R, ruis, the dwarf elder in Ogham. The rochat, or ... - Rodney Mackay

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goddess. REITEACH, REITEACHADH, the eye-stone, from reidh, smooth, well-ordered; reit, concord, conciliation, that which smooths the way. 1. A device used to remove foreign matter from the eye: "we have two eyestones in Cape Breton -an item so rare and so long out of use it no longer seems to be remembered in Scotland...John Tom Urquhart of Skir Dhu first told us of the eyestone. Later, we met John A. Wilkie of Sugar Loaf. He showed us his eyestone... The eyestone was not originally found in Scotland. They all seem to have come from the far east. They are the colour of flesh and about the size of half a pea. They are said to be the tip of a conch shell. The eyestone is alive, and has to eat - and both men said they kept theirs in an inch and a half of sugar (John A. uses brown). John Tom sometimes feeds his a little rum and he changes the sugar every two or three years. When the highland settlers came to Cape Breton, they brought the eyestone with them. (It) is passed along from father to son...the eyestone would be used to get a splinter out of a man's eye...the eyestone could retrieve other things as well. John A. said, "I was sawing wood at Bay St. Lawrence. I got sawdust in my eye and in the evening it got to be sore. And I said to me, "You better go where the eyestone is tonight." I went and they put me to bed with it. Put it in my eye. And you couldn't notice it. The size of it you'd think it would bother - but it didn't. I woke up and my eye was clear." Both eyestones we've seen have a tiny dot - the centre of a perfect whorl - and when placed in vinegar (for cleaning) one or two bubbles would come out that hole. The patient must sit still or lie down while the eyestone does its work. This is simply so that it will not get lost. In the eye, the eyestone would move around the eyeball searching for the speck. When it comes out it would have the speck, and the eye would be clear." (Down North, pp. 50- 51). Years ago it was a common insult to say that a person
was "two mean to feed an eyestone (see eyesheein)." 2. Espousal to marriage, a ceremony which was also a kind of "smoothing over;" the taking of irritants from the situation. It was formerly held before the banns of marriage were posted and was considered as necessary as the wedding feast. It was "ag obair reitach," working at clearing, the correct way of asking a girls hand in marriage. The last reitach in Cape Breton is believed to have occurred in the 1920's. Reitachs were never held on Fridays (originally in consideration of the fact that this was Frigga's day, a preferred time for Norse invasions). The bridegroom-to-be and an older friend would come to the household of the intended. The father, if he possessed a normal intellect would no what was about, but following the rules of the rite would make no outright mention of marriage. Instead the visitors would pretend that they had come to buy a cow or a horse or a boat, and everything said was double entendre. The prospective groom did very little talking as the father and his representative got down to the real business of the evening. As a matter of form the father was obligated to offer the hand of other daughters, particularly if they happened to be old and ugly. There was always a chance that the swain's bargainer would unwittingly ask for the wrong girl. All but the intended sat at a table loaded with food; she was kept from the room while the representative described the prospects good characteristics and assured the family of his love for the girl. When a bargain was finally struck and the arrangements for a wedding had been made, the girl was permitted to join them..Liquor was then placed on the table and the feast begun. In many instances, especially in pioneer communities, this was the first time the couple had met, and often the contract was broken before the wedding took place. Some young men were too persistent to let their looks prevent the union and often sent a reitach party to
Page 1 and 2: R, ruis, the dwarf elder in Ogham.
Page 3 and 4: RAITHEACH, REITHEACH, covenanting,
Page 5 and 6: eincarnation. It is no accident tha
Page 7 and 8: digging up the latter. Ràth origin
Page 9 and 10: Gaelic for a animal killing pen, bl
Page 11: what the future might hold for him
Page 15 and 16: the Dal Riada of Ulster and Alba, t
Page 17 and 18: knights.” In folklore the word is
Page 19 and 20: kill him while he remained vigorous
Page 21 and 22: Mortal-gods who went "to earth" wer
Page 23 and 24: RIGH-RATH, the Royal fortress or se
Page 25 and 26: to the sacrifice of horses in ancie
Page 27 and 28: arts and crafts. Related to ros, kn
Page 29: ON. runr, Eng. runes. The root is r

R, ruis, the dwarf elder in Ogham. The rochat, or ... - Rodney Mackay

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