In Scottish folklore the Ghillie Dhu or Gille Dubh (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˈkʲiʎə ˈt̪u] ) was a solitary male fairy. He was kindly and reticent, yet sometimes wild in character. He had a gentle devotion to children. Dark-haired and clothed in leaves and moss, he lived in a birch wood within the Gairloch and Loch a Druing area of the north-west Highlands of Scotland. Ghillie Dhu is the eponym for the ghillie suit. [1]
Ghillie is an English equivalent of the Scottish Gaelic word gille; [2] Edward Dwelly, a Scottish lexicographer, lists gille as a "lad", "youth" or "boy" [3] with dubh translating as "dark" or "dark-haired". [4]
According to folklorist and scholar Katharine Briggs the Ghillie Dhu was a gentle and kind-hearted mountain spirit, [5] or a "rather unusual nature fairy." [6] The Ghillie Dhu was an individual male modern day fairy described by Osgood Mackenzie, a Scottish landowner and horticulturist, in his memoirs that were published in 1921. [5] [7] The fairy was generally timid, yet he could also be "wild". [8]
Residing in the birch woods near Loch a Druing, [9] in the north-west Highland area of Gairloch, [10] he was mainly seen in the latter part of the 18th century. [5] The woods are in a dip alongside a hilly area [11] around 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) from where Rua Reidh Lighthouse was later built. [9] One summer evening a local child named Jessie Macrae wandered into the woods and became lost. [9] Jessie was found by the Ghillie Dhu who looked after her until the next morning when he took her home. [9] Over a period of four decades the fairy was frequently seen by many people but Jessie was the only person he conversed with. [9] Generally of a dishevelled appearance, [12] he used green moss and leaves taken from trees as clothing. [9] As implied by his name, he had black hair; [9] he was of a small stature. [13] His fondness of children is similar to that displayed by the little known Hyter sprite of English mythology. [14]
Shortly after the Gille Dhu rescued Jessie, a group of Mackenzie dignitaries were invited by the landowner, Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch, to get together to hunt and capture the Ghillie Dhu. [9] The team of five hunters congregated at the home of one of Mackenzie's tenants where they were provided with a complimentary evening meal before setting off on their mission to shoot the child-rescuing, kind Ghillie Dhu. [9] Despite searching extensively throughout the night, the hunters could not find their prey; [15] according to Patricia Monaghan, a writer on Celtic mythology, the Ghillie Dhu was never seen again. [12]
After researching folklore traditions gathered primarily from Gaelic areas of Scotland, [16] an authority on congenital disorders, Susan Schoon Eberly, has speculated the tale of the Ghillie Dhu may have a basis in a human being with a medical condition; [17] other academics, such as Carole G. Silver, Professor of English at Stern College for Women, [18] agree and suggest he was a dwarf. [13] Eberly maintained several other solitary or individual fairies, including the Brownie and the Manx Fenodyree, could also have a medical, rather than supernatural, explanation. [19]
Aos sí is the Irish name for a supernatural race in Celtic mythology – daoine sìth in Scottish Gaelic – comparable to fairies or elves. They are said to descend from the Tuatha Dé Danann, meaning the "People of Danu", depending on the Abrahamic or pagan tradition.
In Gaelic myth, the Cailleach is a divine hag and ancestor, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is found with this meaning in modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and has been applied to numerous mythological and folkloric figures in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In modern Irish folklore studies, she is sometimes known as The Hag of Beara, while in Scotland she is known as Beira, Queen of Winter.
A kelpie, or water kelpie, is a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Irish and Scottish folklore. It is usually described as a black horse-like creature, able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of Satan as alluded to by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem "Address to the Devil".
Fairies, particularly those of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh folklore, have been classified in a variety of ways. Classifications – which most often come from scholarly analysis, and may not always accurately reflect local traditions – typically focus on behavior or physical characteristics.
The boobrie is a mythological shapeshifting entity inhabiting the lochs of the west coast of Scotland. It commonly adopts the appearance of a gigantic water bird resembling a cormorant or great northern diver, but it can also materialise in the form of various other mythological creatures such as a water bull.
Irish folklore refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance, and so forth, ultimately, all of folk culture.
The nuckelavee or nuckalavee is a horse-like demon from Orcadian folklore that combines equine and human elements. British folklorist Katharine Briggs called it "the nastiest" of all the demons of Scotland's Northern Isles. The nuckelavee's breath was thought to wilt crops and sicken livestock, and the creature was held responsible for droughts and epidemics on land despite being predominantly a sea-dweller.
A fuath is a class of malevolent spirits in Scottish Highland folklore, especially water spirits.
The baobhan sith is a female fairy in the folklore of the Scottish Highlands, though they also share certain characteristics in common with the succubus. They appear as beautiful women who seduce their victims before attacking them and killing them.
The bean-nighe is a female spirit in Scottish folklore, regarded as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of ban-sìth that haunts desolate streams and washes the clothing of those who are about to die. Les Lavandières is the French word under which these "night washerwomen" are perhaps best known. She is also called nigheag, 'the little washer', nigheag na h-ath, 'little washer of the ford', or nigheag bheag a bhroin, 'little washer of the sorrow'.
The cù-sìth(e), plural coin-shìth(e) is a mythical hound found in Irish folklore and Scottish folklore. In Irish folklore it is spelled cú sídhe, and it also bears some resemblance to the Welsh Cŵn Annwn.
Gillie or ghillie is an ancient Gaelic term for a person who acts as a servant or attendant on a fishing, hunting, deer stalking or hawking expedition, primarily in the Scottish Highlands or on a river such as the River Spey. In origin it referred especially to someone who attended on his male employer or guests.
The wulver or wullver is a kind of wolf-like humanoid creature in the folklore of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. In modern times, the origin of the wulver has been disputed.
The glaistig is a ghost from Scottish mythology, a type of fuath. It is also known as maighdean uaine, and may appear as a woman of beauty or monstrous mien, as a half-woman and half-goat similar to a faun or satyr, or in the shape of a goat. The lower goat half of her hybrid form is usually disguised by a long, flowing green robe or dress, and the woman often appears grey with long yellow hair. A sighting of the glaistig is rare, but the loud cries and wails would often be heard.
The caoineag is a female spirit in Scottish folklore and a type of Highland banshee, her name meaning "weeper". She is normally invisible and foretells death in her clan by lamenting in the night at a waterfall, stream or Loch, or in a glen or on a mountainside. Unlike the related death portent known as the bean nighe, the caoineag cannot be approached, questioned, or made to grant wishes.
The bauchan is a type of domestic hobgoblin in Scottish folklore. It is often mischievous and sometimes dangerous, but is also very helpful when the need arises.
The water bull, also known as tarbh-uisge in Scottish Gaelic, is a mythological Scottish creature similar to the Manx tarroo ushtey. Generally regarded as a nocturnal resident of moorland lochs, it is usually more amiable than its equine counterpart the water horse, but has similar amphibious and shapeshifting abilities.
The blue men of the Minch, also known as storm kelpies, are mythological creatures inhabiting the stretch of water between the northern Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink. They appear to be localised to the Minch and surrounding areas to the north and as far east as Wick, unknown in other parts of Scotland and without counterparts in the rest of the world.
In Scottish folklore, the beithir is a large snakelike creature or dragon.
In Scottish folklore the Biasd Bheulach is a monster or spirit that haunts Odal Pass on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is also known as the Biasd Bealach Odail.
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