Water Horses
and Bulls
Whilst kelpies are humanlike beings who may adopt horse form, water horses and bulls are almost always to be seen as beasts. Secondly, whereas kelpies live in the running freshwater of rivers and streams, water horses and bulls inhabit the still water of lochs and pools or the sea.
As I shall describe, there are various signs by which they may be distinguished from normal livestock; it’s also important to point out the difference between these “water beasts” and other faery cattle. The faeries (and the merfolk) keep their own herds of cattle, presumably for their dairy produce. Although they may have distinctive markings, such as a white hide and red ears, and be unusually fertile or productive, faery cattle are otherwise largely undistinguishable, in either looks or manner, from the normal cattle on human farms. This faery livestock can blend with a herd and not be noticed. Water bulls and water horses, in contrast, can be solitary and very violent beasts.
How to Spot a Water Beast
The faery water beasts can be distinguished from normal livestock by the fact that they are generally noticeably larger, fatter, and sleeker. They have fiercer tempers, and they are stronger and livelier than normal livestock. Their neighs and bellows are extremely loud. Like cattle from the faery herds, water horses, cows, and bulls are known to crossbreed with ordinary herds and produce very good stock for the lucky farmer. The resulting crossbred foals show the marks of their faery parent, being known, for example, for their hanging ears, flashing eyes, red nostrils, fiery spirits, and spread black hooves. Hybrids with water bulls are identified by their cropped or slit ears and are called corky fyre by the inhabitants of the Scottish Western Isles.165
These creatures live in lonely freshwater lakes and tarns and in sea lochs. Their presence may be detected by waves on the surface of the water on a still and windless day. At Loch na Beiste near Gairloch an attempt was made to drain the loch so as to rid it of its evil inhabitant; the water level was lowered sufficiently to uncover something looking like the upturned keel of a boat, at which point the workmen abandoned their efforts. A very similar creature called Mourie was seen in nearby Loch Maree—to which bulls were sacrificed on August 25 each year. Another unusual sighting involved a mysterious grey horse spotted by a herder amongst his horses pasturing by a remote loch. He didn’t recognise the animal and, when he looked at it more closely, he saw instead an old man with long grey hair and beard. At that instant, the herder’s horse took fright, bolted, and galloped for miles. Quite often, in fact, it is the reaction of other horses that betrays the real nature of a water horse. For example, a man on Eriskay in about 1892 was out one night to look after one of his mares that had just given birth to a foal. He saw a horse in the distance which he thought might be his, but a terrible scream and the bolting of two of his neighbours’ horses, which had been grazing nearby, persuaded him to give up on his errand and run all the way home.166
Water Bulls
The water bull, an tarbh uisge in Scottish Gaelic, is a mild beast and friendly to humans. It looks very much like a normal bull but dwells in lakes and, out of the water, can be identified by the volume of its call. Particularly famous bulls live in Loch Awe and Loch Rannoch; Loch Leethie is known for its bull, which roars thunderously at night—especially during frosty weather.167
Temperament & Habits
The tarbh uisge is not normally seen as dangerous (especially when compared to its equine equivalent) and is seen as being a benefit to a farm. It lives in lonely tarns and only appears at night, when it might be seen grazing with the herds of cattle. Normal bulls predictably object to these trespassers amongst their cows, but the tarbh uisge is powerful and determined and will always see off its rival in such contests, then enjoying the herd alone. Water bulls have no (or very short) ears, and when they mate with conventional cows, their offspring are also distinctively short-eared, the ears looking as though they have been cut off with a knife. The calves are also notable for their highly spirited tempers. Living in Loch Garten in the Highlands there was reportedly a cross between a horse and a black bull that was of immense strength. The water bulls themselves are variously described as being small and ugly with deep black curly hair or else the size of a stirk (a year-old bullock), with rough, blue-grey fur. Their hides are soft and slippery to the touch, and their lowing is said to sound like a cock crowing.168
Despite their generally solitary and retiring nature, water bulls will sometimes defend humans against those who intend to harm them—which can include water horses, as will be examined later in this chapter. In a story from Argyll, for instance, a rejected suitor tried to abduct a young woman and rape her, but a tarbh uisge appeared, crushed the man to death, and then carried the woman safely back to her home.169
Powers
Given their faery nature, it is hardly surprising to discover that the tarbh uisge may have supernatural powers of hearing and that it can appear at will. For example, some men were sheltering from a storm one night in a hut near Borerary on the island of St. Kilda. They were cold and hungry, and one wished he had a fat ox. Instantly, they heard a huge bull outside, but were too scared to look out. The next morning, there were numerous tracks of its hooves around the hut. Stormy weather is closely linked to the raging of these creatures: at Great Chart in Kent a bull appeared inside the church during a thunderstorm during the 1600s. It stampeded up and down, killing and injuring members of the congregation, before escaping through a wall, which it partly demolished.170
Manx Bulls
The water bull is best known in Scotland, but there are other examples around the British Isles. There seem to be few instances of faery bulls in Wales, other than a fire-breathing specimen that lived in the waters of Llyn Cowlyd in Snowdonia; on the Isle of Man, however, this being is very widely found, there being called the tarroo ushtey.171
One example of the tarroo was spotted as recently as 1859, in the vicinity of Ballure Glen—people travelled from all over the island to be able to see it. This tarroo was said to be small and dark, but not very different in appearance from a normal bull. One witness has compared it to a bear; others say that whilst it is normally black, the tarroo can change its colour to blend in with a herd in a field. As a species, the tarroo lives in river pools and bogs, primarily, although one was seen on a pebble bank on the beach at Port Cornaa, and they tend to avoid humans as much as possible.172
On Man, it’s believed that the water bulls were dangerous to other cattle—not deliberately by devouring livestock but because of their interest in the cows. Especially around May Day, they are prone to get in amongst the farmers’ herds and will lure cows away to the lochs (and, occasionally, unaccompanied children are also vulnerable to taking). Alternatively, the water bulls will mate with the cows, and the results of the tarroo interbreeding with regular cattle are undesirable (unlike in Scotland) as the cows will either abort or will give birth to calves that are misshapen monsters, comprising skin and flesh without bones. Admittedly, the tarroo will sometimes mutilate or kill bullocks in herds when competing over mates, but they are too quick and nimble for farmers to ever catch them and prevent the depredations.173
The best protection for herds from the attentions of the tarroo is to make crosses of rowan and tie them to the cattle’s tails. In one Manx story, a farmer found a tarroo amongst his herd and unwisely struck it with his stick, causing the bull to bolt and plunge wildly into the sea. This brought a blight on the man’s grain crops, but he did not learn his lesson. When he found the bull grazing with his herd a second time, he tried to catch it, but the tarroo escaped. A blight fell on his potatoes. Although he was advised to show greater respect for supernatural livestock, the man was not to be lectured, and the next time he was ready: using a rowan stick, he drove the bull into a shed and penned it. On the next market day, the bull was driven into town with the rowan stick, but most people realised what it was and made no offers of purchase. Late in the day a man expressed interest, but only if the farmer rode the beast, as he boasted he easily could—because it was so docile and obedient. The foolhardy farmer climbed onto its back and, at first, all went well—until the rowan wand fell from his grasp—at which point the tarroo galloped off into the sea with the farmer clinging on. He survived this ordeal—but was much chastened.174
The Manx bulls are often heard bellowing at night, so loudly that the ground will tremble and people living nearby will be disturbed from their sleep. Certain locations are avoided during the hours of darkness as a result, because the bulls will emerge from their rivers and play in meadows. At Granane in the parish of Lonan a tarroo ushtey was once in the habit of coming out of the river and roaring around a house there, apparently trying to get in. The inhabitants had to bar the doors and were awoken every night by the noise and by their own fear. They eventually were driven away from the place. In another example of the fear the bulls could instill, two boys who’d been out stealing apples at Cronk Leannag were on their way home when they came face-to-face with a huge bull with blazing eyes the size of cups. It charged them and they fled, after which it plunged into a swamp and was gone. Drainage on the islands has diminished the number of water bulls that are sighted today, as many of the marshes they once infested have disappeared.175
Remedies
As we’ve just seen, people would often rather move house away from a nuisance water bull than try to take measures against it. Nevertheless, they can sometimes become such a menace that something drastic has to be done. The problem, then, is that they’re fairly indestructible.
The Scottish water bulls are said to be invulnerable, except to silver shot. A report is given of one Highland farmer who had lost some sheep to a bull and was determined to get revenge. The bull had been seen on the local loch, going up and down and “as big as a house.” The man had first tried to catch it with a hook baited with a dog, but the bull had broken free—although the loch had been seen to be filled with blood afterwards. Water bulls have also sometimes been caught with sheep tied to oak trunks, but they can break free of these too. In this case, the farmer then loaded his shotgun with sixpences and lay in wait—as did his sons, armed only with dung forks.176
Despite the general difficulties of killing bulls, there is a report from the island of St. Kilda of a man who slew one with a bow and arrow. The Manx form of the beast seems just as strong and insuperable. At Granane, just mentioned, the residents tried to solve the problem of the tarroo by bringing their own large bull onto the farm. It fought the water bull and was gored to death. Another report suggested that, whilst sticks and pitchforks were no match for the water bull, a shotgun or rifle would be effective. Such extreme force didn’t always seem to be needed, though. There was once a tarroo ushtey that lived in a pool where the promenade at Ramsey now runs; it threatened a local man, and he raised his stick as if to strike it, but then pulled his blow. This was found to render the beast powerless.177
Water Horses
Water horses, also called in Gaelic each uisge, are Scottish faery beasts that live in freshwater lakes or in the sea (but not in flowing water, which is the home of the kelpie). There’s even a well, the Fuaran na Lair Bann, “The White Mare’s Well,” at Balmore near Inverness, that has a resident each uisge.178
Although water horses are reported at numerous lochs and lochans, including Loch Arkaig, Loch Sunart, and Loch Ness, it is said that there is never more than one each uisge in existence at any one time. Most freshwater lakes reported having a water horse at one point or another.
Water horses are, by and large, extremely dangerous, being predatory upon humans. Because they are so large, unearthly, and grim looking, simply seeing one can be so terrifying as to make a strong, healthy man physically ill for days. Most of the folklore concerning these beasts therefore relates to our efforts to escape or defeat them. Rarely, though, they can be subdued and made use of by people.179
Water Horse Nature
Water horses in their natural form are described differently across the Highlands. On Skye, it’s said that they have a bill; everywhere else they look more conventionally horse-like with a long, slippery brown snout. They may be grey, black, or brown in colour and are far wilder than normal horses. A horse seen at close quarters on Loch Evort in November 1856 was described as having neither mane nor hair of any kind, but rather a “slimy black skin like that of a porpoise.”180 It sank below the water only to reemerge shortly afterwards in the form of a huge naked man with the same shiny dark skin. The each uisge of Loch Venachar in Perthshire was one of many that was able to speak; it only emerged from the waters to graze the banks at the hottest times of day. Those seen on the road, waiting for an incautious rider to mount them, may be identified by the water weed wrapped around their hooves.181
Water horses predominantly appear in four-legged form, but they can sometimes disguise themselves as humans in order to allay the fears of victims, approaching them in the shape of a comely young man or woman or as an old woman looking for help. They might even appear as inanimate objects—a ring or a tuft of wool. Sometimes a bright light may be seen moving on the water at night—a sign of the beasts swimming up and down.182
Most water horses seem to be male and to prey upon female humans, but this isn’t exclusively the case. A piper attending a dance at Golspie was admiring an attractive woman until he glimpsed that she had horse’s hooves beneath her skirt. He wanted to go outside the house where the dance was being held to relieve himself, but she refused to let him go unless she kept a firm grip on one end of his plaid. He decided to abandon the garment, throwing it off and taking to his heels. The horse-woman followed, but he was luckily a swift runner and escaped. The following day the man was out riding when he saw a colt on the road ahead of him. It always kept the same distance until, after some miles, it veered off the road and disappeared into a cave. Shortly afterwards a woman emerged from the cavern and started to dance, confirming for the man the identity between horse and girl.183
Water Horse Abductions
The consistent trait of water horses is the carrying off of unsuspecting riders. This is something the each uisge shares with the kelpie, and the two types of beast often get mixed up, with all of them being termed “kelpies.” To be sure exactly what you’re dealing with, try to discover where the horse came from: still water (or the sea) means an each uisge, flowing water means a kelpie.
Abductions can arise in various ways. A frequent story told involves a group of children that find a beautiful horse and get on its back. Whether it’s half a dozen or a dozen that want a ride, the beast’s back is always long enough to accommodate. Once the group is mounted, the animal will career off into the loch, perhaps into an underwater cavern, and devour them. All that remains to show what has happened to the abductees will be the heart and lungs, livers, hair, and entrails (or perhaps the shredded caps and clothes) of the victims, floating on the surface of the loch. A survivor lives to tell the tale, of course. At Lagan-nan-Gillean (the Boys’ Lake) in western Argyll, a lame boy was unable to stay on the horse when it bolted for its lair; at Loch Lindie and Lochan a’Ghille one of the boys poked the horse with his finger, found that it got stuck, and then had to cut off the digit with his pocketknife to free himself.184
Luckily for some potential victims, a telltale sign will alert them to the real nature of what they are dealing with before it’s too late. Sometimes the water horse will speak to a child hesitating to climb on its back; in its human form the each uisge may be betrayed by its odd, snuffling voice. On Barra, a cow girl was approached by a very handsome man who asked her to comb his hair. She readily agreed, and he laid his head in her lap. As she combed, she found reeds tangled with the locks, and realised that this was an each uisge in human form. He started to doze, and she slipped out of her skirt and ran away.185
When he awoke and found his prey was gone, the water horse was so enraged that he stamped stones into dust with his hooves. Fortunately, after this reverse, he was seen no more in that neighbourhood. In another version of this incident, the girl’s brother fought and killed the horse the following day. In yet another version, from the Isle of Eigg, the water horse fell asleep clutching a tress of the girl’s hair. She had to hack it off with a sharp stone before gently raising his head from her lap and slipping away. Despite the frequent tales of attempted seduction, an each uisge in human form is not always good looking; one who appeared to a girl alone at a shieling on Islay was very tall and large, being rough and hairy with no skin on his face and large round eyes. She threw a ladleful of boiling water on him, a simple and effective way of driving him off. Even so, there seemed to be a herd of water horses in the vicinity, so the girl ran to the byre, turned out a cow, and lay down to sleep there, protected by a magic circle drawn around her. She was safe and sound the next morning, but the cow had been killed.186
A very fascinating variant on this theme comes from the island of Islay. A servant girl was herding her master’s cattle when, as is usual, a young man approached her and asked that she comb and arrange his hair. She was happy to oblige for such a handsome youth but then was shocked to find seaweed amongst his locks. He fell asleep, and she managed to slip away from him. Despite her head start, as she neared the farm, she looked back and saw that he was gaining on her, now in the form of a horse. At that moment, an old wise woman who lived on the farm saw what was happening and released the farm’s bull from its byre. This bull had been sired by a water bull and had been very well treated over the years. It dashed to the girl’s aid, and a terrible fight began between the two faery beasts. The struggle took them both into the sea where they disappeared. The next day, the bull’s mangled corpse was recovered but, equally, the water horse was never seen again either.187
The each uisge has the power to appear in a number of forms, so as to lull potential victims. At Shawbost on Lewis, two cousins were at a remote cottage tending their cattle when an old woman unknown to them approached, seeking shelter for the night. She seemed to know the area well, so they let her stay. In the morning, one of the cousins awoke and found her relative dead and bleeding beside her. The old woman was no longer in the bed but, looking outside, the surviving girl saw a horse trotting off—clear proof that their visitor had been an each uisge in disguise. A similar tale comes from Trotternish on Skye, but in this case one of the younger women awoke in the middle of the night to discover their old visitor sinking her teeth into the arm of another of the sleepers. The first girl leapt up and fled, but the old woman assumed her horse form and made chase. A little way from Bracadale church, the girl jumped over a stream and, at the same time, the cocks crowed. The each uisge could not cross the stream and the fugitive was safe. In a third story from Lewis, the water horse takes on the form of a young woman asking to stop and rest for a while at a shieling; her true identity is betrayed in due course by the sand, gravel, and seaweed in her hair. As mentioned before, any sort of vegetation, such as rushes or goosegrass, entangled in the hair is a regular clue of a stranger’s supernatural nature.188
If a water horse singles you out as its prey, it appears that it’s impossible to escape your fate. A young woman was courted by a handsome youth—until she found rushes in his hair, at which point she ran home with the each in hot pursuit. She managed to get into her cottage and slam the door in his face, but he warned, “In a year and a day, I’ll come seeking my dear.” The girl avoided the place where they’d met and got engaged to a local boy, but on their wedding day a year later, a large black horse galloped up, seized the bride, and carried her off. She was never seen again—although a low voice has sometimes been heard singing near the loch. A similar story from the island of Mingulay tells of a girl who agreed to wed a mysterious man after a year and a day. Awaiting the happy day, she began to sicken and pine away. Her family realised that she was betrothed to a water horse and resolved to prevent the marriage. However, on the appointed day of the wedding the man returned and there was nothing that anyone could do to stop him carrying her off. He led her to a nearby well, into which they vanished together. The only traces of her that were found afterwards were bits of her clothes and some blood, which filled the spring. Water horses, in short, seem to be of a naturally violent and unpleasant disposition. There is even a story from Loch Cateran of one that devoured an entire funeral procession.189
Although death by being drowned or devoured is the usual fate of maidens abducted by water horses, this isn’t always the outcome, and some weddings with each uisge don’t prove fatal. There are several accounts of young women who are carried off to the beast’s hall under the loch to become the horse’s bride. A baby is born, but after the typical magical period of a year and a day the girl is often able to escape, leaving her husband and infant bereft.190
Water Horses Tamed
Just as with the kelpie, it is said to be fatal to place a hand on a water horse’s hide, as it will adhere, and you’ll then be dragged into the lake. Touching them in human form is just as deadly. Nonetheless, if you can grasp hold of a water horse’s bridle, it will be in your power and you will enjoy good luck—you may even acquire the second sight and be able to see the Good Folk and look into the future. Alternatively, if you can harness one of the beasts with your own bridle, or place a cap over its head, it will have to work for you so long as the shackle or cap remain in place. Sometimes these beasts will even voluntarily submit to subjection. Normally, though, it is impossible to saddle these horses—they will rip the gear to pieces with their teeth and pulp it with their hooves.191
Taming with the Each Uisge’s Bridle
As with kelpies, the bridle is the key element in many of the stories about the each uisge, being the feature in which the water horse’s supernatural powers reside. The horse’s bridle is part of its deception of unwary riders. Appearing like a fully broken and rideable horse, people are more likely to climb on its back and to surrender themselves into its power.
A man called MacGrigor managed to subdue the famous water horse that lurked around Loch Ness. It would appear to unsuspecting walkers, bridled with fine trappings and ready to ride, and as soon as they had succumbed to temptation and mounted, it would carry them into the lake and devour them. MacGrigor was able to cut off this enchanted bridle, thereby rendering the each powerless. This being done, for a while man and beast bargained together over the return of the harness, but they couldn’t agree. The water horse said he’d never be able to take it into his house and blocked his way, but MacGrigor was able to throw the bridle to his wife through the window. As the house was protected by a rowan cross over the door, the water horse had to admit defeat and give up. As for MacGrigor, perhaps we can infer his fate from another story. A drover of Nether Lochaber, walking home one night, found a discarded bridle in the road. He picked it up but found that it was red hot to the touch. He consulted an old wise woman who advised that it must have been lost by a water horse and, if he hung it on a crook made of rowan wood, it would bring his household good fortune.192
The magical properties that are inherent in a water horse’s bridle are further revealed by the details of the career of Gregor Wilcox, the so-called “warlock of Strathavon.” Gregor had two famous charms in his possession, which enabled him to perform his magic. One was the bridle of a water horse, taken (it was said) using luck, cunning, and a sword, from the black Loch Ness water horse, or from that of Loch Spioradan. This alone was a powerful weapon, but the warlock employed it in combination with a mermaid’s “stone.” This item was a crystal ball that had been acquired from a stranded mermaid by Wilcox’s grandfather. He had found her, carried her home, and only consented to return her to the sea if she surrendered the stone. Using the two items together, and subject to the right ceremony, Gregor Wilcox could break witches’ spells, expose thieves, find lost property, and help barren women.193
Taming with Your Own Bridle
Placing your own bridle upon an each uisge brings it within your control and enables you to use it for whatever purpose you choose for as long as the harness remains in place.
Whilst it’s possible to bridle and employ a water horse, these episodes can end badly. A man called John MacInnes of Glenelg was struggling with his farm work. One day a stranger approached him and said that he could have a horse to assist him on certain conditions. MacInnes consented to these and soon afterwards found a horse grazing in one of his fields. He used it for ploughing and hauling and managed his workload much better with its help. At nights, when it was stabled, he was required to speak a blessing and sprinkle earth from a molehill over the animal. After a while, with all going so well, and because he had become so familiar with the horse, he forgot the ritual one night. The horse promptly seized him in its teeth and carried him off into the local loch (in another version of this incident, MacInnes’s error was to neglect the blessing and then to mount the horse to carry him home after a long day of ploughing).194
Even if harnessing and using a water horse doesn’t prove fatal, it may still turn out to be ruinous to a farmer. A farmer may find a strange horse grazing on his land over winter. In the spring it’s found to be docile and sleek and, when bridled, will work better than any of his other horses, so much so that, in due course, it is harnessed as the lead horse in a team for ploughing. This will be the point at which the each uisge reveals its faery nature and gallops off into the nearest loch, taking the rest of the man’s horses with it. Sometimes, too, he’s dragged along with them.195
Water Horse Help
Very occasionally, a water horse might choose for some reason to assist humans. At Dirlot Castle in Sutherland in the north of Scotland, an each uisge guarded treasure that had been buried under a lake near the fortress. Anyone who tried to dive for it would never resurface, and the only evidence of their fate would be a heart and lungs seen floating on the water some time later. At Carishader, near Uig on Lewis, the local each was on such friendly terms with the local people that it used to visit them in their homes. In a fascinating instance from Vaterstein on the Isle of Skye, an each uisge comforted a widowed woman after the death of her daughter. It appeared in her cottage in the form of a man and sat up with her all night, keeping the fire alight by magical means before vanishing in the morning.196
Banishing Water Horses
Given their generally violent nature, it is understandable that people have often tried to devise strategies to get rid of water horses in their neighbourhoods. Fortunately, they can be killed, or measures may be taken to defend ourselves against them.
The horses can be destroyed by various means. If a person is brave enough, they may get close and stab an each uisge to death with a knife or similar blade. This suggests that, like many of faery kind, they are susceptible to iron. However, other sources allege that water horses are only vulnerable to silver bullets. There is an account of a farmer at Loch Rannoch who used to hunt for the local each uisge using guns loaded with sixpences.197
Other strategies have been tried. West of North Uist lie the Monach Islands on which was a small lake called the Lake of Virtues, which was inhabited by a water horse. It was such a nuisance that the islanders had even considered abandoning their homes to escape it. A woman called MacLeod proposed destroying it by bringing a very large bull onto her farm. This was agreed on by the community, and the bull was put to graze in a meadow by the loch. Before too long, the each uisge emerged, covered in mud and weeds, and a tremendous fight ensued. The water horse cunningly gave ground until it was in the water, although it had until then appeared to be getting the worst of the fight. In contact with its element, its strength increased and both animals disappeared beneath the waves. The next day some lungs floated ashore; it wasn’t possible to determine whether they were the bull’s or the horse’s, but it seems most likely that the bull was overcome. A nuisance each uisge at Erista was killed by an expert archer who specialised in this type of pest control—although even he needed three arrows to kill the beast. Fascinatingly, in another case it appeared that a water horse that had killed a man was subsequently itself killed by other horses in the same loch, possibly because it smelled of the human it had just consumed.198
If you meet an each uisge and you doubt your ability to fight and kill it, what can you do to protect yourself? There are several options available to you. A good preventative (as with all fae beings) is to carry a Bible or leaves from scripture with you. Other techniques that are effective against faeries are also efficacious against an each uisge. If you can get across any watercourse, you will be safe; wearing rowan sprigs will protect you, and they can also safeguard your home. Thirdly, as with all faery kind, the symbols of Christian religion seem effective. A young woman on the Isle of Skye discovered that her handsome boyfriend was actually an each uisge when he fell asleep in her lap and she found sand and mud in his hair. She cut off her skirt and made a dash for it. A little way down the road, though, she paused, took out her crucifix and rubbed it across the route he would have to follow to catch her. This invisible mark formed an insuperable barrier against him. Simple magic will also work against an each. Another Skye woman, trapped alone at an isolated shieling by a horse rampaging up and down outside, drew a circle on the ground, scribed a cross within that, and then stood inside the mark. This was an absolute protection against the beast.199
Lastly, quick thinking and boldness may be sufficient. Earlier I described a horse driven off by scalding water; here’s a similar incident. A woman of the Buchanan family on Skye was in her cottage making porridge when a stranger entered and asked her name. The household had tamed and harnessed another each uisge, which they were using for their ploughing, and probably because of this she identified the true nature of her visitor. She knew it was unsafe to tell him her name and thereby put herself in his power, so she replied that she was “myself.” Then she splashed him with the boiling hot porridge. Howling, he ran out and the woman heard the “tame” water horse enquire who had hurt him. When he replied “myself,” any possibility of taking revenge was averted.200
Conclusions
Water horses and water bulls are not just “faery cattle.” They may mix with our herds and behave like our livestock when it suits them, but they are far cleverer and far, far more malign. They conceal themselves within herds to hide from us and to allay any fears we may have, but they are not herd animals; they have motivations and plans that are entirely their own. Humans must always be alert to their presence, especially when they have assumed other forms, and be aware of the steps that can be taken to protect themselves.
To repeat a point made earlier, the improved perception of merfolk is a relatively recent amelioration. The earlier, much more dangerous nature of these water beasts is still to be found in the Scottish accounts of water horses, bulls, and kelpies. The exact details of these characteristics are fascinating, however. Water bulls, while they can be alarming because of their size and the volume of their bellows, are not dangerous to humans—unlike their earthly equivalents. In contrast, water horses (unlike mundane steeds) are positively and actively harmful.
More curious still, the water horse is often at its most insidious and malign when it takes on human form. It’s salutary to appreciate that the each uisge has realised that one of the best ways of achieving its destructive impulses is to disguise itself as one of us; then it can deviously insinuate itself, getting very close to a potential victim whilst allaying all apprehension on the other’s part and using human nature against itself.
165. Stewart, ‘Twixt Ben Nevis, 39; Martin, Western Islands of Scotland, 157.
166. Mackinlay, Folklore of Scottish Lochs, 171–72; Dixon, Gairloch in North-West Ross-shire, 162; Gregor, Notes on the Folk-lore, 67; Campbell and Hall, Strange Things, 300.
167. Sutherland, Folk-lore Gleanings, 98.
168. MacGregor, The Peat-Fire Flame, 79, 81; Sutherland, Folk-lore Gleanings, 98; Campbell, Superstitions, 216; Campbell, Popular Tales, vol. 4, 300.
169. G. Henderson, Survivals of Belief Amongst the Celts (London: Macmillan, 1861), 139; Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands, vol. 4, 304.
170. The Wonders of this Windie Winter. By Terrible Stormes and Tempests, […] (London: G. Eld, 1613), C2v.
171. See for example, Ian, “Llyn Cowlyd,” Mysterious Britain & Ireland: Mysteries, Legends & The Paranormal, November 7, 2012, http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/llyn-cowlyd/.
172. Henry Irwin Jenkinson, Jenkinson’s Practical Guide to the Isle of Man (London: Edward Stanford, 1874), 151–2; Moore, The Folk-lore of the, chapter 4; Gill, A Third Manx Scrapbook, chapter 3, section 6; Douglas, “Restoring to Use,” 19.
173. Leney, Shadowland in Ellan Vannin (London: E. Stock, 1880), 139; Train, Isle of Man, vol. 2, chapter 18.
174. Briggs, Dictionary of Fairies, “Tarroo-Ushtey.”
175. Yn Lioar Manninagh, vol. IV (1901-1905), I; John Rhys, Manx Folklore and Superstitions, ed. Stephen Miller (Isle of Man: Chiollagh Books, 1994), part 1; Gill, A Second Manx Scrapbook, chapter 6.
176. John MacCulloch, The Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland […], vol. 4 (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1824), 330.
177. Dalyell, The Darker Superstitions, 545; MacGregor, The Peat-Fire Flame, 80; Gill, A Second Manx Scrapbook, chapter 6; Waldron, The History and Description, 43; Roeder, Manx Folk-Tales, part one.
178. Fraser, “Northern Folklore: Wells & Springs,” Celtic Magazine 3 (1878): 20.
179. “A remarkable case of fantasy,” The Times, November 22, 1856, 12.
180. “A remarkable case of fantasy,” The Times, 12.
181. Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands, 204; Leyden, A Journal of a Tour, 13–14 and footnote; “A remarkable case of fantasy,” The Times, 12.
182. Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands, 205.
183. Nicholson, Golspie, 15.
184. Sutherland, Folk-lore Gleanings and Character, 98; Katherine Whyte Grant, Myth, Tradition and Story from Western Argyll (Oban Argyll Scotland, The Oban Times, 1925), 2; Nicholson, Golspie, 17, 21; MacGregor, The Peat Fire Flame, 72, 77.
185. MacPherson, Tales of Barra, 190.
186. MacPhail, “Folklore from the Hebrides—II,” section 1, Folklore 8 (1897): 400; Campbell, Popular Tales, vol. 2, 206; Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands, 204, 208.
187. Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands Orally Collected with a Translation by the Late J. F. Campbell, vol. 4 (Paisley: Alexander Gardner, 1893), 304; Grant, Myth, Tradition and Story, 2.
188. MacGregor, The Peat Fire Flame, 67, 74–75.
189. George Henderson, Survivals in Belief Among the Celts (Glasgow, Macmillan, 1861), 163–164; MacCulloch, The Highlands and Western, vol. 4, 331.
190. Watson, “Highland Mythology,” Celtic Review 5, 52.
191. Sutherland, Folk-lore Gleanings and Character, 98; MacCulloch, The Highlands and Western, vol. 4, 331; Mackinlay, Folklore of Scottish Lochs, 171.
192. Mackinlay, Folklore of Scottish Lochs, 174–5.
193. McPherson, Primitive Beliefs, 260.
194. Mackinlay, Folklore of Scottish Lochs, 176–7; MacGregor, The Peat-Fire Flame, 78; Ross, Scottish Notes & Queries (1893), 134.
195. Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands, 204; Henderson, Survivals in Belief, 138.
196. Sutherland, Folk-lore Gleanings and Character, 98; MacPhail, “Folklore from the Hebrides—II,” Folklore 8 (1897): 383.
197. J. G. Campbell, Superstitions, 214; Mackinlay, Folklore, 178.
198. J. G. Campbell, Superstitions, 205, 214; “Faery Tales,” Celtic Review 5, 166; MacGregor, Peat Fire Flame, 75; Campbell, More West Highland Tales, 206.
199. MacCulloch, “Folklore of the Isle of Skye,” Folklore 33 (1922): 308; MacGregor, The Peat-Fire Flame, 67, 74.
200. MacCulloch, “Folklore of the Isle of Skye,” Folklore 33 (1922): 308.