The birth of a new child is one of the most important events to happen
during ones life. Due to this it is surrounded by superstitions, traditions and rituals.
Here is a small example of the customs practiced in Scotland
Some of the customs are slightly different depending on the area.
I have taken customs from all over rather then one area
The Howdie was the mother-to-be's main attendant.
Howdie is an old Scottish term for "handy woman"
She was usually a local or neighbour and she would act as midwife
and just as important instruct them of the rituals needed to keep both mum and baby safe.
One of her first jobs would be to untie any knots in mum's clothing
and then unlock all windows and doors.
This was believed to help babies passage into the world easier.
Mirrors where turned or covered, so babies soul could not be trapped in them.
For a similar reason all bottles where uncorked.
During the birth to ease the pain of labour the howdie would use herbal mixtures
many of which contained Rowan berries.,
.Rowan was considered to have magical properties and it was a sacred tree
It also gave protection against the evil eye and fairies
As soon as the baby was born the howdie's attentions would turn to it
The first thing she would do was put a protective substance in babies mouth,
this would be whiskey, butter or salt (depending on area).
This was done to ward of the evil eye.
The howdie would then pass round a dish of oatmeal and water
and every woman present would take three spoonfuls.
This was thought to give baby strength and luck.
Tradition has it that the afterbirth should be buried
this was also done by the howdie.
Sometimes a tree was planted in the same spot
and its growth would represent the child's life.
Tall and straight tree......Healthy and strong.
Leafless tree......Infertility.
Sickly tree......Weak and early death.
Every new family would speculate about what the future would hold for the new born
In Scotland it was thought to be lucky
to be born on the first of the month.
The day baby was born was also important as this rhyme shows
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living
But the child that is born on the Sabbath Day
is blithe and bonnie and good and gay
As soon as a baby was born several precautions had to be made to protect it.
A Changling was a mothers worst fear and was considered a danger until the christening
A changling was a fairy baby exchanged for a human baby. (More about changlings in Fairies)
Some of the precaution taken until baby was baptised where,
the new born baby should not be taken from the room of its birth
this would just tempt the fairies and other forces.
For the same reason it was not wise to talk about or praise the new born
The cradle was also important for protection it was made from wood like
Rowan or Oak and had Iron nails, all of these where
said to have fairy repelling properties
The Christening was a very important ceremony for the new baby and the family.
Before the reformation, it was not always possible in rural areas
for the baby to be christened quickly because they had to
wait for the priest to visit the area again.
In these circumstances the family would ask the midwife to do a temporary baptism.
After the reformation the church stated that the christening
had to be done on a Sunday and as soon as possible after the birth.
This served two purposes, firstly
it stopped the danger of the baby being taken away by fairies.
The second was that as soon as the christening was done
the baby was a member of the church and it's soul was then safe.
On the day of the christening the baby was traditional carried to church
by a young unmarried woman, she would carry some food (cheese or bread)
this would be given to the first man she met on the walk to the church.
If he accepted it, the baby would have good luck, if he refused the baby with suffer misfortune.
On arrival at the church the first step was to check if any other babies where being christened,
It was common for more then one child to be christened on the same day
and the order in which it happened was also important.
Girls had to go first, if a boy was first his beard was left in the font
Any girls baptised in the same water would then grow a beard in later life.
It was also lucky if the baby cried when the water was poured over it's head
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