iron readiest to hand. A man who secreted iron, and died without telling where, could not rest in his grave. At Meigh, in Lochaber, a ghost for a long time met people who were out late. An old man, having taken with him a Bible and made a circle round himself on the road with a dirk, encountered it, and, in reply to his inquiries, the ghost confessed to having stolen a ploughshare (_soc a chroinn_), and told where the secreted iron was to be found. After this the ghost discontinued its visits to the earth. Cold iron, _e.g._ the keys passed round the body of a cow, after her return from the bull, keeps her from _ath-dàir_, that is, seeking to go on the same journey again. _Empty Shells._—Empty whelk shells (_Faochagun failmhe_) should not be allowed to remain in the house for the night. Something is sure to come after them.