The British Isles love their colorful monsters of myth. Every sylvan forest and swift running river offers shelter to at least one fantastic creature or another. England has its faeries, ogres, dwarves, and elves. The Emerald Isle runs rampant with unicorns, banshees, and the droch-fhuil (a sort of vampire). Even Wales has its coblyns, tylwyth teg (fae folk), and eponymous Welsh dragons. The mythical beasts of Scotland, however, represent a different breed. They lurk in the darkest of places, waiting for an innocent villager to wander too close. In Old Caldonia, you won’t find dragons or goblins or even mermaids. Instead, you’ll uncover the beithir and the wirry-cow and the selkie — and each and every one of them means to do you harm.
For foremost of the Scottish beasts is the dreaded beithir (beithir-nimh in Scottish Gaelic). Legend says these great, venomous dragon-kin appear on Summer nights during lightning strikes. Wingless and serpentine, the Beithir arises from a dead snake whose head wasn’t properly cut off. If you experience the burning sting of the beast, race the serpent to the nearest body of water. Win and your save your own life.
The wirry-cow is a general term for many of the things that go bump in the Scottish night. A sort of goblin or gremlin, the wirry-cow usually hides in your home — causing accidents, hiding loose socks, scaring the children, or getting up to all other sorts of mischief. In some regions, these creatures appear as spirits, the ghosts of troubled people who have returned from the other side to cause problems for their own amusement.
While most sailors are familiar with the mermaid, the Scots stay on the lookout for the beautiful selkie. A Scottish term that approximates “the little grey seal,” the selkie’s true form is that of a seal. At night, they creep ashore, removing their skins to reveal a beautiful woman beneath. If you find a selkie’s hidden skin before they return at sunrise, you can control her, even forcing her to marry. Be warned, however, that once the creatures finds her skin, she will drag you back to the ocean with her, sinking you to a watery death.
Many cultures around the world have tales of werewolves and other were-folk. Few, though, are as mysterious as the Scottish wulver (roughly bodach-mòr-coileach in Scottish Gaelic). Said to haunt the hills and crags on the outskirts of Shetland towns, the current myths of wolf-like creatures may have begun with a scholar’s misinterpretation of the Nordic words for wolf and fairy. Unlike many of the other beasts that haunt the night, wulvers often look after human families or villages, bringing food and other necessities in the night.
If you’re curious about other mythical beasts of Scotland, check out our digital version of author Elizabeth W. Grierson’s 1910 classic The Scottish Fairy Book. Of course, you can also try our exclusive Jabberjerky and get a taste of beasts that roam the highlands.
