Chapter

Glaistig

Glenfuath – the vale of the frightful spirit, in the Gaelic – was well-­named, as I discovered. Beside the ford at Hagburn I saw by the roadside a young and attractive woman dressed in green, who reached up imploringly and gave me to understand by her gestures, for she spoke no English and I none of the Scottish tongue, that she desired me to let her mount behind me and carry her over the ford. Having been forewarned by local tradition, though, I resisted the chivalrous instinct and left her where she sat, and by so doing, I was told, most likely saved my own life.

— William Stukeley, August 1714

The glaistig most often takes the form of a young woman with long, yellow-­blonde hair and a pale, grayish cast to her skin. She wears flowing, green dress, which may conceal goat-­like legs. However some glaistigs are completely human in appearance and some can take the form of a goat at will. Glaistigs employ various tricks to lure lone, male travellers to their lairs, where they are overpowered, killed, and eaten. Music, dancing, and the promise of romance are their most common inducements, and some – like the one encountered by Stukeley above – wait by a stream or ford for someone who can be persuaded to carry them across. Once on a man’s back, the glaistig tears out his throat from behind.

Ritual

Glaistigs flee from the cross and the sound of church bells. They are also repelled by cold iron. Glaistigs can be defeated with certain magical or blessed items, or by damage from other supernatural creatures, but they have been known to return.

Hide ritual

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