Bean-nighe
A washerwoman spirit whose task foretells death.
Last updated
The bean-nighe is a supernatural washerwoman seen beside streams washing bloody grave-clothes of the dying.[1] She is a specific type of ban-sìth.[2] According to an encyclopedia entry citing Briggs (1976), the bean-nighe's traits and abilities differ based on the region.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Scottish folklore
- Nationality
- Scottish
- Known for
- Omen of death
- washing clothes of the doomed
- granting wishes if captured
- Type
- Female spirit (ban-sìth)
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The bean-nighe is believed to be the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth, doomed to wash until her natural lifespan would have ended.[1] In Perthshire she is small, rotund, and dressed in green.[3] A person who catches her may gain knowledge or wishes, but must answer her questions truthfully.[3][4] If every piece of clothing the deceased woman left behind had been washed prior to her death, the doom of the spirits (mnathan-nighe) could be escaped.[1]
Campbell (1900) described the bean-nighe on Skye as a squat being that looks like a "small pitiful child".[3] Campbell (1900) stated that if the bean-nighe spots the person first, that person will become paralyzed.[3]
What the cited sources add
Over thirty blood-smeared smocks and shirts lay on a nearby bleaching-green.[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Bean-nighe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Briggs, Katharine (1976). An Encyclopedia of Fairies. Pantheon Books. pp. 19–20. . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bean-nighe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Campbell, John Gregorson (1900, 1902, 2005) The Gaelic Otherworld. Edited by Ronald Black. Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd. p.311: "A is any otherworld woman; the is a s (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bean-nighe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Campbell, John Gregorson (1900). Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons. pp. 42–44. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bean-nighe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mackenzie, Donald (1935). Scottish Folklore and Folk Life. Blackie & Son Limited. p. 239. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bean-nighe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacGregor, Alasdair Alpin (1937). The Peat-Fire Flame: Folktales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands. The Moray Press. p. 298.; "Fearn Abbey", Undiscovered Scotland (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bean-nighe (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Scottish folklore
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Bean-nighe (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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