Traditions in Petty
I was telling you about old customs in the parish of Petty and
Ardersier. In the New Statistical Account of Scotland, there is an
account of weddings in that area. Schoolchildren would put a barrier in
front of the main door.
To get in, the bridegroom would have to give fourpence to the children
to buy a new football. If he wasn’t willing to give the money, he would
have to kick the old football. Where? Over the roof of the church! If
he didn’t do that, one of the lads would be permitted to take his shoes
from him. And the children would then allow the people into the church.
They had another custom that was unusual. When there was a funeral, the
people would run to the church. That was including even those carrying
the coffin. Often, the carriers would fall when they were carrying the
coffin.
That practice was famous in the other parishes around Petty. They were
calling it ‘the Petty Step’.
When the Rev. John Grant was writing his account in the middle of the
nineteenth century, the Petty Step had gone out of existence. The
people of Petty, according to the minister, were just as slow and
mannerly at funerals as the people in other parishes. However, a few
years before that, there was a funeral for a woman who was reputed to
be a witch. Her name was ‘the wife of Cameron of the peas’. At her
funeral, some of the lads did the Petty Step.
I learned another thing about that area. People were very familiar with a
plant called ‘Patrick’s quaich’-
Plantago major
. But that wasn’t their own name for the plant. They were calling it
slàn-lus
(ie healing plant). In other areas,
slàn-lus
stands for the ribwort plantain. Anyway, the people of Petty would use
cuach Phàdraig
– or
slàn-lus
– for healing wounds. It was, therefore, worthy of the name ‘healing
plant’.
Cleachdaidhean ann am Peitidh
Bha mi ag innse dhuibh mu sheann chleachdaidhean ann an sgìre Pheitidh is
Àird nan Saor. Ann an Nua-chunntas Staitistigeach na h-Alba, tha cunntas
ann mu bhainnsean anns an sgìre sin. Bhiodh clann-sgoile a’ cur bacadh air
beulaibh an dorais mhòir.
Airson faighinn a-steach dh’fheumadh fear na bainnse ceithir sgillinn a
thoirt don chloinn airson ball-coise ùr a cheannach. Mura robh e deònach an
t-airgead a thoirt seachad, dh’fheumadh e an seann bhall-coise a bhreabadh.
Càite? Thairis air mullaich na h-eaglaise! Mura dèanadh e sin, bhiodh cead
aig fear de na gillean a bhrògan a thoirt bhuaithe. Agus leigeadh a’ chlann
na daoine a-steach don eaglais an uair sin.
Bha cleachdadh eile aca a bha annasach. Nuair a bha tiodhlacadh ann, bhiodh
na daoine a’ ruith don eaglais. Bha sin a’ gabhail a-steach eadhon
luchd-giùlain na ciste. Gu tric, bhiodh an luchd-giùlain a’ tuiteam fhad ’s
a bha iad a’ giùlan na ciste.
Bha an cleachdadh sin ainmeil anns na sgìrean eile mun chuairt air Peitidh.
Bha iad a’ gabhail Ceum Pheitidh ‘the Petty step’ air.
Nuair a bha an t-Urramach Iain Grannd a’ sgrìobhadh a chunntais ann am
meadhan an naoidheimh linn deug, bha Ceum Pheitidh air a dhol à bith. Bha
muinntir Pheitidh, a rèir a’ mhinisteir, a cheart cho mall is modhail aig
tiodhlacaidhean ’s a bha daoine ann am paraistean eile. Ge-tà, beagan
bhliadhnaichean roimhe sin, bha tiodhlacadh aig boireannach aig an robh
cliù mar bhana-bhuidseach. ’S e an t-ainm a bha oirre Bean Chamshronach nam Peasaireach. Aig a tiodhlacadh, rinn cuid de
na balaich Ceum Pheitidh.
Dh’ionnsaich mi rudeigin eile mun sgìre sin. Bha daoine gu math eòlach air
lus air a bheil
cuach Phàdraig
no
greater plantain – Plantago major
. Ach chan e sin an t-ainm a bha aca fhèin air an lus. Bha iad a’ gabhail
slàn-lus
air. Ann an sgìrean eile, tha slàn-lus a’ seasamh airson an
ribwort plantain, Plantago lanceolata
. Co-dhiù, bhiodh muinntir Pheitidh a’ cur cuach Phàdraig – no slàn-lus –
gu feum airson lotan a shlànachadh. Bha e airidh, ma-thà, air an ainm
‘slàn-lus’.
