exploring stories, traditions, and folklore from Scotland
Back in the days when the world was young and men and animals spoke the same language, there was a king and a queen, and they lived happily together and had a much-beloved son, Brian, but the queen fell ill and passed away, and so the king devoted himself to his boy and brought him up to be wise in all the ways of the world.
The Caoineag (KHOO-nyak) is a Scottish spirit similar to the Irish banshee. Her name derives from the Gaelic caoin, meaning weep, and caoidh, meaning mourn. She is one of the Fuath, the malevolent spirits or fairies that inhabit Scotland’s waters.
When the tide is at the turning and the wind is fast asleep,
And not a wave is curling on the wide, blue deep,
Oh, the waters will be churning in the stream that never smiles,
Where the Blue Men are splashing round the charmèd isles.from Wonder Tales From Scottish Myth And Legend by Donald Alexander McKenzie
The Blue Men of the Minch are a group of mythological humanoid creatures that inhabit the waters of the Minch, a strait in the north-west of Scotland that separates the mainland from the northern Outer Hebrides.
Long, long ago, in the lands to the north, a prosperous farmer lived with his wife and their children: seven sons, and a daughter. The youngest of their sons was named Assipattle. He was a lazy boy, held in great contempt by his brothers whose toil on the farm was increased by his refusal to work the land. Instead, his mother made him sweep the floors, fetch peat for the fire, and all the other menial tasks around the farmhouse that she could persuade him to do, though he would much rather have been lying in the ash pit, daydreaming of adventure.
Wee White Hoose was originally created in 2015 to participate in the A to Z challenge but has grown to become a receptacle for my research into my first love – Scottish myth, folklore, tradition and customs, and storytelling. Grab a cuppa, coorie doon, and have read ♥
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