Smooring the Hearth: A Gaelic Night Blessing of the Fire

In the Gaelic-speaking Highlands and Islands the peat fire was kept alive day and night, and the last task before sleep was to "smoor" it — to bank it down under ashes so that it would smoulder until morning. Alexander Carmichael recorded that the woman of the house did this with a short prayer, dividing the embers into three in the names of the Trinity. It is one of the best-loved blessings of the Carmina Gadelica, and it adapts easily as a nightly prayer for the safety and peace of a home.

How to do it§

With a real hearth or stove§

1. Gather the embers. Following Carmichael's description, spread the glowing embers evenly and draw them into a circle on the hearth.
2. Divide the circle in three. Lay three small pieces of peat or wood across it so that the circle is divided into three sections meeting at a small heap in the middle.
3. Name each piece. The first is laid in the name of the God of Life, the second in the name of the God of Peace, the third in the name of the God of Grace — the formula Carmichael gives in his notes.
4. Cover with ashes. Cover the whole circle with ashes, enough to subdue but not extinguish the fire, in the name of the Three of Light.
5. Say the blessing. Stand or kneel and say a short prayer over the fire. Carmichael's texts ask the sacred Three to save, shield and surround the hearth, the house and the household this night and every night. You may say it in those words or your own.
6. Follow your stove's instructions. With a modern closed stove, close the doors and set the air control as the manufacturer directs; the prayer and the threefold naming are what matter.

With a candle§

1. Light a single candle in a secure, heat-proof holder at the end of the evening.
2. Name the household — everyone who will sleep under the roof tonight, and any absent.
3. Say the threefold words, touching the table three times: "in the name of the God of Life; in the name of the God of Peace; in the name of the God of Grace."
4. Ask for protection through the night in a sentence of your own: "Keep this house, this hearth and all within it until the morning."
5. Put the candle out with a snuffer, "smooring" it rather than blowing it. Do not leave any candle burning overnight.

Origins and history§

Carmichael's first volume of Carmina Gadelica (1900) includes several smooring prayers (Gaelic smàladh an teine, "smothering the fire"), with a note describing exactly how the embers were spread, divided by three peats and covered. He presents the custom as universal in the households he knew: the fire was the centre of the black house, often in the middle of the floor, and letting it go out was both inconvenient and unlucky. In the morning the fire was uncovered and blown back into life with a corresponding kindling prayer, which asked that the love of God be kindled in the heart as the flame was kindled on the hearth.

The smooring blessing shows the character of Gaelic popular devotion: practical work and prayer were not separated. The prayer is addressed to the Trinity and often to Mary and Brigid — Brigid being, among other things, a saint of the hearth and household; see St Brigid's cross. The threefold structure appears throughout the collection.

As with all of Carmichael's material, scholars note that he improved and arranged what he heard, and that his English is a literary rendering. The basic practice, though, is widely attested elsewhere in Scotland and Ireland, where "raking" or "smooring" the fire for the night with a prayer was common. In Ireland the equivalent was known as coigilt na tine, and similar prayers were said as the ashes were raked over. See Celtic religion and folk Christianity.

Variations§

• Irish raking of the fire: a short prayer such as "I save this fire as Christ saved everyone," said while covering the embers, is recorded in Irish folklore collections.
• The kindling blessing: the morning counterpart, said while uncovering and reviving the fire.
• Family use: some households say the threefold words together at bedtime with no fire at all.

Safety and good sense§

• Never leave an open fire, stove or candle unattended or burning overnight unless the appliance is designed for it and installed correctly; follow the manufacturer's instructions.
• Keep a working smoke alarm and carbon-monoxide alarm in any room with a fire or stove, and have chimneys swept.
• Ashes stay hot for a long time; never put them in plastic bins.
• A prayer for the house is no substitute for fire safety, which is itself a good way of honouring the hearth.

Sources and further reading§

• Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations — Alexander Carmichael, 1900
• The Celtic Vision: Selections from the Carmina Gadelica — Esther de Waal, 1988
• The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs — Kevin Danaher, 1972
• The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain — Ronald Hutton, 1996