The Baobhan Sith: The Vampire Fairy of Scottish Highland Folklore
The Baobhan Sith - Hunters beware.
Far to the north lies a wind-swept, rain-beaten region of the British Isles: sparsely populated, breathtakingly beautiful, and full of mountain peaks that seem to brush the clouds. Deep, shaded valleys cut through a landscape dotted with heather, where craggy rocks push stubbornly through the grass. It is a place long beloved of writers and artists - the Scottish Highlands.
Over the centuries, the people who have called this unforgiving land home have been hardy folk: crofters, small landowners, and tenant farmers who eked out a living by growing crops or raising cattle in the mountain pastures. Crofting was closely linked to Gaelic culture, with neighbouring crofting families supporting one another through difficult times. It is no surprise, then, that such a region - and such people - should possess a rich and intriguing body of folklore. One such tale speaks of a much-feared being, said to prey upon men as they travel the Highlands about their business: the Baobhan Sith.
The Baobhan Sith (pronounced BAA-van shee) translates from Scottish Gaelic as ‘fairy witch’ or ‘fairy hag’. She is a chilling entity, a member of the Fair Folk, but she is no benign, butterfly-winged creature of children’s fairy tales. She is described as lithe and beautiful, with rich red hair, and clad in a green or white dress. The glamour she casts about herself conceals her true appearance, however, it is not flawless, for she cannot fully conceal her deer hooves, which may be glimpsed beneath her gown.
She shares many similarities with a vampire or succubus, though she is neither undead nor demonic. Generally, she targets hunters, using her charms to put them at ease before draining their blood once they are enveloped in her warm embrace. In many stories, she appears after a hunter expresses a desire for female companionship. A typical tale is given below.
Four men went hunting and took shelter for the night in a lonely shieling. One of the men provided music while the others began to dance. Before long, the men expressed a wish for partners, and soon afterwards four women entered the hut. Three of the hunters danced and made merry with their lovely companions. One, however, was more canny than the rest. Noticing the hooves protruding from beneath one of the women’s dresses, he fled outside and sought refuge among the horses, knowing that fairy beings could not bear the presence of their iron horseshoes. When he returned at dawn, the women were gone, and his friends lay dead - their bodies red ruins.
In some accounts, when the Baobhan Sith begins to feed, her beauty fades and her true visage is revealed. Her skin pales to the hue of a corpse, and her eyes - once bright with the promise of love and affection - darken, becoming cruel and merciless. It would seem that she is bound to the wild places of the Highlands, for there are no accounts of her troubling settlements.
One is left to wonder whether this story was spread by shrewd wives seeking to deter their husbands from straying with wild local lasses while out hunting in the hills.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope this little piece of Highland folklore set you trembling with a pleasurable fear. If you enjoy what I do, please consider picking up a copy of my either of my books, Threads of Shadow or Fireside Horror , terrifying folk novels told through short stories - link below.
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Alternatively, there are plenty of free stories, written by yours truly, available in the download section of this website.
Stay Spooky.
Sources
Wikipedia
folklorescotland.com
spookyscotland.net/baobhan-sith
