Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 13

34 The Celtic Magazine.
MEDICAL SPELLS AND CHARMS OF THE
HIGHLANDS.
I.
[By Alexander Macdonald.]
The following charms refer more especially to the diseases of
cattle and their cure, but it must be remembered that many of
them, such as the "ruaidhe," "beum-sula," " casg-uisge," and
others, are also incident to humanity, and precisely the same
processes of cure were resorted to in the case of man as in that
of brute. The diseases and their cures by spells and charms are
both of them numerous, and I confine myself to a few only
which I know best.
In the case of the " ruaidhe," which meant a lodging of the
milk in the udder of the cow or a woman's breast, the charm or
"eolas" repeated was the same in both cases. It ran : — ■
" Tha eolas agam air an ruaidhe,
Gur ann air buaidhe 's air blioc,
A chuir Moir' a tonnaibh a cinn,
'S a chuir Brighde a roinn a fuilt :
'Chriosda, faicibh sibhse chioch sin air at :
Gu ma slan a chioch 's gu ma crion an t-at ;
Trian an duigh "s trian a maireach,
'S uile gu leir an earar."
I possess a charm for the redness.
It was for produce and milk
That Mary took from the ringlets of her head
And Bridget from the shedding of her hair.
Oh ! Christ see Thou that breast swollen
May the breast be healed and the swelling disappear;
One-third to-day ; one-third to-morrow ;
And the remainder the day after.
In regard to "beum-sula," however, there is a little difference.
I find two incantations to have been used. I cannot determine
whether one was meant for persons, and another for animals.
But I myself do not think such to have been the case. The
existence of the double charm being most probably a circum-
stance of locality.
It may be necessary to make a few remarks upon this disease