PANDORE. n. large oyster from Prestonpans. Supposed to be big because of the proximity to the doors of the saltpans. Prestonpans oyster fishers would sing “dreg sangs” to charm the oysters into their nets. “Oysters are a gentle kin, wullna tak unless ye sing”
After her car went off the road in Jan 1950, Miss E.F. Smith (55yo) and her dog walked home from Brechin to Letham. She claimed to have experienced a time-slip of 1265 years and walked onto the site of the Battle of Nechtanesmere and saw Picts and Saxons fight.
And because the details matter and I needed to know: The time-travelling dog was a miniature poodle.
Somebody write a screenplay, stat.
The story was covered in excellent detail by Richard MacLean Smith in his podcast “Unexplained” (link to that episode)
At the weddings of Avoch fisherfolk, the best man would untie the groom’s left shoe before the ceremony to defend against meddling by witches. The shoe needed to be worn untied for the rest of the day, night, and following morning.
CAISEAN-UCHD. n. Breast-strip of a sheep that was singed and sniffed to ward off evil spirits in a house. Passed around clockwise for the next person to inhale. Bad luck if it went out on your turn. Used at Xmas only in other places, but all the time on Islay. It must’ve smelled awful.
A’ Clach Thogalaich, the “Lifting Stone” was an old rite of passage for men on Colonsay. Chuir e ga oth eadar a’ chlach thogail ‘s an talamh (a breeze between it and the ground) was how to demonstrate your strength. It is purported to weigh 280lbs (~120kg).
Photo is by the late Peter Martin (oldmanofthestones.com) who wrote a book on the old lifting stones of gaeldom.
I think this headline was about the folk wisdom that miners were wont to commit suicide by drowning. Need to check again, but the headline stuck out…
The cliffs of Portpatrick (known locally as heughs) have a cave that was said to cure the infirm (esp. kids with rickets). After bathing the child in a nearby stream under a new moon, you had to dry them off in the cave under Dunskey Castle.
In parts of the Northeast, folk believed disease could be cured by placing 2 live doves on a high cliff “atween the sin an sky” at sunrise. Before that though, you had to split them down the breast and wear them as slippers for a whole day.
In 1718, Kinross manse was “troubled by spirits”. The minister’s boiled eggs had pins inside them, as did all meat in the house. His wife’s “unmentionables” were torn to shreds. All cutlery vanished. Stones flew down the lum and the bible flew into the fire.
Turra folk on body parts (1890s):
“a muckle tae” (second toe) = domestic abuser
“grey een greedy, blue een needy” (of babies)
A “close-broot man” (monobrow) = immoral man
Nail flecks can forecast the future depending on the finger.
