The peat-fire flame : folk-tales and traditions of the Highlands & Islands

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
was widespread throughout the Highlands and Islands
during the eighteenth century; and even to this day there
are old folks in the Hebrides who put their trust in this
plant, or in the protective virtue of the milk of a cow which
they know to have eaten of it. And they say in the Isles
that many a man carried a fragment of the niothan to
Culloden.
It was held, moreover, that the eating of the niothan
tended to increase one's powers of language. There is a
story told of two faeries on St. Kilda, who, on coming upon
a woman rocking her infant in a cradle, deprived the woman
of the power of speech. Then one faery was heard to say
to the other : " We must give to this child the gift of the
tongue, for he has drunk of the milk of a cow that ate the
motlian."
The mothan was by no means the only plant believed to
be possessed of the power of warding off evil, or alternately
of bringing luck. But it was held that some plants were
of no avail unless they were found gun iarraidh—that is to
say, without searching for them. Only when the fourleaved
shamrock and the four-leaved clover were discovered
by accident, as it were, did they ' charm ' the finder in time
of stress or danger.
The rowan or mountain-ash was looked upon as sacred
and it was customary to fasten a sprig of it oyer the lintel
of a homestead, in order to protect the inmates from the
influences of evil spirits, the evil eye, and witchcraft
generally. Sometimes an ash twig was placed in or under
a milk-pail, to ensure that the substance would not be
extracted from the milk by malevolent agencies. A sprig
of bramble was also used for this purpose. Sometimes a
piece of ivy was nailed over the byre door in the belief that
not only did it prevent witches from putting an evil spell
on the cows, but that it also protected the cows against such
diseases as murrain.
How Graham of Menteith obtained Wine for his
Guests.
In Menteith there is a tale told of how Graham of that
Ilk came by the finest wine that ever graced his table. His
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