Folklore - Birth

Among Scottish beliefs concerning birth, the best known is one that appears to be peculiarly our own - the conviction that the seventh child of a seventh child will always grow up to be `fay,' or, at least, to turn out to to be `no canny.' A child born at midnight is, also, regarded as being one who will live to be `different' either for good or for ill. Usually, the child born at midnight, or in the `wee sma' oors,' is expected to manifest in later life some peculiar brilliance of intellect, even though such brilliance should be allied to a little wildness. Our National Poet's birth gives an excellent example of this particular belief's coming true on at least one occasion: was not Burns born in the early hours? When a child is first taken from the room in which it was born, it must be taken upwards, and never down. If the child is born in a ground floor room it must be carried up-stairs; if born upstairs, it must be taken still higher to an attic, or even to the roof; but if neither of these movements is possible, there is a subterfuge that will suffice: a chair or a box, or some other raised obstacle must be placed in the doorway of the room, and whoever carries the child on its first short journey must make the necessary ascent. The newly born child, in the first few days of its life, is exposed to the great danger of being stolen by the fairies, who are for ever on the look out for innocent babies, that they may take them in exchange for some of their evil ones. Something of this belief in the `Changeling' is known all over Scotland, and, in an oblique fashion even to those modern mothers who may never have heard of the actual superstition itself. How often do we hear a mother saying of a wayward son or daughter: `That ane's nane o' mine'? meaning, though she may not recognise the significance of what she says, that the youngster though of her body is not of her spirit. Certain fathers, of course, may make use of the expression, with a much more practical implication behind it! But we are not concerned with such `beliefs' as that!

To avoid the possibility of the child being stolen by the fairies, there are, fortunately, a number of simple precautions that can be taken - any one of which is a sure safeguard: a barrier may be erected round the house, which the fairies are powerless to pass: someone, preferably the father, must walk seven times round the building sunwise, or deiseil. Obviously, this cannot be done to safeguard a child born in a tenement flat, high up and surrounded by hundreds of other flats; but, no doubt, in such cases no precaution is necessary: I cannot see fairies in Gorgie, or in the Gorbals; nor even in certain parts of, say, Dundee, or Aberdeen! However, there are other means of circumventing the sithichean than by building an invisible barrier. A knife placed in the cradle will do the trick; and care must be taken not to carry fire nor light out of the house until the child is at least a week old. And the newly-born child must on no account be placed in anything but a borrowed cradle at first. After its first sleep in the borrowed cradle a new one may be got. To ensure that a child will never know poverty, its right hand must be left severely alone at its first washing. And all visitors, seeing the child for the first time, should place a silver coin in its hand. If the child looses the coin it will grow up to be open-handed and generous, but if it grabs tightly it will be a 'grippy' man or woman. It is unlucky to weigh or measure an infant newly-born. And a cat, being an emissary of the Powers of Evil, must never be left alone in a room with the child. Nor should the cradle ever be rocked empty - either before or after the child is born. The name that the child is to be given must never be spoken aloud until the minister speaks it at the christening ceremony. If anyone asks, they must not be told; nor must the minister be told by word of mouth - he must be handed a slip of paper with the name written on it when he asks for the name, or names, tbat the child is to have. If the minister objects to being made party to such a superstitious practice, there is not, apparently, any means of dodging him. Presumably, the risk must be taken. When on the way to its christening, the child must be carried, at least some part of the way, by a young unmarried woman, who must have with her something to eat--usually a piece of bread and cheese - which she must present to the first man she meets, no matter who or what he may he. The mother of a newly-born child must never leave the house after sunset until such time as she is `kirkit.' If she does, she runs the risk of being carried off by the fairies to nurse one of their weaklings, for an ailing fairy child can only be restored to health by being fed on human milk.

Getting away a little from birth: when a child `casts' its first tooth, the tooth must be put in salt, wrapped in paper or a `bit cloot,' and secreted in a mouse-hole.