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Page 25
"I was soon convinced that this was some mysterious rite performed
either to break or ward off the power of witchcraft; but, so intent were
they on the prosecution of their design, that I could obtain no
satisfactory information, until I met an old schoolmaster in the
neighbourhood, from whom I had obtained much insight into the manners
and customs of that district. He informed me that there is a distemper
occasioned by want of water, which cattle are subject to, called in the
Gaelic language _shag dubh_, which in English signifies 'black haunch.'
It is a very infectious disease, and, if not taken in time, would carry
off most of the cattle in the country." The method taken by the
Highlanders to prevent its destructive ravages is thus: "All fires are
extinguished between the two nearest rivers, and all the people within
that boundary convene in a convenient place, where they erect a machine,
as above described; and, after they have commenced, they continue night
and day until they have forced fire by the friction of the two sticks.
Every person must perform a portion of this labour, or touch the machine
in order not to break the charm.
"During the continuance of the ceremony they appear melancholy and
dejected, but when the fire, which they say is brought from heaven by an
angel, blazes in the tow, they resume their wonted gaiety; and while one
part of the company is employed feeding the flame, the others drive all
the cattle in the neighbourhood over it. When this ceremony is ended,
they consider the cure complete; after which they drink whiskey, and
dance to the bagpipe or fiddle round the celestial fire till the last
spark is extinguished."
Here, within our own day, is evidently an act of fire-worship: a direct
worship of Baal by a Christian community in the nineteenth century.
There were other means of preventing disease spreading among cattle
practised within this century. When murrain broke out in a herd, it was
believed that, if the first one taken ill were buried alive, it would
stop the spread of the disease, and that the other animals affected
would then soon recover. Were a cow to cast her calf: if the calf were
to be buried at the byre door, and a short prayer or a verse of
Scripture said over it, it would prevent the same misfortune from
happening with the rest of the herd. If a sheep dropped a dead lamb, the
proper precaution to take was to place the lamb upon a rowan tree, and
this would prevent the whole flock from a repetition of the mishap.
It was an old superstition that the body of a murdered person would
bleed on the presence or touch of the murderer. We find this belief
mentioned as far back as the eleventh century. In an old ballad of that
period occurs the following passage:--
"A marvel high and strange is seen full many a time--
When to the murdered body nigh the man that did the crime,
Afresh the wounds will bleed. The marvel now was found--
That Hagan felled the champion with treason to the ground."
Several centuries after this, we find it mentioned in another ballad,
entitled "Young Huntin":--
"O white were his wounds washen,
As white as a linen clout,
But when Lady Maisry she cam' near,
His wounds they gushed out."
The reason for this marvel was ascribed by the Rev. Mr. Wodrow, to the
wonderful providence of God, who had said, "thou shalt not suffer a
murderer to live," and had, in order that the command might be justly
carried out, provided the means whereby murderers might be readily
detected. This superstition certainly survived within this century, and
I have heard many instances adduced to prove the truth of bleeding
taking place on the introduction of the murderer.
Another curious form of belief was prevalent among some persons, that
the body of a suicide would not decay until the time arrived when, in
the ordinary course of nature, he would have died. This was founded upon
another belief, that there is a day of death appointed for every man,
which no one can pass; but as man is possessed of a free will, he may,
by his own wicked determination, shorten the union of his soul and body,
but that there his power ends: he cannot in reality kill either soul or
body, for were he to possess this power, he would possess the power to
alter the decrees of God, which is a power impossible for man to
possess. This was a mad, not deep, sort of metaphysics; but there was
sufficient method in its madness to cause it to gain the suffrages of a
large number of people. It was affirmed that those who had examined into
the matter had found that the bodies of suicides were mysteriously
preserved from decomposition until the day arrived on which they would
naturally--that is, according to God's decree--have died. About the year
1834, I was taking a walk along the banks of the canal north of Glasgow,
and sat down beside a group of well-dressed men, who were conversing on
general topics, and amongst other things touched on the matter of
suicides--proximity to the canal probably suggested the subject. One of
the group pointed out a quiet spot where he affirmed that _Bob Dragon_,
an old Glasgow celebrity, had been buried. Bob, he said, had committed
suicide; but his relations being aware that, in consequence of this act,
his property, according to law, became forfeited to the Crown, had him
buried secretly in this out-of-the-way spot, and obtained another
corpse, which they put into the coffin in his house. But, several years
after, some persons who were digging at this quiet spot on the canal
bank discovered the real body of Bob--the throat being cut--and the
corpse as fresh as the day on which the act was committed. Bob's
relations, on hearing of this discovery, gave the finders a handsome
gift to rebury the body and keep the matter secret. Within the last ten
years I have heard the same affirmation made respecting persons who have
drowned themselves.
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