Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/111

Rh of seeing people with whom I was well acquainted pouring water down a cow's throat for a cure for that malady. This custom, so far as I know, has quite fallen into desuetude. The expressions, however, to which the custom gave currency are still in use ; such as "Ghabh sùil ort" i.e. "you are eye-smitten," applied to a person who has fallen into decay in health or means ; and "Cha ghabh mo shuil ort," i.e. "my eye will not smite thee," used still when a person speaks admiringly of one's person, or goods, or anything belonging to him. VII. — The Druid of Ach a' bheannaich (i.e. The Druid of the Mound of Blessing or Salutation).

At a short distance to the east of the "Druidical" stones at Acha'bheannaich, parish of Latheron, Caithness, there is a cairn overgrown with heather. In the middle of this cairn there is a small enclosure that closely resembles one of the "Druidical" altars that one may see in various parts of the Highlands. I visited this "Druidical" fane in the winter of 1874. The following legend associated with this tumulus was related to me by one of the Caithness ministers, an intimate friend, now deceased : When the principal Druid of that district had become so old and infirm that he could no longer perform the functions of his office, he was burnt alive on this altar as a sacrifice. While he was being offered, the young Druid who had been appointed his successor in office kept going round in the altar-smoke — ex fumo dare lucem — that he might catch the spirit of his predecessor as it took its flight. VIII.— The Meal-mill Ghost Story.

The following ghost story is one among many familiar to the writer from childhood :

One of two brothers, at Bragar, while grinding at the mill, slept late in the evening. The other brother took his turn watching the mill. The brother who was watching saw the form and likeness of another brother, who was lately deceased, enter the mill, and stoop over the sleeping brother, as if in the act of kissing him. The brother who was watching did not feel in the least frightened or alarmed. In a short while the deceased brother disappeared. When his brother awoke, he said : "Chunnaic mi