'Coming of the Cailleach' - in the British Isles
The Cailleach in Scotland
In folk
stories from Scotland it is said that The Cailleach rises at Samhain and brings
with her the snow, ice and harsh weather until Imbolc when she turns back into
stone. The stone remains damp as it
contains her life essence. She is also
said to spend her entire time chasing after her son or in some stories her
lover.
She is also
considered the daughter of Grainne, or the Winter Sun. The old Celtic calendar had two suns, ‘the
big sun’ which shone from Beltane to Samhain and ‘the little sun’ that shone
from Samhain to Beltane eve.
There are
many stories and place names associated with the Cailleach in Scotland and the
Hebridean islands. In some parts of
Scotland she is known as the Carlin and occasionally referred to as Queen of
the Witches.
She is said
to have created a huge amount of the Scottish landscape wading through the
surrounding waters up and down the country dropping large boulders from her
creel (apron) to make the islands and using smaller rocks to create the
mountains. Some of these are Beinn Chailleach Bheur in Argyllshire, Beinn na Caillich on the Isle of Skye, Loch
Awe in Argyll and Bute and mountains in Lochaber. A large furrow down the side of Beinn na
Cailliach called Sgriob na Calliach (furrow of the Callieach) is said to have
been created when she stumbled and slid down the hill. Other place names in
Scotland such as Cailleach Vear – a rock off Mull, Sgeir Cailleach – Jura, Ceum
na Caillich – Arran, Cailleach Head – Ross, Carlin’s Loup near Carlop and
Creagan Biorach na Cailliche Moire on Lewis to name but a few.
One story
tells of the Cailleach Bheur as a blue faced hag of winter who ages in
reverse. She starts out old, gnarled and
ugly and gradually becomes young and beautiful perhaps symbolising the
progression of winter to spring.
Known
sometimes as ‘Grandmother of the Clans’ or ‘Ancestress of the Caledonii
Tribe’. The legends of the Caledonii
tribe talk about the ‘bringer of the ice mountains’, the great blue old woman
of the highlands. She was a mountain giantess
who protected the tribe and kept them safe.
Scotland was
called Caledonia, a Latin name given by the Romans; some suggest that this
translates as ‘the land given by Cailleach’.
I suspect the name referred to the Pictish tribe - the Caledonii that
lived in the area during the Iron Age and Roman times. Tacticus (a Roman historian) tells that the
Caledonii had ‘red hair and large limbs’ and were a fierce people that were
quick to fight off invaders.
'The
tribes inhabiting Caledonia flew to arms, and with great preparations, made
greater by the rumours which always exaggerate the unknown, themselves advanced
to attack our fortresses…’
Tacitus,
Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola, c AD 98
The Cailleach in Ireland
Ireland has
the legend of the Cailleach Bhearra a sovereignty queen from West Cork. Her name also pops up in the landscape on
Ceann Cailli (the hag’s head) at the cliffs of Moher in County Clare and Sliabh
na Cailli (the hag’s mountain) in County Meath along with Slieve Gullion in
County Armagh, Slieve Gallion in County Derry, Sloc na Caillagh on Rathlin,
Carnacally in County Armagh which also has a river Callan and Caislean na
Caillighe on Lough Carra plus many more.
It is said
that The Cailleach raised the mountains and hills in Ireland and placed cairns
and barrow mounds upon them. This
seems to reaffirm her connection with death and the underworld but also of
course rebirth.
In Sligo,
the megalithic site Carrownamaddoo (Castledargan) is also called Calliagh A
Vera’s House. In the mountains above Kilross, in western Tipperary stands
another stone formation often referred to as the House of the Cailleach. The
Labbacallee Wedge Tomb in Cork is said to be her burial place; the name, from
Irish Leabhadh Chailligh or Leaba Caillighe, means ‘the Old Woman’s Bed.’
La Fheill
Brighde is celebrated on 1st February and is the day that the
Cailleach gathers her firewood to last over the winter months. If her intention is to make the winter last a
little longer she will make sure the weather on 1st February is warm
and sunny so that she can gather plenty of firewood. So if the 1st February is a cold
and wet day people assume that the Cailleach is already asleep and will soon
run out of firewood, predicting that winter is almost over.
The Cailleach in England
There are
some folk stories around parts of England that refer to a giantess although
there doesn’t seem to be any specific mention of The Cailleach by name a lot of
the stories refer to an old woman, hag or old witch. (Also see Black Annis).
Standing Stones
It seems
that a lot of standing stones in England (and across the globe) are often
referred to as ‘old woman’, most of them have little or no legends or stories
to go with them but maybe they do refer to the ancient goddess, the Cailleach
when she is turned to stone? The Old Woman stone on Bamford Moor, Derbyshire
and another Old Woman stone in Cornholme, West Yorkshire are just two examples.
There is
also a huge stone on the western boundary of Pevensey in Sussex, folk lore says
that an old woman was bringing the stone as her contribution to the foundations
of Pevensey Castle, on the way her apron strings broke and the stone dropped so
she left it there. Another apron string
story…
In the North
of England in the country of Cumbria sits a huge 350 feet diameter stone circle
consisting of 69 stones, the tallest of which is about 12 feet high and carved
with symbols. The four corners face the
points of the compass. The stones date back
to around 1500BC. The largest stone is
called Long Meg who was said to be a witch who with her daughters was turned to
stone for cursing and dancing on the Sabbath (apparently partying on the
Sabbath is a bit of a no no). The circle
is said to be filled with magic and you are supposedly not able to count the
same number of stones twice.
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