On St Valentine’s Eve (13th Feb) single folk drew names to find out who their sweetheart was to be for the ENTIRE YEAR
Perhaps related, Valentine’s Day cash lotteries were commonplace throughout the 19th C.
Yestreen at the Valentine’s dealing,
Robert Burns, Tam Glen.
My heart to my mou gied a sten;
For thrice I drew ane without failing,
And thrice it was written–Tam Glen.
TOD-TYKE. n. A fox-dog hybrid valued for its herding and hunting ability. Gallovidians would tie their dogs outside fox dens in hopes of getting tod-tyke pups. Trouble is, no such hybrid is possible in nature!
FAIRNSTORM n. rain caused by burning ferns or heath
FAIRNSEED n. Invisible seeds that make the eater invisible (ferns have no seeds)
FAIRNIETICKLES n. Freckles. Named for the sori, or sporebodies on the underside of fern fronds.
Historically, pigs were taboo across Scotland, especially for fisherfolk. If seen or spoken of, bad luck was avoided by shouting “CAULD AIRN!” (cold iron) and grabbing something iron.
“Cauld airn” is the equivalent of “touch/knock on wood”
UNSPOKEN. adj. having healing powers because the object was collected and used in silence.
Unspoken water was collected under a bridge on a cemetery road and given to invalids to drink. In Kincardineshire, unspoken nettles were a cure-all.
For folk in Caithness and Sutherland the largest beast in the ocean was the cirean-cròin, a leviathan sea dinosaur that could eat 7 killer whales at a go. An old Gàidhlig rhyme told of its relative size to other creatures:
Seachd sgadain sath bradain,
Seachd bradain sath roin,
Seachd roin sath mial-mor-mara,
Seachd mial sath Cirein-croinSeven herrings a salmon’s meal
Tradtional Gaelic rhyme
Seven salmon a seal’s meal,
Seven seals a whale’s meal,
Seven whales the meal of a Cirein-croin.
Fisherfolk across Old Weird Scotland thought every being on land had a “partner” found in the sea.
SEA-FUTRET – cuttlefish (“sea weasel/ferret”)
SEA-COCK – puffin
SEA-PYOT – oystercatcher (“sea-magpie”)
SEA-SOU – ballan wrasse
SEA-PHEASANT – turbot
SEA-GOOSEBERRY – jellyfish