Survivals in Belief Among the Celts |
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agus animal belief bird blood body Boobrie Book of Leinster Brian bull buried called Campbell Caoilte cattle Celtic Celts ceremony child church Clan Clan Iver cognate Cormac's Glossary Crom Cruach Cuchulainn cult cure custom dead death deer divine Druids e-san evil eye fairy father fire Folk-Lore Gadhelic Gaelic Gaulish Gauls give grave Greek hand hare head heard held Highlands horse hounds human idea Inverness Inverness-shire Ireland Irish Isle king Kingussie legend Loch Loch Lundie Lochaber magic Manx milk Morc mother night Nuair omen Ossian parallel person referred rite ritual robh root Ross-shire round sacred sacrifice says Scotland seen serpent soul spell spirit stone story survival Tarbh Tarvos Trigaranos tells thee thou thought told trans tree tribe water-horse wife wild witch woman word
Popular passages
Page 262 - The rites begin with spilling some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation : on that every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them. Each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and flinging it over his shoulders, says, " This I give to thce, preserve thou my horses ; this to thee, preserve thou...
Page 97 - On the 24th of December, towards evening, all the servants in general have a holiday ; they go not to bed all night, but ramble about till the bells ring in all the churches, which is at twelve o'clock ; prayers being over, they go to hunt the wren, and after having found one of these poor birds, they kill her, and lay her on a bier with the utmost solemnity, bringing her to the parish church, and burying her with a whimsical kind of solemnity, singing dirges over her in the Manx language, which...
Page 324 - But has heard of the Well of St. Keyne. An oak and an elm tree stand beside, And behind does an ash tree grow, And a willow from the bank above Droops to the water below. A traveller came to the Well of St. Keyne...
Page 231 - The mistress and servants of each family take a sheaf of oats and dress it up in women's apparel, put it in a large basket, and lay a wooden club by it, and this they call Briid's Bed : and then the mistress and servants cry three times, Briid is come, Briid is welcome.
Page 255 - ... and so threw the cup of ale into the sea. This was performed in the night time. At his return to land they all went to church, where there was a candle burning upon the altar; and then standing silent for a little time, one of them gave a signal at which the candle was put out, and immediately all of them went to the fields where they fell a-drinking their ale, and spent the remainder of the night in dancing and singing, & c.
Page 84 - Nothing ails me," replied the other ; " but you have robbed me of a most delightful dream. I dreamed I was walking through a fine rich country, and came at length to the shores of a noble river ; and, just where the clear water went thundering down a precipice, there was a bridge all of silver, which I crossed ; and then, entering a noble palace on the opposite side, I saw great heaps of gold and jewels, and I was just going to load myself with treasure, when you rudely awoke me, and I lost all.
Page 287 - To him without glory They would kill their piteous, wretched offspring With much wailing and peril, To pour their blood around Cromm Cruaich. " Milk and corn They would ask from him speedily In return for one-third of their healthy issue: Great was the horror and the scare of him. "To him Noble Gaels would prostrate themselves, From the worship of him, with many manslaughters, The plain is called "Mag Slecht".
Page 323 - The shores are neat and gravelly; the whole surface covered thickly with a beautiful grove of oak, ash, willow, wicken, birch, fir, hazel, and enormous hollies. In the midst is a circular dike of stones, with a regular narrow entrance : the inner part has been used for ages as a burial place, and is still in use.
Page 231 - Briid's bed ; and then the mistress and servants cry three times, ' Briid is come, Briid is welcome.' This they do just before going to bed, and when they rise in the morning they look among the ashes, expecting to see the impression of Briid's club there ; which if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an ill omen.
Page 80 - ... body into the air and go fluttering round his head. So he ran to bring the scholars; and when they saw it they all knew it was the soul of their master, and they watched with wonder and awe until it passed from sight into the clouds. And this was the first butterfly that was ever seen in Ireland; and now all men know that the butterflies are the souls of the dead waiting for the moment when they may enter Purgatory, and so pass through torture to purification and peace.