Blair Collection > Carmina gadelica > Volume 1

198 AIMSIRE
MICHEAL NAM BUADH [77]
St Michael is spoken of as 'brian Michael,' god Michael.
' Bu tu gaisgeach na raisnich Thou wert the warrior of courage
Dol air astar na fiosachd, Going on the journey of prophecy,
Is tu nach siubhladhaircriplich. Thou wouldst not travel on a cripple,
Ghabh thu steud briain Micheil, Thou didst take the steed of the god Michael,
E gun chabstar na shliopan. He was without bit in his mouth,
Thu mharcachd air iteig. Thou didst ride him on the wing,
Leum thu thairis air fiosrachadh Thou didst leap over the knowledge of
Naduir.' Nature.
St Michael is the Neptune of the Gael. He is the patron saint of the sea, and
of maritime lands, of boats and boatmen, of horses and horsemen throughout the
West. As patron saint of the sea St Michael had temples dedicated to him round
the coast wherever Celts were situated. Examples of these are Mount St Michael
in Brittany and in Cornwall, and Aird Michael in South and in North Uist, and
elsewhere. Probably Milton had this phase of St Michael's character in view.
As patron saint of the land St Michael is represented riding a milk-white steed,
a three-pronged spear in his right hand and a three-cornered shield in his left.
The shield is inscribed ' Quis ut Deus,' a literal translation of the Hebrew
Mi-cha-el. Britannia is substituted for the archangel on sea and St George
on land.
On the 29th of September a festival in honour of St Michael is held throughout
the Western Coasts and Isles. This is much the most imposing pageant and
much the most popular demonstration of the Celtic year. Many causes conduce
to this — causes which move the minds and the hearts of the people to their utmost
tension. To the young the Day is a day of promise, to the old a day of fulfil-
ment, to the aged a day of retrospect. It is a day when pagan cult and Christian
doctrine meet and mingle like the lights and shadows on their own Highland hills.
The Eve of St Michael is the eve of bringing in the carrots, of baking the
' struan," of killing the lamb, of stcahng the horses. The Day of St Michael is
the Day of the early mass, the day of the sacrificial lamb, the day of the
oblation 'strQan,' the day of the distribution of the lamb, the day of the
distribution of the 'struan,' the day of the pilgrimage to the burial-ground of
their fathers, the day of the burial-ground service, the day of the burial-ground
circuiting, the day of giving and receiving the carrots with their wishes and
acknowledgments, and the day of the ' oda ' — tlie athletics of the men and the
racing of the horses And the Night of Michael is the night of the dance and
the song, of the merry-making, of the love-making, and of the love-gifts.
Several weeks previously the people begin to speak of St Michael's Day, and