I’ve used the no making time over the summer holidays to read up and remind myself on various Scottish tales. Having got myself several new books I am loving reading all the variants of those stories and thinking up what makes I might add to the range.
One book I’ve enjoyed seems to use the term Storm Kelpies to mean merfolk in general or sea based monsters rather than this term being specifically linked to the blue skinned Blue Men o’the Minch as per modern descriptions. In this section of the book it talks about a race of these Storm Kelpies living in the gulf of Corryvreckan with the biggest, fiercest of its whirlpools named after a female one called the Cailleach.
This has been interesting since, well I named this business after them, making storm kelpies a feminine form of the Blue Men merfolk (since I’m female). This Corryvreckan whirlpool is also connected to the giantess creator of Scotland the Cailleach or Cailleach Bheur/Beira who washes her white plaid in it which is laid over the mountains as our snow to dry each winter. These little variants have been most enjoyable to explore, especially finding new links between the characters that form our range.
Another short story which I loved as a child and have reread was the tale of the sinking of the Spanish Armada ship in Tobermory Harbour (we often anchored here on sailing trips). I particularly like all the cats in it and how the blue-eyed witch of Lochaber summons’s the brindled fairy cats (Scottish Wildcat?) of Mull to attack the ship. The ships ultimate downfall is caused by their tails emitting sparks near the gunpowder (which apparently all fairy cats do- maybe the Cat Sith too then). She also turns herself into a cormorant which I like and have read somewhere else of another witch doing this.
I also like how some tales link slightly as in the witches of Skye drowning of John/Iain Garve/Garbh the witch hunter of Raasay gets a mention in the tale of the witch of Laggan and she has sometimes mentioned as being involved in this. The witch of Laggan is sometimes a follow up where this witch attacks another witch hunter the next night, although versions vary and a local one is quite different. This witch shapeshifts into hens or cats then into a raven and the John/Iain Garbh stories often have his downfall being due to an attack by witches in cat form overturning his boat.
Other legends I’m currently pondering are the tales of the Big Grey Man o’ Ben Macdhui. This has actually been on my list of ideas to make for a while as well as having been suggested by a couple of folk. The Grey Man is various stories of accounts of people up the hill or in the Lairig Ghru pass below hearing or sometimes seeing some sort of large presence which terrifies them. Crunching footsteps, a large giant form and in some cases a yeti hairy being description others more of a ghost figure.
I have 2 old one off makes I did a few years ago for my daughter that could work for this figure. A yeti and Ymir, the Nordic Ice Giant. I’m more inclined to go with the ice or stone giant for this figure. A large crunching looming presence of a giant up on the Cairngorm mountain tops and high passes fits with ancient stories of the giants who created and lived in Scotland long ago and also all the non hairy beast descriptions of the Grey Man. Why not a Cairngorm ice giant?
As for a hairy beast, I’m inclined to make the caring but shy Wulver figure rather than a Ben Macdhui Yeti. A fishing weir wolf type creature who leaves fish for those in need or helps lost folk with directions while keeping out the way of humans and moving to new places if discovered or seen by them.
Other ideas are a Cu Sith, a fairy dog which we’d base on a Scottish Deerhound but with a green tint and new Scottish Fae figures as opposed to the winged Fairies currently in the range. A heroic highlander type figure who could play many parts in our Scottish tales from hero witch hunter (or villian depending on your take), a highlander ghost, the victim of Baobhan Sith, someone seeing a Bean Nighe, a friend of our Creel Lady and lots more.
Although thinking and planning now, these will be winter time projects. Firstly we’ll work on restocking figures as needed and hopefully get Blackhouses and Highland Cottages made, tested and a few available since developing these pieces started over a year ago now! Time flies!
Some of my recent reading:
Douglas, George. Scottish Fairy Tales (witch of Laggan, John Garve/Garbh, kelpies, merfolk + others)
Grey, Affleck. 1987. Legends of the Cairngorms. Mainstream Publishing Company Ltd. Edinburgh (Witch of Laggan, Grey Man, Kelpies)
Grey, Affleck. 1988. Big Grey Man o Ben Macdhui: myth or monster. Lochart Publishing. Moffat
Macgregor, Alasdair Alpin. 1947 reprint, The Peat Fire Flame: folk-tales and traditions of the Highlands & Islands. The Ettrick Press, Edinburgh (Kelpies, Cailleach, Iain Garbh + others)
Richardson, Dr Ian. 2nd Edition. 2000. Laggan. Laggan Community Association (Witch of Laggan- different version snippet, kelpies)
Small, Moira.1985. Storyline Scotland book 2, Oliver & Boyd (The Tobermory Legend)
Wyness, Fenton. 1972 (second edition). Legends of North-East Scotland. Impulse Publications Ltd. Aberdeen
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