Blithe Meat

Folklore from the Isle of Man, customs and superstitions connected with Birth

From the birth of a child, till after it was baptised, it was customary to keep in the room where the woman was confined, a deck, or wooden hoop, about three or four inches deep, and about twenty inches in diameter, covered with a sheep's skin, and resembling the head of a drum, which was heaped with oaten cakes and cheese, of which all visitors may freely partake, and small pieces of cheese and bread, called blithe meat, were scattered in and about the house for the Fairies. The woman who carried the infant to church for baptism, was also supplied with bread and cheese, to give to the first person she met on the way, in order to preserve her charge from evil influences. After returning from church, the remaining part of the day, and often a great part of the night, was spent in eating and drinking, to which "the whole country round" was invited, and they, in return, gave presents to the child. If, after child-birth, a woman did not recover her usual strength as soon as expected, she was then declared to be the victim of an "Evil Eye." Some neighbour is soon suspected of having given the envenomed glance; and to counteract its malignancy, a square piece was secretly cut out of some part of her garment, and burnt immediately under the nose of the afflicted woman. This was considered an infallible cure.

The baby, also, was supposed to be especially liable to be affected by the "Evil Eye" before baptism, and it was considered that the best way to prevent this was to keep it constantly within the same room in which it was born. Children were also supposed to be much more liable to abduction by Fairies before the same ceremony.  From the time that a woman was delivered of a child, till thanksgiving for her safe recovery was offered up by some divine, or until the consecrated candle which was kept in her room at this time--was burnt, it was deemed requisite, as a protection for herself against the power of evil spirits, that she should keep her husband's trousers beside her in the bed, to prevent her infant being carried off by the Fairies, before being secured from their grasp by baptism. A person was invariably appointed for its special protection, and when she had occasion to leave the child in the cradle she would place the tongs, which must be made of iron, across it till her return.

Another specific to ward off evil from babies was to put salt in their mouths as soon as possible after their birth. In connection with this it may be noted. that, as it was once the custom to expose infants in order that they might die, this practice may have been resorted to as a means of prevention. For, if the child had once partaken of any food, it could not be exposed. It was deemed most unlucky to cut their hair or nails before they were a year old, and, if it was done, the fragments were carefully burned. A posthumous child was supposed to have the gift of second-sight; and the seventh son of a seventh son, and a child born on Hallowe’en had powers of intercourse with the unseen world.

A child born with a caul--a thin membrane covering the head--would probably be notorious in some way. This caul was supposed to be a preventive against shipwreck and drowning, and was accordingly purchased by sailors. This idea of the value of a caul was wide-spread, as would appear from numerous advertisements in the newspapers. One of these, which appeared in the London Times in 1835, was as follows:--"A Child's Caul to be disposed of, a well-known preservative against drowning, &c., price 10 guineas." And a caul has been advertised for sale in a Liverpool paper in this year (1891).