Scottish Folklore

When you look at Scotland with a fresh pair of eyes and a rational mind, you can begin to understand how Scotland’s myths and curiosities have emerged. With ever-changing weather, strange land formations, rugged landscape and mystical lochs, you truly feel like you have landed in a magical place. Together with the Scot’s famous savvy storytelling, the legendary tales have been carried down through generations, living on for each visitor to experience like a candle in the wind. Scotland is a land full of superstitions, folklore and legends to encounter.

The people who live in Scotland have grown up with legendary stories, which have amassed since prehistoric times. Scotland’s many visitors are often drawn to the mythical nature of the land and feel a sense of adventure with a supernatural aura of mystery. Often connecting with local people in areas of Scotland, opens up a bond and an internationally renowned sense of belonging to this beautiful country. Scotland’s traditions and culture are juxtaposed with silly stories and beliefs, which over time evolve and blur the understanding between facts and history.

The Roman Empire arrived in Scotland in the 1st century, according to recorded history. The province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall and to the North of this was Caledonia, which was inhabited by the Picti, whose revolt forced Rome’s legions back to Hadrian’s Wall.

The Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata was founded on the west coast of Scotland in the 6th century. Although, one legendary myth suggests that this was formed by Irish descendants. The foundations of the story point to Fergus Mor mac Eirc, who supposedly established a new Dál Riata in Argyll because of dynastic competition at home. They displaced a previous community of settlers there, a process which eventually ended in the takeover of the entire Kingdom in the 9th century, to create the United Kingdom of Alba, which became Scotland

truth, this is all just Irish craic, according to archaeologists who researched further during a dig in the 1970s. An excavation at the Royal Fort at Dunadd in Argyll was identified as the inauguration site of some of the earliest Scottish kings but their findings show there was no link with Ireland and no evidence that there was an invasion in the 4th or 5th century. No Irish artefacts were found during this dig but there is evidence collected that the two countries traded often, and many were Gaelic speaking on the West Coast of Scotland.

The origin of this story is thought to have been medieval spin doctors for political purposes, attempting to further the claims to the Scottish throne of descendant Kenneth MacAlpin (King of the Picts). An attempt to re-write history.

However, Irish missionaries did introduce the previously pagan Picts to Celtic Christianity. Following England‘s Gregorian mission, the Pictish king Nechtan chose to abolish most Celtic practices in favour of the Roman rite, restricting Gaelic influence on his kingdom and avoiding war with Anglian Northumbria.

Towards the end of the 8th century, the Viking invasions began, forcing the Picts and Gaels to cease their historic hostility to each other and to unite in the 9th century, forming the Kingdom of Scotland.

Nessie is the loving name given to the ‘water beast’, otherwise known as the Loch Ness Monster. This was first chronicled in the 5th century by St Columba but came to the world’s attention in 1933. A Scottish newspaper reported that a London visitor saw a prehistoric, dragon-like animal bobbing in Loch Ness. In the same year, the famous first photo was published.

On first utterance of this beast, you may easily dismiss it as nonsense. However, when you consider that Loch Ness is the second deepest body of water in Scotland and contains more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales, it seems like there’s actually a lot of room for something large to live there and survive.

There is common speculation that Nessie descended from a species of dinosaur, known as a plesiosaur, which is a marine reptile that swam in water and has actually been extinct for 65 million years. At present, no plesiosaur bones have been found in Loch Ness and despite their being over 22 tons of fish in Loch Ness, this is still nowhere near enough to feed a giant breeding plesiosaur.

According to Scottish folklore, kelpies are horse-like water spirits, which are said to have the strength and endurance of 100 horses.

They are shapeshifting, supernatural, mythical beasts, which are rumoured to live in Loch Coruisk, a freshwater loch at the foot of the Black Cuillin range. This lake in the Isle of Skye has been the subject of many Scottish writers and painters and is very popular with tourists. The Kelpies are said to haunt lochs and apparently appear as victims, enticing people to ride them before taking them down to a watery grave.

Likewise, you can’t miss the giant steel horse heads of The Kelpies, just off the M9 motorway near Falkirk. They are located in the park at Helix, a great photo opportunity and are nearly one hundred feet high over the Forth & Clyde Canal.

She was a ‘washer woman’, a Scottish fairy seen as an omen of death. A cousin of the banshee in Irish folktales, this creature heralded death. You would find her washing the clothes of those who are about to die, and she would scream before someone was about to die. More often than not these people heard the wail and died of fright.

This is a werewolf from Shetland, which doesn’t fit the typical image of a terrifying werewolf. The Scottish Wulver has the body of a man with a wolf’s head and was said to leave fish on the windowsills of poor families. It was seen as a kind-hearted, generous soul, known to help some of the most unfortunate people in the country.

These are mermaid-like in their appearance and historical recordings of the creatures say that they lived in underwater caves. The Blue Men of Minch are meant to lure sailors to their deaths in rough seas. Apparently they can only be beaten by making sure the last word is achieved in a rhyming duel. Captains with sharp tongues survived!

Legend has It if you stick your face in the water under the Old Sligachan Bridge for 7 seconds and let It dry off naturally, you’ll be granted eternal beauty. There was the greatest female warrior on Skye named Scáthach.

One day, Ireland’s favourite warrior, Cú Chulainn, travelled to Skye to fight Scáthach and the battle raged on for weeks and weeks. Scáthach’s daughter was tired and worried about all the fighting and for her mother, so she ran to the Sligachan River with her eyes filled with tears, begging for the fight to stop.

She didn’t know that the water is a gateway between the faerie world and ours, and as such the faeries heard her plead. They instructed her to stick her face in the water for 7 seconds, and she’ll have her solution. Then, she ventured around Skye gathering the loveliest herbs, meats and any item of deliciousness that the land produced to prepare the perfect meal.

Being a guest, Cú Chulainn was compelled not to harm the host; you can’t fight someone who has hosted you, ever. That was the end of the battle; the two warriors made a truce. The faeries will grant anyone who sticks their face in Sligachan River eternal beauty.

If you enjoyed this quiz then I'm going to have a vote between Irish, Egyptian, or Native American folklore place your vote in the comments and whoever wins will be my next blog