The Imbolc Ritual of the 'Brat Bride'

Plus details of the Imbolc Gathering

Images: (Top right) Joe McGowan, Sligo Heritage. Others - Jude Lally

It’s a bitterly cold morning, with clear skies and a deep frost that crunches underfoot. The rising sun highlights the snow on Ben Lomond and the surrounding mountains with a brush of brilliant bright pink and orange highlights.

Jackdaws take flight off the roof, tumbling and playing, their cheery popping calls as a small flock of pigeons race by swerving and dipping reveling in flight and each other’s company. 

We are deep in winter, cycling towards Imbolc and Brighid’s return to the world. I love the above photo of a woman putting out her brat. Laid out on Imbolc eve, the cloth would have sat overnight so as Brighid returned to the world the cloth would soak up her blessing.

The woman has on her best coat for the photo, and in these freezing temperatures, it would have been laid out over the bedcovers for added warmth. I love how carefully she is placing the cloth. It reminds me that although many of my ancestors would have done this, I particularly think of my Great Aunt Mary who lived had a small farm in Dungannon, in Northern Ireland. She never married and pretty much bartered for everything she needed. She kept chickens and a few cows.

Mary walked with a limp, I think she had one leg slightly shorter than the other, so it was assumed that Mary would never marry. And she didn’t. I recall meeting her when she came to visit her sister (my gran) in Scotland, but I didn’t ever visit her on the farm. Years later my mum recalls going back to visit and the house was now a cow byre, with Mary’s furniture stored up in the rafters. The house has long gone but I’d still like to go back and see and feel the lay of the land.

I always picture Mary putting out her brat, perhaps the same piece of cloth she put out year after year. A piece of cloth that she might lay across the back of the cow who was giving birth - akin to the touch of Brighid herself, associated with midwives and new life coming into the world.

Perhaps she used it herself for a sore head or perhaps an aching foot or leg, or put it in her bag for some journey into town she wasn’t looking forward to. Most of all I think of her, doing as I do on Imbolc eve, to go outside whatever the weather and feel the magic in the air. As if the world holds its breath for Brighid’s return.

Folklore of the Brat Bhride

The 'Brat Bhride' translates to the cloth of Brighid's cloak and the tradition involves leaving out a piece of cloth, or clothing after sunset on Imbolc Eve. The cloth might have hung on a tree or bush or a window ledge, in the morning it was important to collect the cloth before sunrise so that the dew-soaked into the cloth hadn’t evaporated.

This is one of my favorite Imbolc traditions - the magic associated with it and in the stillness of the night. I often envisage a flicker of northern lights announcing her presence as her very presence blesses everything in her path, the pregnant ewes, the melting snow, the gushing spring, houses and lochs, tall towering Ben’s (mountains) cattle, and the cloth and objects laid out for her – strung out in gardens, across bushes and on trees.

Harris Tweed on an Imbolc morning - with ice crystals

The Magic of the Dew

It was important to collect your brat before sunrise as its healing qualities lay in the dew which was soaked into its fibers. The brat would have been stored in a special place, and not be washed which would wash out the dew and so remove the protection.

The blessings remained on the cloth for a year and as it was cloth it was easily portable and so could be carried in a pocket, or pinned to the inside of your coat.

Healing Qualities

The brat was seen as being particularly useful in combatting particular ailments such as headaches, sore eyes, toothaches, and in helping sick animals. It was used by midwives who aided both women and often animals in giving birth, and so when complications arose the midwife would have her special cloth, blessed by Brighid who was both a matron of midwives and healers, but also had a special affinity with cows and sheep.

A strip of your brat cloth would even be used as protection, and tied to a tree if a storm was approaching and offered protection to the house, those inside, and animals in the barn and surrounding fields.

This post continues for paid subscribers plus details of our Imbolc Gathering this Sunday, 2nd Feb