C, coll, obselete, the hazel.

The totem bird for this letter is

the corr or crane. Its colour is cron, brown; its dates August
5 until September 5.

CABACH, CABAG, cab, gap, toothless, any toothless

individual, obs. a hostage. Sometimes, a strumpet.

CÀBHRUICH, sowens, flummery; cath+bruith, spent cookery.

Oatmeal steeped in water to the point of souring. Sowans
has a glutinous, starchy appearance not unlike that of human
cum, i.e. human sperm in liquid.

In Scotland it used to be a common threat of young

men that “I’ll be at you with my sowans.” In Aberdeenshire
and the north-east of Scotland the Yule was called Aul Eel
E’en , the “Evening of Willfulness,” or the “Evening of Ale.”
It was also entitled Sowans Nicht because it was customary
for old friends to gather round a huge bowl of sowans. The
Yule variety of Sowans was termed “knotting” or “drinking”
sowans and was made to the consistency of cream. It was
sweetened with honey and laced with whisky, and was eaten
with oat cakes and cheese washed down with brown ale.
Sometimes a silver coin, a button and a ring, symbolizing
wealth, bachelorhood and matrimony were placed randomly
in small wooden cups, and the future thus divined.

Sowans were also a part of the Hogmanay rites and

the first dark-haired male to dip into it constituted himself
“a factor in the production of a good New Year, Dr. R.C.
Maclagan has said that this individual “impersonates the
New Year.” When men went first-footing on any Quarter Day
eve, they were expected to drench the windows and doors of
places they visited with sowans “if they were to do well by
the inmates.” Thus an old fertility rite was preserved into
the early part of this century.

CACHLIACH, a gate; cadha-chliath, a “hurdle-pass.” cac,

dung, found at such places, cachd, fasting, a maidservant,
confinement. See entry below.

CAD, all obsolete: holy, high, sacred, good, friend, cadach,

affinity, friendship, assistance, cadachas, atonement for an
offense, expiation.

CADADH, tartan cloth, hose tartan. Manx caddee, cotton; Eng.

caddow (sixteenth cent.), a quilt or shawl woven by the
Irish. Related to the English caddis, worsted or crewl work
thought to be from the French cadis, woollen serge. Related
to the Gaelic catas, the refuse left behind after the carding
of wool, the Irish cadás, cotton or the scrapings from linen
cloth; cata , a sheep pen; catadh, the act of taming animals.
The ultimate form is perhaps the Carthaginian gadir,
“hedge” or “stockade.”

The Phoenician city of Tartessos, from which we have

the word “tartan,” was actually built by earlier people in
Neolithic times. Based on an island at the mouth of the
Guadalete River in Spain, it acquired a Carthaginian rival in
the settlement they named He-gadir. This was the city the
Romans and Greeks knew as Gades, which the Spanish now
call Cadiz. In classical mythology Gaderios was one of the
numerous sons of the sea-god Poseidon. As noted elsewhere,
the word confers with the French La cadie which is now
represented in the name Acadia, “Gateway,”an antique name
for eastern Canada. In his Geographica, Strabo noted that
the “ancients” called “the Baetis River “Tartessos,” and
called Gades and the adjoining islands “Erytheia... Since the
river had two mouths, a city was planted on the intervening
territory between in former times, or so it is said. That
city was “Tartessos,” after the name of the
river...Erasthonese says that the country adjoining the cape
is also called “Tartessis,” and adds that Eryheis is called
the “Blest Isle.”

Originally tartan was a silken material preferred by

the “gods,” or Tartessians. Strabo notes that the
Carthaginians campaigning against Iberia found the people
of the region “using silver feeding-troughs and wine-jars.”
They also noted that the Tartessians had the additional
name Makraiones, “Long-livers,” from their extended life
expectancy. It was guessed that the newcomers may have
had a lower standard of living and the original cadiz may
have been associated with them and their city. After the
disappearance and/or conquest of Tartessos, the tertainne
cloth became indistinguishable from that of cadiz.

CADAL, sleep, slumber, delay, OIr. cotlud, the root tol,

gentle. "Sleeping on the bench is always rebuked, and a
certain man testifies that once, when he disobeyed this
rule, he awoke to found himself being dragged by the feet by
invisible beings. Moreover, another, alleges that over and
over again he has been rebuked for not going to bed properly,
but he persisted in having his own way, until one night he
was also dragged across the floor by invisible hands."
(Celtic Monthly, p. 163). It was also thought wise to sleep
with one's feet to the door. Being dragged off by the feet
was not an irretrievable situation, but those carried away
by the hair of the head were not seen again in the land of
men. Such men were considered victims of the Daoine sidh,
or “Hollow-hill folk.”

CADAL A' GHEOIDH, sleep of a goose, "to keep a goose

watch." Geese were said to sleep "with one eye open", hence
to be constantly aware of events and one's surroundings in
both the invisible and the waking worlds. This magical
ability was seen as a necessity in the ancient world where
men thought they were surrounded by evil spirits. “Birds
like the goose play a slightly sinister role in the tradition,
being associated with the gods in their martial
capacity...and with witchlike, metamorphosed women.
CADALEUN. Having an affinity for a swampy plain, the
mandrake plant. A famed portion of witch-remedies.

CADHAG, the piodhag, the jackdaw, magpie, a wedge, from

MIr. caog, a crier, of onomatopoeic origin. Cf. English caw.
An important totem-animal of Celtic magicians. The totem
animal of the Bafinn, or goddess of fate as well as a general
symbol for the Fomors and related sea-peoples, including
the creator-god Don. The magic animal of the Nathair and
that of Odin, who went about with these black birds on
either shoulder.

CADHLA, obs. A goat, gut, fat from the gut.

CAER IBORMEITH, caer, yew; ibor, (full of) tricks,

incantations; meith, fat, sappy, silken in texture.
Sometimes entitled “Yew Berry.” The daughter of Ethal
Anubhail, out of the side-hill called Usman in Connaught
County, Ireland. Aonghas Og, the love-god dreamed of her
and perused and won her. She is the summer/love goddess,
the equivalent of the Samh, the Mhorrigan, Danu and other
regenerate virgins. Also known as the Bridd, or Bride she is
generally regarded as the alter-ego of the formidable
Cailleach bheurr, or Winter Hag. It is said that the winter-
queen retired on Bride’s Day (February 2) to Tir-nan-Og, the
Land of Youth seeking its central fountain of renewed
vigour. There, at the first glimmer of dawn, she drank the
waters of that place, and was thus able to gradually throw
off her ground hog, or bear-like form, becoming the young
goddess, whose touch restored summer to the earth. Caer
was of Fomorian blood on her mother’s side and thus fell
into the summer-form of a white swan without provocation,
and always took this shape at the time of Samhuinn. She
was courted and wooed by Aonghas Ogwhen he appeared as a
swan. Some folk said that her bird-personality caused her
to migrate with her flock on the first day of November.
Others guessed that this Bridd was annually captured and
imprisoned within the Cailleach’s mountain of Ben Nevis,
Scotland. It is more likely that she spends her winters
transformed into the Winter Hag. As such she becomes a
mate to the winter/death-god called Bel or Bile. Their
alternate palace was Dun Sgaith, the “Fortress of
Shadows,” far across the western ocean in the Dead Lands.
At the Samhuinn, Aonghas Og always dreamt of his lost love
and pursued herinto the west on his white stallion. During
the greine lugha, or time of “the little sun,” Lugh had no
likelihood of recovering his Bride, but by Bride’s Day
(February 2) she was always found, and rescue followed by
the time of Latha na Cailleach, the Old Hag’s Day (March
25). On the first day of May the Cailleach became powerless
and faced by the growing power of the greine sona or happy
sun, had to throw her staff of power “under the mistletoe,”
so that summer could be reborn. The ritual mating of the
high-king of Ireland with a virgin from the side-hill at
Brugh-na-Boyne, which was Lugh’s palace in days gone by,
was very much a celebration of the return of summer to the
land.

CAESIN-UCHD, “buck-skin,” fore-skin, also an oval purse

used to collect alms at the Quarter-Days. See biocionn.

CAIBRE, The Firbolg's most noted warrior-king, Eochaid

was one of those lost in this last bloody contest against the
Tuatha daoine. Another victim was the reincarnate high-
king of the daoine, the one called King Nuada, the twin of
Lugh of the Long Arm. Nuada was not killed but the warrior
Sreng maimed him by cutting off his hand. It was a matter
of policy that the Daoine could not be ruled by any individual
with even a small physical imperfection such as acne, or a
visible boil, so this condition obviously barred Nuada from
the kingship.

Gathering at a mod, the host of the Daoine now

selected a famous warrior with a classic profile and build.
This was Bres, the son of a Tuathan woman named Eri. Bres,
although handsome and well spoken had no gift for dealing
with people, and during his reign allowed the Fomorians to
renew their taxation and oppresion of outlying districts.
This might have been overlooked except that the new king
gradually gained a reputation as "the meanest of all men"
during a day when patronage and hospitality was considered
the mark of a true king. Travellers noted that "The knives
of the people are not greased with his food. Those who
come to his table do not depart smelling of ale. None are
fed in any way, neither poets, nor satirists, harpers, nor
pipers, trumpeters nor jugglers. None of these are seen
amusing those assembled at his court."

His final trouble came in the person of the poet named

Caibre, who was regarded as the greatest entertainer in the
land. This ancient Elvis Presley was not treated with
respect, being housed in miserable dank quarters, without
fire or furniture. After a very long delay he was served
three old very dry cakes, and went away in anger. At his
leaving he composed a curse which he directed at Bres:

Withouit food quickly served,

Without a cow's milk, whereon a calf may grow,
Without a dwelling fit for a gloomy night
Without the means to entertain bardic guests,
May such soon be the condition of the nigardly
Bres.

According to some accounts this Gaelic "glam" had the

effect of blighting Bres in a psychic manner since the
poetry was taken up, and repeated, across the countryside.
In the meantime, Nuada had been fitted out with an
articulated artificial hand by the physician-silversmith
Diancecht. At a later day his cause was taken up by an even
more skilled biological techncian, Kian of Contje, the son of
Diancecht. This individual was able to create a new hand
for the king, thus allowing him to be reinstated as "ard-
righ",or high king of the Tuathans.

The parentage of King Nuada, now sometimes

sometimes entitled Nuada of the Silver Hand, is not
mentioned but it is probable that he was the "befind" or
home-shadow of Lugh of the Long Arm. These sometimes
disembodied spirits were provided to all creatures of human
kind as help-mates, assisting at the birth of great
personalities and latter serving as protectors of these
individuals. If Lugh is conceived as a sun god Nuada, his
doppelganger, or double, is a god of the moon. Lugh's
creative spear is not described, but it was probably of the
usual Tuathan construction: "flesh seeking spears with ribs
of gold and silver and red bronze in their sides (symbolizing
the sun); and with collars (or rings) of silver upon their
necks." This spear was considered more than equipment
being regarded as an extension of Lugh's arm which could be
used to direct a "gisreag" or blast of physical energy as the
god directed. Nuada's silver hand attachs him psychically to
the moon, and his loss and recovery of a hand reminds us of
the phases of the moon. It is noteworthy that Nuada's
recovery of his hand and kingship was arranged through the
good offices of Kian, who is cited as the human parent of
Lugh.

Bres retreated to the hold of his mother Eri asking her

what action he might take to regain power. For the first
time this lady revealled that the former king's father had
been Elathu, a noted king of the Fomorians, whose base was
in the Hebrides of Scotland. Elathu provided his son with an
army and a fleet of Fomorian sailors and sent ambassadors
to enlist the help of Balor "of the Evil Eye", whose gaze
blighted all objects which he looked on in anger. At first
this considerable host made guerilla-like forays into
Ireland and King Nuada could not counter the moves of
oppression of his enemies. Fortunately his cause was
supported by the sudden reincarnation of Lugh, son of Kian,
the sun god to end all sun gods.

CAGAR, whisper, secret, darling, buzzing of an insect, hum,

Cagar-athair, “God’s hum,” wireless.

CAIDHNI. obs. a virgin, caidh, chaste, immaculate, decent,

caidhtiche, long-enduring, patient. Caidir, to fondle,
embrace.

CAIGEANN, a pair of animals, the sex act, a scrimmage, a

winding pass through wild country, a road through rocks and
brushwood, a mountain pass.

CAILIN, young girl, a nymph, company of young women as

opopsed to cailleach.

CAILLE, hood, veil, cowl. The Daoine sidh wore hoods of

invisibility.

CAILE, CAILLEAG, a girl, a wench, a hussy, strumpet, Lat.

pellex. From cath, chaff, husks of corn. See cailleach.

CAILEADAIR, a star-gazer from the English word calendar; a

medicant dervish from the Persian galander. In the Hebrides
the senachies who remembered the last druidic schools said
that the elder-day magicians were keenly interested in
astronomy as well as astrology: "...the old men used to say
that the Sages understood clearly that the earth and the
sun, the moon and the stars, were in ceaseless motions in
the depths of space. This view did not at all accord with
the beliefs of the Church...The Church at this time was
teaching that the world was at rest and that the sun, moon
and stars were similarly at rest, and that they were wee
specks (compared with the earth). The Sages, therefore,
could not teach their view publicly for they were obliged
not to teach anything that would put the Church into
disrepute. They themselves were sure that the moon was
going about the earth once in the space of twenty-eight
days and that there was nothing in the sky at rest. So long
as the Sages of Beinn Bhan (the White Mountain) did nothing
to undermine the regulations of the Church there was not
much the Church could do to destroy the school on Beinn
Bhan although that was definitely what she desired (The
Hebridean Connection, p. 346)."

CAILINDHEA, obs. The calends (of a month). First days,

beginning, new experience, obs. A forewarning. Any formal
record of the divisions of time.

The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in

46 B.C., and was slightly modified by Augustus, who created
the three hundred and sixty-five day year, each fourth year
a leap-year. At his time, the months were named as they
are now, each having the same order and number of days as
at present. The Georgian calendar, which replaced the
Julian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory the
thirteenth in 1582 and was adopted in Britain and North
America in 1752. This general change was needed as the
Julian method of keeping time was eleven minutes longer
than the astronomical year, creating an error of ten full
days between 325 and the time of Pope Gregory. To correct
this, he suppressed the extra days, declaring October 15,
1582, to be October 5. To prevent further displacements, he
declared that only the "centesimal" years divisible by four
hundred should be counted as leap-years.

In a few places the Old Style calendar is still used, so

that March 5 (Old Style) became the equivalent of March
eighteenth (New Style) as of the year nineteen hundred. In
Middle-English, the language of Shakespeare, the word
"kalendes", from the Anglo-Saxon "calena", at first meant
month, although the name now applies to a collection of
months. The Gaels, being a bardic race, kept few written
reminders concerning time and had no exact equivalent,
referring instead to the "bliadhna", or year. The English
word derives from the classical languages and appears in
first form as a Greek verb, meaning "to proclaim". At a
later date, the Romans used a similar word to describe the
first day in each of the ancient Roman months. The Greeks
named the modern calender, but were not the first to
register time. The Egyptians, the Alexandrians, the Esne,
and various Muslim peoples, as well as the Norse and the
Celts all kept track of passing time. The need to watch the
months, hours and days varied between societies, but was
usually related to either the business of farming or herding.

The Egyptians were largely an agricultural people

dependant on the growth of what the Europeans call "corn",
which we refer to as grain or cereal crops. Their year was,
for this reason, divided into four seasons, which related to
the phases of the Nile River. The various events of their
agricultural year were celebrated with simple rites
designed to gain the co-operation of the god-spirits in
irrigating, sowing, planting, and draining the river. These
acts had to be carried out at about the same time in each
year. The priests pre-empted these rural rituals, declared
the nature-spirits gods, who they said required propitiation
and elaborate ceremonies. Being natural bureaucrats with a
vested interest in time, they devised a written calendar to
keep track of the solemn festivals of the year. From the
first, people had time equating their recorded time with
actual time. A festival supposed to take place in summer
shifted backwards, year-by-year, so that the rites of Isis,
supposed to take place at flood-time were celebrated in the
midst of drought. Thus, the ancient Egyptian year is still
known as a "moveable year", a situation which continued
until they adopted the "fixed" Alexandrian year in 30 B.C.

From that time, festivals conformed with the seasons,

the length of the new "solar year" being based on
astronomical observations. The Egyptian Esne calendar was
based on the Alexandrian, assigning New Year's Day to
August twenty-ninth, a time which usually coincided with
the full rise of the Nile, and to a definite position of the sun
in the sky, events in line with certain agricultural
practices. The ancient festivals of the Muslim peoples
depended on an uncorrected lunar rather than a sun-
calendar, and were also "moveable feasts". All of their
rites, being pegged to the position of the moon in the sky,
slide away from actual time and the period of the earth's
rotation. Since the people of northern Africa, and parts of
Europe, also have "fixed feasts", it may be suspected that
those that move belonged to an extinct pagan religion.

The Celts lacked mid-summer and mid-winter

celebrations, which were common elsewhere in Europe.
Their orally transmitted "calendar", which included two
pre-eminent feast-dates, bore no relationship to the
position of the sun or moon in the sky. The Celts were not a
race but a language group, which included the Gaels, the
Cymric or Welsh people and the Gauls of England and France.
They were pressed out of a region north of Greece, and
travelling across Europe at the rate of about fifteen miles
per year, eventually settled lands at the "edge of the world".
Because they were on the move they were unable to
establish farming economies and were essentially hunters
and later herdsmen. The herding year has little in common
with the agricultural year, whose festivals usually fall
upon quarters, notably mid-summer, mid-winter and the
spring and fall equinoxes.

The Celts saw only two seasons, summer and winter,

the eve and first day of each recognizing special events for
a cattle-driver. The more important of these was,
traditionally the "Samhainn" (pronounced tav-inn in Scot's
Gaelic). This word translates as the "time of the one (elder)
Samh", the Samh being a goddess of the moon and the north-
wind. In historic times she was called, variously, Nerthus
(Scandinavia), Morrigan (Ireland and Scotland), the Winter
Hag (Lowland Scotland), or the Cailleach Bheur (the Bear
Woman of Highland Scotland). The word probably came to
Britain from the Continent, where the Celtic-French ending
"aine" or "aince" still indicates seniority. The Gaelic sense
of the word ending is "our own", or "an adherent of", a cousin
of the Middle-English "thane". In that same tongue "samh"
is related to words meaning, "to collect, gather, or consort
with". The Celtic Samhainn is, therefore, the fire-feast of
the departing sun, meant to propitiate the moon-goddess
Samh. The fire used to be set on the evening of October
thirty-first and the feast eaten during the daylight hours of
November first.

The latter was thought of as New Year's Day, a day on

which herds were brought down from the mountain pastures
and into the stone huts of our ancestors. This day also
marked the beginning of winter and the reign of the Old Bear
Woman. The other year-marker was the Bealtaine (pro.
baulhini). This word identifies the "time or tine of the
Bealt". The Old Gaelic "beal" means mouth, thus this god-
spirit was the equivalent of the female Maw, "the hungry
one" who consumed souls. This fire-feast was celebrated
by fires on the eve of May Day, with feasting that day. This
holiday announced the return of the summer season, when it
was said the Bear Woman weakened and finally "threw her
hammer beneath the mistletoe".

Contrary to the usual explanations, the Bealtaine,

spelled Beltane in English, did not signify the return of
vegetation, a much earlier event throughout the British
Isles. It was instead, the time after which it was
reasonable to return cattle to the high pastures. The word
"beal" is retained in English to describe an inflammatory
tumour or pustule, while the verb form, which may be the
root-word, indicates "to swell or burst, after the fashion of
a spring bud or an infected wound". While this seems a
repulsive characterization of the sun-goddess, earlier
people knew that she led a fertility cult in which swelling
and bursting (pregnancy and birth) were necessary to the
continued life of men, beasts and vegetation. The Celtic
priestly class, known as the druids, made the most of
simple rites converting them into one or two week
festivals.

The Dawn Religion of this people actual had laws

against magically interred words so what we know of their
practices comes from Roman sources. Pliny said that their
solemn ceremonies were often conducted on the sixth day
after the full moon, which has led to suggestions that they
had a fixed calendar based on lunar observations. He also
noted that the Celts dated their New Year from this
starting-time, and that their months began six days after
the full moon.

Like the Aztecs of South America, the Celts

considered their world-universe to be periodic, subject to
destruction and renewal on a regular basis. Their cycles
were thirty of our years in length. At the end of each, a
massive Samhainn was held, which was said to mark the
death of all life and the beginning of a new world on the
following morning. We have already said that the Samhainn
marked the beginning of winter, but it also honoured the end
of the reign of the Samh and her metamorphosis into the
demanding Winter Hag. This explains why the season which
the English call summer was the "Samhradh" (the rade, or
riding out of Samh) in Gaelic nations

The season of the Cailleach Bheur, or winter, was

represented by the Gaelic word "Geamhradh", which in Old
Irish was the "Geimhreadh" (the riding out of the hunter or
huntress). These were the two traditional seasons of our
Scottish forbearers, but the introduction of farming into
Gaelic regions, coupled with collisions between them and
the Norse, led to the adoption of other seasons. Today one
hears of the "Tearrach" (the ride or season at the tail of
winter)known elsewhere as spring, and "Foghar" (the time of
dead grass), called autumn.

CAILEREACHD, obs. the cremation of the dead. This custom

appears to have pre-dated burial in the earth.

CAILLEACH, CAILLEACHAG, an unmarried woman, an old

woman, an old wife, woman without progeny, a nun, carlin,
supernatural of the woods, caverns or the waters, a
malignant influence, a cowardly, spirtless, heartless man,
the last handfull of corn standing at the harvest home,
circular wisp at the top of a farm-rick or stack. The week
in spring (April 12-18. The first week of April Old Style.
The week following Gearran. Confers with cailin, a girl,
damsel, maid, nymph, a company of young, good-looking,
women. Caille, hood, veil, cowl. But note the obsolete caill,
testicle, emasculate.

CAILLEACH-AN-DUDAIN,, The Carlin of the Mill-dust. Name

given an antique dance involving a man and a woman. The
man termed slachan druidheachd, the “druidic wand” or
slachan geaseachd, “magic wand” invariably carried a stick
in his right hand. The two gestured in introduction and then
woven an intricate pattern dancing in the round, crossing
paths and exchanging places. The man flourished his want
over his own head and that of the woman. Touching the
woman she fell at his feet as if dead. He bemoaned the loss
of this “carlin” while dancing and gesturing about and
toward her “body.” He lifted her left hand and breathed the
“breath of life” upon it, touching it afterwards with the
wand. At that the hand alone was re-inspired but she
remained prone on the ground. The man then proceeded to
revive the other limbs in this manner, leaving animation of
the body to the last when he breathed into her mouth and
touched her heart with the wand. At this the woman became
vigorously alive, springing to her feet, and confronting the
man. The two then danced joyfully as they had done at the
beginning. The music was provided by a fiddler, a piper or a
mouth-music maker. Sometimes the performers provided
this last for themselves. The words of the air have been
descibed as “quaint and irregular.” They include” “Cailleach
and dudain; cailleach an dudain; cailleach an dudain;
cailleach do dheireadh rium.”

CAILLEACH BHEAL-TEINE, the Beltane witch; caileach, “the

veiled one,” cf. caille, veil. Note also cailean, a husk.
Confers with caile, a girl, wench, concubine. Similar to Lat.
pallium from which the Eng. pall. The Winter Hag reborn as
the Samh at Beltane (May 1). Also the name given to the
last husk of grain taken at the harvest when it was cut
down after Samhain (Nov. 1). A bad omen, the harvester was
expected to overwinter this “old woman.”
CAILLEACH, CHAILLICH BEUR, CAILLEACH BHEURR,
CAILLEACH BEARA, a sharp old wife; an ice-cold nun, a
veiled woman of uncertain virtue and motives; the “Winter-
Hag,” the “Bear-Woman.” From caille, a veil + beur, sharp,
pointed, clear, icy, wintry, gibe, jeer. Perhaps the former is
from the Latin pallium, a cloak, whence the English pall, a
winding sheet. A flue; a place used to harden off grain in
preparation for winter storage. She is alternately called
the Beire, Bear; the Gyre-Carline, dialectic English for
“Whirlpool-Witch,” or the Mag molluch, the “Hairy-handed
One.”

She was clearly an Odinesque woman, sharing his one-

eyed condition with the "king of the gods". The fisherman of
the north-east, who lack Gaelic call her the Storm-Wife, or
speak of her ironically as Gentle Annie. A tripartite
goddess-giantess, corresponding with the Bafinne, or Fates.
Also known in mythology as the Macha, the eldest of the
Bafinne. Her remaining forms are the Cailleach Bolus, the
Cailleach Beinne Bric and the Cailleach Corca Duibhne. She
is often spoken of as the mate of the Bodach, named Bel,
the death-god and paladin of the western isle of Dun Sgiath,
the “Fortress of Shadows.”

The Cailleach was the huntress-goddess of the Gaels,

the creature given charge of the three months of the “little
sun,” from Samhuinn (November 1) until the Imbolg
(February 2). It was said that she lived in the northern
mountains (some say within Ben Nevis) or in the whirlpool
of Coire Bhreacain and that she travelled south in her
season trailing snow from her magic staff and firing bolts
of lighting from it at those who displeased her. She was
considered the death-goddess to those who died upon the
land and in the Yule led the "Unsely Court", a host of the
dead, on a circuitous route across Britain. It used to be said
that the animals of the wild were her charge, and in the
winter months, she was often seen wandering the shores
gathering what food could be found for her creatures.

In ancient tales, she is given responsibility for the

creation of Scotland. She became displeased with the men
of Lochlann (Norway) and wishing to relocate her beasts,
dragged soil from the mainland across the North Sea,
depositing it where Scotland and the Western Isles are now
found. She wished to be rid of the troublesome "fleas"
called men, but unfortunately carried some of them along
with the earth to her new home and thus inadvertently
peopled the western islands. Some have said that the
Winter-Hag was the giantess Skadi (pronounced sky) who
first married Niord one of the sea-gods, but finding him bad
company re-married Uller (Winter), the equivalent of the
Gaelic Nathair. It is certain that Skadi gave her name to the
Isle of Skye, and a witch-goddess of this name is said to
have taught the Gaelic hero Cúchullain his martial arts. It
is possible that Scotland is a dialectic form of Skadiland
or Skatiland.

The Cailleach or storm-wife was considered the spirit

of winter, the enemy of life and growing things. Her annual
coming to Scotland was announced by the sound made when
she washed her plaid in the whirlpool, of Corryvreckan. A
person of inconsistent temperament she occasionally helped
men and women, but more often blasted them with a
thunderbolt from her magic staff. Wherever she went, her
symbol of authority created snow and sleet.

Nominally her reign ended on the Imbolg (February 2)

which some call Bridd's Day, Saint Brigit's Day, Dak's Day,
the Bear's Day or Groundhog Day. If she emerged from her
cavern and was not reminded of her fleeting power by
encountering the sun, she returned there and the winter was
short. On the other hand, "If Brigit's Day be bright and clear;
there'll be twa' winters in the year!" In either case, there
remained the week of A Chailleach which fell about Latha na
Cailleach , the “Old Hag’s Day” (March 25), the usual limit
of her attempts to blight the earth. The line storm, or
Cailleach's broom (sometimes entitled Sheila's broom),
which occurs about March 17, is thought to “break the back
of winter” and by May 1 the Cailleach is forced "to throw
her hammer beneath the mistletoe." Our pagan ancestors
understood that this implied her reincarnation as the
summer-goddess.

In the Book of Lecan reference is made to the

Cailleach’s regenerative powers, although specific note is
made of only seven youthful periods. In those ancient
times, she mated with seven men and in all tended fifty
children who “founded many tribes and nations.” Her Irish
domain was the Beara Peninsula on the border between Cork
and Kerry. In the New World she is associated with the Old
Sough, a whirlpool in Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick,
Canada. See Caer Ibormeith,

In travelling she often took the form of a giant grey

mare which was able to leap from one mountaintop to the
next. In harsh winters she was seen, until Christian times,
raking the Scottish beaches to obtain fodder for her
animals. Until a few hundred years ago, Scottish hunters
considered all game the property of the Cailleach Bheur and
contributed to a pool of money, the amount based on the
number of animals killed. This was used for the purchase of
victims necessary to the twice-yearly fires of Samhainn
and Beltane; men, animals and plants killed, burned and
reduced to "earth" as representatives of the spirit of the
goddess. In February as her power waned, she sent her
"winter-wolves" against men, to remind them that she still
ruled. Later her air-borne "sharks" came before the "plover-
winged" days. Finally on May Eve she threw her hammer
"beneath the mistletoe" and surrendered horney old age for
reincarnation as the Samh or Morrigan.

CAILLEACH AN DURDAIN, the “Rattling Cailleach." The

chatelaine, a dance last performed on the Isle of Uist. Iain
Moncrieffe has noted the persistence of dances that
mirrored pagan fertility rites, and this is clearly one of
these. "...a solo dance performed by a female dressed in a
grotesque fashion, having a bunch of keys hanging by her
apron strings and a staff to support her. She effects to be
very stiff and lame of leg. When the tune strikes up she
appears hardly able to hobble on the floor; by degrees she
got on a bit, and as she begins to warm she feels a new
animation, and capers away, afterwards affecting great
importance as keeper of all good things of the store room.
Doubtless this dance has given rise to the Gaelic proverb,
quoted when one is inclined to show over importance - "Cha'
na' eil iuchraichean an domhain uile air crios acona
chaillich" - The keys of the whole world do not hang from
one old wife's girdle.” (Celtic Magazine, 1901, p. 91) At
least, this dance reflects the Cailleach’s passage from her
cruel winter form to that of the more benign summer-
goddess.

CAILLEACH BOLUS, the “Smelly Hag,”one of the tripartite

forms of the Cailleach bheurr. The word bolus confers with
boladh, a smell. Stokes says it compares with the Latin
bulis, buttock but it is more certainly allied with the
Sankrist buli, vulva and perhaps the English bowl. She
compares with Mhorrigan, the tempestuous, worldly, but
always regenerate virgin, who was the youngest of the
bafinne.

CAILLEACH CORCA DUIBHNE, the “Old Hag of the Sooty (i.e.

spoiled) Corn.” Corn is used herein the sense of the
dominant grain grown in a particular locale. The third form
of the Cailleach bheurr. From her description she seems to
correspond with the Babd or Maeve, the middle-aged
warrior-goddess, often seen on battlefields as a huge black
bird.

CAILLEACH MORE, the “Great Hag.” “...who from a pannier

filled with earth and stones, which she carried on her back,
formed almost all the hills of Ross-shire.” At Ben-Vaichard
the bottom is said to have fallen away from her wicker-
work carrier the contents unloading as this mountain. At
Edderston, there is an erratic siad to have been thrown
there bby this, or some related giantess. There is another of
these stones at Dingwall and her thumbprint and a finger
mark can be seen impressed upon this stone.n See Cailleach
bheurr.

CAILLEACH N’ ABHANN, the “Old Hag of the River,” “dreaded

at the fords of the river Orrin, (Rosshire, Scotland).”

CAILLEACH N’ CRUACHAN, the “Old Hag of Ben Cruachan,

Scotland. “When the anything ruffles hertemper, she gathers
a handful of whirlwinds and descends in a tempest, steps
across Loch Etive at an astride, lashing into fury, and
prevents all passage at Connel Ferry.”

CAILLEACH NA' G CAT, the “Old hag of the Cat." One of

several old hags who were the mythic cairn-builders,
supposedly seen most often at the Beltane and Samhuinn.
Like the Cailleach Bheurr or Hag of Beare, she is associated
with the ancient earth-goddesses Aine and Clidona. It was
said that this particular cailleach was "fed by her cats."
She might, therefore, be seen as a counterpart of the Norse
goddess Freya, whose totem animals were the cuckoo, the
swallow and the cat. While her brother Frey travelled on
the back of a golden boar, Freya usually moved about in a
chariot harnessed to cats. It is thus that witches obtained
the reputation of having cats as their familiars.

CAILLEACH OIDHCHE, the “Night Hag,” perceived as an owl,

which the Welsh call dyllvan or aderyn y corff, the “corpse
bird,” all unpleasant connotations. In Celtic lore this
creature was considered the oldest, and most
knowledgeable, of all animals. In Gallo-Roman iconography
it appears in the company of goddesses and this is its place
in Scottish Gaelic tradition. The best known classical
example of an owl-goddess is the Grecian Athene, who is
though to derive from some earlier prototype. The beaked
Celtic torques are thought to have owl, or hawk,
connotations, and those shown springing from the head of an
owl leave no doubt about their intention.

CAILLEACH-TEINNIDH, obs., the combustible woman, to day

an impetuous or fiery-tempered woman. Saee Latha
cailleach-teinnidh.
CAILLEACH-UISG, a water-woman, merwoman, water-carlin.
A diseased potato filled with water.

CAILLEANACH, loser, caillte, doomed, damned, ruined, lost,

obs. gelded, cailleanach, a eunuch or non-performer.

In Gaelic communities the first grain cut was

sometimes made up into a similar female figure entitled
the "cailleach". While the maiden was considered a
desirable border, the hag was reserved for a farmer of
delinquent work habits. When the first crop came in, the
briskest farmer passed "the old wife" over his fence to a
more niggardly neighbour, who then set it "on the rounds".
The farmer who finally contracted to "board the old lady"
for the winter was thought doomed to poverty or at latest
likely to have a failing crop in the coming season. The
samh, or daughter of the cailleach, was more welcome since
she was expected to become a mother to the grains of
summer. Her figurine was attached to the kitchen wall and
remained there until samharadh when it was fed to the oxen
that worked the fields. Passing through them it fell on the
newly ploughed fields and had a functional as well as a
symbolic part in rebirth and renewal. In areas of Scotland
affected by Norse tradition the last sheaf was made up into
a "Yule-boar"which was fed to the animals on "Mother Night"
(December 23) the holiday reserved to Odin, Frey and Thor.
In the Norse lands the last sheaf was sometimes left in the
fields for Odin's horse, hoping to divert his Host from
collecting souls among the living.

"Corn" cut before Samhainn posed no problems for the

"tuathanachs" of Scotland, but that cut after the first day of
the New Year was known as the "carline". This
contemptuous name is Old Norse rather than Gaelic, derived
from the word "karl", a man. The term implied a man-like
woman, an old hag, and was an equivalent of "cailleach".
Only sheafs cut before this deadline qualified as maidens,
those constructed after sunset being considered harbingers
of very bad luck. J.G. Campbell said that when tillage on
common land existed farmers were loathe to claim grain
from it as it invariably "came in" long after the normal time
and they feared "gort a bhaile", a "famine of the village" if
they harvested a carline or cailleach. Adopting the winter-
hag was considered a sure way of entertaining a very long
and hard winter.

The spirit of the Cailleach Bheur persisted even where

men were careful and industrious: At each Beltainn fire a
huge bonnach bealtine was baked and divided into a number
of pieces, enough for each male adult. John Ramsay, who
observed some of the last fire-festivals, said that there
was always one portion smeared with charcoal, which was
termed "cailleach bealtine", "i.e. the Beltane "carline", a
term of great reproach." This was discovered in the hands
of some unfortunate, who was seized by his fellow villagers
who made a show of hurling him into the fire. He was only
rescued at the last moment by an opposing force, but the
company laid him on the ground and made a pretence of
quartering his body, afterwards pelting him with raw eggs.
He was afterwards termed the "cailleach bealtine" and was
shunned by villagers until he was replaced by a new victim
at a subsequent fire-festival.

The boarding of the cailleach appears to be a more

moderate example of rites which once ended in actual death
by fire. In northern Wales Sir John Rhys noted that men
stood by their Hallowe'en bonfires until the last spark went
dead. At that they fled shouting, "The cropped black sow
take the hindemost." In Celtic communities the "cutty black
sow" has the same status as our boogey-man, and is named
to frighten children into obedience. Rhys has supposed that
there was originally justification in fearing the rites of
Samhainn. In Buchan Shire, Hallowe'en fires were kindled in
the last century and their boys of the village explicitly
begged for peat: "Ge's peat t' burn the witches!"
CAILPEACH, a heifer, steer or colt, confers with colpa, a
young cow or horse. This creature resembles the English
colepexy, whose name is similarly derived. Also like the
English creature known as the grant, the shopiltee, the
galoshan and the tangy. Cailp, or kelp, was also applied to
the oarweed in which these creatures lived. The kelp plant,
of the species Laminaria, was formerly gathered by the
Scots, and wholesaled as a component of glass, soap, iodine
and fertilizer. T.K. Pratt says that Newfoundland kelp is
locally termed "the poor man's weather glass," since the
brown algae held on land becomes sticky at beginning of a
rainy season. The kelpy, tangy, shoopiltie, bellcoat, or
chaffinch is one of the water-horses. The first two
designations were used in northern England and Scotland,
the shoopiltie was native to the Shetland islands and the
last two were common in England. Keightley said that
"there is no being in the Irish rivers answering to the nis or
kelpie". While they thanked their guardian spirits for
lacking this "treacherous water demon", the Irish possessed
the equally violent phooka, "wicked, black-looking, bad
things, that came in the form of wild colts, with chains
hanging about them. They did great hurt to the benighted
travellers. The shoopiltie was especially violent, a
Shetland pony in shape equipped with a huge penis and
testicles and accused of mugging, abduction, robbery and
rape. The kelpy is the only species known in the lakes, river
and salt waters of the Atlantic Provinces. The creature is
named for the intertidal kelp, or oarweed, beds which were
his preferred hiding place. The kelpy is known to have
generated mysterious lights over water and to have groaned
to keep men from their deaths by drowning. If these
warnings were ignored, the kelpy concluded that suicide
was intended and helped the victim to that end. Kelpy Cove
in southeastern Cape Breton is named after this formidable
sea creature. Shirley Lind of Joggins, Nova Scotia, told the
tale of a Minudie Village man who used a kelpie as a
familiar: The young man had a girlfriend in Sackville, New
Brunswick, thirty-five miles distant. His friends
disbelieved his frequent excuse that he could not travel
with them as he went to see her each night. This seemed
impossible as it was before the days of an automobile and
he had no horse. A wild black stallion was seen travelling
in both directions along the village road and these same
young men decided to rope him. One night they managed this
and took him to a blacksmith shop where he was shod. The
next morning the young man failed to show up in time for
work so his friends enquired about his health and found him
at his mother's house sick in bed. Suspecting he was faking
illness, the boys stripped away his bedclothes and found
horseshoes nailed to his hands and feet. This is very like
Helen Creighton's tale of the two travelling men who paid to
stay at an inn on Nova Scotia's south shore. They had just
managed sleep when they were awakened by the sounds of
heavy footsteps passing around their bed. Lighting a lamp,
they discovered a mare in the room with them, and soon
roused the landlord for an explanation. He was unable to
explain this strange event and could not identify the horse
as belonging to anyone in the village. At this, the two
salesmen decided to claim the animal and awakened the
local blacksmith to see the animal fitted with shoes. In the
morning they found in the blacksmith's stall, instead of the
mare, a young kelpy-woman with iron shoes nailed to her
bare hands and feet. One authority reports: "In Hampshire
they give the name of Colt-Pixy to a supposed spirit, which
in the shape of a horse "wickers" (neighs) and misleads
horses (and their owners) into bogs, etc." One of these was
supposed to live near the western boundary of Killiechassie,
Scotland at a spot known as an stair ghorach, the “path of
apprehension.” Nearby is a ford of the river Tay where a
water-kelpie cries out thainig a wair, ach cha d-thainig en
duine, “The hour has come, but not the man.” Shortly after
someone invariably drowns there.

CAILTE, CAOILTE, obs. hardness or firmness (of purpose or

physique), cail, possessing a hearty appetite and vigour.
The son of Ronan, a cousin to Finn mac Cumhail, a warrior
and poet to the Fiann. He killed the “god” Ler in the famous
battle between rival forces of the Underworld. This private
army allied itself with Midir (who eventually lost the
contest) against Boabd Dearg, who was then High King of
the newly organized Daoine sidh. In the end only three of
the Fiann survived and these were transported to Tir nan Og.
Cailte was one of these, and in a Christian embellishment
he is represented as returning to Ireland to recount his
adventures in the Otherworld for Saint Patrick.

CAIM, stain, blot, fault, loop; from cam, a bent line, crooked.
one-eyed, a circle. “The sacred circle.” When druids made
their crooning magic, those desiring protection from the
spirits this act engendered inscribed a circle or caim in the
earth. Christian clerics made a cross within the circle and
blessed it in the name of “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” A
person standing within knew that he was free of evil
influences from that time until cock’s crow. “An imaginary
circle described with the hand round himself, by a person in
fear, danger or distress.” Note the connections with caimir,
a fold; caimein, a mote, stain or blemish; caimeineach,
saving, caimhleachach, restraining.

CAIMBEUL, often translated as “wry-mouthed,” from

cam+beul, but note that cam carries the alternate meaning
of crooked or one-eyed, viz. the Fomorian sea-giants and
their host. OIr. camm, Cy. cam, Gaul. cambo, the root being
their kemb, wind. Sometimes referred to the Greek word for
crooked and said allied with the Gaelic god Cromm, who is
often spoken of (redundantly) as Crom “the Crooked.”
Hence also the Gaelic camag, club, camas, embayment, bay.
Note that Bil or Beul was the Gaelic death-god, hence the
alternate translation, “the one-eyed death god.” The
“notorious” Clan Campbell, “gifted” with this name by their
enemies. Not from the Lat. campo bello as is sometimes
suggested.

CAIRBRE, CARPRE,, a traveller. cairbna, a charioteer. The

son of Ogma and his wife Étain. A bard of the Tuatha daoine
he received poor hospitality from King Bres and satirized
him forcing him from the high kingship. In the battles
against the Fomors he cursed and satirized them. “I will
make a satire on them at sunrise, and the wind will rise
from the north. On the hill-top, my back to a thorn-tree, a
stone and a thorn in hand, I will place on them the satire. I
will put shame on them so that they will not be able to
stand against our fighting men.” In this he was successful.

CAIRBRE CAITCHEAN, CAITCHEEN, the “”cat-headed,” an

usurper set up as ruler of the Aithech tuatha when they
revolted against the Milesians. During his reign there was
“but one stalk of grain, one acorn, and one stalk of corn on
the plants of the land and the rivers were empty of fish.”
This was understood as reflecting the disfavour of the gods
and thus this period of republicanism ended with
restoration of the high-kingship. This king is sometimes
represented as “a divine ancestor of the Érainn.” In some
quarters it was stated that Cairbre took his name from the
cat-headed god he worshipped, but be also read that: “Thus
was Cairbre the cruel who seized Ireland south and north:
two cat’s ears on his fair head, a cat’s fur through his
ears.” The cat-god, and Cairbre, may be represented in the
Welsh and Irish tales of monster-cats which came out
“from under the hill” to ravage the countryside.
CAIRBRE MAC CORMAC. The successor to Cormac ard-righ
(ca. 184 A.D.) The Féinn were opposed by the Cairbre ard-
righ. His daughter Sgeimh Solais, the “Light of Beauty,”
was about to be wed to the son of the king of the Dési. The
Fiann demanded their usual tribute of twenty ingots of gold
for “travelling expenses,” so that they might attend the
ceremony, but the king refused calling upon Clann Morna to
help him break the power of this great private army. Cairbre
had personal command of the Morna, while the Fiann , who
were largely drawn from Clann Bascna , marched under
Osgar. The two men met in single conflict to their mutual
destruction. It was claimed that Fionn afterwards
appeared upon the battlefield “in a ship” to lament the
death of his grandson. This can only have been the craft of
Manann mac Ler, which could sail the furrows of the earth
as easily as it crested the waves of the ocean. When all
was over it was said that there was hardly a man, or a boy,
left alive in Ireland, but whatever the losses of Cairbre he
had his posthumous wish for the Fiann na h-Eireann were
gone forever.

CAIRIOLL or Cairell. “Cheerful,” A fisherman who caught

Tuan mac Cairell when he was in his salmon form. His wife
ate the salmon and Tuan was reborn in human shape.

CAIRIOLL CALLAIG, cairioll, cheerful note, carol, noise, the

Cailleach’s Dance or Carroll. One of the rites of Hogmanay.
A dance honouring, and thus intending to divert, the
unwanted attentions of the Winter Hag.

CAISIL-CHRO, a wicker bier suffused with blood. Circular

paling, EIr. cosair, bed. An expression indicating the
preferred mode of death for heroes. Opposite of the “straw-
death.” The word cosair has at its root ster, to strew.

CAITEAS, scraped linen lint used in the stoppage of wounds,

refuse from wool-carding, MEng. caddas, cotton, wool, floss
silk for padding, from OFr. cadas. Cf. G. catas, sawdust,
wood chips, often put to the same use. Note also caitein,,
shaggy cloth, the Ir. caitin, the catkin of the osier, a “little
cat.” Cy. ceden, unruly hair.

CAITRTEAL, AN, a Quarter; one of the four divisions of the

Celtic year, the holidays being the Samhain, Imbolc,
Beltane, and Lughnasad. Similar to the ON. keartill and the
Lat. quartarus, the English quarter. Confers with cairt, to
cleanse; EIr. cartaim, Cym. carthu, to purge. The root was
ker, separate (car, to turn to the left), the root idea being
that of “clearing out” to make way for new things. Allied to
sgar, to sever. A day for eliminating the personal and public
“evils” of a community.

CÀL, kail, cabbage; Ir. caladh, MIr. calad, from Lat. caulis, a
stalk, whence also the Eng. cole and Scand. kail. Kail-runt
torches were the common source of lighting at the Quarter-
Days, the illumination coming from a candle stub pushed
into the more open head. At Hogmanay it was common for
maidens to walk blindfolded, eyes shut, into the cabbage
patch and select the first kail-runt (head) that happened to
touch their heels. The shape, tall, lean, stout or short, was
thought to prognosticate the physique of some future
spouse. A large quantity of earth adhering to the roots was
taken as a foretelling of a large dowry. After examination
the runts were placed above the door lintel, and the
Christian name of the next person to enter was thought sure
to confer with that of the spouse. Sometimes the runts
were thrown upon the ground so that the pointed end might
indicate the direction in which the married couple would
come to reside.

CALA, CALADH, a harbour, a resting place, MIr. calad. The It.

cala and the Fr, cale, an embayment or cove. The Gaelic word
springs from the Celtic qel or qal, to hide, as in the Eng.
hollow, MEng. hoth, a cavern, Eng. hole, after the ON. goddess
Hel who was banished by Odin to a hidey-hole. For many
male highlanders and islanders of Scotland the cala was the
Western Ocean. It was said that the haven of the young was
Eilean Uaine, “The Green Island, the place where all the good
that has not been shall be.” The metaphysical harbour for
the aged was Tir nan Og, the “land of the Young, the place
where all that is good that has been shall be again.” Yet the
Scot of days past noted: “So frail the boat, so vast the
Ocean!” They guessed that those attempting the Ocean or
Life should look to dual tillers “the Art of the Druid to
enspirit the wind, the Faith of Iona for the good of stilling
the waves.”

CALADCHOLG, CALADABOLG, clachd, a stone; cho, the prize

of; Lugh, the sun god. The sword later possessed by Fergus
mac Roth, alternately named the “Hard Dinter.” Another
name for Excalibur, “The Sword in the Stone,” which was
held by King Arthur. The latter name is considered a Latin
corruption of the Gaelic. See Caliburnus, Crúachan. Perhap’s
comparable with Nuada’s unconquerable sword which had a
role in the creation of the universe.

CALATIN, a druid of Fomorian roots sent by Queen Mebd to

magically incapacitate the northern hero Cúchullain during
the Táin war. The Clann Calatin had twenty-eight warlocks
who had studied sorcery in Alba for seventeen years. It was
said that they all possessed poisoned darts and were
unerringly accurate in their use. The members of this group
were missing their left hand and their right foot, but by
glamour they managed a fighting edge over Cúchullain and
almost drowned him in a stream. The Connaught warrior,
Fiarcha, seeing the unevenness of this battle went to the
rescue of his enemy, cutting off the remaining hands of the
Calatins. Cúchullain then arose and killed them. The three
remaining daughters, sometimes identified with the bafinne
cursed Cúchullain with an illness and tried to draw him out
of his resting place to confront an army which he perceived
to be invading Ulster. In the end these shape-changers
succeeded in bringing down Cúchullain.

CALBH, shoot, osier, twig, the continuous flow of water

from a cleft, Ir. colbha, sceptre, hazel tree, EIr. colba, a
magic wand; confers with colbh, pillar, column, plant stalk.
The Lat. culmus. “The magic tree that wizards love. Hazel,
holly and rowan were the branches that decked Gaelic homes
during the Quarter-Days. Note the alternate calbh, the
gushing of water or blood. Related to the G. calltuinn, hazel,
EIr. coll as in mac Coll. Norse hasl conferring exactly with
the English word.

CALIBURNUS, the word is obs., but we have caldach sharp-

pointed, probably related to calg-bhior, a barbed weapon,
also note call, calamity; the death-dealing magical sword
of the god Lugh given him by Manan mac Ler, a god of the
sea. Later used by the southern Irish hero Ferghas, an ally
of Queen Mebd, killed by his northern friend Cúchullain. This
sword became Excalibur in the hands of the mythological
King Arthur. Corresponds with the Gaelic Caladcholg, see
above entry.

CALLANESG, Eng. Callanish, on the Isle of Lewis, callan,

noise, clamour,shouting, babbling, hammering, a noisy group;
Scotland. Calluin, New Years’ Day, “New Years’ Buck.” See
following entries. Callanish may or may not be the “winged
hyperborean temple,” to which there is more than one
reference in the classics. These standing stones are unique
in configuration having the appearance, from above, of a
Celtic cross. In the centre of the circle is a chambered
cairn. In 1695 a visitor named Martin inquired of a local
concerning the meaning of the stones and was told that this
was “a place appointed to worship in the time of
heathenism...the chief Druid or priest stood near the big
stone in the centre from which he addressed himself to the
people who surrounded him.” The second largest such
structure in the British Isles, thought to have had use in
astronomical calculations.

CALLTUINN, hazel, EIr. coll, coll + tann, “thin wood,” ON.

hasl, Eng. hazel. OIr. col, hazel. The hazel tree was venerated
for its own spirit but has a traditional association with
sacred wells. Urns from within filled wells have been found
filled with hazel leaves and nuts. The mythological
character known as Mac Cuill is literally “The Son of the
Hazel.” He and his brothers Mac Cecht, “The Son of the
Plough,” and Mac Greine, “The Son of the Sun,” were mated
with the three eponymous goddesses of Ireland. A traditiom
from the prose Dindshenchas connects a venerated whell
with hazel trees, and Connla’s Well, situated under the
ocean, is mentioned by this same source. The “Hazels of
wisdom” grew near it and magic hazel nuts fell routinely
into its water. The sacred salmon which lived their
consummed the nuts and acquired supernatural wisdom.

CALLUIN, New Year's Day, food prepared for the poor at this
season, a “christmas box,” Ir. callain, calends, the first day
of the month, particulary the beginning day of the year; now
taken at January 1, but originally November 1, which was
also the beginning of the winter season. Note the following
related words: calbh, the gushing forth of blood; calc, drive
forward, ram home; calg, corn husk, similar to Cy. caly, the
penis. The Caledonian hero-god Calgagos, sometimes
spelled Galgacos derives his name from this last. Hence,
also, calg-dhireach, straight to the point, penetrating;
calln, noise; calla, tame, an animal destined to die.

Notice that calendar reform has created some

uncertainty concerning the time when the Calluinn should be
celebrated. In 1753, to allow for a time variance between
the Gregorian calendar and actual solar events, eleven days
were removed from the month of September. Not
surprisingly, many Scots resented this change and continued
with the old calendar. When it came to calculating the date
of various festivals traditionalists added the "eleven lost
days." As a result all of the quarter-days may be celebrated
at times displaced from the current calendar by this
amount.

There were separate rites for Samhuinn (October 31)

the last day of Gaelic summer, but calluin culminated with
the "beating of the hide," a ceremony seemingly intended to
bring all the evils of the community "to earth" at the
commencement of a new year. In the original ceremonies,
the leader of the community may have taken the part of the
calluin-man, but this dangerous role was finally given over
to a lesser mortal, who was given the part of king for a day.
This man-beast was selected by lot and dressed in the hide
of a bull (later a sheep) and was at first allowed some
liberties in the village. Finally, he was pursued through the
fields, orchards and by-ways by a host comprised of
unusually fierce male followers. It appears that the
calluin-man was taken as a manifestation of the nathair, or
spirit of evil, for he was beaten with switches as he fled.

At each household, the whole retinue paused and

sought entrance as they recited a traditional calluin-rann.
Within the beast-man dipped his tail in a smudge of
charcoal at the hearth, and marked the faces of residents,
men and cattle alike, thus protecting them against the
dangers of fire, flood, lightning-strikes and disease. In
return, he and his cohorts were given food and whisky, the
ritual drink of the Gaels. In other times, there were
remnants of folklore that suggested that the calluin-man
was ultimately torn apart by oxen moving in opposing
directions, or that he was flayed or burned alive for the
"good of the land."

It was supposed that all evil tended to coalesce, at

this season, in the person of the calluinn-man and that his
life-force was "taken to earth" when his body was burned
and the ashes distributed over the fields. The evil principle
was understood to be the counter-face of the spirit of good,
and while it could produce bad results, it was thought vital
to the powers of plant and animal regeneration, and bound to
reincarnate itself in the crops of the following year. The
Gaels, more than others, thought that men were what they
ate!

According to Roderick MacLeod, the rites were

common until the time of the Second World War. In his
village, two groups of "young bucks" started out at dusk to
cover opposite ends of the community. The leader, referred
to as duan na calluinn, or the young buck man, was clearly a
representative of a nature-god as he was "wrapped in a
dried sheepskin pulled up around his head." His retinue
included the young men of the district who were dressed in
their usual clothes but sometimes had their faces blackened
or were modestly disguised. Since they celebrated in the
winter season they often made their house-visits by sleigh
or on snowshoes. "The occupants of each house would see
their lanterns and hear them but they would not open the
door. For they would hear strange sounds and see from the
window a strange, strange sight. (The leader) would be
running with others running behind him, beating on the skin
and sending up a horrible rattling sound as they ciircled the
house three times. Then they would come to the door, and
the leader would yell out (the Calluinn Rhyme in Gaelic).
When he came to the last line the door would be opened and
people would give something, potatoes, motton, beef, and it
would go in a bag brought to handle these goods. Finally
they would all go to one house. It was usually a home less
fortunate (than others). They would get pots boiling and
take food from the bag and cook up a terrific feast. And
there would be singing, perhaps a story, and tables would be
pushed aside and a fiddler would set the whole room
dancing...And it would be the wee hours (before) leaving
behind what was left of the food, often a supply for a long,
long time."

The Calluinn Rhyme, as preserved in Cape Breton,

reveals some of the forgotten ritual. In summary, it says: "I
come to present the Calluinn (new beginnings). I come from
time long past, and now go sunwise about this house. I'll
descend to the door, calluinn-skin in hand, and hold this to
the nose of all within. None that smell it will escape a
healthy life. The man of the house must take it in his hands
and put it's head in the fireplace . He must pass sunwise
around the children; but must bless the woman by passing
over and above her. She will get the skin in full measure
and well deserve it... Those that come with the Calluinn
expected no drink for this blessing because of the drought in
the countryside, but we take the cheese, but no scabby
potatoes, and no bread without butter. We'll not go empty-
handed, so do not detain us, but open the door." Almost the
only concession to Christian ritual in the above rhyme was
the adoption of a sun-wise path instead of the traditional
counter-clockwise dance of pagan times. The reference to
 "descent to the door" comes from the fact that the old
Scottish buildings had a thatching ridge, which the
Calluinn-man used to run , pursued by young villagers.

This ritual has been described by Sir James George

Fraser as "a disorderly procession" in which the party
struck the walls with sticks or flails. After admission the
"minister" of the party pronounced a blessing on the house:
"May god bless this house and all that belongs to it. In
plenty of meat, bed and body clothes, and health of men may
it abound!" After that the "devil" passed his calluinn-skin, a
strip of leather sometimes fastened to a staff, to the
oldest male in the house who touched it to a newly-laid fire
and applied a smudge of soot to the nose of every person and
animal within the farm. "This was imagined to secure them
from diseases and other misfortunes, particularly from
witchcraft, throughout the ensuing year. The calluinn
seems to have survived well into the nineteenth century."
Their is no question that the calluinn-skin is a phallic
symbol, the touching to flame renewing its spiritual energy
for procreation. While this magic-device creates a
protective circle for the children, the man of the house is
advised to pass "over and above" is wife that she may take
"full measure". Here is a direct statement of one of the
magical functions of the Calluinn, the reinvigoration of the
sexual powers of man and beast, the spirit being passed to
them directly from a pagan nature-spirit. 1

Fraser has noted that the Isle of Man, "one of the

fortresses of Celtic language and lore" was a late hold-out
against Anglo-Saxon practises, celebrating New Year's Day
on November 1 until recent times. "Thus Manx mummers
used to go about on Hallowe'en singing a Hogmanay song
which began, "Tonight is New Year's Eve, Hogunnaa!" In the
northern part of Wales it used to be customary for each
family to fuel a great bonfire on Hallowe'en... men still
living remember how the people who assisted at the
bonfires would wait until the last spark was out and then

1Caplan, Ronald, editor, Down North, Toronto (1980), pp. 64-66.

 would take to heels, shouting..."The cropped black sow seize
the hindmost!"2

In Scotland this fire was named the samhnagan, and

there is little doubt that it formerly claimed a victim, who
might have been chosen by exactly this means. The hog-man
was a god-spirit, as mortal as the men he served, in spite
of his devillish appearance. Men who used magic to raise
themselves to god-hood, and the kingship of a tribe, were
always in danger when crops or animal-husbandry failed.
Plague, faminine and loss were never seen as signs of his
humanity, but as omens of his failing power. It was
universal belief that pagan god-kings had to be killed as
soon as they began to show signs of mental or physical
decay.

This was not considered a sacrilege, but a practical

necessity, involving the survival of the land, and the release
of a the god-spirit to reinvigorate the earth and be reborn in
a more virile form. Since the god had to be periodically put
down, it was assumed that he could hardly object to taking
some of the evil-spirits at large in the community to earth
with him, and rituals were performed to this end. In some
cases, the reign of a king was fixed to a certain number of
years, after which he was reduced to ashes. Regicide was
sometimes modified, the king abdicating for a brief period,
annually or semi-annually, his part being played by a mock-
king, who went to death in his stead.

This seems to have been the part played by the central

figures in the Beltane and Samhain fires, who were selected
as "kings-for-a-day" and were treated with deference until
their death. In more humane times, sacrificial victims
were simply ostracized until a new "carline" was selected.
Even more recently a play was made of throwing the victim
into the samhnagan, or lookers-on were satisfied to have
the god-beast jump three times through the smoke. The

2Fraser, Sir James George, The Golden Bough, New York (1951), p.
734.
 calluinn was expected to exemplify procreation in an act of
ritual sex with the Samh, just before his death. There is a
suggestion that she also went to earth, for an alternate
Calluinn Rhyme reads: "This is the New Year of the yellow
bag. Strike the skin to the wall. And old wife in the
graveyard, one in the corner, another beside the fire. Put
forked stick to her eyes, to her belly..."

Even where the full ritual was forgotten it was

remembered that: "Good luck for the whole year was
brought to the house by a man coming as first visitor on
New Year's Day. A woman would bring only bad luck."3
Similar considerations attached to May Day. The visitor had
to be fed if good luck was to be confirmed. Malcom
MacQueen noted that, "the early settlers had few
holidays...New Year's day was the great day of the year. On
the Eve of that day "striking parties" co,posed of young folk
of that district, armed with sticks, marched through the
settlement. When they arrived at a house they surrounded it
and to the accompaniement of music from the sticks beating
the log walls vigorously sang a Gaelic refrain... "Get up and
gie us our hogmanay."

If as happened but rarely, there was no "Scotch" on

hand, they were given cakes...When log houses were
replaced by shingled ones, these parties were discouraged
and finally abandoned. In the Hebrides, the calluin is no
longer practised, but the eleventh of January (the "Old" New
Year) has become a children's festival, much like our
Hallowe'en. Notice that the date has been moved to the
English New Year. This new pattern was followed in parts
of Cape Breton. The people of North River took their "turns"
on the last night of the year, while those at North Shore
practised the Oichche na Calluinn on Christmas Eve.

Like the omadons, the callithumpians were spiritual

projections of an ancient mortal-god. They were second-
cousins of the janeys, or mummers, of Newfoundland, and

3Fraser, Mary L., Follore of Nova Scotia, np, nd, p. 29.

corresponded with the belsnickers of Nova Scotia, the
horribles of Prince Edward Island and the duan na calluinn
(calf-man) of Cape Breton Island. The similarity that exists
between the Gaelic calluinn and the New Brunswick
callithump is worth noting.

Both pagan "god-men" were maskers or disguisers, the

original covering having been a a bull-skin complete with
head horns and tail. The followers of the duan na calluinn
were his unsely court, while the callithumpians trailed
after their callithumpian-beast. Since medieval times,
similar trains of disguised young men have emptied upon the
countryside to trouble the Yule. They went "house-visiting"
or "first-footing",and as they passed from one place to
another, the lads beat at the hide of the leader, hence the
designation "callithumpian parade" which for a while
described any uproarious source of noise. If the chief
callithump represented the old god of the underworld, he
and his courtiers were seen as dangerous customers, and
Helen Lochhead of Frederivton, New Brunswick remembers
being totally cowed when they made a visit to her home
about the year nineteen hundred. "When I was a little girl it
was very frightening. On New Year's Day boys, dressed in
old clothing, would come knocking on people's doors. I was
frightened and we kept the doors locked." There was
justification for this for two decades earlier a group of
disgusisers had entered government house on the occasion
of a Christmas party tendered by the Lieutenant Governor.
This gang made off with stolen kisses from the ladies, bits
and pieces of official silverware and even the roast turkey,
which had been intended as the festive centrepiece.

There is record of "kallathumpian" activity in York

County, Pennsylvania, where a boyhood observer said that
the practise included "going around to neighbour's houses on
New Year's Eve and firing guns." In an earlier day this act
was understood to send all stray evil-spirits scurrying to
join the master kallithump, who carried them to earth with
him when he was finally burned to ashes. CBC interviewer
Thea Borlase (1980) heard the callithumpians described as
"a horde of masked hell-raisers who roamed the streets of
Fredericton in search of festivities to interrupt with a lot
of commotion." They were decidedly, " a noisy, unmannerly
group, whose aggressive actions frightened children and
frequently the adults..." The callithumpians were of the
lower classes, the true heirs of the original outsider, whose
"pride" led to his fall from grace. No matter how many
rears, or bottles of liquor, they pinched in their travels,
these mummers had to remain well disguised or be prepared
to be contrite by Boxing Day.

CALLUIN A BHUILG, calluinn, “The Hogamanay lads” - house

visitors abroad at this time; callaig, active but tame;
bhuilg. rough buck. See next entry.

CALLUIN CABAG, a holed wheel of cheese. A “New Years’

Day cheese.” Foretelling was accomplished by looking
through the opening before the dawn of the Quarter-Days.
All such openings, in any material, were considered to be
“windows” on the Otherworld.

CALLUM CALUM CILLE, calum, hard-skinned ; ceall, a

hermit's cell, the nicknamed which the rural Scots gave St.
Columba. He was not universally admired by all Gaels, thus:
"Calum warty, mouse-coloured, ill-tempered. The
worthless of Ireland seven times over. The doorstep
hobgoblin who wronged the right." Note that the word calum
confers with Goth. hallus, a stone, and the ON. hallr, from
Hel the death-goddess. The family-name Calum, earlier
Gillecalum, Malcolm, MG. Mylcollum, Maelcolaim, OG.
Malcoloum, Malcolum. Gillecolaim, Ir. Maelcoluim, the bald
“dove,” referring to monks like St. Columba. Hence
Maccallum.

CALM, brave, EIr. calma, Cy. celf, having skill, art, Germ.
held, a hero, Indo-European qel, as seen in Lat. celsus, high,
the Eng. column and excel and Celt.

CALGACUS, calgach, shaggy, sprightly, ardent, passionate,

bristled. Often represented from the Latin as Galgacus, an
important Gaelic leader of the ancient past. He is
reinvigorated in quater-day playlets as the hero of the
moment. Calg, a beard of corn, bristles, earlier, a sword. In
Cy. cola, a sting, caly, a penis. The root is, again, qel, (also
found in Celt) to break. Watson identifies this hero by this
spelling and so does McBain.
Hence also the expression caig-dhireach, to get straight “to
the point,” “sword-straight.” His stand was supposed to
have been at Mons Craupius, near Duncrun, Perthshire. This
name comes out as “The Hill of the Hump.”

CALP, CALPA, baring of the calf of the leg, a mark of

servitude, interest to be paid against principal, pillar, nails.
When a clan failed in power it took calp to some powerful
neighbour. In effect, the men offered their best beast, or
steed, or woman, or children, or other prized possession, to
their protector at the time of their death. In exchange they
were given succour, provided they continued to follow that
chief or chieftain. See the related word calluinn, directly
above. Death-duty payable to the guardian of the Dead-
Lands. From ON kaup, pay, a stipend. In the case of the
Gaels, that guardian was Manan mac Ler, who ferried souls
of the dead to the islands of the western Atlantic. He
compares with the Norse goddess Rann, the wife of Hler,
supreme god of the sea, who had a great love for gold and
was referred to as "the flame of the sea" for the collection
of valuables she horded in underwater caverns. Like the
Norse, Gaelic seaman were careful to have gold on their
person when they travelled on the ocean. They reasoned
that if they were lost at sea, their detached souls might
have to bargain for an easier passage to Tir-nan-Og , Breas-
il or An Domhain. See next entry.

CALPACH, COLEACH, COLPACH, COILEAPACH, CALPEACH, a

calf-horse, the Welsh ceffyl dwr. the English colpech or
coltpexy, the equivalent of the Scot. kelpye or tangye.
Colpach, more generally a heifer or steer, particularly an
animal at the brink of sexual maturity. Calbh, a twig, an
oisier, a shoot, a sceptre, the hazel tree, EIr. colba, awand,
G. coille, a wood, col, sin. Cf. AS. caelf, ON. kalfr, Skr,
garbha, a fetus, young of an animal. The latter seems to
match the G. garbh, rough, hard, cruel, tearing, stiff,
scratchy. Eng. pixy. G. collaidh, sensual, full of carnal lust.
Confers with calluinn and calpa. The biorach uisg, the
“water-colt,” or “water-heifer (Mhorrigan),” also known as
the eac uisg, or “water-horse.”

“In Dorset-shire, the Pexy-lore still lingers. The being

is called Pexy and Colepexy; the fossil belemnites are
named Colepexies’-fingers; and the fossil echini,
Colepexies’-heads. The children, who are naughty, are
threatened with the Pexy, who is supposed to haunt woods
and coppices.” (Brand, Popluar Antiquities, ii, p. 513).

The “Literary Gazette” for 1825 adds this: “In

Hampshire they give the name of Colt-Pixy to a supposed
spirit or fairy, which is in the shape of a horse wickers, i.e.
neighs, and misleads horses into bogs, etc.” This creature is
the English goodfellow, who has the power of changing
himself “to horse, to hog, to dog, to ape, at will.”

The calpach is referred to by Nansen in his book In

Northern Mists (p. 341): “Now there is a Scottish mythical
creature called a “water calf...” The Norwegian veirkalv,
“weather-calf,” or “wind-calf.” which may well be thought
a corruption of this. It is true the creature inhabits lakes,
but it also goes upon dry land and has fabulous speed and
power of scenting things far off. It can also transform
itself into different shapes (as a calf or a horse or a man),
but always preserves something of its animal form.”

These shape-changers had the aspect of a brùinidh or

“brownie,” for two of these “wind-runners,” “bloodhounds,”
“weather-calves,” or “wind-calves,” were closely observed
when they accompanied the Earl of Orkney as he marched
through Norway in 1612. Some of his party referred to them
as “Wild Turks,” but probably meant “wild stirks:” “They
were ugly folk...Sinklar used them to run before and search
out news; in the evening they came back with their reports.
They were swifter in running than a stag; it is said that the
flesh was cut out of their thighs and the thick of their
calves (in other words they had extremely thin legs after
the fashion of all the Daoine sidh). It is also said that they
could follow men’s tracks.”

Elsewhere we learn that the ver-kalvannn, or “wind-

calves,” were “more active than farmdogs, swift as
lightning, and did not look like ordinary folk. The extra flesh
seemed cut out of their calves, their thighs and their
buttocks; their nostrils were also slit up. People thought
this might have been deliberately done to make them much
lighter to run around, and every one was more frightened of
them than of the Scots themselves. They could take the
scent of people a long way off and could kill a man before he
could blow his nose; they dashed back and forth breaking the
necks of men.”

Here we are reminded of Cromm na’ Cam who used

two such “dogs” as his spies, and Odin, who was similarly
equipped with totem-wolves. H,P.S Krag interpreted the
phrase “they did not look like folk,” as indicating that they
were actual bloodhounds, and notes that when one of the
wind-runners was killed at Odegaard, it ran about the field
where it had been shot issuing a barking sound. On the other
hand, when Karlesefni journeyed in the western Atlantic he
encounted two of this kind who were humanoid: “they were
more like apes than men; he called them Haki and Hekja ;
they ran as fast as greyhounds and had few clothes.”

Again it is mentioned in the Flateyjarbók that Leif

took with him a suthmathr, or “Southman” a former
resident of Scotland, who was called Tyrker. In Eric’s Saga
the wind-runners are given as two creatures, a man and a
woman, also of Scottish extraction. These Scots are
characterized by the strange garment they wore, which is
described as a kiafal or biafal. Nansen thinks this word is a
Norse replacement for a Celtic designation and might
correspond with the modern Gaelic cabhail (pronounced
caval or cafal): “a shirt.” It may, just as easily confer with
cadah, “tartan cloth, a quilt or cloak.” but in either
instance seems to identify the all-purpose brecan, or
“plaid,” favoured by the Gaels. Nansen suggests that the
Celtic word was gradually replaced by the Old Norse hakull
or hokull a word which describes similar wearing apparel,
“a sleeveless cloak open at the sides.” The feminine form of
this is hjekla , suggesting a similar cloak but possibly
hooded. He has guessed that the names of the wind-runners
were long forgotten when they were described on paper as
Haki and Hekja , names which seem to relate to their
costumes. It is noteworthy that Tryker is described as
brattletir , or “squashed- or flat-faced.” He is also given as
having a “precipitous forehead, and was said that he had
“fugitive eyes, and a complexion that was smáskitligr.

This is a perfect description of a brownie. Nansen also

said that Haki is a preferred name in legend and epic-
pooetry for sea-kings, berserkers and troll-children. From
this, he concluded that the tale of the runners was a fiction
introduced into Norse literature from Celtic mythology, but
it seems more in favour of identifying the myth as
following on reality.
CAM, crooked, cf. the god Cromm ‘an Cam. Also, one-eyed,
blind in one eye, ill-directed, dishonest, tricky, deceitful,
following the Fomorian predisposition. Root the ancient
kemb, wind, hence “made crooked by wind.” Refers to the
Latin camera, “one-eyed,” and from this the Eng. camera and
the word chamber. Also the Gaelic camag, a club and camas,
an embayment. Note camart, the high cam, a wry-necked
person. See also Caimbeul. This word has reference to the
physical deformities of the Fomorian sea-giants.

CAMAN, CAMHAN, a hollow plain, a hallowed plain, a crooked

stick, a shinty or hockey stick used for play on the field.
Also a staff carried by the calluinn-man at the hogmanay.
In the latter case the caesin-uchd, or magical “breast-
strip,” made of sheepskin, was attached to this wand.

CAMAR, fool, idiot, camart, wry-necked, cambar, place of

burial,
CAM-BHEUL, having a twisted mouth, Clan Campbell after
their patriarch.

CAMSHRON or Camaran, Cameron, MG. Cêmsroin, gen. Also

seen as Camronaich from which Gillacamsroin, Charter Eng.
Cameroun from cam+ sròn, twisted+nose. Not considered
linguistically related to Cameron parish in Fife.

CAN, obs., white, now, say, sing, Lat., cano, the Eng. canticle.
See bard. Canain, language; canntaireachd, articulate music,
chanting particularly that used in the setting of magical
spells.

CANBLAS, CANLABAS, grinding speech, can + labhar, to say

or sing + loudly, a magical incantation, a "reasoned"
argument between men of opposing views. argument
between diametrically opposed views, which were
nevertheless, "set down with great elegance and
refinement." One such quarrel involved the Christian view
that there was a beginning and end to creation, as opposed
to the pagan belief that all events were self-contained,
reincarnate and cyclic.

CANO MAC GATNAN, a son of a king of Alba. Exiled to Ireland

he was hosted by the high-king Aedh Slane (56 A..D.) He
visited Guaire, king of connaught and while there met
Marcan, an elderly chieftain who had a young wife named
Cred. She fell in love with the outlander and drugged
everyone attending a feast so that she could be alone with
him. Cano refused her advances as long as he remained bound
by the laws of hospitality. Later he returned, pledged his
love for her, and gave her a stone which he said contained
his second soul. After he returned to Scotland and became
king he made an assignation with Cred. Her stepson Colcu
tried to prevent this union. Cred waiting in anguish at Loch
Crede came to believe her lover would not appear and dashed
her head against a stone. As she fell dying, the soul-stone
dropped from her hand and fragmented. Cano therefore died
within three days.
CANTRAS, can + trud, say + distress, a burden; the taking of
vows of marriage to the widow of a family relative killed in
battle. A ex-tempore wedding pre-dating Christian
tradition.

CAOCHAIL, change, die, caoch, empty, blind, hollow, blasted,

OIr. coimchláim, to mutate or invert. To take on a
reincarnate form.

CAOD CHALUIM-CHILLE, obs. pre-Christian form caod, St.

John’s Wort. A healing “herb.”

CAOIBHREACHAN, the marsh ragwort, a proof against the

torradh, the charming away of milk from cattle.

CAOINEAG, caoin, a sward, a death sheet; caoidh + eagal, a

water-woman who fortells death and mourns passings,
lamentations for the dead + fear; caoine, to wail + eug,
death. the forerunners of death, otherwise known as the
banshees.

These were the befinde, or "white women" of the

Daoine sidh, appointed as cowalkers of men while they
lived. At the approach of death, the befind was compelled
to confront her first soul, thus allowing him to prepare for
the end. At length, she warned the remaining family of the
loss by wailings near the household. See beansith. In North
America, the caney-caller. Corresponds with the English
wailster as well as the beansith, or banshee. Other Gaelic
forms are the briddeag, aoibhill and the morrigan (which,
see).

This spirit is usually invisible but may take the form

of an animal, in particular a black bird. This creature is
also known as the cro, a word which, in context, may mean
either death or blood. Alexander Macbain explains that this
spirit is "the weregild of the various individuals in the
Scoto-Celtic kingdom from the king on down."

The interrelations of the fay-spirits are seen in this

creature which the Welsh called the korrid-gwen (sea-
woman). They assigned her nine virgin attendants exactly
like the Gallacinae of Mela, who were identified as
progenitors of the Gaelic boabhe. According to the poet
Taliesin, the first korrid-woman was given a magic vase,
the edges adorned with pearls. Like Ler's cauldron of the
deep this was the source of the "waters" (read "ale") that
made men knowledgeable and full of "bardic genius". The
caoineag was said to be about two feet in height, with long
flowing hair. Their only dress was a long white cutty-sark,
or shift. Seen at night or dusk they appeared beautiful. but
in daylight their bodies were seen to be wrinkled with age
and their eyes centred with red pupils. It was said that
their breath was poisonous but they usually kept their
distance appearing as omens of death before humans related
to them by blood. Their keening was itself an announcement
of bad fortune.

One of their kind was the English grant, "a yearling

foal, erect on its hind legs with sparkling eyes. This kind of
demon appears in the streets about sunset (and) warns
inhabitants to beware of fire, and thus puts the ignorant on
their guard."

CAOILTE. “The Lean One,” After Oisin’s departure for the

Otherworld, his post of chief bard was filled by Caoilte, the
“Thin man,” a cousin of Fionn. In some of the tales he is
given as the warrior who struck down Ler when the Feinn
assisted Midir in his war against the northerners and Boabd
Dearg. After the destruction of the Fionn he was forced to
take refuge in a souterrain of the Daoine sidh. In a late
Christian embellishment Caoilte , like Oisin, was forced to
return to the world of men so that he could meet and be
influenced by Saint Patrick.

CAOIR SIDHE, Phosphorecence on a stormy sea, fire

accompanied by noise, a rapid torrent, gleams, flames,
flashes, thunderbolt, red-hot iron, gleams of lightning in
the distance. Connotates warefare.
 In folklore, the final despoilment of an domhain was
supposedly the work of the Dagda and two of his sons, but in
literature an allusion is made to the robbery in The Book of
Taliesin. In this obscure Welsh poem the first recorded note
is made of the British king named Arthur. “Here Arthur sets
out upon various expeditions over perilous seas in his ship
Pridwen; one of them having as its object the rape of a
mysterious cauldron belonging to the king of Hades. Six
times (in sixty lines) the tragic line recurs, “Thrice enough
to fill Pridwen were we who went into it; but seven alone
were they who returned from Caer Sidi.” The endings vary at
each repitition - Caer Vedwyd, Caer Rigor, etc. - and
whether these are different places or different names for
one place cannot be said.

The whole poem evidently deals with expeditions

conducted by Arthur to the realms of twilight and
darkness.” Ancient British poetry has nothing further to tell
of this mysterious being. That Arthur was already (12th
century) a figure of legend is the only clear fact in the
general obscurity.” Not all of this reference is lost in
western mists: Caer is the Cymric equivalent of the
obsolete Gaelic cair, “boggy ground, which relates to
cathair, a city, the Latin castrum, a fortification. Caer Sidi
is a clear reference to the Daoine sidh, or “Side-hill folk,”
the people of Danu, who later found themselves banished to
the western islands of the Atlantic. The other Cymric place
names can also be translated, Caer Vedwyd, for example has
the sense of the “Ball-shaped City Out Yonder.” As Sampson
has said this does not tell us whether the names are
descriptive of a single land or may individual places. The
western Otherworld.

CAOMH, tender, kind, a restful place, Cy. cu, Goth. haims, a

village, AS. ham, Eng. home.

CAORRUNN-CUTHAICH, the rowan-bush, caor, the berry pof

the rowan, any cluster of red berries; cutach, bobtailed or
shortened tree bush. Red berries were counted as the fruit
of the gods, and one species was thought the root of their
longevity. In Scottish mythology these berries were
protected by a monster on an island in Lake Awe until they
were stolen by a Gaelic hero. Unfortunately they proved
poisonous to the woman who plotted with him to purloin
them.

CAORANACH, CAORNANACH. The sea serpent that lived in

Lough Dearg, Ireland, from caora, sheep, having reference to
the triangular heads of such animals.

CAOCHAIL, to change, alter, expire, die. In the last sense,

this word is only used with respect to humans. Caoch,
empty, Cy coeg, foolish, Goth. haihs, one-eyed.

CAOR, the berry of the rowan, Cy. ceirion, a berry. The same
word as caoir, a blaze because of its red colour. EIr., caer.
This colour was associated with blood, bleeding and death,
and by extension symbolized the Otherworld. In earlier
times two rowan sprigs tied with red thread were placed
above entryways at the Quarter Days to turn away evil
spirits and bring good luck. Caorrunn, the rowan tree. “Red,
being the colour of blood - the essence of life - is the
supreme magical colour. In Scotland, necklaces of red coral
or red rowan berries, strung on red thread , were wore as
amulets.” (The Silver Bough, Vol. 1, p. 74).

CAORANI, “People of the Sheep,” OIr. caera, seen in the

Gaull. Ep-enos, knight, based on epos, a horse, thus horse-
rider. The people of North West Sutherlandshire,
suggesting worship of a horned deity. See Cernu. Red-eared,
three-horned sheep, had associations with the Otherworld.

CAPA. “The Top,” one of three fishermen accidently blown

to Ireland from Spain in antediluvial time. All of these men
perished in the World Flood.

CAR, twist, bend, turn, a job, work, a trick, fraud; carach,

dishonest, carabhail, horrid, savage, wild, cearr, wrong,
left-handed, crooked. See cearrach. Gille-nan-car,
trickster, artful dodger. This word is associated with Clan
Kerr (anglicized and pronounced cae-rr), a family with
Scandinavian roots, remembered in folklore as "...the
deadliest foes That e'er the Englishmen had ever known, For
they were all bred left-handed men And left to fence
against them there were none." It may not be precise to say
that all were "lefties" but certainly more than fifty percent
were of this persuasion. This genetic preference appears in
their castle keeps where stair cases are built "against the
sun" trending upward from ground level in counter-
clockwise fashion. This spiral placed right-handed men at a
disadvantage since their sword arms were in frequent
collision with the walls of the castle. Two such residences
are those of Jedburgh and Ferniehurst, both owned by the
marquis of Lothian, who is a Kerr. All of this clan have been
southpaws until recent generations when others genes have
come into their pool. The northern portion of Scotland was
infiltrated by Scandinavians at an early date, as a result the
Campbells, Macleans, Macdonalds and Mackays all have heavy
populations of left-handed individuals.

Researchers in Britain have discovered that these

people are prone to the disease called dyslexia, a severe
reading disability in which the letters of the alphabet are
mentally exchanged, inverted, or otherwise made
unreadable. Even among the Kerrs, scientists have
experienced difficulty researching the problem since many
lefties have deliberately been trained, or trained
themselves, to be ambidextrous (efficient with either hand)
to avoid the jeers and jokes that dog that condition. On the
plus side, it has been noticed that the best soccer players
are equally capable with either foot, and a notable number
have Kerr blood lines. In southern California, a similar
study has just concluded showing that left-handed people
have a mean life expectancy of 66.3 years as compared with
75 for the general population. Left-handed males are even
worse off than females since they live to a mean age of 63.
Since machinery is designed with right-handed people in
mind, left-handers were found five times more likely to
have died in accident-related injuries. As a group they
were noted to suffer greater health problems, in particular
a greater number of immune deficiency diseases and risk of
diabetes.

University of British Columbia research also found

that left handers were four times as likely to die in traffic
accidents as the general population; in effect, they seem
accident-prone, a misfortune considering that there are, at
present, three million left-handed Canadians. There are
interesting associated footnotes, such as the fact that
Nuada the god-hero of the Tuatha daoine was left-handed by
battle accident, a misfortune that also plagued the Norse
god Tyrr, who is often associated with the Gaelic Aod (a
sun-god bearing a distinctly northern name). Notice also
the fact that the hosts, raging out of the north to collect
the souls of the dead, whirled south on winds that moved in
a counter-clockwise direction. Odin's valkyra followed a
similar course, and the witches who were their antecedents
danced the left-handed circle. In the eyes of the largely
right-handed Christian missionaries these were the worst
of a bad lot, sinister (literally, left-handed) folk.

CARANN MOLLACHD, caran. obs. dim. of friend, relative,

meant as disrespect, from the root carr, with all the
implications of left-handedness. Confers with the
Norwegian kerren, hard, stiff, unbending; the English. harsh
and hard. Gaelic, carraig, a rock. Molach, rough, hairy, like
the Winter Hag. A cairn of stones erected by guisers in
front of a doorway when they were turned away from a
residence at the Hogamanay.

CARBH, AM, also PARBH, carbh, a ship, from ON. karfi, a

galley meant for the navigation of the fiords. Able to car,
turn or twist about quickly, The “place for turning (south).
Note the place-name Am Parbh, Scotland. Here, Sandwood
Cottage is the site of hauntings by a tall male revenant
dressed as a sailor. A mermaid was spotted at nearby
Sandwood Bay by a native in 1900. His dog spotted her first,
lying on a sea-ledge. She was described as “human-sized,
beautiful, and apparently waiting for the tide to take her
out.”
CARMÁN, car, a twister and turner, a dancer, left-handed,
see above entry; mam, a handful, large-breasted. In
particular, a foreign goddess who arrived in Ireland from
the Mediterranean accompanied by three fearsome sons
Calma, Valiant; Dubh, Black; and Olc, Evil. They laid waste
the land until overcome by the Tuatha daoine. With her sons
dead, Carmán succumbed to death “in an ungentle shape.”
Nevertheless, she was remembered and propitiated in
Leinster at the Festival of Carmán, which was part of the
old Lugnasad. Tales about this goddess point out the subtle
magic of women, as opposed to the physical magic preferred
by men: The sons were addicted to rapine, plunder,
dishonesty and violence, but their mother gained her ends
through charms, spells and incantations. After they all
succeeded in blighting the corn, the Tuatha daoine brought
out their heavy guns and assaulted the visitors until their
own magic forced the three men into the sea. The witch
was held as a hostage against their future behaviour and
died as a hostage. Because she was feared in death, as in
life, she was given an annual oenach, or “fair,” which was
held at her burial place. The Munster equivalent of the
Mhorrigan.
CARN, a cairn. corn, horn. A monument formed of individual
stones brought together by individuals. The root is the Br.
kar, hard. Carragh. an individual stone, a standing or pillar
stone. Carraig, rock, similar to the Eng. hard, harsh. At the
death of an individual, friends and relatives created a cairn,
by adding stones to his memorial each time they passed. In
some instances cairns were erected by the funeral party at
each spot where it rested on the way to internment. At the
adding of a stone a blessing was directed toward the dead.
From the Gaullish root. carno, a “trumpet,” a “heap of
stones” in the Gaelic. Wester Ross used to be entitled, in
Latin, Carnonacae. This may be interpreted either as “The
Folk of Trumpets,” or “The Folk of the Cairns,” i.e. rocky
hills, the latter being most appropriate to the region.
Similarly, the Gaullish tribal name Carnutes is considered
to mean “Trumpet-bearing Folk.”

CARN A’ GHILLE, “Cairn of the Lad,” erected on the road

between Dunvegan and Stein, Skye, Scotland. Here the son
of a household overheard three witches plotting evil deeds.
Discovered, he was intimidated into promising he would not
reveal their plans. When the boy thought that the witches
had decided against their plan he told his mother, who
inadvertently revealled her knowledge to one of the
witches. Engraged the three killed the lad. Soon afterwards
the villagers raised a memorial cairn but it soon sunk from
sight in the peaty soil, whether by design or from natural
cause is uncertain. In any event the place is claimed to be
haunted and the place is avoided at night.

CARN A’ GLAS, “The Gray Cairn,” six miles east of the town
of Cromarty, Scotland. In the eighteen-twenties a similar
cairn, in this region, was disassembled for building stones.
On their removal a human skeleton of “gigantic size” was
recovered. According to a labourer at this site the skull was
sufficient to contain “two lippes of bear.” The Gray Cairn
has been the place of several supernatural events: A
Cromarty fisherman entered this moor to the sounds of
lowing cattle and the distant barks of shepherd’s dogs. As
he approached this cairn he commenced to hear the sound of
waves breaking on a cliff-face. This, in spite of the fact
that the coast and the sea were three miles distant. On
coming closer he was terrified to observe that the stone
was part of an actual cliff-face rising above substantial
waters. The pile of rocks appeared enshrouded in sea-fog
and on the ocean he noticed two large vessels, their sails
spread to the wind.

CARNAS, algebra, carn, a heap of stones, counting-stones,

stones used in arithmetic, a cairn. Stones were regarded as
"the backbone of the earth". Counting skills, like language
skills, were considered magiical in intent and result.

CARNONI, an ancient tribe of Wester Ross, from carno, a

“trumpet.” also carn, a high rocky hill, possibly “folk of the
cairns.”

CARRAGH, a pillar stone or cromleag, a standing stone. Ir.

cartha. Cf. cuir, to position or put in place, suggesting man-
made structures rather than geologic “erractics.” A form of
carraig, a rock, OIr. carric, Cy. careg, Bry. karrek, Nor.
kerren, hard, stiff, harren, hard, Eng. harsh. The Celtic root
is perhaps kars, hard or rough, which persists in the Gaelic
càrr, rough at the surface, the itch, mange. Carradale is a
combined form of carragh + dail, the latter, a valley or dale.
Here in the graveyard of Barcal are three large stones
collectively known as the carragh/ According to tradition
an arch druid is buried here. His power is remembered: It is
said that law-breakers could apply to him for pardon. Even
after his death his pillars continued as a sanctuary for
criminals. Such places are termed cromaich,, an asylum or
refuge.

CARRAGHDAIL, Carradale, Scotland, in Kintyre. Dail, a field,

a meadow from Norse dalr. A field of standing-stones 15
miles north of Campbellton, facing on the Sound of
Kilbrannon. One of the great arch-druids of Scotalnd is
supposedly buried here at the triad carragh. Any man who
approached this druid could be exonerated of his crimes.
After his death, the grave-memorial to this druid became a
place of refuge for criminals and law-breakers. Those who
reached this sacred ground before being apprehended were
forgiven their trespasses. Sanctuaries of this sort were
termed comraich. This sanctuary was sited between slighe
aoraidh and dail sleauchdaidh, “the way to worship,” and
“the field of prostation.”

CARRMOCAL, cairngorm, a precious stone, a jewel, curragh +

cuir, a pillar or supporting stone + put aside from the
common kind.

CASÁIR, phosphorescence at sea, formerly given as the

treasures of the deep seen through water. This word also
means sea-drift and is akin to Ir. casair, a shower, hail;,
from the root cad, to fall.

CAS AN LUBAIN, cas, sudden quick rapid (on one’s feet),

irritable little Lugh. The name given the bodach of Allt Mor,
Scotland. This creature disturbed women returning from the
ceilidhs by voicing gurgling sounds. He frequently entered
crofts at night and tidied up for the residents. When he grew
old he retired to Balnasium in Derculich where he
sometimes exchanged a bowl of milk for house-choires.
Here he received this nick name from his splashings in Alklt
Mor. When the haunt heard of this name he vanished from
that vicinity. See next.

CAS-ARD RIGH, cas, foot, leg, "the royal foot." More

literally, the “king’s high-foot.” At Dunadd there is a rock
engraved with a footprint, supposedly that of the first
Dalriadic dynast. It is said to have been blasted into place
by a geisreag, or magic spell. While the Scots kings reigned
they were expected to come to this inauguration stone, and
each new king had to place his foot upon the imprint of all
his royal ancestors. It was supposed that the spirit of the
original god-king was thus transferred, legitimizing the
continued authority of the monarch.

CASEIN UCHD, obs. cas, hair of the head, curled; Norse,

haddr, the English hair; uchd, breast. The hairy-breast. A
narrow strip of sheep skin, about three inches wide, cut
from mouth to tail on the underside of the belly of the
animal, and separated from the flesh without additional
cutting. The Hogmanay “breast-strip,” attached to the pole
carried by the calluinn-man. Occasionally the skin of a cow,
goat or deer was substituted for that of the sheep. At each
home visited, this strip was singed in the hearth fire and
used to blacken the foreheads of men and animals as a
prophylactic against witchcraft, fire and drowning through
the following year. The staff from which it was carried
was the caman, the shinty or hockey stick. See caitrtreal.

CASSIR, casair, sea-drfit, the light seen enamating from

dank, decaying wood, obs. “a thorn,” shower, hail, a prickly
woman; the daughter of Bith, Eng. Lady Cesair, a
granddaughter of the Biblical Noah. Bith was denied a place
in the Ark and so with the help of Ladra and Finntann
erected an idol, that foretold the deluge. Acting on the
advise of this idol, the three men constructed their own
ship and took refuge on it, fleeing before the World-Flood.
After seven years they landed in Ireland. Cassir became the
wife of Finntann but he abandoned her when the flood
waters came upon them, riding out the deluge in a flood
barrel.

CAT, a cat, SIr. catt, Cy. cath, Cor., kat, Br. kaz, Gaul,
Cattos, a god of battle; Latin catta, English cat, German
katze. Possibly of Celtic origin, applied at first to wild
species and later to the Egyptian cats introduced at the
time of Christianity. Similar to the W. cath, Cor. kat, and
the Germ. katze. The word may thus confer with cath, a wild
thing, a battle. The Dictionary of Prince Edward Island
English draws attention to the phrase cat of gin, formerly
identifying a quart container for this liquid. There is also
catawumpus, a humorous aside indicating something
slightly askew or out of order; and cat ice. a thin layer of
ice, under which the water has retreated, and thus incapable
of supporting weight. The South Shore Phrase Book adds cat
spruce, a short scrub evergreen (properly called the white
spruce), which makes an attractive, but skunky-smelling
Christmas tree. These are related to our local dialectic
words kippy and kittardy. See Old Tibb for a lengthy
explanation.

The original sea-cat was probably Ran, the wife the

Norse immortal Hler, the god-giant of the open ocean. Her
Celtic equivalent was Mhorrigan, the daughter of Dagda, who
was given care of the mythic Cauldron of the Deep. These
ladies were the death-goddesses for men who died at sea,
and were avaricious demanding tribute (in rare metals)
from all who came into their realm. This is why mariners
in Atlantic Canada still, occasionally, place a coin beneath
the main mast of a vessel just before it is set. Like the
native North American Indians, certain Fundy fishermen
return the bones of fish to the sea without being quite
certain what they are about. I've heard my relatives say,
"Here's a bit for the old cat".

English folklorist Ruth L. Tongue has managed to find

an old tale that may be apropos: "There was a gentleman
had a beautiful daughter who was bad at heart, and knew
more than a Christian should. The villages wanted to swim
her (put her to trial for witchcraft), but no one dared
because of her father. She drew down a spell on a poor
fisherman, and he followed her for love wherever she went.
He deserted his own troth-plighted maid, though he was to
be married in a week, and he ran away with this other, who
he took to sea unbeknownst to the rest (of the fishing
fleet). A storm blew up from her presence and all was lost
for having a woman on board, though none knew it. It was
she that had whistled up the storm that drowned even her
own lover, for she had no good for anyone. (A magician
tracked her and) turned her into a four-eyed cat, and ever
after she haunted the fishing fleet. That is why still men
will not cast their nets until half-past three (cock-crow
time) - my uncles won't -and why they always throw a bit
back into the sea for the cat."

Ran and Mhorrigan were the prototypes for this

creature being beautiful woman who were shape-shifters.
The trouble with all of the mermaids was the fact that they
changed their minds as often as the shape of their bodies.
Thus they experienced little domestic bliss and spent most
of their time pursuing unfulfilling relationships with human
sailors. Hler, the god of the sea, could control all of his
element excepting his wife, and he and his Celtic
counterpart Ler, were constantly involved with trying to
cope with the difficulties that naturally arose from the
cat-like conduct of their wives. The mermaids of
Somersetshire, England, were termed sea-morgans after the
matriarch. Their songs were irresistible to men, and their
only failure, on that coast involved a deaf youngster, who
had psychic abilities. One of their kind sought to divert this
youngster into quicksand; but he, while admiring her face
and figure, was repulsed by her seaweed-green hair and
could not hear her voice, and so was able to drive her off.

Our skippers are loathe to transport lawyers, tailors,

dressmakers and clergymen, just like their European
cousins. Most interesting of all is the universal fear of
letting a representative of Rann on board before a ship
sails. In some of our own coast villages, men would
actually return home if they met a woman on the way to a
proposed sailing. Helen Creighton found that this
superstition was still widespread at the middle of this
century, and one master-mariner went further: "A woman is
considered bad luck, even to christen a boat. Once a boat
was being launched (and) a woman wished to christen it.
She came to the launching but the owner wouldn't allow it.
Nevertheless, the vessel turned over when it was launched
and it always had bad luck."

A Scotsburn, Nova Scotia, man even warned men

against wearing woman's hats at sea, apparently concluding
that some of the female spirit of wantoness (and storm)
would thus attach to the men and through them infect the
ship. Cats are clearly equated with women for another
fisherman said, "If a cat passed a fisherman's path, he
would go home." There was a particular passion against
black cats, and another respondent explained that "other
cats are taken on board as mascots, but never a black one."
Notice the hair of mermaids was said to be golden near the
surface, but when they passed in the deep, it was always
seen to be coal-black like the hide of some cats. It is a law
of sympathetic magic that "like attracts like", thus female
witches were thought to prefer the these cats as familiars.
Black cats, in turn, were seen as magnets for black clouds,
a black sea and stormy weather.

And remember, "It's bad luck to throw a cat overboard;

the one who does will not live to make home." There are
eight synonyms for cat in the Gaelic language including pus
and the much more poetic luchtigern. The latter identifies
Lugh in his guise as “lord of the mice.” Three huge
Fomorian cats guarded the entrance to the Otherworld at
Cruachan, Ireland. Note that the son of Cruithne founder of
the Tuatha cruithne or Picts was a man named Cat. He gave
his name to the province of Caithness, Scotland. Note also
Innis Cat, the Isle of Cats, which used to be applied to the
Shetlands.

In Middle English we have Tom Cat, a contraction of

Thomas, i.e. a common man as contrasted with a gentleman
+ cat. He was sometimes entitled Old Tom, and understood
to represent the Devil. One cannot say that the mythic Twm
Shone Catti of Wales is the prototype but he represents the
species: He was born at Tregaron in the Shire of Cardigan in
the sixteenth century and took up thievery before becoming
a rich man, justice of the peace and mayor of Brecon. Early
in his career as a thief Twm visited an iron-monger,
pretended interest in a pot, but insisted there was a hole in.
Indignant, the smith lifted the vessel above his head and
peered at it, but could see no defect. At this, Tom pushed
the container firmly over the man's head and while he
struggled to free himself removed the rest of his stock-in-
trade. According to some authorities Tom was the
illegitimate son of Sir John Wynn of Gwedir, by the woman
named Catharine Jones. He was christened Tom Jones but
was better known as the Twm Catti. Between the ages of
eighteen and nineteen he took up stealing to escape from
poverty and the demands of his mother. It was said that his
disguises were beyond numbering; sometimes he appeared
as a cripple; sometimes as a crone; sometimes as an out-
oof-luck soldier. By no means a specialist at his art, he
was particularly interested in taking animals, and was
adroit at disguising them, so that he was sometimes able to
sell the animals back to their owners.

Attempts to apprehend him were futile, he was never

at home when people came looking for him. If he was at
home he was always incognito. A farmer who had lost a
bullock to Tom once came to his door to be greeted by a
miserable hag sitting on a stone bench near the doorway.
"Does Tom Catti live here?' asked the farmer. "Indeed, yes!"
replied the indigent. "Is he at home?" "Oh yes, He is at
home." "Then will you hold my horse by the bridle while I
seek him?" The crone did so. The man dismounted made a
thorough search of the house and came back to the stone
bench to find it littered with a woman's clothing. His horse
was, of course, missing! Riding to the farmer's house in a
new disguise Tom told the farmer's wife that he had been
sent for £50 cash to extricate the poor man from legal
difficulties. The wife seeing that the stranger had her
husband's horse and whip gave up the money and Tom left
Wales for several months.

Tom was widely known as a thief but he was free with

his money in helping the poor and he often ingratiated
himself with potential victims with his abilities at song,
dance and humour. A little later, Tom came upon a lady at
the hands of a highwayman. A handy man with a sword, Tom
killed the robber and conducted the good-wife back to the
home of her husband. The couple invited him to stay over,
and the man of the house being in his cups, Tom treated the
lady to a "pentillion about her face, ankles and the tips of
her ears." In the process he managed to extract a promise
from her that she would re-marry him in case her current
husband died. Afterwards this happened as promised and
Tom became the lord of Strath Feen, a pleasant valley by the
River Towey. At first Tom was refused by this independent
woman who was not keen on taking up with a thief.

At her entreaty he left her home and took up residence

in a cnoc or "sugar-loaf" mountain just within Shire Car.
One who had visited this place (in 1850) described it as "in
a very queer situation; steep rocks just above it, Towey
river roaring below." There Tom set himself up in his usual
business but after a time decided to make one last foray
against the widow. Arriving outside her window, which was
barred with an iron grill, he left out a pitiful wail that
caught her attention. Coming to the window she demanded
that he make his case quickly and move on. Given this
leeway, Tom cried out, "I am come to bid you one eternal
farewell and have but one request to make, which is that
you extend your hand so that I may impress upon it one last
burning kiss." the woman hesitated a bit, but flattered, at
last extended her arm through the bars. Tom caught the
limb and his expression changed, "I have you now, "he said
flatly, "and you'll not move from here without a solemn oath
that you'll be my wife." "Never!" said the lady, "Never will I
become the wife of a common thief." Drawing his sword,
Tom stared the woman in the eye and responded, "Very well,
will it be your hand or your arm?" The lady being cowed and
having some fondness for Tom then swore to marry and thus
became a man of means.

As justice of Camarthenshire he was an extremely

able man, noting that if he could not take "car" (booty) then
no other should have it. One of the MacLeods of Rassay used
the Skye witches in a heavy-handed way so that they finally
assembled on the shore of the Narrows at Rassay, where
they watched for his galley to sail between the island and
Portree. When they saw him at a satisfactory distance from
shore some of them shape-changed into cats and swam to
the boat, By huddling together on the poop deck they
managed enough weight to capsize the craft so that MacLeod
was drowned. Afterwards they returned to the shore and
changed back into humans.
 Modern possession of men by the cat-spirit is not
unknown: “Patient X was a 24-year-old depressed man who
for thirteen years has believed he is a cat trapped in the
body of a human. He has known this ever since the secret
was imparted to him by the family cat, that same animal
that later taught him “cat language.” Though employed, he
spent most of his life in feline activities. He lived with
cats, had sexual intercourse with them, hunted with them,
and frequented cat night spots... Against all evidence he
clung firm to his beliefs, even after medication with
haloperidol antidepressants and carbamaxepine, and six
years of insight-oriented-psychotherapy.” - McLeann
Hospital, Boston, 1988.

CATANACH, Chattanach, Chattan. MG. pl. Cattanich. They

claimed descent from Gillacatan , “the lad of the Cat, a
servant of Saint Catan, whose name denotes “little cat.”

CAT-DUBH, SIr. catt, a cat; dubh, black. The black cat is the
totem animal of many highland clans and is shown as a
device in heraldry. In some places it is considered an
animal of ill-omen since it serves as a banshee of death and
destruction. This is particularly so for the Macleods of
Gesto on the Isle of Skye. "They dreaded the appearance of a
black cat when a death was about to occur in the family, and
such is the force of inheritance it is feared by some of the
descendants of that family down to the present day. Some
of the Mackinnons of Strath, in Skye, had such a horror of
cats that they could tell when one was in the room, without
seeing it." (Dr. Keith Macdonald, Celtic Monthly, 1902, p. 87).
Not so the Cattanich, or Clann Chattan, who some claim
were the descendants of St. Catan, whose name denotes
"Little Cat." This animal is the traditional familiar or
taibhse of the Gaelic boabh or “witch.” Particularly
identified with the goddess Mhorrigan. Fishermen, at sea,
often threw a portion of their catch into the sea to
propitiate this "old cat."

In Gaelic parts it is thought that wishes can be

fulfilled by stroking the back of a black cat using three
fingers. It is similarly auspicious to have a black cat walk
directly towrd you but unlucky to have it cross your path.
Some folk regard the black cat as allied with the ailpe
saying that its breath causes cancer in humans and that it
has killed babies “by sucking their breath away.”

CAT MAC CRUITHNE. Founding father of the Tuatha cruithne,

or Picts. He gave his name to the Scottish province of Cait,
still known as Caithness.

CATH. Fight, battle. Winnow the chaff; a popular class of

tale among the Gaels. Cathag, the jackdaw or battle-bird. In
the early "wars" men managed to get exercise but relatively
few people were killed. As Gywnn Dyer says this was a
time when there were "no leaders, no strategy, and no
tactics", when only kinship groups were usually involved
"most often to revenge a killing or a ritual offense
committed by another group..." Warfare was, at its "best",
"an important ritual, an exciting and dangerous game, and
perhaps an opportunity for self expression, but it (was) not
about power...and it most certainly (was) not about
wholesale slaughter." 1

Gwynne Dyer says that "the gulf between primitive

and civilized societies is as vast in warfare as it is in
other respects. The essence of the Neolithic revolution was
not the discovery...that food could be obtained more reliably
and in greater abundance by planting and harvesting crops
and taming or breeding animals...It was the insight that
human will and organization could exercise control over the
natural world - and over large numbers of human beings."2
In other words, the development of agriculture allowed the
creation of a class-society whose most elevated members
began to see the possibilty of great personal gain in
exercising power.

Lewis Mumford has suggested that it was "the essence

of civilization" to exert power in all its forms. The roots of
the first civilizations, he claimed, are to be found in states
that were so absolutist and awesomely cruel they make
Nazi Germany seem a moral commonplace. Dyer thinks that
the first experiments at weilding power went to the heads
of the earliest leaders of state causing them to build
practical irrigation canals on one hand, and to pursue vast
personal memorials, such as the pyramids, on the other.
Between ends, powerful men waged wars of extermination
which were often little more than personal vendettas waged
with the complicity of newly "civilized" men.

CATHAIR, a city, a place where corn is fanned, OIr. cathir,

Cy. caer, Bry. kaer. Lat. castrum. The root is cat+ air, the
latter, high.

CATHAIR AOINE, City of Aoine. A standing stone said

enspirited by this goddess, who was sometimes said to
confer with Mhorrigan. Those who sat upon it were in danger
of losing their sanity. Any person who presumed to sit there
three times became witless for life. Those already insane,
animals and people, flocked here to Aoine’s place where she
once rendered curesalong with “tea and sympathy.” “She had
power over the whole body and sometimes gave gifts of
poetry or music. She not infrequently gave her love to men,
and they called her the Leanan Sith, the “Sweetheart of the
Folk.” See Aine.

CATHAL. Kathal, OCy. Catgual, i.e. Katu-valos, “Donald of the

wars,” val, being a contraction of Domhnall (which see).
From these M’All and Mackail. Most notably the Irish born
missionary-priest of the seventeenth century whose relics
created an Italian cult at Taranto in 1071. He was said
adept at healing ruptures and was influential in governing
weather.

CATHBAD, A druid of Trataige Mag Inis, the personal

advvisor of Conchobhar mac Nessa. He married Maga the
widow of Ross the Red, and had by her Dechtire, the mother
of the famous Cúchullain. His other children were: Elbha, the
mother of Naoise and Findchaem, the mother of Conall of the
Victories. He prophesied that Deirdre’s great beauty would
bring destruction upon Ulster and that Cúchullain would
have a short but glorious life. He was persuaded to lure
Naoise and his brothers out of the Red Branch Hostel, but
when Conchobhar killed them in contravention of the laws
of hospitality of Ireland, the druid cursed him and his
Capital-city of Emain Macha.

CATH NA COILLEACH, cath, battle, contention, wrath, fight;

coilleag, smart blows. The power of the warrior was said
magically inspired, and sometimes assisted by,
supernatural spirits.

CATHUBODUA, cath, battle; bodha, a submerged rock. A name

for the raven or crow of battle, an entitlement of the
goddess of war, who was sometimes called Mebd or Baobd.

CATRIONA, the Gaelic form of Catherine or Catherine. It also

occurs as the Ir. Caitriona, and in the phonetic forms
Catrina, Katrina, Katrine, Katarina, Katrriona and Katrena.
Appears to be a combination of cat+rionnach, a “streaked or
spotted cat.”In Scotland the preferred Scot. spelling is
Catherine or Kathryn at the present time. The name is
diminished as Kathleen and a pet forms include Kay, Kerry,
Kit, Kitty, Kate and Cathy. Cf. Karen.

CATTAIB, “Among the Cats.” At the period before the Norse

invasion The Cats occupied the northeastern mainland of
Scotland. The Cats originally held more lands than
Caithness. The old name for Sutherlandshire was Caittaibh.
The land between the present Ord of Caithness and Dunrobin
was termed Braigh Chat, “The Upland of the Cats.” This
tribe appartently originated in the north-east and entered
Sutherlandshire occupying the eastern and south-eastern
parts of that place. At the present day a Sutherland may be
called a catach. The Earl of Sutherland has long held an
upright cat on his bearings and is entitled the Morair Chat,
or “Great Cat.” The Duke of those lands is Diuc Chat, while
the Kyle of Sutherland is referred to as an caol Catach. The
Norsemen said that these were a Pictish people and called
their lands Pettaaland-fjorthr, Opentland Firth, but they
were at least allied with certain Teutonic tribesmen from
Hesse.

CÉ, spouse of the earth, the “Earth.” “Night.” The sun-god

Lugh, reincarnate as the son of Cruithne, the founder of the
Tuatha cruithne, or Picts. They gave his name to the ancient
province of Alba now within the regions entitled Marr and
Buchan. This word is only used, at present, in the
expression, an cruinne cé, “the round earth.” In EIr it was
seen in bith cé, “on this earth.” The root is taken as the
Celtic kei, he, which is related to the verb kei, to go, to
move. Also note the Lat. ce or cis, the Eng. he. The old day-
god He is represented in the Cymric tongue as Hu and in
Gaelic as Lugh or Aoidh. The latter is the Eng. Kay. The word
may confer with the Celtic skei, shaded, or covered by,
suggesting the cohabitation of the Earth with the Sun.

CÉ, a druid to Nuada who was mortally wounded at the

second battle of Magh Tuireadh. The Lough Cé burst from the
ground where he was buried.

CEANN, head, head of yarn, heads of corn and thus, “The

Harvest Home.” Also a headland, genius, ingenuity, , leadere,
commander, chief.

CEAL, stupor, forgetfulness from the root gel, to conceal,

EIr. cel, death, ceal, the end, the Eng. seal and sealed, based
on the name of the ON goddess Hel who was sealed in the
Underworld. Note cealaich, to conceal, to eat, to put away;
cealg, guile, treachery, hypocrisy; cealtar, a broad-cloth
covering, and ceall, a hermit’s cell and by extension a
church. From this last cealloir, the superior of a Christian
church and the name Mackellar.

CEALG, guile, treachery, EIr. celg, root the Indo-European

qel, to destroy. This word is at the root of Celt.

CEANAIDEACH, Ceanadaidh, Kennedy, Kenedy, family name of

the old earls of Carrick, a famed Irish name born by the
father of Boru ard-righ. Ir. Ceinneidigh, EIr. Cennétich,
literally the “one with the ugly head.” Called also
M’Ualraig. Ualgharg may be the Eng. Warwick.

CEANN, head, point, hilt, top, chief, a genius, harvest-home,

OIr. cend, cenn, the “first,” or “most important,” the seat of
god-spirit. Thus it was that Gaelic heroes hunted heads.

Conal of the Victories once told his enemy Cet that he

would not allow a night to pass when he did not sleep with
the head of a dead Connacht-man beneath the bend of his
knee. Cet admitted being unequal to Conal but noted, “if
Auluan were here he would give you conterst for contest.”
At this the Ulsterman drew Aulan’s head from hiding and
threw it against his chest with such force that “a rush of
blood broke from his lips.” The Roman Posidonius, travelling
through Gaul noticed this interest in heads: “When they
depart for battle they hang the heads of their enemies from
their horses, and when they brought them home, nailed them
to the entrance of their houses.”

Another Roman observed that when the Celts killed an

official they severed his head, “and bore their prize in
triumph to their most sacred temple. There, according to
their habit, they cleaned it, decorated the skull with gold,
and employed it as a sacred vbessel for the pouring of
libations...” Again, Cúchulainn, warring against Connacht,
cut off the heads of four charioteers “and tossed them to
the four points of the tree fork.” On another day he was
opposed by twelve men and he took their heads, afterwards
planting twelve stones on the ground, “setting a head on
each stone.” Didorus and Strabbo both speak of the heads
being embalmed in cedar oil, so that they might be displayed
without decay or odour. Anne Ross has said that “The human
head was regarded by the Celts as being symbolic of divinty
and otherworld powers. The motif of the severed head
figures throughout the entire field of Celtic cult practice...”

CEANN ANNS TREASE, a “face in thirds,” the tricephalos,

three faces arising from a single head. Seen particularly in
stone-carvings all across Celtic Europe. One of these from
Corleck, County Cavan, Ireland is clean-shaven suggesting
the Celtic prototype for the Iron Age. The eyes are closely
set but wide, the mouth narrow, the nose long and narrow. A
hole at the base suggests it was Originally erected upon a
stone pillar for exhibition and veneration. Another,
recovered from a later stone wall at Woodlands, County
Donegal shows three quite different faces although they are
all stylistically similar. These groupings are not surprising
considering the Celtic grouping of deities in threes. Triplets
and twins were considered under divine protection and there
are also many janiform heads in Britain and Gaul. The Irish
stones are said more closely allied with pagan than
Christian times.

CEAPAG, an impromptu verse, music which is sung “off the

cuff.” EIr. a chorus in song, from ceap, to catch (on the fly).
The refrain sung by girls at Gaelic gatherings.

CEÂRD, a craftsman especially any kind of smith, a tinker,

mechanic, EIr. cerd, Cy. cerdd, manual ability, Lat. cerdo.
Ceârdach, a smithy, combining ceârd + cae, the latter word
being allied with the Eng. home.

CEARR, wrong, awkward, unlucky, cutting, wounding, aatray,

to the left, left-handed, cearrag, the left-hand, Lat.
cerritus, crazed, mad, see car. See next.

CEARRACH, CEARRAICHE, any master of one’s art or

profession, a gamester, a shark, a dextrous or left-handed
gambler. a dicer. Conferring with cearrbhag, left-handed,
the use of which was considered almost immoral. The word
is related to car, to twist or turn, to dance in the left-
handed fashion.

All abilities beyond the common ken were considered

supernaturally inspired. A good proportion of the northern
Gaels are left-handed this was once considered a "gift"
from questionable "gods." Particularly implicated were the
Kerrs and the Mackays and the Keiths, who seem to have
picked up this genetic peculiarity from Norse invaders.
Left-handedness has many disadvantages, but it assisted
sleight-of-hand at the gaming table and could be useful
where men approached one another with uncertain
intentions. It was usual to extend the right hand in a
handclasp of friendship since this immobilized the fighting
arm. Lefties, however, could always carry a extra knife up
their left sleeve and could act with it while seemingly in a
friendly mode. In addition, the Kerrs regularly built keeps
with spiral stairways which wound their way upwards
"against the sun. This meant that right handed-warriors
found themselves at a distinct disadvantage when they
found themselves within, for their sword constantly
crashed into side-walls, while their left-handed opponents
fought in the clear air without encumbrance. All this was
considered the effect of conspiring with unnatural spirits
in the unseen world.

CEART, right, just, honest, proper, certain, fair. See next.

CEARTLEADH, CHEARTLEADH, a clew used in magic making.

Ceart, right, Latin, certus, Eng. certain, sure. Leaden, a lock
or tassel, flowing unbound hair, threads. In the process the
magic maker might cast he hair or thread from a spool
before him or her. The baobhs preferred the ceartleadh
uaine, the “blue-clew of witchcraft” as their instrument
while the giants employed ceartleadh dubh “the black clew.”
see correspondence with the next.

CEASG, floss, an animal with long thin hair or wool, the

“hairy-ones.” Ir. ceaslach, long-haired, the Gaelic mer-
woman. In Brittany these women were known as the
Morgans or as the Groac'h Vor; on the Isle of Man they were
termed the Ben-Varrey and in Ireland, as the Murivgach or
Merrows.

They were more matronly than the river women, but

these spirits from "The Land under the Waves," were
beautiful in spite of their advanced age, promiscuity, and
repeatedchild-bearing. They had the peculiarity that their
hair colour changed from a dark green or black in deep
waters to a blinding yellow in sunlight. Scotsman say that
a man who captured a mermaid might demand one gift, or bit
of useful information, from her before letting her go.

Traditions of merfolk are chiefly a tradition of the

sea-coast of north-eastern Scotland. High Miller (1857)
said that mermaids were commonly seen there “less than
fifty years ago.” Sir Hugh Reid (1870) said that: “In a
village (at Buchan) there lived a man who had seen and
conversed with a mermaid under the a great cliff of the
Butlers of Buchan.” Another writer remembered a mermaid
pitching along in the waves before the bowsprit of a vessel
sailing out of Peterhead. Not long after this ship was seen
driven on the rocks near Glamis Castle with all hands lost
at sea. A mermid was captured by Roderick Mackenzie of
Rosshire, but granted her freedom after she promised that
no one should ever drown on any boat boat he happened to
build. The promise was kept and it was guessed that “some
of his boats are still defying the stormy winds and waves
of the west coast.” Cromarty had a titular mermaid as did
Galloway. The latter frequented the shore of Solway Firth
near the mouths of the Nith and the Orr. The ballad of the
Mermaid mentioned in The Minstelsy of the Scottish Border
was founded on a tale of a relationship between a mermaid
from the whirlpool of Corryvreckan (the cailleach bheurr)
with a MacPhee of Colonsay.

CEATHRAMH, quarter, fourth, lodgings. Same as cairteal.

lodgings, chartulary, a challenge, an edict. The “flitting” or
rent-paying days of Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lunastain.
The “fay” moving days.

CEIL, conceal, Ir. ceilim, OIr. celim, Cy. celu, Indo-European

qel;, the Lat. celo, Eng. con-ceal, AS. helan, to hide, the Eng.
Hell, the ON. goddess Hel. Skr. kala, darkness. The Norse
referred to the Scots as helr, perhaps because they lived in
souterrains. Note céile, a spouse or fellow and Cé another
name for the god Lugh. These names suggest a wayfarer
since the root word kei means “to go.” From this we also
have célidh, a meeting “by the way.” Note also ceall, a cell
or church, and the diminished cillein, a stored heap, often
forgotten; a purse, hoarded treasure. See next.

CEILIDH, a gossiping visit or meeting, sojurn, pilgrimage.

“Within doors the folk told the tales and sand the ballads of
the Fayne, or the less ancient heroes, the Lord of the Isles,
Macleod of Dunvegan, and our own treasure, Clanranald, -
with for Sundays and holy days beautiful legends of Iona and
Oronsay. But ever as midnight drew nearer, the tales and the
songs and the distant roar of the Western Sea grew weirder,
until at last song and tale ceased, and the fire smouldered
and the cruise-light flickered, and the folk whispered,
while over the ceildih crept the shadow of night and the
mysteries hiding therein. “Sweet is the song of the lark at
dawn, said the Eigg folk, “but sweeter the crow of the cock
at midnight.” “Of short giving is gold, of long giving is
song!”

CEIRTLE, CEIRALE, a clew, a ball of yarn. a coil, OIr. certle,

from EIr. qert bent (by the wind), wind. Skr. kart, spin Eng.
cartilage and hurdle. The blue clew was the standard tool of
druidic magical practise. The blue clew was wound about
the body be women who thought themselves liable to
“ephemeral fevers” while nursing their children. The
threads used were handed down through generations of
women and were counted most useful where they were
ancient. The baobhe used the clews to raise the dead and in
Scotland, “Winning the Blue Clew,” is a well-known
Hallowe’en rite. In the Shetlands the “wresting thread” was
formed of black wool, on which the practitioner cast nine
knots. This was wound about a break or a sprain while
intoning:

The Lord rade,

And the foal slade;
He lighted
And he righted.
Let joint be to joint,
Bone to bone,
And sinew to sinew -
Hea, in the name of the Ghost!
 This is one of numerous incantations surviving in a
pagan-Christian mix. In some cases the clews were of
animal hair: “Helen Gray of Slains was found guilty of
taking “the haill substance of the mylk of my lordis ky and
youis (ewes),” and as late as 1826 a woman at Dingwall
was accused to charming away the substance (nnutrient
value) of the milk. The witch usually operated by the method
known as “drawing the tether.” While tugging at a hair-rope
made by taking a hair from the tail of every cow within
reach and twisting them together, she muttered an
incantation. The Witch of the Carse of Gowrie, it is said,
was seen pulling at a hair rope along which streams of milk
were flowing...” (The Silver Bough, Vol. 1, p. 145).

CÉIS CHURAINN, CÉIS CURAINN. céis, a case, a hamper, a

container, Ir. ceis, basket; allied with Lat. cista, Eng,
covering, case. A mysterious cave where three sorceresses
imprisoned some of the Fiann. They were rescued by Goll
mac Morna.. See this last.

CÉITEIN, the month of May. Beginning of Summer, spring,

fair weather, any favourable time, OIr. cetam, from the
earlier cetsoman or cet-shaman, the first of summer, the
time of beginnings for the goddess Samh (which see). The
ending may be derived from tainneamh, the beginning time
or some combination of words indicating the half-year. In
the ancient world there were only two seasons: samhradh,
which is the exact equivalent of summer and geamradh,
which we call winter. The summer season started with the
coming to power of a virgin goddess, sometimes alternately
called the Mhorrigan. Her power terminated at the fire-
festival of the Samhainn, which took place on the last day
of October. At that time, she became reincarnate as the
Cailleach bheurr who had charge of the winter months. At
the Beltane, or summer fire-festival, the Samh became
reincarnate from her winter counterpart as the virgin-
princess of the Gaels. This woman was ritually represented
at pagan fire-festivals and at Tara she was deflowered on
an annual basis by the ard-righ, or “high king.” This act
was supposed to bring fertility to the fields, the beasts and
the people of the region.

CÉLI, DÉ, of the cell of God, the monastic sect of Christians

known as the Culdees or Servants of God. An historic order
they have notice here for their part in preserving the myths
of the past. Their order was founded by St, Mael Ruain of
Tallacht about the year 793 A.D. They appeared In Ireland
and Scotland as a loosely-knit group of missionaries and
continued in the latter country until the fourteenth century,
succumbing at last to the Roman Church.

CÉLIDAIR, “Cell of the Oak,” now Kildare, Scotland. the first

community founded by St. Brigit in that country.

CEILLIDH, wise or sober actions, from ciall, having sense or

understanding, EIr. gei, to observe, see, shine. A house-
visit; first-footing. The act of visting one’e neighbours at
the beginning of a new year. The leader of the calluinn-
visit had to be a dark-haired male if the host was to have
good luck in the coming year.

CEILE, Eng. Celt, a spouse, a fellow, a “cell-mate;” OIr.

cele, a way-farer, traveller, sociable, based on the Celtic
verb kei, “to go.”; allied with the Brythonic kei, shaded,
covered, the earth. Similar to the Irish Gaelic sétig, from
sét or cet, the “way.” Hence a fay-folk, those banished
from the haunts of “true men.” From this celidh, a
gossiping visit, a social hour, a meeting for fun, music and
gossip. Note also Céitein, May-month. This is the Old Irish
cétam, the month of rites of the Tuatha daoine which were
termed the Samhainn. Mcbain breaks cetam into cét + sam
and translates it as “the first weather of the sam or
summer.” He fails to note that Samh is the goddess of
Summer incarnate, perpetually renewable, and like Hel, full
of “hellish” fire, a “parti-coloured goddess.” The male
equivalent of this lady is the day god Aod. Perhaps also
related to ceil, conceal, hide and the Eng. hell. Note also
ceilt, the act of concealment, and ceileach, military arts,
war. The Norse hildr, the Anglo-Saxon hild, war. The root
may be gel, to slay, to “freeze” the blood. Kilt may derive
from these sources.

The Greek form Keltaoi is the Latin Celtae, which they

seem to have reserved by them for tribes located in
southern Gaul, now called France. It confers with their verb
celo, to hide or conceal from view. It has loose connections
with cella, a store-room, a dwelling for servants, a rustic
villa, a sanctuary or shrine enclosed by woods, a sanctuary
for the image of a deity. The word is also associated with
celsus, an adjective applied to those of a “high and mighty,”
or proud nature. The word has special refernce to activities
of the mind, and Cicero explained it as indicating “elevated,
high, lofty,” or “great.” Lexiconographer Alexander Macbain
says that related words are found in the English “excel” and
the Lithuanian kéltas, raised on high, the root in this case
being qel, the verb “to slay,” hence “slayers of men.” This
appears to be the Anglo-Saxon hild or held, war, the Old
Norse hildr, to strike down; thus the Celtae were
characterized as a nasty tribe.

No wordsmith has linked the Latin cella with the

Gaelic coille, but we think the parallel is apparent, since
the latter word means “wood-landers.” Related to this is
cald , having a sharp point (as trees are wont) and calad, a
sheltered place or harbour. Note also cailleach, the hidden
one, the veiled one, an old hag or witch, a wood’s-woman.
The Celtic root here probably confers with the English
words hollow, heel, hole and hell. Note that the Anglo-
Saxons called the northern Scots helrs,, after the disbarred
goddess who ruled their underworld. The old Gaelic word
chaillinn, attaches to all this, having the sense of “in the
bowels of the woods.” In very antique times the Romans
referred to the great forest of highland Albion (Scotland) as
Silva Caledonii, the Forest of the Caledonians. Their
retreats in Sutherlandshire and Ross-shire were known to
the Britons as Car Coit Celidon. the “forest where the ships
turn,” a reference to the northernmost part of Scot;and.
Among the Anglo-Saxons it was Dun-Callden, Dun-Kallen or
Dun-Keld, the Gaelic counterpart being Dun-Chaillinn. One
might think that Caledonia was the source of the Celtic
people, but they did not originate here and were never a
single homogenous race.

Celt was, rather, the name given the first transalpine

people to emerge in recorded history. They confer with the
mythic Hyperboreans and the historic Gauls, and their
numbers included the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish. In an
expansive mood by 900 B.C., they already possessed great
skills in working metals, particularly iron, a metal only
then beginning to be used by the “classical” world. Their
first settlements in Britain may have dated as early as
2000 B.C. but their major influx to the islands was made in
the second century A.D. when their European empire began to
decline. During the sixth century they had colonies in
northern Italy and were in constant war with the expanding
Roman Empire. In 390 B.C. they had defeated the Roman
armies and sacked Rome but eventually the Romans
reasserted their independence. The Italian Celts were
swept into the Empire in 196 B.C.

Although Julius Caesar led two expeditions to Britain

in 55 B.C. and 54 B.C. it remained independent of Rome until
43 A.D. The Empire had to be content with walling off the
Picts of northern Scotland and never conquered Ireland.
Celtic civilization was finally smashed by the expanding
French and English empires.

The Hyperboreans were first referred to as Keltaoi by

the Greek geographer Hecatætus a century before Herodotus
composed his histories. Kelt-os has the meaning of a
elevated or “lofty”place, and is thought derived from the
verb qel, to raise up or to go (to the heights). Herodotus,
taking up the name, said that the Celts lived “beyond the
pillars of Hercules.” This could be any location within
Oceanus , the “Great River” thought to encircle the earth.
Aristotle clarified matters by saying that these people
lived “beyond Spain.” Another Greek, Hellanicus of Lesbos,
a historian of the fifth century, thought that the Celts were
“just and righteous men.” Ephorus, who lived about 350
B.C., noted that they had “the same customs as the Greeks,”
and implied that they had friendly relationships with the
Greek states. His contemporary, the philosopher named
Plato was differently disposed toward them saying that
they were among the races who were “drunken and
combative” and likely to act in a barbarous manner.
Certainly this was how the Romans saw them when they
sacked Rome in the third century B.C. In the year 273 B.C.
they supported this reputation by sacking the city of Delphi,
formerly the seat of a much revered god.

Dr. T. Rice Holmes like to think of them as “tall, fair,

warlike, and masterful,” their origins being somewhere in
the neighbourhood of the River Danube (thus their matriarch
Danu). A large numbers of them clustered about the
headwaters of this river but there is no certainty that they
had their beginnings in this place. Wherever they came
from, they seemed to spill out of this reservoir infiltrating
all of the middle of E

urope, becoming especially dominant in France, Spain

and the British islands. There were palaeolithic and
neolithic peoples in all these places when the Celts arrived.
These earlier folk were not without resources having built
the huge stone monuments of Europe and created weapons
and tools of bronze. Celtic technology was only marginally
better because they possessed an ability to work iron, but
this was enough to make them a ruling caste. They imposed
their language, traditions, arts and crafts on those they
subjugated, but inadvertently took much in return,
especially where religion was concerned. In the forefront
of the armed invasions which eventually came to their
parts, the Celts were neither strong enough nor united
enough to win out against better organized peoples.

Attempts were once made to characterize the Celts as

a racial type: The Romans, after seeing the Gauls, described
them as “tall, blonde and large bodied” thus underwriting
Dr. Holme’s model. Some Victorian ethnologists insisted
they were “of a short round-headed race with brown or
black hair and brown or grey eyes.” On reflection Dr. T.
Rice Holmes noticed that the ancient Germans were also
tall and fair and guessed that the Celts were actually more
ruddy in complexion and “red in their fairness.” A scientist
named Ripley even published a map of “comparative
nigrescence” (lightness of darkness) for the Races of Europe
and much was made of ancient sightings, all leading to the
conclusion that “the true Celts were certainly fair.”
Rolleston noted that the Irish Celts described by Giraldus
Cambrensis in the twelfth century were “a fair race.” No
modern scientist would read much in this unless that it
could be shown that this visitor saw a good sample of the
population.

Almost all that can be certainly said is that the Celts

had an unusual weight in red-headed people, and if this was
a marker, their gene-pool reached into Turkey and Egypt and
even the Americas and perhaps to the borders of China. We
cannot say that the mummies of Xinjiang, China spoke a
Celtic tongue, but they are clothed in woollen garments of a
European weave and many of them retain startling red heads
of hair. So far 113 of their graves have been unearthed at
the borders of western China and the corpses have been
variously dated at from 1200 to 2000 B.C. In addition to the
well preserved physical evidence Chinese texts from that
period make it clear that the locals had been unhappy in
their relations with these aggressive “barbarians.” The
artifacts found with these heat-dried corpses are very
“Celtic:” One gentleman has his right wrist tied with a red
and blue entwined thread and the body of an infant is seen
with a similar protective device. These colours are those
of the “fay-people” and, in rural areas which were once
Celtic, thread is still wrapped about people and animals to
ward off evil. Almost all the corpses are seen to wear felt
hoods, and one 2,200 year-old female corpse was recovered
complete with a tall, wide-brimmed “witch-hat,” said to
have been “a symbol of prestige.” Even more interesting is
the 4000 year-old “Loulan mummy,” who sports a very
Celtic feather, another common marker of high social
standing.
 Since the Celts made no maps their distribution
across the land is pure conjecture but their place-names
are helpful. The fifth and sixth centuries before the birth
of Christ were their epiphany of power, although their
“golden age” was hardly noticed in early Greece or Rome and
had little influence on the history of southern Europe.
About the year 600 B.C. they did take northern Italy from its
Etruscan overseers. They liked that property and settled in
nearby Cisapline Gaul, where many place names reveal their
one-time presence. There is Mediolanum (Milan), Addua
(Adda), Viro-dunum (Verdun) and Cremon, all names from
the Celtic vocabulary. The last is, for example, a variant of
creamh, their name for garlic. In that region, the Celts left
a living testament in the Latin Vergil. His family took its
name from a very common Celtic suffix, ver, meaning very
bright, glowing or illustrious.

CEIT, CHEIT, a poetical construct of the following word.

CEITEAN (kaych-en), the Ir. Bhealtaine, the month of May on

the Scottish Gaelic calendar. Fair weather, the beginning of
spring, the beginning of summer. Any favourable season.
Ceit + Samh, beginning + summer. The Bry. Month Cantlos,
twenty nine days in length, also corresponding with May.
See Samhuinn, Samh. The night following the thirteentn day
of this month “old-style” is said to be “a particularly busy
season for both fairies and witches. This is because it
correponds with the eve of May Day as it was once counted
before the Georgian calendar became vogue. “Then every
herd and dairy maid and cannie housewife uses various arts
to ward off the many evils the enemy has the power of
inflicting. “ One ruse particular mentioned for this time
was the placing of a little tar behind the right ear of every
cow and under the arms of all careful householders. “Tar
has a disinfecting quality as is well known” and was always
used in this fashion by visitors to any sick-room. Ceitach,
possessed by Samh, belonging to the summer season.

CELTCHAIR. A son of Uthecar Hornskin. A Red Branch

warrior, his wife had an affair with Blath Bruige, who was
summarily slain at Emain Macha. At the time King
Conchobhar mac Nessa and Cúchullain were playing the game
fidchell in a room directly below the place of the murder.
Blood dripped on the gaming table and Celtchair was brought
before the law for violating the hospitality of the palace.
As eric he was required to rid Ireland of three scourges: one
was Conganchas mac Daire, the brother of Cu Roi, who was
laying waste the country since no weapon could kill him.
Celtchair instructed his daughter to sleep with the giant
and learn if he had a weakness. From her he learned that the
big fellow could be killed by a spear thrust through the
calves of his legs, and he soon arranged this. The second
scourge was an infernal dog, which he also dispatched. The
last was a similar monster, and he also killed it. In the
process the venomous blood of the animal fell on his bare
flesh and he soon followed the animal into the Dead Lands.

CÉ MAC CRUITHNE. The founder of the race known as the

Cruithne (the Picts). He gave his name to ancient Alba in the
vicinity of Marr and Buchan.

CEÒ (keow), fog, mist, Norse, sky, a cloud, amazement. Less

often, milk, English sky. The idea is that of "covering" or
"hiding from view." Fog was considered enspirited, an
embodiment of the Daoine sidh. Ceob, a dark nook,
drizzle,ceoban, rain and mist, ceobhach, drunkeness.

CEÒ SIDE, mist of the Daoine sidh; led astray. Weather-

magic was a preoccupation of the Tuatha daoine. Confronted
by omens that suggested that the invading Milesian forces
would be successful against them, the Tuathans avoided
direct battle by raising a mist and storms, which caused
their fleet to be dispersed upon the ocean. To determine the
nature of this enshroudment, the Milesians sent a man up
the rigging. When he shouted from the masthead "There is
no storm aloft," they realized it was a powerful illusion.
Afterwards, when they were banished to the "hollow hills"
and were renamed the "side-hill people" the Tuathans were
forced to use the "ceo side" as a means of travelling by day.
The druids supposedly learned this art of weather-magic
from the Daoine sidh and when Saint Patrick came into their
jurisdiction, they produced a similar cloud that reputedly
covered three-quarters of Ireland for several days.
Advancing into the pall, Patrick directed his own charms
against it and it dispersed in sunlight. Patrick calmly noted
that while the gods of the druids could bring down darkness,
only the one God, "and he is my druid," could create light
from darkness.

CEÒL (kewll) music, Gaelicized Latin piplio, to chirp like a

bird. Perhaps, alternately from the Cy. pib, a pipe. The
practise of music was considered a magical craft.

Men were criticized for feeding women "false music",

from the ancient word-craft. Awe of the sorcery of words
was equalled by the Celtic belief in the magic of music. The
"puirt-a-beul" (mouth-music) is obviously a survival of the
art of the filid. "Beul" also appears in "beultainne", or
Beltane, the ancient name for their month of May and the
second great fire-festival of the year, which was held on
the evening of the last day of April. Beultainne translates
as "mouth of fire", a night of ritual sex, sacrifice, dancing,
drinking and music, probably including the puirt-a-beul. It
may be suspected as the invention of Ogma since it consists
of repetitive sounds which have no more meaning in Gaelic
than English. The other instruments of music were the
single pipe, or whistle, the bag-pipe and the harp.

The chief of these was the harp, which was first

played by Dagda (Father of Day), the Celtic king of the gods.
When the Dagda's wife Boann, or Boyne, was pregnant the
Dagda solaced her with the "harp of the north". When she
was in labour he imitated her cries of pain and then the joy
of her delivery, afterwards making "the sounds odf sleep" to
bring her rest. When she awoke she named her first-born
Goltraighe (crying music), her second Geantraighe (joyful
music) and Suantraighe (sleep music). In later days this
harp was stolen by Fomorian giants, but regained from them
by Dagda's sons, Midir and Lugh. The big Lugh, or Lugg, fell
heir to it, and was later known as the god of poetry, music
and free-love.

Facsimilies of this quadrangular, six-stringed

instrument fell into the hands of the associates of the gods
and it was put to use by Labrai Loingsiuch when he courted
Moriath, daughter of Scoriath. The parents did not approve
of this musician and they called upon her father's harper to
help them. He played at the next feast moving through
geantraighe to suantrighe, so that the entire assembly
nodded at the table. The young couples absented themselves
from the hall and became lovers. The adults arose to find
Moriath "respiring the breath of a plighted wife."

Something similar occured in the case of Deirdre, the

daughter of Dall, a rhymer to King Conor. She had been ill-
omened, "a child of disaster" according to Cathbad the Druid.
As a result she was kept in seclusion and bethrothed to
Conor, but before the wedding, fell in love with Naisi of
Clan Usnach. Naisi was a superb harpist who, literally,
enchanted the men of Ulster so that he could flee to
Scotland with Deirdre. Unfortunately, this act opened a war
which exterminated all of the Usnach family.

The harper was a freeman in each place, not as high in

rank as the poet, but placed just below him at the king's
banquets. The chief harper, the "ollam" or "ard ollam" (high
professor) of his craft was, however a man among the
gentry, entitled to four cows where his honour was totally
offended, as for example in the loss of a finger. Even the
loss of a nail demanded recompense for the old Gaelic harp
was played by plucking.

Besides the harp there were wind and brass

instruments in the Celtic lands: horns to call men together
for meetings or warfare and the pipes, which were the
magic of the peasantry. Performers on the latter
instrument were classed with jugglers and sleight-of-hand
magicians, a professional class who sat at the bottom of
 the king's table, in the corners near the door, next to hired
mercenaries, and those who were not freemen.

The first Christian missionaries utilized the word and

song-smithery as often as the druids and the boadbs, but
their successors feared the roots of folklore. In 1567
Bishop Carswell complained of "the vain, seductive, lying
and worldly tales concerning the Tuatha daoine" as well as
"much else, which I will not enumerate".4 The magical-
poetry was very hard to way-lay, since it had no external
parts. There is a Scottish dite that says:

An end will come to the world,

But music and love will endure.

Men at sea were not observed by priests, elders or

ministers and they continued to sing the "iorram" or boat
songs, whose magic was supposed to lift the burden of
rowing. The milkmaid insisted on her traditional
occupational songs, without which cows refused their milk.
The housewife had her churning tunes and rest-music for
the infants. When people gathered to mill cloth they sang
the "oran luaidh", or milling song in spite of the fact that it
had been declared sinful. Later in the process "pairing
songs", intended to bring together potential maidens and
young men were presented, and the cloth was completed
with a neo-pagan consecration song. 5

The poetry of the Gael is also seen to have played a

part in medicine, herbs and mare's milk, bark being no more
important than the human voice in managing cures for
illness. Neil Macdonald of Albert Bridge Cape Breton
recommended the following "Eolas an t-Sniomh", or "Charm

4R.L. Thomson ed., Foirm na n-Urrnuidheadh, London, 1970, p. 11 for

the Gaelic version which served asan introduction to Carswell's Gaelic
prayer book.

5See Charles W. Dunn, Highland Settler, pp.37-41 for a complete

description of a Milling Frolic.
 for A Sprain" where a horse had been injured:

Christ came out;

He found the bones of a horse broken.
He placed blood to blood and flesh to flesh;
As he cured that, so cure this. 6

As the Gaelic was intoned Charles Dunn said that the

"physician" wrapped a string "in a special manner" around
the horses damaged leg. Hugh Mackinnon has said that the
knot was not special, but had to be tied using the thumbs
and forefingers alone.7 This charm worked as well with
humans as horses and cattle, and the same could be said for
the "Eolas an Deideidh" or "Charm for Toothache" and the
"Eolas na Sul", "Charm for the Eyes". For best results
charms were recited by "gifted" or "lucky" individuals.

Within the "Gaidhealtachd", or Gaeldom, there have

always been traditional restraints placed on poets. The
longer more elaborate histories and wonder-tales were
regarded as the preserve of male reciters. Although women
occasionally recited the shorter "senachas" they were
considered the custodians of songs, musical traditions and
charms. In Cape Breton, Neil MacNeill said that he could not
recall an instance where a woman had recited the Fenian
tales, although connstraints were relaxed in Canada as
compared with Scotland and Ireland, and there were "a large
number of good woman story-tellers."

If word-magic was hard to supress, instrumental

music was not, for the harp, lyre, and bellow-pipes were
easily confiscated by the elders of the Church. In Scotland
the men of God brought down everything but the bagpipe,
which belonged to the teanant farmers, who were the last
to part with their paganism. Fortunately, the clerics were

6Charles W. Dunn, Highland Settler, p. 42. Recounted to the author in

1943.

7Caplan, Down North, p.30.

 slow in following their flocks to the New World and in
America the bagpipes, and the newly created fiddle,
flourished "although some settlers' descendants were
perplexed by their own conflicting allegiances to religion
and to music, (and may) still feel a little dubious about
them."8

This ambiguity was clearly locked into the pagan idea

that music and poetry were god-like. In its day, eloquence
was valued as highly as bravery in battle and could
supposedly stay the arm of the most inspired fighter.
Diodorus Siculus a Greek historian of the first century B.C.,
observed that when "two armies are in the presence of one
another, and swords drawn and spears couched, the Celtic
poets throw themselves into the midst of the combatants
and appease them as if charming wild beasts. Thus even
amongst the most savage barbarians anger submits to the
rule of wisdom..." 9 It is clear that the Celts also used
word-magic in less studied form, for their irrational
drumming and chanting unnerved the Romans who guarded
the boundaries of their domain. In addition to this, they
came to battle shaking their short spears, the blunt ends of
which carried brass rattles. This had magical intent, but
also helped their cause by making the enemy overestimate
their strength.

Current day folklorists and historians have difficulty

believing that such magic existed. Gillian Tindall is
representative in describing magical chants as "a comitant
of illiteracy...I cannot myself get very interested in the
study of "power words". To regard verbal formulas or a
garbled string of names as having some intrinsic magic
quality seems to me to negate the whole point of language,
which lies in its communicable meaning." 10

8Charles W. Dunn, Highland Settler, p. 55.

9Katherine Scherman, The Flowering of Ireland, p. 23.

10Gillian Tindall, A Handbook On Witchcraft, p. 120.

 What she misses is the fact that mouth-music and the
Ogham were considered pure magic, whose meaning (if any)
was deliberately obscured. A good proportion of such magic
was out-and-out trickery, and the word-makers would have
been subject to disbelief if the common folk had understood
their methods. The boabhs often invoked spirits, and voices
were heard to answer from a hole in a rock wall, from
animals, or from empty space. This would have been
considered potent magic in the days before the principles of
ventriloquism were understood. Additionally, magic-
workers were seen to capture the spirits of others by
reciting words which were repetitious, but of little
apparent meaning. Today, the craft of hypnotism is widely
recognized although its operating principles are no better
understood than they were several thousand years in the
past.

In the case of King Caier some seeming deception

might have been practiced, his facial blemishes perhaps
being produced by poisonous or bacterial agents placed on
him while he slept. In a fair number of cases, magic words
or music were intoned over potions which were then used as
an adjunct to get the desired physical results. A boabh
might intone his, or her, words above a vial of poison,
afterwards adding the substance to the victim's drink. In
the days before chemistry, the practitioner of magic may
have been uncertain whether it was the words or the
substance which produced the effect. Tindall herself noted
that human beings do not like to believe that important
processes can take place independent of human decision, and
that there seems to be a need to sanctify physical actions
with verbal rituals. This she says is, "readily transmuted
into the idea that words themselves do the trick." 11

The emotional and practical impact of sheer words, or

music, divorced from overt communication, remains an
important part of religious prayer, stage hypnotism and

11Gillian Tindall, A Handbook On Witchcraft, p. 119.

politics. Considering the use which Adolph Hitler was able
to make of words we should not doubt their potential for
harm. Nede's music may not have involved any deception,
considering the fact that half of all diseases are now known
to be psychosomatic, the symptoms resulting from the
victim's own fear. In Celtic lore it is emphasized that
disbelievers were protected from the force of the boabh by
their disbelief. Conversely, those who believed they could
be stricken by words or music were open to damage. Today,
if a doctor were to inform an individual that he had
accidentally swallowed a poisonous tablet this might not
result in a fatality, on the other hand it would certainly
produce anxiety in the most iron-willed person. Those who
were a little less secure might suffer from dizziness,
faintness, violent stomach cramps, vomiting or death. It is,
therefore, incorrect to suppopse that the boabh was an
impotent "poseur". If the wordsmith though he was
powerful and his victim concurred that he might be harmed
by indirect means, he was likely to succumb to the mere
news that actions had been taken against him.

CEÒL SIDE, sidh-music, said capable of luring people from

the world of men into the "hollow hills". "About John son of
Lachlan son of Ewen, he heard the singing coming out of the
rock of Creag Asduinn (North Uist) which he thought was
spectral. The horse was affected by it and began to frisk
with fright...The old man saw nothing but he faced the spot
where the spectral choir was singing and he said to them:
"God bless me friends, but evil is the work you are doing -
may my worst enemies never hear worse singing." That was
the last singing he heard at Creag Asduinn. Perhaps the
ardour of the singers was cooled when they heard the poor
opinion of their singing..." (The Highland Connection, p. 26).

CERMAIT, “A lingering friendly individual.” Confers with

Ogma. Also known as Cermait of the Honeyed Mouth. A son
of Dagda, killed by Lugh when found having an affair with
his wife. Lugh was, in turn, killed by Cermait’s son
Cumhail.
CERN, CEARN, corner, quarter, region, countryman. The kern
were country-folk conscripted to the king’s bodyguard. They
were rough and ready and billeted in the winter-months on
the general population. Thus the word also means victory
and expensive. Notice following entries. Related to cear,
obs. blood, offspring, progeny. See next. See ceathearn,
below.

CEARNANACH, belonging to a narrow, small or remote

corner, corn, horn, drinking cup, robe, bale of cloth, prickle
(straw) used to induce vomit, a cruise, a convex surface, the
Latin, Cernavii, Cornavii, “People of the Horn,” or “horned
ones.” Suggesting devotion to the god Cernu.

The name was once applied to the residents of

Caithness, Scotland, as recorded by Ptolemy in the first
half of the second century A.D. Horned deities are said to
have had a particular “density” in northern Britain, perhaps
because of the persistance of herding and hunting in these
regions. This god-type is said to have been closely attached
to the pastoral way of life. In the agricultural Romano-
Celtic south more moderate gods reigned, but in the north he
was a better symbol for the turbulence of that place.

The most impressive horned-heads and figurines have

come from north of Hadrian’s Wall. The most interesting of
these is a ram-horned head, carved of sandstone, from
Netherby, north of Carlisle. The dface is rectangular and the
features deeply inmdented giving prominence to jutting
brows, a clean-shaven chin, a long narrow nose, and slightly
parted lips, which give the portrait a grim look. The most
striking feature of the bust is well-defined rams-horns
which curve downward toward the ears. Another head of
this sort appears as part of a block, which may once have
been part of Hadrian’s Wall. It is known that the stag and
the the bull also had importance as cult animals, and the
Gaels additionally worshipped some un-naturalistic horned
beasts, for example horned snakes and three-horned snakes.

In Celtic art, the latter are usually shown at the side

of a stag-god. Birds also appear as horned-spirits. The
appearance of horned-animal cults of demonstrably Celtic
context is said to date from the mid fourth-century B.C.
The tradition is known to have been entrenched in Britain by
the time of the Roman invasions. Rice says that the horned-
gods of Britain are similar, if not identical to the Gaullish
Cernunnos: “this god may have been a direct importation
from Gaul, for traces of his cult in Britain are largely
confined to areas of Belgic settlement.” Local horned gods
may have been assimilated by this new deity, and the local
bull and ram-headed gods definitely became confused with
the Roman god Mars, who had similar attributes. Horned
gods were also associated with the people of the goddess
Bridd, the Brigantes, the “Overlords,” or “high Ones,” who
were situated in southern England.

As late as the eighth century, cult-practitioners

erected a relief in stone at Meigle, in Perthshire, Scotland:
“Here, and also in relief, the “deity” is seated in “Buddhic”
posture; strong bull-horns grow from his head, round which
serpents twine. The legs of the figure are likewise
composed of serpents...”This Cernu is flanked on either side
by his cult-totems, a bear and a wolf. Ptolemy has said that
the “People of the Horn” occupied Caithness, Scotland.

Note their correspondence with the Caereni, or

“People of the Sheep,” who lived in north-western
Sutherlandshire. In Ireland there seem to have been similar
pockets of worship “stretching between Armagh and Lough
Erne. “One figure (of a horned-god) the pre-Christian dating
of which can hardly be questioned, comes from Tanderagee.
Allegedly recovered from a bog near Newry, it was taken to
Armagh where it now stands in the chapter-house of the
Protestant Cathedral.” A second stone of this type comes
from Fermanagh. In this case, a deep cuping of the head
suggests it was once used as an altar. There is another of
these from Cortynam. See Feradach Furbaide, who was
horned. See Cernu.

CERN O’DOMHNALL, O’Donnell’s Kern (Bodyguard). The”guard”

to the old creator-god Don. A nickname given Manann mac
Ler after his attendance at the feast of Dubh O’Donnell at
Bel-atha Senaig. Here, people were boasting about the
wealth of that house and the skill of its musicians when
Manann arrived dressed as a clown, “puddle water splashing
from his overly large shoes, his sword dragging along naked
behind him, his ears poking through an old cloak thrown over
his head.” In his hand he carried three spears of hollywood
all blackened from fire. He was barred at the gate but
somehow managed to pass the gate-keeper without being
observed. Hearing the musicians Manann compared them to
“hammers beating fitfully on worn iron. Amazed at this the
host handed the visitor a harp and found he could play better
than any of the household musicians. When O’Donnell offered
him better clothing as recompense for the harp-work,
Manann replied: “I have no mind to give high-born people the
boast of giving them to me.” Afraid that his music might be
taken from the court, the king posted armed guards about
the newcomer but he slipped away as easily as he had
arrived. When the guards made to waylay him they only
succeeded in killing one another until many warriors lay
bathed in blood. To return them to life Manann approached
one of the remaining gate-keepers and gave him a healing
herb, suggesting he demand twenty cows and “ane hundred
of free land” before restoring his fellows. Afterwards he
made the rounds of the courts in Ireland, performing tricks
and taking no food but a vessel of sour milk and a few crab
apples. “And there was never sweeter music than that he
played.”
CEARNNACH, cearn, corner, quarter, region. midden, man,
victory, expense, the hold of a ship, rectangle, caith, spent,
used up, cast out, severed from the rest, allied with cath,
war and caithris, night-watching, the Latin Cornovii, and
Cornu, English corn or horn.

The horned harvest-hunter god whose name appears in

Cornwall. Confers with the English Herne the Hunter, who
guarded the woods of Windsor Castle. A Quarter-Day “god”
killed after a brief rule. His ashes rejuvenated the land and
the herds in each new year. The horned “god” “chastised”
by mummers in the latter day morality plays. Relates to
caithern, a lightly armoured foot-soldier, the English kern.
Known to the Romans as the Gaullish-god Cernunnos. The
horned gods have been represented as stags, bulls and rams,
or one of these species combined with a human. The druidic
priests and the semi-sacred Gaelic heroes often took one of
these forms as did those who were magically punished by
them.

The most archaic gods are often seen accompanied by

a ram-headed serpent, who seems to represent this god.
Cernu was the “master of wild things,” the “green giant” of
northern folklore, often referred to as the “lord of the
woods.” This latter title links him to the Anglo-Saxon
Wodin, a “woodsman” who led the “coiled-serpent people.”
In Christian times he was banned and became symbolic of
the anti-Christ, although he had no real attachments with
Satan.

The tribe known as the Cornovii lived in Staffordshire

at at Abbotts Bromley within Needwood Forest the stag-god
is still recalled in the Horn Dance which is presented on
Wakes Monday, the first Monday following the Sunday just
after September 4. It is traditional to wear and display the
antlers of that place at any time of need, but they are also
shown at the death of a local female virgin. McNeill thinks
that these rites are a spin-off from the Lugnasad (August
4) and says there are six sets of antlers fitted to
headpieces of wood, all meant to be worn by men. At one
time the rites of the horned-one took place in the village
churchyard, but later only the musicians were allowed
there, the beast-men being pushed off to unhallowed ground.
Now these “deer” have become entirely secular and are
“hunted” in the streets.

The keeper of the antlers was once the priest

incumbent at the chuech of St. Nicholas, and as such was the
guardian of the antlers and a hobby horse which is also used
in the ceremony. The rites are patently related to the
interests of deer in the rutting season and the horn-bearing
males (while so attired) are venerated as the beast-god
fertility figures they represent. The playlet, revolving
about the hunt for these animals, involves twelve
characters, six horned men, A “Maid Marion” (who is
invariably a man), the hobby horse, a fool, two boys and a
musician. The whole set is very antique as the horns have
been dated to the year 1000 A.D. Anglo-Saxon, corn or horn;
confering with the Gaelic kern or cern, an animal equpped
with head projections used in offense or defense.

All thia has reference to the kern-god, or horned-god

Kernow, or Cernu, who gave his name to Cornwall in
southwestern England. He corresponds with Herne the
Hunter, who haunted the Windsor Wood. Horn was a word
applied to cow, or other animal horns, which were blown to
produce sounds for assembly. "Horn" was first applied
exclusively to "corn", the dominant grain-crop in a given
region, the corn-king being the last sheath cut at the
harvest. This spirit of the corn was overwintered by auld
hornie, the last harvester, who was expected to return it to
the field in the next planting season. Thus the spirit of the
corn, or of the horn, now termed the devil.

Alcoholic drinks were fermented and distilled from

grains, hence the local noun horn, a drink of liquor,
especially one offered as a bribe in the course of a political
campaign. The word horn was applied both to the container
for drink and the bribe, while horn up meant tippling, agian
in the course of a political campaign. By the old horned
spoon! is a Liverpool, Nova Scotia, exclamation of anger or
surprise. This recalls the fact that the hexxen, or witches,
would not eat off ironware, and used spoons made of horn at
their ritual feasts. An interesting representation of this
god has been found at Meigle, Perthshire, Scotland. Here a
relief figure of the deity is seen seated in Buddhic posture.
It shows bull horns sprouting from the head and serpents
are seen twisting about it. The legs of the figure are
themselves serpents. Two similar figures in Midlothian
suggest the god was active there. See Cernavii.

CEATH, CATHAG, a jackdaw, less often, sheep, a quay, a

shower, ceathach, fog, mist. Ceathra any four-footed
animal. See next.

CEATHERN, a troop, lightly armed foot-soldiers, guard,

fighting band, those male members of a community fit to
bear arms, a party of men, stout men and bold. Freebooters,
peasantry, robbers, a boor. A body of four soldiers. The
English cateran and kern, see Cernu, above. The soldiers of
the king, a royal guard. Càth, chaff, husks of corn; caith,
spent, used up; cathachadh, provoking, accusing, fighting,
from cath, battle, to fight.

CEIDEMHAIN, see Ceitein. The first day of summer.

CEIGEAN, a aquat person, an ugly person, corpulent, fat and

short, a trurd, fidgety. Ceig, useless, matted wool.

CENN CROICH, “sprung from rage,” more prosaically “from

sea foam (sperm),” the “froth on beer.” Croich, the “end of
things.”From the Celtic root krei, “strewn about.” A
secondary name for the evil Cromm cruach, ruler of the
“heap.”

CET MAC MAGA. A Connaught warrior opposed to Ulster and

the king Conchobhar mac Nessa. He procured a magic “brain-
ball” and struck Conchobhar in the head with it but failed to
kill him. After seven years with the missile in place
Conchobhar died of a brain-hemhorrage brought on by high
blood pressure. In a later fray this man was slain by Conall.

CETHE. CEATHE, CEIDHE, a pier or quay. Name corresponds

with Aod. A son of Diancecht, the god of medicine. He was
killed by his father because of his superior skills at his
craft.

CETHLINN, the “melancholy warrior.” See above entry for

derivations. Leonn, ale, full of drink, maudlin. Often
referred to as Cethlinn “of the Crooked Teeth.” The wife of
Balor of the Evil Eye, who fought by his side at the second
battle of Magh Tuireadh. In this engagement she wounded
the Dagda, and this injury ultimately led to his retiremnt
and death.

CETHSHAMHAIN, cet, ceud, first; Samh, Summer; ain, heat;

the first of summer. May Day or Beltane, the beginning of
the riding out time of the shaman known as Samh or
Summer.

CEUD GÀG, First Gap, “An Domhain,” the Beginning Gap, the
primal centre of being, said located within the western
Atlantic. Ceud, OIr. cét, Cy. cynt, Bry. kent, allied with Lat.
contra, against. From the Indo-European qen, begin, Skr.
kand, begin, Lay. re-cens, Eng. recent. Perhaps cf. with Eng.
hind. Gág, a cleft or chink (in space and time), Indo-European
ghâg, Eng. gap, gape, chaos, Lat. fauces, throat, the Cy. gag,
hence the Eng. jag and jagged. The ON. Ginnungugap,
represented in AS. as Ann-gin Gap. This cleft was
traditionally located somewhere bewteen Newfoundland and
Greenland. Supposedly the first land erected by the creator-
god.

CEUM GATHAIS, ceum, a step; gath + ais, backwards spear;

"the wisdom steps." In pre-Christian times the druidic
priests often faced the sea-gods while standing on these
steps (in some places seven in number, at others twelve).
They were always carved in cliff-sides from solid rock. On
the Island of Illeray at theAiltein or "Fire-Rock" vestiges of
the wisdom steps were still to be seen in the last century.

CHAISG, CAISG, A, (a chaashg), caisg, to check, to stop, OIr.

cos,, a time for speech-making. OIr. cásc, resembling the Cy.
pasc, which is the Scot. Pasch or Pesse possibly from the
Lat. pascha, the Eng. paschal, i.e. passover. Easter, named
after the old Teutonic goddess Eastre or Ostara , the Germ.
Ostern said to confer with the Scandinavian goddess Frigga,
the mate of Odin. In pagan times, offerings were made to
the goddess of summer who the Gaels called Samh. The date
of her festivities was the first Sunday after the full moon
following the spring equinox. Variations in latitude and the
inaccuracies in early calendars led to much disagreement
about the actual date.

The Christian Easter Day is always celebrated on the

first Sunday after the full moon that falls on, or next, after
March twenty-first. If the full moon happens on Sunday,
then Easter occurs a week later. The Saxon goddess Ostra,
or Easter, is identical with the Old Norse Freya, and all are
deities representing natures resurrection following the long
"death" of winter. This goddess was fondly remembered
after the coming of Christianity to Britain. Her former
adherents refused to have her down-graded to witch, fairy
or demon status, so instead her name was attached to the
greatest Christian festival of the year. It had long been the
custom to exchange coloured eggs, symbolizing the coming
of spring, so the early missionaries continued in this
observance, explaining that the egg symbolized the
resurrection of Christ.

In various parts of Germany, alters may still be seen,

which are called Easter Stones. They were once crowned
with flowers by young people, who also built bonfires
nearby and danced at the left hand about them. The
Victorian folklorist, H.A. Guerber says that these rites went
on until, "the middle of the present century, in spite of the
priest's denunciations and of the repeatedly published
edicts against them." In the Celtic countries, this
agricultural fire-festival was an introduced ritual. The
Continental fire used to be set on Easter Eve, usually on the
Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that day, in Catholic
lands, it was traditional to extinguish all the lights in the
churches, kindle a new fire with flint or steel, or a burning
glass. At this fire was lit the Great Easter candle, which
was used to relite the votive candles. The people then
brought oak sticks to the flame which they lit and took
home to lay "new fire" for the coming year. At this time the
candles were placed in the fields to protect the crops and
charred sticks were fastened to the ploughs as fertility
rites.

In Christian times, a straw figure named Judas was

sometimes burned in consecrated bonfires. The pagan
character of this fire festival is apparent on comparing it
with the Celtic Beltane or Samhainn. The pagan nature of
Easter is made certain in the Chronicles of Lancrost where
John, the parish priest of Inverkeilling, Fife, Scotland, was
brought before his bishop in 1282 for having celebrated
Easter following “the rites of Prapus.” He allowed the
“collection” of maidens from his town and instucted them
to dance about the figure of “the Phallic deity,” singing “all
the while.” He pleaded “the common use of the country,” and
was found not guilty.

CHAILLINN, place-name, from coille, wood; wood-land

dwellers. Northern Scotland, the one-time preserve of the
Forest of Caledonia. The Lat. Caledonius, OG. Callden or
Callen, Oir. Caledu, Cy. Celidon, Calwyddon, Eng. Caledonian,
from cald, "wood-landers." Dwellers in the great forest of
Caledon which once extended from Glen Coe to Braemar, and
from Glen Lyon to Glen Affric, Scotland. It harboured brown
bear, wild boar, wolves, human and animal, and mosquitoes.
Its destruction was managed first by felling and firing
during the viking invasions, when the Danes and Norse
destroyed this cover to get ship-timbers and destroy
potential enemies. It was damaged again between the
fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries when Scots and
Englishmen felled the timber for iron-smelting. Again, the
Highlanders themselves burned and felled it to kill brigands
and wolves, and army commanders levelled it to destroy
rebels. The needs of two world wars finished it, the
remnants being seen at Loch Tulla and in the Black Wood of
Rannoch.

Wordsmiths do not seem to have linked the Latin cella

with the Gaelic coille, but we think the parallel is apparent,
since the latter word means “wood-landers.” Related to
this is cald , having a sharp point (as trees are wont) and
calad, a sheltered place or harbour. Note also cailleach, the
hidden one, the veiled one, an old hag or witch, a wood’s-
woman. The Celtic root here is probably qel orqal, to hide,
which confers with the English words hollow, heel, hole and
hell. Note that the Anglo-Saxons called the northern Scots
Helr, after the disbarred goddess who ruled their
underworld. The old word Chaillinn, attaches to all this,
having the sense of “in the bowels of the woods.” In very
antique times the Romans referred to the great forest of
highland Albion (Scotland) as Silva Caledonii, the Forest of
the Caledonians. Their retreats in Sutherlandshire and
Ross-shire were known to the Anglo-Saxons as Dun-Callden,
Dun-Kallen or Dun-Keld, the Gaelic counterpart being Dun-
Chaillinn.

The Caledonians were situated east of Drum Alban,

and occupied western Perthshire. It was because of their
position astride the Grampian mountains that they were
sometimes called di-calydones. The term Dve-caledonios
was also applied to the northern part of the western sea
since their territory extended down to it. Note Dun
Chailleann Dunkeld, the “Fort of the Caledonians;” Ro-
hallion, near Dunkeld, Scotland, and Sidh Chailleann,
Schiehallion, this last being a famed “Fairy-hill.” In all of
these the vowel of the second syllable is silent.

In 197 A.D. Virius Lupus, a Roman governor of Britain,

wrote that the Caledonians and the Maeatae were the most
powerful forces in Scotland, unfortunately he had trouble
with both. He explained that the latter dwelt “close to the
wall which divides this island into two parts, the
Caledonians being next to them.” “each of the two inhabit
rugged hills with swamps between, possessing neitherr
walled places nor towns nor cultivated lands, but lkiving by
pastoral pursuits and by hunting and co certain kinds of
hard-shelled fruits. They eat no fish, though their waters
team with them. They live in tents, naked and shoeless;
they have their women in common, and rear all their
offspring...They fight from charits and have swift horses.
Their weapons are a shield and a short spear with a knob on
the blunt end...” This same writer says that the names of all
the lesser tribes had, by his time, “been practically
absorbed into these.” See Cailleach bheurr.
CHLOICH, CLACHD CHOIMHEACH GHREUGAICH, "the alien Greek
stone", coimhearsnach, a neighbour, an alien, coimhead,
looking, watching; the “Greek watching-stone,” the so-
called "Celtic crosses" of Ireland and Scotland as
represented in folklore. Usually mentioned as opposed to
the traditional pagan cromlech. See Creag Asduinn.

CHRIOCHAN, NA GARBH. “The Rough Bounds” of the Land. The

Creones. those who anciently lived in the patrimony of Clan
Ranald.

CIABHAN, (Kee-a-van),“of the Curling Locks.” The mortal

lover of the goddess Cliodhna who abducted her from the
western Land of Promise. Manann mac Ler disapproved of the
match and when they reached Cork he sent a tidal wave to
retrieve her to the Otherworld.

CIADAIN, DI-, (je kayt-inn). Wednesday. from ceud, first +

aoine, fast; the first fast-day of the week, Friday being the
major fast-day. Possibly related to the word cead, or
“first,” and the old fire god Ce, Kai, or Hu, who is supposed
to have brought the art of metal-working to Britain. Note
cia, obs. Man, husband, cream, ciagach, sly-humoured,
ciallach, lover, judicious, rational, discreet, sedate,
significant other. Ciallan, favourite. " When All Saints is on
Wednesday the men of the earth are under great affliction."
(Celtic Monthly, p. 162).

CIADAOINAN-T-SAMHUINN, an expression of time when the

Samhain holiday falls of A Wednesday. A particularly holy
day devolving upon the goddess Samh.

CIAN CONTJE (kee-an), cian, remote, tedious, distant. ceann,

a head. Alexander Mcbain says the root is the generalized
Celtic word gen or gan, beginning, hence, the first one or
even beginning place. Cé+ann, indicates within the earth, so
there is little question that Clan Cian considered itself
descended from the ultimate creator-god whose name
appears embodied in Céitean the month of May.
 This god is also entitled Aod or Hu in the Celtic
realms, both words being linguistically similar. He is
sometimes given as a son of Diancecht, the god of
medicine, the father of the god-hero Lugh. Balor, the
Fomorian king of Tor Mor (now Torry Island) was informed
by the druids that he would be killed by a grandson. In an
attempt to side-step his fate, the one-eyed giant secluded
his only daughter Ethlinn in a high tower guarded by twelve
matrons. Balor called to the island the Goban-Saor, to work
on his castle and in payment gave him a magical cow that
was a source of an unending stream of milk.
Characteristically, the giant forgot to mention that this
animal always returned to Torry Island unless tethered with
a magic byre-strap.

The animal quickly escaped from Ireland, but was

pursued by Cian Contje. Cian was only able to cross to the
island with the help of Manann mac Ler, giving the god of
the ocean a promissory note for the passage. On the island,
Cian went "in drag" and passed himself off as a female cook.
On his off hours, the young man went scouting for the lost
cow and chanced instead on the hiding place of Ethlinn.

By "accident" the pair found themselves with triplets,

and Cian was forced to flee Balor's wrath. Two of the
children were drowned on instructions from their grandsire,
but the father, the magical cow and a surviving child, named
Lugh, were rafted out of danger by Manann mac Ler. On the
far shore Manann demanded payment for his services and
was given Lugh as a foster-child. Lugh's great skills as a
warrior and craftsman were said learned under Duath "the
Dark". a king of "the Great Plain of the Sea", where he dwelt
until manhood. At that time he came to Ireland to aid the
Tuatha daoine when it seemed they would be defeated by the
giants of the Hebrides and Tory Island.

CIAR, CERA, another name for the Dagda; ciar, dusky,

shadowy, shady. McNeil says that although he is not directly
mentioned in Welsh mythology his name appears embedded
in the goddess Ceriddwyn, who is literally “the woman who
is Ceridd, the “Dark One.”

CIARMAT, ciar, dusky; math, good; AS. scimo, a shadow, Skr.

chûyá, a shadow. Eng. Kermit. A descriptive synonym for
Ogma one of the sons of Dagda. According to myth this
“honey-tongued “god” was killed by his brother Lugh when
he found out that his wife was involved in an affair with
him. Lugh was, in turn, killed by mac Ciarmat’s son.

CICHO GRINCHENGHOS, nicknamed “The Footless.” A

Fomorian sea-giant who came to Ireland before Parthalon,
and lived there by fishing and hunting. He was slain at the
battle of Magh Ibha. His mother was Lot, a woman with
bloated lips in her breasts and four eyes in her back. His
father was Gall, the “Stranger.”

CIDHIS, a mask, vizard; also luchd cidhis, masqueraders,

perhaps from low Sc. gyis, a mask and gysard, masked men.
The word is similar to the M. English gysen, to dress up and
the English, disguise. All are thought to derive from Fr.
desguiser, to cloak one's identity.

The word came into Gaelic during the time of the

Stuart kings. luchd cidhis, masked people. David Fergus
("Scots Magazine 1982) says: "Unfortunately, we can't claim
the plays performed by the Scottish guisers were native to
this country... But the mummer's plays are older than either
Scotland or England...their origin goes back to an age when
people throughout Europe believed in magic. For these
plays, despite their clowning and doggerel verse, are
essentially magical ritual. To the primitive mind it seemed
possible to make things happen by acting out the deed. If
you wish to destroy your enemy you melt a wax image of
him; if you want rain, you splash water about; if you want
your crops to grow tall, you leap high in the air. When the
dark barren days of winter came and you want to bring back
the sun and fruitful fields, you re-enact the birth of the
new year by killing and restoring to life an actor who
represents life itself. Ever guiser's play consists of three
parts that symbolize the death of the old year and the birth
of a new one. There is always a fight, the death of a hero
and his restoration to life."

Fergus has noted that the plays were sometimes

performed on All Soul's Eve (which we call Hallowe'en, and
which was the beginning of the old Gaelic New Year) but
that this had shifted in favour of the Christmas season. "In
Galloway the guisers are known as the Yule Boys because
they performed at Christmas, but in most districts the
favoured time used to be the Hogmanay (October 31) when
the actors would make their rounds." In earlier times they
had an eerie other-worldly look.

Thomas Wilkes who saw them abroad wrote: "The

Gysarts always dress themselves in white. They appear like
so many dead persons robed in their shrouds, who seemingly
have risen from their narrow homes; the simile is improved
from their faces being all painted black or dark blue. Their
mutches (mustaches) are sometimes adorned with ribbands
of diverse colours. but these seldom enter into their dress."
Even at a later date, their faces were entirely covered with
a mask, since recognition was said to "break their luck." On
their heads were dunces caps "casques of brown paper,
shaped like a bishop's mitre." Although there were always
hordes of followers, the number of active players varied
from five to seven, and invariably included a hero, a villain
and a druid, or doctor, whose job was to restore life to the
dead. All the main characters were differentiated by small
items of dress and the remaining characters seem to have
been carried for comic relief. All this action was repeated
throughout the countryside at important manor-houses
where the rabble begged admission and then put on their
gysard-play. The playlet was always accompanied by
doggerel verse and in one Scottish version of the play, the
villain is a knight identified as King Alexander. After a
sword fight, with wooden swords, he "kills" Golashans, who
is perhaps named after Galgacus, the Gael who lead his
people in the successful action against the Romans at Mons
Graupius. Sir Alexander, named for an unpopular Scottish
monarch, tries to place the blame for the death on a
character called the Admiral, and the Admiral places the
blame on the Farmer's Son, but in the end the unfortunate is
revived by the Doctor who applies a powder to Golashan's
nose and says: "Inky Pinky, a little to his nose, a little to
his toes." This done the gysers conclude by chanting:

We will join hands, and never fight no more,

But we will all gree as brethren as we have done
before.
We thank the master of this house, likewise the
mistress too.
Also the little bairns that round the table grew.

In some districts food and drink is then provided in

impromptu fashion, but elsewhere the sinister nathair, now
called Beelzebub (or Judas) puts in an unexpected
appearance, thrusting out a change box and demanding:

Over my shoulder I carry a club,

And in my hand a dripping pan,
And I fancy myself a right jolly old man.
I've got a little box that can speak without tongue.
It fancies "food", so drop in one.

The common reward for the night's entertainment was

a halfpenny, but churlish (or drunken) individuals often fell
upon the gysards and a melee broke out. The plays were
performed in the border country between England and
Scotland into the 1920's but those that continue are
revivals without popular roots. In ancient times it is likely
that a king-figure was actually put down in the interests of
regenerating the land and its people in the new year. Marsks
of bronze and wood have been found which are known to date
from pre-Roman Britain. Most are in ther form of human
heads, some horned, some showing elaborate helmets. On La
Tene metalwork the heads sometimes appear duck-like. Rice
associates this latter form with the goddess Mhorrigan,
who is sometimes represented as a goose.

CILLE CHAORRUILL, Caorruill's Church; cille, a cell, a

monastic enclosure, a church; caor, the red berry, the
rowanberry. An ancient burial ground within the Braes of
Lochebar. The church in question was supposedly built by
Alastair Carrach in an attempt to atone for a dissolute life.
The spirits that had empowered men in his lifetime were
unquiet after death and people in the neighbourhood heard
"something like the rattling of bones, as if desperate
battles were going on underground among the skeletons
(1745). Father Angus Mor mac Dhughaill arrived on the
scene without holy water and was forced to take water in
his shoe from a nearby stream. "He blessed it and proceeded
to the church where he read the special office (of exorcism)
with the result that there was a complete cessation of
these nightly noises ever after (Dr. Keith N. Macdonald,
Celtic Monthly, p. 172).

CILLEIN, concealed treasure, a repository, Ir. cillin, a purse

or storage place for cash which has been hoarded. A
diminished form of cell, a cell, the Church. See entry
immediatly above. The Norse went viking after the
treasures kept in Christian cells.

CINGRIS, a pharaoh of Egypt whose daughter Scota married

an outlander named Niul. She was the mother of Goidheal,
the patriarch of the Gaels and the Scots.

CINEAD MAC ALPEIN. Looking for a more secure home-land

the Scots of Dalriada marched into Pictland and conducted
campaigns against these people until 850 A.D., when Cinead
(Kenneth) mac Alpein completely overthrew the Picts by
very devious means, and became high-king of all Scotia,
Some claim that he even subdued the Britons on his southern
borders and the Anglo-Danish population of the southeast.
At this time, with the Scotic people in a position of power,
Ireland was called Scotia Major and Scotland Scotia Minor,
but the title fell awaty from Ireland as their power waned
in that land.

CINN, develop from, arise from, descend from, the root being
gen, to grow or increase from, as in the goddess Mhorri-gen,
“born of the sea.” From this cineal, offspring and cinne, a
tribe or clan. The implication is “foreign-born,” hence
cinnich, gentiles. Similar to the Eng. kin. Note and see
Mhorri-gen.

CIONLAS, “confound you,” a magical string for binding the

fingers of the dead to prevent them from wandering. This
rite was also performed with the big toes to keep the dead
from “stirring.” Sutherlandshire.

CIOTACH, left-handed, of sinister aspect, awkward, cunning,

an unlooked-For trick, a small plaid or scarf; the Cy.
Chwith, an extension of the root word sqi, left, the Lat.
scaevas, left. See cli. Cia, who is the god Aod.

CIR MHIN OIR, comb of chased gold. A sun symbol its

equivalent night-symbol being the cir gharbh airgiod, the
comb of rough silver. It was said that the god Lugh was
often seen among men carrying these combs in his hands.

Maol a’Cliobain gained powers of kingship when he

pilfered two such combs from the castle of a “giant.” When
hethe silver comb was misplaced the king’s carriage fell to
the ground as “a withered faggot,” and his kingship, and
virility, was lost.

Another Gaelic hero took similar combs and when he

combed the hair on the left side of his head it flaked off
silver instead of dandruff. Run through the hair of the other
side it produced flakes of gold. Other magic combs stolen
from the Fomorian sea-giants yielded clothing, arms, meat
and drink. Gaels pursued by the dark forces could throw a
comb or brush in their way to delay pursuit.

Combs were often found in the arsenal of witchcraft

and sometimes the baobh would comb the hair of an
unsupecting victim causing that person to fall into a deep
and troubled sleep. J.F. Campbell thinks that the magical
attributes of combs may relate to the fact that the bone
combs of primitive men produced spectacles of static
electricity during the long winter nights.

There are sexual connotations in the use of combs. In

medieval times it was still understood what was meant
when the knight laid his head upon the knees of a “lady” and
she “dressed his hair.” There are numerous slate slabs in
Scotland which represent two-handed mirrors, combs and
shears. These are generally regarded as Pictish memorials
and indicate that these objects had significance beyond the
obvious

CIÙIN, Mild, Ir. Ciúin, Lat.
AS. heóre, safe, friendly.
Atlantic, visited by Bran
Imchiuin; the im- is an
mild land.”
civis, Eng. civil. Norse, hyrr, mild,
A “safe haven” in the western
and his mariners. Also known as
intensive prefix, thus, “the very

CIUTHACH, CIOTACH, left-handed, sinister,possessed by Cia

or Aod, cunning, crafty, designing, defective, the Lat.
scaevas, left, anglicized as Kewach. An alternate name for
the urusig, the Eng. urisk. Hairy creatures that inhabited
costal caverns.

One of these lived on the Isle of Eigg. Sir Walter Scott

noted a variant known as the “shellycoat,” “a water-sprite
covered with shells and other marine products, whose
clattering announced his approach.” D.A. Mackenzie said that
a ciuthach used to haunt the shores of Leith. Teased by
children chanting: “Shellycoat, shellycoat, gang awa hame, I
cryna your mercy, I ferna your name,” he occasionally
seized them and threw them into the ocean.

This word has “gone native” in North America where

the closest approximation is killoch, an isolated stone, a
standing-stone, an anchor employing a stone enclosed
within a wooden framework. From this kellog. gillock,
jillock, jullic and gommick. A standing-stone was
considered sinister from its lack of association with its
kind.
CLACH, a stone, EIr. cloch, Cy. clwg, Goth. hallus, a large
stone, ON. hella, a large flat stone, Skr. cila, a stone,
perhaps thus Celt and Hellr, outland names for the Gaels
who occupied stone-dwellings.

Trees, cairns, standing-stones and mountains were all

seen to draw thunder and lighting to their summits and
were thus taken to be the resting places for a sun-spirit.
Fire was definitely thought to be a product of the sun, and it
was noticed that stones could generate and convey heat
energy from the earth or the air.

In the rites of the Quarter Days the holy bannochs

were baked by the reflected heat of stone, and the stones
were often made to “talk” by throwing water or milk upon
them. When Patrick came to Ireland he cursed the great
Division Stone of the four provinces of Ireland so that it
would no longer hold heat or converse with men as had been
the case in ancient times. Notice that Bil, the death-god,
was nicknamed “the Shining One,” and that his day
translates as “Mouth of Fire..” He was obviously as much a
part of the sun-cult, and the panoply of day-gods, as his
alter-ego Lugh. In point of fact the sun-god Lugh is
nicknamed Lugh Chromain, “Lugh of the Crooked Hand.” In
the guise of Crom the Crooked, Bil is often spoken of as
“The Day God,” and it is clear that many of the Beltane
altars were erected as sun-altars.

On Mount Callan, near Ellis, Ireland, the Beltane was

celebrated on midsummer’s day down to the year 1895.
Near Macroom there is a standing stone very clearly
designated as “the stone of the sun.” The antiquarian
Sethrun Ceitinn (c. 157--1650) said that almost all the
cromlechs could be associated with the goddess Grainne,
whose name may be taken as grain, and translated as the
“sun.”

Elsewhere, it is said that Éire (Ireland) was first

married to mac Greine (the son of the sun) and one of her
daughters was Giolla Greine, “whose mother was a
sunbeam.” The relationship of daylight and darkness, life
and death, summer and winter, may not always be easy to
see, but remember that many of the Irish observed the sun-
god sink each evening into his domain within the western
sea, and noted that he invariably rose by morning from the
eastern sea. To subjugate Lugh, the Church circulated the
rumour that his fiery sword had been passed for “safe-
keeping” to Saint Michael.

All over Europe in improbably remote corners, various

phallic symbols of power, the “belly-buttons” of the world,
were incorporated into innumerable Christian structures: In
Spain at Cangas de Onis a small church was built directly
over standing-stones on a pagan mound in the eleventh
century, the complex becoming a burial crypt. Another
instance is found at Arrichinaga at the Hermitage of Saint
Michael, where a huge standing-stone is seen immediately
left of the main altar. Some of the churches built to honour
this saint are on uncomfortably high ground. At St Michel-
en-Grêve, in Brittany, the church is a half hour walk from
civilization, standing next to a lichen-encrusted menhir.
Mont St. Michel, a huge monolith in the Atlantic is almost
matched by the precipitous St,. Michael’s Mount, at Land’s
End in the west of England. The Priory of St. Michael is
built on a pagan circle of stones.

These are only a few of the places where Lugh was

assimilated into the new God. In order to explain the siting
of churches in places that were ultimately strange and
inconvenient, medieval parsons suggested that the stones
had been placed by angels, or some other approved power. In
earlier Christian mythology, Saint Michael was second to
God in power, a warrior-prince who carried a flaming sun-
sword. Lugh’s clash with the Fomors is nicely paralleled in
Biblical lore. In the book of Revelations, Michael is pictured
as the head of a host of angels warring with the forces of
darkness: “And the great dragon was cast down, the
deceiver of the whole world, he that is called the great
serpent, Devil and Satan.” Notice that Saint George, patron
of England, is also pictured as the dragon-killer.
CLACHAN. a kirk or kirk-town, from clach, a stone; perhaps
from the fact that the early churches were built from stone.
The word also translates as “stepping-stones.” A village or
hamlet having a formal burial ground an inn and a smithy, a
church, the burial place; a druidical circle consisting of
standing stones, Christian churches often incorporated
pagan stone relics in their walls. “In the north of Scotland,
people used to speak of the local kirk as “The Stones.” and
the name Auld Kirk attached to the Circles (of Stone). (The
Silver Bough, Vol. 3, p. 158).

CLACH AN COMAS, power stones, cursing stones. Note the

similar buineagan, the “witch balls” used in the Scottish
highlands. Objects which were used as the focus of magical
powers. The most noted of these lie on a pagan stone altar
in the early medieval monastic village of Inishmurray in
County Sligo, Ireland. They were used during the Second
World War to bring perdition on Adolph Hilter. Today these
stones have accumulated a Christian veneer, actually they
are spoken of as “backwards Christian relics” since the
islanders perform the cursing rites while moving about the
altar in a counter-clockwise motion. Nothing is known of
the nature of these stones before the monastery was
founded in the sixth centuury, but they were there and in
use when the first Christian missionaries arrived, and the
powers they controlled were said to be other-worldly.

CLACH AN BRODGAR, the circular ring of stones between

Loch Steness and Loch Harray on Mainland Island in the
Orkneys. brod+gar, excess of heat, thus “fire-stones.” The
ring has 27 stones standing near the four Stones of Steness.
There were originally more, and the two groups may have
been linked by an avenue of stones, but only the 18-foot
Watch-stone remains to indicate this. At the New Year’s
eve, couples wishing to marry went to the “Temple of the
Moon.” (the Steness Stones) and then marched from there to
the “Temple of the Sun,” (the Brodgar Stones). At each they
performed a set of rituals finally pausing before the Stone
of Odin (which is no longer in place) to clasp hands through
a hole in it. Sick people were led three times about the
Stones of Steness seeking a cure for their illness.

CLACH AN COMHDHAIL, a “trysting stone,” from comdal, a

tryst.

CLACH AN DUBH, the black stones of Iona, from the black

doom that fell on those who violated oaths made within
sight of them. The last of these stones disappeared in the
nineteenth century after having long settled disputes
between clans.

CLACH AN EIREACHTA, an stone used as the focal point for

assembly.

CLACH AN GHRIGAIR, the healing Stone of the Macgregors.

CLACH AN UAINE N’ IONA, the green stones of Iona. Pebbles

of a green colour said influenced by the spirit of St, Columa
and able to preserve people from drowning. See uaine, and
note that green objects were thought to possess unusual
supernatural powers.

CLACH AN MÔD, “meeting stones,” môd, a court, trial,

meeting from the similar Norse word. AS. môt, Eng. moot,
meet. Possibly similar to môid, to take a vow of honesty,
related to Lat. manus, “hand-vow.” To swear upon a stone?
Many of the important meetings of the Celts and their Norse
neighbours were held in the open, and for this purpose rings
of chair-high stones were placed in the locality of the
meeting. Many sites in Scandinavia and Great Britain bear
witness to these gatherings. In Yorkshire we have the
Morthing, the name of which may be connected with
Morathing south east of Upsala (Sweden). The Norse thing
refers to the king’s surround of enfranchised citizens. Mor,
great or large. Fingay in Yorkshire was another such meeting
place. In most cases the stones were place where they could
be easily accessed by land or sea. They were also placed on
a plain or elevation where their location was obvious
amidst the surrounding forest.Maidstone in Kent was
originally the more obvious Old Saxon Motstein and its name
resembles Staines on the Thames. In King John’s time the
nearby Runymede Island was a similar place. In the midlands
the place-names Dingwall and Thingwall (a place where the
thing-wold had meetings) are met. The Ring of Brogar and
the Ring of Steiness, in the Orkneys, may have had a similar
function. In some cases the stones were too monumental to
serve as simple seats and here the stones must be regarded
as a circle or “resting” gods. Many of the stones were
assembled before the druids were organized although these
folk may have continued to use them as assembly places.

CLACH-BHUADHACH, “tribute” or “conqueror stone,” a

precious stone, gem, amulet or charm.

CLACH-BRATH, judgement or rocking stone. An immense

erratic, a spherical mass of rock so situated that a slight
touch causes it to rock in one direction. No amount of human
force will cause it to take any other direction. Such stones
are still seen in Iona and were once common throughout
Britain. The stones of Iona are said to last until world’s end.

CLACH-GLUIN-A’-CHOILICH, an amulet against distempoer

and other ills. Literally the “cock’s knee-bone stone,” from
the supposition that these are the lithified bones on a long
dead cock. Actually they are not fossil remains.

CLACHD NA' AITHNE, clachd, stone; aithne, knowledge,

sometimes referred to as the divining-stone, routinely used
to "set" a firth (a charm used to indicate the continued
existence of persons living at a distance). Kings of the
realms of Scotland and neighbouring Scandinavia routinely
obtained these stones and used them to evaluate the
conflicting advise they often got from their counsellors.
Carmichael has indicated that they were principally used to
obtain omens of the future, although this was never their
sole employment. He says they survived into "quite modern
times." See entries immediately below. At Christian synods
in Scotland attempts were made to discredit all such
stones, but the outcome of research was not always what
was expected. In October of 1638 a complaint was levelled
against Gavin Hamilton for making use of “ane stone set in
silver for the curing of diseased cattle.” The Synod, which
met, tested the stone and noted that it was activated
“without using onie words such as charmers use in their
unlawful practise.” Seeing that no money changed hands in
obtaining cures and that stone appeared to possess “a
special virtue for the healing of monie infirmities in man
and beast,” they dismissed the charge and returned the
stone to the Lord of Lee admonishing him to use it in the
future with discretion so that it might attract “the least
possible scandall that can possibly be.”

CLACH NA H-’EIRCE, the “stone of atonment,” a power-

source approached for favours, a godhead. Ericstone near
Moffat is an example.

CLACHD BRIONGLAID, a dreaming stone. Three small stones

taken from a boundary stream after dark at the Quarter Day.
The stones have to be taken between thumb and middle
finger and carried home after repeating the charm: “I lift
the stones, as the sun lifted his son. This I do for substance,
virtue, strength. May these stones rest in my hand to
journey’s end.” Placed beneath a pillow they were thought
to impart foresight.

CLACHD COINNEACH ODHAR, Stone of Kenneth Mackenzie. A

small, white, smooth stone, with a hole in the centre,
supposedly found by Kenneth after waking from an
unintended sleep on a sidh, or “side hill.” Upon looking
through it this lad found himself possessed of prophetic
powers, and became known as the Brahan Seer. Kenneth
became famous in his birthplace, the Isle of Lewis, and
became attached to his chieftain, Kenneth Mackenzie, the
third Earl of Seaforth. Lady Seaforth, on the occasion of his
visit to Paris suspected her husband of adultery and tried to
persuade the Seer to use his powers to confirm or deny her
suspicions. When his second-sight caught the chief in
dalliance, the unhappy wife turned on the bearer of the bad
news and had him executed. In his last hours the Brahan
Seer threw the foreseeing stone into a loch and pronounced
the coming doom of the Mackenzies. The seer was born in
the seventeenth century and Mackenzie rule failed exactly
as pronounced in 1794.

CLACHD DÚN ADD, Stone of the Fortress of Power, near

Kilmartin, Scotland. It is approached through along rock-
lined gully, once roofed. There is a rude stairway leading
beyond a lower amphitheatre to an upper ridge once walled
as a triple keep. At the centre are three features of some
interest: Carved on stone slabs are the imprint of a human
foot, 11 by 4.5 inches. A drawing of a wild boar faces this
print, and there also is a carved basin ten by four inches
deep. Tradition claims that the footprint is that of Fergus,
the first king of the Riata, or Dalriada (Argyll). At Celtic
inaugurations, this footprint was used to legitimize each
succeeding king, who was expected to stand briefly within
the outline. “Clothed in white, the monarch would set his
foot within the print, thus symbolizing an oath to walk in
the steps of his forefathers. Similar rites were held in the
Western Isles for the Macdonalds, the Lords of the Isles. The
image of a boar remembers Lugh, the sun-god, and
symbolizes the king’s position as the source of fertility.
The basin was used in pagan foot-washing ceremonies
which were easily adapted to Christian custom.

CLACHD 'IC CHAOILTE, clachd, stone; chaoid, forever; "the

alien stone from the east.” The Celtic Christian cross.
Some claim that the "X" of the Christian element overlaid on
the pagan "O" (symbolizing reincarnate nature) negated the
power of the older symbol. In several instances, cromlechs
may be seen with an "X" deliberately applied over an"O".
These stones have a great a reputation for magic as their
pagan counterparts. A ghostly summons to death is said to
have issued from the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh on the night
before the battle at Flodden. The voice pronounced the
names of all those destined to die in the morning.

CLACHD DEARG, AN, clachd, stone; dearg, red; specifically

the Red Stone of Ardvorlich. In ancient times the
chieftainship of the Stewarts of Balquhidder fell upon the
man that possessed this charm-stone. There are
conflicting claims about its origin. One has it that the
stone was originally mounted on the wand of office of an
Arch-Druid; the other that it came from the Near East at the
time of the Crusades. "From forty miles around the worried
owners of sick cattle used to bring kegs of spring water to
Ardvorlich. There, the Lady of Ardvorlich took the Charm,
dangled it by its chain in the water and swirled it around
three times, reciting a Gaelic incantation the while. After
the Charm was taken out of the water it was necessary for
the owner of the beasts to take the keg back to his animal
todrink; and shortly afterwards it would recover. One other
obligation had to be observed; the man carrying the keg was
not allowed to enter any building with the keg on his way
home..." (Highland Clans, p, 21). It is said that the charm is
"a ball of rock crystal mounted in (four) bands of silver
chased in a Celtic pattern." The stone is inventoried in
1900 as "an stane of the quantitye of half a hen's egg set in
silver, flatt at the ane end and round at the uther and like to
a peir, whilk Sir Coline first laird of Glenurchy woir when
he fought the battel at Rhodes."

CLACHD BHEAG NAN TUARSANAN, clachd, stone; bheag,

little; tuar, to presage, to give omens. This divining-stone,
often referred to as the “Little Stone of the Quests"
belonged originally to the Macleans of Coll, "by whom it was
much prized. It came down to them from remote antiquity.
It was used in the "frith" for discovering the dead body of
Donald MacLean of Coll when he was drowned in the Sound of
Ulva. A member of the Coll family gave it to Mary
MacInnes, cotter, Taigh a' Gearraidh, North Uist, for
services rendered." She passed it on to the sennachie, D.A.
Ferguson. (Highland Clans, p. 420).

CLACHD BHUAI, the Resting Stone held by the Campbells of

Glenlyon.

CLACHD CEUD, the Prime Stone, First Stone. In older tales

the Holy Grail is not represented as a chalice but as a stone
relic, and in the Welsh poem “Peredur,” there is note of a
similar “Stone of Abundance,” guarded by the black serpent,
slain by that hero. More remotely the it was said that the
fire of the sun poured forth each morning from the
“cauldron” of the ocean, and thus the “cauldron” was
sometimes spoken of as the “cauldron of the sun.” This
stone was the Creag Asduinn mentioned elsewhere. It was
the resting place of the spirit of the creator-god or
Oolathair , purloined from the Beginning Place by men and
the gods. This lost of spirit cost the Fomorian sea-giants
their ability to contend with the land-folk. The Holy Grail of
Christian mythology is sometimes represented as a stone
guarded by the Grail knights who lived for two hundred
years by taking sustenance from it. As such it was entitled
lapis exillis, the “blue flatstone,” a stone that reputedly
“fell from heaven.” Notice that the road to Hel’s kingdom of
Nifhelheim was paved with gigantic flatstones, and there
are connections.

CLACHD CIL-FHINN, Finn’s Grave-stone, the stone at the

burial place of Fiann. Killan in Scotland derives its name
from this marker which was much visited in Victorian
times. It is now ignored in a small field close to Breadlbane
Park, almost lost in the rushes of the boggy ground. Fionn,
who the Scots sometimes call Fingal, ruled in the Highlands
and in Ireland by virtue of the power of his quasi-military
Fiann. It is 14 miles through a hill pass from Killan to the
place reputed to be his Alban home. He is thought to have
died in 283 A.D. and local historian Duncan Fraser has noted
that a “head” was added to this small standing stone in the
last century.

CLACHD CLOICHE, Shelter-Stone. In the pass of Ochils

stands a freestone reputed to be the pedestal of the
celebrated Celtic cross of MacDuff. Men related to the
MacDuff could flee here and be absolved of any crime on
payment of nine cows and a year-old calf to the local
authority. Nearby stood a holy well at which men guilty of
murder washed their hands thus ridding themselves of guilt
and further responsibility. Another such stone was at
Torphichen, in East Lothian and this was also a Christian
sanctuary. All ground within a mile of this stone and St.
John’s well was considered free ground for all debtors and
criminals.

CLACHD GLAS, The Grey Stone of Iona “by which the Chiefs
swore. No longer extant.”

CLACHD E LAIGHE, clachd, stone; OIr. lige, a bed, to lie abed.

a Dreaming-Stone, a Knowing-Stone; a stone used to
foretell the future. These were the stones which
Englishmen called “celts.” By extension they became “any
chisel or axe-shaped stones employed by a neolithic or pre-
historic people.” In 1979, Jerald Walker examined a number
of these “rattleback” stones, observing their unique
properties for “The Scientific American:” “If you spin this
type of stone in the “wrong” (counterclockwise) direction,
it will quickly stop, rattle up and down for a few seconds
and then spin in the opposite direction. Going in the “right”
(clockwise) direction, it will usually spin stably. The stone
is apparently biased toward one direction of spin. It will
even develop a spin in that direction if you just rap one end
downward. The rocking of the stone caused by the tap is
quickly converted into a spin.” (Scientific American, p.172,
Oct. 1979). There is record of these stones having been
spun prior to battle, possibly to suggest the fate of
individual warriors.

CLACHD FHIOSACHD, A', clachd, stone; a' fios, of knowledge,

similar to the Latin video, see. Any “Stone of Knowledge,” a
divining-stone, typically formed from quartzite, often
mounted in a silver. Similar to the clachd e laighe, above.
Quite often quartzite was at least one of the triad stones
placed beneath “table stones.” This material has pizeo-
electrical effects when placed under pressure.

CLACHD LEUG, Precious Stone. The charm of the Macleans.

The latter word may have reference to the god Lugh.
CLACHD NA BRATACH, Stone of Brath or “Judgement,” said
possessed by chief of Clan Donald on the eve of
Bannockburn (1314). Just before battle, the clan standard
bearer drove his staff into soft ground and it came away
carrying a clod of earth. In the earth, clansmen found a
transparent quartz-like crystal, about the size of a small
apple. The group took this find as an omen of victory and
henceforth when the clan travelled it was kept on the
person of the chieftain. Water which had made contact with
the stone was observed to have healing powers.

CLACHD NA FAIRE, The Ridge, Sky-line, Morning Stone.

Located near Tordarroch, Scotland, and central to Clan
Chattan couintry, this was the traditional mystic
gathering-place for Clan Shaw. “The Stone of the Watch.”

CLACHD MALAKA, “Forbidding Stone.” The last vestige of an

ancient Cromarty village lost to the Great Ocean. Elspat
Hood, a resident of the region, who died in 1701 at the age
of 120 years, recalled that this stone was once within a
cornfield a quarter mile from water. The stone by 1701 had
a base that never came near drying except at ebb of the
Spring and the Lammas tides. In the 1760’s the current
beach was bone-strewn after a violent gale that churned up
some long lost burial place.

CLACHD MA’NUS, Stone of Magnus, on the Orkneys at

Burwick, South Ronaldsay. Scotland. Two footprints seen on
this stone are said to be those of Saint Magnus who crossed
the Pentland Firth, using this stone as his boat where
nothing better was available. In fact, thought to pre-date
Christianity and represent a swearing-stone for the kings
of the Outer Isles.

CLACHD NATHRACH, the “Serpent’s Stone.” See entry under

Nathair. This adder’s stone was alternately known as the
“Druidic Bead.” A Lewisman noted: “A number of serpents
congregating at certain times form themselves into a knot
and move round and round on the stone until a hole is worn.
They pass and re-pass after each other through the hole,
which by-the-by becomes hard. It is the slime which gives
the stone the healing properties it is supposed to possess.”
(The Silver Bough, Vol. 1, p. 91). These holed stones were
said found among the heather and were described as about
five inches in diameter. The serpent stones were used to
ease the pain of childbirth and as an amulet against any evil
or enchantment. In Galloway, in 1869, a practitioner said
the stone was dipped in water which was then sprinkled on
ailing animals. These are the devices known as “snake
balls” in North America. In 1793 Sylvester Woodbridge, a
Southampton Merchant advertised for sale: “Satin, West
India rum, snake balls, etc.” A snake ball was then
described as “a small piece of stone or bone...which is
placed on the bite of a poisonous snake to absorb or charm
away the poison.”

CLACHD SIGH, Stone of the Little Men, Ben Loyal, Scotland.

The mountain itself is said to be heavily magnetic and
distorts compass readings. According to tradition the
smelting furnace of a sigh or sith lies within the mountain.
Those wishing to have an object in metal forged by the
side-hill folk are advised to leave a small wooden model
and silver as advance payment near this stone, and by
morning the object will have been fabricated.

CLACHAN TARTIR, tartar, noise, after Torr, Thor, the god of

thunder. The root word is reduplicated for emphasis. This is
located at Strathtay on the Findynate Hill, “where there
was once a good quarry of limestone...” Nearby is a tarn
known as Loch Sguir na Geile, In this location there was
supposed to have been a “fury” with iron teeth who had
snakes and eels instead of hair.

CLACHD NA' AITHNE, clachd, stone; aithne, knowledge,

sometimes referred to as the divining-stone, routinely used
to "set" a firth (a charm used to indicate the continued
existence of persons living at a distance). Kings of the
realms of Scotland and neighbouring Scandinavia routinely
obtained these stones and used them to evaluate the
conflicting advise they often got from their counsellors.
Carmichael has indicated that they were principally used to
obtain omens of the future, although this was never their
sole employment. He says they survived into "quite modern
times." See entries immediately below. At Christian synods
in Scotland attempts were made to discredit all such
stones, but the outcome of research was not always what
was expected. In October of 1638 a complaint was levelled
against Gavin Hamilton for making use of “ane stone set in
silver for the curing of diseased cattle.” The Synod, which
met, tested the stone and noted that it was activated
“without using onie words such as charmers use in their
unlawful practise.” Seeing that no money changed hands in
obtaining cures and that stone appeared to possess “a
special virtue for the healing of monie infirmities in man
and beast,” they dismissed the charge and returned the
stone to the Lord of Lee admonishing him to use it in the
future with discretion so that it might attract “the least
possible scandall that can possibly be.”

CLACHD NA BUIDSEACHD, the “Witches Stone,” used by

practitioners of Zstrathtay and Grndtrully, Scotland.

CLACHD BRIONGLAID, a dreaming stone. Three small stones

taken from a boundary stream after dark at the Quarter Day.
The stones have to be taken between thumb and middle
finger and carried home after repeating the charm: “I lift
the stones, as the sun lifted his son. This I do for substance,
virtue, strength. May these stones rest in my hand to
journey’s end.” Placed beneath a pillow they were thought
to impart foresight.

CLACHD COINNEACH ODHAR, Stone of Kenneth Mackenzie. A

small, white, smooth stone, with a hole in the centre,
supposedly found by Kenneth after waking from an
unintended sleep on a sidh, or “side hill.” Upon looking
through it this lad found himself possessed of prophetic
powers, and became known as the Brahan Seer. Kenneth
became famous in his birthplace, the Isle of Lewis, and
became attached to his chieftain, Kenneth Mackenzie, the
third Earl of Seaforth. Lady Seaforth, on the occasion of his
visit to Paris suspected her husband of adultery and tried to
persuade the Seer to use his powers to confirm or deny her
suspicions. When his second-sight caught the chief in
dalliance, the unhappy wife turned on the bearer of the bad
news and had him executed. In his last hours the Brahan
Seer threw the foreseeing stone into a loch and pronounced
the coming doom of the Mackenzies. The seer was born in
the seventeenth century and Mackenzie rule failed exactly
as pronounced in 1794.

CLACHD DÚN ADD, Stone of the Fortress of Power, near

Kilmartin, Scotland. It is approached through along rock-
lined gully, once roofed. There is a rude stairway leading
beyond a lower amphitheatre to an upper ridge once walled
as a triple keep. At the centre are three features of some
interest: Carved on stone slabs are the imprint of a human
foot, 11 by 4.5 inches. A drawing of a wild boar faces this
print, and there also is a carved basin ten by four inches
deep. Tradition claims that the footprint is that of Fergus,
the first king of the Riata, or Dalriada (Argyll). At Celtic
inaugurations, this footprint was used to legitimize each
succeeding king, who was expected to stand briefly within
the outline. “Clothed in white, the monarch would set his
foot within the print, thus symbolizing an oath to walk in
the steps of his forefathers. Similar rites were held in the
Western Isles for the Macdonalds, the Lords of the Isles. The
image of a boar remembers Lugh, the sun-god, and
symbolizes the king’s position as the source of fertility.
The basin was used in pagan foot-washing ceremonies
which were easily adapted to Christian custom.

CLACHD 'IC CHAOILTE, clachd, stone; chaoid, forever; "the

alien stone from the east.” The Celtic Christian cross.
Some claim that the "X" of the Christian element overlaid on
the pagan "O" (symbolizing reincarnate nature) negated the
power of the older symbol. In several instances, cromlechs
may be seen with an "X" deliberately applied over an"O".
These stones have a great a reputation for magic as their
pagan counterparts. A ghostly summons to death is said to
have issued from the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh on the night
before the battle at Flodden. The voice pronounced the
names of all those destined to die in the morning.

CLACHD DEARG, AN, clachd, stone; dearg, red; specifically

the Red Stone of Ardvorlich. In ancient times the
chieftainship of the Stewarts of Balquhidder fell upon the
man that possessed this charm-stone. There are
conflicting claims about its origin. One has it that the
stone was originally mounted on the wand of office of an
Arch-Druid; the other that it came from the Near East at the
time of the Crusades. "From forty miles around the worried
owners of sick cattle used to bring kegs of spring water to
Ardvorlich. There, the Lady of Ardvorlich took the Charm,
dangled it by its chain in the water and swirled it around
three times, reciting a Gaelic incantation the while. After
the Charm was taken out of the water it was necessary for
the owner of the beasts to take the keg back to his animal
to drink; and shortly afterwards it would recover. One other
obligation had to be observed; the man carrying the keg was
not allowed to enter any building with the keg on his way
home..." (Highland Clans, p, 21). It is said that the charm is
"a ball of rock crystal mounted in (four) bands of silver
chased in a Celtic pattern." The stone is inventoried in
1900 as "an stane of the quantitye of half a hen's egg set in
silver, flatt at the ane end and round at the uther and like to
a peir, whilk Sir Coline first laird of Glenurchy woir when
he fought the battel at Rhodes."

CLACHD BHEAG NAN TUARSANAN, clachd, stone; bheag,

little; tuar, to presage, to give omens. This divining-stone,
often referred to as the “Little Stone of the Quests"
belonged originally to the Macleans of Coll, "by whom it was
much prized. It came down to them from remote antiquity.
It was used in the "frith" for discovering the dead body of
Donald MacLean of Coll when he was drowned in the Sound of
Ulva. A member of the Coll family gave it to Mary
MacInnes, cotter, Taigh a' Gearraidh, North Uist, for
services rendered." She passed it on to the sennachie, D.A.
Ferguson. (Highland Clans, p. 420).
CLACHD BHUAI, the Resting Stone held by the Campbells of
Glenlyon.

CLACHD CEUD, Prime Stone, First Stone. In older tales the

Holy Grail is not represented as a chalice but as a stone
relic, and in the Welsh poem “Peredur,” there is note of a
similar “Stone of Abundance,” guarded by the black serpent,
slain by that hero. More remotely the it was said that the
fire of the sun poured forth each morning from the cauldron
of the ocean, and thus the cauldron was sometimes spoken
of as the “cauldron of the sun.” Note that the Grail Knights
who “lived 200 years “ were said “nourished by a stone of
most noble nature...called lapis excelis, the stone from
heaven.”

CLACHD CIL-FHINN, the stone at the burial place of Fiann.

Killan in Scotland derives its name from this marker which
was much visited in Victorian times. It is now ignored in a
small field close to Breadlbane Park, almost lost in the
rushes of the boggy ground. Fionn, who the Scots sometimes
call Fingal, ruled in the Highlands and in Ireland by virtue of
the power of his quasi-military Fiann. It is 14 miles
through a hill pass from Killan to the place reputed to be his
Alban home. He is thought to have died in 283 A.D. and local
historian Duncan Fraser has noted that a “head” was added
to this small standing stone in the last century.

CLACHD CLOICHE, Shelter-Stone. In the pass of Ochils

stands a freestone reputed to be the pedestal of the
celebrated Celtic cross of MacDuff. Men related to the
MacDuff could flee here and be absolved of any crime on
payment of nine cows and a year-old calf to the local
authority. Nearby stood a holy well at which men guilty of
murder washed their hands thus ridding themselves of guilt
and further responsibility. Another such stone was at
Torphichen, in East Lothian and this was also a Christian
sanctuary. All ground within a mile of this stone and St.
John’s well was considered free ground for all debtors and
criminals.
CLACHD GLAS, The Grey Stone of Iona “by which the Chiefs
swore. No longer extant.”

CLACHD E LAIGHE, clachd, stone; OIr. lige, a bed, to lie abed.

a Dreaming-Stone, a Knowing-Stone; a stone used to
foretell the future. These were the stones which
Englishmen called “celts.” By extension they became “any
chisel or axe-shaped stones employed by a neolithic or pre-
historic people.” In 1979, Jerald Walker examined a number
of these “rattleback” stones, observing their unique
properties for “The Scientific American:” “If you spin this
type of stone in the “wrong” (counterclockwise) direction,
it will quickly stop, rattle up and down for a few seconds
and then spin in the opposite direction. Going in the “right”
(clockwise) direction, it will usually spin stably. The stone
is apparently biased toward one direction of spin. It will
even develop a spin in that direction if you just rap one end
downward. The rocking of the stone caused by the tap is
quickly converted into a spin.” (Scientific American, p.172,
Oct. 1979). There is record of these stones having been
spun prior to battle, possibly to suggest the fate of
individual warriors.

CLACHD FHIOSACHD, A', clachd, stone; a' fios, of knowledge,

similar to the Latin video, see. A divining-stone, typically
formed from quartzite, often mounted in a silver. Similar
to the clachd e laighe, above.

CLACHD LEUG, Precious Stone. The charm of the Macleans.

The latter word may have reference to the god Lugh.

CLACHD MA’NUS, Stone of Magnus, on the Orkneys at

Burwick, South Ronaldsay. Two footprints seen on this stone
are said to be those of Saint Magnus who crossed the
Pentland Firth, using this stone as his boat where nothing
better was available. In fact, thought to pre-date
Christianity and represent a swearing-stone for the kings
of the Outer Isles.

CLACHD NA BRATACH, Stone of Brath or “Judgement,” said

possessed by chief of Clan Donald on the eve of
Bannockburn (1314). Just before battle, the clan standard
bearer drove his staff into soft ground and it came away
carrying a clod of earth. In the earth, clansmen found a
transparent quartz-like crystal, about the size of a small
apple. The group took this find as an omen of victory and
henceforth when the clan travelled it was kept on the
person of the chieftain. Water which had made contact with
the stone was observed to have healing powers.

CLACHD NATHRAICH, the “Serpent’s Stone.” See entry

under Nathair. This adder’s stone was alternately known as
the “Druidic Bead.” A Lewisman noted: “A number of
serpents congregating at certain times form themselves
into a knot and move round and round on the stone until a
hole is worn. They pass and re-pass after each other
through the hole, which by-the-by becomes hard. It is the
slime which gives the stone the healing properties it is
supposed to possess.” (The Silver Bough, Vol. 1, p. 91).
These holed stones were said found among the heather and
were described as about five inches in diameter. The
serpent stones were used to ease the pain of childbirth and
as an amulet against any evil or enchantment. In Galloway,
in 1869, a practitioner said the stone was dipped in water
which was then sprinkled on ailing animals.

CLACHD NA NATHRAICHEAN, “The Stone of the Serpents,” on

the island of Skye. Allegedly the spot where nineteen sea-
serpents, one albino in colouration, were slain in a great
battle with shepherds.
CLACHD NA REITE, Stone of Concord, a large centre-holed
stone within the church of Kilchusalan, near Campbellton,
Kintyre, Scotland. Through it eloped lovers were reconciled
to offended parents and friends. If the pair were able to
grasp hands through the stone before being overtaken there
offense was pardoned and they were considered to have a
legal right to wed.

CLACHD SIGH, Stone of the Little Men, Ben Loyal, Scotland.

The mountain itself is said to be heavily magnetic and
distorts compass readings. According to tradition the
smelting furnace of the sigh lies within the mountain. Those
wishing to have an object in metal forged by the side-hill
folk are advised to leave a small wooden model and silver
near this stone, and by morning the object will have been
fabricated.

CLACHD TEINE, the “Fire-Rock,” a quartzite of very smooth

texture. There is one of these located not far off the coast
from the North Uist village of Baile Sear "one of dozens of
the same name all over the British Isles, and no doubt
(places) where the worship of Bel (Bil) was adorned."
(Highland Clans, p. 119).
CLACHD UAINE, the Green Stone. The root may be veg, that
which is wet. Cf. Eng. wet. This stone is first recorded in
the hands of Macdonald of the Isles who always had the
victory by throwing it among enemies. The stone, “about
the bigness of a goose egg,” came to be held by “a little
family called Clan-Chattans, alias Macintosh although its
current whereabouts are unknown. Said to have curative
powers and used by its owners “to swear oaths upon.” See
uaine.

CLAG DUCHAS, clag, OIr. clacc. Lat. clango, Eng. clang;

dúthaich, a country, a district, OIr. duthoig, hereditary,
dùthchas, by hereditary right; a bell held by hereditary
right. These magical devices were attached to saints of the
Christian church, and most were said created by
supernatural means. An example is the small iron bell
attributed to Saint Moluag of Lismore in Scotland, which he
fashioned using nothing more than a bundle of rushes for
fuel after the local smith refused to smelt it for him saying
he had no coal. The simple iron bell was held in high regard
by the Church of Lismore and a shrine (i.e. a metal box) was
erected to protect it. “The shrine has a round hole pierced in
the bottom, sufficient to allow the insertion of a finger to
touch the bell...an indication that it has been used...to swear
oaths upon...”

CLAG TUIREADH, tuireadh from tuirse, sadness, a bell of

lamentation; dirge-bell. "Once many centuries ago the sea in
Nigg Bay, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, was a low-lying and
fertile valley. But a great storm arose and swept the sea
between the fine pair of cliff headlands known as the
Cromarty Suitors. All the fields and scrublands were thus
submerged and buried in the sand, while a small village and
church were covered by the sea. Thereafter sailors would
listen to the sea before setting sail, for danger was clearly
forecast if they could hear the submerged church bells of
Nigg. Some of the old sailors still say the remnants of the
buildings of the village could be clearly seen in the sea up
to the late 1890's, but the last recorded phantom tolling
was heard in the early 1920's.
CLAIDHEAG, the last sheaf of “corn” cut at the harvest.
Considered a “maiden” if taken before the New Year (Nov. 1)
but labelled an “old hag” if brought in at a later date. A good
omen in the first instance. This is the Scot. claaik-sheaf, a
product of the Scot. claaick, which the English call the
“harvest home.” Claidheamh, a sword, a sharp implement
for taking “corn.” The Celtic root is kela, to split. Also the
last person to cut the sheaf and the state of having the
crops in the barns. Confers with maiden, cailleach,
cailleach bheurr, corn-baby, rye-mother etc.

For good communal luck, it was considered necessary

to have all crops down by the night of Samhainn, the last
day of summer. The person who took the claidheag was
considered to "possess the virgin" (i.e Samh, or the spirit of
Summer) if this was the case. The grain was then reformed
into a feminine figure termed the "shorn-maiden" and this
was hung on the keep wall through the winter. At the
planting it was either fed to the animals, or scattered on
the fields, ensuring that the spirit of Summer would return
to the fields to rejuvenate crops in the new season. In the
event that the season of growing was prolonged and crop-
taking retarded beyond November 1, the figure was
understood to represent the Winter-Hag and want and
privation were expected in the months ahead. The
unfortunate who cut this claidheag was thought ill-favoured
of the gods and was said destined to "board the old
cailleach" without hope of repayment. In any event, she was
also returned to the fields, it being recognized that this
spirit was simply the other face of Samh, the Summer-
goddess. In times long past, the taker of the cailleach-
bheurr may have automatically selected himself as the
individual who would represent the "king" at one of the fire-
festivals.

CLAIDHEAMH GEAL SOLUIS, claymore; geal. white; solus,

light. The “sword of the Sun.” Lugh’s weapon. Often
mentioned as possessed by a “giant” or other supernatural
being. The Gaelic word claidheamh was anciently
pronounced “glaymore.” showing its relationship to the Eng.
glave. The primal sword was a phallic symbol representing
godhood throughout northwestern Europe. King Arthur
possessed a magic sword as did Fionn. The sword in the
tales of these god-men is a person. It shines in the presence
of heroism, cries out when its double is endangered, and
invaraiably turns upon those that carry it without cause or
justification. The sword of creation was said to reflect all
spells back upon any wicked miume.

CLAM, leprosy. One of the most dreaded diseases of ancient

times, considered caused by evil spirits invading the body
of an unwilling host.

CLAMHAN (clavan), kite, buzzard. Note correspondence with

the word clam.
CLANN, children, clan, SIr, OIr,
celjadi, a family, Lit. kiltis. Skr.
Celtic root: qel, to hide, raise, go.
coille, woods dwellers, Chaillinn,
well as the words Celt and kilt.
cland, Cy. plant, OSlav.
kula, race, Eng. plant.
This is also the root for
the Eng. Caledonian as

CLANN RIGH LOCHLAINN FO GEASAIBH, “The Children of the

King of Lochlann under spells.” The seals of the Great Ocean.
It is claimed that this race may have originated when the
step-mother of the children of the King of Lochlann, studied
the druidheachd in order to remove them from their father’s
affections. This carlin put them under gease that they
should become half-fish, half-human as long as the waters
persist. Three times in the year, it is said that the Seals
must become totally human, when the moon is brightest.
They must revert to their first shapes whether they will or
not. To see the sea-borne in human shape, one might ask
their love, and detain them (in human form) on the shore for
at least that evening but is likely to wake at dawn with a
seal in his bed. Becaue the seals are of the race of the Gaels
they all croon the old language. Like the Swan, who is “the
daughter of the twelve moons” and the Mallard, who is under
Morgan’s protection, the seals are scared to the Gaels and it
is thought the worst luck to meddle with them.

CLAOCHLU (kloe kloo), shape-shifting. The ability to assume

the aspect of a plant or animal. Claochoid, obs., to
exchangeThis guise was first perfected by the Fomorian
sea-giants but was re-instituted by The Sweeny among men.
A resident of Dal Riada he was killed in battle but refused
to take residence in the Otherworld. In the world of men his
immortality set him aside, and he was forced to wander in
the wild lands. Here he learned to converse with animals
and plants and learned the art of altering his shape to
duplicate their forms. His art shielded him from men and
was passed to his descendants the so-called “Travelling
Folk” of Britain.

CLÀRSACH, a harp, literally “intelligent wood.” The chief

musical instrument of the gods. The “Harp of the North,”
possessed by the Dagda sometimes defeated his enemies by
lulling them to sleep.

CLEAS, play, trick, craft, feat, to gamnol, to be skilled at

legerdemain or sleight-of-hand, startegem, any wqarlike
exercise. Related to the obsolete cle, the left hand, left-
handed, prejudiced, partial. Cleasai, a trickster.
Although it has never been possible to distinguish
exactly between religious and magical gods, since they
tended to gain or lose power over time, it is clear that
either could use the craft they possessed for the benefit of
individuals or the entire community. These forms have been
distinguished by Sir James Fraser as private and public
magic. As public craftspeople, our witches had the function
of assuring the prosperity and health of men, crops and
animals. This meant that the witch had to have a knowledge
of plant and animal diseases and herbal remedies, along
with saleable hints on the appropriate methods and times
for planting. Weather was of paramount interest to farmers
and fishermen, and it was the witch rather than the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which looked after
forecasts. For a consideration, the people of any Maritime
village could have predictions based on dreams and omens,
as well as the diagnosis of disease. As we've seen, when
quarrels developed between neighbours, the witch gained a
profit by taking sides.

Fraser says that the most essential business of a

rural community was "the supply of food". He also notes
that the private practice of rites of magic diverted hunters,
fishermen and farmers from their true proferssion, so that
it was "a great step in advance" when the business was
given to specialists. Of course, the expectations of
ordinary men that these priest-philosophers would be "able
to regulate the great processes of nature for the good of
me" fell short. Today the tenants of sympathetic magic
appear absurd, but in their day they were legitimate
beginnings for observations of cause and effect, which
eventually ended with science. Ridicule and blame were
heaped on priests who failed to deliver when expected, so
they had strong incentives for improving their methods of
prediction. As Fraser says: "To maintain at least a show of
knowledge was absolutely necessary; a single mistake
might cost them their life." There was always a tendancy
to substitute stage trickery or sleight-of-hand for actual
knowledge but this tended to be found out and the best way
to appear to be knowledgeable was obviously to have it.
However one may condemn stage magic and the deceptions
of witchcraft as a cover for ineptitude, this specialization
did allow people freedom from manual toil to examine "the
properties of drugs and minerals, the causes of rain and
drought, of thunder and lightning, the changes of the season,
the motions of the stars, the mystery of life and of death."
These public magicians were "the direct predecessors, not
merely of our physicians and surgeons, but of our
investigators and discoverers in every branch of natural
science."

CLEASAI (kla-see),trickster from cleas, a play, trick, feat;

root klek, to play. The ability to out-manoeuvre others was
considered a supernatural gift. Plural, cleaithe (pronounced
cla-see), a trickster, As in cleas, a play, trick or feat, a
wile. Similar to cluich, to play from the Early Irish cluche,
a game Correponds with the German word lachen and the
English laugh. A person who deceived through artifice or
cunning, using word-magic alone or in combination with
jugglery and slight-of-hand. Also called the gille-nan-car,
the servant of one who twists, an artful dodger, a fraud.

The penultimate European trickster was the Norse god

Loki, who acted so badly he was hunted down by his fellow
gods and chained within a remote part of Nifhelheim, the
preserve of his daughter Hel. Loki corresponds with the
Teutonic god Laugar and the less-spirited English lubber-
fiend. Another relation is the giant known as Lob Lie-By-
Fire, not to mention the hobgoblins known variously as the
lob, lobby, lobbard or lubber, the smallest being the
lubberkin. It is no great jump from the lubberkin to the the
Gaelic lobaircin better known as the Leprachaun. The Ulster
Luchraman is probably intermediate with Lugh (Lookh) the
old Gaelic god of wild fire.

While he was never the equal of Loki, the great Lugh

was either very skilled or very tricky. When he was spent
to spy upon the Firbolgs he looked for work in the court of
King Eochaid. He was turned down because they already had
a harper, a smith, a champion, a magician, a druid, a
cupbearer, a physician and a goldsmith. But Lugh modestly
admitted that he was the expert in all these crafts: "Go to
your king and ask him if he has any my equal. If he has, then
I shall no longer trouble the gates of Tara." He afterwards
became a presence at the court where he served as an
undercover agent for the Tuatha daoine, who eventually
defeated the Firbolgs.

Maritime Canadian tricksters are legion and as Joe

Neil MacNeil says, "The fox has no tricks unknown to the
hunter." Crazy Archie was one of these hunters, "a
notorious character who was not wholly to be trusted..."
After one long bout of wandering, Archie arrived at a Cape
Breton homestead to find the woman of the house preparing
soup for her husband, who was ill in bed. Pretending that
was a medical doctor, Archie examined the patient and
advised against giving him chicken soup. So that there
would be no waste he drank the bowl to the bottom.
Afterwards he recommended that the man be wrapped in the
skin of a newborn calf as a cure for his illness, and the
woman became aware that she had been duped. Again, Archie
approached the local minister when he was in need of shoes.
The Reverand Sutar scribbled him a credit note to present to
the local cobbler, but the trickster suggested (somewhat
unsubtly) that promissory notes were of little value. When
the cleric went to feltch a few shilllings for the shoes,
Archie pocketed the note. When Mr. Sutar returned he also
took the money, noting that "the letter will get me the
shoes and the money whisky a drink." Later, Crazy Archie
returned looking for a place to stay the night. Being
unimpressed with the man's impositions, Sutar decided to
house him in a barn loft, telling his "guest" the
 accomodations were of a high order. As bedtime drew near
Archie insisted that his host show him to his room. The
minister entered the barn and climbed up ladder to lead
Archie to his bed. At that the trickster snatched away the
latter and cried out, "Since the bed is as good as you say it
is, shouldn't you be the one to sleep in it? I will sleep in
your bed."12

CLEACHD, a practise, custom, from the root qel, to destroy,

to hide, as seen in Lat. colo and the Eng. cultivate, to dig up
(in order to plant). Cf. ON goddess Hel and G. ceil, conceal.
Also matches cleas, play, trick, a feat and cleath,
concealment, hiding. The Eng. Celt and kilt.

CLEASA CLEITEAM CLEASACH, cleasa, cunning; cleiteam,

occult; cleasach, tricks. A tale from Eigg notes the variety:
“Dazzling tricks, artful tricks. Psychic tricks, magic tricks.
Weird mystical tricks. The cunning occult tricks of the
“ogam.””

CLEITH SHEANACHAIR, cleith, a stake, a warm place, cover,

a shelter; seanchaid, a reciter of ancient lore, historian, a
senachie.

CLEITECH, from cleit, ridged, a rocky eminence, from ON.

klettr, rock, cliff. Common in combination as northern
place-names, a boar. Cúchullain noted that it was “also the
name for a king, the leader of great hosts and Fessi is the
name for the Great Sow.” the chief totem-animal of Lugh. as
well as his consort. Note that “the pig-skin of Tuis (a
dialectic form of Lugh), which the sons of Turieann were
asked to bring to Ireland, cured all sick and wounded and if
dipped into a stream would turn the water into wine for
three days.” The seven pigs of Easal of the Golden Pillars”
were obviously the pigs of Manann for it is noted that they
“provided an inexhaustible feast for, if eaten on one night,
they would appear next day ready to be slaughtered for

12MacNeil, Joe Neil, Tales Until Dawn, Kingston (1987), pp. 170-172.
See also the traditional tale starting on page 173.
another feast.” See muc, saigh, sod and fessi.

CLETINÉ. cli, left-handed, left, awkward, slow, clever,

strong, wrong. teine, fire, left-handed fire, the spear of
Cúchullain coveted by Queen Mebd of Connacht for its
success as a battle-tool. Also called the uman-sruth, or
“bronze-stream,” from its appearance in flight. Mebd sent a
bard to ask that Cúchullain surrender the weapon to him.
According to the rules of common courtesy, the hero could
not refuse the request of a poet. In a nice sample of exact
compliance, Cúchullain flung the spear at the poet with such
force it ripped off his head, breaking the spear point in the
process. The stream in which the spear fell still bears the
name Umal.

CLICHD, CLIC, an iron hook, also a cunning trick, Sc. cleeky,

ready to hang another on a hook, ready to take unfair
advantage, having an inclination to cheat. See next.

CLI, CLE, left, as in ciotach, left-handed, wrong, wrong-

headed, Cy. cledd, Bry. kleiz, the root klei, iencline, oblique,
similar to claon, incline, oblique, squint, the Eng. lean. Not
attachments with cleachd, and the goddess Hel. See also
cliar and clibeag. The Eng. Celt and kilt.

CLIAMH SOLUIS, the “King of the Sun,” the Sword of Light.

Possessed by Nuada, brandished against Lugh’s spear to
create the shower of sparks that gave rise to the stars and
the worlds of men. An irresistible force once unsheathed.
Confers with the sword of Tyrr, the Norse god of war. See
also Caladcholg.

CLIAR, a poet, a hero, EIr. clergy, from the Latin clerus.

From this cliaranach, a bard, EIr. cliar, society, a train of
people, the clergy, from Lat. clerus, a clerk. Hence the
druidic bard or cliaranach, sometimes identified as “a
swordsman.” The Cliar Sheanachain, or “Senachan’s Lore”
was the mythic bardic company that went the rounds to the
consternation of the kings and princes of the realms. Hence
cliarchd, singing or feats. Note that poetry was considered
one of the magic arts. See cli and note connection with the
ON goddess Hel.

CLIAR SHEANCHAIN, Poet’s Company. Itinerate travelling

companies of bards, story-tellers, jugglers, muscians and
tricksters who quarter themselves, without inviation, on
well-to-do and hospitable land-owners, often remaining
until they became a grevious burden on the host. Asking
thme to leave invited magical satire. “The words of satire
had starnge power. They caused a man’s face to redden to
blistering, and the man satirized did little good thereafter.”
As a result these latter-day “druids” stayed at their will.
But there was an out: If a member of the household managed
to defeat them in a contest of wit (bearradairachd) they had
to depart immediately.

Walter Campbell of Muckarin, Argyll, went a little

beyond the rules of hospitality when his bardic company
overstayed their time with him. Campbell cut down an oak-
tree and partially split it with oak-wedges. He then called
upon the grumbling “druids” to lay hold on either side of the
gap while he drove the main wedge further into the tree. The
unsuspecting cliar did as suggested and Campbell
immediately struck away the wedge. The guests were now
left with their hands embedded in oak. While they were held
fast Campbell abused them so thoroughly that at least one
man died. Having offended the laws of hospitality this land-
owner was forced to move to the Mearns.

By 1579 these travellers were thoroughly detested

and in Scotland a law was passed stating that “common
menstralis” were likely to be confined, scourged and burned
on the cheek. Memebers of the cliar were actually hanged at
Edinburgh in the sixteenth century. Ever since that time the
Gaels have cited calamity by saying Is miosa so na an la a
chrochadh na cliar!

CLIBEAG, a trick, a wile. Tricksters were considered to be

men favoured by the gods, practitioners of magic. Confers
with clichd, a cunning act from the low Sc. cleiky, one who
is ready to take advantage, a tricky individual; cleek, having
an inclination to cheat, the G. cleasai, a trickster.

CLICHD, an iron hook, also a cunning trick, Sc. cleeky, ready

to hang another on a hook, ready to take unfair advantage,
having an inclination to cheat.

CLIOONA, or CLIODHNA (Cleena, Ir. Cleevna)), a daughter of

Gibann, the druid to the sea-god Manann mac Ler, all
residents of Tir nan Og. She encountered the human visitor
named Craban of the Love Spot, was seduced by him, and
purloined the grey horse of the sea to escape with him to
southern Ireland. She was lulled into sleep by the music of
Manann's bard while at the seashore and was then inundated
and drowned by a "tidal" wave sent ashore by the god.
Afterwards all such waves were entitled Tonn Cliodna, or
Clioona's wave. She was later reincarnate as one of the
triad queens of Munster, a seducer of young men and a
banshee, after the fashion of the Mhorrigan.

CLOCHAN, CLACHAN NA BH’ FOMHARAIGH, The Fomorian

Stones, now entitled the Giant’s Causeway. Supposedly put
in place by the sea-giants to connect Ireland and Scotland
beneath the ocean. At first credited to the sea-god Manann
mac Ler the “causeway” was sometimessaid built by the
“gigantic” human hero Fionn mac Cumhail. This geological
formation is now said to have arisen from the very slow
cooling of rock over millions of years. The crystalline
formations which are now seen were once deeply buried but
slow weathering and erosion have brought them to light as
pillars of black basalt. The column’s sometimes also
called the Giant’s Loom have five to nine faces each.

CLON, CLOMH, rest, repose, to counteract, subdue, a

narcotic, repose, medicine to induce sleep. Related to
caochail, to change, to die. Many of the baobhs started their
"residency" as herbalists, but soon found that what cured in
small quantity often killed if given in over-dose. When the
price was right, some of them were tempted to offer
poisons to customers who wanted to eliminate a relative or
enemy. It is noteworthy that the continental job-
description for a witch was "venefice", or poisoner.

CLOTHRA, from claoidh, to vex or oppress. A daughter of

Eochaidh Feidhleach who drowned her sister and had affairs
with each of her three brothers.They impregnated her with a
son who became high-king. He was entitled Lughaid Riab n’
Derg, “Lughead of the Red Stripes,” because his body was
divided into three sections, each having the physical
characteristics of one of the brothers. When Lughaid was a
man he begot a son on Clothra, a boy named Crimthann Nia
Nair. Thus we have the verse:

Lughaid Riab n’Derg to fair Crimthann

Was father and also brother.
And Clothra of the comely form
Was grandmother to her own son.
See next.

CLOUTA. OIr nom. Cluad, gen. Cluaide, earlier Cloithe. OCy.

Clut, later Clud, from which the Eng. Clyde. The Gaelic
Arecluta or OIr. Erchluad is Strathclyde. The root is the
Celt. clou, to wash. Confers with Latin cluo, to purify and
cloaca, a sewer. “ Like many other river names Clota is
really the name of a river-goddess. (William Watson, p.
44).”

CLUIGEIN, a little bell, anything dangling, from clag. Bell,

crash. Loud talk. These devices were used by Christian
clerics to disperse the Daoine sidh, who were eventually
driven from Scotland.

CLURICAN, lur. little darling, a male child. Confers with Ler,

the pagan god of the sea; can, singer. An invisible bodach
said to inhabit root-cellars, given his supper in exchange
for preventing leakage in casks of liquor and beer.
Originally seen as a resident of County Cork, and excepting
his occupation, the equivalent of the Leprachaun (see also
locairman).
CNAP STARRADH, a stumbling-block or obstruction.
Literally, a spear with a ball (eye) on one end and a point at
the other. E Ir. cnapp, from Norse knappr, a knob, from
which the Gaelic cnap, a blow. The second word is starradh,
to push or shove against a body. Technically this is the
more inoffensive end of a weapon known as the da sleag, or
dart. The Roman writer Dion Cassius alluded to this device
as the cnapstarra and guessed that it was used to “disturb
the enemy and particularly the cavalry because of the
rattling noise that it made.” The bronze ball was cast in
hollow form and filled with small stones to produce a noise
when it was moved. It may be guessed that the device was
used to keep allies in touch in the darkness. It probably
unintentionally upset the Romans, the chief purpose being to
create a din which would drive antagonistic battle spirits
from the field. This was the weapon used by the mortal-
god Lugh to blind Balor of the Evil-Eye, and is that seen on
the sepulchral monuments of the Celtic peoples.

CNARRA, obs., a ship, from ON. knorr, AS. cnear.

CNÒ, a nut, OIr. cnú, AS. hnutu, Eng. nut. Hazel-nuts were
once gathered for divination rites usually held at the
Samhain.”Young people still resort to the hazel groves in
order to get a supply of nuts for use in the divination rites
on Hallowe’en. The hazel nut was associated with the milk-
yielding goddess (Boann) because of the mil contained in the
green nut. (The Silver Bough, Vol. 1, p. 80).

CNOC, (knock) a hillock, council, court, wisdom, wisdom,

eminence, Preferred sites for meetings of a religious or
jjudicial nature, OBr. cnoch, a tumulus or weem, an
underground home or tomb; similar to ON. knakki, AS. knecca
and the English word neck, especially the nape of the neck.
Similar to the English word knoll. The lightly contoured
round-topped hills said to house the side-hill people known
as the Daoine sidh. The "fougous-refuge" or cnocs of Britain
are not a figment of the popular imagination.

The archaeologist Sean P. O'Riordain says that "only a

small proportion of known souterrains have been found by
formal excavation. The total number must, however, be very
large...Accumulations of charcoal, the presence of chimneys
and other evidence of occupation demonstrate that certain
souterrains were used as dwelling-places, however
uncomfortable, and not merely as refuges...They are found
all over Ireland. They also occur in Scotland where they are
referred to as "earth-houses" or "weems" (from umah, a
cavern) or "wags" (from uaigh, a grave). We find them again
in Cornwall where they are known as "fougous" In Iceland
they are merely rock-cut tunnels. At least one example is
found in Jutland. Their absence in Wales is puzzling and
they are not found on the Continent." Most are of stone-age
provenance although others were built at the beginning of
the Christian era.

CNOC AILEAG, Hill of Sighs; the Lat. halo, breath; Eng. in-
hale; EIr. ael, air, scent. Also called the Hill of A Stone, a
“hard place.” When the god known as the Dagda was pushed
out of Brugh na Boinn by his son Aonghas, he resettled this
hill at Tara. Here he was visited by Corrgenn a man of
Connacht. This guest got it in his head that his wife was
having an affair with Aedh, one of the sons of Dagda. This
was not the case but the visitor killed the young man while
his father looked on. Every one thought that the Dagda
would take immediate revenge but he did not thinking his
son might be guilty of impropriety. In retribution he did
demand that Corrgenn carry the body of Aedh on his back
until he found a burial stone exactly equal to the lad in
width and breadth. Corrgenn found the task less easy than
he supposed and it was many an ochone before he was able
to erect the cromlech. When this was done Dagda instructed
two builders to build a rath in this location: Garbhan cut and
placed the stones required for the residence and Imheall
took charge of the finishing work. The two finally sealed
the new “hollow-hill” with a cap-stone slab. This new place
was called the Hill of Aileac for the “tears of blood” which
Dagda shed on account of the death of his son. Corrgenn did
not survive the effort of carrying the corpse and erecting
the huge memorial stone. See Dagda.
CNOC AINGEIL, aingeal, light or fire, as opposed to ainneal, a
common hearth-fire. Similar to the Scandinavian ingle and
the Latin ignis. the fire knoll, which appears as the symbol
of Clan Macleay. or Livingston, whose ancient home was the
sacred Isle of Lismore. The Christians may have
deliberately confounded this word with angel, thus the "hill
of the angel." As they consider themselves descended from
Aedh Alain. one may suspect that they once had some regard
for the old pagan fire god Aedh or Aod. Livingston is the
englished form of Leibh's ton (town) which is still located
in West Lothian, Scotland. They had their house there, and
their chiefs ruled the highland Trossachs from the
fourteenth to the eighteenth century. It is certainly to the
point that these people "kept up the old Beltane fires,
despite local (Christian) ministers." through all these
centuries. Iain Moncriefffe says that the "fire-knoll"
"appears to be an ancient artificial mound, perhaps
connected with (pagan) fire works since Christian holy
places were usually sited on pagan places." Interestingly
the Gaelic form of Macleay is mac An-leigh or mac An-
leibh, a variant on of the word under discussion. Further,
"the Barons of Bachuil were known as muinntir a cnoc, the
“people of the hill.” Stokes defines muinntir as the
“monastic hill-dwellers”. The knoll itself is alternately
termed cnoc a bhreith, the “judgement knoll,” reflecting the
powers of life and death once held by the barons of this
clan. The Macleays were already in residence on Lismore
when Saint Lughaid, nicknamed Moluag arrived from Bangor,
Ireland to set up a monastery off the coast of what is now
Appin. He died in Pictland in 592. Considering the fact that
he was named after the old sun-god Lugh (whose name is not
far removed from leigh) it not surprising that his passing
was marked by an eclipse of the sun. St. Moluag's pastoral
staff, borrowed from a dead pagan druid, was bestowed upon
the dewars, or “keepers,” of the Isle of Lismore, who
became its hereditary guardians.

CNOC A BHREITH, BREATH, brath, judgement; the judgement

hill. Every community of any size had such a rise,
sometimes on an interval islandusually the nearest
convenient flat-topped hill. These hills were also termed
"laws", thus the word in English. The hills were frequently
multipurpose being the site of religious as well as secular
functions. It was these hills that the Christians attempted
"to make low" when their missionaries invaded Britain. See
next.

CNOC AN EIRIC, EIRIG, “stone of atonement,” “stone of

ransom.” a “hill of pleas.” In 1772 Pennant reported tghat
“such eminences are frequently near the house of all the
great men, for on these, with the assistance of their
friends, they determined all differences between the
people.” Thus eireacht, an assembly for this purpose. Thus
we find Ericstone near Moffatt, in Gaelic clach na h-eirce,
the “stone of atonement.”

CNOC BENN, Islay. Another “fairy-hill.”

CNOC MOD, a meeting knoll; especially applied to a hillock

within the grounds of Scone Palace at Edinburgh. In the
trees near the residence is the old "moot-hill" constructed
of earth from all regions of the old Scottish kingdom. Here,
the old Scots Kings stood to be inaugurated on the Stone of
Scone. Lesser hills were found throughot the countryside.
The “judgement seat,” of the Lord of the Isles was, for
example, a mod at Kilmachumaig, near Crinan. The Dukes of
Lennox had their meeting hill at Cathair in Dumbartonshire.
The MacNeills met at a similar mound in Barra.

CNOC SEANAN, hill of jewels. The sidh hills when opened

often displayed rich treasures affixed to the inner walls.

CNOD, from the English knot. The rite of “knitting the

knot”was intended to harm an enemy. In this case the magic
maker tied a number of knots along a thread or string,
“blowing a curse” at each as it was formed. Placed with the
personal property of the cursed individual this amulet was
thought to have a malevolent effect. This rite was also
taken up by the common folk at the Quarter Days, and
especially at Samhain, to tell the future. The rite was
mostly restricted to young unmarried women who were
advised to pass alone through a barn or secluded woods at
midnight. In a left-handed garter, constructed of thread or
string, she was advised to tie three knots while singing the
Gaelic version of:

I knit this knot, this knot I knit,

To see the sight I ne’er saw yet -
My true love in his best array.
Or clad as he be every day...

The garter was then laid under the maiden’s pillow

where it served the same function as “dreaming stones.”
See clachd brionglaid.

COARY, COIRE VRECHEN, BHRECAIN, coire, a cauldron, coirb,

vicious; ON vrece, vengeance; the whirlpool between the
Scottish islands of Jura and Scorva, said to be the home or a
physical manifestation of the Cailleach Bheur.

COBHTHACH, (Cowhach) nicknamed “The Slender.” A son of

Ugaine More, High King. He became ruler of Bregia (in the
south of Ireland) but was jealous of his brother Loaghaire,
who controlled Leinster. He became so obsessed with hate
he lost weight thus earning him his name coel. He planned
the death of Loaghaire, by pretending his own death. As the
Leinsterman bent to pay his last respects Cobhthach
stabbed him in the stomach. Later Cobhtach poisoned
Laoghaire’s son and heir and made his grandson eat his own
father’s heart. The trauma rendered the young man
speechless and thus he became known as Moen, “the dumb-
one.” Cobhthach now assumed kingship of Leinster, but in
exile Moen recovered his speech, and as a man gathered an
army of Gauls to gain his vengeance. He attacked his great
uncle at Dinn Righ and burned him and thirty warriors to
death in the great iron hall of that redoubt.

COBHTHACH COEL, (cowhach) nicknamed “The Slender.” A

son of Ugaine More ard righ. He became ruler of Bregia (in
the south of Ireland) but was jealous of his brother
Loaghaire, who controlled Leinster. He became so obsessed
with hate he lost weight thus earning him his name coel. He
planned the death of Loaghaire, by pretending his own death.
As the Leinsterman bent to pay his last respects Cobhthach
stabbed him in the stomach. Later Cobhtach poisoned
Laoghaire’s son and heir and made his grandson eat his own
father’s heart. The trauma rendered the young man
speechless and thus he became known as Moen, the “Dumb.”
Cobhthach now assumed kingship of Leinster, but in exile
Moen recovered his speech, and as a man gathered an army
of Gauls to gain his vengeance. He attacked his great uncle
at Dinn Righ and burned him and thirty warriors to death in
the great iron hall of that redoubt.

COCHAN, COICHAN, COCHULLAN, cow-led, disillusion,

disappointment, having special reference to the Daoine sidh
who were illusionists and magicians. Later the attire
favoured by robbers, hence Robin Hood and his merry men.
Note next entry.

COCHULL, COICH, a husk, a hood, Ir. cochal, OIr. cochull, Cy.

cwcwll. a cowl, perhaps from Lat. cucullus, see below. In
some parts hooded deities had associations of fertility and
healing. Rice has noticed that almost all the cult-figures
which are hooded are seen wearing the alba, or “belted
kilt.” Some of these deities are pictured along with ravens.
Since these birds are symbols of war it has been suggested
that the hooded-folk represent the healing aspects of war-
gods. Elsewhere the hooded ones are seen holding serpents
in their two hands and this figure is said associatyyed with
classical medicinal gods such as Aesculapius. The cochull
or hood may be the birth-caul of folklore and/or the
“travelling hood” of the mer-people. In any event it is
frequently mentioned in Irish mythology where it is always
imbued with supernatural significance. The most enigmatic
find of hooded “idols” is that of the genii culcullati
recovered from Housesteads in northern Britain. This a rock
engraved trio (like the bafinne or the tri de daoine). All
stand frontally revealled, except for the fact that they are
wearing heavy hooded cloaks. Their features are so
primitive it is uncertain whether they are male or female,
but the could be medicants of some cult such as that
devoted to Bridd. See next.

COCHULLANN, COICHANN DRUIDHEACHD, Ir. cochuleen,

coathulin or cothulin druith. cochull, a husk or hood, Ir.
cochal, OIr. cochull, Cy. cwcwll, a cowl, Lat. cucullus, ann,
within (the body), druidheachd, magic. The caul of the
unborn. The magical “cap” worn by the sea-people when they
travelled between the sea bottom and the dry land. The
equivalent of the modern face mask and respirator used in
“skin-diving.” Note also, cochan + leannan. hooded
concubine; driug, a meteor, a flash of light, a source of
portent. The Gaelic mer-women "instead of an entire dress"
(fish form) wore the cohuleen driuth, a kind of cap, without
which she cannot return to her subaqueous abode. (Gnomes
Fairies Elves and Other Little People, p. 370).”

This headdress corresponds with the "caul-cap", or

"birth-cap".the "cap of luck", under which the "lucky-people"
were born. "They used to say, There is one born well, with
the cap of luck, sure to be fortunate in every way." These
individuals were understood to be land-dwelling
descendants of the Fomorian sea giants and those of the
Tuatha daoine who had gone to reside in Tir nan Og. If they
carried their cauls always about them they were considered
free of any danger from drowning or death by fire. The caul
was considered the resting place of their befind, or second
soul. It was considered a valuable property in the practise
of witchcraft, and if stolen the person became "a rent-payer
to hell", an individual whose ventures always failed
regardless of effort or merit.

"Some people were lucky to be met in spite of having

red hair or other personal peculiarity. A fisherman said
that he had twice met such a woman when on his way to
fish saithes, and on both occasions had so much as he could
carry home. Others are just as unlucky to meet and you
would be sure to have disappointment in your errand (if you
met one). Women do not seem (in general) a sign of good. If
you are to make a "frith" and you see a woman cross
yourself. If a woman tells you the new moon is visible do
not look at it." (Celtic Monthly. p. 164). Note that “He who is
born with the ON. glükshaube, or glükshelum, the sigurkull,
or “holyhow” “which often seems to have the same effect
as the fairy hat, is predestined to fortune and prosperity,
like a Sunday child.” In Sweden the name for these
fortunate few is Lykke-Per, the “Lucky” or “Lokki person,”
one who “has luck” without percepitable effort. In Norway
luck is considered visited upon some men by the Lycko-
nisse, while in Sweden this creature is “the luck-bringing
brown-man, or brownie.”

CODRUM, from the Norse Gutt-ormr, the God-worm. Having

reference to the world encircling Iomungandr, The progeny
of Lokki and the giantess Angur-boda he attained such
proportions he was occasionally baited by his own tail.
When he bit it, the earth was subjected to earthquakes and
tidal waves. From this the family name Maccodrum. “The
numerous early Irish stories of supernatural water serpents
inhabiting lakes and rivers, including the catalogue of these
given in the Dunnaire Finn, and engaging in combat with
heroes, and the war waged on thes by the early Church
suggests that these traditions have remnants, reduced to
mere folk episodes, of an earlier tradition of composite
water-frequenting serpents, comparable with the imagery
of ram-headed, fish-tailed serpents of Celtic iconographic
tradition.” See cruim-domhainn, Nathair.

COIBCHE, “the right of purchase,” a dowry. An amount owing

the father of the fiancee. The amount decreased in
subsequent marriages. When the father died, the eldest
brother had the right to half the ordinary “purchase price.”
The coibche gave the husband title to the woman’s body and
children but she remained part of her birth-family and
retained her own goods and chattels from that source.

COILEACH, (culuch), the cock, cockerel; OIr. cailech; Br.

kiliok, "the caller", root gal, to call. Similar to Latin
calere, to summon. Latin, calere, the caller; English calends.
An animal used in the sport of cock-fighting, an inevitable
rite of the Quarter-Days. "The cock is considered sacred.
No one would willingly walk abroad in the night, as night
and darkness are pervaded by evil, but as soon as the cock
crows the most timid will venture out alone, no matter how
dark it may be. If the cock crows at an unusual hour it is a
sign of some untoward event. The cock that is hatched in
March has more effect against evil spirits than one hatched
in autumn, especially if it is black in colour." "

In a certain house in Uist a guinea disappeared from

the stocking. A suspicion, well-founded, it is said, fell
upon a noted character...Nothing was said at the time but
when the suspected person next asked for hospitality, the
inmates were about to eject him, when the cock flew down
from the couples, and flew about him with flapping wings,
so they permitted him to come in out of the darkness and
allowed him the shelter of the house." "A skipper of a vessel
lying in Loch Skipport on three successive nights saw from
his deck a curious phenomenon, a ball of fire, which came
from the north toward a dwelling-house on the shore, and
which always turned back at the crowing of the cock, doing
no injury to any one. The skipper went ashore, bought the
cock, and asked the people of the house to pass the night on
his vessel. As they watched on deck, they saw the ball of
fire approach the house as before and the house was
consumed by flames before their eyes. The owner was of
the opinion that it was a punishment from heaven for some
wrangling with his wife."

Animals were formerly housed with humans and any

sudden movements of the cock, or fowl in general, was
thought a bad omen. This same writer tells of a joiner who
was playing the parlour pipes within the sheiling as a
snowstorm swirled outside. "The cock suddenly came down
from his roots and began to crow and leap up flapping his
wings at the piper. The wife told him to stop (playing) as
the cock's behaviour foreboded ill." Those gathered about
the peat-fire had just began to surmise on the nature of the
disaster when the voice of a priest was heard at the door.
It was soon revealed that the victim had been the brother of
the man of the house,had become lost ina stormand had had
fallen beneath the ice of a nearby loch. In another case all
of the birds in the loft became agitated and flew about the
room. When they had settled it was seen that a patient in
the house, not thought to be near death, had expired of her
illness.

"The crofters very much dislike the modern (1901)

innovation of not being allowed to keep their beasts in the
house, and especially resent the exclusion of the cock, who
serves to keep out the Powers of Darkness." (all above from
Celtic Magazine, 1901, p. 144). The Highland “art” of
cockfighting was imported to the lowlands, where it
became particularly associated with Fastern E’en (the first
day of the fast of Lent). In the north and west it was known
to belong to the Imbolg (February 1). F. Marian McNeill says
that the boys of this region brought their fighting cocks to
school on this day in historic times. The animals became
involved in community approved fights the owner of the
coileach budha, being appointed the Candlemas King, the
ultimate loser, the coileach fuidse. All maimed and killed
birds were given to the schoolmaster.

In 1800, at Dornach it is recorded that the annual

cockfight took place in the court-room of the High Sheriff,
the “coronation” of the king being held afterward at the
school. “The seats behind the master’s desk were occupied
by “the beauty and fashion of the town,” some whom were
responsible for the devising and making of crowns. The
King and Queen of Cocks were called out and after a Latin
speech by the schoolmaster were led by a drummer and
piper on a “Trojan march” through the town.” This king
obviously represents the old sacrificial victim of pagan
times; the schoolmaster taking the part of the high druid.
The two forms of the cock appear to represent the alter-
egos of the Oolathair. See also Oichche choinnle, the “Night
of the Candles.”
COILEACH BUAIDHA, BUDHA, buaidh, victory, virtue. A
commonly seen Celtic name, sometimes used as a prefix (eg
Boudicea), The Old Norse, byti, to exchange; the German,
beute, booty; the English, booty. The victorious cock. See
entry immediately above.

COILEACH FUIDSE, fuidheall, the remainder, left-over.

Relates to the English words deal and dole. Fuidir, a fool.
The loser at cock-fighting. See two entries immediately
above.

COILEAS, psychology. The abilty to manipulate others, a

knack considered a gift from the gods.

COILLE, “woods-landers,” compares with Eng. Caledonia.

Northern Scotalnd, Mentioned in classical Latin as Caledonii.
Sometimes used to identify the clans living in the vicinity
of the Grampians. They were also called deu caledonii, the
“double Caledons,” possibly because they inhabited the
eastern and western slopes of these hills. In Gaelic the
form is dun chaillinn, the fort of the Caledonians. Earlier
this would have been dun-callden or duni-callen. The name
has become attached to a geological massif in south-
eastern New Brunswick, The Caledonian Uplands and to a
single Caledonian Mountain. Interestingly, these formations
resemble those of central Scotland.

COIMDHDHE, COIMHDHE, OIr. comdiu, lord. God, the Trinity. G.

meas, esteem,Similar to the Latin modus, meditor,
meditate, a mediator, a solver of problems. The Christian
God, the Trinity, OIr. comdiu, the Lord (of the Wind) from the
root kemb, wind. Note also coimheach, strange, foreign,
cruel. See trionaid.

COINCHEND. COINCHEANN, (kun-kann), A Fomorian warrior-

woman slain by Art when he rescued Delbchaem, her
daughter, from a prison tower in the Land of Wonder located
somewhere in the western Atlantic.

COINN IONGAR, dog with the blood of the gods. Also COINN
IOTHAIR, the fitful hound. The ever-present companions of
Cromm Dubh. His totem-animals. See cu.

COINCHEND. The wife of the male Morgan. A monstrous

warrior woman slain by Art when he rescued Delbchaem, her
daughter from a tower where she was held captive in the
Land of Wonder.

COINGEAL, a devouring opening in the sea, a whirlpool.

Regarded as an embodiment of an evil spirit. Chief of these
was the Scottish Coary Vrechen, considered a winter
embodiment of the Cailleach Bheurr.

COINNCEANN, the “high-headed one” with the “nostril.”

Pronbably a whale. One of two sea monsters killed on a
strand of Ireland. The bones were salvaged by Bolg mac Buan
and used to make the potent weapon known as the gae bolg.

COINNSEAS, conscience, reason. Thought to be a minute

living entity housed in the head; perpetually at war with the
sensual being resident in the heart.

COINT, an irresistible attraction, the negation of coinnseas.

All such snares were considered supernatural in origin and
beyond the abilities of most men to oppose.

COIRE AINSEC, cauldron, SIr. corre, ON, hverr, kettle +

ainsec, always full. "As with the Arab, so with the Irish,
any one who had partaken of food, was thereby sacred
against harm or hurt from any member of the family. A
person of rank had to entertain any stranger without
enquiring who he was or what he was or the wherefore of
his coming. Against the coming of guests the door must be
open and his fire must always have on it the "coire ainsec".
the undry cauldron. In the event that any household failed in
this duty the inhabitants were required by law to pay the
offended person his "enech-ruice" or blush-fine. See next
entry.

COIRE, AN, The Cauldron, SIr. corre, Cy. pair, Cor. & Br.
carez, ON, hverr, kettle, AS. hwer, Skr. caru, a sacrificial
vessel. See Corcadail, the keepers of Thor's kettle. In
Gaelic myth, the Cauldron of the Deep was the possession of
Ler, god of the sea, and was kept at the geographic centre of
An Domhain, the proto-world of the Fomorian sea-giants. It
contained an alcoholic fluid believed to be the source of all
poetry and inspiration.

At the conclusion of the wars between the giants and

the gods, the Dagda, the patriarch of the Tuatha daoine, led
a force into the undersea kingdom and stole the Cauldron, so
that ale and whisky became the ritual drinks of men and the
gods. In some of the myths, the Dagda is identified with
King Arthur. The kettle was given for safe-keeping to
Mhorrigan, the daughter of Dagda, a Fomorian on her
mother's side. This is the same Morgan le Fay encountered
as the step-sister of King Arthur in the medieval romances.
It will be recalled that An Domhain was described as a
circular floating island in the Middle of the Atlantic. The
kettle, sometimes refererred to as the Dagda’s Kettle, after
he purloined it, was said to have originally been located at
the geographic centre of this place. After it was stolen the
depression that was left was observed to have become a
snake-infested mud-slough.

In early mythology the cauldron was used by the

Tuatha daoine to restore dead warriors, but it was
destroyed by a Welsh hero, who levelled the playing field by
hiding himself in the vessel , finally using his immense
physique to burst it. There is a similar cauldron in Old
Norse mythology: When Odin's land gods invited the sea-
gods to the harvest festival they found themselves without
an adequate brew-kettle. Thus Thor and Tyrr were
dispatched to purloin a cauldron from the frost-giants,
which Thor carried off wearing it upon his head like a
helmet. While it existed among men, this source of god-
spirit was seen to impart “poetry and inspiration” and long
healthy lives to all who ate or drank from it. It was a locked
vessel inasmuch as it was not accessible to murderers or
boundary-stone movers.
 While it stood within Tir nan Og, or the “Land of
Youth” it was seen to give almost immortal life, the only
danger being death by misadventure. It was not until the
mainland of North America was encountered in1513, that
the Legend of the Fountain of Youth became a subject of
conversation and astonishment at the Spanish court. The
peninsula of Florida is clearly marked on the de Cosa map of
1502, but it was the experiences of Ponce de León that
eventually led to the idea that there was very possibly a
continent in the western ocean. Earlier visitors to that
region had heard the Indians say that there was a fountain
that could restore the dead and reverse the aging process on
an island named Bimini. Juan Dias de Solis, among others,
was said to have stumbled upon it “at a distance of 325
leagues from Hispanola (Spain).” Writing of similar
discoveries Italian historian Peter Martyr d-Anghiera said,
“those who have explored ann island which is called Boyuca
or Ananeo, have found there a fountain which has the virtue
that by drinking its water, old men are rejuvenated.”
Somewhat later this coast was identified with that
explored by de León. Running into the land at the place
where he thought this island might be located, the latter
explorer named the northern part of the peninsula Florida,
allegedly because he arrived at Pascua florida, or Easter
Sunday. The southern part, which he interpreted as an
island, he called Bimini, a name now applied to a different
place in the Bahamas. Ponce de León did not discourage the
rumour that there was a fountain of regeneration as he
needed all the backing he could get to get royal permission
to found a colony in Florida.

His story was upheld when Peter Martyr met a Lucayo

Indian, who attested to the fact that his elderly father had
gone to Florida and come away a new man. This Indian, the
captured by Spanish slave-raiders was taken to Spain,
learned Spanish and was baptized Andres Barbudo, a name
derived from the unusual fact that he was bearded, unlike
most southern Indians. This story was backed by other
reputable men including Vázquez de Ayllón, a high official
in the Spanish court. Most of these witnesses attested that
they had been prevented from actually seeing the spring by
the ferocity of the Indians, who had effectively beaten off
several packs of Spanish “tourists.” De Ayllón managed to
contact an Indian captured in a raid in southern Georgia.
“This man, named Chicorano is by no means stupid,” wrote
Peter Martyr,”and was able to learn Spanish with relative
ease.” Clever or not, Chicorano told a number of “tall-
tales” to anyone who would listen. His repertoire of mythic
places and peoples included a place he called Duhare where
the residents were all white-skinned and had red hair.
Their king was a giant named Datha, and their queen of
almost equal stature, had five sons, all nearly their equal in
height. Near this kingdom was Xapida, where pearls were
taken in great quantity and where more giants tended herds
of domesticated deer, which they milked, using the product
in cheese-making. He identified a third mainland kingdom
called Inzingnanin. Long ago, he said, a people had come
there by sea. This race had inflexible tails, like crocodiles.
In order to sit in comfort they constructed chairs with a
hole in the middle. A sea-people, like the Fomors, they ate
raw-fish, but because this product was lacking in their new
locale they quickly died of a deficiency disease. It was in
Duhare, however, that Chicorano said that the Spaniards
would find the fountain they sought. Here all men were of
the same age, and were continually renewed from drinking
the water.

COIRE CAILLEACH BHEURR, the Winter Hag’s Kettle. Same as

Coire-Mhorrigan.

COIRE CRUINN, the Round Cauldron. The circle is endemic to

pagan theology, representing the concept of renewability
and reincarnation. It is no accident that the Celtic holy
wells were built with circular stone walls in imitation of
the shape of the original “Cauldron of Life and Rebirth.” It
was generally supposed that this life-source was purloined
by the Tuathan “gods” from the sea-kingdom when they
followed the giants there after their defeat in Ireland.
 This “Kettle of the Deep,” was eventually buried at
the geographic centre of Gaeldom where it became the
astral-genius of Ireland.
Cup-and-ring markings are frequently seen on megalithic
monuments such as the cromlechs of Ireland and Scotland.
These are essentially cup-shaped hollows gouged out of the
stone, frequently seen surrounded by engraved concentric
circles. From the internal cup, a single radial line is often
seen drawn to a point outside the circumference of the
outermost circle. Occasionally a system of cup are seen
joined by a number of these lines, but most often they
simply end beyond the outside ring. These enigmatic
designs, “upon which no light has been thrown,” are found
on vertical and horizontal surfaces in Great Britain,
Brittany, and as far east as India, where they are termed
mahadeos, “great gods.” The fact that they are engraved
upon stones which the Irish call Cromm-leace corroborates
this, Cromm, being the dark-god, corresponding with the
creator-god Don. A leac is a flagstone, the word being
similar to our English “plank.” T. W. Rolleston has noted
European examples which are “richly decorated and
accurately drawn,” and he thinks they may represent
“diagrams or plans of megalithic structures.” He thinks
that the central hollows may represent burial chambers and
the circles, surrounding standing stones, fosses or ramparts
of earth. The penetrating avenues would then represent
doorways by which priests moved to and from some interior
holy spot or shrine.

More symbolically, we think the interior represents a

place of rebirth as well as that of
these rings have the look of the
reproductive organs in action, and
which they are engraved are more
symbols.
death. In cross-section,
human male and female
the standing-stones upon
generally taken as phallic

Something of pagan Celtic theology is embedded in the

sixteenth century Cymric work known as the Barddas. While
it is contaminated by Christian beliefs Rollestan says that
it does “speak of an independent philosophic system.” Not
surprisingly this “druidic” system supposes antagonistic
forces, that of Hu, or God, which is constructive in intent
and result, and that of Cythrawl (corresponding with
Cromm) the principle of destruction and chaos. Organized
life was thought to have arise at the will of the creator-
god, who created the primal substance of the universe as
minute indivisible particles each a microcosm of the primal
god-force. The innermost circle from which all else sprang
was called Annwn in the Welsh language, and this confers
linguistically with An Domhain, “The Deep.” It was thought
that this innermost place was one of primal life forms all
struggling to evolve out of chaos. Those entities that
succeeded were considered to move to an outer ring of being
where life was more “purified” having attained triumph
over darkness and evil. The third ring of being is termed
Infinity, a place inhabited by god alone. It is predicted that
“all shall attain to the circle of Gwnfyd (White light) at the
last.” In Celtic societies, the mortal god-king, and his
queen, were seen as the “fountain” and the “well” of
regenerative spirit, thus their place at the centre of the
community, within a holy circle which conferred with “The
Cauldron of the Dagda.” Stone fortifications were largely
“ring-forts,” the largest representing the belly of Danu or
Domnu, smaller ones being microcosms of the larger, all
relating back to the one source of life within the deep-
ocean.

COIRE DAG, The Kettle of Day. Lugh and Nuada were often
credited with the creation of the universe out of the void.
For a long while the brothers were content with observing
their new playthings, but eventually they were joined by
their sister Dag, who the English called “Day.” Note that
the Dagda is named for his part in her creation, hence Dag-
da, literally the “Daddy of Day.” Realizing that they
intended to people the planet that now embodied the spirit
of the Allfather, she noted that the earth was immobile in
space and that any residents of it would either live on the
sunlight side of the sphere in endless light, or on the dark
side, in perpetual night. The brothers corrected this by
shaking their universe until its parts fell into periodic
movements, the earth wheeling about the sun, the moon
about the earth, and all rotating on their axes. It was Dag
who decorated the world: “She was in charge, making the
things to grow. On the grass she put green saying, “It is the
best background colour!” She placed miscellaneous colours
on the flowers, on the fruits and on the growth of the fields.
She classified the things that the boys created as kind,
generation, gender, social order, assimilation, all according
to their contained spirit, to their reasoning power, and to
the laws of nature. Male and female she placed on land and
sea and air as well as within these elements. She made a
large pot (the ocean), the coire mor, “the great cauldron,
which was always filled with every kind of food and
provision, so that no living thing would go without
provisions.” See entries above and below.

COIRE DAGDA, The Dagda’s Kettle. Same as these others.

Latter day sennachies, or historians, have tactfully
stated that "Dagda's Cauldron" "came out" of Murias,
literally the Sea-Island of Fish. Like the Norse Vat of Ymir,
the Cauldron of the Deep was taken by force from the sea-
giants or Fomors, and this was at least part of the
contention that led to war between the land-gods and the
sea-giants.

Cauldrons exist as actual cult objects of the Celtic

people, a notable example being the Gundestrup "cauldron"
found in a Danish bog. This is actually a golden facing for a
less spectacular container and thought to represent loot
from a viking raid on Britain. This brings to mind the golden
cauldron discovered by Pryden in the epic Welsh story
entitled "Manwydan" and the cauldron of Diwrnach sought by
the companions of Olwen so that he may fulfill a marriage
vow. The Dagda's Cauldron is certainly the Cauldron of
Tyrnoc mentioned in "The Thirteen Treasures of the Island
of Britain" and again pointed out in Taliessin's poem, "The
Spoils of Annwn" (An Domhain). In both cases the kettle
was stolen from the Irish Kings by the Cymric-speakers,
dangerous expeditions to take it being justified by its
marvelous and useful characteristics. While this kettle
boiled the meat of heroes with great rapidity it refused to
sustain cowards. It was was also known to have the
capacity to restore life to the dead, ferrying them back
through the cauldron from the undersea kingdom.

Mircea Eliade guesses that the magic power of the cauldron

lies in its contents: "...cauldrons, kettles, chalices, are all
receptacles of this magic force which is often symolized by
some divine liquor such as ambrosia or "living water"...
(Water has the capacity) to confer immortality or eternal
youth, or they change whoever owns them into a hero, god,
etc."3 It is tempting to suppose that "usquebaugh", or
whisky, literally the "water of life" might have been the
alcoholic beverage which "stirred itself" within the
cauldron. Certainly, "The origin of Whisky is wrapped in
mystery...Usquebaugh was reserved for festive occasions,
and even then was used sparingly, for unlike the Saxons, the
Celt was temperate in both eating and drinking."4 Certainly
Irish or Scots whisky still contains sufficient "spirit" of
the Oolaithir, or brew-master, to revive severly wounded
men if
not place the dead upon their feet.

The Cauldron of the Deep appears to have remained in

Greater Britain for a number of decades becoming at last
the inheritance of Bran, sometimes named King Bendigeid
Vran, "the son of Llyr." According to Welsh legend King
Matholch of Ireland came to the larger island seeking the
hand of Bran's sister, Branwen. Following the marriage one
of the Welsh nobles who had not been consulted in the pre-
nuptial period insulted the Irish king by defacing his horses
with a knife. In recompense Bran was forced to
compensate him with a staff of silver, a plate of gold and
horses equal in number to those that had been damaged.
When this was seen to be unequal to the insult, Bran
offered"a caldron, the property of which is, that if one of
thy men be slain to-day, and be cast therin, to-morrow he
will be as well as ever he was at the best, excpt that he
will not regain his speech." Afterwards, the Cauldron went
back to Ireland, but Matholch abused Branwen creating a war
of attrition that spared few Irish or Welshmen.

In that conflict it is recorded that, "the Irish kindled a

fire under the caldron of renovation and they cast the dead
bodies into the caldron until it was full; and the next day
they came forth fighting men...Then when Evnissyen saw the
dead bodies of the men of the Island of the Mighty (Wales)
nowhere recucitated...he cast himself among the dead bodies
of the Irish; and two unshod Irishmen came to him, and
taking him to be one of the Irish, flung him into the caldron.
And he stretched himself out in the caldron, so that he rent
the caldron in four pieces and burst his own heart also. In
consequence of this the Men of the Island of the Mighty
obtained what success as they had; but they were not
victorious, for only seven men of them all escaped and
Bendigeld Vran himself was wounded in the foot with a
poisoned dart...the men who escaped were Pryderi.
Manawyddan, Tailesin and four others." 5

Seeing that death from blood-poisoning was immenent

Bran commanded that his head be cut from his body. At the
same time he arranged to have his soul transferred to a
wooden cabinet. Remarkably, the head remained uncorrupted
and talkative for eighty-seven years until an underling
opened the door to the cabinet and allowed his soul to
escape to the underworld. After this the skull was
installed at London in the White Mount (where the Tower of
London now stands). Facing Europe it provided powerful
psychic protection against invasion. Unfortunately the
Celtic King Arthur disinterred the head insisting that
Britain needed no more defense than his own strong arm.
After that, Greater Britain fell to the Anglo-Saxons and
became known as Angland or England.

The gods who stole the Cauldron of the Deep may have
carried it to the British Isles out of the western ocean, but
the first men to live within the islands walked there from
the east. By 11,000 B.C. the retreating ice sheet revealled
lands which could support little more than tundra. By the
year 10,000 wild horsea and giant deer had crossed land
bridges between Scotland and Ireland and around 8,000 B.C.,
the first post-glacial men investigated what is now
England. By 7.000 B.C. grasslands and forests were well
developed as the climate moderated and the first men found
there way as far west as Ireland. The rising waters of the
Atlantic had now covered the land bridge between Ireland
and Scotland, but the water level was still seventy-five
feet lower than at present, so that the water flowing
between the two land masses was only a few miles wide.
Across this narrow channel ancient men paddled their
dugout canoes and hide boats without much personal danger.
At this same time there was still unbroken land connecting
Britain with Scandinavia and some of the mesolithic people
may have come from this point of the compass.

COIRE MAR RI, Kettle of the Sea Queen, on Isle Maree, in

Loch Maree, close by Letterewe, Scotland. “Pagan rites
including the sacrifice of a bull occurred here as late as the
seventeenth century. They are recorded in the church
records at Dingwall, when a Hector Mackenzie and his two
sons and a grandson were summoned before the Presbytery.”
Earlier the island had been occupied by druids, who planted
oaks there for ritual use. When Saint Maelrubba arrived in
the seventh century he planted holly which symbolically
overran the trees. At the centre of the island are the
remains of his chapel, an ancient graveyard and a very deep
well. This latter is the “kettle” in question, “a place of
pilgrimage for centuries. Its water was believed to have a
powerful curative effect on people suffering mental
disorders. Until the end of the eighteenth century people in
Wester Ross were brought to the well to drink. During his
tour of Scotland in 1772 Thomas Pennant visited the island
and recorded that the patient first knelt before an altar
while attendants made an offering of money; he then went
to the well and sipped the holy water, when a second
offering was made. The performance might be repeated daily
for some weeks.” Pennant said, “It often happens that the
patient feels relief.” The well was also a wishing well and
beside it grew a wishing tree, where one could pay tribute
to the water spirits with coinage or a scrap of clothing. If
the former, the money had to be hammered edgewise into
the bark. The tree was still alive in 1877 when Queen
Victoria made her wish and drove home a coin, but it has
since died, presumably from metal poisoning and shock.

COIRE-MHORRIGAN. The famous whirlpool of Coryveckan, off

the Hebrides of Scotland, was frequently referred to as
Coire-mhorrigan , Mhorrigan’s kettle, in the old tales. Since
it is also named Coire-cailleach bheurr, the Winter Hag’s
Kettle, we know that Mhorrigan is synonymous with this
winter huntress of souls.

COIRE MOR. The land of An Domhain once had, at its

geographic centre, the Coire Mor, the “Great Kettle,” also
known as the Cauldron of Regeneration. A symbol of the
fruitful ocean, the kettle was said to be always full of food
and drink for men of a just nature. In addition, it was “the
source of all poetry and inspiration” for the giants, men and
the gods. The object which stood at the centre of the
ancient sea-world was a shape-changing spirit, for in some
of the tales we find the kettle supplanted by a head, a slab
of rock, or a fountain, or we find it referred to as the navel
of the worlds. It would seem that the “cauldron of the
deep” was sometimes an embodiment of the immortal
Oolathair, or Allfather, also known as the creator-god Dom.
Where it is represented as a standing stone or a fountain it
is a male element of regeneration, where it appears as a
cauldron or chalice, it is obviously female.

The Coire Mor correponds with the Old Norse

Hvergelmir, both are, translated as, the “Seething Kettle,”
or “Great Brewing Vat.” In Anglo-Saxon mythology the
waters of the sea were seen to rage and hiss, and the ocean
itself was often referred to as Aegir's, or Eagor's brewing
vat. In the English tales it was said that Aegir frequently
visited the gods of the land and that he sometimes hosted
them at great banquets held in his undersea kingdom. On one
occasion Aegir invited the gods to the harvest feast but
said that he lacked a vat in which to create mead.
 The gods Thor and Tyr volunteered to steal one from
the giant named Hymir. Fortunately, they arrived at his
keep when the giant was not at home and were met instead
by his ugly grandmother and an beautiful giantess who said
she was his mother. The lady explained that Hymir had a
baleful, or killing eye, that often slew quests with an
unintentional side-glance. She concealed the visitors
before her son came home. At that, mention that there were
strangers on the premises caused a wrathful look that split
the rafter carrying the pots which fell to the floor where
all but the largest was split. Fortunately the large vat was
exactly what was required being a mile deep and
proportionately wide.

Thor underwent tests of strength against Hymir which

finally caused the giant to make a gift of the kettle. Tyr
tried in vain to lift the kettle from the floor and Thor could
only manage the task after he had drawn his belt of strength
to the very last notch. In parting, the gods did great damage
to the giant's house in wrestling the cauldron out of the
kitchen. See this after the fact Hymir summoned a group of
frost giants who pursued the southerners forcing Thor to
kill them. Thor and Tyr then resumed their journey, the
former wearing the kettle like a cap over his head. Finally
they presented the kettle to Aegir who was then able to
brew ale for the harvest feast.

In the earliest days men did not possess the

knowledge to brew the alcoholic honey mead which was an
important part of such festival days. When Odin's Aesir
came into the northern lands they found them partly
occupied by sea-giants who were termed the Vana. They
fought inconclusively with them for several decades, finally
sealing a peace treaty by ritually spitting into a common
spitton. From the saliva, the gods magically raised Kvasir,
a being noted for his wisdom and goodness. For a time
Kvasir travelled the world answering questions, thus
benefiting mankind. The Svrtr alfalr or black drawfs
coveting this beings vast wisdom slew him and drained all
of his blood into three vessels. Mixing his blood with honey
they transformed it into mead, a fluid so inspiring that
anyone who tasted it immediately became a poet and singer.

Before the dwarfs could taste their concotion they

were pursued and cornered by Suttung, a giant out for
vengeance because of the killing of members of his family.
To buy him off, the dwarfs gave Suttung their precious
compound which he placed in the hands of his daughter
Gunlod. To keep it from the taste buds of men and the gods,
Gunlod carried the ingredients into a hollow mountain.
Unknown to this giantess Odin's ravens, Hugin and Munin had
spied out the location of this fabulous drink.

Odin having mastered runic lore and tasted the waters

of Mimir's fountain was already the wisest of gods, but
coveted the formula of this new liquid. After many
adventures he penetrated the hollow hill in the form of a
snake. Within he seduced Gunlod and persuaded her to let
him try a small drink of the mead. Given permission he
completely drained the available supply, fled from the cave
in snake form and took on his eagle shape to fly home to
Asgard. Suttung followed as a second eagle and was only
stopped when the gods saw the pursuit and built fires on
their ramparts, Odin barely made ground before he
disgorged the mead in such breathless haste that drops fell
into the world of men. Suttung, following close behind, had
his wings scorched by the flame and fell to earth where he
burned to death. The first mead was used to generate
additional drink and where drops fell in the world of men,
they were also used as the portions of rhymesters and
poetasters.

Gunlod's role appears to correspond with that of the

Gaelic goddess Dag, the daughter of Lugh. It will be recalled
that she created the Coire nan Dagda Mor and its contents.
Her name is similar to the Anglo-Saxon "daeg" which is akin
to the Old Saxon and Scandinavian "dag", their words for day.
There is a similarly named deity in Norse mythology, except
that he is described as male rather than female: "The
giantess of night had thrice married...and by her third
(husband) the god Dellinger was born another (son) of
radiant beauty, and he was given the name Dag (day). (The
gods) provided for him a chariot drawn by the resplendent
white steed Skin-fax (Shining-mane), from whose mane
bright beams of light shone forth in every direction,
illuminating the world..." 6

The first half of the day was termed "morgen" among

the Anglo-Saxons; the Gaels called it "madainn". Both words
can be shown to relate to the English word maiden, and in
the Medieval Romances (which revolve about Celtic
characters) Morgan le Fay is identified as the person
entrusted with the care of the Cauldron of the Deep.

The Cauldron was one of the treasures of the Tuatha

daoine who originally lived "in the northern isles of the
world learning lore and magic and druidism and wizardry
and cunning, until they surpassed the sages of the arts of
heathendom. There were four cities in which they learned
lore and science and diabolical arts, to wit, Falias and
Gorias, Murias and Findias. Out of Findias was brought the
stone of Fal, which was in Tara. It used to roar under every
(legitimate) king that would take the realm in Tara. Out of
Gorias was brought the spear that Lug had. No battle was
ever won against it or him who held it in his hand. Out of
Findias was brought the sword of Nuada. When it was drawn
from its deadly sheath, no one ever escaped it, and it was
irresistable. Out of Murias was brought Dagda's Cauldron.
No comapany ever went from it unthankful (i.e. lacking food
and drink).7

It has been claimed that the "northern isles" referred

to in the above excerpt were the northern islands of Greece,
but there is no certainty in this, the idea being based on
latter day tales that the Tuatha daoine invaded Ireland out
of the Mediterranean. An early Christian historian named
Nennius stated uneqivocally that all of the races of men
invaded Ireland from "Spain" but de Jubainville (Irish
Mythological Cycle, p. 75) has noted that that this early
writer was not referring to the Basque countryside but to
Tir Nan Bas, the Land of Death, and this corresponds with An
Domhain.

COIRE NA’ DAGDA. The Celtic Cauldron of Abundance was

sometimes referred to as the “Dagda’s Kettle,” a valuable
trophy taken at the despoilment of An Domhain. In a
strange and mystic poem by Welsh poet Taliesin, the
Cauldron is represented as one of the spoils of Annwyn or
Uffern, “brought thence by Arthur and lodged at Caer
Perdryvan , four times revolving, within the four-square
Castle of Pwyll; the fire to heat it warmed by the breath of
nine virgins, its edge rimmed with pearls, and it would not
cook the food for a coward or a man forsworn.” The poem
concludes:

Before the doors of Uffern (Hades)the lamp

burned,
When we went there with Arthur - a splendid
labour -
Except seven, none returned from Caer Vedwyd
(the Land of Youth).

In other Celtic tales, the Cauldron is represented as a

cornucopia, as a well, or a fountain, each a symbol of
abundance. This is also the nature of the Holy Grail as it is
represented in medieval romances. This cup, which Christ
used at the Last Supper, is said to have had curative
powers; the sick or injured who looked upon it and went
away would survive for at least a week. The guardians of
the cup who looked on it throughout their lives did not age;
“though they lived two hundred years not a hair on their
head turned grey.” The Grail knights, having no source of
food or water, apparently lived by it, shape-changing it into
all manner of food and drink. Each man, it was said, had
what he required à son gré, according “to his liking.” From
the word gré came the word Gral in French versions of the
tales, and from this we have “Grail.” “It was the
satisfaction of all desires,” said one poet of the elder days.
See An Coire.
COIRE NA GRIAN, Kettle of the Sun. Remotely the it was
said that the fire of the sun poured forth each morning from
the cauldron of the ocean, and thus the Coire na an Domhain
was sometimes spoken of as the “Cauldron of the Sun.” See
above entries.

COIREAN ABHAILL, the apple tub used in divination at the

Samhuinn. Bobbing for apples was once taken seriously, the
tub or cauldron used in the procedure being seen as a symbol
for “the lake of power, the white water of creation;” the
kettle of regeneration purloined by the “gods” from the
Water World. See above entries.

COIREAN AOG, Kettle of Death; the ancient name for the

ocean between Faroe and the Western Isles of Scotland.
Coirean is also applied to the Atlantic Ocean as it was the
site of An Domhain the keeping-place of the Fomorian
Cauldron of the Deep. The Anglo-Saxons used the same
simile, terming this ocean Aegor's kettle. Manann’s ship of
death starts its winter run into the western ocean from
this place.

COIRBIDH, a raven, coir, just, honest, good; but coirb,

accursed, perverse, vicious, evil, cross-grained, lewd,
carnal, impious, corrupt, hostile, wicked. Coirdheachd, obs.
to fight with a spear, coire, fault, crime, guilt, blame,
damage, defect etc. Also coire, the “destroyer,” a
whirlpool, and from the resemblance, any circular hollow, a
mountain dell, a cauldron or kettle.

COIRE BHREACAIN, the whirlpool of Coryvrechan in northern

Scotland. Brec, spotted, speckled, tartaned; brecan, plaid. A
residence of the Cailleach bheur, so called because she
ushered in winter at this place by washing her great plaid in
the whirlpool. Before the washing, close residents on the
land insist they can hear the coming tempest for three days
until “the cauldron boils over.” When the washing is at an
end all Scotland is said to have taken on the plumage of the
winter swan (see Bridd) and to be like the snow-queen,
“virgin cold and white.” This is embodiment of the
Cailleach is also termed Mag Molluch or the Beire. The
English speak of her ironically as the storm-wife or Gentle
Annie, while their ancestors knew her as the gyre-carline,
the “whirling old carl.” In earlier times this name was
applied to the whirlpool between Rathlin and Antrim in
northern Ireland. In that instance it is said that the pool
was named for Breccan, who drowned there with his
company of men and the loss of fifty ships. According to
some authorities this mariner was the son of Partholon, but
others make him the son of Maine, the soin of Niall of the
Nine Hostages. It is said that when Columba went siling by
on his way to Iona the “rib of Breccan arose from the
whirlpool “to greet his kinsman.”

COIREAN SAINNTE, the Saint's Pot, the kettle of avarice,

originally carried by greedy poets. A relatively small pot
made of silver, hung upon nine chains of findruine, or white
bronze. These were attached by nine golden hooks to the
points of nine spears carried by members of the poet's
travelling company. The coir sainnte always preceded the
poet as he entered the residence of a nobleman, chanting a
poem of praise which was chorused by his followers. The
chieftain, prince, or king was expected to make the pot-
bearers feel the weight of their office, the symbolism of
the spear-points never being lost on the gift-givers. Unwise
poets made outrageous impositions on their hosts because
few ordinary men dared the risk of being satirized. At
least, the man who refused a poet might become the
laughing stock of the countryside, but the most gifted in
this malicious art were known to have blighted the crops of
the region, or to have blemished kings, so that they were
unable to continue as rulers. The most greedy man of the
poetic tribe was the Ulster satirist named Athairne. On a
circuit through Leinster, a king hearing of his reputation
met him at the border of his territory and persuaded him to
"travel on over" with a presentation of money and cattle. A
one-eyed king in a lest fortunate countryside entertained
the poet and was forced to surrender his remaining eye as
payment for a poem of praise. Athairn'e malevolence was
only cut short when he became a victim of the Ulster-
Leinster wars, which were provoked by his over-riding
greed.

COISEUNUICH, a blessing, a consecration, con + seun, with a

charm. Word-smiths were considered practical magicians
able to assist or hamper men through the use of their voice.
Blessings were sometimes purchased from the aoir-ceairde,
or satire-singers, and these were always sung, thus the
reference to a charm, anciently the song of a bird.

COL, sin, W. cwl, OBr, col, Lat culpa, faulted, but possibly
the German schuld, crime.

COLUINN GUN CHEANN, the “Trunk Without A Head,” a former

haunt of the Macdonalds of Morasr, frequently seen on the
heighs above Morary House. A potector of the family he
particularly haunted the Smooth Mile which leads from the
house to the River Morar. After sunset people thought it
wise to avoid this property many bodies having been found
along its length. The ghost took care never to appear before
any other than a solitary wanderer. In the majority of
instances the bodies were found mutilated. He did no harm
to woman and children and was never seen by them. Finally
he was wrestled to a draw by Ian Garbh and promised to
withdraw from the district if he was not forced to face the
sunlight. As he retreated he voiced a lament which is still
known in that district.

COLPACH, COILEAPACH, CALPECH, a calf to the age of sexual

maturity. Obs. The duty payable by tenants to landlords at
the quarter days. Said founded on the ON kalfr, a calf. In
former times four calves were considered equal in value to
one cow. Also the mythic eac uisge, literally the “water
horse,” a creature known in Wales as the ceffyl dwr.

COLUMAN, COLMAN, CALMAN, a dove, Ir. and OIr. colum, Cy.

colomen, Cor. colom, Br. coulm, possibly from Lat. columbus,
columba.. In Celtic countries, the raven was typically
symbolic of war while the dove symbolized domesticity and
maternity. The dove may be thought of as the peaceful half
of the personality of the goddess Mhorrigan. There are many
instances of the external souls of people being represented
as resident in these birds and they sometimes have the
aspect of a banshee. On the morning of my wife’s death I
awoke to find a domestic pigeon in my bedroom. Our eastern
species, of the Columbidae is identified by bird-watchers
as a Mourning Dove. How this animal entered is totally
beyond understanding as the window was screened, but a
second pigeon was observed on the other side of the screen
and both were in obvious distress. Surprisingly, the trapped
bird showed no panic when I removed the screen and
released it. We have had one other situation of exactly this
kind, but in the other case the pigeon was seen to have
entered by way of fireplace chimney. This was not the case
the second time as that chimney was by then physically
blocked. Later in that same day a crow passed my path a
dusk, completing the approved pattern for an animal-totem
forerunner.

COLUM-CILLE, Eng. Columba. From columan, a dove; cill, a

church, a monastic cell; "the imprisoned dove." His original
name, changed at baptism was Creinthaing, or Crimthann.
One of Ireland’s premiere saints, buried side-by-side with
Patrick and Brigit. A sixth century warrior-exile born in
Donegal he was given the full name Columcille, the “Dove of
the Church,” when he became a priest. A son of the royal
house of O’Neill, he copied a holy text without permission,
and for this was tried by the High King and exiled. The
Battle of the Book followed at Sligo and in it 3,000
warriors were slain. After this Columa became a
missionary to the pagans of Scotland, establishing his
monastery at Iona. He supposedly exorcised the Loch Ness
monster, and converted 3,000 pagans. When the High King
decided to outlaw the overly pompous guild of poets, the
Saint returned to his homeland to successfully plead their
case. As he had sworn never to look upon Ireland again, he
arrived and left blindfolded. For years the Clan O’Neill
carried Columba’s book as a talesman of battle, but it is
now displayed at the Royal Irish Academy. In 498 a party of
Scots from northern Ireland had founded colonies near Oban,
at Loch Linnhe and on the Isle of Mull. In 560, three years
before Columbus sailed with twelve companions from
Ireland to Dalriada, the Picts rallied and almost succeeded
in driving these Scots into the ocean. "The Picts were
pagans, worshipping the sun, keeping high festival on
Hallowe'en and Beltane, the last being the festival-feast on
which our May Day is founded. Their religion was not of the
debased variety in Gaul, and they did not practise human
sacrifice. Nevertheless, their wizards regarded the
Christian missionaries with hostility as rival Druids.
Columba in his contact with these Druids, did not deny their
power nor the reality of their gods; he asserted only that
his God was the stronger: "My Druid - may He ever be on my
side - is the Son of God."" It is claimed that Columba vowed
that he would move beyond sight of Ireland, lest yearning
should take him away from his project to civilize the Picts.
He, therefore, sailed to Iona (the Isle of Bears) and drove
off two druid priests who attempted to pass themselves off
as Christians. The attitudes of Columba were not greatly
different from that of the druids. Almost his first act was
to surrender a portion of a finger as a "foundation-
sacrifice" for his monastery; he also seems to have
condoned the suicide of a monk named Oran with a similar
object in view. It was assumed that the spirit of the
individual was transferred, in part, to any structure erected
over it, and held that this secured the structural strength of
a new building. After Oran's death it was said that the
saint yearned for his company and instructed that his grave
be opened for one last peek. Columba was greatly surprised
when the buried monk sat up in place and informed the
brethren that the tortures of Hell had been exaggerated.
This "gossip" shocked Columba who immediately ordered a
re-burial. Until quite recently the Scots used to chastise
gossips as those willing to throw "earth in Oran's eye."
Columba's finger was apparently a useful charm against fire
and his name is still invoked on the continent as follows:

Sancte Columquille, remova dampna favilla

Arque Columquille, salvet ab igne domus.
To establish his dominance over the old religion, Columba
set his prayer-station directly upon an inland knoll known
as the Sidhean or "the Hill of Visions." The monks soon took
up the usual business of copying and illuminating
manuscripts, but they also bred animals, including seals.
The biographers of this saint say he was the first outlander
to cross Loch Ness into the kingdom of Brudd (a male
throne-name, the equivalent of Bridd). There he failed to
convince the monarch, but converted Broichan, a hostile
druid attached to the court, by demonstrating his "magical"
ability to tack a sailing ship against the wind. Columba once
said, "...the Church is my mother, and my country is where I
can gather the largest harvest for Christ." Nevertheless, it
can be argued that his beliefs were coloured with
superstitions and strange prejudices: He once remonstrated
a young monk who had upset a pail of milk, because he had
not blessed the pail and thus exorcised the resident demon.
When an ex-slave applied for asylum Columba made him pay
his purchase-value to his former owner before entering the
community. Again, when a youngster peeped at him while he
was praying, he instructed a crane to peck out the boy's
eyes. He died before his altar in 597 having just completed
a reading of a portion of the Psalms. A storm raged at the
time and this was taken as a bad omen. Indeed, by 795
Norse raids had become so persistent, his bones were
unearthed and moved first of Dalriada and then to Ireland,
where some say they were interred at Downpatrick along
with the remains of Saint Patrick and Brigid. In 1204
Culdee Christianity was failing and the papacy seized
control of the Iona community and a Benedictine monastery
was erected. By the sixteenth century all had fallen into
disrepair and the Calvinists permitted looting and pillaging.
In the seventeenth century the place had returned to the
dominion of the nature spirits, but a little later the ruins
were partially restored under the Church of Scotland.

COL, sin, especially incest, crime, stain, prohibition,

impediment, obstacle to be overcome, Cy. cwl, OBr, col, Lat
culpa, faulted, but possibly the German schuld, crime.
COMAS, COMUS, power, Ir, cumas, EIr, commus. power,in full
com + mestu one who stands in judgement of others. The
acquisition of power was
considered the legitimate function of all living beings in
the pagan world.

In the days when there were no permanent leaders of

men power was recognized as a temporary attribute.
Among the primitives any man who could raise a following
became the chief of a war party. In some tribes he might
maintain absolute control of those who followed for the
duration of the expedition. This elevated state lasted as
long as the band's interest in war-like play.

Before physics became a science, primitive men

understood that physical force was any push or pull
resulting in motion, and formulated the idea that work was
force acting through a height or distance. Power was
understood as the work done in a unit of time. This idea
was extended to psychic concepts and the most powerful
men and animals were seen to act, mentally or physically,
with greater force or speed than others of their kind.

At that, the greatest power was seen to reside in the

natural world, where it periodically acted against men in
violent movements of fire, earth, wind and water.
Considering this, the early hunter-gatherers probably
supposed that ultimate control must lay with a creator-god
whose will was channelled through lightning, vulcanism,
earthquakes, hurricanes and whirlpools. The creator god
was often left unnamed, it being thought presumptuous and
dangerous to draw his attention by referring to him
directly. Early on, it was noticed that the god behind nature
was quixotic, a dangerous easily aroused enemy and an
unreliable ally.

Some men may have privately thanked this creator for

their existence and the world within which they found
themselves, but the father of all things was rarely credited
with much continuing interest in his universe. He was
thought to stand outside of time when he started the
celestial mechanics of the sun, moon and stars. It was
further suggested that he provided the life force inherent in
plants and animals, but the mortal gods were often credited
with actually creating life.

Some pagan philosophers suggested that the supreme

god suffered from boredom and, on a celestial whim, divided
his "cumhacd", or power, among three elemental gods of
fire, wind and water. In doing so, the one god appears to
have shielded his creations from the fact that they were
divisions of a single force destined to reunion at the end of
time. The vital spark given these gods was known to the
Gaels as "rong"; the Anglo-Saxons called it ghost; the
Anglo-Normans, spirit. Thus the elemental gods used to be
referred to as god-spirits or god-ghosts. Like the creator-
god, these three god-spirits, or elemental gods, were
generated out of primal chaos. The Norse scalds, or poets,
declared that before the world existed there was nothing
where our earth now stands but the Ginnungagap (Beginning
Gap) , "whose depths no eye could fathom, as it was
enveloped in perpetual twilight. Yet in the beginning, when
there was no earth, nor sea, nor air, when darkness ruled
over all, there existed in this place, a powerful being called
Allfather, dimly conceived, uncreated, unseen. (Moreover)
whatever he willed came to pass." 8

COMHAIRE, obs., a forewarning, certainty, a sure sign, EIr,

comaircim, I ask (advice), an outcry, clamour, an appeal, OIr.
com + arc, I ask (the spirits). Forerunners were warnings of
painful happenings in the future. People with "the two
sights" were thought able to send their spirit-runner into
the future for information of personal importance.
Forewarnings usually came to them as visions (a seeing
through the eyes of the runner) but sometimes future events
were overheard, or felt or even smelled (again through the
sensory apparatus of the spirit). A forerunner might be the
ghost of a living individual and herald nothing more than an
imminent visit: "A forerunner can be when you see a living
(image of a) person... (It meant) A stranger was going to
come. You'd see a forerunner of a stranger...". On the other
hand, observing one's own image might be a bad omen
particularly if the forerunner approach for a face-to-face
confrontation. "There used to be a theory that if you saw
this forerunner early in the morning it was going to take a
long time (before death) but if you saw it late in the
evening it was going to happen very soon.". Quite frequently
the forewarning was hear as a banshee wail, as three
knocks on a door; or observed in the approach of a totem
animal or a ball of pure light. The latter form of
forerunner, "a big ball of light with a tail" was known in
Gaelic as the "fear dreag" (which, see).

COMRAICH NAN BARD, “sanctuary of the bard.” Under the

Gaelic system the dwellings of these poets were sacronsact
against the invasion of armed warriors. There is still a
place so named at Staoligearry, the official residence of the
MacMurray family, whose members were traditional bards
to Clan Ranald. The right of sanctuary was passed from the
Celts to Christian clerics. The physical limits of sanctuary
used to be termed tearmann. See Carroghdail.

CONAIRE MOR ARD RIGH, the son of Feidlimid mac Tuathaland

a third century high-king of Ireland, Conaire Mór, was also
entitled Conn of the Hundred Battles. This genealogy is far
from certain for there may have been a “crow” in the
woodpile. Aonghas married a swan and Cúchullain’s
mother had been “carried off” by birds, so the seduction of
Mess Buachalla “by a mysterious bird-god from the Land of
Youth,” seems almost commonplace. In this instance Mess
Buachalla was pregnant before her marriage to the high
king, but Conaire appeared to be in the succession, and was
eligible for selection at the “bull-rights” on the death of
his “father.” In ancient Ireland the eldest son did not
proceed to the high throne as a matter of divine right but
had to be selected by the will of his clan, and sometimes
his right of accession was determined by the “bull-feast,”
In this rite the animal was put down and a druidic diviner
ate and drank the flesh and blood, retiring to sleep and
dream of the legitimate king.

In this particular case, the “bull-rite” had revealed a

naked boy walking the road to Tara. In the countryside
Conaire was playing an outdoor game with his three foster
brothers when he saw birds circling toward him. He quickly
got out his rock and sling and was about to try his luck,
when the birds settled and shape-changed into warriors.
One of them stepped forward and identified himself as the
Neglam, the “king of thy father’s birds.” From this it would
appear that the “bird-god” was the shape-changed Aonghas
Ög, or someone of similar importance in the western world.
This royal messenger strongly advised Conaire against
killing his totem animal, outlined the nature of the taboos
he needed to observe, and suggested it would be profitable
to shed his clothing and take a walk toward Tara.

Following this advice, Conaire soon found himself

declared high-king of Ireland. Conaire must never had the
hand of the earth-goddess though it was said that, “No man
slew another in Erin during his reign, and the voices of men
seemed sweet as the strings of lutes. From mid-spring to
mid-autumn no wind disturbed a cow’s tail.” Disturbance
came at last from Conaire’s three foster brothers, who
were born thieves, evil, proud and not very adept at their
trade. They were frequently taken red-handed, but Conaire
could not put his former playmates to death. He did,
however, banish them, suggesting that they find some
foreign land to ravage. On the seas around Britain they
found Ingcel, the “One-eyed,” a son of the King of Britain
(England). Joining forces, they helped this fellow attack the
fortress of his family, reducing Ingcel’s father, mother,
siblings and their holdings to black ruin in a single night.
Looking for other diversions, these pirates gathered like-
minded souls, including the seven Mainn brothers, the sons
of Ailill and Queen Mebd of Connaught.

These creatures made their descent upon Ireland,

taking land on the Dublin coast near Howth. Hearing of this
Conaire headed in their direction and found himself, one
night, not far from a Leinster hostel. Unfortunately the
noise of the royal cavalcade was easily detected by pirate-
spies who informed the others and they marched against
this safe-house. Conaire could not marry the sovereign
bride of Ireland as he was a direct descendant of king
Eochaid who had caused the Daoine sidh nine years of
warfare. And now she came seeking postponed vengeance, a
solitary hag at the gate of the hostel. It was said that she
had shins “as long as weaver’s beams,” and that her limbs
were “as dark as those of a stag-beetle.” Her mouth was
twisted and the hair of her head reached to her knees over a
grey wool mantle. Not knowing who this might be, but
seeing that she looked like a witch,

Conaire asked what foretelling she might have for

them, and she replied: “Neither fell nor flesh of the king and
his house shall come from this place except that which the
birds scavenge in their claws.” A little frightened at this,
the king was about to shut the doors on her when the woman
asked for admission to the hostel. Conaire remembered that
it was one of his taboos that no person should ever enter a
place where he resided after sunset, but he also knew that
the laws of the hostel made it mandatory that she be
allowed entrance.

The creature who was admitted was the ill-omened

Baobd or Mebd, the warrior-spirit of the Mhorrigan. Almost
immediately an attack commenced: one of Desa’s sons
rushed the hostel, but his head was cut off and flung back at
the enemy. The pirates now fired the hostel, but this was
put out from within with wine and the various liquids that
happened to be stored within. At last Conaire and his
supporters came out into the night, and the reavers and
mooncussers were met and routed. But Conaire, suffering a
terrible thirst from fighting, lay exhausted and sent a cup-
bearer after water. By the time of his return the pirates
had counter-attacked and all were dead excepting Conal of
the Victories, who alone bore the news to people at large.
Thus it was that the Daoine sidh regained some ground for
the losses that Midir had sustained many years earlier.
Conaire’s son-in-law, who was his namesake succeeded
him because his son Art was still a child and ineligible for
election. Conaire II was chiefly remembered as the father
to the Cabri brothers, who were the first of the Scots to
settle Alba.

CONAL ARD RIGH, conal, the Yellow plague that hit Ireland in
the Middle Ages (see entry further down). High King Conal,
“the fruitful one.” 560-574 A.D. The fifth king of the
Dalriadic kingdom in Argyllshire, which was then called
Tir-Chonaill. He was resident at An Torr, a “mountain” 613
feet in height, and was a progenitor of Clan Neil and a
kinsman of Saint Columba. When Columba was forced to
leave Ireland in 563 he lived for a time at Caisteal Tor, and
was then granted Iona at the leave of this monarch.
According to tradition Columbus made a home in a cave on
the west shore of Loch Caolisport.

CONALL, CONAL CERNACH, conall, the befind of childhood,

the Gaelic god of love, corresponding with Lugh. The word
implies love, friendship, fruitfulness, an ear of corn. He was
subtitled Conall “of the Victories.” A son of Amerigin and
Findchaem, a warrior of the Red Branch, foster brother to
Cúchullain. He avenged himself on Cúchullain’s killers. He
eliminated Mesgora mac Da Tho, king of Leinster, and took
his grey matter, mixing it with lime, to create a magical
“brain ball.” With this he attempted to put out the lights for
King Conchobhar mac Nessa, but merely stunned him. The
brain ball did, however, remain lodged in his brain and A
rise in blood pressure dislodged it causing his death seven
years later. Anne Ross has suggested that the descriptive
for Conall may be cernach, “having angles or corners,” the
more usual form for victorious being buadach. She thinks
there is a similarity between Cernach and Cernu, attaching
this character to the horned-god species. In an early
adventure this man is represented as a hero-ancestor and
guardian of his province. A wandering champion he once
travelled to Europe with Fraeoch (another supernatural)
hoping to rescue that man’s wife, children and cattle, all
stolen by a Continental enemy. At the foot of the Alps the
two heroes were warned by a baobh that their chore would
be difficult since Fraeoch’s wife was within a prison
guarded by a terrible serpent. Surprisingly the hero was not
displeased to hear this, and when he approached the snake it
simply glided into a complacent girdle for his belt, and
remained quietly in place while the two Gaels ravaged the
fort and gained their end. One important aspect of all
horned-gods was their close relationship with totem
serpents, the latter representing fecundity and wealth as
well as success in rapine and plunder. See nathair and note
that one aspect of the creator god was a serpent.

CONAL BUIDHE, Yellow Conal; any sweeping pestilence or

disease. From conal, love, fruitage, thus a contagious
disease spread by close contact. The root is curaidh, a
champion, conqueror; Ir. curadh, EIr. cur, , a hero, an
obstacle (for others) + buidhe, yellow. The key word here is
Bui a short form of the word yellow which identifies the
withered and yellowed Cailleach bheurr, alternately known
as the Winter Hag, Sheila, or Sterile Nun. As Bui, this triad
goddess, a one-eyed, hairy creature of huge proportions had
complete control over the three harshest months of winter,
those from November 1 to February 2. In the Dictionary of
Irish Mythology it is said that “she was the wife of the god
of arts and crafts, Lugh.” This is not the whole story, as
she is more commonly seen allied with Bel, the god of death.
It appears that she was actually reincarnate as Caer
Ibermeith or the Samh (i.e. Summer) when she coupled with
Lugh. In point of fact, the god of the sun and his mate, the
goddess of summer, are best perceived as alter-egos of the
death-god and the goddess of winter, rather than as
separate personalities. It is noteworthy that the harsh
months are entitled greine lugha, literally the months of the
“ineffectual sun.” The winter sun is washed out and
yellowed at this time, thus the supposition that Lugh was
dominated through these months by this powerful female
figure. She is also, patently, the goddess of death for souls
lost on land, and it was her host of dead spirits that rode
the northwestern, mid-winter wind down from the reaches
of Dun Sciath, the Fortress of Shadows. Hence she is the
plague personified, her colour being that associated with
puss and decay.

CONAND, CONAING or CONCINN. “Peevish.” The son of Ferbar

he was the leader of the Fomors who built a tower on Tory
Island. This may be the same crystal tower later occupied
by Balor of the Evil Eye. He levied tribute from the
Nemedians who revolted and attacked his stronghold. He
was killed but his brother Mordc avenged his death.

CONARAN, conar, a path, a way. The sidh-ruler of Corann, in

northern Connacht, Ireland. Angered at the presumption of
the Feinn when they took to hunting his lands, he sent his
three sorceress-daughters to the Hill of Ceòscorran
(Keshcorran) to take vengeance. There the ladies, who are
the befind, or Fates, were found spinning “left-twisted
yarn,” on sticks of holly. To observe them more carefully,
the warriors penetrated the opening to their cavern and
became entangled in a spider-like web. Seizing swords, the
women were about to kill Finn and his companions when Goll
mac Morna arrived and cut two of them down. He bound the
third whose name was Irnan and forced her to release the
men in return for her life. She later returned to the hill as
a warrior-hag and demanded and got one-to-one combat
ending with her death. The Fiann then sacked Dûn Conaran
and left it “a heap of glowing embers.”

CONCHOBHAR MAC NESSA, (Conachoor). King of Ulster during

the Red Branch Cycle. His mother Nessa was queen to
Fachtna Fathach, but remarried Fergus mac Roth, the next in
line, on condition that her son Conchobhar be allowed to
experience the high-kingship for a year. At the end of that
time Ferghas was not allowed to return to his post. He was
once married to Queen Mebd of Connacht, but later married
her “sister, “ Ethne. He fell in love with Deirdre but rather
than wed him she eloped with Naoise and fled to Alba. Using
Fergus mac Roth, who was persuaded to serve under him,
Conchobhar persuaded Naoise and Deidre that they were
permitted to re-enter Ireland. While they were staying at
the Red Branch hostel Conchobhar arranged the death of
Naoise and his allies and Deirdre killed herself. Ferghas,
appalled by this treachery offered himself as a warrior to
Ailill and Mebd during their war against Ulster. Even
Conchobhar’s druid, who some said was his father, cursed
him and Emain Macha for his double-dealing. In a later war
the High-King was ambushed by the Connacht warrior name
Cet, who used his sling to implant a “brain-ball” in the
monarch’s forehead. Conchobhar survived this attack but in
a rage, seven years later, the cyst carrying it burst with
fatal effect, It was during this reign that Cúchulainn had
has adventures and this was the height of power for the Red
Branch knights.

CONDRACHD, CONTRACHD, mischance, a curse, EIr. contracht,

from the Latin contractus, shrinking, contraction. It was
frequently reported that curses ended with the shrinking of
a body part (such as the head) until death ensued. Contraigh,
the neap tide, an effect caused by nature spirits.

CONGANCHAS MAC DAIRE. The brother of Cu Roi, he ravaged

Ireland with impunity because he had a very thick hide. He
married Niamh the daughter of Red Branch champion
Cetchair. She told him that the giant could only be killed by
a spear penetrating the calf of his legs, and this is how he
was overcome.

CONNACHT, CONNACHTA. conn and nathair , roughly, those

not related to the Allfather. The Fomors were banished
from Ireland after wars with the Tuathans and the
Milesians, but it is revealed that some of their kind
returned to this western province in historic times. This
principality was also known as Tir Cruachainn , the Land of
the Hip, Heap or Hump. The word cruachainn is comparable
to the Norse hraukr. the almost obsolete English rick. Rath
Cruachainn was, of course, the hill upon, or under which,
Queen Mebd sat (and still sits) in state. As we have
observed she was the reincarnate Mhorrigan, a daughter of
the House of Donn. This noteworthy entry to the underworld
was said to be guarded by huge black dogs. As it originally
stood, Connacht stretched from the Shannon to Donegal
incorporating County Cavan. The Fomors made their last
stand within its bounds and off the north west coast stood
Tory Island, the famous redoubt of Balor of the Evil Eye.

CONN, “Prudent,” having sense. One of the brothers of Ler,

the ocean god. He and his siblings were turned into swans
by an evil step-mother. Also Conn of the Hundred Battles.
Before his kingship he and his followers were enveloped in a
magic mist and invited to a hollow hill where Conn met the
queen of Sovranty, a girl seated on a crystal throne wearing
a golden crown (the Bridd). Lugh also appeared and
prophesied concerning Conn’s descendants who he said
would rule Ireland (which they did: 177-212 AD).

CONNAIRE, trickster, a wolf in sheep's clothing, "a

Cornishman's hug." See conal buidhe, above. The first word
is combined with aire, native watchmen subverted to a
foreign cause.

CONNLA, connlach, straw or stubble, a rustic. A Quarter-

Day victim. The unfortunate son of Cúchullain, born to him
and Aoife in the Land of Shadows. Under a geis not to give
his name he was attacked and killed by his father.

CONNLA MAC CONN. It is said that Conla ruaideach, of the

“fiery hair,” first saw intimations of his fate when he
stood with his father Conn on the heights overlooking the
Western Sea. There the two men were approached by a
woman dressed entirely in white. Only Conla could see her
and when he asked where she had come from, she replied,
“from“the Plains of the Ever Living, where there is no sin or
death. There we holiday the whole year, in fact we have no
need of holiday for each day is a joy. In all our pleasure we
find no strife or immorality. And because some of us have
our homes beneath the green mounds, men call us the sigh.”

The king and his company were greatly surprised to

see Conla carrying on a conversation with “empty air.” The
king said, at last, “With whom art thou talking?” At this
the maiden became apparent to him, saying, “Conla speaks
with me, whom neither age nor death can touch. I love your
son, and I have come to call him away to Magh Mell, where
Boadag (the old karl, a mate of the Badb) is king. That is
the kingdom where there has been no complaint or sorrow
since the elder days Turning to Conla, the young maiden
said, “Now Conla, come away with me. In the west a fairy
crown awaits thy red head. Come, and I promise never will
your present comeliness fade, and your youth will last even
until the last day of judgement.” The king fearful of this
apparition, called his druid quietly to his side and asked for
a spell than would drive this unwanted sigh back to her
homeland. But the druid said, “This is no mortal, and the
task you set may be too great for my magic.” Nevertheless,
he made the attempt, addressing his words to the place
where the woman’s voice could be heard, although she
remained invisible to most of the company. At these words
the woman began to fade, but before she vanished threw a
golden apple in Conla’s direction.

Impulsively he caught it, and would not release it

from that time. It was said that the boy would not
afterwards take food and drink, but would only chew at the
apple, which regenerated itself as he ate. As he consumed
the fairy-food there grew within him a lust for the fairy-
maiden, and at the end of a month, she again materialized
before him and his father on the Plain of Arcomin, and again
entreated him to travel with her to “the Plain of All
Pleasures.” Conn quickly called for his druid, but the
maiden faced him saying: “Oh, mighty Conn, of the Hundred
Battles, the druid’s power is not to be loved, and has no
honour whatever in the west amidst people who are upright.
The Law will presently come, and when it does, the druid’s
spells mu

st fail, for they come from the lips of the black

demon, whose power is nothing!” Seeing some truth in this,
Conn turned to his son, asking what he wished, and the lad
admitted that a longing for this maiden made her
irresistible. When the visitor heard this she responded,
“The ocean is then not as strong as the waves of your
longing? Come with me then in my curragh . Soon I promise
we will sail within Boadag’s realm. I see the bright sun fall
into the ocean; yet far as it is, we will be with it before
dark. There I promise is a place worthy of your desires, a
land always joyous to all who seek it. Only wives who are
maidens dwell there, and there we will live together in
joy.” When this speech was done nothing could hold Conla
who rushed to the beach and sprang into “a gleaming,
straight-gliding crystal canoe.” As all the courtiers
watched the :”canoe” glided effortlessly away over the
bright sea until it was lost at the setting of the sun.

CONMAICNE REIN. This was the mountain in Connacht where

the Tuatha daoine made their first appearance in Ireland.

COPLAIT, one of two druids (the other named Mal) working

at Cruachan palace (the one-time redoubt of Queen Mebd)
when Saint Patrick came to Ireland. This pair had charge of
the education of King Laoghaire's two daughters. To prevent
his finding the palace, these two used their druidic arts to
bring down a "pall of darkness" for many miles in all
directions around their keep. This "fog" held for three days
and three nights, but Patrick blessed the shadows and light
was restored. The druids were, thus, converted along with
their beautiful students.

CORMAC MAC ART, High King of Ireland 254 to 177 A.D. A

Celtic equal of the Romanic Romulus and Remus, “his
wolves Cormac had always with him, and this was because
they fostered him.” Seumas MacManus writes that:
"O'Halloran says that there was at Tara in Cormac's time a
house of virgins who kept constantly alive the fires of Bel
or the sun and of Samain, the moon." He adds that the
existence of such ladies is made legitimate history by the
recorded fact that Dunlaing MacEnda, King of Leinster, broke
into this retreat and put the virgins to the sword. Cormac
decreed death to this scoundrel and compelled the chiefs of
Leinster to send to Tara, each year, thirty cows with calves
of the same colour, thirty brass collars for the cows, and
thirty chains to hold them while milking."He became
friendly with Manann mac Ler, who invited him to the
Otherworld, giving him the magic silver apple branch that
produced music when shaken. When it sounded women in
childbirth and wounded warriors forgot their pain. At the
point of death Cormac returned this treasure to the west.
His daughter Grainne was betrothed to Fionn mac Cumahail
but ran off with one of Fionn’s warriors, a man named
Diarmuid. A son named Cellach was slain by a Dési
chieftain Aonghas of the Terrible Spear because he had
raped his niece. In attempting to shield his son, Cormac got
the spear butt in his face and lost an eye and the kingship.
This disfigurement led to an obsession for vengeance which
extended to the entire Dési clan. His end was predicted
when he sighted Badb as a washerwoman at a ford. His son
Caibre succeeded him and destroyed the Feinn.

CORN, a drinking horn, W. corn, Br korn, Latin cornu, English

horn. Perhaps after Cernunnos, the horned god of the hunt
whose name appears in the name Cernu, Cornwall. This
spirit is the English Herne the Hunter, the one-time
guardian of Windsor Forest. Gods of the hunt pre-date
agricultural deities and are sometimes considered immortal
elementals rather than mortal-god such as Aod and the
Dagda. See also Cernu. Horns were considered in the same
light as cauldrons, and were thus at once symbols of
fertility and abundance. Notice that the folk the Romans
called the Cornavii occupied Caithness, the district of
Scotland found east of Sutherlandshire, the former home of
the Caereni. The Latin Caereni-avios, referred to “the Folk
of the Horn,” those living on the eastern promontory. There
was another ttribe, with this same name, based in
Worcestershire. The Irish called the Britons of the
Dumnonian peninsula Breatainn Cornn which is the Anglo-
Saxon Cornwealas, “Strangers of the Horn,” the Welsh in
modern parlance. Quite possible all horn-like bends in the
land were given this designation and the people in some
places may have been named for the formation. All the
northerners drank from horns, usually those of the urus or
common European buffalo. These were carefully dressed
with stones and often had a silver rim and fittings. An
immense example rests in Dunvegan Castle. The drinker
twisted his arm rough the spines and was expected to drain
this utensil at once. Alcoholic drinks were a required part
of quarter-day festivities.

CORP CREAGH, CRUIP CREAGH, “a body made of stone,” a clay

figure. As recently as 1883 one of these magical images of
a human was brought as evidence by the Sheriff’s Court in
Inverness in a criminal case between two women. The
figurine was described as being four inches long and
completely entwined with “green worsted thread.” The body
of the representation was also pierced by pins in an attempt
at sympathetic magic. It was believed that the “blue clew”
wound about the figurine would produce the effect of
strangulation in the intended victim, while the pins were
considered to damage internal organs. Sometimes these
effigies were burned or “drowned” in a stream in the belief
that anything that happened to the corp creagh directly
influence the physical state of the human counterpart.

CORPAN SIDH, corp, a body from the Latin corpus, body; sith,
one of the wee folk. A changeling. An aging sidh, shape-
changed to resemble a human kidnap-victim. While the
sidhe spirited the human away, the corpan sidh remained,
quickly aging and dying.

CORR, having too much, in surplus, in excess, a crane,

referring to its beak, Cy. crychydd, AS. hragra. See the G.
car, a turn, a twist. Aquatic water birds were considered to
have been associates of solar deities in their role as gods
of healing. The refusal of the Irish to eat crane’s flesh
suggests this, and note the following, from Highland
Scotland: “If a person is thought to be too long alive, and it
becomes desirable to get rid of him, his death can be
ensured by bawling at him thrice through the keyhole of his
room, “Will you come or will you go? Or will you eat the
flesh of cranes?”

A church record at Alves for 1663 upbraids

parishioners for using this means to hasten the death of
Margaret Anderson. In the Book of Leinster the three cranes
totem to Midir, a god of the Underworld, are mentioned.
These birds are symbols of parsimony and unpleasantness.
Although not involved in battle like ravens, their presence
constituted a bad omen if seen by a warrior on his way to a
fray. This creature has also been associated with mean
unpleasant women; thus Hugh of the Little Head was
married to a disagreeable “crane-woman.” On account of his
wife’s saving-ways Hugh lost an important battle. The top
of his head was sliced away with a broadsword but, failing
to fall dead, he jumped back on his horse and rode back into
battle.

There is a myth that a woman was once transformed

into a crane because of the jealousy of a baobh. No ordinary
bird, this crane was said to be sed ilbhuadhach go mbrigh,
“a powerful (magical) treasure having many virtues.” In
life she became the possession of Manann mac Ler, god of
the ocean, and in death she was skinned and made into a bag
in which the god’s most treasured possessions were kept.
This bag was eventually stolen by Feinn. In the Hebrides it
is considered bad luck to hear a crane cry at night. Note also
Saint Columba’s relationship with cranes: He was
sometimes called the “crane-cleric” because of the “crane”
which he kept “in his service.” He was reputed to “have the
language of birds,” and it was claimed that a “crane” came
annually from Ireland to Scotland to visit with him.
Columba’s psychic-“Armour” was aimed against cranes:
“This is protection from the fairy-arrows, proof against the
screeching of cranes, against the gnawing of cranes, against
temptations of the world, against wickedness in the world.”
Notice that the Gaelic corr as used above is a synonym for
“woman.” See next two entries.

CORRACHA-MARGAIDH, denoted people who stood about in

market places ostensibly seeking work. Campbell has noted
that the word also identifies a “bastard.” Notice that the
related French grue, a “crane,” is also that used to identify
a “prostitute.” In Gaelic speaking Ireland the bird was
commonly identified as siothlagh a’ bhoga, the “sheelagh of
the bogland.” The obscene attitudes of the related figurines
suggests sexual looseness in the same way as the Scottish
Gaelic corr, a “whore.” See siothlagh.

CORRUGUIANACHT, “crane-tricks,” a “woman’s-tricks,”

corr, may be read as “crane, queer” or “tricky.” Specifically
the act of standing on one foot (like a crane) using one hand,
with one eye closed, to enact a glam dicend, or “poet’s
excreation.” This was the attitude assumed by druids when
they were enacting powerful magic. Note the word corr-
chleireach, “crane cleric” which was applied to certain
Christian missionaries.

CRAINN BETHACH. Ancient trees were seen as little

mountains and were called crainn bethach, “trees of life.”
Men of the north were agreed that their spirits arose from
trees and sacred trees were often the talesmen of a
particular clan or tribe. Each had its own venerable tree,
usually spotted at the centre of their territory. Tribal raids
sometimes had no other objective than the destruction of
this minor version of the world tree in hopes of
demoralizing the enemy. It was often supposed that the gods
sprang, like men, from trees of the forest and returned
there upon death. In the Irish tradition the oak, the yew and
the ash were particularly respected. Assemblies were held
under old trees and it was taboo to damage them. The sidh
who lived in trees had their second spirit resident there and
when the tree was cut down they died.

CRANNCHUR, CRANCHUR, the casting of lots for divination or

gambling, fortune, whether good or evil, fate, desting,
predestination, a ballot, sortilege to foretell the future or
as gaming; OIr. cranchur from crann + cuir, tree, wood +
drive or cast. In Gaelic communities dies, or dice, were
constructed from wood and these resembled the Norse
runes. In both places it was claimed that these devices
were gifted on men by the father of the gods. Odin's runes
were divided into two categories the maalrunor and the
trollrunor. The former "speech-runes" of the Anglo-Saxons
enabled men to embed words on wooden tablets. retrieving
them as desired. The "troll-runes" or "mischief-runes"
were again subdivided into the skadirunor, i.e. Skadi's runes"
or the "Scottish runes" and the hjelprunor, or "helpful
runes." Use of the former could subject enemies to the
runeslag or "rune-stroke", a condition now referred to as a
"cerebral haemorrhage." The help runes were medicinal in
effect. Skadi was of course the Cailleach bheurr, the winter
hag who abandoned Lochlann, or Norway, for old Abla, now
called Scotland. In her time this shape-changing giant, with
the single eye, carried a rune-decorated staff similar to
Odin's spear. This instrument was considered the source of
winter storms. When the Winter Hag directed her energies
at men and animals though this staff, they were partially or
completely stricken by the disease which is still
sometimes called "the stroke". This cailleach was the
goddess of death, who sought souls as she travelled on the
winds of Nollaig or Yule.

CRANN TABUAIL, the staff mounted sling, a favourite

weapon of the gods. A normal sling was tailin, a sling-shot
the lic-tailme. The shot material used in these weapons
was often constructed following magical formulae. Connall
Ceranach of the Victories having killed Mesgora mac Da Tho,
the king of Leinster, constructed a “brain ball,” using a
little of the dead man’s grey-matter consolidated with
lime. Unfortunately Cet of Connacht laid hands on this
fearsome shot and used it against King Conchobar mac
Nessa. The king was not immediately killed, but the ball
became a tumour within his skull, and seven years later
when his blood pressure became elevated it burst with fatal
result. The Fomorian Balor of the Evil Eye fell before a
similar weapon as did Queen Mebd. It was said that the
Tuatha daoine routinely made balls from the blood of toads,
bears and vipers.

CRAOBH A B’ AIRDE DE ‘N ABHALL THU’. expression

indicating the god-like nature of trees. Applied to
champions it indicated: “You are the tallest tree in the
orchard.” See next entries. See also crainn bethach.

CRAOBH NAM BARR UBHAIL, craobh, a tree, crab (fruit) of

the prime apple. "Among the many island of Loch
Scadabhagh (Loch Skye in Northern Uist), there is an island
more valuable than the rest, because it was more fruitful.
They called it Sunny Island because on it was growing the
Tree of the Prime Apple. Comparable with the forbidden
fruit of Biblical lore. In some accounts these "crabs" are
described as "red berries", the "fruit of the gods," and the
island on which they grew is sometimes located at the
eastern end of Lake Awe, much further south than UIst.
They were held responsible for the longevity of the gods and
were withheld from men by the presence of a guardian boar,
a poisonous dragon, or something of that ilk. When Fraoch
and his sweetheart Fiondbhar vacationed on Uist with his
father Ideih, they were followed by the Irish goddess Mebd.
Accusing Fraoch of cowardice, Mebd was able to rouse him
to swim the Loch seeking the "apples of the sun." Mebd
placed the guardian-boar in a trance, so it seemed that the
hero would return to shore with the forbidden fruit, but the
animal became aroused and swam after him. In the end
Fraoch tore the boar asunder, but was poisoned by its tusks
and cloven hooves. He died and was buried within the Loch
on an island that still bears his name. According to the
islanders Mebd drank a fatal dose of aconite being overcome
with grief at his passing, but the Irish wordsmiths assure
us she was killed by an enemy while bathing.

CRAOBH, a tree, EIr. croeb, able to be split. Root kri, same

as the Eng. tree. Some trees were deliberately split and
ailing humans passed through the opening as a cure for
disease. Trees were considered to be the resting places for
deities and nature-spirits. Irish sacred trees included
Craobh Tortu, which was an ash, Eo Rosa, a yew, Eo Munga
(which see), a yew, and Craobh Dath-i, an ash. Mebd was in
possession of Bile Meidbe. The link between divinities and
trees is specified in Celtic art where gods or goddesses are
depicted as wearing crowns of foilage or having heads seen
emerging from a surround of leaves. From the comments of
classical writers it may be assumed that the majority of
idols were carved from sacred wood. There are numerous
Irish references to tribal assemblies in groves or under a
huge ancient tree, presumably a totem for the group. See
bile and neimhidh.

CREAG ASDUINN, "crag of the man-god," Asa, one of the Old

Norse names assumed by Odin; by extension any god, similar
to asgan, a little person, a dwarf, a prankster, a merry
"grig"; duine, a man, a mortal creature. The rock was said
to have been located at the beginning-time in the centre of
An Domhain, presumably within the "Cauldron of the Deep."
"In was in the very middle of the Meadow of Allure on the
Plain of the Creag, a big black stone. Manan, son of Lidhir
(Ler), King of the Ocean was living then upon the Plain - his
royal residence. Once, Manan said to Caoilte: "Take this
Stone of Destiny (see Lia Fail) from here and leave it at
Tara in Ireland (other versions of the tale claim it was
purloined)." Caoilte was warned not to spend more than a
thousand years in the task or a "gyve" will be placed on your
forehead." Of course, the messenger of Manan was
entranced by court life among the mortals and overstayed
his visit. On his return his forehead was branded so that his
crime would be known to all of the sea-people and he was
given the task of moving a black stone out of the water and
placing it on a pinnacle of the royal palace. Caoilte thought
this might prove an easy matter for the Creag Asduinn was
light in the water, but as he attempted to move it Manan
magically drained the ocean from around his burden, causing
it to become unwieldy. At each attempt, the ocean currents
dragged the crag further and further from the Fomorian
lands. After a thousand years it fell from his shoulder in
its final place off the Hebrides. (Highland Clans, pp. 348-
349).

CREAG SGRIADLAIN, behind Loch Derculich, Sdcotald. Often

spoken of as “the real house of the fairies.”

CREAG SHIANT, creag, a rock, the English crag; shiant, a pile

of grass, a "fairy" mound, foxglove (containing digitalis),
freckled. A number of sith mounds have been identified in
the British Isles. In medieval times these were understood
to be the nexii of unseen forces and were rededicated by the
Christians to their own ends when they held masses on site:
e.g. "Father John - used to say mass at Creag Shiant, a fairy
or enchanted rock in Baile, Eriskay (the Hebrides)." Again:
"as you pass northward from the Port-na-Curaich, the Bay
of Landings (on Iona), westward lies the Machair Bay...and
inland from it is a tiny rise of ground, almost
indistinguishable to strange eyes, called the Fairy Hill, or
Hill of Visions, where myth and history join hands. The
villagers will tell how it was regarded as a pixie dwelling
and at certain seasons (the quarter-days) the farmers would
gallop their horses three times around it for luck, but there
are other stories of how (Saint) Columba used to go apart to
pray there. The Machair had its pagan associations. Here
was enacted the Ceremony of the Great Porridge, when a
chosen villager ran waist-deep into the waves and threw
porridge, an offering to the goddess of fertility and spring
(see Mhorrigan).

CREAN, CRION, an earthquake, to tear up, to consume.

Earthquakes were thought of as manifestations of nature
spirits in action.
CREBHÁN. A High King of Ireland, who accompanied Náir,
“The Shameful One,” to the Otherworld. He returned with
many valuable treasures.

CREDNÉ CRED. CREDHE, (Crae-a), The goldsmith to the

Tuatha daoine. He fashioned a prothesis for Nuada of the
Silver Hand and made weapons for use at the second battle
of Magh Tuireadh. His brother craftsmen were Goibhniu and
Luchtar. In the last great battle he supplied “rivets for the
spears and hilts for the swords, and bosses for the rims of
the shields.”

CRÉIDE FIRÁLAIND. A goddess in the Otherworld who

presented the visiting Art, son of Conn, with a splendid
mantle, and tried to persuade him to stay with her, when he
came searching after Delbchaem.

CRIATHAR, Crerar, from craithar, a maker of riddles.

Confers with Eng. Sieve (w)right. This craft was considered
sanctioned by the gods.

CRIMTHANN. critheann, the Aspen. High King in 65 A.D. Also

Crimthann Cass, a mythic king of Connacht, the father of
Loaghaire. He recovered the wife of Fiachna after she was
abducted by Goll, a Fomorian who lived in Magh Mell. In
addition, Crimthann mac Fidhaigh, noted for his death at the
hands of a female supernatural on the eve of the feast of
Samhainn.

CRITHEANN, CRITHEACH, the aspen tree, from crith, to shake

or quiver.

CRò, CRA, a circle, completion of the cycle, witchcraft, the

witch-hovel, a fold, an enclosure, eye of a needle, saffron,
the heart, Death. The same word as blood. From the Sc. cro,
"the weregild of various individuals in the Scoto-Celtic
Kingdom." In short any form of banshee, a spirit announcing
approaching death. See also Aog. Cròc, to beat or pound. The
Lat. cruor, gore, the Eng. raw, Skr. kravis, raw flesh; cf.
craven. In some of the myths the Tuathan invaders of the
Fomorian undersea kingdom are said to have struck off the
head of the proto-giant (who is the Allfather or Don) and it
was explained that his spilled blood created the world-
flood which wiped out Bith’s people when they tried to
settle Britain. Croch, punish by hanging, suspend,

CROCAN CORR, at the glebe of Kilbrandon, Lorn, Scotland.

Crocan, a crook, coire, a cauldron, an indentation in the land.
The site of a sidhe.

CRòGAN, “born of blood,” thornbush. a gnarled tree, crô,

blood, death, the eye of a needle, the drink of blood, from
crog, an earthen vessel, originally "a skin-vessel", one
containing blood; also an aged ewe, our word crock.
Additionally, a hand that looks like a paw. Crolot, death
wound. Crògan, (with long accent on the first syllable), a
concoction made from the extract of sorrel roots, bun
sealbhaig, and other herbs mixed with blood which the
Vikings drank at certain times during the worship of Odin.
It was drunk out of scallop shells and when they were under
its influence they often went berserk." Thus, the Scots
routinely prayed for deliverance, "from the crogan, the
scallop shell and the dreadful Odin." Also, the thornbush,
the gnarled or "clawed" tree, the "blood-letting plant"
because of its many thorns. The crògan produced the effect
known as the warp spasm. The sorrel yields oxalic acid,
which is poisonous in large doses. Notice also the fact that
a crown of May flowers was placed on the heads of pagan
men and women destined for the fires. It is thus, even yet,
considered unlucky to bring the May blossoms from this
plant into a home.

CROICH, gallows, cross, EIr. croch, Cym. crogbren. Also seen

as the G. crois, from the Lat. crux.

CROIS TARAIDH, CROISTARA, the “fiery-cross,” EIr. cross,

from Latin crux; traidh. truncheon or staff of authority. Also
related to tara, from the ON. tara, war. This is the
equivalent of the Old Norse "fire-arrow." "Two pieces of
wood were charred at the upper end and fastened together
to form a cross, to which was attached a rag dipped in
sheep's or goat's blood. Being both burnt and bloody, the
cross represented fire and sword. In time of war, the chief
sent it in relays throughout every township and clachan in
his territory. Each successive bearer usually mounted on a
garron, or pony, shouted as he passed, a single word, the
name of the Gathering place. Every able-bodied clansman,
thereupon, seized his weapons and hurried to the spot.
(Highland Clans, p. 23). See cros.

CROMM, CROM, CHROMM CRUACH, bent, having crooked horns

like a sheep, concave, eddying, winding, crooked, curved, OIr.
cromm, twisted; cromag, a hook; Cy. crwm, Br. krom, OBr.
crum, AS. crumb, crooked; cf. the English crumb and crumple.
Confers with cam, crooked, one-eyed, which see. Cruach, a
pile, a heap. the Eng. rick. After the pagan day-god Cromm,
whose site was Cromm Cruachan, where he was incarnate as
a great standing stone figure set up on Mag Slecht (the Plain
of Prostrations) in County Cavan.
Some accounts say that the god-figure was entirely
coated in gold and silver, while twelve surrounding lesser
idols were decorated with brass and bronze. A high-king of
Ireland in the first century after the Milesian invasion
(1,000 B.C.) was Tighernmas, who accepted the demand of
his druids that "the firstling of every issue and the chief
scions of every clan" should be killed to assuage this
violent latter-day god. Cromm was apparently an
agricultural deity for it was explained that this was done to
assure good weather for the crops. It was said that the king
and his people routinely bowed before this stone with such
exuberance that "the tops of their foreheads, the gristle of
their noses, and the caps of their knees often broke with the
stress." In spite of their avidity, this tribe was reduced by
two-thirds by the blood-thirsty habits of their god.

Long after Tighernmas was dead, Saint Patrick is

supposed to have heard this tale and looked on the standing-
stones. In response he "lifted the crook of Jesus and by the
power of God caused the idol to fall on its face; the silver
and gold powdered from it like dust. On the hard stone was
seen impressed the image of the pastoral staff, and as for
the inferior gods, they were swallowed to their necks in the
earth." Often mistakenly taken as a alter-ego of the sun-god
Lugh, this "day-god" was said to control "the light of day
and the darkness of night."

He corresponds with Balor of the Evil Eye, the sun

personified as a spirit of drought. According to some
authorities, Lugh invaded Crom's underworld and "cast him
down" thereby guaranteeing the light of summer as the
recurrent right of men. In Christian times, Saint Patrick
was given this same status when he conquered the death-
god by toppling his statue at Mag Sleacht. Crom Dubh's
Sunday became the less controversial "Garland Sunday" in
the last century, but the pilgrimages to his plain, and the
athletic games held at that place, were pagan ritual
remains. In some quarters, it is said that the flowers
strewn on this day are to commemorate Lugh's victory over
the forces of darkness, Lugh being the pagan counterpart of
Saint Patrick.

CRO LUGH, “Lugh’s blood,” the equivalent of check-mate in

the game known as fidchell. Lugh invented this game and
foreshadowed his defeat of the Tuatha daoine by defeating
them at this board game. Cro lugh also implies the magical
warding of Ireland by this land-god.

CROMAG, the magical crooked staff of the druids, from

crom, bent. See above entries. In the Christian era these
symbols of Cromm were confiscated by the "saints" and
sometimes enclosed in metal sheaths as pastoral staffs. As
such they were credited with the same properties as before,
but their virtue was said due to the supernatural power of
God rather than earth spirits, tree spirits, or pagan gods.
This word may also mean a hook, a clasp, crook, catch,
gallows, clip or peg. Notice that after a child was given
Christian baptism friends were invited to partake of
crowdfie or fuarag. The father filled a basket with bread
and cheese and hung it upon an iron cromag or pot hook. This
was suspended over a peat fire and to further frustrate the
soul-seeking Daoine sidh, the chikld was handed over the
smoke across the fire “in an attempt to frustrate all
attempts of evil spirits or evil eyes.”

CROMAN, the kite or hawk, from its bent beak. See above
entries. The long-lived Fiontunn, the “White Ancient” was
variously reincarnated as a salmon, an eagle and a hawk. As
a predator this bird was somewhat infamous. There was, for
example, the hawk of Mossad mac Moen. He found this animal
in Fid Eoin, the “Bird Woods,” and reared it until it became a
giant of its kind. It ate whole herds of Irish horses along
with communities of human beings, picking them off by
twos and threes. Note Cromm and next entry.

CROMAICH, a standing stone, or stones, used as a place of

asylum or refuge. Criminals who reached these places were
absolved of their oversights. In arriving the supplicant said:
gabham do chromraich, “I claim thy protection!”

CROM-AN-DONAIS, a bungler, an impotent individual, a dolt,

a failed person.

CROMLEAC, CROMM-LEAC, CROMLEAG, the Eng. cromlech. Lat.

lapis, stone, root. EIr. lep, shale, cf. Latin lapis, a stone,
English plank. Crom’s Stone, see Cromm, above. Strictly,
these are flat horizontal stones supported on three pillar
stones, they are sometimes called table-stones but most
are too large for conventional household use (one in
Pembrokshire is 20 ft in circumference and twenty-eight
feet off the ground). More generally, the standing-stones of
the British countryside, numbering in the thousands, and
largely pre-dating Gaelic occupation of the islands. Some
were burial stones or memorials but many of the stones,
like that at Turoe, County Derry, are considered to be
phallic symbols central to former religious rites. It is said
that Bith, Finntan and Ladra built “an idol” in the form of a
standing stone in some Mediterranean land. This structure
spoke to them warning them that the land of their birth
would be submerged by a deluge and it strongly suggested
that they construct a ship and sail away if they hoped to
escape their fate. The cromlech was unable to say exactly
when catastrophe might fall upon them, so they sailed into
the ocean as soon as they could gather an expedition and
ultimately settled in Ireland. The ultimate cromlech was
that built to contain the spirit of Crom the Crooked. This
stone and its surrounding circle, situated in Ireland, is said
to have been destroyed by Saint Patrick.

CRONN, CRON, fault, harm, the Ir. cronaim, I bewitch, i.e.

forepoken by witchcraft. Cf. cronaich, rebuke, the AS.
hream, a din. Also a prayer offered to a river. When
Cuchullain and his charioteer were trapped with their back
to a river Cuchullain uttered this cronn: “I beseech the
waters to help me; I beseech the sky and the earth and Cronn
in particular. Cronn rise to fight my enemies; Cronn do not
let them pass into Muirthemne.” At this the Waters rose to
the height of the tree-tops aiding the Ulster hero. In the
elder days such manoeuvres were not restricted to pagans.
St Ciaran prayeda at the river Brosnach and it reacted
against an invading arm from northern Ireland. Gildas says
that he would never cry out by name to a mountain, well,
hill or river since these were known to have destructive
potential “now made serviceable to man’s usage (through
the Grace of God).” Nevertheless the pagan conception of
benificent waters persisted and many were renamed for
Christian saints.

CRONACHADH, see above, cronaich, a rebuke, the Teut. hru, a

loud noise, ON. romr, shouting, AS. hream, a din; the opposite
of a blessing, harming, ill-wishing, cursing, the antidote
being the beannachadh or blessing. See next note.

CRONAN SNAGACH, SNAGUE, cronan, dirge, croon, purr, a dull

note, mournful tune, buzzing of a fly, humming of bees,
purring of a cat, purling of a brook, the bass in music, dirge,
any pathetic ode, the bagpipe drones, bellowing of a deer,
wheezing in asthma, Sc. croyn; snaig, creeping, sneaking,
the "slow croon", mouth music, the purring of a cat. An
exercise intended to calm children, plough-horses and cows
at milking-time. A distinction is made between the
common croon and the snagach, the latter having serious
implications. In the elder days it was once reported that 27
druids almost spent their life force on a magical curse. In
the process, their leader Senthen burst an eye from
increased blood pressure. “The low murmuring of chorus to
each verse of choral singing. Note LG. kronen, to growl and
the ME. croon. The Gaelic is considered borrowed from
Teutonic sources.

CROS, CROIS, a cross. Crosda, perverse, irascible,

unreasonably demanding, from Latin crux and Greek models.
Croistara, the “fiery-cross.”

CROSACH. crossing, saining, thwarting good or evil spirits.

Based on crois, cross, above. An “X” across the chest to
prevent evil; an “X” signed at the external world to create
mayhem; crostan, a peevish man, one wishing revenge.
Crosanachd, one of a number of these folk banded together
to do good or ill, a chorister. Note that it was considered
bad form to take a mare out after dark as it was thought
that the animal would ally herself with the dark forcers
against her master. If it was necessary to ride after dark it
was considered necessary to sain the space between the
ears of the animal. If this was not done the world of
darkness might surge in through this “gateway.”

CROSONACH, a cross-worshipper. The Christian fathers

were truly without peer at propaganda, assimilating rather
than destroying the pagan cults. Having initial difficulties
in moving trees, standing-stones and mountains they were
told to reconsecrate the pagan places. It was official policy
that, “If these temples are well constructed it makes
sense that they be redevoted to the worship of the true God
to the detriment of native devils. A nation, seeing their
temples left undamaged are more apt to see the error of
their ways and move towards the true God. Further the
mere familiarity of an old place of worship will draw many
to worship even where the rites are new.” St. Patrick
followed a similar policy, and once preached “before a
fountain, which the druids had worshipped as a god.”

CROTAL, any lichen used in dyeing, MIr. crotal, a husk,

anything dry, the lichens on a tre, a “husk,” a “kernal.” In
the last two senses the word confers with the Lat.
crotalum, a rattle. The Irish and the Scots used a pear-
shaped bronze rattle affixed to the ends of their spears to
unnerve potential enemies. Hence the English word crotal.
When the “magic-ones,” still ruled Ireland they were hard
pressed by the Fomorians until a young man-god came to
their rescue. He was called Lugh of the Long Arm, because
his spear acted almost as it were an extension of his body.
The spear of Lugh is sometimes referred to as a “dart,”
which makes it clear that it was what the Romans met on
the battlefield as a crotalum, a bronze spear with a small
pear-shaped bell filled with gravel at the nether end. This
was rattled before battle to disturb the enemy. A short
spear, the crotalum could be used as a stabbing instrument,
or it could be thrown over short distances, and usually
retrieved, since it was tied to the wrist by a leather thong.
Hence it was, symbolically and actually, a part of the arm
of a champion

CRUACHA. The maid of Etain who went with her when she
married Midir of the Daoine sidh. Sometimes credited with
giving her name to the infamous hill known as Rath
Cruachan.

CRUCHAN, cruach, a heap or pile. Cy. crug, Bry. cruc, ON.

hruga, heap, AS. hreac, the Eng. rick. A place sometimes
entitled Rothcroghan, three miles north-west of Tulsk,
County Roscommon. This “town of fortresses” was the
capital of King Aillil and Queen Mebd. Rath Cruachan was
still the Connacht royal city until King Ragallach was
assassinated there in 643 A.D. Connacht was frequently
named “The Land of Cruachan.” Site of a major entrance to
the Otherworld.

CRÚADAN, CRUADIN, “The Adversary,” the magic sword of

Cúchulainn, sometimes confused with Caladbolg, the sword
of Fergus mac Roth. The name derives from the same root
word cruaid, “hard,” but here it appears in the diminutive
form.

CRUNNCHU. A “Woodsman” of Ulster. One day a beautiful

woman came to his door and agreed to live with him. While
she was pregnant he boasted she could race faster than any
horse. His unguarded talk led to a contest which she won,
afterwards giving birth to twins. The Sovran queen of
Ulster (Mhorrigan) she cursed the men to suffer pains of
delivery when faced with battle.

CRUIMH DOMHAINN, world-worm, note Cromm, above. The

“Middle Earth Snake” of Norse mythology, born of the
giantess Angurboda by the god Lokki. Banished to the depths
of the ocean-sea by Odin.

CRUITHNE, CRUITHNICH, men of the grain, confers exactly

with the Celtic Breatan, a Briton or Pict. He had seven
eponymous children who divided Alba (scotland) among
themselves, thus naming the ancient provinces, viz. Cet
(Marr and Buchan); Fiobh (Fife); Cirech (Angus and Mearns);
Cat(Caithness); Folta (Atholl); Moireabh (Moray) and Fortriu
(Strathearn). Two thousand years before the Christian era,
legend says that the Cruithne, better known as the Picts,
arrived among the Milesians. These may very well be the
Firgallions, the word does point to the “Gauls” of France
and Belgium, who were closely allied with the Celto-
Iberians of Spain. At any rate, the Irish people who lived
about Inver Slaigne in the extreme southwest were plagued
by a tribe of virulent visitors from the east who were
decimating the population using poisoned arrows. The Picts
were known as mercenaries and were invited to fight for
pay. They were conscripted “for their skill in magic” and
were very successful at eliminating the unwanted element.
They were rewarded with a grant of land. Sadly, they were
almost as barbaric as the earlier strangers and the chief of
that quarter, a man named Crimmthann decided that they
needed to be persuaded to “pass on over.” Three Pictish
chieftains were therefore given Irish wives and granted
land in Alba, and according to Seumas McManus this was
their wellspring in the land now called Scotland.

CRUITHENTUATH, Pictland, in general the territory which

the Picts once held between the Forth and the Clyde. More
generally the land north of the most remote Roman wall.
Bede says that in his day the Firth of Forth divided the land
of the Angles from that of the Picts. He also says that, long
before his time, the Britons in the east were separated
from the Picts of the west by the Firth of Clyde. In Irish
tradition mention is made of Cruithneachan mac Lochit maic
Cinge (or Inge) who went with the sons of Mil and with the
Britons to fight a common war against the Saxons. The
first of these thus gained land called Cruithentuath “and
stayed among the Britons.” This it was said was an event in
the time of the Irish High-King Eremon, i.e. Just after the
arrival of the Milesians in Ireland (1,000 -250 B.C.) We are
told that the newcomers cleared “swordland” for
themselves creating the Plain of Fortriu, afterward Magh
Circin. There are several other versions of the Pictish
settlement which can be seen in the notes above and below.
CRUITHNE-TUATH, grain-folk. Cruithentuath, Pictland. In
modern Scot. Gaelic, Breatann, Britain, the inhabitants being
Breatnach or Breatannach, a Briton. In Irish Gaelic the
forms were Breatnaibh or Breathnach. The island dwellers
may have been named the Pretani by their Continental Celtic
neighbours. ON., Pettr, Oeng, Peohta, Scots., Pecht, Ocelt.
Pect, Cy. Peithwyr, related to their peithyn, a Pictish
stone-slab. The Latin form is said derived from “local
models.” The expression Cruithne-clar, “the Heroic
Bretons,” was entirely poetic in use. This was a name
applied by outsiders to former occupants of parts of
England, Scotland and Ireland.

They were distinct from the Albannach who are

discussed elsewhere. Eumenius (297 A.D.) was the first
classical writer to mention the Picts and the Hibernians,
describing them both as traditional enemies of the Britons.
In 570 Gildas, a native Briton, described them as having
“more hair on their faces than clothing on their bodies.” He
says that they crossed “the Vale of Tethys,” (the Ocean) to
get at their victims, Bede claimed that they came from
Scythia to the north of Ireland “where the Scots would not
receive them.” The Picts, he says, came into Britain after
the Britons but before the Scots. In 800 A.D. Nennius adds
that the Picts occupied the Orkneys in 300 B.C., afterwards
wasting the lands of their neighbours and occupying the
north of Britain. Nennius says they were of the line of
Gelon son of Hercules and that they landed in Leinster where
they used their skills with magic to aid the king. In the end
they decided to move on and according to another account
“settled Tiree beyond Islay.” (see another traditional
account directly above.)

From here, they took possession of Alba “from the

bounds of Cats to Foirchiu,” in other words parts of
Sutherlandshire and present-day Caithness. It is noted that
they had agriculture but also used the sea “boldly and
freely” for raiding Ireland and Britain. It is possible that
the depredations of the Picts may have aided legends of the
Fomorian sea-giants. The Picts were no easier on the
Fomorians than anyone else and they raided and pillaged the
main Fomorian hold on Tory Island. In 612 they destroyed an
Irish fleet off Donegal and murdered fifty-two residents of
Eigg in 617. The island Picts remained willfully pagan after
their mainland brothers were converted to Christianity.

The number of Pictish ships on the water is evidenced

by Tighernach in 729 when he writes that “thrice fifty” of
their craft were lost in a storm off Cape Cuissini. As
further evidence of their activity we have an old poem that
mentions that the North Atlantic was formerly called the
muir n-Orc , the “Sea of the Orcs,” that is the Picts of
Orkney. The more southern sea was the Sea of the Britons
and these two had their boundry at Coire Bhreacain, which
see. Dr. Alexander Carmichael confirms the fact that
tradition knew the ocean north-east of Long Island,
Scotland, as Cuan nan Orc. This also agrees with a
statement by Nennius that “The Britons once filled this
whole island of Britan with people from the English Channel
to the Sea of Orcs.

The Book of Ballymore also speaks of the occupation

of the Hebrides by the Picts. It says that when the Tuatha
daoine came to Ireland they fought the Firbolge who were
forced to the outer islands of Islay and Arran and to Rathlin
off the coast of England. The Tuathans then trounced the
Fomorians who fled to similar retreats. These defeated
folk held these islands until the beginning of the Christian
era when Pictish mercenaries drove them out forcing many
of them to resettle the mailnad of Ireland. Like the
Norsemen, the Picts expanded their land bases amidst the
Western Isles and mainland Scotland. In the fourth century
they came into increasing contact with the Caledonians at a
time when their power was in declinedue to the Roman
intrusions. The Picts, largely untouched by the Roman
invasions, were in control of the north. By Saint Columba’s
time their capital still stood dominating the north-lands,
and their king was overloard of the Orkneys. The country
beyond the Forth was thus, for a time, known in Latin as
Pictavia.

CUAIRT, circuit, pilgrimage, expedition,, whirl or eddy,,, a

gathering of sheep, anus, from kur, circle, the left-handed
path of witchcraft and druidism. Thus, the Quarter Day
“circuits.” Making the “rounds.” House-visiting at the
Quarters. “Beating the bounds,” usually in pursuit of a
devil-figure dressed as an animal. In Christian times the
direction of travel was reversed. Cuairtir, a tourist,
formerly fodder for the quarter-day fires.

CUACHAG, the resident water spirit of Glen Cuach in

Inverness-shire. Also, the cuckoo, a neat young girl.

CUAN, CUAIN, the ocean, originally a harbour. The Deep,

deceit, a pack of wolves. The classical peoples, who lived
close by the supposed centres of ancient civilization
regarded Ireland as the most ancient place, This is revealed
in the fact that Greek scholars routinely referred to it as
Osygia. It may be useful to our arguments to note that
Osygius, who gave the land its name, was the supposed
founder of ancient Thebes, and that his is the antique name
for Bacchus or Pan, one of the more antique gods of
agriculture and fertility. Rufus Festus Avienus , a Latin
geographer of the fourth century remembered this place as,

Insula Sacra (the Sacred Isle) so named by all

the antiquarians,
From times immemorial in the womb of
Chronos, (the ocean)
This Isle rising over the waves of the Ocean,
Covered with a sod of rich luxuriance.
The place peopled far and wide by the Hibernii.

The English antiquarian William Camden (d. 1623) wrote

that no one of his time could conceive why the Greeks
referred to this western island as the “Insula Sacra”” and
“Osygia,” “unless from its antiquity, for the Greeks call
nothing by this name unless it is extremely ancient .”
Notice also that this individual was often regarded as the
lone survivor of the Grecian version of a World Flood and
that the name is sometimes given as Ogygia, which makes it
confer somewhat with the Gaelic og, young; hence, a
“commencement place.” The ending is comparable with
ùigean, a “fugitive or wanderer.”

Personalized by capitalization this word becomes the

Gaelic equivalent of the name for the Anglo-Saxon god
Woden. Woden, or Odin, was given this name for his tendancy
to tour during the winter season. There is also possible
connection here with Ogma mac Elathan, sometimes
identified as the son of Dagda, His island in the west was
Tir nan Og, the “Land of Youth,” a place of perpetual
beginnings and ever-renewed youth situated somewhere in
the western ocean. These are not the only indications that
Ireland once harboured a prehistoric civilization. In
Sankrist texts it can be seen identified as Hiranya, the
“Island of the Sun,” the centre of a religion for sun worship
which extended far beyond its borders. In his Gallic Wars,
Julius Caesar wrote of the druids, who tended the earthly
affairs of Lugh: “...it is believed that their rule of life was
discovered in Britain and transferred thence to Gaul.”

In this context, note that the Algonquin tribes of

eastern North America identified themselves with a
creator-god who came down to their land as the morning
sun, and that they called themselves the “people of the
dawn.” The Caeronii of northern Scotland also referred to
themselves as Daoine aod, the “people of the day.” This
may simply show that world myths are amazingly similar,
but the correspondence, at least, helps the idea of
prehistoric contact between the two groups. The sum of all
this is the possibility that there might have been a
transatlantic commerce in people and their ideas. quite
possibly in both directions. The Irish “saint” named Vergile
(ca 750A.D.) got into difficulties for expounding this idea in
public. He was accused of promoting heresies by speaking
on the subject of the antipodes (the world beneath one’s
feet (that on the opposite side of the globe). The Church
wrote suggesting that he mend a few fences, and Vergile
responded by going to Rome, where he convinced Pope
Zachary that the Irish had not only believed in a distant
world across the ocean, but were in communications with
it.

Farley Mowat insists that “History preserves the

records of several “discoveries” of Europe from America.”
Unfortunately he does not give us the names of these
histories, or even those of the supposed travellers, so must
assume he speaks in supposition, thinking of Neolithic men,
who might have come inadvertently to Europe riding the Gulf
Stream and the prevailing mid-Atlantic winds. Some might
have made the harder northern crossing from historic Thule
(Greenland) in the skin boats now known as umiaks. These
were never the primitive unseaworthy craft they appeared
to be, and surviving examples have been seen to be capable
of carrying forty passengers on extended sea-voyages.

The umiaks are not unlike the Irish curraghs or

coracles, and this correspondence may not be accidental
since the Innuit of northern Canada have said they were
descendants of people from Thule and these people were
perhaps the mythic Tuatha daoine. Indian bark canoes were
of immense size in the past perfectly capable of testing the
open ocean. The east coast tribes living in Newfoundland
had twenty and thirty seat sea-canoes when they were first
spotted by European fishermen in the seventeenth century.
These craft hold little resemblance to the “crystal” ships
that supposedly came to the shores of western Britain, but
they could have made the crossing following the Stream and
the prevailing westerlies of the mid-Atlantic. The European
equivalent of these early Amerinid ships could not buck the
wind or the current against the Stream, but they did have an
advantage in travelling westward. The tribes of old Alba
and Eiru were already well out on the Atlantic to begin
with, and had a chain of northwest trending islands leading
from the Hebrides to the Shetlands to the Faroes, to Iceland,
to Greenland, to Baffin Island to Canada, all places within a
few days sailing of one another. Nowhere along this route
is there more than 400 miles of distance between landfalls,
and the prevailing wind in that quarter is up-and-along
Iceland and Greenland, and finally down-and-along the
coast of eastern North America. For either group of
travellers, getting home was only a matter of being aware
of the alternate route, which could be discovered by simply
following the major currents and winds of the ocean. See
ionn drain cuain.

CUAN A’ BOCHADAIN, BHOCHDAIN, “Ocean of the Bochdan,”

“Ocean of the Spectre.” A name given the waters between
Barra and Ireland. In days long past the Scots girls used to
travel to Ireland for employment in the potato industry.
Two girls, one from the isle of Pabbay and another from
Mingulay had decided to travel this sea-lane. The girl from
Mingulay had a bochdan, a poor male stranger she met on the
road. He predicted that she would settle down in the far
country but claimed that her friend would die of a fever
while in Ireland. While the girl was listening she happened
to look to sea and there she saw a sailing vessel, some
miles from the coast. As she watched in turned belly-up in
the water and all of its occupants were seen struggling for
life. Screaming with shock she drew the strangers attention
to this scene, but he dismissed it as having no part in
present-reality. The grand-parents of those destined to be
lost in this accident, he explained, were not yet born. When
the girl returned home she told her folk of these strange
predictions and the weird “ghost.” Afterwards the sea to
the westward was given this name and the prophecies were
fulfilled as promised.

CUAN MOR, the “Great Harbour,” The Atlantic Ocean. Also

known as “The Green Sea,” with reference to its
productivity and supernatural aspects.
CÙ, a dog, gen. con, Cy. ci, Br. ki, Lat. canis, Eng. hound, Skr.
cuá. These animals are associated with Manann mac Ler and
Cromm, in their roles as lords of the dead. Notice that the
Gaullish god Sucellos, “the Good Striker,” who confers with
the Gaelic Dagda, is always seen accompanied by two dogs.
The Germanic goddess Nehalennia protectress of sea-faring
merchants, had similar pets. Epona was also a dog-fancier,
and in British iconography Nodons, who is the Gaelic Nuada
is also connected with this animal.

It is suspected that the presence of the bones of dogs

in votive wells reflects their attachment to healing cults.
Like the bull, the raven and the cat, the dog was a beast of
divination. In the Irish tales Cormac says that the fili or
“seers” resorted to chewing the flesh of a dog, a red pig, or
a cat “in order that the gods show him the things which he
desired they should reveal.” Dog-names for heroes, of
course, abound, thus: Conmhael, Cuchullain, Cu Roi etc. mac
Con was named for his childhood attachment for a dog
named Eloir and was thus “The Son of the Hound.” Fionn
possessed two dogs, Sceolang and Bran, who were said to
be his shape-changed nephews. The god named Lugh was
overcome by the death of an oirce or “lap-dog” because she
was his altered mother Ethlenn. These examples are
capable of almost infinite expansion.

In folklore, at Claggan, on Loch Tay, Scotland, a

ghostly dog prevented the locals from straying after dark.
One evening an elderly man walked into the dusk before
reaching his sister’s farmstead, an met this huge grey dog
at the heap of stones known as An Carn Mor, “The Great
Pile.” He did his best to avoid looking too closely at the
thing, and tried not to show fear, but noticed that the
“animal” moved with him on a parallel line, stopping when
he stopped, moving when he picked up the pace. At the
Mackay farmhouse he seemed to lose the apparition but as
he rounded a gable came upon the creature face-to-face.
Terror-stricken he bolted for the door and fell into the arms
of his neighbours. He asked some of the boys there to
accompany him the rest of the way to Ardtalnaig, but the
patriarch wouldn’t allow it that night.

CÙCHULLAIN, (cu or hoo-hoolin or cu-hullin), the “Hound of

the Dog-master,” or Hound of Ulster. the most famous
northern hero in Irish myth. His mother on the eve of her
wedding to Sualtaim mac Roth was stolen into the
Otherworld by a flock of birds, impregnated by the god Lugh,
and returned to marry her intended. In training as a warrior
he was sent to the Otherworld where he studied under
Sgathach and had an affair with her daughter. He is chiefly
famous for his singlehanded defense of the pass into Ulster
against the invading forces of Queen Mebd. In the course of
that battle be killed his best friend Ferdiad, who fought for
the south; rejected the love of Morgan, goddess of battle,
and thus sealed his own doom.

CÙ DUBH, the Black Dog, having special reference to the two

black dogs who were the totems and companions of the
death-god known as Cromm “the Crooked.”

CUGAR, cougar, a mab or wildcat. Less often any cat of any

species, tame or wild. The travelling form preferred by the
goddess Mhorrigan.

CUIGEAL NAM BAN SITH, “The Fairy Wives’ Distaff,” the

stalk with root attached of Typha latifolia, the “Great
Bullrush” of northern Scotland and elsewhere. The plant
totem of Clan Mackay. It was commonplace for highland
ladies to dry and place these remnants in a “kist” or trunk
to ensure the “safety of the house.” This talisman was
frequently wrapped in burial clothes which were always
purchased well before the event of death. Those who kept
such ornaments often claimed to have escaped all but their
final illness. Some of the folk still say that this remedy
must be pulled on midsummer at midnight, or on a midnight
near the midsummer. The gathereer must go barefootd, be
female, and have her hair ungathered. She must go without
pin, cap, ribbon, comb, or head covering of any kind. If this
is done the relic is thought to have special virtues against
tinneas-tuiteamas, “the falling sickness” now called
“epilepsy.” The talisman, once placed in a home, is said to
bring instant benefit to patients of disease.

CUILIONN, holly, holy, EIr, cuilenn, W, celyn, Br. kelenn, AS.

holegn. One of the three important Quarter Day plants used
in the decoration of homes to protect them from evil. Note
that the famed souther hero Fionn mac Cumhaill was the
“Son of Holly.”

CUIREID, CUILBHEART, turn or trick, a wile, from car, left-

ward turning, against the sun. Note also cuirpidh, wicked,
corrupt.
CÙIRN GLAS, The Grey Cairns, Camster, Scotland. Neolithic
burial chambers of unknown significance.

CULANN. CULLAN, cuaille, bludgeon, hammer; the smithy

who forged Conchobar’s weapons; thought to be Manann mac
Ler in human form. Acting as a smith he forged Conchobhar’s
weapons within the sidh of Slievegallion. While he
entertained the king one evening, the gates were left in the
charge of a huge watchdog. Young Setanta arriving late for
the party, was attacked and killed the hound. Culann was
angry at the loss, but Setanta offered to act the part of
watchdog for a year and a day. Afterwards he was known as
Cúchulainn, the “hound of Culann.” This character
corresponds with the Gaelic Goban Smith and the Anglo-
Saxon Wayland Smith, the latter a character in mythology
said to confer with Woden.

CULLACH, boar, OIr. caullach, Br. qellecq, a stallion or boar.

Note the Celtic root-word kalljo, testicle, the Cym. caill,
testicles, the ultimate root being kal, hard as a rock. This is
the ON. hellas, flat stones, and refers to their promiscuous
goddess Helas well as to the Eng. Celt and kilt. The Lat.
culleus, bag, scrotum, whence the Eng. cullion, testicles and
the better known word cull. See Calluinn, New Year’s Day,
Nov. 1, a time of human promiscuity. Cullachas, impotency.
The totem-animal of numerous Gaelic clans.

CUMAL, CUMHAILL, (coo-al, sometimes hoo-al), chief of clan

Boscna, and leader of the Feinn. He eloped with Morna in
spite of a prediction that their union would end his line.
Afterwards Goll, a contender for leadership of this private
army, killed Cumal and scattered his adherents. Morna
escaped and bore Fionn mac Cumhail, the greatest southern
hero. Cumail signifies sky and confers with the Brythonic
name Camulos, a god of war. This god was commemorated
in the one-time city of Camulodunum, later the fortress of
Camulos in Colchester. The same name is given for
Almondsbury, Yorkshire. Camulosessa, his seat in Scotland,
may be cognate with Camelot, King Arthur’s famous court in
the north.

CUMHACHD, power, co+mag+tu, the Eir. meg, great, which

has conference Mag Molloch, the goddess Mhorrigan.
The first legendary peoples to occupy Ireland for any
long period of time were the pre-Celtic Fomorians who
fought to a stand-still against the another stone-age race,
known as the Firbolgs.

Both races were opposed by the bronze-age Tuatha

daoine, but even they had a sense for ethics in warfare:
When the two armies stood opposite one another on the
Mayo-Galway border, the obviously over-matched Firbolgs
announced that they would not do battle until they were
given several days to sharpen their weapons. When they had
done this, they insisted on more time to perfect their
shields and brighten their helmets. On another occasion
they noticed that the Tuathans had a superior light spear
and successfully sued for a long interval in which to have
similar weapons made. This was not the end of this fretful
manoeuvering, and in all, the Firbolgs were able to talk
their enemy into one hundred and five days of delay.

At the last hour, the Tuathans, noting that the

Firbolgs outnumbered them, got in a point of their own,
demanding that the armies be matched man for man. This
was agreed to in recognition of the fact that it would leave
the Firbolgs with a back up force. At that, they suffered
defeat after four days of battle and reconferred, reducing
potential losses of life by cutting the warring forces to 300
men on each side. The Tuathans won this struggle, but
recognizing the valour of the Firbolgs, granted them
possession of the province now called Connaught. In these
early "wars" men managed to get exercise but relatively
few people were killed. As Dyer says this was a time when
there were "no leaders, no strategy, and no tactics", when
only kinship groups were usually involved "most often to
revenge a killing or a ritual offense committed by another
group..." Warfare was, at its "best", "an important ritual, an
exciting and dangerous game, and perhaps an opportunity for
self expression, but it (was) not about power...and it most
certainly (was) not about wholesale slaughter." 9

Gwynne Dyer says that "the gulf between primitive

and civilized societies is as vast in warfare as it is in
other respects. The essence of the Neolithic revolution was
not the discovery...that food could be obtained more reliably
and in greater abundance by planting and harvesting crops
and taming or breeding animals...It was the insight that
human will and organization could exercise control over the
natural world - and over large numbers of human beings."10
In other words, the development of agriculture allowed the
creation of a class-society whose most elevated members
began to see the possibilty of great personal gain in
exercising power. Lewis Mumford has suggested that it was
"the essence of civilization" to exert power in all its forms.
The roots of the first civilizations, he claimed, are to be
found in states that were so absolutist and awesomely
cruel they make Nazi Germany seem a moral commonplace.
Dyer thinks that the first experiments at weilding power
went to the heads of the earliest leaders of state causing
them to build practical irrigation canals on one hand, and to
pursue vast personal memorials, such as the pyramids, on
the other. Between ends, powerful men waged wars of
extermination which were often little more than personal
vendettas waged with the complicity of newly "civilized"
men.

In the days when there were no permanent leaders of

men power was recognized as a temporary attribute.
Among the primitives any man who could raise a following
became the chief of a war party. In some tribes he might
maintain absolute control of those who followed for the
duration of the expedition. This elevated state lasted as
long as the band's interest in war-like play. Before physics
became a science, primitive men understood that physical
force was any push or pull resulting in motion, and
formulated the idea that work was force acting through a
height or distance. Power was understood as the work done
in a unit of time.
 This idea was extended to psychic concepts and the
most powerful men and animals were seen to act, mentally
or physically, with greater force or speed than others of
their kind. At that, the greatest power was seen to reside in
the natural world, where it periodically acted against men
in violent movements of fire, earth, wind and water.
Considering this, the early hunter-gatherers probably
supposed that ultimate control must lay with a creator-god
whose will was channelled through lightning, vulcanism,
earthquakes, hurricanes and whirlpools. The creator god
was often left unnamed, it being thought presumptuous and
dangerous to draw his attention by referring to him
directly. Early on, it was noticed that the god behind nature
was quixotic, a dangerous easily aroused enemy and an
unreliable ally. Some men may have privately thanked this
creator for their existence and the world within which they
found themselves, but the father of all things was rarely
credited with much continuing interest in his universe. He
was thought to stand outside of time when he started the
celestial mechanics of the sun, moon and stars. It was
further suggested that he provided the life force inherent in
plants and animals, but the mortal gods were often credited
with actually creating life.

Some pagan philosophers suggested that the supreme

god suffered from boredom and, on a celestial whim, divided
his "cumhachd", or power, among three elemental gods of
fire, wind and water. In doing so, the one god appears to
have shielded his creations from the fact that they were
divisions of a single force destined to reunion at the end of
time. The vital spark given these gods was known to the
Gaels as "rong"; the Anglo-Saxons called it ghost; the
Anglo-Normans, spirit. Thus the elemental gods used to be
referred to as god-spirits or god-ghosts. Like the creator-
god, these three god-spirits, or elemental gods, were
generated out of primal chaos. The Norse scalds, or poets,
declared that before the world existed there was nothing
where our earth now stands but the Ginnungagap (Beginning
Gap) , "whose depths no eye could fathom, as it was
enveloped in perpetual twilight. Yet in the beginning, when
there was no earth, nor sea, nor air, when darkness ruled
over all, there existed in this place, a powerful being called
Allfather, dimly conceived, uncreated, unseen. (Moreover)
whatever he willed came to pass." 11

CURACH, Eng. coracle, from curradh, unstable, crowded

together, exhausted; an ocean-going craft made of hides
tied to a half-round wicker framework. The building of a
curragh is really an extension of the craft of wickerwork,
since the basic structure is cross-framing of scantlings
(thought to have been ash, about 1x2” in size). The old
Celtic hunters often built temporary dwellings by creating
an oversize basket frame, which was then covered with
water-proofed hides, and turned mouth-down to the earth.
Turning it over and closing the door-opening created an
almost useable boat. Gunwales had to be added (and these
may have been constructed of 1x6” oak planks). Without
these protective edges the boat would soon have become
tattered above the water-line. When linen sails came into
vogue, they were set upon a mainmast, or mainmasts,
ranging to perhaps twenty feet in height, It is guessed that
the masts were probably placed within mast steps made of
oak, rewsting directly on the keelson.

In 1977 Tim Sevrein led a number of fellow

countrymen in a reconstruction of a curragh and a
transatlantic voyage from Ireland to Newfoundland. They
built a 36-foot boat, tying together ash strips with thongs
that had been pre-stretched by hand to limit their
elasticity. The hull members were then soaked with wool
grease to preserve the wood and limit friction between the
timbers. They found that forty-nine oxhide butts were
required to cover the framework, the whole being stitched
in handmade cord waxed with a mixture of beeswax, resin
and grease, so as to fill the awl holes between pieces. In
finishing their reproduction, the workers attached leather
to the oak keel-skid with copper rivets, this being “a very
highly developed technique in Christian Ireland.” It is said
that Brendan’s men applied “oxhides tanned with the bark of
oak,” and carried spares aboard ship in case of puncture or
other form of damage.

For the modern-day craft, oxhides were prepared

using this antique process, and after specimens were
laboratory-tested it was noted that “oak-bark leather
proved very strong even when wet.” It was also revealled
that it had an open fibre structure particularly suited to
taking up waterproof grease. The dressing of the butts also
followed the advice that the monks used “fat for preparing
hides,” to cover the boat,” and “smeared all the joints of
the hides on the outside with fats.” To remain as authentic
as possible the ship “Brendan,” was treated only with
substances known in medieval times - tallow, beeswax,
cod-liver oil, wool grease, in places single, elsewhere in
combination. After many experiments the essential
dressing was recognized as raw wool grease. The leather
was first dipped in baths at 50° centigrade and the hides
were then stacked, after which it was found that there was
a 37% uptake of this waterproofing agent.

At the end of the Atlantic voyage, the hides were re-

examined and found essentially unchanged in chemistry and
physical condition. The thongs used to tie together cross-
members were alum treated, an approach known to men
from Roman times or earlier. These were swathed with a
tallow and fish-oil combination before being put to use. In
all twenty three miles of flax thread were used to stitch
the oxhides to one another and to the frame. After the
crossing, Severin’s crew had this to say of the “Brendans”
performance at sea: “The maximum distance achieved
(under sail) in a 24-hour period was 115 miles. The
minimum day’s run was, of course, nil in a flat calm, and on
bad days “Brendan” was actually driven back by adverse
winds. The average days run was 40 miles and cruising
speed of 2 to 3 knots...The maximum reading on the log scale
was 12 knots in heavy weather and high seas... The most
impressive aspect of “Brendan’s” performance was her sea-
keeping ability even in severe weather. She successfully
negotiated prolonged periods of heavy seas and strong
winds,,,The stability was enhanced by ballasting with 1600
pounds of fresh drinking water, half stored beneath the
floorboards. Without doubt the chief danger was a capsize
at sea. Deliberate capsize during sea trials proved
extraordinarily difficulty, even when the boat was
unballasted. After being downed “Brendan” could be turned
right way up by a 5-man crew and it took 12 minutes
bailing...to empty her...” In the course of travel, the
“Brendan” got into an ice-field off the coast of Labrador,
and sustained a puncture two hundred miles from land.
After long hours of removing water with a manual bilge
pump, Severin found “a sizeable dent in the leather hull.”
Despite its tensile strength of two tons per square inch, the
leather had burst below the water-line. Once the source of
the leak was found, it was patched from the outside after
three hours “of bone-chilling work.” This enabled the
admittedly undermanned boat to gain a landfall on Peckford
Island, Newfoundland. Summarizing what he had learned,
Severin noted that the voyages of days gone by had been
“little appreciated” because the descriptions of them
seemed naive to latter-day readers.

Tales of sea-monsters and fantastic buildings, in or

on the sea, seemed at least overblown, but more likely
fabulous. “The real fault lies not in the medieval author for
his writing, but in the modern perception of the older
experience. It is easy to dismiss such tales as worthless
and childish when viewed from the commanding heights of
twentieth-century knowledge. But “Brendan” taught us to
look at them otherwise. “Brendan” helped us to understand
by placing us in situations similar to the original. Time and
again we found ourselves deeply impressed and sometimes
awed, by what we encountered at sea... How much more
impressive these same scenes much have been to medieval
sailors, especially those eager and expectant to see God’s
marvels. Their vivid prose (actually) fails to capture the
splendour of the occasion, and it is scarcely surprising that
they should have come back (to land) and reported so
extravagantly and with such wonder.”
CURAGH SGIATHACH, CURACH, CHURACH SGIATHACH, curach,
, a coracle; sgiath, a wing; The “Winged Coracle.” A ship
used by Fionn mac Cumhailt when he travelled beyond the
moon. While he was recuperating from the loss of his
fiancee Grainne, Fionn wandered in the wilderness at St.
Kilda, Scotland. It is said that this sky-ship came down on
wings between Heisgeir and Haisgeir and landed “on the
Lagan of Arnal - below the beach...” It came to rest in
shallow water and there he was met by travellers who knew
his identity. This company often to divert the hero by taking
him on a journey “where no man has gone before.”

Fionn accepted the offer and within the coracle was

told that they would first travel “to her hiding station
under the moon.” The pilot explained that this strange craft
could travel the heavens “sailing on a ray of light.” As the
ship moved upwards Fionn observed the earth falling away
soundlessly “while the moon seemed as if it were coming to
meet them.” Fionn was surprised to see that the earth, as
seen from space, appeared smaller than the sun. After a
brief stop on the far side of the moon, the craft continued
on toward Barr-result, the “prime star.” They did not pause
here but went on “beyond the Bow of the Children of Uis,” or
the “Milky Way,” leaving the Upper and Lower Pedestals far
behind. Soon they by-passed Ruaill Mhor, the largest star in
druidic lore, and landed on the planet of a wandering star
well beyond the Solar System.

Here Fionn entered an Otherworld , in every respect

the equivalent of Hy-Breasil in the western Atlantic. At
landfall the hero was met by a Gaelic-speaking “bird,”
After feasting he was given a travelling guide which had the
appearance of a lion. When he toured he soon came upon less
identifiable aliens: “This filthy creature was standing on
two legs. It was between five and six feet in height. It was
about the weight of a calf or a small stirk. It was hairy and
shaggy. It was giving off an offensive stench that nearly
floored Finn; a filthy discharge (ran) from its mouth, rheum
and scum (issued) from its eyes and nose.” These creature
proved quite humanoid, yelling and fighting with one another
and showing all kinds of “un-nameable” behaviour. After
that the two travellers returned to rejoin a number of
cleaner, more compatible “animals” at a second banquet. At
it Fionn observed that none of the dishes offered previously
were re-offered: “They had sweet music, hospitality and
good cheer; carefree enjoyment and cheerful happiness.
Fionn knew that such feasting could not be duplicated on
earth; by this time Fionn had learned that the kind friends
who were entertaining him could so many things of which
earth-dwellers had not the remotest conception.
Consequently, he was feeling very humble among the birds
and animals.” When the feast ended, the earth-man was
approached by “Big-Bird,” who addressed him as follows:
“Your visit has been too short, there is a lot to know here
that would do you good if you had the time to stay with us,
but we are satisfied - we know that your earth shall be
improved after they hear your report. Good-bye my friend,
good life and happy smiles of fortune on you.” Following
this Fionn was given many gifts, “a full pack load,” and
then boarded the coracle.

“They travelled (homeward) on the wing of velocity -

the light ray. Greater stars than the sun appeared and went
out of sight and constellations quite unknown on the earth
moved into and out of their ken...They were now back at the
sun; in a short time they were beneath the moon, day was
beginning to break. They came down on the Lagan of Arnal
when the rays of the sun were diffusing their tresses
across the Coolin of the Island of Skye. And Fionn came out
of the Winged Coracle...(and) came straight to Creag
Asduinn...at the Bed of the Sweetheart.” According to the
tale-teller this was during the time “when the birds (of the
earth) still spoke Gaelic.” Notice that this coracle confers
with the "crystal boat" which transported men to the
Islands of the Dead within the space of a single hour. (from
The Hebridean Connection, p. 444).

CURAIDH MIR, the hero’s portion; the choicest cut of meat at

a feast, reserved to the greatest champion in attendance.
Apportionment of this bit from the thigh often led to heroic
confrontations.

CU ROI. King of Munster in southern Ireland. His judgement

was sought in selecting Cúchullain as the champion of all
Ireland. With him Cúchullain raided Inis Fer Falga making
off with the king’s daughter, Blathnat. Blathnat loved
Cúchulainn but became wed to Cu Roi. She led Cúchulainn
against his former friend by using milk poured into the
storm sewers to indicate a secret entrance to his fortress.
1.Dyer, Gwynne, War, London, 1985, p. 6.

2.Dyer, Gwynne3, War, London, 1985, p. 11.

3.Eliade, Mircea, Patterns In Comparative Religion (New

York) 1958, p. 207.

4.McNeill, F. Marion, The Scots Kitchen (London) 1920, p.

234.

5.Bulofinch, Thomas, Bulfinch's Mythology (New York) 1913,

pp. 596-597.

6.Guerber, H.A., The Norsemen, London, 1985, p. 8.

7.Peete, Tom, Ancient Irish Tales (New York) 1936, p. 28.

8.Guerber, H.A., The Norsemen, (London), 1985, p. 2.

9.Dyer, Gwynne, War, London, 1985, p. 6.

10.Dyer, Gwynne3, War, London, 1985, p. 11.

11.Guerber, H.A., The Norsemen, (London), 1985, p. 2.