Folklore of the Scottish Highlands (13 page)

Amongst their many dread and sinister powers are those of raising storms at sea and causing death and suffering to those who navigated the treacherous waters of the Highland coasts. There are countless stories in the west of terrible events brought about by witches. The most famous witches in the western Islands for raising storms were the Lewis witches. They were also allegedly able to get the fish from the sea by magic. One episode, recorded by Campbell, tells how a Barra witch outwitted the other powerful witches of the islands, and took the whole catch to Castlebay. One witch used to disappear in human form from her home every night. This baffled her husband who eventually decided to follow her. To his amazement, she turned into a cat (
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), and, in the name of the Devil, set out to sea in a sieve with seven other cats. The horrified man called upon the Trinity and instantly the sieve upturned and the witches were drowned. Eggshells were used as boats by witches; for this reason one must always pierce the bottom of an eggshell in order to prevent the witches from using it for this purpose.

One way in which witches were alleged to sink vessels was to place a
cuach
, a small round wooden dish, in a milk-pail full of water. They would then begin certain incantations and the dish would capsize; at that moment the ship would sink at sea. Some years before Campbell wrote, a boat was lost between Raasay and Skye. The witches responsible for this crime were seen at work near a stream in the Braes of Portree. There were three of them, and, in this instance, the presence of a man was also necessary. They floated a cockleshell in a pool and then arranged a number of black stones round the edge of the pool. They began to recite an incantation, and when it reached its climax, the black stones began to bark like dogs; the cockleshell disappeared and the ship sank.

There were male witches — magicians — as well as female, and certain of these achieved a widespread notoriety. It was believed that those who had practised the black arts in life were restless after death; they could cause a lot of trouble until they were safely buried. A Tiree tradition tells of a headstone which had been placed at the grave of a man who had been supposed to be a master of the dark art; the stone would not remain in the same place, but was constantly found in a different position. Eventually it had to be secured at the head of the grave by a chain. One sure means of detecting a witch was as follows: early on the morning of the first Monday of each quarter, the smoke from the house of one who was a witch could be seen to ‘go’ against the wind. In this manner it was believed a witch could be identified.

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The Witches’ cat

The most famous witch story of the western Highlands concerns the hero MacGille Chaluim Ratharsaidh (Iain Mac Gille Chaluim of Raasay). He is an historical figure and the legend is widely believed to be true. He was drowned on 19 April 1671 on his way home from visiting the Earl of Seaforth in Lewis. Tradition holds that his death was due to the evil powers of his
muime
‘foster-mother’, who enlisted the aid of several famous witches to raise a terrible storm in order to destroy him. Iain’s foster-mother lived on a small island to the north of Trotternish in Skye. No one knew what Iain had done to arouse her violent hatred in this way. He left Lewis on a clear, calm day. When his foster-mother, who was keeping watch on the sea from her island, saw his ship approaching, she placed a large vessel and a small vessel to float in the milk. She was a milk-maid on the island, and she set the calf-herd at the door of the shieling where he could see both Iain’s ship and the two vessels floating in the milk. She herself stood by the fire, with one foot in the
slabhraidh
(pot-chain) again, and began incanting; immediately the little vessel began to be violently agitated. The boy then cried out that the small dish was going sunwise round the big dish; the violent motion then made it go widdershins (
tuathail
— anti-sunwise). It shook the side of the milk vessel, then turned upside down and floated, bottom up. At that very moment Iain’s ship disappeared and the boy saw it no more. When the galley was halfway to the island off Trotternish, three ravens (the form taken on by the triple war goddess of ancient Ireland) were seen hovering about the boat in the wild storm that had developed so suddenly. Soon after this, 20 birds flew into the boat and took on the form of frogs (
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). Then, all the witches of Scotland assembled round Iain’s doomed ship. Even so, they were powerless to sink it until Iain cried ‘What the Devil brought you here?’. The naming of the Evil One sealed his fate. He became quite distracted by all the birds and the frogs. Eventually a huge raven (
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) landed on the gunwale beside him and he drew his sword to kill it, and in his rage and confusion he drove it right through the gunwale, where it stuck. Tradition varies as to what followed. Some say that Iain’s ghost appeared before his widow and said:

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The Witches’ frog

Friday came the wind

And stirred itself to rage and fury;

Tell thou the mother of my body

That it was the evil ones that brought death.

The spirit allegedly repeated these lines three times. In 1861 a storyteller in Skye said that Iain’s foster-mother drowned her charge in order to obtain money; as soon as she had succeeded in her evil ploy she is said to have bitterly regretted it. The man who told this story also recited the lament traditionally sung by Iain’s wife when the news of his tragedy reached her:

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The Witches’ raven

As I sit on the beach

Without joy or gladness,

Never more shall I raise a blithe song

After the Friday of my woe.

The greyhounds are unstirring,

Without tail-wagging or rejoicing,

Without welcome from the noble

Whose forebears were manly.

Without coursing or huntsmen,

Without trek to the hill,

To the heights of the hunt,

To the rough peaks of the Cuillin.

These are some examples of the hundreds of stories of witches who, in days gone by — and even not so long ago — used to terrorise the simple peoples of the Highlands and the Islands of the west with their alleged powers of sinking ships, raising storms by means of threads and wooden bowls; who took the milk from people’s cows, caused woe by their evil glance, and turned themselves into a variety of animals (
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) for the forwarding of their dark pursuits. And even today, although rarely spoken of, there are certain people living in remote areas who cause some misgiving in the minds of their neighbours whose belief in the old powers of evil are still not quite extinct.

Over and above straightforward witchcraft, many people were believed to have certain powers, sometimes extremely limited, which enabled them to work woe or well on their fellows.

Although the power of the
Droch Shùil
, ‘Evil Eye’, was usually attributed to witches, it could be possessed by one who meant no ill and hated the ‘gift’. These people were quite unable
not
to blight things they admired. Over and above rowan branches, horseshoes and certain plants, some stones could assist in turning aside this unfortunate power. It could also be averted by drinking three mouthfuls of water which had been poured over silver (i.e. a silver coin); each mouthful must be taken in the name of the Trinity. The following incantation was sometimes made:

It is my own eye,

It is God’s eye,

It is the eye of the Son of God

Which shall repel this,

Which shall combat this.

Among their numerous alleged powers, witches were accredited with the ability to delay the birth of a child. This was brought about by means of a ball of black thread which was kept in a black bag at the base of the witch’s weaving loom, where it could not be seen. If the ball of thread was found and removed, then the power of the witch was destroyed. One story told in the Highlands has it that a child was kept in its mother’s womb for 22 years by means of witchcraft. When it was born, it had hair, teeth and a beard. This unlikely legend seems to hark back to early Celtic mythological tales in which a supernatural woman gives birth to a child who is already a mature and fully-armed warrior! One tale of this kind related by Campbell concerns the mother of a well-known Highland character,
Ailein nan Sop
(Allan of the Straws). She was a servant, who was made pregnant by a married man. The wife learnt of this, was duly enraged, and went to a local witch for help. The witch gave her a certain bone, and told her that as long as the bone was kept, the birth of the child would be prevented. Allan remained in his mother’s womb for 15 months beyond the normal period of her pregnancy. When the husband, who had fathered the child, came to realise that his wife was responsible for this unnatural delay in the birth, he decided to outwit her. He arranged that his jester should come home one day, apparently very drunk, and smashing things around him as he made his unsteady way through the house. When he was reprimanded for this, he was to say that he had been in a house where a long overdue child had been born. The wife, on hearing this, thought that the witch had failed in her powers, and in fury, seized the bone and threw it into the fire. It disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke; Allan was then born at once, with a full set of teeth!

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The Witches’ eagle

A great variety of amulets could be used to keep the dread powers of witchcraft at bay. Martin records that in Harris a species of nuts called Molluka were to be found; some of these were used as charms against the Evil Eye or witchcraft in general, the most efficacious being the white variety. The nuts came from the Spice Islands and were washed up on the beach. They were placed about the necks of children to protect them; one of their great virtues was that if any evil was being planned against the wearer, the white nut would turn black. Martin attests to the truth of this, although he is unable to offer any rational explanation for it. The Steward of Harris, one Malcolm Campbell, told Martin that some weeks before his arrival there, all his cows gave blood instead of milk for several days. A wise neighbour told his wife that this was caused by witchcraft, and that the spell could be removed without undue difficulty. She was advised to take one of the white nuts and put it in the bottom of the pail into which she was about to milk the cows — this species of nut was known as the Virgin Mary’s Nut. She did as she was told; the first cow to be milked gave nothing but blood, as before, but the nut turned dark brown. She used the nut again, and from that moment, all the cows gave pure milk.