The _seun_ or _sian_, Scot. _sain_, was used for the protection of both man and beast from particular dangers, such as being taken away by an enemy, being drowned, or struck by sword, or arrow, or bullet in battle. It consisted of rhymes, or parti-coloured strings, or plants, and in many cases its nature remained a mystery. It was said over cows and sheep when leaving them for the night; it was put round the necks of infants; given by the fairy mistress (_leannan sìth_) to her earthly lover; sewn by the foster-mother (_muime_) in the clothes of a beloved foster-son (_dalta_) about to leave her, etc. After it was once given or said, the two, the giver and the recipient, must not see each other again. If they did the charm lost its power. Usually there was some unforeseen danger of the class which the charm was intended to provide against that proved fatal. Thus, it is said, a young woman gave a _sian_ to her soldier lover, who was leaving for foreign wars, telling him the only thing he had to guard against was his own arms. He went scatheless through a protracted war, but after his return scratched his forehead with a pin which he carried in his clothes, and died from the effects. THE OLD WIFE’S CHARM FOR HER COW. (_Sian na Caillich mu Bò._) “I set the watch to-night Against horns of he-goat And voice of bull, The voice of the dead, And each horned, fierce, Large-eared, large-buttocked cow; The Evil One’s mill-stone Be trailing at thy rump Till to-morrow morning.” When a stone was tied to the cow’s tail, and these mystic words were uttered, the animal was safe to be found in the same spot in the morning. This was believed to be as much owing to the words as to the anchor astern. CHARM FOR A SHEEP IN ITS COT. (_Sian na Caora mu’n chrò._) “The charm that Mary set About a sheep cot, Against knives, against dogs, And against men; Against hound, and wild-dog, And thief; On the hillock, where they lie down, May they safely rise.” AGAINST DROWNING AND IN WAR. (_Sian roi’ bhàthadh ’s an Cogadh._) A native of the Island of Coll, who served in the British army from the taking of Copenhagen, throughout the Peninsular and continental wars, and only died this year (1874), a most kind-hearted and powerfully built man, attributed his safe return from the wars in some measure to having learned this charm in his youth: “The charm Mary put round her Son, And Bridget put in her banners, And Michael put in his shield, And the Son of God before His throne of clouds; A charm art thou against arrow, A charm art thou against sword, A charm against the red-tracked bullet; An island art thou in the sea, A rock art thou on land; And greater be the fear these have Of the body, round which the charm goes, In presence of Colum-Kil With his mantle round thee.” CHARM AGAINST DANGERS IN WAR.