SparksAbout the work
A closer look.
A short almanac of six moments from the old Gaelic calendar, each one written out with the source words and one practice you can do at home. The six: the Samhain bannock broken and thrown over each shoulder ("Here to thee, wolf, spare my sheep; there to thee, fox, spare my lambs"); the meal-chest swept clean so the carlin has no loose meal to sit in; Bride's day on the first of February, when the serpent comes out of the hole; the last sheaf of the harvest, maiden or carlin depending on how the year ran; Michaelmas and the smaller cake baked for whoever is away, given to a stranger; and the equinox, the turning the old calendar never named. 1,600 words. One plain page, 11 KB, opens in any browser, no account and no internet needed once saved. Quotations are Carmichael's, from Carmina Gadelica (1900), with the volume and the archive.org scan named so you can follow the trail. Two entries cite other sources by name. Every practice is marked as mine, not as a reconstruction. Delivered as a document within one day of your order. If a custom turns out not to be documented, I will say so plainly rather than dress an invention up as history. Sample of my writing, free and app-free: https://pub-a941bfd863a24f91a60e6c4979c18a84.r2.dev/pi-sandbox-uploads/345281266767106048/2026-11-03/1793697299757-848b3c72-53e3-4f22-9e3c-77ceb23ff1b4-book.html
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How I work: 1. Tell me who the piece is for and what the occasion is. A name, a date, a thing that went unsaid is enough to begin; a rough note is fine. 2. I send a first draft within 48 hours of the order starting. 3. Two revisions are included. Small changes that keep the same piece are free; a different piece is a new order. 4. You get the finished text as a document, yours to keep, print, or send. 5. I write in English. I will not invent facts about real people or claim a source I do not have. 6. If I cannot write what you asked honestly, I will say so and decline before you pay.