At the instant the moon begins to increase, (_air gob na gealaiche_) the horns of cows are loose on their pith (_slabhagan_), and may be pulled off and stuck on again. It is told that a dispute having arisen on one occasion as to the correctness of an almanac, about the moon’s change, the old man who raised the question proved himself to be in the right by turning round and drawing the horn from one of his cows, as a sheath is taken from a knife, and sticking it on again. The story is told of a man who lived in Sconser, Isle of Skye, of more than one person in Tiree, and was doubtless told of people in various places. It was said that there is never any north wind at _gob gealaich_. The first time an unmarried person sees the new moon, he should stoop down and lift whatever meets his hand. If, on taking it to the light, any hair be found among it, its colour will prove to be that of the future husband or wife. It is unlucky to see the new moon for the first time when washing one’s hands, or with the hand on the face. In olden times great regard was paid to the increase and wane of the moon. Garden seeds, as onions, kail, etc., if sown in the increase, ran to seed, but if sown in the wane, grew as pot-herbs. Withies or slender twigs (_Caol_) intended for creels and baskets were cut only in the wane. Twigs cut in the increase proved brittle. Trees cut in the increase were believed to bud again, but not those cut in the wane. Eggs laid during the wane were preserved for hatching, rather than those laid during the increase. Hens came from the former; cocks from the latter. Birds hatched in the increase were deemed difficult to rear, and it was doubtful if any of them would ultimately survive. Hence _Eòin an fhàs_, birds of the increase, is a name given to weakly pining children. They are worthless for hatching. Many would not cut (_i.e._ castrate) an animal, calf, or foal, or pig, during the increase of the moon, and it was a belief that cows seek the bull only in the first and third quarters of the moon, and never at neap tides. A man in Islay pretended to tell, from the time the cow paid her visit to the bull, whether her offspring would prove a bull-calf or a cow-calf. If in the first quarter, the former; if in the wane, the latter. The second moon in autumn, the harvest moon, or first after the autumnal equinox, was variously known as _Gealach an abachaidh_, “the ripening moon,” from a belief that crops ripen as much by it as they do during the day; _Gealach bhuidhe nam broc_, “the badger’s yellow moon,” these wary animals being engaged, it was said, in taking home their winter supplies; _Gealach an t-sealgair_, “the hunter’s moon”; and the last moon in harvest, extending for a month before Hallowmas (_Samhain_). The first of winter was known as _Gealach a ruadhain_, “the reddening moon,” during which vegetation grew as much by night as in the day.