T he s i v v e n s .
S u p e r s t i t i o n s .
our Saviour was fcourged ; and from that period it was curfed
with a ftunted growth.
For burns, they boil creme till it becomes oil, and with it anoint
the part.
Thè Itch declines in proportion as cleanlinefs gains ground.
It may happen that that diforder may be fought in the purlieus of
St. Giles’s, and the other feats of filth, poverty, and debauchery,
in our great towns.
During the unhappy civil wars of this kingdom in the laft
century, a loathfome and horrible diftemper, originating from
the vices of mankind, made its appearance in the highlands,
and was fuppofed to have been communicated firft by the parliament’s
garrifon at lnverlochy. It has fince diffufed itfelf over moll
parts of the highlands, and even crept into the lowlands, feeming
to have accompliihed the divine menace, in vifiting the fins
of the father upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
The recital is difagreeable, but to» curious to be fupprefled ;
and, therefore, not to betray the delicate mind into a difgufting
narrative, I throw it into the appendix, and leave the perufal to
the choice of the reader.
I ihall now proceed from the diforders of the body to thofe
of the foul; for what elfe are the fuperftitions that ìnfeét mankind
? a few unnoticed before are ftill preferved, or have till
within a fmall Ipace been found in the places I have vifited, and
which may merit mention, as their exiftence in a little time may
happily be loft.
After marriage, the bride immediately walks round the church,
unattended by the bridegroom. The precaution of loofening
every
■-every knot about the new-joined pair is ftridlly obferved,^ for fear
o f the penalty denounced in the former volumes. It muft be remarked
that the cuftom is obferved even in France, nouer Vaiguillette
being a common phrafe for difappointments of this nature.
Matrimony is avoided in the month of January, which is called
in the Erfe the cold month; but, what is more lingular, the ceremony
is avoided even in the enlivening month of May. Perhaps
they might have caught this fuperftition from the Romans, who
had the fame dread of entering into the nuptial ftate at that feafon ;
for the amorous Ovid informs us,
Nec vidua- tsedis eadem, nec virginis apta
Tempora, quae nupfit non diuturna fuit.
Hac quoque de caufa, fi te proverbia tangunt,
Menfe malas Maio nubere vulgus ait.
F a ß t, V . 485.
No tapers then ihall burn ; for never bride,.
Wed in ill feafon, .long her blifs enjoy’d.
I f you are fond o f proverbs, always fay,
No lafs proves thrifty, who is wed in May.
vi After baptifm, the firft meat that the company taftes, is cr.mdie,
a mixture of meal and water, or meal and ale thoroughly mixed.
Of this every perfon takes three fpoonfulls.
I The mother never fets about any work till ihe has been kirked.
f in the church of Scotland there is no ceremony on the occafion:
|»ut the woman, attended by fome of her neighbors, goes into the
church, fometimes in fervice time, but oftener when it is empty;
goes out'again, furrounds it, refreihes herfelf at . fome public
houfe,