Steeping The Withies

"There is an expression in Gaelic “It is time to steep the withies” (“_Tha ’n t-àm bhi bogadh nan gad_”), meaning, it is time for one to leave or make his escape from the company he is in. This expression is said to have arisen in this way. A little undersized man and good archer was sitting on a stool by his own fireside, when enemies intent on securing his person came in to the house. He sat quietly, but his wife going backwards and forwards through the house, and being ready-witted, when she understood the character of the intruders, gave a slap on the ear to her husband saying, as if he were merely the herd boy, “It is time to steep the withies” (“_Tha ’n t-àm bhi bogadh nan gad_”). He immediately left the house, and she managed to put his bow and arrows out at the window. He having stationed himself in a favourable locality did not allow a single one of his enemies to leave the house without killing them with his arrows, one by one as they came out at the door. Regarding the truth of this story it is noticeable, that uniformly throughout the Highlands the expression, “It is time to steep the withies” (“_Tha ’n t-àm bhi bogadh nan gad_”), means, not that it is time to prepare for action, but that it is time for one to make himself scarce. A story of the same kind is told of King Alfred the Great, that he escaped from his enemies in somewhat the same way. In olden times the harnessing of animals for carrying burdens, ploughing, etc., was done by means of withies made of willow, sea-bent,[7] or other accessible material, iron being scarce and difficult to procure, and these withies had to be steeped before work with them was commenced. It required a good deal of acquaintance with the work before the horse was fully equipped with pack-saddle, creels, and other equipments for which withies were necessary, and the only means available. The names of some of these withies still survive _e. g._ the _Gad-tarraich_ is the Gaelic name still in use, although the material is leather, and not withies, to denote a belly-band."