Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/115

Rh above sort, that were supposed to have some occult power to subdue the evil for which relief was sought. XII. — The lowing of a Cow, an Unlucky Omen. Though it is a rare thing to find an infidel among the fisher-class, yet superstitious customs prevail among them perhaps more than among any other class of the community. In some parts of the Highlands there were many occurrences they observed as indicative of good or ill-luck, as the following curious superstition shows : — If the lowing of a cow was heard immediately after the nets were set for the evening, this coincidence was considered an omen so unlucky that they at once hauled them in again, changed their ground, and reset them. My informant, a clergyman, was told by a friend of his of an old fisherman, a neighbour, who was an observer of the above-mentioned custom. This custom was observed in some parts of Argyleshire. XIII. — "A' hhean nighe." (The Washerwoman.) "Cò as luaithe a mhothaich ? " ars a' bhean nighe, ri fear a rug oirre. ("Who observed first ?" said the washerwoman to a person who had caught her.) "As luaithe mhothaich mise," ars easan. ("I observed first," he replied.) "As maith a' chur sin ruit," ars ise. ("It is well for you it is so," she replied.) It was believed, so says our legend, that if she had seen him before he had seen her, and that he caught her afterwards, she could inflict bodily injury. "Leig as mi an diugh, agus thig a' màireach agus gheibh thu naidheachd." "Cha tig," ars easan, "a dhèoin Dhé no'n air-raoir." ("Let me go to-day and come to-morrow, and I'll give you news." "No, God willing, nor the day after," he replied.)

This legend is philologically interesting on account of the classical phrase which it has rescued from oblivion — "Dheòin Dhé" the exact equivalent of Deo volente. I have nowhere seen it in any Gaelic I have ever read, nor have I ever heard it in any colloquial dialect, neither have I yet met with any Gaelic scholar who knew of its existence in Gaelic. The Islay name for the Bean nighe is Caoineachag. If one observed the washerwoman at work before she observed him, she could not move till she was caught and spoken to. Another legend says that a John Smith, South Shawbost, Island of Lewis, saw her washing at Lochandubh na beinne, i.e. The