With bright blue-starred eyes, 38 Henderson and Cowan, Scottish Fairy Belief, 2001, p21. 69 Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica Volume II, 1900, p356; Logan, The Old Gods: The Truth about Irish Fairies, 1981, p66. Logan, The Old Gods, 1981, p90-91.
The sídhe. During their flittings, people who brave the evening might stumble across the procession and get taken away; or else one fairy host may come across another, rival host, as they both make their way to another sÃd mound, and so a battle may ensue (and woe betide any mortal who gets caught up in it all). Here Be Dragons: A Creature Identification Quiz, More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary, Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes. The term púca sean duine (púca old fellow) is used to describe a grumpy old man, and the púca also lends its name to certain types of flowers and mushroom; the caise púca (cheese of the púca) is the name given to the puff ball fungus, while the cosa púca (the púca’s foot) is a general name for fungi that look most like mushrooms.
Share the pronunciation of daoine in Irish: Share the pronunciation of daoine in Scottish Gaelic: Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine pronunciation. The méaracán púca (the glove of the púca) is just one of the names given to the foxglove.140. As such, their failure to show their unequivocal loyalty to God warranted punishment, but not so much that God deemed they should necessarily join Lucifer in hell. A man by the name of Morough O’Lee lived in Connemara around the year 1700, and it is said that one day he fell asleep beside a sÃd mound. The words of Crofton Croker would do well with being heeded: âIt is a very good thing not to be any way in dread of the fairies, for without doubt they have then less power over a person; but to make too free with them, or to disbelieve in them altogether, is as foolish a thing as man, woman, or child can do.â150. Can we count on you to read this article? 39 Henderson and Cowan, Scottish Fairy Belief, 2001, p21-22. 6 Walsh, The Secret Commonwealth and the Fairy Belief Complex, 2002, p33-34; p92-93. With smooth comely bodies, 41 Koch, Encyclopedia of Celtic Culture, 2006, p728. They are associated with almost every body of water in Ireland, and have a fearsome reputation for malevolence. In addition to enticing weary travellers onto its back, theeach uisge can also take on human form, and has a penchant for seducing beautiful young maidens who come to the shores alone to take in the scenery and indulge their senses in the scents of the blooming heather and other fragrant blossoms. 53 à Súilleabháin, Irish Folk Custom and Belief, 1967, p91-92. 44 Koch, Encyclopedia of Celtic Culture, 2006, p1404.
Then still, there are those who are more akin to nature spirits, haunting certain localities such as lochs and glens.
It is through our own experience, intuition and interpretation that we come to conclude that there is still a place for the daoine sìth in this world; to be respected, to be honoured, and hopefully, to not cause too much mischief or harm to us and ours. 87 Or indeed more sinister fates for a person â abuse, kidnap, murder, and so on could all be blamed on the daoine sìth. Black, The Gaelic Otherworld, 2005, pxxxv; plxxviii. 147 Logan, The Old Gods: The Truth about Irish Fairies, 1981, p30-31. In spite of the romanticism that surrounds them some avenues of modern paganism, it is important to remember that the daoine sìth are not to be trifled with â these are not beings to invoke in order to ‘work with’ them for spells and the like. When he returns to his own people with a warning that the daoine sìth are intending to attack his people the following Samhainn, Nera takes with him a flower from the Otherworld, to prove that he has been where he says he has, and to make sure his warning will be taken seriously.46.
In these cases, the person who willingly helped out are given a gift, like a cloth that helps with healing or relieving pain.
They are fallen angels, sent to Earth by God, They are the souls of the dead, denied entrance to heaven, or taken by the daoine sìth, They are the remnants of an underground race â either gods or a pre-Celtic people displaced by the Celts themselves. Hence in Wales the east wind is known as the “wind of the dead man’s feet.”â Puckle, Funeral Customs, 1926. 118 Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica Volume II, 1900, p302-303. The creideamh sàis a living and still evolving belief system and practice found in Ireland, Scotland and Man, which is often still observed but little talked about or admitted to. 64 Black, The Gaelic Otherworld, 2005, p10. Looking to the sources â especially the folklore collected by scholars such as Evans-Wentz in the nineteenth century â we see a number of other possibilities that are common to both Ireland and Scotland which help explain, or rationalise, the origins and heritage of the daoine sìth (regardless of whether it fits a Biblical scheme, it at least accommodates a Christian view). These can be summarised as follows: Generally speaking, one of these options is accepted over the others, or else one explanation is taken as the primary point of origin for the daoine sìth, while it is accepted that perhaps some of them are of different stock.
On the parents’ return, it was hoped that the fairies had exchanged the changeling for their own, healthy and thriving baby, though more often than not it was likely that the baby had died of exposure.79 In other cases, it was believed that the best solution â an ‘infallible’ method of having the child returned â was to resort to laying the changeling on something burning hot. In horse form, the púca will try to entice lone travellers to climb on and go for a ride, at which point he will run the rider ragged across the countryside and then throw them off far from home, often in a boghole.139, Generally the púca is seen as relatively harmless, but often mischievous, and is used as a caution to children against going out after dark. 113 Logan, The Old Gods: The Truth about Irish Fairies, 1981, p68.
Pronunciation of Daoine. Many tales can be found where these gifts are bestowed, often due to someone gladly giving help to the daoine sìth in their time of need99 â lending farming implements and equipment, for example.
Masterly at making songs, With thin red lips. NicDhà na et al, The CR FAQ, 2007, p91. Those members of the daoine sìth who are seen to haunt certain areas in Ireland â Ãine, Donn, Aoibheall, and so on â are seen to be the rulers over a host of sìthean.110 Mixed in amongst the ranks might be the souls of the dead, those who have been taken from the normal world for one reason or another, or they might be seen as slightly separate, with their own name â the sluagh sÃ, the host, forming a troupe of the Otherworldly dead.
95 à Súilleabháin, Irish Folk Custom and Belief, 1967, p90-91. The sÃd mounds are epitomised by peace and plenty, and its denizens enjoy long lives free from disease and poverty, as we are told in the tale Echtrae Conli (‘The Adventures of Conla’): âI have come from the lands of the living, where there is no death nor sin nor transgression. 66 Evans-Wentz, The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, 1911, p108. The Daoine Sidhe are a race of supernatural beings who make their home in Ireland.Daoine Sidhe roughly means "people of the mounds." ), The Good People: New Fairylore Essays, 1997, p199-200.
16 à hÃgáin, The Lore of Ireland, 2006, p208; Grant, Highland Folk Ways, 1961, p137.
In effect, the souls of the dead amongst the daoine sìth might be seen as being in a sort of purgatory â or purgatory itself29 â âtill satisfaction is made for the sins of the earth.â30 Otherwise, they can be reconciled as being the souls of the pre-Christian, or unbaptised dead.31. 73 Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica Volume II, 1900, p356; Gregor, Notes of the Folklore of the North-East of Scotland, 1881, p63. In Scotland, babies who were believed to be changelings were placed on the cooking plate or a sheet of hot iron with the same intent.
129 Black, The Gaelic Otherworld, 2005, p100. 9 Gregor, Notes of the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, 1881, p59.
Evans-Wentz, in collecting a vast amount of folklore on the subject, recorded many instances of the belief in the daoine sìth as souls of the dead being articulated in both Ireland and Scotland.23 Sometimes it is said that those who were thought to have died prematurely or unexpectedly had really been called away to live with the daoine sìth, for they value youth and beauty and have little care or need for the elderly amongst their ranks: âIf a young wife dies; she is said to have been taken by them, and ever afterwards to live in Fairyland.
110 à Giolláin, ‘The Fairy Belief and Official Religion’, in Narváez (Ed. Carmichael tells us: âIn making the oblation the woman intoned a rune: This was done by the dairymaid on a weekly basis according to Reverend MacQueen, writing in 1774, every Sunday,126 and failure to do so would lead to disaster. Some may be downright sinister, while some may simply be mischievous and occasionally troublesome to the unwary. It was the fault of the daoine sìth, not the parents. The advent of iron, brought by the invaders who displaced them, might be seen as the primary reason for their being pushed to the sidelines (since their own technology couldn’t possibly compete against such advanced and superior weaponry) is often given as the reason for the aversion of the daoine sìth to it. If he did so, he would be the greatest and most successful healer that Ireland had ever known. ), The Good People: New Fairylore Essays, 1997, p202.
140 Logan, The Old Gods: The Truth about Irish Fairies, 1981, p63-64. 18 Logan, The Old Gods: The Facts about Irish Fairies, 1981, p17. On the one hand, we might see the belief in the daoine sìth as being a danger to newborns and unkirked mothers as being a way for folk to reconcile the often common dangers and problems associated with this time of life in a way that easy to understand and accept.82 More often than not, these changeling children were likely to be human children suffering from medical complaints that the folk had no knowledge of how to treat successfully, and so the inevitable death of the child â from failure to thrive, or else by the methods used to try to swap the changeling for their own child â was more easily reconciled.
In Old Irish, the word sÃd can refer to either an ‘Otherworld hill or mound,’ or else ‘peace.’2 Modern forms of this word, and words describing the occupants of those Otherworldly places in Irish and Scots Gaelic, both draw etymologically from the Old Irish. But they are also easily offended â by stinginess, or people simply by getting in their way as they make their way along their ‘fairy paths’, with people either walking along them or building houses in their way, or by receiving offerings or gifts of thanks for favours that are above and beyond their due. 102 McNeill, The Silver Bough Volume I, 1957, p100; à hÃgáin, The Lore of Ireland, 2006, p210. 59 Evans, Irish Folk Ways, 1957, p297; Danaher, Irish Customs and Beliefs, 1964, p95. 26 Evans-Wentz, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, 1911, p75. ), The Good People: New Fairylore Essays, 1997.