Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/175

Rh be noted. Although in the case there cited the charm had no effect, the modus operandi shows that a belief similar to that given by Mr. Gregor was to be found in Huntingdonshire about 1750.

Ancient Superstitions in Tiree.—Mr. J. Sands, who has been spending some time in the Island of Tiree, says that certain houses are still believed to be haunted by fairies, although it is only gifted individuals who can see them. In one cabin they were wont to sit in swarms upon the rafters, and had the impudence even to drop down now and again and seize a potato out of the pot. Eventually they became such a nuisance that the tenant of the house determined to build a new dwelling and to abandon the old one. Unfortunately, when the new cabin was almost finished, be took a stone out of the haunted hut, with the result that all the fairies came along with it, so that his new home was as much infested as the old one had been. This is only a sample of many ancient superstitions which, according to Mr. Sands, still linger among the people of Tiree. Marriage parties, for example, still take care to turn to the right hand, and not to the left, when they enter the church; and the same rule is observed when a body is laid in the grave. When boats are launched from the shore the bow is brought round, although it may be a little inconvenient, agreeably to the apparent course of the sun. Nine is regarded as a sacred number. Water taken from the crests of nine waves, and in which nine stones had been boiled, is an infallible cure for the jaundice. The shirt of the patient, after being dipped in this magic infusion, is put on wet. Mr. Sands says he was personally acquainted with a man on whom this remedy was recently tried, but without effect, as he was on the brink of death. Water taken from nine springs or streams in which cresses grow is also believed to be an effectual cure for jaundice. On the west side of the island there is a rock with a hole in it through which children are passed when suffering from whooping-cough or other complaints. Sick cattle are treated in a curious way. The doctor being provided with a cog of cream and an oatcake, sits on the sick cow or other animal, and repeats a verse nine times, nine times taking a bit and a sup between each repetition of the rhyme. The cream and the bannock are the doctor's fee. Mr. Sands asserts that about five years ago a woman left her child, which she supposed