TRACE KIVEK-WOKSHIF O S SCOTTISN I P H FOLK-LORE9 6 .

III. TRACES OF EIVEE-WORSHIP IN SCOTTISH FOLK-LORE. BY J. M. MACKINLAY, M.A., F.S.A. SCOT.

In the midst of our modern civilisation we come across certain beliefs practiced an s difficul explaio t t n unles looe sw beliefk e bacth d o kt san practice f dayso s long past. Survival, indeed watchwore th s i , folkf do - lore. l absural Wha tima t a t dt a e t wheno woul s absurne wa d b w dno menta a mucl f culturo h s lowewa e r r typeremotOu . e ancestors regarded nature from a standpoint of their own. They did not dis- tinguish between the natural and the supernatural. The world in all its parts was to them supernatural. In other words, they did not recog- nise wha e calw lt matter n contradistinctioi o spirit.t n Earth, air, water, fire were accordingly regarde s manifestationa d f lifeo s . They were living beings, they were spirits endowed with individualityr Si . John Lubbock observes:1—"The savage account l movemenal r fo s t y lifeb . Henc e wina livinth es i d g being. Nay, even motionless objects are regarded in a particular stage of mental progress as pos- sessing spirits." If movement could be explained by life, what was more fitting than that the movement of a river was due to its life ? There are, of course, sluggish rivers, where movement is reduced to a minimum, but as a rule the chief feature of a river is its rapid flow. In ancient times water was deified by civilised nations like the Greeks and Romans; and savages to-day revere it as a god. We need not, there- fore surprisee b , d thaScottisr ou t h rivers were hel reverencn i d e th y eb ancient dwellers in our land. If to us, with nineteenth-century science within reach a certai a ,rive s ha rn myster mucyw abouho h , morit t e awe-inspiring must it have been to men ignorant of the commonest laws of nature! . TayloB . E r r speakD f certaio s n tribe n Indii s a "to whoe mth local rivers are the local deities, so that men worship according to their watersheds, and the map is a pantheon."2 This must have been to a 1 Origin of Civilisation, p. 203. 2 Primitive Culture, vol. ii. p. 193. 0 7 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , JANUARY 10, 1896.

large extent the case with Scottish tribes in remote days. Under the influenc a crud f o ee anthropomorphism, they though a rivea f s o a tr creature hungering, or rather thirsting, for their lives, and only waiting foa chancr o securt e a evictim t therBu .e e wero sideth tw o et s question. A river might be helpful as well as hurtful. "When supplying drink or floating a canoe, it would seem to be of a friendly 'disposition e otheth n r O hand. , when, swollen with rain t i rushe, d along, sweeping int depths it o livin y an s g creature withi s reachit n t i , would be counted man's enemy. It was an article of archaic belief that when any one was drowned, he was taken possession of by the spirit of the water. Here we have the key to the otherwise meaningless superstition that it is unlucky to sav a edrownin g man. Thera referenc s i er Walte Si o thit en i s r Scott's Pirate, in the scene where Bryce the pedlar warns Mordaunt against saving a shipwrecked sailor:—"Are you mad," said the pedlar, "you that have live e lan n Zetlandsa di g o rise t ,savin th ka f o g drowning man? Wot ye not, if you bring him to,life again, he will be somu yo eo surd capita o t e fallinle injury?on y g inte wateAn "th o r becomes the prey of the monster or demon inhabiting it; and whoever rescues the drowning man incurs the monster's wrath by cheating him of his victim. Certain charms were believed, indeed in some districts are still believed, to insure the recovery of a drowned body. A loaf of bread, wit r withouo h t quicksilve s surfacplacee i e th , th it n f do n o e i r wate allowed an r drifo dt t wit e currenth th plac e Th e. wher loae eth f becomes stationary marks the spot where the body lies concealed. Accordin o Misgt s Florence Peacock, this method continue holo t ss dit own in Lincolnshire.1 In such a practice there is a virtual recognition of a water-spirit, who can, by certain rites, be compelled to give up his prey, or at any rate to disclose its whereabouts. According to a Dee- side tradition n callema da , Farquharson-na-Cat, i.e., Farquharsof o n e Wandth o names , d fro s tradmhi f basket-makingo e e ,on han o d occasion to cross the river just above the famous linn. It was night.' Farquharson s losfootinghi t , fel s drownedl wa inte linnd th oan ,. Searc s corpsen s vain i wifes hi mad Hi t r wa h.,bu fo e, takinr ghe 1 The Antiquary (Nov. 1895), p. 334. TRACES OF KIVER-WORSHIP IN SCOTTISH FOLK-LORE. 71'

h usband's plaid, knelt down on the river's brink, and prayed to the water-spiri giv o r t tbac r e deadhe the khe Sh n. thre plaie wth d into rivere th . Next morning husband'r he , s corpse, wit plaie hth d wrapped s founrounwa e pool., d th it e dedgn thi I lyinth f 1o es n o gcas e the plaid, thrown into the Dee, was virtually an offering made to the river-spirit to procure the recovery of the body. The loaf of bread already referred to performed the same function.2 Till lately, a custom prevailed amon e fishere Tweeth gth f f o strewinsdo g Salt over e waterth o securn t o , e net d a th gooe an s d catc f fisht o hI .wa . s believed thae river-fairieth t s would thereb e propitiatedyb n caseI . s like the above, the existence and power of river-spirits are acknowledged, though there is nothing to indicate the form assumed by them. e guardia Th flooe th df no sometime s appeare n humadi n shapeA . characteristic exampl f o thi es i mentiones y Hugb d h Millen i . r association with the river Conan in Ross-shire.3 He says:—"There was not a river in the Highlands that used, ere the erection of the stately neighbourhoodr bridgou n ei sporo t , t more wantonly with human life; and as superstition has her figures as certainly as poesy, the perils oa mountain-borf n stream, flowing between thinly inhabited banks, were personified in the beliefs of the people by a frightful goblin that too a malignank t deligh n lurini t g int s poolsit o r overpowerino , g in its fords, the benighted traveller. Its goblin, the ivater-toraith, use o appeat d a tal s la r woman dresse n greeni d t distinguishebu , d r witheredchieflhe y b y , meagre countenance, ever distortea y b d malignant scowl. I knew all the various fords—always dangerous ones —where of old she used to start, it was said, out of the river, before the terrified traveller, to point at him, as in derision, with her skinny finger, . 1 Folk-Lore for'l892, p. 71 f. 2 For a Bohemian example of this ceremony, vide Primitive Culture, vol. ii. p. 195. Schoolsy 3M amd Schoolmasters, chapteDavir M d. x rMaeRitchie , F.S.A. Scot., has drawn my attention to a piece of Irish folk-lore, picked up at first hand by Mr John Sampson, of Liverpool, and contributed by him to the Journal of the Gipsy Lore Society (vol wito rived e .. 23-25)iiihth o t pp store .r s BoyneTh yha . s It . first part suggests a parallel to Hugh Miller's account of the Conan wraith. "Did you ever hear of the Red Man of the river Boyne ? He rises half out of the water s goini n wheo gdrowt ma na n himself. Score d score an familiesd an s f friendo s s have seen him, like a red man, with a winding-sheet around his head.'.'. 72 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 10, 1896.

or to beckon him invitingly on; and I was shown the very tree to which a poor Highlander had clung, when, in crossing the river at night, he was seized by the goblin, and from which, despite of his utmost exertions, though assiste a youn y b dg lads companionhi ,s wa e h , dragged int middle currente oth th f eo , wher e perished.eh Eeve Th ." Dr Walter Gregor narrates a legend about a water-spirit on Donside, who crosappeareo t d sa mal ha e occasio n di n eon formn ma O na . e Bridge Donth s th y f wa Luibb 'es o wife o hi ,wh o , t Corgarff t ge o t , then very ill. When he reached the river he found that the bridge— a wooden one—had been swept away by a flood. He despaired of leaching the other bank, when a tall man suddenly appeared and offered to carry him across. The man was at first doubtful, but ere long accepted the proffered help. When they reached the middle of the d riverhithert e ha kelpy th o , owh , shown himsel obligingo s f , sought to plunge his burden beneath the water. A struggle ensued. The man finally found a foothold, and, disengaging himself from the kelpy, scramble e banks l would-bth hastal Hi p .n u ei d e destroyer, dis- appointe s victimhi f do , hurle dbouldea r after him. This boulder came e e knowKelpy'sb th s o t a n Stone. Stones werey b throw t i n o n passers-by, til a heal s formedpwa , locally know Kelpy'se th s na Cairn.1 e followin Th e substancth s gi f anotheo e r Aberdeenshire legend, told by Dr Gregor. A Braemar kelpy stole a sackful of meal from a mill givo t womaa e taked o it whor t ha fo n fancya ne m h . As-the thief was disappearing the miller caught sight of .him, and threw a fairy- whorl at his retreating figure. The whorl broke his leg, and the kelpy fell ints drownede mill-racth owa d e th an ee .fat f th o e Suc s wa h last kelpy see Braemar.n ni 2 In both Highland and Lowland districts the spirit inhabiting rivers, whatever its form might be, usually went by the name of the water- Bordekelpya n I .r ballad occu linee th r s :— " The side was steep, the bottom deep, Frae ban bano kt watee kth r pouring; And the bonnie lass did quake for fear, She heard the water-kelpie roaring." 3

1 Folk-Lore Journal for 1889, p. 200. 2 Ibid., p. 201. 3 Ballad of Annan Water. TEACE BI7ER-WOESHIF O S SCOTTISN I P H FOLK-LORE3 7 .

attributee Th kelpe th f yo s wer e practicall e samyth e thoss ea th f eo Icelandic Nilcr, whence has come our term Old Nick, applied to the Devil. Miss Dempster telle followinth s g story regardin a gkelp y inhabiting the river Oikel in Sutherland :—" One William Munro and the grandfather of the person from whom we have this story were one night leading half-a-dozen pack-horses across a ford in the Oikel, on milla o t .thei y Whewa r n they neare river-bane th d khorria d scream from the water struck Vaicgh, e theith s ri t earsI ' ' crie o lad.e dth wh , was leadin e firsgth t horse, and, pickin somp gu e stones e senh , a t showe f theo r m intdeee oth e mus ps feet Sh hi poo t.t a havl e been repeatedl emittee y sh hit s mose a ,seried a th tf piercino s g shrieksI ' . am afraid,' said Munro hav ' tha,u t donyo no te e that right thad an ,t she will play us an ugly trick at the ford.' ' Never mind, we will, take more stones,' he answered, arming himself with a few. But the kelpy had had enough of stones for one night."1 According to the Rev. r AlexandeD r Stewar f Ballachulisho t e Sout th ,kelp e n "a hn th I s yi inhabitant indifferentl f riveryo lakesd san , Highlande whilth n i e e h s is almost always associated with solitary rivers, where they wind their murmuring way through wild and uninhabited glens, or with those deep, dark, eddying cauldron-pools that mountain torrent frequentlo s s y scoop out for themselves as they plunge and roar adown the steep in their mad and headlong gallop to the sea."2 water-spirie th r fa o s beeS ha t n referre s embodiea o dt human i d n shape, but it often assumed other forms, notably those of the horse and the bull. The water-horse, called in Gaelic Each Uisge, usually strayed besid e margi th ea lak r f rivero o en , all bridle d saddledf an di d an , any one chanced to mount him he plunged with his rider into deep water. Tradition tells of a noted Inverness-shire water-horse that drowned its victims in Loch Ness. In 1819 MacCulloch found the belief in the water-bull a living faith in the west country, particularly in the districts of Loch Eannoch and Loch Awe. He tells of a farmer who employe f theso s son de hi searc o et son creaturesr hfo , while th e farmer himself carrieloaden gu da d with sixpence e dischargeb o t s d 1 folk-Lore Journal . f 8 1888r 22 fo . p , - 8 'Twixt Sen. Nevis an/I Olencoe,. 40 . p 74) PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , JANUARY 10," 1896.

whe e monsteth n r appeared, silver alone havin y effec n sucan go t h beasts. r WalteSi 1 r Scot t e samth refer eo t s superstitios hi n i n Journal, under date 23rd November 1827, wher e relateh e s how some Highlanders sought to catch a certain water-cow inhabiting a lake, by leaving overnight two small anchors, each baited with the carcass of a dog killed for the purpose. In the morning the bait was found untouched s somethini e day,t th "I o lat"n .to i ge concluder Si s Walter, "for setting baits for water-cows." What would the author of Waverley have thoughe knowh d nha t that more than hal centura f y later people in the Highlands retained their belief in the existence of suc . hs Dixon Gairloch,H hi monsters . J n i ,r M ?mention s that, as late as 1884, rumours were current in Koss-shire that a water-cow was to be seen in or near a loch on the Greenstone Point in Gairloch e samparishth en I wor .r DixoM k n give a minuts e accounf o t measures taken some forty-five years earlier to destroy a water-cow whose n anothei hom s ewa e rsam th loc n ei h parish e proprietoTh . r of the estate, under pressure, from his tenants, made an attempt to drain e lochth , which , e pointexcepon s t littli ,a t e more tha a nfatho n mi depth; but when his efforts failed, he threw a large quantity of quick- lime into the water to poison the monster. Some people who saw the water-cow, or thought they did, described it as resembling "a good-sized boat, with the keel turned up."2 Mr J. F. Campbell of Islay, in his Tales of the West Highlands,9 expresses the belief that the old Celts reverence a ddestroyin g water-god o whot , e hors ms th sacred ewa r o , who assumed the form of a horse. On the same principle we may account for the belief in the water-bull. Various river rhymes migh e quoteb t embodyins da g animistic ideas, but I shall refer only to those that allude to the craving for human victims, already pointed out. The following examples must suffice :— " Blood-thirsty Dee Each year needs three; But bonny Don - neede Sh s none."

1 MacCulloch's Description e Westernth f o Islands of Scotland, . 185volp . .ii . 2 Dixon's Gairloch, . 162p . . 387 . Volp . i . TRACES OF KIVER-WORSHIP IN SCOTTISH FOLK-LORE. 75

sais i dt I tha witca t h called Cailleach Bheathrach, Thunder-e i.e.Th , bolt Garline, once tried to make these two rivers flow together, by biting e mountai t parth f ou o t n range betwee Glene th themf Morven no n I . , on the course of the Weaver's Burn, is Sloc-na-Cailleach, i.e., The Witch's Den. t representI s whaactualls wa t y done toward e desireth s d object, witce th t h bu foun tase th dk harder tha expectede nsh d accordinglan , y despair.n i gavp u t ei 1 "The dowie Dean It rins its lean, An' every se'en Yea t getri s ean." e lasTh t word allude s " it drownee catch o t son f o " d person every seventh Deae year deepa Th s ni . , sluggish rive f Forfarshireo r , flowing ou f Forfao t r Loch fallind an , g intIsle oth a near Meigle. "Tweed sai Tilo dt l ' What gars ye rin sae still ?' Till sai Tweeo dt d ' Though ye rin wi' speed slawn Anri I ,' Yet whar ye droon ae man I droon twa.'" Twee Tild dan l join their water t Tillmouthsa Englise th n ,o h Border. e veneratioTh n once pai o rivert d s find echn a s anothen oi r depart- men f folk-loreo t , viz. n folk-medicinei , . Curative powe s beeha r n attributed, under the influence of superstition, to the water of rivers, as o that welf consecrateo s ta l d s onl lochd ha springso yt an e s On . mention St Fillan's Holy Pool, in the river Fillan, in Perthshire, resorted to for many centuries, to suggest thoughts of a healing power, connected, it is true, with the name of a Christian missionary, but derived, one can hardly doubt, from the beliefs of an earlier faith.2 Healing virtue was attribute o watet d r taken fro ma rive t wha a rcalles wa t ddeaa d dan living ford, i.e.,e wher on deae eth d wer elivin e carrieth d g an dwalke d across. The same belief was entertained with regard to the water of a

Grant's Legends Braese oth f ' Mar.o 1 2 New Statistical Account of Scotland—(Parish of Killin). 6 7 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , JANUAR , 1896Y10 .

south-runnin streae th drin d o mt an g o kstreamg e invalio t Th d . ha d the water and wash himself in it. Sometimes his shirt was taken by another d aftean , r being dippesouth-runnine th n di g wate broughs wa r t back and put wet upon him.1 Near Dunskey, in the parish of Port- patrick, Wigtownshire f laso a strea ts d i , centuren m e whicth y t a h was muc s hhealth-givinit resorter fo o t d g properties. Visits were usually paid to it at the change of the moon. It was deemed specially efficaciou e cas f th ricketo e n i s y children, whose malad s the- ywa nas cribe witchcrafto dt patiente Th . s were washe streame th thed n di an ,n n adjoinintakea o t n g cave, where they were dried.2 Other instances f illustrationo mighy I wa e citetrus b t ty b dbu t, that those already given are sufficient to show that reverence was anciently paid to rivers by the inhabitants of our land. Dalyell's Darker Superstitions of Scotland, p. 85. Statisticald Ol 12 Account of Scotland,. 47 vol . p . i