Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland / Tales and Traditions Collected Entirely from Oral Sources

by John Gregorson Campbell

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.”

CHARM AGAINST DANGERS IN WAR.

The following is taken from the Gaelic periodical, Cuairtear nam Beann, for January, 1842. It is said to have been got about the year 1800 from an old man in Glenforsa, in Mull.