Scottish folklore Scottish folklore (Scottish Gaelic: ''Beul-aithris na h-Alba'') encompasses the folklore of the Scottish people from their earliest records until today. Folklorists, both academic and amateur, have published a variety of works focused specifically ...

, the beithir is a large snakelike creature or dragon.

Etymology

The

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

word ''beithir'' has been defined variously as "serpent", "lightning", and "thunderbolt".Briggs, Katharine (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies''. Pantheon Books. p. 20. .Mackenzie, Donald (1935). ''Scottish Folklore and Folk Life''. Blackie & Son Limited. p. 247.Carmichael, Alexander (1900). ''Carmina Gadelica'' (Vol. 2). Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable. p. 228. It is also referred to as beithir-nimh ("venomous serpent") and nathair ("serpent" and "adder"). The word may also mean "wild beast" and may be derived from the Norse for "bear" according to

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

scholar James MacKillop.

Folklore

The beithir is described as "the largest and most deadly kind of serpent",Campbell, John Gregorson (1900). ''Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland''. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons. p. 224. or as a dragon (but without certain typical draconic features such as wings or fiery breath). It dwells in mountainous caves and corries (valleys) and is equipped with a

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a ...

sting. If a person is stung by the beithir then they must head for the nearest body of water such as a river or

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...

. If they can reach it before the beithir does then they are cured, but if the monster reaches it first then the victim is doomed.Mackenzie (1935). p. 250. Another cure for the sting is water in which the head of another snake has been placed. The beithir is considered one of the

fuath A fuath ( gd, fuath; ; lit. ‘hatred'; ''fuathan''; vough, vaugh) is a class of malevolent spirits in Scottish Highland folklore, especially water spirits. In Sutherland was the so-called ''Moulin na Vaugha/Fouadh'', ‘Mill of the Fuath', h ...

, a general term for various monsters and spirits associated with water. It is said that if a normal snake is killed then the head must be separated a proper distance from its body and destroyed. Otherwise, both parts will come together and the snake will return to life as a beithir.

Donald Alexander Mackenzie Donald Alexander Mackenzie (24 July 1873 – 2 March 1936) was a Scottish journalist and folklorist and a prolific writer on religion, mythology and anthropology in the early 20th century. Life and career Mackenzie was born in Cromarty, son ...

in ''Scottish Folklore and Folk Life'' (1935) drew a possible connection between the beithir and the mythological

hag HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Mär ...

known as the

Cailleach Bheur In Gaelic ( Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (, ) is a divine hag and ancestor, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is fo ...

. In a story from

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

the Cailleach was slain by a hunter who hacked her to pieces, but she returned to life when all her body parts came together again. Mackenzie suggested that the serpent-dragon of the loch may be one of her forms.

John Francis Campbell John Francis Campbell (Scottish Gaelic: Iain Frangan Caimbeul; Islay, 29 December 1821 – Cannes, 17 February 1885), also known as Young John of Islay (Scottish Gaelic: Iain Òg Ìle) was a Scottish author and scholar who specialised ...

in 1890 recounted a traditional story about a

wicked stepmother A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a non-biological female parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepmother-in-law is a stepmother of one's spouse. Children from her spouse's previous unions are known as her stepchildren. Culture Step ...

who was the wife of an Irish king, and she gave the king's son a magic shirt that was a beithir in disguise. As long as the "great snake" remained coiled about his neck, the prince was under his stepmother's enchantment, but he was eventually freed from the beithir with the help of a wise woman.Campbell, John Francis (1890). ''Popular Tales of the West Highlands'' (Vol. 1). Alexander Gardner. Introduction, pp. lxxxix–xc.

John Gregorson Campbell John Gregorson Campbell (1836 – 22 November 1891) was a Scottish folklorist and Free Church minister at the Tiree and Coll parishes in Argyll, Scotland. An avid collector of traditional stories, he became Secretary to the Ossianic Socie ...

in 1900 provided an account of the beithir:

The big beast of Scanlastle in Islay was one of this kind. It devoured seven horses on its way to Loch-in-daal. A ship was lying at anchor in the loch at the time, and a line of barrels filled with deadly spikes, and with pieces of flesh laid upon them, was placed from the shore to the ship. Tempted by the flesh, the "loathly worm" made its way out on the barrels and was killed by the spikes and cannon.

Writing in the ''Celtic Review'' in 1908, the

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

E. C. Watson described the beithir as a "venomous and destructive creature". She suggested the basis of the legends were founded in the destructive characteristics of

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

and serpents. The beithir was said to be sighted on summer nights when lightning strikes occurred.

References

{{Scottish mythology, state=collapsed Scottish legendary creatures Scottish folklore Legendary reptiles

Etymology

Folklore

See also

References