BAD FAIRIES
KNOCKER
Knockers live in the tin mines of Devon and Cornwall in the south-west of England. They are small, ugly and thin limbed, with hook noses and mouths like slits, which stretch from ear to ear. Though all the mines are now closed, the fairies once guided miners to good seams by tapping or ‘knocking’ in return for food, traditionally a bit of Cornish pasty. However, they were not always helpful and would sometimes try to frighten the miners by pulling faces at them or performing grotesque dances. They were offended by whistling or swearing, and would punish these misdemeanours with bad luck, or a harmless shower of stones.
Some knockers, however, are positively malevolent. The knockers at the Chaw [‘Raven’] Gulley on Dartmoor are particularly vicious. A raven warns them when anyone tries to enter the mine to hunt for the treasure that is buried there, and they will kill the intruder by cutting the rope the man uses to lower himself into the shaft. His body will be found laid out on the surface the next day.
The Welsh equivalents of knockers are coblynau or koblernigh. These work in coal mines, rather than tin mines, tapping to indicate good coal seams. The word coblyn means both ‘knocker’ and ‘sprite’. Though the coblynau are sometimes spotted working on coal faces themselves, they do not actually mine anything, they are just pretending.
Our ancestors knew that most of their precious jewels, valuable metals came from beneath the ground, and that these were guarded by spirits that live in the earth. Practically every culture in the world has stories of these fairies, who often dressed as miners themselves, with miniature picks, lamps, and hammers. All the metals and minerals of the earth belong to them. When miners venture into these underworld realms, they encounter spirits who may either aid or hinder them, according to how they behave themselves. If they honour the spirits, usually by leaving offerings in the form of food, the fairies may lead favoured miners to rich seams. Those who show a lack of respect are punished with showers of stones.
TROW
Trows are known in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, where they are also called Night Stealers or Night Creepers. They are squat and misshapen, with wild hair and sallow faces; they dress entirely in grey to blend in with the misty landscape. They are smaller than most human men. They are never seen in daylight, but go out during the hours of darkness to visit the islander's crofts, as soon as the humans have gone to bed. They like to warm themselves by the fire and are mortally offended to find a locked door keeping them out. To this day islanders leave their houses and possessions unlocked so as not to anger the trows.
Trows live inside the old burial mounds, or sometimes caves, where they keep their gold, silver and precious jewels. Inside the mounds they hold great feasts and are especially fond of music and dancing. Sometimes trows invite humans into their mounds, especially gifted musicians. They rewarded one fiddler with a magical trowie shilling, so that no matter how many times he spent it, it always found its way back to his pocket. However, the silly man boasted of this gift, and the trowie shilling vanished forever. The trows' great festivals are Yule and Midsummer when they leave the mounds and can be seen performing a lop-sided crouching and hopping dance called henking.
Trows kidnap human children and leave changelings in their place: sickly looking trowlings. Even now, islanders will refer to someone who looks pale and ill as ‘trowie’. One fisherman saw a number of trows scurrying in the direction of his brother in law's house, where his sister lay in childbed. He realised that they were about to steal the new baby. Rushing to the door he turned the iron key in the lock. The furious trows, cheated of their prize, bewitched him, robbing him of the power to move. He remained in this position for many hours until an old woman passed by and blessed him, when the curse was lifted.
The term ‘trow’ is possibly derived from the Scandinavian troll meaning ‘bewitch’. The Norse influence is strong in the islands and most of the islanders have Viking blood.
BOGGART
Boggarts are most common in the north west of England and Scotland and are occasionally called barguests, trashes or shrikers, the latter name earned from their horrible cries. If it chooses, a boggart may appear as a white cow or horse, a white or black dog or in human form. In their natural state boggarts are dark and hairy, with long yellow teeth.
Some say that boggarts are brownies who have turned evil. They may wreck houses, steal children’s suppers, break valuable possessions, and hide things. A single boggart can terrorise a whole district. They eat wood and are able consume a whole house. If a family tries to move away from them they will climb into the crocks and butter churns and travel with the unfortunate people to their new home.
One particular boggart haunted the country lanes around Longridge in Lancashire. From behind, it looked like a harmless old woman in a fringed shawl and poke bonnet, but when she turned around, she would reveal that the bonnet was empty and her head was in the basket she carried. The head would shriek with laughter and snap at the unfortunate victim.
However, there is an account of a Lincolnshire farmer who managed to get the better of a boggart. One day, the farmer bought a new piece of land that adjoined his own and went to inspect it, only to find that a great hairy boggart claimed the land as his. After some argument, they decided to share the crop equally and the farmer asked the boggart whether he would like the part that grew above ground, or the part that grew below ground. The boggart thought and decided to settle on the part that grew above ground.
The farmer proceeded to plant potatoes and when the boggart came along for his share, he got nothing but useless tops. The boggart was extremely angry, but an agreement was an agreement. He swore not to be fooled again, and said that next season he would have what grew below ground. Next year there was a lovely crop of corn and the boggart was left with useless stubble. Now the boggart was hopping mad and insisted that the following year the farmer should plant wheat again, and that they should harvest the field together, each one starting at either end and each one keeping what they harvested. Since a boggart is much stronger than a man is, he reckoned he’d have the best of it.
Dejectedly, the farmer returned home, unhappy that he would have to go to all the work of planting and caring for the crop, only to lose most of it to the lazy boggart who did nothing. In the end, he decided to consult a cunning man, the seventh son of a seventh son. He came away from this visit very pleased, having been advised to plant thin iron rods in the ground at the boggart’s end of the field. The day of harvesting arrived and both set to work with their sickles. The stupid boggart couldn’t work out why his work was so hard and why his sickle kept getting blunted. He looked at the farmer at the opposite end of the field, swinging away merrily and making good progress. At last he stood up and screeched that the farmer could have the bloody field. He would have nothing more to do with it.
GRIM
Grim is a common name amongst English fairies; a Fairy Grim appeared in the famous Life of Robin Goodfellow, written in 1628. The fact that the name was once very widespread is evidenced by the number of English place names with 'grim' in them, such as Grim’s Dyke and Grimley [meaning ‘grove of the goblin’]. The name is often used in relation to those ancient earthworks that are associated with fairies in folklore; there is a Grim's Ditch in Wiltshire, and a Grims Dyke in Hampshire among many others.
The name Grim is derived from Grimr, one of the titles of the god Odin, or Woden. It means masked one, or hooded one, as the god was often known to go about in disguise among mortals as Grimr, perhaps appearing as a poor man or a shipwrecked sailor. He would reward or punish humans according to how they treated him. Many English fairies are similarly hooded or have 'hood' as part of their name.
The Fairy Grim is a herald of death and misfortune, and as the old Warwickshire rhyme has it:
When candles burne both blue and dim,
Old folks will say, ‘Here’s fairy Grim’
In other words, when a candle burned with a strange blue flame, the Grim Reaper would be on his way to collect a life, or he might come 'screeching like an owl' at the windows of the sick and dying.
In Yorkshire, there are church grims who live inside the building and haunt the churchyard in dark, stormy weather. [5] They toll the church bells at midnight when someone is about to die. Later on, during the funeral service, one of them might appear to the clergyman, who could tell from its looks whether the deceased was saved or lost- if it looked happy the soul was in heaven, if it looked miserable, the soul was in hell.
FAIRY DOG/BLACK SHUCK
Dogs have a long history as companions to humankind, gaining the reputation of watchfulness and loyalty, becoming the trusted guardians of both people and property. However, there are also Otherworldly dogs, and these are the guardians of magical places: the boundaries between the worlds. White-bodied, red-eared fairy dogs may appear at those threshold places where the veil between the worlds is thin and entrance to the Otherworld is possible.
In Celtic legend, fairyland is also the realm of the dead and the afterlife. Fairy dogs often act as guides to this place, guiding the spirits of good to paradise, but they also served another role. Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh god of the Underworld had a pack of fairy-dogs called the cwn annwn, or 'hounds of the underworld'. Many legends of Britain and Europe tell of similar Wild Hunts: packs of supernatural dogs who fly through the night sky to pursue their quarry, and which are variously called the Gabriel Hounds, Gabble Retchets, Dandy Dogs, Yeff Hounds, and Wisht Hounds. The leadership of the hunt has been ascribed to Herne the Hunter, King Arthur, Charlemagne, Gwyn Ap Nudd, and Odin. Many have seen them on wild nights, hunting a white stag or a white boar, or more likely the souls of those damned for evil acts.
Black Shuck is a phantom dog who haunts the mud flats of East Anglia [eastern England]. He is variously described as having a single eye set in the centre of his head, or having glowing red eyes, or even as being headless, yet having glowing red or green fiery eyes suspended in front of him. He emerges from his lair at dusk and haunts riverbanks and lonely roads, sometimes vanishing in churchyards.
When a Black Shuck appears it is generally an omen of death, and in Norfolk, it is said that no one can see a Black Shuck and live. People in lonely places have sometimes felt its icy breath on their necks, and in East Anglia, when a person is dying, it is said that ‘the Black Dog is at his heels’. The name shuck is derived from scucca, the Saxon word for an evil spirit.
There are hundreds of black dogs all over England [forty in the county of Wiltshire alone], and they often have local names. They appear in lonely places; crossroads, bridges, old roads, deserted country lanes, churchyards, burial mounds, wells and bridges; those places that mark out boundaries between one thing and another.
LHIANNAN SHEE [‘Fairy Sweetheart’]
The Lhiannan Shee is a fairy from the Isle of Man whose name means something like ‘fairy love’, ‘fairy sweetheart’ or ‘fairy mistress’. The sole purpose of her existence is to find a human man to love her. Since she is very lovely and seductive, very few men can resist her charms, and as a lover she is very passionate, but her love comes at a terrible price. Her embrace draws both life and breath from the human, while she becomes bright and strong. The Manx fairy sometimes takes blood too, and is a true vampire.
Poets, artists and musicians often seek out a fairy sweetheart, since she is a muse who will inspire them to write great verses, paint wonderful pictures or sing remarkable songs. When she is absent, they cannot work, pining away with longing. When she is present they forget all else and grow pale and thin, forgetting to eat and sleep. The lovers of the Lhiannan Shee may brilliant careers, but will die young. Sadly, many are soon forgotten.
There have been many such men, and the legend of the Lhiannan Shee has been used to explain why so many writers, artists, and musicians burn out and die young. Sometimes men have used alcohol and drugs to find her, but these only hasten her departure.
FACHAN
This peculiar Highland fairy from Argyll in Scotland has one eye, one hand and one leg, one ear, one arm and one toe- if fact he only has one of everything, all lined up down the centre of his hairy, feathered body. He carries a spiked club with which he attacks any human who dares to approach his mountain realm. He hates all living creatures but especially birds, which he envies for their gift of flight.
A similar creature appears in a Mabinogion story: Cynon, riding through the forest, came upon a mound in a clearing. On it was sitting a huge black man who had one foot, one eye in the centre of his forehead and a massive iron club. He struck a stag with his club and it set up a cry that called hundreds of wild animals to the clearing. They bowed down their heads and gave him obeisance as to a lord.
There was also an Irish race of one-legged, one-eyed beings called Formorians, described as the oldest inhabitants of the land, a race of wizards who intermarried with the Tuatha Dé Danaan.
The fachan's pose is reminiscent of the stance of Celtic shamans, who stood on one leg and closed one eye when casting spells- one eye looks into the inner realms, and only standing on one leg symbolises not being wholly in one realm or another.Druids adopted this pose when cutting the sacred mistletoe with a golden sickle. When cutting ogham [angular letters based on tree lore] spells into staves, they would stand on one leg and use only one arm and one eye to imitate the pose of the crane, the magical bird associated with ogham, since the shape of his legs in flight is said to have inspired the letters.
BOGEYMAN
Old-fashioned parents sometimes invoked the bogeyman to frighten naughty children into good behaviour, saying ‘if you don’t behave, the bogeyman will get you’. Indeed, bogeymen have been known to steal away naughty children.
A bogeyman lives in a bogeyhole [the cupboard under the stairs], or in cellars, barns, old houses, mines, and caves- in fact, anywhere dark and dank. If you look through a keyhole, you might catch sight of a bogeyman’s eye looking back at you.
They may appear as shadowy black humanoids, but can change shape to look like black dogs, tree trunks, or beings with icy fingers and glowing yellow eyes. Usually though, the only sight of a bogeyman is as a cloud of dust. They may invisibly lurk behind people, causing an uneasy feeling, or mischievously pull the bedclothes off sleepers.
Bogeyman is also a general term for a mythical, frightening, supernatural being used to frighten the vulnerable. The word is derived from boh, an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning demon, and the word boh or bo is a component in many fairy names. It is also a prankster’s custom to creep up behind people and scare them by suddenly crying ‘Boh!’ or ‘Boo!’ originally meaning ‘The devil is behind you!’
UNSEELIE COURT
Scottish fairies come in two varieties- the Seelie Court, who are good and beautiful, and the Unseelie Court [meaning ‘Unblessed Court’] who are ugly and evil. These malevolent creatures, sometimes thought to be the souls of the damned, are usually seen at twilight and are most active during the dark half of the year, from Halloween to Easter. They live in the underworld below the mountains of Scotland.
All sorts of monstrous beings belong to the Unseelie Court, but one particular gang of fairies is called ‘The Host’ [sluagh]. They travel in gusts of winds, snatching up humans and carrying them along in the melée. If someone should see them and call out a blessing, the Host will be forced to drop the unfortunate man or woman. One old man muttered 'Bless the child' and was amazed when a baby dropped into his lap. Sometimes people have been carried for hundred of miles and some have even ended up in America and have had a great deal of trouble getting home to Scotland. However, once a human has been with the Host he or she remains under their spell, and must answer their summons when it comes.
The Host takes great pleasure in forcing humans to commit wicked acts, like firing dangerous elf bolts at other mortals. In Scottish tradition the fairies cannot throw such bolts themselves, but must compel a mortal to do so. If the victim is a friend, then the thrower can usually manage to miss, and the bolt will be found lying harmlessly beside the intended victim.
However, elf bolts are very dangerous. Being hit by one may cause a variety of illnesses and many deaths have been attributed to them. They were often aimed at the fingers, causing the joints to swell and go red and inflamed. Some elf bolts could kill outright. Elf bolts are the small flint arrowheads, often found in Britain, Ireland and Continental Europe. In reality, the Stone Age inhabitants crafted them, but countryfolk thought the fairies must have made them to use against those who offended them. Inexplicable illnesses, like a sudden stroke, were attributed to being struck by one; indeed, the word ‘stroke’ for paralysis is derived from ‘elf-stroke’.
If you can find an elf bolt it is a lucky charm and will guard against any further attacks by evil fairies. It was once believed that it would cure wounds when rubbed on them. You should never give an elf bolt away, however, as this will be an invitation for the fairies to kidnap you!
THE BLUE HAG
This fairy is known in Gaelic as the Cailleach Bheur. Cailleach means ‘Veiled One’, and is a Gaelic term for a hag or crone, while bheur means 'blue'. There are a number of other cailleachs found in Scotland and Ireland, and a variety of hag fairies in England and Wales. Fairy tales are filled with references to hags: ugly, withered old women, sometimes witches and sometimes fairies, who bring sickness, death or winter. In English literature of the Renaissance period the words ‘hag’ and ‘fairy’ were often synonymous.
The Cailleach Bheur or Blue Hag lives on the Ben Nevis Mountain. Stones that fell from her basket formed the Hebrides islands. Her face is blue with cold, her hair as white as frost and her cloak the colour of withered foliage. A carrion crow rides on her left shoulder. She carries a holly staff topped with the head of a carrion crow and if she touches anyone with it, they will die.
At Samhain [1st November], her powers grown and she strides across the land, beating down the vegetation with her staff and hardening the earth with frost. When her season has fully set in, she brings the snow. Then as spring approaches her power begins to wane, until at Beltane [1st May] she gives up her struggle, flinging her staff under a holly tree, and this is why no grass can grow there. She then shrinks to a grey stone to wait until her season comes again. It is said that if anyone can find her staff they will have the power of destiny over the human race.
The Cailleach Bheur is one of the clearest examples of the folk survival of a winter crone goddess who kills the summer growth and ushers in the winter. She is reborn each Samhain, the start of winter, and proceeds to blight the earth with snow and cold. In Scottish lore, St Brigit banishes her at the end of the season, and ushers in the spring. Brigit is a Christianised version of the fire goddess Brighid, whose Imbolc festival marks the first stirrings of spring.
JACK FROST
Every one knows Jack Frost, the winter fairy who scatters ice in his wake, making the trees and grass sparkle like diamonds. He also paints windowpanes with elaborate frozen patterns and nips people's noses, fingers and toes in his chilly grip. He always dresses entirely in white, with icicles dripping from his clothes.
Jack Frost is a creature from English folklore, the personification of the spirit of winter weather. He is one of a large number of individual fairies who control the weather: wind, storm, rain, lightning, sunshine, and so on. Jack has counterparts wherever there is snowy weather in winter.
In Russia, there is Father Frost, the soul of winter, whose icy embrace brings death to helpless travellers. He leaps from tree to tree, snapping his fingers, causing them to be covered with frost. He is a smith, binding water and earth together with heavy chains.
Some think that Jack Frost may have his origins in Scandinavian myth, where Jökul ['glacier']- also called Frosti ['frost']- is the father of Snær ['snow'], and grandfather of Drífa ['snow flurry'], Fön ['snowdrift'], Mjöl ['snow-powder'], and Thorri, one of the winter months. In Norse mythology giants seem to be the personifications of the primeval forces of nature such as frost, volcanoes and earthquakes and so on, as opposed to the forces of the sky such as thunder or rain, which belong to the gods. Giants are often said to dwell underground or have close links with the earth, just like fairies.
GWYN AP NUDD
Gwyn ap Nudd rules the Welsh fairies the Tylwyth Teg or 'fair folk'. He is a sombre looking man, as befits the King of the Dead, and is traditionally depicted with an owl. His kingdom lies beneath the earth and it may be entered through the Welsh lakes, or through Glastonbury Tor in the south west of England, where Gwyn also once ruled.
When the Christian missionaries began to convert Britain, they tried to turn people away from the old gods and spirits. St. Collen preached against Gwyn ap Nudd, objecting to his parishioners calling Gwyn both the king of fairies and the king of Annwn, the underworld. When Gwyn heard this he summoned the saint to meet him on Glastonbury Tor. At first the saint was reluctant but eventually went, armed with a flask of holy water. On reaching the hill, he found troops of minstrels, comely youths, and graceful, pretty maids. King Gwyn ap Nudd, seated on a golden throne, greeted him courteously and bade him share in the feast spread before them. The saint refused to eat the fairy food, knowing that it would condemn him to fairyland forever, and springing up, he dowsed Gwyn ap Nudd with holy water, which caused him to disappear.
Gwyn ap Nudd is often mentioned in Welsh poetry. He is named as the son [ap] of Nudd, the God of the Dead. Several fairy kings have a dual role as Lord of the underworld and the dead. These include Arawn, Barinthus, and Finvarra. In each case, they are derived from ancient gods of the dead. 'Gwyn' means 'white one' as does 'Finvarra', a colour often associated with ghosts and Otherworldliness.
In Celtic lore, Fairyland and the underworld land of the dead are usually one and the same. It is accessed through fairy mounds, tors, caves, wells or under lakes and pools. These entrances were all sites of worship for the Celts and pre-Celts. They believed that all power and fertility, as well as life and death, came from the underworld, which contains the souls of the ancestors, the fairies, and the gods. The dead were commemorated at Lughnasa, Samhain, and Yule when the doors to the Otherworld stood open. People who are taken to fairyland are warned not eat the food there, or they will never be able to return to the land of the living.
According to some legends Gwyn ap Nudd leads the Cwn Annwn, the Welsh Hounds of the Underworld, red eared, white fairy dogs of the Wild Hunt. The hunt rides out on wild and stormy nights to pursue the souls of the newly dead. The call grows quieter the nearer they come, but in the distance their cry is full of lamentation.
SPRIGGAN
Spriggans are small, wizened, ugly creatures with oversized heads, though they can inflate themselves when they want to be intimidating. They are dangerous Cornish fairies that steal from human houses, though they take a dim view of anyone trying to steal from the fairy folk. They guard the hidden treasure that is buried beneath the numerous pre-historic stones that are found scattered across the wild Cornish landscape.
One man tried to dig up the treasure in Trencrom Hill, but as he neared the gold all about him went dark, thunder crashed and lightening streaked the sky. By its eerie light, he saw a large number of spriggans swarming out of the rocks. At first, they were small but they swelled in size until they were as big as giants. The man managed to escape, but without his treasure. He was so shaken by his experience that he took to his bed and never worked again.
Others who met the spriggans included a band of smugglers trying to bring their booty ashore near Long Rock. Three of them went to make arrangements for its disposal while the other three rested and guarded the spoils. One of these, Tom Warren of Paul, heard music. He got up, intending to scare the intruders away, when he saw a band of tiny people, all dressed in green with red caps. They were dancing and playing music. Tom laughed and shouted a rude greeting to them, but the dancers sprang up, suddenly armed with bows and arrows, spears and slings. Alarmingly they seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. Frightened now, Tom ran back to his mates and they were all three forced to put out to sea in their small boat, bombarded by a hail of stones that burned like coals. Now, no spriggans will touch salt water and the men were safe enough in the sea, but they had to remain there until the dawn cockcrow forced the fairies to flee.
The name spriggans is derived from the Cornish sperysyan meaning ‘spirit’. Translated, the names of many fairies mean simply 'spirit'. Today's Cornish Pagans believe that the spriggans are the ancient guardian spirits of sacred sites, and warn that anyone damaging the ancient stone circles and holy places of Cornwall is liable to suffer the wrath of the spriggans. In folklore there is a general belief that buried treasure is guarded by spirits, either fairies, the ghosts of human dead, giants or animals spirits.
CHANGELING
Fairies have been known to steal a human child and substitute a changeling: a fairy baby or sometimes just piece of wood that seems to be alive for a short time. Fairies of all nationalities kidnap human adults and children. The Welsh sometimes calls the whole fairy race cipenapers, which is just a contraction of ‘kidnappers’.Those most in danger of being snatched include laying in women, unbaptised babies, blond children, pretty girls, those sleeping beneath hawthorn bushes, and anyone wandering near fairy mounds at night.
The method of discovering a changeling by means of eggshells is used in many places around the world. Empty eggshells are arranged round the hearth and as the curious changeling gets up to examine them he will peer into each saying something like: ‘This is but a windbag; I am so many hundred years old and I have never seen the like of this’. An alternative method is to go through the motions of brewing water in halves of eggshells. The changeling will sit up and declare ‘I have seen the egg before the hen, I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I have never seen brewing in an eggshell before!’ thus revealing its ancient age. It might even say ‘I’m fifteen hundred years in the world and I’ve never seen a brewery of eggshells before!’
When the changeling has been made to reveal its fairy nature it will disappear up the chimney, and the real baby will be found alive and well at the door, or back, sweetly sleeping, in its cradle.
Changelings are left by spirits all over the world, not just in Celtic tales. They are found in Scandinavian, Germanic, African and Asian lore. Parents would protect their children with pieces of iron places beneath the cradles, crosses made from rowan wood and red thread, and St John's wort, or the child might be wrapped in its father's shirt.
BANSHEE
Banshees can be heard weeping and wailing when a death or a disaster is about to occur. A banshee may look like a lovely young maiden or she might appear as an ugly old hag with eyes red from weeping. In some areas of Ireland the banshee dresses in green, in others she wears white, or yet again, she might be veiled and clad from head to foot in black. Banshees are usually seen in the moonlight, crouching in the dark, or sitting in the branches of trees, combing their long hair, but beware-if one of these hairs should fall on you, it is a very bad omen indeed.
Every old Scots or Irish family has its own banshee, but the fairies only attach themselves to noble families of pure Milesian descent. The earliest written reference to a banshee was in Scotland in 1437, when a banshee foretold the death of James I of Scotland.
The Welsh have their own form of death omen called a Cyoerraeth. These creatures are sometimes heard but rarely seen; though they have long, black teeth, matted hair, withered arms and wings. They tap on the windows of a dying person, groaning loudly.
Other death omens are the various fairies called Washers at the Ford who may be discovered washing the bloody garments of those about to die. In an ancient myth the battle goddess Morrigan would sing on the eve of a battle and, in a stream, wash the entrails of those about to die. Those warriors who heard her spellbinding songs were destined to die in battle, while those who did not might have wit enough to live. Thus, her song is a herald of death, like the wail of the banshee, and this is probably the origin of banshee lore. In folklore the Morrigan is sometimes deemed their and chooses the loveliest maidens to become banshees.
The word banshee is an anglicised form of the Gaelic bean sidhe or ban sith, which simply means 'woman fairy.’
KELPIE
The kelpie is a Scottish water fairy who appears as a grey horse that encourages people to ride him. Once a person is astride, the kelpie will run off into the water, drown its passenger, and devour him, leaving only the entrails on the shore.
A kelpie at Corgarff in Aberdeen tricked a man who was trying to cross the swollen River Don. The beast offered to take him across, but halfway, it submerged itself, dragging the man with him. However, the man managed to escape and the kelpie threw a boulder after him, which can still be seen and is known as ‘The Kelpie’s Stone’.
Kelpies are known to eat animals, humans, and other fairies that venture too close to their lairs. To see a kelpie is an omen of death or great misfortune. It is not always easy to spot a kelpie, however, since it is able to shapeshift into human form. One kelpie also appeared as an old woman and was put to bed by a bevy of girls. During the night he sucked the blood of all but one, who escaped over running water.In this respect, the kelpie is a vampire.
Kelpies sometimes appear as men to seduce young women, but their hair always looks like seaweed or watercress. A handsome young man courted one young girl, but when she discovered the seaweed and shells in his hair she realised he was a kelpie. He instantly turned into a horse and began to chase the girl in order to kill and eat her. He would have succeeded if she had not been saved by the appearance of a fairy bull.
BOABHAN SITH
These Scottish Highland fairies look like beautiful women but are really vampires thirsty for the blood of young men. In one tale four callow friends went on a hunting trip and were forced to spend the night in an abandoned cottage. They lit a fire and set about making themselves cheerful, singing and dancing. One of them exclaimed it would be more fun if there were some girls to dance with, and no sooner had he spoken than four young ladies appeared at the door. Delighted, three of the young men began to dance with them, while the fourth, a fine singer, supplied the accompaniment.
For a time all was well, then suddenly the atmosphere changed and the dancing became wild and frenzied. As the dancers whirled, blood began to spatter the room. The horrified singer raced from the cottage and took refuge among the tethered horses. Soon the noises and screams issuing from the cottage died away, and the four fairies came out to look for the young man. For some reason they were unable to go among the horses- perhaps it was the iron horseshoes that kept them away- and the terrified man crouched there until the dawn cockcrow forced the fairies to flee. As he crept back into the cottage to discover what had become of his friends, a ghastly sight greeted him. The three men lay around the floor like broken dolls, stone dead and completely drained of blood.The term boabhan sith [pronounced boh-van shee] is Scots Gaelic and means 'wicked woman fairy'. They appear first as crows or ravens, then as lovely girls in white or green dresses with plaid sashes, but with hooves instead of feet. Their wails can be heard for miles around. The term boabhan is sometimes used alone for a bad fairy, or an unpleasant woman, a scold, or a hoodie crow. It is derived from the Irish Badbh, the fearful war goddess who appears on battlefield, in the form of a crow, to eat the flesh and drink the blood of fallen warriors.
In many parts of the world, including Britain and Ireland, several fairies have vampiristic tendencies and set out to suck the blood of humans. On the Isle of Man, it was believed that if water were not set out for them to drink, fairies would suck the blood of sleepers in the house. They might also bleed them and make a cake with the blood, and if the cake could not be found and eaten by the householders, they would waste away and die.A large number of fairies try to seduce mortals in order to drain the strength and life force from them, or even suck their blood in the form of a classical vampire.
Many cultures held that blood was the animating spirit or life force [lose a lot of blood and you die] or even that the blood contained the soul. Warriors might drink the blood and eat the flesh of their enemies in order to gain their strength. It is easy to see how the idea developed that if a corpse or discarnate spirit were to gain enough life force from drinking blood it could be animated. It was commonly thought that spirits are jealous of humankind’s corporeal nature and are always hungry and that blood could give them strength and form, at least temporarily.
PHOOKA
This Irish goblin can appear as a goat, a horse, a dog, a bull or an eagle. He is always black with blazing eyes and usually has something of the goat about him, often a goat head or hooves. The Irish poet Yeats, who recorded many fairy traditions, speculated that his name may be derived from poc, which means ‘he-goat’. The term phooka is often used to refer to the devil and ‘playing the phooka’ means playing the devil i.e. being wicked.
The Irish call Halloween ‘Phooka Night’. After this time the Phooka blights any crops remaining in the fields and makes the blackberries unfit to eat, a service performed by the devil in France.
In his horse form the Phooka offers rides to weary travellers, then takes off at a mad pace, before dumping them in a ditch and galloping away laughing. This tendency is illustrated in the tale of Morty Sullivan who, at the age of fourteen, ran away to sea. Many years later he returned home to visit his parents, but discovered that they had been dead for some years. Repenting the neglect of his loving family, he determined to go on a pilgrimage to the chapel of St Gobnate in a wild, mountainous place called Ballyvourney.
In a pious zeal he set off immediately but had not gone far when evening fell. There was no moon to guide his steps and a dense fog began to surround him. Within no time at all, he was completely lost. Suddenly Morty saw a light before him, and piously thought that the saint had sent it to guide him to the shrine, but however quickly he walked to try to overtake it, the light seemed to get further and further away. He struggled on over the rough countryside for many miles.
Just as he was about to collapse with fatigue the light finally seemed to get nearer. He was surprised to discover that it was actually a fire, beside which sat an old woman. This puzzled and frightened him, especially when he saw that the woman’s eyes were a blazing red. After watching him in silence for a while she sharply demanded his name.
‘Morty Sullivan at your service’ he replied.
‘We’ll soon see about that!’ she cried, her eyes turning a pale green. She told Morty that she would take pity on him and lend him a horse to complete his journey. No sooner had she spoken than a jet-black horse appeared. The old hag bundled Morty onto its back and the horse suddenly bolted away, tearing over precipices, barging through torrents, rushing headlong through the mountains. The next morning some pilgrims discovered Morty, flat on his back under a steep cliff, black and blue from his ride on the Phooka. He swore on the spot never to take a quart of whiskey on a pilgrimage with him again.
When he is not bruising and battering travellers with wild rides, the Phooka can be friendly and if he is well treated, he will help farmers and millers. One day Phadrig fell asleep in an old mill, and when he woke, he was astounded to witness six little fairies and an old man in tattered clothing who directed them to mill the corn. He felt sorry for the old Phooka in his tattered clothes, so one day he bought a fine silk suit and laid it out on the floor of the mill. The delighted Phooka put it on and declared that he was now a fine gentleman and would grind the corn no more.