AGAINST DROWNING AND IN WAR.
(Sian roi’ bhàthadh ’s an Cogadh.)
A native of the Island of Coll, who served in the British army from the taking of Copenhagen, throughout the Peninsular and continental wars, and only died this year (1874), a most kind-hearted and powerfully built man, attributed his safe return from the wars in some measure to having learned this charm in his youth:
“The charm Mary put round her Son,
And Bridget put in her banners,
And Michael put in his shield,
And the Son of God before His throne of clouds;
A charm art thou against arrow,
A charm art thou against sword,
A charm against the red-tracked bullet;
An island art thou in the sea,
A rock art thou on land;
And greater be the fear these have
Of the body, round which the charm goes,
In presence of Colum-Kil
With his mantle round thee.”