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cailleach


caillech, cailliach, callech

Although the Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic word cailleach means literally ‘old woman’, often in the pejorative sense, or ‘hag’, the word has many more connotations than this simple gloss would imply. The Old Irish caillech, from which cailleach derives, meant literally ‘veiled one’, and could denote a nun, widow, or old woman. Thus the Irish sovereignty figure, Cailleach Bhéirre, is best described by the resonant Irish term rather than the unsatisfactory English translations ‘Nun’, ‘Hag’, or ‘Old Woman of Beare’.

In both Ireland and Gaelic Scotland, cailleach also denotes the last sheaf of a harvest and is the subject of many beliefs and practices. In Ireland farmers hold races at harvest time so that industrious farmers may call their last sheaf the ‘corn maiden’ while only slower workers are given the cailleach as their last sheaf, presumably a reproach for their procrastination and dilatory ways. The cailleach is kept during the year; some is given to the cattle and some shaken on the land to assure fertility in the coming year. Farm girls avoid tying the cailleach for fear that they shall never have a husband. In Scotland the cailleach is tied with a ribbon and hung up on a nail until spring. On the first day of ploughing it is given to the horse as a token of good luck. On the Isle of Lewis the cailleach was dressed as a woman and her apron filled with bread, cheese, and a sickle. Comparable customs of the old woman of the fields are found in Wales as well as in non-Celtic European countries.

 
 

In the Highlands of Scotland, there was a superstition that whoever was last with his harvesting would be saddled with the Harvest Old Wife to keep until the next year. The first farmer to be finished made a doll of some blades of corn, which was called "the old wife," and sent it to his nearest neighbor. He, in turn, when finished, sent it on to another, and so on until the person last finished had the old wife to keep. Needless to say this fear acted as a spur to the superstitious Highlanders.

Sources:

Thompson, Francis. The Supernatural Highland. London: Robert Hale, 1976.

 
Wikipedia: Cailleach

In Irish and Scottish mythology, the Cailleach (pronounced /kalʲəx/, Irish plural cailleacha /kalʲəxə/, Scottish Gaelic plural cailleachan /kalʲəxən/), also known as the Cailleach Bheur, is generally seen as a divine hag, a creator, and possibly an ancestral deity or deified ancestor. The word simply means 'old woman' in modern Scottish Gaelic, and has been applied to numerous mythological figures in both Scotland and Ireland.

Legends

In Scotland, where she is also known as Beira, Queen of Winter, 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 apron. 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.[1]

In partnership with the goddess Brìghde, the Cailleach is seen as a seasonal deity or spirit, with The Cailleach Bheur ruling the winter months between Samhuinn and Bealltainn, and Brìghde ruling the summer months between Bealltainn and Samhuinn. Depending on local climate, the change in 'rulership' is celebrated any time between Là Fhèill Brìghde (February 1) at the earliest, Latha na Cailliche (March 25), or Bealltainn at the latest. Some interpretations have the Cailleach and Brìghde as two faces of the same goddess.[2] She evinces many traits fitting for the personified Winter: she herds deer, she fights Spring, and her staff freezes the ground.[3]

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 as A' Chailleach.[2][4] One legend describes The Cailleach as turning to stone on Beltane and reverting back to humanoid form on Samhain in time to rule over the winter months. In Scotland, she ushers in winter by washing her plaid in the Whirlpool of Coire Bhreacain. This process is said to take three days, during which the roar of the coming tempest is heard as far away as twenty miles inland. When she is finished, her plaid is white and snow covers the land.[2]

In Scotland and Ireland, the first farmer to finish the grain harvest made a corn dolly, representing The Cailleach, from the last sheaf of the crop. The last farmer to finish had the responsibility to take in and care for the corn dolly for the next year. Competition was fierce to avoid having to take in the Old Woman.[5]

The word cailleach (in modern Scottish Gaelic, 'old wife, nun') comes from the Old Irish caillech, 'veiled one', which is probably derived from the Latin pallium, 'cloak'.[6] The word is related to caileag which means 'girl'. The Lowland Scots word for 'hag' is carline which has evolved to mean witch. Another word for 'hag' is the Irish Síle, which has led some to speculate on a connection between the Cailleach and the stonecarvings of Sheela na Gigs.[7] Some scholars believe the Old Irish poem, 'The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare' 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.'[8][9]

The Cailleach Bheur has been described in some sources as having blue-black skin, like a corpse. In later tales she is also known as Cailleach nan Cruachan, the witch of Ben Cruachan (a Mountain in Argyll and Bute, Scotland). Tea-towels and postcards of her are sold in the visitor shop for the Hollow Mountain. She is also credited with creating Loch Awe.

In the area of the Cliffs of Moher, she is reportedly given the name Bronach or 'sorrowful'.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Mackenzie, Donald Alexander (1917). "Beira, Queen of Winter" in Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend"
  2. ^ a b c McNeill, F. Marian (1959). The Silver Bough, Vol.2: A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Candlemas to Harvest Home. Glasgow: William MacLellan, 20-1. ISBN 0-85335-162-7. 
  3. ^ Briggs, K. M. (1967). The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature. London: University of Chicago Press, 40. 
  4. ^ McNeill, F. Marian (1959). The Silver Bough, Vol.1: Scottish Folklore and Folk-Belief. Glasgow: William MacLellan, 119. ISBN 0-85335-161-9. 
  5. ^ McNeill, Vol.2 (1959) pp.119-124
  6. ^ Macbain, Alexander (1998) Etymological Dictionary Of Scottish-Gaelic. New York, Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-7818-0632-1 p.63
  7. ^ Ross, Anne (1973, reprint 2004) "The divine hag of the pagan Celts" in The Witch Figure: Folklore Essays by a Group of Scholars in England Honoring the 75th Birthday of Katharine M. Briggs. ed. by Venetia Newall. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-4153-3074-2
  8. ^ Meyer, Kuno (1994 (orig. 1913)). Ancient Irish Poetry. London: Constable and Co., 90-3. ISBN 0094733805. 
  9. ^ Ó Crualaoich, Gearóid (2003). The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise-Woman Healer. Cork: Cork University Press, 48-52. ISBN 1-85918-372-7. 
  10. ^ House Shadow Drake. Cailleach Bheara

Bibliography

  • Carmichael, Alexander (1992). Carmina Gadelica. Lindisfarne Press. ISBN 0-940262-50-9
  • Danaher, Kevin (1962). The Year in Ireland. Irish Books & Media. ISBN 0-937702-13-7
  • Hull, Eleanor. "Legends and Traditions of the Cailleach Bheara or Old Woman (Hag) of Beare" in Folklore, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Sep. 30, 1927), pp. 225-254
  • MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280120-1
  • McNeill, F. Marian (1959). The Silver Bough, Vol. 1 -4. William MacLellan, Glasgow
  • Ó Crualaoich, Gearóid (2003). The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise-Woman Healer. Cork University Press. ISBN 1-85918-372-7

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Copyrights:

Celtic Mythology. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Copyright © James MacKillop 1998, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cailleach" Read more

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