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landscape, storms and winter | |
_(14566397697).jpg) Illustration by John Duncan in Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend (1917) | |
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InGaelic (Irish,Scottish andManx) myth, theCailleach (Irish:[ˈkal̠ʲəx,kəˈl̠ʲax],Scottish Gaelic:[ˈkʰaʎəx]) is a divinehag, associated with thecreation of the landscape and with theweather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is found with this meaning in modernIrish andScottish Gaelic,[1] and has been applied to numerous mythological andfolkloric figures inIreland,Scotland, and theIsle of Man.[2] In modern Irish folklore studies, she is sometimes known asThe Hag of Beara, while in Scotland she is known asBeira, Queen of Winter.
Cailleach ('old woman' or 'hag' in modernIrish andScottish Gaelic)[1][4] comes from theOld IrishCaillech ('veiled one'), an adjectival form ofcaille ('veil'), an early loan fromLatinpallium,[5] 'woollen cloak'.[6][7][8][9]
The Cailleach is often referred to as theCailleach Bhéarra in Irish andCailleach Bheurra in Scottish Gaelic. Gearóid Ó Crualaoich believes this comes from a word meaning 'sharp, shrill, inimical' –bior orbeur – and refers to the Cailleach's association with winter and wilderness, as well as her association with horned beasts or cattle.[10]Nollaig Ó Muraíle mentions a colleague discovering a south-west Kerry dialect wordbéarach used to designate "rocks on the sea-shore against which the sea breaks with great force" and suggests this as an original meaning.[11] However, the earlier forms of the word has aslender ending, not a broad one:Béirre (Ó Muraíle),[11] "Bérre, gen.Bérri, dat.Bérriu" (Meyer).[12]
The 8th- to 9th-century Irish poemThe Lament of the Old Woman says that the Cailleach's name isDigdi/ˈdʲiɣʲðʰi/ orDigde/ˈdʲiɣʲðʰe/.[12] InThe Hunt ofSlieve Cuilinn she is called Milucra, sister ofÁine. In the tale of theGlas Gaibhnenn, she is called Biróg. Elsewhere, she is called Bui or Bua[ch].[13] InManx Gaelic she is known as theCaillagh.[2][14]
The plural ofcailleach iscailleacha (pronounced[kɪˈl̠ʲaxə,ˈkal̠ʲəxə]) in Irish,cailleachan (pronounced[ˈkʰaʎəxən]) in Scottish Gaelic, andcaillaghyn in Manx. The word is found as a component in terms like the Gaeliccailleach-dhubh ('nun') andcailleach-oidhche ('owl'),[1] as well as the Irishcailleach feasa ('wise woman, fortune-teller') andcailleach phiseogach ('sorceress, charm-worker'). Related words include the Gaeliccaileag and the Irishcailín ('young woman, girl, colleen'), the diminutive ofcaile 'woman',[1] and theLowland Scotscarline/carlin ('old woman, witch').[15] A more obscure word that is sometimes interpreted as 'hag' is the Irishsíle, which has led some to speculate on a connection between the Cailleach and the stone carvings ofSheela na Gigs.[16]
InScotland, where she is also known as Beira, Queen of Winter (a name given by 20th-century folkloristDonald Alexander Mackenzie), she is credited with making numerous mountains and large hills, which are said to have been formed when she was striding across the land and accidentally dropped rocks from her creel or wicker basket. In other cases she is said to have built the mountains intentionally, to serve as her stepping stones. She carries a hammer for shaping the hills and valleys, and is said to be the mother of all the goddesses and gods. According to Mackenzie, Beira was a one-eyedgiantess with white hair, dark blue skin, and rust-colored teeth.[17]
The Cailleach displays several traits befitting the personification of winter: she herdsdeer, she fights spring, and her staff freezes the ground.[18]
In partnership with the goddessBrìghde, the Cailleach is seen as a seasonal deity or spirit, ruling the winter months betweenSamhainn (5 November or first day of Samhain) andBealltainn (1 May or first day of summer), while Brìghde rules the summer months between Bealltainn and Samhainn.[19] Some interpretations have the Cailleach and Brìghde as two faces of the same goddess,[19] while others describe the Cailleach as turning tostone on Bealltainn and reverting to humanoid form on Samhainn in time to rule over the winter months. Depending on local climate, the transfer of power between the winter goddess and the summer goddess is celebrated any time betweenLà Fhèill Brìghde (Imbolc, 1 February) at the earliest, Latha na Cailliche (25 March), or Bealltainn (1 May) at the latest, and the local festivals marking the arrival of the first signs of spring may be named after either the Cailleach or Brìghde.[19]
Là Fhèill Brìghde is also the day the Cailleach gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. Legend has it that if she intends to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on 1 February is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood to keep herself warm in the coming months.[2] As a result, people are generally relieved if Là Fhèill Brìghde is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep, will soon run out of firewood, and therefore winter is almost over.[2] On the Isle of Man, where She is known asCaillagh ny Groamagh, the Cailleach is said to have been seen onSt. Bride's day in the form of a gigantic bird, carrying sticks in her beak.[2]
According to Mackenzie,the longest night of the year marked the end of her reign as Queen of Winter, at which time she visited theWell of Youth and, after drinking its magic water, grew younger day by day.[17]
In Scotland, the Cailleachan (lit. 'old women') are also known as the Storm Hags, and seen as personifications of the elemental powers of nature, especially in a destructive aspect. They are said to be particularly active in raising the windstorms of spring, during the period known asA' Chailleach.[19][20]
On the west coast of Scotland, the Cailleach ushers in winter by washing hergreat plaid (Gaelic:féileadh mòr) in theGulf of Corryvreckan (Gaelic:Coire Bhreacain - 'whirlpool/cauldron of the plaid'). This process is said to take three days, during which the roar of the coming tempest is heard as far away as twenty miles (32 km) inland. When she is finished, her plaid is pure white and snow covers the land.[19]
In Scotland and Ireland, the first farmer to finish the grain harvest made acorn dolly, representing the Cailleach (also called "the Carlin or Carline"[21]), from the last sheaf of the crop. The figure would then be tossed into the field of a neighbor who had not yet finished bringing in their grain. The last farmer to finish had the responsibility to take in and care for the corn dolly for the next year, with the implication they'd have to feed and house the hag all winter. Competition was fierce to avoid having to take in the Old Woman.[22]
Some scholars believe the Old Irish poem "The Lament of the Old Woman of Beara" is about the Cailleach;Kuno Meyer states, "she had fifty foster-children in Beare. She had seven periods of youth one after another, so that every man who had lived with her came to die of old age, and her grandsons and great-grandsons were tribes and races."[23][24]
In Ireland, the Cailleach is associated with craggy, prominent mountains and outcroppings, such as Hag's Head (Irish:Ceann Caillí, meaning 'hag's head') the southernmost tip of theCliffs of Moher inCounty Clare.[3]
Labbacallee wedge tomb (Irish:Leaba Chaillí, meaning 'the hag's bed') is located nearGlanworth,County Cork and is, according to folklore, the Cailleach's grave and former dwelling where she lived with her husband,Mogh Ruith, who she threw a boulder at, pinning him to the floor of theRiver Funshion.[25]
There is a rock on theBeara Peninsula inWest Cork atKilcatherine said to resemble the Cailleach. In mythology she is said to have leapt across the bay fromCoulagh to its present location.
The megalithic tombs atLoughcrew inCounty Meath are situated atopSlieve na Calliagh (Irish:Sliabh na Caillí, meaning 'the hag's mountain') and include a kerbstone known as "the hag's chair".[26] Cairn T on Slieve na Calliagh is a classicpassage tomb, in which the rays of theequinox sunrise shine down the passageway and illuminate an inner chamber filled with megalithic stone carvings.[27]
The summit ofSlieve Gullion inCounty Armagh features a passage tomb known locally as the 'Calliagh Beara's House'. There is also a lake, where the Calliagh is said to have played a trick on the mythical warrior,Fionn mac Cumhaill, when he took on the physical appearance of an old man after diving into the lake to retrieve a ring that the Calliagh fooled him into thinking was lost.[28]
Aillenacally (Aill na Caillí, "Hag Cliff") is acliff inCounty Galway.[29]
TheCarrowmore passage tombs on theCúil Iorra Peninsula inCounty Sligo, are associated with the Cailleach. One is called the Cailleach a Bhéara's House.[30]William Butler Yeats refers to the Sligo Cailleach as the 'Clooth na Bare'.[31] In County Sligo she is also called theGaravogue Cailleach.
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The Cailleach is prominent in the landscape ofArgyll and Bute, Scotland. In later tales she is known as theCailleach nan Cruachan ("the witch ofBen Cruachan"). Ben Cruachan is the tallest mountain in the region. Tea-towels and postcards of her are sold in the visitor shop for theHollow Mountain, which also features a mural depicting her accidental creation ofLoch Awe.[32] Legend has it that the Cailleach was tired from a long day herding deer. Atop Ben Cruachan she fell asleep on her watch and a well she was tending overflowed, running down from the highlands and flooding the valleys below, forming first ariver and then theloch.[32][33] The overflowing well is a common motif in localGaelic creation tales - as seen in the goddessBoann's similar creation of theRiver Boyne in Ireland.[34] Other connections to the region include her above-mentioned strong ties with the fierce whirlpool in theGulf of Corryvreckan.[19]
She is also associated with other Scottish mountains.Ben Nevis was said to be her "mountain throne".[17] The two mountains on theIsle of Skye named Beinn na Caillich (western andeastern) after her, from which fierce storms of sleet and rain descend, wreaking havoc and destruction upon the lands below.[19]
There is a Gleann Cailliche inGlen Lyon in Perthshire with a stream named Allt Cailliche which runs intoLoch Lyon. This area is famous for a pagan ritual which according to legend is associated to the Cailleach. There is a smallshieling in the Glen, known as either Tigh nan Cailleach (Scottish Gaelic forhouse of the old women[35]) or Tigh nam Bodach, (Scottish Gaelic forhouse of the old men[35]), which houses a number of heavy water-worn stones, resembling miniature human beings.[36] Roughly rectangular, the building originally measured 2m by 1.3m by 0.4m high with a stone roof.[37] A replacement roof of a wooden pallet having collapsed and the whole building having become somewhat ruinous it was rebuilt by a local dyker in 2011.[38]
According to local legend the stones represent the Cailleach, her husband the Bodach, and their children[39][40] and the site may represent the only surviving shrine of its kind in Great Britain.[36] The local legend suggests that the Cailleach and her family were given shelter in the glen by the locals and while they stayed there the glen was always fertile and prosperous. When they left they gave the stones to the locals with the promise that as long as the stones were put out to look over the glen atBealltainn and put back into the shelter and made secure for the winter atSamhain then the glen would continue to be fertile.[39] This ritual is still carried out to this day.[40][41]
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