Ireland - Comhaltas Archive

TREOIRJoe Flaherty an old "Seanachai" wholived here in "Erris St." and died lastyear always claimed that when thewind comes roaring up Poll Gorm(which is a swallow-hole in the riveroutside the town) you can look outfor rain and that this same applieswhen Cabhiarsliabh is covered to theground in mist, or if there's fog onNephin (mountains in theCrossmolina area) but that ifTrista isclear you can go to your work.People and animals have a greatatmospheric sense and mygrandmother says she knew peoplewho suffered from headaches anddysentry whenever thunder andlightning were near and she herselfalways suffers from aching bonesbefore rain.She has her own weather guide,which is simply a I Ib jam jar filledabout two-thirds with water, with asmall baby Power bottle turneddownwards in same, so that the neckof the bottle reaches the water. Infine weather the water moves up intothe neck of the jar, but when rain isnear the water level drops again. Thisis always dead accurate as it operateson high and low pressure.She says some signs of rain are: if thecat sits with his back to the fire; if thehens are picking themselves orgathered together in a "Cruinneacin"around the door; if soot is falling; ifthe birds, particularly swallows, flylow; if the sun sets very red; if fliesbother the cattle a lot; if smoke blowsfrom the south; if sea-gulls comeinland around the houses; if thedistant mountains look near.Here I will mention some good and illomens: Some babies are born with alittle white skin "cap" on their heads.In the olden days this was known asthe "Caipin Sonais" and children bornwith it were considered very luckyand thought to have a very brightfuture in store for them.It was considered great luck to findthe four-leafed shamrock growing inthe ground, cut it with a black-handleknife and place it in the corner ofyour handkerchief fo r good luck.New clothes were put on inside outfirst before wearing out, for the firsttime. This was for luck.A penny wasalso placed in the pocket so that thewearer might never be without money.A pair of new boots or shoes werenever left on the table afterpurchase, they were always supposedto be placed on the floor only beforebeing worn.It was considered a ve ry bad omen ifthere was a remains in the churchwhere a couple were getting married,and two of the same family wouldnever marry within the same yearunless on the same day.A goose would never be hatched in abarn where a mare was being stabled.Soil would never be touched or waterdrawn from the well after sunset.If a person drowned and the bodycould not be found, three sheaves ofoaten straw would be thrown intothe water and they were supposed tofloat over where the body was.A type of cactus called "T 6irpin" wasusually set to grow under the thatchnear the eaves of houses. This wasconsidered a great "protection".If a person dropped a knife, fork, orspoon they believed they were goingto have visitors.It was very unlucky to kill a spider orto open an umbrella in the house.Breaking a mirror was supposed tobring seven years' bad luck and if amirror o r picture fell from off thewall , it was supposed to denote adeath in the family.It was never considered lucky to turnback when you started out on ajourney even if you forgot something.It was considered very unsafe tobathe or swim at Whitsuntide.The ragworth weed was fairyproperty and people or even animalsshould never be struck with it.If a person spilt salt they werethought "to be in for adisappointment". This could becounteracted by throwing a grain ofsalt over your shoulder. If a child fell agrain of salt would be placed on itstongue to keep the fairies away.This strange story was told to me bymy Grandfather and his twin sister.When my Grandfather was a youngboy, himself and his twin-sister werestanding in their own yard in thevillage of Fairfield, when they saw upin the sky a coach or horse-drawnhearse driven by a coachman andbearing a coffin. It continued on itscourse until it came over the"Maygownagh" grave-yard where itseemed to descend and disappear. Itwas also seen by other people in theVillage and caused much awe andspeculation.On the following day news arrived inthe village that a young man fromFairfield who had emigrated a shorttime previously, had been killed inAmerica and his death has ever sincebeen connected with this strangephenomenon.On a night in the early months of1939 the sky over many parts ofIreland turned red and remained so,for many hours. Many people werevery frightened, some thought theend of the world had come whileothers thought they were "The Warclouds" which were sometimessupposed to be seen before theoutbreak of a war. My grandmotherremembers that many people wereconvinced of this when "World War11" broke out later that year.Finally a tip from a very old woman.Wash your hands in the Maymorning dew if you want to bedexterous and your face in same ifyou want to be beautiful.42