Glaistig of Glen Duror

A glaistig who attached herself to a farmhouse in Auchendarroch (Acha-nan-darach, "field of oaks"), in Glen Duror, Appin, Argyllshire. She attended to the cattle and was particularly concerned with keeping the calves from the cows at night. A portion of milk was poured out for her every evening on a stone called clach na glaistig (glaistig stone). Once the new tenant of the farmhouse neglected this and the calves were found next morning with the cows.

Those who professed to have seen her describe her as being like a grey stone overgrown with lichens. A servant girl who spoke contemptuously of the glaistig received one night a slap on the cheek that twisted her head to one side. On the following evening she got a slap on the other cheek that put her head right.

References

Source

  • Campbell, J.G. (1900). Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Glascow: James MacLehose and Sons, p. 162.