Scottish Myths & Legends Volume II: Footnotes

The Witches of Kintail

I first came across a version of this story by Sheila Douglas in a collection called Tales on the Tongue published by the Scottish Storytelling Centre. It’s a very popular story among Scottish storytellers and I’m surprised that it hasn’t been further adapted.

One version of the story has cats in place of the witches. A variant from Skye names the hero as Topsy-Turvy’ (But-ar-scionn in Gaelic), while another from Harris has a tailor as the hero.

If you’d like to look deeper into beliefs around witchcraft in Scotland, Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell is an excellent source.

Fair Maid’s Tresses

Another tale of witchcraft. I first heard this story from Linda Williamson, who included a version by her late husband Duncan Williamson in her book Land of the Seal People. In Duncan’s version, the main characters are referred to as the light-haired sister and the dark-haired sister.

If you’d like to learn more about selkies/silkies/seal-people, you’ll find an in-depth blog article about them here.

Barra is a beautiful island with a dream-like atmosphere; it is easy to imagine such things happening there. I haven’t visited since before I heard the story, so I haven’t had the chance to go looking for Fair Maid’s Tresses myself.

Auld Croovie

My version of this story comes from a version by the influential Traveller singer and storyteller Stanley Robertson. Supposedly Stanley’s family would camp at a Traveller site near Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire when they were working on the flax harvest; Auld Croovie was the name of a tree near the site. In some versions, the trees dance only once every fifty years. The word ‘Croovie’ is from the Gaelic word ‘craobh’ for tree.

Stanley Robertson had a profound influence on many singers and storytellers, including the celebrated singer Sam Lee who was his apprentice.

The Hedgehurst

This story comes from Duncan Williamson’s Fireside Tales of the Traveller Children. It bears some similarity to the tale of Hans the Hedgehog which was recorded by the Grimm brothers, which may explain why the story has the feel of a European fairy tale.

You may also be reminded of an episode of the Netflix series, The Witcher, which features a hedgehog man named Duny. It seems likely that Hans the Hedgehog inspired this character, who originally appeared in the Witcher books. I got quite a shock when I happened to watch that episode while working on a first draft of this story.

Macleod’s Tables

This is a well-known legend, and one of two that explains the shape of Healabhal Bheag and Healabhal Mor. The other has it that Columba was refused hospitality by the local chief when doing missionary work on Skye, causing a storm to darken the sky and level the mountains, one of which would serve as his bed and the other his table.

Alasdair Macleod is thought of as one of the greatest chiefs of the Macleod Clan. He was indeed a fierce warlord, and was responsible for the infamous massacre on Eigg among others. He is also said to have been a great lover of poetry and music, and to have founded the famous piping college of Skye. He spent his final years living as a monk on the Isle of Harris.

 Fenia & Menia

 The song known as Gróttasǫngr is included in some versions of the Poetic Edda, one of the key texts of Nordic myth. The story recounted here is a more light-hearted folkloric descendant of that song. In Gróttasǫngr, Fenja and Menja are fierce fighters who have been enslaved and are chained to the millstones they turn, while Frodi is a descendant of Odin.

You can read a very different but related story called Why the Sea is Salt in Norwegian Folk Tales by Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe.

The Smith & The Fairies

 Scotland has many changeling stories. What makes this one stand out for me is that it doesn’t end with ‘They came home and lived happily ever after’ but instead explores the slow and challenging process Alasdair and Neil must go through as Neil readjusts to his old life. I imagine many readers who have undergone intense experiences and then tried to return to their old life will relate to this.

The mythologist Martin Shaw writes about myths as following a progression through severance, threshold and return. The hero is severed from their ordinary reality; they spend a testing period of time in a crucible of transformation; then they return to their community as a renewed person with gifts to share. Shaw suggests that the return stage of this process is the most difficult in the modern world, as our communities do not understand initiatory processes and are therefore unequipped to help the changed person re-integrate into society.

The King of the Cats

 Well, maybe it isn’t a true story. It’s a classic tale that crops up all over Scotland, Ireland, England and I would imagine other places too. I first heard it from the author and storyteller Peter Snow, and my version owes a lot to his. I like to set the story in Roslin as the nearby glen makes a perfect backdrop. It’s a place I’ve wandered through many times as I used to live in the village.

A related legend is that of the Cait Sith, sometimes described as a great black cat with a white spot on its chest, which may derive from the Scottish Wildcat, a (now very rare) Scottish feline descended from the European Wildcat.

This story has inspired many writers including China Mieville. I think it speaks to the sense many of us have that our cats live double lives. We have no idea what happens when they leave the house at night. What other worlds might they inhabit?

The Trowie Wedding

I heard this story from the legendary Scottish storyteller, David Campbell, who told it to me at his kitchen table in Edinburgh one afternoon. The term ‘trow’ or ‘trowie’ is likely derived from the Scandinavian word ‘troll’; Shetland is as close to Norway as it is to the Scottish mainland and cultural ties run deep. ‘Bairna’ is a variation of ‘bairn’, meaning ‘child’.

The Black Dinner

Many people reading this story will be immediately reminded of a certain episode of Game of Thrones (skip this paragraph if you’re planning to watch it/read the books and want to avoid spoilers). George R.R. Martin is a huge fan of Scottish history, and he took inspiration for the Red Wedding from this incident as well as from the Massacre of Glencoe.

 The exact manner in which events unfolded on the night is cloaked in legend, and will never be known. There may well not have been a bull’s head. I can’t offer the facts, only the story.

An Endless Voyage

This is another story I learnt from Ian Stephen and which you can find in his Western Isles Folk Tales. Another version can be found in Tales and Traditions of The Lews by Donald MacDonald. That book is hard to get hold of but you can read the relevant extract online here. Though the details are hazy, this is believed to be a true story.

The Scottish Clearances by T. M. Devine is a good source for anyone looking to learn more about the Highland Clearances. The story of the Clearances isn’t over; Scottish land reformer Andy Wightman, author of The Poor Had No Lawyers, has calculated that just 440 people own half of Scotland’s private rural land.

The Man with No Story

This is a story which historian Dr Michael Newton claims is unique to Gaelic culture, with variants existing across Scotland and Ireland. In some versions of this story, the man with no story goes through a series of bizarre adventures after leaving the ceilidh house. In others, he accidentally sails to a strange land where he lives a more ordinary life, but as a woman. I found the gender swap variant more exciting to retell.

You can listen to a very interesting discussion of this story with Dr Newton on the Knotwork Storytelling Podcast.

The Blue Men of the Minch

This story is endlessly adaptable. You can make up your own verses for the chief and the captain to recite, or make a game of it with your listeners. Another variation of this story has all of the crew and all of the blue men exchanging riddles rather than rhymes.

The verses which the chief and the captain exchange here are taken from Donald A. Mackenzie’s Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth & Legend, up to and including the line ‘If it sank it would wreck your caves’. The lines that follow are my own compositions. Have fun coming up with a few more yourself.

It is thought that the origin of the legend could lie in blue-robed Moorish traders, who may have passed through the Minch on their way to sell slaves at the Viking slave markets in Dublin.

You can read another tale of the blue men in Ian Stephen’s excellent Western Isles Folk Tales, which also provides some interesting background information. 

Herding Hares

I first heard this story told by Scottish storyteller Dougie Mackay, and later heard it from James Spence, who includes it in his wonderful Borders Folk Tales. Somehow it captures for me the atmosphere of hot summer days in the endless green of the Scottish Borders. Some well-known stories from this region are Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer.

The story is of a very common tale type in which two siblings, one virtuous and one not-so-virtuous, undertake the same quest, with wildly differing results according to their actions. It may remind you of The Well at World’s End from Scottish Myths & Legends: Volume One.

Sarah, Daughter of John, Son of Finlay

This is one of those extremely short stories I mentioned in the introduction. They tend to be recorded dispassionately, more as events that actually occurred than as entertaining stories, somewhat like news articles today. I found this one particularly striking, partly because of how it relates to the schoolyard game, What’s the Time Mr Wolf, a variant of Blind Man’s Buff, which was popular when I was a child. The story was recorded by John Gregorson Campbell in Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, which is a great source of kelpie stories. Campbell doesn’t say where this story was recorded.

Fionn & The Seven Men

The stories of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Fianna originated in Ireland and later spread to Scotland, changing as they travelled. They tell of the deeds of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his warriors, notably his son Ossian and his friend and sometime-enemy, Diarmuid. In Ancient Ireland, groups of young men are thought to have spent summers living wild in the forests as an initiatory practice. These groups were known as Fianna.  

This particular story is believed to have originated in Scotland. I sourced it from Norah Montgomery’s collection The Fantastical Feats of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, an often-overlooked compilation of Scottish Fianna tales. I like how the characters in this story combine their powers in a way that is reminiscent of modern superhero films.

My book Finn & The Fianna brings the Fianna stories together as a continuous cycle. You can listen to me read the opening chapters on episodes 53-57 of House of Legends Podcast.

Keeping Out the Sea Man

This is another snapshot story, which I first heard from my storytelling student Eileen Balfour.  It’s a fantastic example of how folk magic which has been mostly forgotten can survive, hiding in plain sight, in stories.

Sawney Bean

The legend of Sawney Bean is one that sits apart from Scotland’s folklore canon, perhaps because of its disturbing subject matter. It inspired the iconic horror director Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and is referenced by many musicians, authors and filmmakers, yet seldom comes up in writings on Scottish folklore.

The story was popularised by its appearance in The Newgate Calendar, an 18-19th century London publication which documented grisly crimes. The details of the story are sparse and vary widely. Sawney is said to have grown up in East Lothian, the son of either a tanner or ditch-digger, somewhere between the 14th and 16th centuries. At some point after realising he didn’t fancy a life of hard work, he left home with a woman named Agnes Douglas, or Black Agnes Douglas. They married and found their way to Bennane Cave, close to Ballantrae in Ayrshire. At this point Sawney and Agnes turned to cannibalism, and produced their incestuous clan of over forty children and grandchildren.

There are two well-known endings to the story, both of which begin with a man escaping the Bean clan’s attack and reporting what happened to the local magistrate. The matter is then brought before King James (which particular King James depends on when the story is set). He leads a hunt and discovers the cave. At this point, the story diverges. One version is the version I chose, in which he orders that gunpowder be used to blow up the entrance to the cave, sealing in the Bean clan. The other has his troops bring the entire clan to Edinburgh for a very public and very nasty execution.

It’s not the easiest story to believe, particularly with King James’ involvement, and evidence to back it up is said to be sparse. Some argue that the story was created to act as anti-Scottish propaganda in the wake of the Jacobite rebellions. Whatever the case, over the years the story has become part of Scotland’s folklore and seems to be one that compels readers. What I found compelling was the idea of exploring Sawney and Agnes’ characters within the confines of the existing legend.

The Piper’s Boots

I thought you might appreciate something a little lighter after Sawney Bean! Stories of ghost pipers are common across Scotland and are often attached to castles. The best known is probably that of the Piper Boy of Edinburgh Castle.

 This story is one commonly heard at ceilidhs; I’ve heard it so many times over the years that I can’t remember where or from whom I first heard it.

The Cursing of Hildaland

This Orcadian tale which came to me from Tom Muir is one of the saddest stories I know, both for the events of its narrative and for how it symbolises the destruction of Scotland’s indigenous traditions.

The island’s modern name of Eynhallow is derived from the Norse Eyin Helga, meaning Holy Island. The island was home to a monastic settlement which seems to have later been used as a home by the islanders. Eynhallow’s tiny population of four families left in 1851 due to an outbreak of disease and it is now uninhabited. There is no ferry to the island but the Orkney Heritage Society organises a visit in July each year.

Mallie & The Trow

I heard this story from Orcadian storyteller Tom Muir, who heard it from the late Lawrence Tulloch of Shetland. Lawrence grew up in Shetland at a time when there was no electricity on the islands and most people spent the evenings visiting one another and sharing stories. I was lucky enough to meet him once while in Shetland and to spend an afternoon sharing stories with him, including tales of his time as a lighthouse keeper at Muckle Flagga.

You can listen to a recording of Lawrence on the BBC Radio Shetland show In About Da Night on Mixcloud. It’s well worth listening to hear the beautiful Shetland dialect as well as Lawrence’s stories.

The Sweetest Music

This jewel of a story originated in Ireland before spreading to Scotland. Gaelic culture came to Highland Scotland in full force in the 5th Century when the Irish established the kingdom of Dál Riata or Dalriada in Argyll, bringing their language and culture with them. Travel between Scotland and Ireland was already commonplace, so Gaelic legends such as those of Fionn may have already taken root in Scotland by this point.

I heard the story from David Campbell many years ago, and was fascinated by how it reflected Zen poetry and teachings. Compare this poem by the Japanese Zen poet Ryokan, who lived much of his life as a woodland hermit:

Returning to my hermitage after filling my rice bowl,

Now only the gentle glow of twilight.

Surrounded by mountain peaks and thinly scattered leaves;

In the forest a winter crow flies.

Stevens, John, One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan, Shambhala

It’s a great story for bringing strangers together or encouraging people to share their passions. Open the story, give one or two example answers then have Fionn ask your companions what they call the sweetest music. There’s no need to announce that you’re about to tell a story; just start and people will pick up the game.

The Sea Maiden

This story is for the most part based on a story from Popular Tales of the West Highlands by J.F. Campbell, also called The Sea Maiden. It’s a long and complex story which is entrancing at times and at other times very hard to follow. I’ve simplified it and blended it with elements of the closely related Norwegian story of The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body.

The ogre or giant who keeps his heart outside his body is a common folklore motif which appears in stories throughout the world; it seems to touch something very deep in us.

You can listen to Scottish storyteller Ryan Martin tell a version of The Sea Maiden on his Finding Folklore Podcast.

The Baobhan Sith

What better way to finish than with shapeshifting vampire fairies?

Baobhan Sith is pronounced ‘bavan-shee’ (similar to the Irish banshee). This story is not widely told in Scotland, although the Baobhan Sith have inspired numerous visual artists, fantasy writers and game creators, including Raymond E. Feist. This story was recorded as The Hunters & The Maidens in C.M. Robertson’s Folklore from the West of Ross-Shire and was later picked up by Donald Mackenzie in his Scottish Folklore & Folk-Life and by Katherine Briggs in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

Robertson’s version has the events taking place at a sheiling between Loch Droma and Braemore, and he offers a few variations as to the events and where they took place, which suggests that the story may once have been more widespread. I chose to set my version in the Rothiemurchus forest, in the shadow of the great Cairngorm massif, as I felt the setting matched the atmosphere of the tale.

Thanks for reading!