The witches of Ireland used to put on a magical red cap before flying through the air to their meeting-place. It has been suggested that witches in various countries may have experienced the illusion of traveling through the air after ingesting the "red cap" hallucinatory mushroom amanita muscaria (flyagaric).

In Scotland the red caps were bloodthirsty elves who were said to live in the castles in the Lowlands. They dyed their caps red with human blood.