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n olden times, the cailleach of the Scottish Highlands went by many names.  Crone or hag is the most literal translation, but she was also known as goodwife, spaewife, hen wife, and several other equally colorful sobriquets.  Whatever you wish to call her, she was a wise woman.

She also held a place of tremendous importance in her community.  As a healer, seer, midwife, and – yes – caster of spells and charm-maker, she took respect as her due.  Only a fool would cross her.  She was as deeply ingrained in medieval Highland culture as were the chiefs and their daoin’ uasal (clan gentry) and even the famed storytellers who, with their stirring fireside tales, were the heartbeat of the great days of the clans.

Above all, the cailleach was an astute woman.  Along with her herbal and spelling knowledge, she undoubtedly possessed a great amount of common sense.  She had a desire to help others, a caring heart, and a keen, dry wit.

Her world was one of lonely moors, empty glens, and great, mist-hung hills.  Myth, legend, and lore held credence and people put faith in the powers of good and evil.  Magic, supernatural forces, and creatures such as selkies, water horses, and water bulls, were accepted as real.  And although the cailleach truly lived and plied her helpful trade, she was also woven into some grand Celtic tales.

As a storm or river hag, she controlled the elemental forces of nature.  If her temper was roused, she’d call down tempests and lash rivers and lochs into frothing furies.  As Hag of the Ridges, she represented Winter.  In this form, she was fearsome with blue skin, one eye, and tusk-like teeth.  She ensured that cold, wind, and darkness reigned for months until, at last, she is defeated by her rival, Spring.

If these Gaelic yarns are to be believed, she’s also older than time because one tradition credits her with having made Scotland.  She accomplished this by dropping a creel of peat and rocks into the sea.  Tellers of such tales also see her responsible for Scotland’s famed mist.  As Hag of the Ridges (Winter), she created the Corryvreckan whirlpool in the Hebrides.  She used these boiling waters to wash her linens and it is their billowing whiteness, spread across the hills to dry, that we see as Highland mist.

Her magic was great and in the Gaelic West where ancient beliefs and pagan practices lingered for centuries, no one doubted her formidable abilities.  More likely, she was frequently enlisted to employ them.  She could, after all, use her spells, incantations, and charms, to sway the outcome of a battle.  With ease, she ensured that the opponents fought poorly and succumbed to their wounds.  She could delay or avert the arrival of foes by causing storms at sea or darkness and fog to cloak the hills.  She was also adept at thwarting enemies by blunting their weapons.

Those she wished to protect could be certain they’d go to war with their clothes and armor magically impenetrable.  Or they could trust that an enemy might find it impossible to unsheathe his sword.  If an opponent did prove victorious, perhaps having been aided by a more powerful cailleach, the defeated warriors knew that the crone’s healing skills would soon put them right again.

Faith in a wise woman’s ability to safeguard warriors persisted for centuries.  In the Jacobite era, a cailleach put a charm on a Macleod chieftain before he joined the forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie.  The Macleod fought valiantly at Culloden (April 16, 1746) and although he was in the heat of the fray, he survived.  After the Highlanders’ terrible defeat, he discovered how well the cailleach’s protection worked.  His jacket was riddled with bullet holes and slashed by sword cuts.  Yet he bore nary a scratch.

 

The cailleach’s powers also made life easier in more earthy ways.  She could bring rain and bless crops, ensure fishing boats returned safely and with their nets full, undo the evil eye, and cause a barren woman to quicken with child.  She helped when a cow’s milk dried (this was thought to be caused by ill-wishing) and she could work love charms.

She would have greeted visitors warmly, inviting them inside her humble thick-walled cottage with its thatched roof and cheery peat fire.  A guest could sit on a low three-legged stool, receiving this honor because the stool’s lowness kept the visitor’s head beneath the curling peat smoke that would have hazed the air.  Viands would have been offered, perhaps oatcakes, cheese, and fresh butter.  Berries and honeycomb for a touch of sweetness.  Her own special heather ale would have been a fine accompaniment.  When business was done, her guest would be sent away with these words:  “Goodnight and blessings be with you!

Devorgilla

Sue-Ellen's Cailleach is in many of her books

Original artwork by Hrana Jano at www.hranajanto.com

 

 

Sue-Ellen Welfonder writes Scottish medieval romances and also pens Scottish-set paranormals under the pseudonym Allie Mackay.  Of Scottish descent, she’s enjoyed a lifelong fascination with Scotland and its rich history and culture.  She spent fifteen years living in Europe and used that time to explore sites of medieval interest, especially in Great Britain.  She still makes frequent trips to Scotland and is actively involved in her own clan society.  Her Scottish medievals have a cailleach as a recurring character.  Readers can meet Devorgilla in Sue-Ellen’s latest release, A Highlander’s Temptation, (GCP, Oct. 2009).  Please visit her at: www.welfonder.com or www.alliemackay.com

 

 

 

 

 

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