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

, the fachan (or fachin, fachen, Direach Ghlinn Eitidh or Dithreach (dwarf of

Glen Etive Glen Etive () is a glen in the Scottish Highlands. The River Etive () rises on the peaks surrounding Rannoch Moor, with several tributary streams coming together at the Kings House Hotel, at the head of Glen Coe. From the Kings House, the Etiv ...

)) is a monster or

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

described by

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 C ...

in ''

Popular Tales of the West Highlands ''Popular Tales of the West Highlands'' is a four-volume collection of fairy tales, collected and published by John Francis Campbell, and often translated from Gaelic. Alexander Carmichael was one of the main contributors. The collection in four ...

'' as having a single eye in the middle of its face, a single hand protruding from its chest instead of arms, and a single leg emerging from its central axis. It has a single tuft of hair on the top of its head, regarding which Campbell says "it were easier to take a mountain from the root than to bend that tuft." Campbell draws attention to the possible influence of creatures from

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

tradition such as the Nesnas or Shikk, described as "half of a human being" and hopping about on one leg with great agility.Campbell, John Francis (1893) 862 ''Popular Tales of the West Highlands''. Vol. 4 (New ed.). Alexander Gardner. pp. 297–98.

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde (; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician, and diplomat who served as the first president of Ireland from June 1938 to June 1945. He was a l ...

quotes Campbell's description in his collection of

Irish folklore Irish folklore () refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance and mythology of Ireland. It is the study and appreciation of how people lived. The folklore of Ireland includes banshees, fairies, leprechauns and other mythological creatures, ...

''Beside the Fire'' and refers to an Irish manuscript in which a similar monster is described:

He held a very thick iron flail-club in his skinny hand, and twenty chains out of it, and fifty apples on each chain of them, and a venomous spell on each great apple of them, and a girdle of the skins of deer and roebuck around the thing that was his body, and one eye in the forehead of his black-faced countenance, and one bare, hard, very hairy hand coming out of his chest, and one veiny, thick-soled leg supporting him and a close, firm, dark blue mantle of twisted hard-thick feathers, protecting his body, and surely he was more like unto devil than to man.Hyde, Douglas (1890). ''Beside the Fire: A Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk Stories''. David Nutt. pp. xx–xxii.

Hyde suggests that both descriptions represent branches of a common

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

tradition, and that the word ''fachan'' may be a diminutive of the Irish ''fathach'' (giant) and related to the Scottish ''famhair'' (giant).

References

Aos Sí Fairies Scottish giants Irish giants Irish folklore Irish legendary creatures Scottish legendary creatures Scottish folklore Tuatha Dé Danann Cyclopes Legendary creatures with absent body parts {{legendary-creature-stub

See also

References