Cailleach and the Hunter From Glen Nevis

Those who travel along the majestic Glen Nevis, through the rocky Nevis Gorge, are rewarded with breathtaking scenery. There are tumbling waterfalls, soaring mountains and maybe even a majestic stag or two. Anybody lucky enough to spot wild deer in the glen should also keep their ears open for strange noises. Glen Nevis is known to be a haunt of the Cailleach.

This powerful deity takes the form of an ancient, blue-skinned woman with rusty red teeth and a single piercing eye. She was responsible for creating Scotland as we know it today, carving mountains and sculpting glens with her hammer while dropping peat from her creel to form the islands.

When she wasn't spreading frost and snow across Scotland, the Cailleach was known to protect wild animals, especially her beloved deer. A long time ago, a group of hunters were stalking stags in Glen Nevis when they heard an odd sound. It almost seemed like singing but in a language none of them understood.

That deep, otherworldly melody was accompanied by a loud, rhythmic tapping. The oldest of the group realised that this was the sound of the Cailleach keeping time while she milked her herd of deer. Now they knew that the old Goddess was out protecting her herd, the hunters accepted that they had no chance of catching anything that day.

Dejected, they all left Glen Nevis apart from one brave soul. His cupboards at home were entirely bare and he needed something to feed his family regardless of the Cailleach’s presence. He simply couldn't go back to them empty-handed.

All day he hunted around the slopes with the singing in his ears but there wasn't a single deer to be found. When he sat that night by his fire, the tune of the day inspired him and he began to sing his own song:

"The grizzled Cailleach, tall and stern;
Swift she glides over peak and cairn."

After a few more lines he realised he had company. Gazing across the fire, there was the old, blue-skinned Goddess, chuckling at him. In all of her time protecting her herds, nobody had ever been brave enough to call on her help before.

She explained that her herd was growing far too large for its own good and so the brave young hunter could be useful to her. He was to rise early the next morning and follow the sound of her singing around the glen. If he was patient, she would mark him out a deer that would be his to take home.

From that day on, the man was blessed with supernaturally good luck as a hunter. He wasn’t greedy and never took more than he needed for his family and the Cailleach ensured that he would always be successful. All because he had the courage to call on the Cailleach for help instead of running away from her like so many before him.