Visions of the Cailleach: Exploring the Myths, Folklore and Legends of the pre-eminent Celtic Hag Goddess by d'Este Sorita & Rankine David

Author:d'Este, Sorita & Rankine, David [d'Este, Sorita]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Avalonia
Published: 2012-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

LADY OF THE BEASTS

Although she was known to protect all types of animals, the deer were most beloved of the Cailleach in Scotland. Stories tell of how she treated them as her cattle, herding and milking them and protecting them from hunters. The Cailleach Mhor Nam Fiadh (Great Cailleach of the Deer) was known to kill any man not from the island of Jura who set foot on the island with a view to hunting and killing her deer. This fits with the description given by Ross in her classic work Pagan Celtic Britain when she declared that the Cailleachan survived in local folklore as “great supernatural hags haunting mountain passes or driving their deer over the hills and conferring benefits and evils on humanity as they saw fit.”

The Cailleach Beinn Na Bric (Cailleach of Speckled Mountain) was known to the local hunters and advised them on the condition of the deer, how many they could hunt and when. The hunters always respected her advice, knowing that she guarded the animals and controlled the balance of nature. She was believed to have unlimited power over the elements and could charm animals with her magic songs.lxvii

Thus a local story from the Grampians tells of how the Cailleach told two boys where to find a particular deer, but they ignored her advice and caught a stag instead. When they returned home, they discovered they had an empty rope and no stag.

This is clearly reminiscent of the idea we have suggested of a priesthood associated with the Cailleach, an idea which was postulated by J G Mackay in 1932 with regard to a deer cult. Writing in the magazine Folklore he suggested:

“The deer-priestesses never appear in the tales as priestesses, but as witches. They gave the hunters blessings and charms to procure them success in the chase, and afterwards shared the spoils of the chase with them. After all witches are only fossil priestesses, the exponents of dead pagan faiths.”lxviii

Mackenzie also continued this line of thought, suggesting in his work Scottish Folk-Lore and Folk Life (1935) that,

“The gigantic stature of these Old Women, their love for their deer, the fact that their dealings are almost exclusively with hunters, and the fact that each is referred to as a bean-sidhe, or supernatural woman, seems sufficient warrant for calling them Deer-Goddesses ...They are all creatures of the wild. This is very significant, and suggests a very great antiquity.”lxix

However as previously mentioned she not only protected the deer, and she was also known to protect wild pigs and boars, wild goats, wild cattle and wolves. It is interesting to note that all of these animals may be found in herds and packs.

The Cailleach had a strong connection with the bird kingdom, particularly herons, which she shape-shifted into in several tales. The connection to the heron provided a link to the Celtic sea god Manannan, who is found in two of the Cailleach stories, and was sometimes considered to be her husband. We may also note that the Scottish Gaelic name for a barn owl is Cailleach-oidhche gheal, or white night hag.

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