James Macgrigor encountered a Kelpie disguised as a stallion. Recognizing it, he stroke its nose with his claymore, severing its magical bridle bit. The Kelpie pleaded for its return, revealing its transformational powers and ability to reveal hidden beings: “If you look through the holes in the bit, you will see all manners of fairies and witches and devils.” Macgrigor lifted the bit to his eyes and peered through, and sure enough, the world he saw was bright with colour and full of beings invisible to the human eye. He was so enamoured by the contraption that he wanted to study it in more detail. He was also not deaf to the Kelpie’s claim that without the bit, he would die, and Macgrigor saw an opportunity to free the people of the surrounding area from the Kelpie’s reign of terror.
Macgrigor, captivated by the bit’s power, decided to study it further, leaving the Kelpie in a vulnerable state. Despite the Kelpie’s pleas and threats, Macgrigor cleverly kept the bit, learning about the #Otherworld. #Celtic
„Rarely is a Kelpie the victim of a trick, but after that day, no one went missing on the banks of Loch Ness ever again, all thanks to the cunning of James Macgrigor.“
Source: The Kelpie of Loch Ness - Folklore Scotland https://twitter.com/gonzalokenny/status/1790707801330688016?s=19
#Celtic#FairyTaleTuesday: Three soldiers deserted their army and each took a different path. The sergeant and corporal were tricked and imprisoned by a lady at her palace. The private, however, won her heart and they planed to marry. Repeatedly put to sleep by a tailor’s tricks, the soldier received gifts from his fiancée: a golden ring, a penknife and a golden pin. Despite the tailor’s efforts, the soldier set out to find his beloved in the Kingdom of the Green Mountains. An eagle from the kingdom agreed to carry him, but grew weak from hunger. The „eagle agreed to continue on her journey; but only if the soldier would let her have a bite from his thigh.
After eating from both of his thighs, soldier and eagle finally arrived at the kingdom of the Green Mountains.“ After his wounds had healed, the private reunited with his beloved after showing her the tokens of their past. They married, and he freed his old friends imprisoned in the lady’s castle. Each found their own happily ever after.
Source: The Kingdom of the Green Mountains - Folklore Scotland
#Celtic#FairyTaleTuesday: "The Swans Swim Sae Bonnie" tells of two sisters, one dark and one fair, who were inseparable in their childhood. Over time, however, the dark sister developed jealousy of her fair sister, who was favoured by others. This jealousy grew into hatred as both sisters competed for the love of the same man. In an act of desperation, the dark sister drowned her fair sister in the river. Later, three fiddlers used parts of the fair sister's body to improve their musical instruments, leading to a ghostly revelation that exposed the dark sister:
“It’s yonder he sits ma aul-man the king,
It’s yonder she sits ma mither the queen.
It’s yonder she sits ma fause sester Jean
An sae lightly she pushed me inta the stream.”
The dark sister was burnt as punishment. John fell into madness. The king, however, now had no children at all.
Source: https://folklorescotland.com/the-swans-swim-sae-bonnie/
#Celtic#FairyTaleTuesday: One night, a group of merfolk shed their seal skins to play on the shore. A Shetlander found a skin and a beautiful mermaid lamenting its loss. He refused to return it, offering marriage instead. They lived together for years and had children. One day, a child found the hidden skin. The mermaid bid her children goodbye, returned to the sea, and left the human world forever. She confessed to her second husband, who stood miserably on the shore: “I always loved my first husband best.”
Source: The Mermaid Wife - Folklore Scotland