A BIT OF HIGHLAND MAGIC
Today's offering comes from "Highland Monthly Magazine" who alongside other wonderful articles published a series on Gaelic Incantations from 1891-92 and collected them together in the book "Highland Monthly Volume III" published in 1892.
Anyway, here's a little taste of what was shared;
"GAELIC INCANTATIONS
JACOB GRIMM has, in his Teutonic Mythology remarked that, healing charms must be handed down by men to women, or by women to men; and this also is a Highland view. " A peculiarity about them [the charms]," says Mr W. Mackenzie in Vol. VI II. of the Gaelic Society's Transactions, "was that persons of the same sex should not learn them from one another; and in order to be efficacious a man must learn the eolas from a woman, and a woman from a man." The charms which follow have not, we fear, been all collected "duly" on this point, and their efficacy in actual working may therefore be doubtful. Any way, many hold that the blazoning of them abroad spoils their efficacy, and to print them is sacrilege. It was believed that though one heard and learned the charm in spite of the charmer, still the latter could curse the charm in such a way that it would be of no use to the other. Nor can everybody cure with these rhymes and charms. There is therefore a wide margin of doubt as to the cause of the failure of a charm, for they do fail at times; that is recognised.
I. SPELLS AND PREVENTIVE CHARMS.
We shall begin first with the spells or bespelling charms, known in Gaelic as geasa or siana (signum, blessing). Thereafter we shall consider the healing charms for man and beast. The geas or spell is generally wicked; it is the work of an adverse power, and, as a consequence, we cannot get any specimens of this form of incantation with ease. For instance, a spell could be laid on a man going out to shoot, unknown to him, and he would be unsuccessful that day. Such a spell is a rosad, and, though the "rosad" still exists among us, we have failed in persuading anybody to reveal it. Of course, the folktales contain bespelling formulae, for in them the hero or heroine do many wonders by means of spoken words. The favourite form for the folktale spell is this
"Tha mise 'cur ort mar gheasaibh 's mar chroisibh, 's mar naoidh buaraichean mnatha sithe, siubhla, seacharain, laochan beag as meataiche 's a's mi-threòiriche na thu fein a thoirt a chinn, 's nan cluas, 's nan comada beatha diot, mur faigh thu mach" &c.
"I lay on you as spells and crosses, and as nine fetters of a fairy, travelling, wandering woman, that a little fellow more timid and more feeble than yourself deprive you of your head, your ears, and your powers of life, unless you discover'' or "do," &c.
The Fath Fithe spell, which, as already stated, poachers once made use of, and smugglers lately, and now even, find means of escape by, is as follows:-
"Fà fithe cuiream ort
Bho chù, bho chat
Bho bhò, bho each,
Bho dhuine, bho bhean,
Bho ghille, bho nighean,
'S bho leanabh beag,
Gus an tig mise rithisd,
An ainm an Athar, a' Mhic, 's an Spioraid Naoimh."
"A magic cloud I put on thee from dog, cat, cow, horse, man, woman, lad, lass, and little child, till I come again in the name of the"Trinity."
The first two words are the old Faeth Fiada, as now pronounced. This spell rendered the person invisible.
The preventive charm or sian is represented by a very famous formula intended to preserve a man from wounding or harm from the time when he left the presence of the charmer till he came back, and it was usually put on those going to battle. Men so protected, for instance, at Culloden, had only to take their plaids off their shoulders and shake out of them the bullets that hit them ! It was the Sian, par excellence, and is as follows:- The charmer and his protege go to a retired spot. Here the recipient of the charm goes on his knees; the charmer lays his hand on his head, and, with eyes shut, he utters the following rhyme, going round him sunwise twice. And he goes round him once anti-sunwise, saying a different rhyme. Both these rhymes, which after much trouble we have been fortunate enough to get, run thus Going sunwise, he says-
"Sian a chuir Moire air Mac ort,
Sian ro' marbhadh, sian ro' lot ort,
Sian eadar a' chioch 's a ghlun,
Sian eadar a' glhun 's a' bhroit ort,
Sian nan Tri ann an aon ort,
O mhullach do chinn gu bonn do chois ort :
Sian seachd paidir a h-aon ort,
Sian seachd paidir a dha ort,
Sian seachd paidir a tri ort,
Sian seachd paidir a ceithir ort,
Sian seachd paidir a coig ort,
Sian seachd paidir a sia ort,
Sian seachd paidir nan seachd paidir dol deiseil ri deagh uarach ort, ga do ghleidheadh bho bheud 's
bho mhi-thapadh."
Going anti-sunwise, he says —
"Clogaid na slainte mu d' cheann,
Cearcall a' chumhnaint mu d' amhaich,
Uchd-eididh an t-sagairt mu d' bhroilleach.
Ma's ruaig bho 'n taobh-chuil,
Brogan na h-Oigh ga d' ghiulan gu luath.
Sian nan Tri ann an aon ort
Bho mhullach do chinn gu bonn do shail,
Agus sian paidir nan seachd paidir
Dol tuaitheal is deiseil, deiseil is tuaitheal,
Gu d' ghleidheadh bho d'chul
Bho luaidh 's bho chlaidheamh,
Bho lot 's bho mharbhadh,
Gu uair is am do bhais."
The person on whom the charm is placed then rises and departs, but the charmist remains standing with eyes shut, and he does not open them till the other is out of sight.
The charmed one is safe from death or wounds till the charmist sees him again. The translation is as follows:-
"The charm that Mary placed on her son be on you,
Charm from slaying, charm from wounding,
Charm between pap and knee,
Charm between knee and breast on you,
Charm of the three in one on you,
From top of head to sole of foot.
Charm of seven paters once on you,
Charm of seven paters twice on you,
Charm of seven paters thrice on you,
Charm of seven paters four times on you,
Charm of seven paters five times on you,
Charm of seven paters six times on you,
Charm of the seven paters of the seven paters going sunwise in lucky hour on you, a-keeping you from harm and accident."
Anti-sun wise-
"The helmet of safety (salvation?) about your head,
The ring of the Covenant about your neck,
The priests' breast-plate about your breast ;
If it be retreat on the rear,
The shoes of the Virgin to take you swiftly away.
Charm of the Three in One on you
From crown of head to sole of foot,
And the charm of the pater of the seven paters
A-going anti-sunwise and sunwise, sunwise and anti-sunwise,
To protect you from behind
From lead and from sword,
From wound and from slaying,
Till the hour and time of your death."
The following is a charm to help in the correct interpretation of dreams. One goes to the charmer and tells his dream. The charmer repeats the following, and then the dream is unravelled:-
"Chunnaic mi aisling an raoir
'S mi 'nam shuidh air sliabh rath;
Dh' innis Peadar e do Phol
'S thuirt Pol gu'm bu mhath;
Ach breithneachdainn Chriosd ro' Phol
Gu thusa chumail ceart."
Translated -
"I saw a vision last night
And me sitting on a mount of grace;
Peter told it to Paul
And Paul said it was well ;
But the judgment of Christ before Paul's
To keep you right."
The following is a charm given by "Nether-Lochaber" as good against the demon of the dust-cloud. "As it swirls along," he says, "as it approaches, you are instantly to close your eyes and mouth as tightly as possible, at the same time turning your back upon it until it has swept by, mentally repeating - for you are not to open your mouth, nor as much as breathe, as long as you can help it - this rhyme;-
"Gach cuman is mias is meadar,
Gu Pòl, gu Peadair 's gu Brìde;
Dion, is seun, is gleidh mi o olc 's o chunnart,
Air a bheallach, 's air a mhullach,
'S air an tullaich ud thall;
Pòl is Peadair is Brìde caomh!"
which he translates —
"Be the care of milk pail, and bowl, and cog
Given to Peter and Paul and Saint Bride;
Wherever I wander protect me, ye Saints!
Let not evil nor harm me betide;
Hear me, Peter and Paul, and gentle Saint Bride!"
We now come to the spell for prevention of the results arising from the "Evil Eye' The following is a preventive charm to keep the evil eye off one's cows. It is called "Eolas an Torranain," and was got by Mr Carmichael, when he was in Uist. The torranan, he explains, was described to him as a flowering plant, growing in rocky hill-places, the bloom of which is large and pap-like. The tide is said to affect it, for while the tide flows, it is filled with the "dew of bliss" and dries up again with the ebb. It has to be culled during the flow of the tide, placed under one of the milk pails, and in placing it this charm is repeated three times, making at each time a circle sunwise, with the plant over the vessel:-
"Buaineams' thu, thorranain,
Le 'd uile bhaeannachd 's le 'd uile bhuaidh;
Thainig na naoi sonais
Leis na naoi earranan
Le buaidh an torranain,
Lamh Bhride leam!
Tha mi nis 'gad bhuain.
Buaineams' thu, thorranain,
Le 'd thoradh mara 's tir,
Ri lionadh gun traoghadh
Le'd lamhsa, Bhride mhin,
Colum naomh 'gam sheoladh,
Odhran caomh 'gam dhion,
Is Micheil nan steud uaibhreach
'Cur buaidh anns an ni.
Tha mo lus lurach a nis air a bhuain."
which he translates —
"Let me pluck, thee, Torannan!
With all thy blessedness and all thy virtue,
The nine blessings came with the nine parts.
By the virtue of the Torranan;
The hand of St Bride with me,
I am now to pluck thee. .
Let me pluck thee, Torranan!
With thine increase as to sea and land;
With the flowing tide that shall know no ebbing,
By the assistance of chaste St Bride,
The holy St Columba directing me,
And St Michael of high-crested steeds,
Imparung virtue to the matter the while,
Darling plant of all virtue,
I am now plucking thee!"
II. FOR THE EVIL EVE.
When the "evil eye" has "lain" on any one, there are various means of cure. The most usual is the cure by water off silver; and this cure was effected with or without a rhyme charm. The modus operandi with the incantation was as follows:- Coins of gold, silver, and copper are put in a basin full of water. The charmer repeats the eolas or incantation, and in doing so blows on the water with his breath. The water is then sprinkled on the sufferer. The charm is as follows:-
" 'S e 'n t-suil a chi,
'S e 'n cridhe a smuainicheas,
'S e 'n teanga labhras.
'S mise 'n triuir gu tilleadh so orsta, A.B.,
An ainm an Athar; a' Mhic, 's an Spioraid Naoimh."
Translated-
" 'Tis the eye that sees,
the heart that thinks,
and the tongue that speaks.
I am the three to turn this off you, A.B.,
in the name of the Father, etc"
The charm, apart from the "silver" water, is known as "Eolas a' Chronachaidh," or "Charm for the Reproof," or it may be called " Casg Beum-suil,"Stopping Injury by Eye." John Mackenzie, in his Beauties of Gaelic Poetry p. 268, gives the following Gaelic charm for it, saying that during its repetition "the singular operation of filling a bottle with water was carried on, and the incantation was so sung as to chime with the gurgling of the liquid as it was poured into the vessel."
"Deanamsa dhutsa eolas air suil,
A uchd 'Ille Phadruig naoimh,
Air at amhaich is stad earrbuill
Air naoi conair 's air naoi connachair,
'S air naoi bean seang sith,
Air siul seana-ghille, 's air sealladh seana-mhna;
Mas a suil fir i, i lasadh mar bhigh,
Mas a suil mhnath' i, i bhi dh' easbhuidh a cich,
Falcadair fuar agus fuarachd da 'fuil,
Air a ni, 's air a daoine,
Air a crodh 's air a caoraich fein."
"Let me perform for you a charm for the evil-eye
From the breast of holy Gil-Patrick
Against swelling of neck and stoppage of bowels,
Against nine "Conair" and nine "Connachair,"
And nine slender fairies,
Against an old bachelor's eye, and an old wife's eye.
If a man's eye may it flame like gum (resin),
If a woman s eye may she want her breast,
A cold plunge and coldness to her blood,
And to her gear, to her men,
To her cattle and sheep."
Here is another rhyme given as an Eolas a' Chronachaidh;-
"Paidir a h' aon,
Paidir a dha,
Patdir a tri,
Paidir a ceithir,
Paidir a coig,
Paidir a sea,
Paidir a seachd,
'S neart nan seachd paidirean a' sgaoileadh do ghalair air na clachan glas ud thall."
Which means-
"Paters I, 2. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
And may the strength of the seven paters
Cast out your disease amidst the gray-stones over by."
In the Maclagan MSS. the following charms are given for the "evil eye":-
"Eolus Bheim shul,
le Nic Aoidh
Paidir Mhuire h-aon, &c. Aon suil a thug an aire dhuit, A.B. (person named who is unwell), mar thionntadhas a ghaoth air a chnoc, gu tionntadh an olc orra fein. Mar thionntadhas, &c., ri radh tri uaire h-airis."
"[Charm for evil eyes,
by Miss (?) Mackay.
Pater of Mary one, &c, Whatever eye took notice of you, A.B., as the wind turns on the hillock, may the evil turn on themselves. As the wind, &c., (to be repeated three times).]
"Eolus a Bheim shuil,
le Ann Chaimbeill
Saltruighidh mis air an t-suil mar shaltruigheas Eala ar Tigh nocht. Ta neart gaoithe agam air, ta neart grelne agam air, ta neart mhic Ri neamh agus talmhainn agam air. Trian air na clacha glasa- 's trian air a mhuir mhoir as i fein acfuim as fhearr ga ghiulan. Ann ainm, &c,"
