cow 109 



properties (Allt-criche), and rub the swollen teat with it, repeating 

 at same time the following lines : — 



A Chriosda leigheis am mart, 



Leigheis fhein i 'Mhoire; 



'S tu rug am Mac ; 



Gu 'm a slan an t-ugh, 



'S gu 'm a crion an t-at 



'S a ruaidhe mhor atar (at-mhor) iotar (iot-mhor) ; 



Eag (Fag) an t-aite so 's tair as. 



O Christ heal the cow, 



Heal thou her, Mary, 



'Tis thou dids't bear the Son ; 



Healthy may the udder be 



And small be the swelling. 



And the swollen dry thirsty rash 



Expire (or leave) the place and get away. 



Other cures for which similar charms were resorted to are 

 numerous and, inter alia, reference may be made to that interest- 

 ing work, Outei' Isles, by A. Goodrich Freer. It is very 

 notable the great familiarity with which the Old Celts addressed 

 the Deity, and the vast importance they attached to their stock. 

 Even when leaving the cows out to graze on the hillside, the 

 guardianship of the Deity, etc., was invoked, one saying being, 

 as Carmichael gives it — 



" Buachailleachd Dhia 's Choluim-chill' oirbh." 

 God and Calum-kill's herding be on you. 



St Columba was regarded as the patron saint of cattle, though he 

 would not allow one on the island of lona for this reason. Far am 

 bi bo, bidh bean, 's far am bi bean bidh buaireadh ; where a cow 

 is will a woman be, and where a woman is will be mischief, trouble, 

 or temptation. A spoon made of the horn lost by a living cow 

 is thought to heal many diseases when eaten out of, when the 

 cow dies the efficacy ceases. The cow being a blessed animal 

 should never be struck by the hand, but by a stick, when 

 necessary. When a cow dies it should be described as "lost" 

 by the "cailbhearb" or cowherd. Referring to what has been 

 said as to the estimate put upon cows, an account of a certain 

 famous tribute thereof must be shortly given, viz., the Borumha, 

 a term which has different meanings ; in its primary signification 

 it means a prey, a tribute of cows, and is referred to in the 

 Chronicon Scotorum of Duald Firbis under the years 458, 965, 

 and 966. This tribute, or rather impost of tax, was eventually 

 repealed, or, with the magnanimity of the imposers remitted or 



