taghairm

There were different kinds of taghairm, of which one was very lately practiſed in Sky. The diviner covered himſelf with a cow's hide, and repaired at night to ſome deep-ſounding cave, whither the perſon who conſulted him followed ſoon after without any attendants. At the mouth of the cave he propoſed aloud the queſtions of which he wanted ſolutions; and the man within pronounced the reſponſes in a tone of voice ſimilar to that which the obs, or pretended dæmons of antiquity, gave from beneath the ground their oracular anſwers. That in the latter days of taghairm the Gaelic diviners pretended to evocate ghoſts, and from them to extort ſolutions of difficulties propoſed, we have no poſitive evidence; […]

The last time the Taigheirm was performed in the Highlands, was in the island of Mull, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the place is still well known to the inhabitants. […] The institution was no doubt of pagan origin, and was a sacrifice offered to the Evil Spirit, in return for which the votaries were entitled to demand two boons. […] The sacrifice consisted of living cats roasted on a spit while life remained, and when the animal expired, another was put on in its place.