The most dangerous and most malignant creature was the kelpie, or water-horse, which was supposed to allure women and children to his subaqueous haunts, and there devour them. Sometimes he would swell the lake or torrent beyond its usual limits, and overwhelm the unguarded traveller in the flood. The shepherd, as he sat upon the brow of a rock in a summer’s evening, often fancied he saw this animal dashing along the surface of the lake, or browsing on the pasture-ground upon its verge.
The urisks, who were supposed to be of a condition somewhat intermediate between that of mortal men and spirits, “were a sort of lubbary supernaturals, who, like the brownies of England, could be gained over by kind attentions to perform the drudgery of the farm; and it was believed that many families in the Highlands had one of the order attached to it.”[475] The urisks were supposed to live dispersed over the Highlands, each having his own wild recess; but they were said to hold stated assemblies in the celebrated cave called Coire-nan-Uriskin, situated near the base of Ben-Venue, in Aberfoyle, on its northern shoulder. It overhangs Loch Katrine “in solemn grandeur,” and is beautifully and faithfully described by Sir Walter Scott.[476]
The urisks, though generally inclined to mischief, were supposed to relax in their propensity, if kindly treated by the families which they haunted. They were even serviceable in some instances, and in this point of view were often considered an acquisition. Each family regularly set down a bowl of cream for its urisk, and even clothes were sometimes added. The urisk resented any omission or want of attention on the part of the family; and tradition says, that the urisk of Glaschoil, a small farm about a mile to the west of Ben-Venue, having been disappointed one night of his bowl of cream, after performing the task allotted him, took his departure about day-break, uttering a horrible shriek, and never again returned.
The Daoine Shith, or Shi’ (men of peace), or as they are sometimes called, Daoine matha (good men), come next to be noticed. Dr. Graham considers the part of the popular superstitions of the Highlands which relates to these imaginary persons, and which is to this day retained, as he observes, in some degree of purity, as “the most beautiful and perfect branch of Highland mythology.”
Although it has been generally supposed that the mythology of the Daoine Shi’ is the same as that respecting the fairies of England, as portrayed by Shakspeare, in the Midsummer Night’s Dream, and perhaps, too, of the Orientals, they differ essentially in many important points.
The Daoine Shi’, or men of peace, who are the fairies of the Highlanders, “though not absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish repining race of beings, who, possessing themselves but a scanty portion of happiness, are supposed to envy mankind their more complete and substantial enjoyments. They are supposed to enjoy, in their subterraneous recesses, a sort of shadowy happiness, a tinsel grandeur, which, however, they would willingly exchange for the more solid joys of mortals.”[477] Green was the colour of the dress which these men of peace always wore, and they were supposed to take offence when any of the mortal race presumed to wear their favourite colour. The Highlanders ascribe the disastrous result of the battle of Killiecrankie to the circumstance of Viscount Dundee having been dressed in green on that ill-fated day. This colour is even yet considered ominous to those of his name who assume it.
The abodes of the Daoine Shi’ are supposed to be below grassy eminences or knolls, where, during the night, they celebrate their festivities by the light of the moon, and dance to notes of the softest music.[478] Tradition reports that they have often allured some of the human race into their subterraneous retreats, consisting of gorgeous apartments, and that they have been regaled with the most sumptuous banquets and delicious wines. Their females far exceed the daughters of men in beauty. If any mortal shall be tempted to partake of their repast, or join in their pleasures, he at once forfeits the society of his fellow-men, and is bound down irrevocably to the condition of a Shi’ich, or man of peace.
“A woman,” says a Highland tradition, “was conveyed, in days of yore, into the secret recesses of the men of peace. There she was recognised by one who had formerly been an ordinary mortal, but who had, by some fatality, become associated with the Shi’ichs. This acquaintance, still retaining some portion of human benevolence, warned her of her danger, and counselled her, as she valued her liberty, to abstain from eating or drinking with them for a certain space of time. She complied with the counsel of her friend; and when the period assigned was elapsed, she found herself again upon earth, restored to the society of mortals. It is added, that when she had examined the viands which had been presented to her, and which had appeared so tempting to the eye, they were found, now that the enchantment had been removed, to consist only of the refuse of the earth.”
Some mortals, however, who had been so unhappy as to fall into the snares of the Shi’ichs, are generally believed to have obtained a release from Fairyland, and to have been restored to the society of their friends. Ethert Brand, according to the legend, was released by the intrepidity of his sister, as related by Sir Walter Scott in the fourth Canto of the Lady of the Lake:—