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This is another extract from the manuscript of "Haggis and Other Stories - A History of Scottish Food and Hospitality ". to be found via the Main Website link
Here it is a format conducive to referencing etc.
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Auld Customs of Scotland
Gastronomy is life!
Re-enactment crofter -- knotting
An introduction and a citations list will be added later.
Paragraphs have been numbered for ease of referencing and indexing.
Procuring Silver Spoons
1
Parliament Close, Edinburgh, being the well known resort of the Goldsmiths, it was here in the early 1800s and before that, country couples came for the purchase of their silver spoons on entering upon holy matrimony. In olden times it was quite customary in the country for intending bridegrooms to take a journey of a few weeks previous to their marriage to the Parliament Close to purchase their siller spoons . This important transaction occasioned two journeys: one to select the spoons and furnish the initials to be marked upon them; the other to receive and pay for them.
Singular Custom in Connection with the Office of Handman at Dumfries.
2
The following singular custom formerly existed in Dumfries:—The country hangman went through the market every market day furnished with a brass ladle or large spoon, pushed it into the mouth of every sack of meal, corn, etc., and carried it off full. The small quantity of meal so abstracted was termed a “lock”, and, when spoken of, the hangman was frequently alluded to as the “lockman”. When the farmers refused any longer to comply with this custom, the matter was brought before the law courts, and the hangman was found to have a right to the perquisite of office. In consequence of this decision, many of the farmers refused for a long time to send their meal and corn to this market.
Old Customs at Lanark
3
Mr. Chambers, in his “Popular Rhymes of Scotland", gives the following amusing account of Lanark in the olden time. It is reported that the burgh of Lanark was in former days so poor, that the single flesher butcher, of the town, who also exercised the calling of a weaver, in order to employ his spare time, would never dream of killing a sheep until he had received orders for the entire animal beforehand. Ere commencing the work of slaughter he would call on the minister, the Provost, and the town council, and prevail upon them to take shares. But if no purchaser appeared for the fourth quarter, the sheep received a respite until such could be found. The bellman, or shallyman, as he is called there, used to parade the streets of Lanark shouting aloud the following advertisement:-
Bell-ell-ell
There’s a fat sheep to kill!
A leg for the Provost
And one for the priest.
The Baillies and Deacons
They’ll take the neist;
And if the fourth leg we cannot sell
The sheep it maun leeve and gae back
Tae the hill
Funeral Services
4
The following orders were formerly observed in many parts of Scotland at the funerals of all persons who aimed at respectability of station. In “bidding to the burial”, no hour was mentioned, as ten in the morning was understood to be the time of assembling, and two or three in the afternoon as that of “lifting”, and the intervening time was occupied in treating with “services” the various individuals as they arrived; these services being interspersed with admonitions, lengthened prayers and graces, when the mingled worship and entertainment terminated, the people proceeded to the churchyard after a scout stationed on a rising ground in the neighbourhood, gave intimation that no additional mourner was seen approaching the place of meeting. The following was the regular succession of the services:
1st Service —Bread and cheese with ale and porter.
2nd ” —Glass of rum with “burial bread”.
3rd ” —Pipes filled with tobacco. To prepare the pipes was one of the duties of the
women who sat at the late-wake.
4th ” —Glass of port wine with cake.
5th ” —Glass of sherry with cake.
6th ” —Glass of whiskey
7th ” —Glass of wine not specified
8th ” —Thanks returned for the whole.
After which the service was renewed as soon as another individual made his appearance.
Some Old Customs at Wick
5
It was a custom for people to visit the Chapel of St. Tears, Wick, dedicated to the Holy Innocents, on St. Innocent’s day, and leave in it bread and cheese as an offering to the souls of the children slain by Herod. Till within a few years ago, the inhabitants of Mirelandorn used to visit the Kirk of Moss every Christmas before sunrise, placing on a stone - bread and cheese, and a silver coin, which, as they alleged, disappeared in some mysterious manner.
Shooting For the Siller Gun At Dumfries
6
James I presented Dumfries with a silver gun subsequently celebrated by a festival. Its most important aspect was termed the “Drinking”. The consequence is, that the whole scene becomes one of riot and outrage. To show that people are not prevented from shooting when in a state of intoxication, a case is recorded of a man having once fired, when so overcome by liquor, that the gun was held for him by his friends, and yet he hit the mark, and was declared victor, though it was said, he was not aware of his good fortune, nor conscious of the honours that were paid him till next morning. In his ballad of the “Siller Gun”, John Mayne has celebrated the annual commemoration of the festival. The following verses, are illustrative of the orgies practised on the occasion:
“Louder grew the busy hum
Of friends rejoicing as they come,
Wi’ double vis the drummers drum
The pint stoups clatter,
And bowls o’negus, milk, and rum
Flew round like water”.
The Maiden Feast
7
In some parts of Perthshire it was until about 1880 the custom to give what was called a Maiden Feast, upon the finishing of the harvest; as a preparation for which the last handful of corn reaped in the field was called the Maiden. It was generally so contrived that this fell into the hands of one of the prettiest girls in the field; it was then decked up with ribbons, and brought home in triumph to the sound of bagpipes and fiddles. A good dance was given to the reapers, and the evening was devoted to merriment. Afterwards the “Maiden” was dressed out, generally in the form of a cross, and hung up, with the date attached to it in some conspicuous part of the house..
.
Corn dollies are part of the activities within at least one Highland Folk Museum -
Old Custom At Hawick
8a
On the event of a death occurring in the parish of Hawick, it was formerly the custom for one of the burgh officers to proceed through the different districts of the town, ringing his bell, and intimating the death; which intimation was accompanied by a general invitation to the funeral. The bell was then taken to the house of mourning, and placed on the bed where the dead body lay, and in a position from which it was deemed sacrilegious to remove it, until the time appointed for the interment.
Cock-Fighting At Westruther
8b
In the days of cock-fighting, and other equally barbarous sports, the school-boys of Westruther were accustomed to amuse themselves with cock-fighting on Fastern’s eve—each bringing a cock trained for the purpose, and the victor in the conquest had, besides the honour of the conquest, the burden imposed upon him of paying for a football, which ended the sport of the day. This barbarous amusement with which Fastern’s eve was ushered in, was discontinued about 1840. The more innocent football game, so closely connected with it, was also gradually relinquished. The matches often consisted of more than an hundred on each side. Sometimes the whole parish turned out, but generally the battle was fought between the married and unmarried men.
Old Candlemas Customs
9
There was a curious custom of old standing in Scotland in connexion with Candlemas Day [see note 1] . On that day it was until round 1870 a universal custom in some parts of the country for the children attending school to make small presents of money to their teachers. The master sits at his desk or table exchanging for the moment his usual authoritative look for one of bland civility, and each child goes up in turn and lays the offering down before him. In some schools it used to be customary for the teacher on the conclusion of the offerings to make a bowl of punch, and each urchin was regaled with a glass, and a biscuit. The latter part of the day was generally devoted to what was called a Candlemas bleeze or blaze, namely, the conflagration of any piece of furze which might exist in their neighbourhood, or, were that wanting, of an artificial bonfire.
Farmers’ Custom At Elgin
10
In the middle of June, many of the farmers at Elgin, formerly went round their corn with burning torches, in honour of the Cerealia. At the full moon in March, they cut withes off the mistletoe or ivy, made circles of them, kept them all year, and pretended to cure illness with them. At marriages and baptisms, they made a procession round the church with the sun, because the sun was the immediate object of the Druids’ worship.
Funeral Customs At Campsie.
11
It was formerly the custom in the Campsie district, when the head of a family died, to invite all the inhabitants to attend the funeral. The visitors were served seated on boards in the barn, and by way of commencement were supplied with ale, then followed whisky, after this came shortbread, then some other kind of liquor, then a piece of currant bread, and a third supply either of whisky or wine.
12
After this came bread and cheese, pipes and tobacco. This feast was called a service; sometimes it was repeated, in which case it was called a double service. However distant any part of the parish was from the place of interment, it was customary for the attendants to carry the coffin on hand-spokes. The mode of invitation was by a special messenger. This was styled “bidding to the funeral”. No person was invited by letter. The form of words used were, —“You are desired to come to ——’s funeral to-morrow against ten o’clock.’ Although asked for that early hour the funeral never took place until the evening. It was customary for them to have two Lykewakes, when the young friends and neighbours watched the corpse. These were merry or sorrowful according to the position or rank of the deceased.
The Fiery Cross
13
When a chieftain wished to summon his clan on any sudden or important emergency, he killed a goat, and, making a cross of light wood, burned its extremities in the fire, and then extinguished the flames in the animal’s blood. This was called the Fiery Cross, also Creau Toigh, or the Cross of Shame, because disobedience to what the symbol implied inferred infamy. This cross was transferred from hand to hand, and sped through the chief’s territories with incredible velocity. At sight of the Fiery Cross, every man from 16 to 60 was obliged to repair at once to the appointed place of meeting. He who neglected the summons exposed himself to the penalties of fire and sword, which were emblematically denoted by the bloody and burned marks, upon the fiery herald of woe. The goat was not used for food.
Harvest Custom in Skye
14
The following custom prevailed in the Island of Skye during the course of the 1700s century. The farmer who had first finished his reaping, sent a man or a maiden, with a bundle of corn to his next neighbour, who had not yet reaped down his harvest. He, in his turn, when finished, sent a similar bundle to his neighbour, who was behind with his work, and so on until all the corn was cut down. This sheaf was called an gaolbir bhaeagh, and was intended to convey a rebuke to the farmer for being so slow in comparison with his neighbours. The person who took upon himself the task of leaving the an gaolbir bhaeagh at the house of the dilatory farmer, was obliged to make good his retreat in case of his being caught, otherwise he would have experienced a sound thrashing for his pains.
Drinking Custom In the Clan Macleod
15
At Dunvegan Castle, Island of Skye, is still preserved the large horn known as Rory More’s horn. It holds rather more than a bottle and a half. Every Laird of Macleod was, it is said, obliged on his coming of age, in proof of his manhood, to drain it full of claret, without once laying it down.
The Old Custom of Going a-Rocking
16
It was formerly customary in the West of Scotland for women, when invited to a social meeting at a neighbour’s house, to take with them rocks, or distaffs, which being very portable, proved no incumbrance to them on these occasions. Hence the phrase of going a rocking. Burns commences one of his songs with an allusion to this custom—
“On Fasten’s e’en (Shrove Tuesday) we had a rocking.”
Curious Belief Regarding Herrings.
17
It was formerly asserted that if a quarrel happened on the coast where herrings were caught, and blood was shed, the herrings went away and never returned throughout that season.
18
Some time ago the natives of some of the Western Islands firmly believed in the existence of the gruagach, a female spectre of the class of brownies to whom the dairymaids made frequent libations of milk. The gruagach was said to be an innocent being who frolicked or gambolled among the pens and folds. She was armed solely with a pliable rod, with which she switched any who would annoy her either by using bad language, or by depriving her of her share of the dairy prochee. Even late as 1770 similar customs prevailed on the Island of Trodda.
Singular Wedding Customs.
19
When a young man went to pay his addresses to his sweetheart, instead of going to her father and declaring his passion, he adjourned to a public-house, and, having made a confidante of his landlady, the object of his attachment was at once sent for. The fair maiden thus honoured seldom refused to come; and the marriage was arranged over constant supplies of ale, whisky, and brandy! The common form of betrothal on such occasions was as follows: the parties linked the thumbs of their right hands, which they pressed together, and vowed fidelity.
“My sweetest May, let love incline ye,
Accept a heart which he designs ye;
And as you cannot, love, regret it,
Syne for its faithfulness receive it.
’Tis proof as shot to birth or money,
But yields to what is sweet and bonny
Sunday Dissipation.
20
Of the many customs at one time prevalent in Scotland, not a few have been altogether discontinued, others again in the late 1800 were slowly but surely dying out. Among the former may be mentioned Sunday Sprees. These were long in high favour and were carried out to great lengths. Sabbath after Sabbath bands of disorderly men would meet in some appointed place, when drinking to great excess was indulged in. The proceedings commenced early in the morning, indeed they were generally the continuation of Saturday night’s spree, and were not brought to a close until late on Sunday evening. It is said also that while the men held their orgies in the open air, the wives had their sprees within doors so that Sabbath desecration was the rule with both sexes. The Forbes Mackenzie Act however put a stop in a great measure to this Sunday debauchery.
Curious Fishing Custom.
21
Superstitions which used to prevail among the villagers of Cockenzie, as in other fishing localities was at the end of the 19th century, owing to the better education of the people, happily dying out, but it was a well known fact that no fisherman would have ventured out to sea had either a pig or a lame man crossed his path when on his way to the beach. Not only so, but had a stranger met him and been the first to greet him of a morning, with a gude mrnin, he would have regarded the interruption as an evil omen, and remained at home for that day at least.
Curious Wooing Custom In the Western Islands.
22
In the good old times, when a tenant’s wife, in the Island of Linnell or the adjoining islands, died, he at once addressed himself to MacNeil of Barra, and begged him to provide him with another wife to manage his affairs. Upon the representation, MacNeil found out a suitable match for him; and, informed of the woman’s name, he immediately went to her with a bottle of whisky, for their entertainment at their marriage, which at once took place. When a tenant died his widow in similar fashion was soon provided with another partner.
Note 1 on paragraph 9
These days, many people wouldn't know when Candlemas Day should be, unless it was printed in their diary. But in days gone by, it was a "Scottish Quarter Day" when agricultural and other rents were paid, so everyone knew that it was 2 February.
Being at a time when the calendar was heading for Spring, certain superstitions grew up about the day, as this poem (still widely repeated in Scotland) shows.
.
Candlemas Day.
If Candlemas Day be dry and fair,
Half the winter's to come and mair.
If Candlemas Day be wet and foul,
Half o' winter's gane at Yule.
http://www.rampantscotland.com/poetry/blpoems_candlemas.htm
Paragraphs have been numbered for ease of referencing and indexing.
Procuring Silver Spoons
1
Parliament Close, Edinburgh, being the well known resort of the Goldsmiths, it was here in the early 1800s and before that, country couples came for the purchase of their silver spoons on entering upon holy matrimony. In olden times it was quite customary in the country for intending bridegrooms to take a journey of a few weeks previous to their marriage to the Parliament Close to purchase their siller spoons . This important transaction occasioned two journeys: one to select the spoons and furnish the initials to be marked upon them; the other to receive and pay for them.
Singular Custom in Connection with the Office of Handman at Dumfries.
2
The following singular custom formerly existed in Dumfries:—The country hangman went through the market every market day furnished with a brass ladle or large spoon, pushed it into the mouth of every sack of meal, corn, etc., and carried it off full. The small quantity of meal so abstracted was termed a “lock”, and, when spoken of, the hangman was frequently alluded to as the “lockman”. When the farmers refused any longer to comply with this custom, the matter was brought before the law courts, and the hangman was found to have a right to the perquisite of office. In consequence of this decision, many of the farmers refused for a long time to send their meal and corn to this market.
Old Customs at Lanark
3
Mr. Chambers, in his “Popular Rhymes of Scotland", gives the following amusing account of Lanark in the olden time. It is reported that the burgh of Lanark was in former days so poor, that the single flesher butcher, of the town, who also exercised the calling of a weaver, in order to employ his spare time, would never dream of killing a sheep until he had received orders for the entire animal beforehand. Ere commencing the work of slaughter he would call on the minister, the Provost, and the town council, and prevail upon them to take shares. But if no purchaser appeared for the fourth quarter, the sheep received a respite until such could be found. The bellman, or shallyman, as he is called there, used to parade the streets of Lanark shouting aloud the following advertisement:-
Bell-ell-ell
There’s a fat sheep to kill!
A leg for the Provost
And one for the priest.
The Baillies and Deacons
They’ll take the neist;
And if the fourth leg we cannot sell
The sheep it maun leeve and gae back
Tae the hill
Funeral Services
4
The following orders were formerly observed in many parts of Scotland at the funerals of all persons who aimed at respectability of station. In “bidding to the burial”, no hour was mentioned, as ten in the morning was understood to be the time of assembling, and two or three in the afternoon as that of “lifting”, and the intervening time was occupied in treating with “services” the various individuals as they arrived; these services being interspersed with admonitions, lengthened prayers and graces, when the mingled worship and entertainment terminated, the people proceeded to the churchyard after a scout stationed on a rising ground in the neighbourhood, gave intimation that no additional mourner was seen approaching the place of meeting. The following was the regular succession of the services:
1st Service —Bread and cheese with ale and porter.
2nd ” —Glass of rum with “burial bread”.
3rd ” —Pipes filled with tobacco. To prepare the pipes was one of the duties of the
women who sat at the late-wake.
4th ” —Glass of port wine with cake.
5th ” —Glass of sherry with cake.
6th ” —Glass of whiskey
7th ” —Glass of wine not specified
8th ” —Thanks returned for the whole.
After which the service was renewed as soon as another individual made his appearance.
Some Old Customs at Wick
5
It was a custom for people to visit the Chapel of St. Tears, Wick, dedicated to the Holy Innocents, on St. Innocent’s day, and leave in it bread and cheese as an offering to the souls of the children slain by Herod. Till within a few years ago, the inhabitants of Mirelandorn used to visit the Kirk of Moss every Christmas before sunrise, placing on a stone - bread and cheese, and a silver coin, which, as they alleged, disappeared in some mysterious manner.
Shooting For the Siller Gun At Dumfries
6
James I presented Dumfries with a silver gun subsequently celebrated by a festival. Its most important aspect was termed the “Drinking”. The consequence is, that the whole scene becomes one of riot and outrage. To show that people are not prevented from shooting when in a state of intoxication, a case is recorded of a man having once fired, when so overcome by liquor, that the gun was held for him by his friends, and yet he hit the mark, and was declared victor, though it was said, he was not aware of his good fortune, nor conscious of the honours that were paid him till next morning. In his ballad of the “Siller Gun”, John Mayne has celebrated the annual commemoration of the festival. The following verses, are illustrative of the orgies practised on the occasion:
“Louder grew the busy hum
Of friends rejoicing as they come,
Wi’ double vis the drummers drum
The pint stoups clatter,
And bowls o’negus, milk, and rum
Flew round like water”.
The Maiden Feast
7
In some parts of Perthshire it was until about 1880 the custom to give what was called a Maiden Feast, upon the finishing of the harvest; as a preparation for which the last handful of corn reaped in the field was called the Maiden. It was generally so contrived that this fell into the hands of one of the prettiest girls in the field; it was then decked up with ribbons, and brought home in triumph to the sound of bagpipes and fiddles. A good dance was given to the reapers, and the evening was devoted to merriment. Afterwards the “Maiden” was dressed out, generally in the form of a cross, and hung up, with the date attached to it in some conspicuous part of the house..
.
Corn dollies are part of the activities within at least one Highland Folk Museum -
http://www.highlandfolk.com/gaelic/activities.php
Old Custom At Hawick
8a
On the event of a death occurring in the parish of Hawick, it was formerly the custom for one of the burgh officers to proceed through the different districts of the town, ringing his bell, and intimating the death; which intimation was accompanied by a general invitation to the funeral. The bell was then taken to the house of mourning, and placed on the bed where the dead body lay, and in a position from which it was deemed sacrilegious to remove it, until the time appointed for the interment.
Cock-Fighting At Westruther
8b
In the days of cock-fighting, and other equally barbarous sports, the school-boys of Westruther were accustomed to amuse themselves with cock-fighting on Fastern’s eve—each bringing a cock trained for the purpose, and the victor in the conquest had, besides the honour of the conquest, the burden imposed upon him of paying for a football, which ended the sport of the day. This barbarous amusement with which Fastern’s eve was ushered in, was discontinued about 1840. The more innocent football game, so closely connected with it, was also gradually relinquished. The matches often consisted of more than an hundred on each side. Sometimes the whole parish turned out, but generally the battle was fought between the married and unmarried men.
Old Candlemas Customs
9
There was a curious custom of old standing in Scotland in connexion with Candlemas Day [see note 1] . On that day it was until round 1870 a universal custom in some parts of the country for the children attending school to make small presents of money to their teachers. The master sits at his desk or table exchanging for the moment his usual authoritative look for one of bland civility, and each child goes up in turn and lays the offering down before him. In some schools it used to be customary for the teacher on the conclusion of the offerings to make a bowl of punch, and each urchin was regaled with a glass, and a biscuit. The latter part of the day was generally devoted to what was called a Candlemas bleeze or blaze, namely, the conflagration of any piece of furze which might exist in their neighbourhood, or, were that wanting, of an artificial bonfire.
Farmers’ Custom At Elgin
10
In the middle of June, many of the farmers at Elgin, formerly went round their corn with burning torches, in honour of the Cerealia. At the full moon in March, they cut withes off the mistletoe or ivy, made circles of them, kept them all year, and pretended to cure illness with them. At marriages and baptisms, they made a procession round the church with the sun, because the sun was the immediate object of the Druids’ worship.
Funeral Customs At Campsie.
11
It was formerly the custom in the Campsie district, when the head of a family died, to invite all the inhabitants to attend the funeral. The visitors were served seated on boards in the barn, and by way of commencement were supplied with ale, then followed whisky, after this came shortbread, then some other kind of liquor, then a piece of currant bread, and a third supply either of whisky or wine.
12
After this came bread and cheese, pipes and tobacco. This feast was called a service; sometimes it was repeated, in which case it was called a double service. However distant any part of the parish was from the place of interment, it was customary for the attendants to carry the coffin on hand-spokes. The mode of invitation was by a special messenger. This was styled “bidding to the funeral”. No person was invited by letter. The form of words used were, —“You are desired to come to ——’s funeral to-morrow against ten o’clock.’ Although asked for that early hour the funeral never took place until the evening. It was customary for them to have two Lykewakes, when the young friends and neighbours watched the corpse. These were merry or sorrowful according to the position or rank of the deceased.
The Fiery Cross
13
When a chieftain wished to summon his clan on any sudden or important emergency, he killed a goat, and, making a cross of light wood, burned its extremities in the fire, and then extinguished the flames in the animal’s blood. This was called the Fiery Cross, also Creau Toigh, or the Cross of Shame, because disobedience to what the symbol implied inferred infamy. This cross was transferred from hand to hand, and sped through the chief’s territories with incredible velocity. At sight of the Fiery Cross, every man from 16 to 60 was obliged to repair at once to the appointed place of meeting. He who neglected the summons exposed himself to the penalties of fire and sword, which were emblematically denoted by the bloody and burned marks, upon the fiery herald of woe. The goat was not used for food.
Harvest Custom in Skye
14
The following custom prevailed in the Island of Skye during the course of the 1700s century. The farmer who had first finished his reaping, sent a man or a maiden, with a bundle of corn to his next neighbour, who had not yet reaped down his harvest. He, in his turn, when finished, sent a similar bundle to his neighbour, who was behind with his work, and so on until all the corn was cut down. This sheaf was called an gaolbir bhaeagh, and was intended to convey a rebuke to the farmer for being so slow in comparison with his neighbours. The person who took upon himself the task of leaving the an gaolbir bhaeagh at the house of the dilatory farmer, was obliged to make good his retreat in case of his being caught, otherwise he would have experienced a sound thrashing for his pains.
Drinking Custom In the Clan Macleod
15
At Dunvegan Castle, Island of Skye, is still preserved the large horn known as Rory More’s horn. It holds rather more than a bottle and a half. Every Laird of Macleod was, it is said, obliged on his coming of age, in proof of his manhood, to drain it full of claret, without once laying it down.
The Old Custom of Going a-Rocking
16
It was formerly customary in the West of Scotland for women, when invited to a social meeting at a neighbour’s house, to take with them rocks, or distaffs, which being very portable, proved no incumbrance to them on these occasions. Hence the phrase of going a rocking. Burns commences one of his songs with an allusion to this custom—
“On Fasten’s e’en (Shrove Tuesday) we had a rocking.”
Curious Belief Regarding Herrings.
17
It was formerly asserted that if a quarrel happened on the coast where herrings were caught, and blood was shed, the herrings went away and never returned throughout that season.
18
Some time ago the natives of some of the Western Islands firmly believed in the existence of the gruagach, a female spectre of the class of brownies to whom the dairymaids made frequent libations of milk. The gruagach was said to be an innocent being who frolicked or gambolled among the pens and folds. She was armed solely with a pliable rod, with which she switched any who would annoy her either by using bad language, or by depriving her of her share of the dairy prochee. Even late as 1770 similar customs prevailed on the Island of Trodda.
Singular Wedding Customs.
19
When a young man went to pay his addresses to his sweetheart, instead of going to her father and declaring his passion, he adjourned to a public-house, and, having made a confidante of his landlady, the object of his attachment was at once sent for. The fair maiden thus honoured seldom refused to come; and the marriage was arranged over constant supplies of ale, whisky, and brandy! The common form of betrothal on such occasions was as follows: the parties linked the thumbs of their right hands, which they pressed together, and vowed fidelity.
“My sweetest May, let love incline ye,
Accept a heart which he designs ye;
And as you cannot, love, regret it,
Syne for its faithfulness receive it.
’Tis proof as shot to birth or money,
But yields to what is sweet and bonny
Sunday Dissipation.
20
Of the many customs at one time prevalent in Scotland, not a few have been altogether discontinued, others again in the late 1800 were slowly but surely dying out. Among the former may be mentioned Sunday Sprees. These were long in high favour and were carried out to great lengths. Sabbath after Sabbath bands of disorderly men would meet in some appointed place, when drinking to great excess was indulged in. The proceedings commenced early in the morning, indeed they were generally the continuation of Saturday night’s spree, and were not brought to a close until late on Sunday evening. It is said also that while the men held their orgies in the open air, the wives had their sprees within doors so that Sabbath desecration was the rule with both sexes. The Forbes Mackenzie Act however put a stop in a great measure to this Sunday debauchery.
Curious Fishing Custom.
21
Superstitions which used to prevail among the villagers of Cockenzie, as in other fishing localities was at the end of the 19th century, owing to the better education of the people, happily dying out, but it was a well known fact that no fisherman would have ventured out to sea had either a pig or a lame man crossed his path when on his way to the beach. Not only so, but had a stranger met him and been the first to greet him of a morning, with a gude mrnin, he would have regarded the interruption as an evil omen, and remained at home for that day at least.
Curious Wooing Custom In the Western Islands.
22
In the good old times, when a tenant’s wife, in the Island of Linnell or the adjoining islands, died, he at once addressed himself to MacNeil of Barra, and begged him to provide him with another wife to manage his affairs. Upon the representation, MacNeil found out a suitable match for him; and, informed of the woman’s name, he immediately went to her with a bottle of whisky, for their entertainment at their marriage, which at once took place. When a tenant died his widow in similar fashion was soon provided with another partner.
Note 1 on paragraph 9
These days, many people wouldn't know when Candlemas Day should be, unless it was printed in their diary. But in days gone by, it was a "Scottish Quarter Day" when agricultural and other rents were paid, so everyone knew that it was 2 February.
Being at a time when the calendar was heading for Spring, certain superstitions grew up about the day, as this poem (still widely repeated in Scotland) shows.
.
Candlemas Day.
If Candlemas Day be dry and fair,
Half the winter's to come and mair.
If Candlemas Day be wet and foul,
Half o' winter's gane at Yule.
http://www.rampantscotland.com/poetry/blpoems_candlemas.htm