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Female spirit in Scottish folklore
The
caoineag
(
Scottish Gaelic pronunciation:
[?k??ː?ak]
) is a female spirit in
Scottish folklore
and a type of
Highland
banshee
, her name meaning "weeper". She is normally invisible and foretells death in her
clan
by lamenting in the night at a waterfall, stream or Loch, or in a
glen
or on a mountainside. Unlike the related death portent known as the
bean nighe
, the caoineag cannot be approached, questioned, or made to grant wishes.
[1]
[2]
The
Scottish
folklorist
Alexander Carmichael
in
Carmina Gadelica
states that she foretells the death of those slain in battle, and that her mourning and weeping cause much anxiety to parents whose sons are in the wars. Before the
Massacre of Glencoe
, the caoineag of
Clan MacDonald
was heard to wail night after night.
[1]
[3]
Those whose fears were roused by her
keening
left the glen and escaped the fate of those who remained behind. Fragments of the
dirges
said to have been sung by the caoineag before the massacre were collected by Carmichael:
Little caoineachag of the sorrow
Is pouring the tears of her eyes
Weeping and wailing the fate of Clan Donald
Alas my grief that ye did not heed her cries
There is gloom and grief in the mount of mist
There is weeping and calling in the mount of mist
There is death and danger, there is maul and murder
There is blood spilling in the mount of mist
[1]
Other local names for her include
caointeag
,
caoineachag
,
caointeachag
, and
caoidheag
.
[1]
Caointeach
[
edit
]
The
caointeach
is another version of this death spirit attached to various clans in
Islay
. When a death from illness was about to occur, she would appear outside the sick person's house wearing a green shawl and begin lamenting at the door. In one account she is said to have been banished from the premises after having been pitied and given a gift of clothing to cover herself, much like traditions of the
brownie
[4]
and the
Cauld Lad of Hylton
.
[5]
She is sometimes conflated with the bean nighe who haunts desolate streams and washes the clothing of those about to die, but in this context the caointeach is more formidable. If she is interrupted she will strike at a person's legs with her wet linen and the victim will lose the use of them.
[6]
Caointeach
is also the spelling alternative given by
Edward Dwelly
in his dictionary of
Scottish Gaelic
, where she is defined as a "female
fairy
or
water-kelpie
".
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Carmichael, Alexander (1900).
Carmina Gadelica (Vol. 2)
. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable. pp. 240?1.
- ^
Mackenzie, Donald (1935).
Scottish Folklore and Folk Life
. Blackie & Son. pp. 239?40.
- ^
MacKillop, James (2004), "caoineag",
A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
(online ed.), Oxford University Press,
doi
:
10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001
,
ISBN
9780198609674
- ^
MacDougall, James and Calder, George (1910).
Folk Tales and Fairy Lore in Gaelic and English
. Edinburgh: John Grant. p. 215.
- ^
Briggs, Katharine (1976).
An Encyclopedia of Fairies
. Pantheon Books. pp. 68?9.
ISBN
0394409183
.
- ^
Briggs 1976, pp. 19?20.
- ^
"Caointeach"
. Am Faclair Beag
. Retrieved
14 May
2014
.
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