Alexander Carmichael wrote that smooring is a Scots word that means “smothering” or “subduing.” Smooring prayers were said every night as the hearth fire was carefully covered over with ashes, which was meant to limit the amount of oxygen available so the fire would smoulder gently throughout the night instead of burning brightly.
Subduing the fire, instead of putting it out completely, made it easier to revive in the morning, in a time when matches or lighters weren’t as widely available (if at all, in fact) and having to light a fire from scratch was far more finnicky and labour intensive than it is today.
It was also done for safety reasons – so the fire wouldn’t have to be completely extinguished, but it could still be left to its own devices while the household slept. By reducing the strength of the fire it was less likely to need tending to during the night, but it would also lessen the risk that the fire might end up burning out of control.
With these matters of safety (and convenience) in mind, it’s perhaps only natural that the act of smooring came to be ritualised – being accompanied by certain actions and prayers. Most of the prayers that have survived from an Irish or Scottish context were recorded in the nineteenth century, and the basic style and form of the different versions that have survived up to the present day are so similar that it seems obvious they all share a common origin. An Irish example of the rite can be seen in the film Dancing at Lughnasa).
Although the prayers themselves may not be especially old, the protective and ritualistic nature of the practice can be traced back to the ninth century, at the very least, since the practice of smooring the hearth each night forms a key part of the plot of Echtra Nerai (‘The Adventures of Nera’). In a broader sense, the same basic practice can also be found in Norway, where similar kinds of prayers are recorded, as well as ancient Greece and Rome. It’s possible, then, that smooring may have its origins in a much older Indo-European setting than the surviving evidence historical can suggest.
Although the act of smooring in a literal sense is no longer necessary – since most of us don’t have a hearth that we rely on for such everyday activities as cooking, cleaning, and providing heat – the protective principles that underpin the practice are still relevant.
As a result, some Gaelic Polytheists like to finish their day with a symbolic “smooring” prayer. Even if we don’t have a hearth to smoor on a daily basis, we can say the prayer as we secure the house for the night, and the prayer that’s offered below has been adapted from one of the examples that was originally published in the third volume of the Carmina Gadelica. In this particular example the smooring is referred to as “smùradh” (which I presume is a Gaelicisation of the Scots smooring?); it’s more usually called smàladh in Scottish Gaelic.
As you’re symbolically snuffing out a candle, or making your way to bed, then – locking up for the night or just heading to your room (or whatever) – you can say:
| Smùraidh mi an teine Mar a smùradh Brìghde mìngheal. Ainm naomh na Brìghde, Bhith mu’n teine, bhith mu’n taigh, Bhith mu’n teaghlach uile. | I will smoor the fire As bright and gentle Brigid would smoor. Brigid’s sacred name, Be on the fire, be on the house, Be on the household all. |
Where possible, any actions that may accompany this prayer – securing the home, heading to bed – should be performed in a deiseal (sunwise) manner.
Notes
Smùraidh mi an tula -> Smùraidh mi an teine. Carmichael frequently gives tula to mean hearth. This is clearly intended to be poetic, since the word comes from tulach, meaning (primarily) “Hillock, knoll, mound,” and during the prayer here you’d traditionally make a small mound in covering the embers with ash to make sure they burn very slowly. Since tula seems to be obsolete, I’ve chosen more appropriate, modern phrasing (that can also apply if you want to symbolically snuff out a candle as a focus for the rite, for example).
Brighde Muime (Brigit the Fostermother) -> Brìghde mìngheal. According to legend in both Scotland and Ireland, Brigit is considered to be the foster-mother of Christ. It is said that Brigit was present in Bethlehem at the time that Mary and Joseph arrived, and Brigit gave them food and drink as they struggled to find a place to stay. Then she helped deliver Jesus after it became apparent that Mary was in labour. When the time came for Mary to go to the temple for her purification, Brigit went in front of her to distract the crowd that had gathered to see the mother of Christ. It is for all of this that Mary made Brigit her son’s foster-mother (a story that explains why Là Fhèill Brìde, or Imbolc, comes the day before Candlemas).
Since this tradition is obviously Christian in origin a more neutral epithet has been chosen in place of identifying Brigit as the foster-mother of Christ – Brìghde mìngheal (“Bright and gentle Brigit”). This is another epithet that appears elsewhere in the Carmina Gadelica.
bhith mu’n tán (“be on the herd”) -> bhith mu’n taigh. Carmichael gives “herd” in the translation, but this meaning isn’t found in the dictionaries, as far as I can tell. Dwelly gives a meaning of “Country, region, territory. 2 Ground, land, earth,” or “1 time 2 season” Perhaps herd is meant in the poetic sense of those that graze on the land. Either way it’s probably not all that relevant, so I’ve changed it to taigh, “house,” to accommodate the more likely circumstances of most people saying this prayer.
Bhith mu’n àrdraich uile (“Be on the household all”) -> Bhith mu’n teaghlach uile. Carmichael uses ardraich/ardrach a few times in the CG but this means “an eight-oared galley” and doesn’t make much sense in this context. It is presumably a typo for fàrdrach (fhàrdrach), which is an alternative spelling for fàrdach, meaning “sf see fàrdach. Teasraig an taigh ‘s an fhàrdach, protect the house and household.”
Eòlas 