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Folk Lore Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century By: James Napier (1810-1884) |
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Or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century With an Appendix, Shewing the Probable Relation of the Modern Festivals of Christmas, May
Day, St. John's Day, and Hallowe'en, to Ancient Sun and Fire Worship by JAMES NAPIER, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., &c., Author of Manufacturing Art in Ancient Times , Notes and Reminiscences
of Partick , &c., &c. Paisley: Alex. Gardner. 1879 CONTENTS.
PREFACE, v.
Introduction, 1
Birth and Childhood, 29
Marriage, 43
Death, 56
Witchcraft, Second Sight, and the Black Art, 67
Charms and Counter Charms, 79
Divining, 105
Superstitions Relating to Animals, 111
Superstitions Concerning Plants, 122
Miscellaneous Superstitions, 132
APPENDIX. Yule, Beltane, and Hallowe'en Festivals, 145
Yule, 149
Beltane, 161
Midsummer, 170
Hallowe'en, 175
PREFACE
The doctrine taught concerning Satan, his motives and influence in the
beginning of this century, supplied the popular mind with reasons to
account for almost all the evils, public and private, which befell
society; and as the observed ills of life, real or imaginary, greatly
outnumbered the observed good occurrences, the thought of Satan was more
constantly before the people's mind than was the thought of God.
Practically, it might be said, and said with a very near approach to
truth, that Satan, in popular estimation, was the greater of the two;
but theoretically, the superiority of God was allowed, for Satan it was
believed, was permitted by God to do what he did. It was commonly said,
"Never speak evil of the Deil, for he has a long memory." This Satanic
belief gave rise to a great amount of Folk Lore, and affected the whole
social system. Historians who take no account of such beliefs, but
regard them as trivialities, cannot but fail to represent faithfully the
condition and action of the people. Folk Lore has thus an important
historical bearing. Every age has had its own living Folk Lore, and,
beside this, a residuum of waning lore, regarded as superstitious, and
so it is at the present day. When we speak of the Folk Lore of our
grandfathers and great grandfathers, we believe that we are speaking of
beliefs which have past away, beliefs from which we ourselves are free;
but if we consider the matter carefully we will find that in many
respects our beliefs and practices, although somewhat modernized, are
essentially little different from those of last century. Among the
better educated classes it may be said that much of the superstitions of
former times have passed away, and as education is extended they will
more and more become eradicated; but at present, in our rural districts
especially, the old beliefs still linger in considerable force. Many
think that the superstitions of last century died with the century, but
this is not so; and as these notions are curious and in many respects
important historical factors, I have thought it worth while to jot down
what of this Folk Lore has come under my observation during these last
sixty years. In this collection I do not profess to include all that may come under
the head of Folk Lore, such, for example, as the reading of dreams and
cups, spaeing fortunes by cards or other methods that class of
superstitions by which designing persons prey upon weak minded people. One principal object which I had in view in forming this collection, was
that it might supply a nucleus for the further development of the
subject. The instances which I have adduced belong to one locality, the
West of Scotland, and chiefly the neighbourhood west of Glasgow, but
different localities have different methods of formulating the same
superstition... Continue reading book >>
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