Glaistig of Ardnadrochit

The glaistig that followed the house of Lamont at Ardnadrochit in Craignure parish, Mull. She was commonly seen in the shape of a dog, and was said to carry a pup at the back of her head. When a band came across from Lorne to steal Lamont's cattle, the glaistig, whose charge they were, drove them up the hill out of the way to a place called Meall na Lìre. Here, in a dell called Glaic nan Graisgeach (the Heroes Hollow), they were about to overtake her. On seeing this, she struck the cows and converted them into grey stones, which are to be seen today. One of the plunderers tapped with his broadsword the stone near him and felt sure this was the bed of the white cow (Bo bhàn), and on saying this, the tap of his sword split the stone in two. The glaistig's heart was broken, and she was afterwards taken by Lamont and buried in a small plot near the Sound of Mull, where in those days the bodies of unbaptized children were put.

References

Source

  • Campbell, J.G. (1900). Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Glascow: James MacLehose and Sons, p. 175.