Folklore
The folklore of south-west Scotland is rich and varied. It
combines the customs and traditions of industrial Ayshire and
Nithsdale with the beliefs and folk magic of rural
Galloway.
The folklore of Galloway is particularly rich and has
attracted the attention of writers and antiquaries from the late
18th century onwards. John MacTaggart's (1791-1830) 'Scottish
Gallovidian Encyclopedia' is a fascinating cornucopia of local
tales and traditions. The stories collected by Joseph Train
(1779-1852) of Newton Stewart were used in the novels of Walter
Scott while another Galloway folk tale was the inspiration behind
William Nicholson's classic Wigtownshire poem 'The Brownie of
Blednoch'.
The remoteness of Galloway - both geographically and
culturally - made it an ideal hunting ground for Victorian
anthropologists and folklore recorders. It even received special
attention from the British Association for the Advancement of
Science which in the 1890s established a special committee to
investigate the area's folklore. The group spent most of its time
recording the customs and traditions of the Wigtownshire Rhins and
Machars including the following from Mochrum
parish:
• A cure for the bite of an adder is to kill a chicken,
split it up, and while still warm tie the whole bird over the
wound.
• If a sower inadvertently omitted to sow a "rig" when he
was sowing the seed, a member of the family would die before that
time next year.
• Human hair was never burned. Burning the hair made one
cross. It was twisted up, and put commonly on the "wa' head," but
at times into crevices of the walls of the dwelling-houses. My
informant has seen tufts of human hair in holes of the walls of old
uninhabited houses.
• Notwithstanding the introduction of reaping machines, the
"hare" is still cut in the old fashion. Here is the mode of cutting
it. A small quantity is left to form the "hare." It is divided into
three parts and plaited, and the ears are tied into a
knot. The reapers then retire the distance of a few yards,
and each throws his or her "heuk," i.e., hook, in turn, and tries
to hit and cut down the "hare." It must be cut below the
grain-knot, and the reapers continue to throw their hooks in
regular succession till one is skilful enough to cut it below the
knot. This one is said to be the "best han'," and receives as
reward double the quantity of whisky the others receive. The "hare"
is carried home and given to the female servant in the kitchen, who
places it over the kitchen-door inside. The christian name of the
first male that enters the kitchen is the
christian name of her future husband. If there are several female
servants, each in turn, as agreed, gets her chance. The "hare" is
allowed to hang for a considerable length of time in the place
where it is first laid.
The results of the Association's work in Galloway were
intended to form part of a huge ethnological survey of Great
Britain. In the event only Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and
Aberdeenshire were visited.
