As we are still in the grips of winter here in Scotland it seems like a good time to look at the Cailleach.
The Cailleach is the Scottish Goddess of winter and the creator of the landscape (and a mighty fine job she does). She rules from Samhain until Beltane, then she transforms into Brigid the summer goddess (Irish myth would have us believe these are two separate goddesses).
The Cailleach in Scottish mythology has a very close association with our hills. The hills were formed when she dropped stones across Scotland, possibly it was simply random or maybe so she could use them to step across the land quickly. Obviously as the goddess of storms she would form clouds at the top of hills.
One story tells of how she was in charge of the water spring at the top of Ben Cruachan, she would cover the spring with a stone at night and lift it off during the day. One day she fell asleep before completing this duty and the water continued to fall down the mountain creating the River Awe and Loch Awe. Ashamed she had fallen asleep she turned herself to stone, which you can still see on top of Ben Cruachan.
Cailleach na Mòintich is also associated with her and is shaped like a woman lying down.
At the top of the hill are the Calanais standing stones- older than Stonehenge and thought to be a lunar calendar, every 18.6 years the moon appears to dance above the stones.
The Gulf of Corryvreckan is a giant whirlpool found between the islands of Jura and
Scarba, its name is Gaelic and can be translated as either the ‘Cauldron of the speckled
seas’ or the ‘Cauldron of the plaid’. This second translation is where we see the
connection to Cailleach. At the start of winter, she would wash her clothes in the whirlpool until they were pure white, after which she would lay them to dry across the land. This was the first snow of the year!
The Cailleach, is connected with several animals, most commonly wolves, however here in Scotland she is associated with deer. Jura (known as ‘Deer Island’ in Norse) is closely associated with her for this reason. Pictish stones have been found with deer carvings and there has been some evidence found that there may have been deer priestesses.
The last remaining shrine to the Cailleach is located in Glen Lyon. Stones representing her and her husband (and children) are taken (mostly by shepherds these days) into a house over summer and outside for winter, and this tradition has thought to have been going on for thousands of years, although the amount of people living in the glen has continued to decline since the highland clearances. It is said the house was once offered to the Cailleach as shelter, and in gratitude, she promised as long as the shrine is looked after, the glen would be fertile. There were once more stones representing her children but these were carved over by Christians to represent their saints.
There are a lot more places in Scotland named for her, and probably many more stories, unfortunately the Scottish Celts passed stories orally and didn’t write things down, so many have been lost.
(Calanais* - "Calanais" by Lindy Buckley is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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