faeryladies_ofScotland

THE FAERY LADIES OF SCOTLAND

There are alot ofsimilarities to be seen in the faery lore of Scotland and Ireland, probably caused by the mirgration of people back and forth between the two countries. Most people know at least something about the last wave of Gaelic newcomes into Scotland from Ireland in the fifth century, but for many centuries before this, the Irish were intermarrying with the Cruithne (Picts) of Scotland. Thus there has been a long interchange between the two countries which has obviously led to a mingling of folklore and beliefs.

    The most well known of the fairy women in both Ireland and Scotland has to be the Bean Sidhe, the Banshee (by the way sidhe is pronouced shee). In Ireland she is the ancestress of the old aristocratic families, the Irish clans. When any death or disaster is about to land on the family, she will be heard wailing her unearthly lament. It was considerd something of a status symbol to have a banshee attached to your family! She is more often heard than seen, though if you do catch a sight of her she may be combing her long hair with a silver comb. She is also known as the bean chaointe, the wailing woman, and also as the badhbh chaointe. Badhbh is Irish for scald crow, but more interesting to me is that it is the name of one of the Celtic war goddesses who would shriek over the battlefields in the form of a crow.

    In the Highlands of Scotland this type of banshee is known as the bean tighe, the fairy housekeeper, or in some places as the Glaistig Uaine, the Green Lady, who is often seen in the rooms and grounds of the old castles of the Scottish clans, keeping watch over everything. There is also the wilder type of banshee found in the remoter places. This type of banshee wanders through the woods and over the moors at dusk, luring travlers to thier doom.

   The gruagach (pronounced gru-gee) is the fairy woman who watches over the cattle fold at night and protects the goodness of the milk. On Skye, Tiree and other islands are to be found 'gruagach stones', stones with hollows in where libations of milk were poured as an offering to her. If this daily offering was neglected, the best cow of the fold would be found dead in the morning. Sound familiar? The Book of Arran mentions such a gruagach who minded cattle in the district of Kilmory.

     There are many stories of sidhe women who help housholds with spinning houswork, threshing corn and so on. However, if they are interfered with in any way, even by the offering of a present, they will never return again. In other words, don't even acknowledge thier presence! Alexander Carmichael mentions the "bean chaol a chot uaine 's na gruaige buihe' the slender woman of the green kirtle and yellow hair, who can turn water into wine and weave spider's webs into plead, and play sweet music on the fairy reed.

    We also find in Scotland the dreaded bean nighe, otherwise known as the Washer at the Ford. She may be seen at midnight washing the death shirt of someone about to die. Usually the person who meets her knows that its his/her own fate that she fortells. As she washes she sings a dirge: "Se do leine, se do leine ga mi nigheadh" (It is your shirt, your shirt that I am washing).

     Many spirits of rivers and mountains in Scotland appear in the shape of an old hag, the Cailleach. The most famous is the Cailleach bheara who washes her clothes in the whirlpool of the Corryvreckan off Jura, and rides across the land in the form of the 'night mare'.

     There is another sidhe being that is mentioned in the writings of Fiona MacLeod and is greatly feared among the Celts. He is the Amadan Dubh, the Fairy Fool, bringer of madness and oblivion. Sometimes he appears as a darkly clad figure on the slope of a hill after sunset, playing a fairy enchantment on his reed pipes.

     We could probably say, then that within the faery lore of Scotland and Ireland are to be found the remnants of the old pagan religion, with gods and goddesses being remembered as the guardian ancestors of the clans. In fact, all the clans once claimed descent from a particular deity, so this isn't anything new. The old gods will appear in local tales, as kings and queens of fairy palaces, or as guardians of lakes.

    Quite simply put, they are still very much part of the land and the folk memory of the people. Belief in the Sidhe has been steadily diminishing, however, mainly because of the decline in the Gaelic language, and with it so many of the folk tales that were only ever told in the Gaelic language. It's sad that the attitue of so many people of today is that these tales are merely children's stories, to be put aside when we growolder and wiser in years. How far from the truth this is, if only they could see it. The fairies are the elemental powers of the land, the ancient Earth Shapers who live in the hollow hills, to whom the world of Mankind is but a dream......

All of this wondefull information found on: http://www.redrival.com/ravenquest/FaeryLadies.html