# Fuath

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{{Short description|Malevolent spirits in Scottish Highland folklore}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Colum-KOIS(Holt1916)-Pogany-illustr-p095-fua(water creature).png|thumb|280px|A "fua" of the river grabs hold of The King of Ireland's Son.{{right|{{small|—Illust. [Willy Pogany](/source/Willy_Pogany). [Colum, Padraic](/source/Padraic_Colum) (1916). ''King of Ireland's son''}}}}]]

A '''fuath''' ({{langx|gd|fuath}}; {{IPA|gd|fuə}}; <small>lit.</small> ‘hatred'; {{small|plural:}} ''fuathan''; {{small|phonetic English:}} '''vough, vaugh''') is a class of malevolent spirits in [Scottish Highland folklore](/source/Scottish_folklore) and [Irish Folklore](/source/Irish_folklore) especially [water spirit](/source/water_spirit)s.

In [Sutherland](/source/Sutherland) was the so-called ''Moulin na Vaugha/Fouadh'', ‘Mill of the Fuath', haunted by the fuath and her son, the amorphous brollachan. The mill was along a stream off<!--or into--> [Loch Migdale](/source/Loch_Migdale), and belonged to the [Dempster family](/source/George_Dempster_of_Dunnichen) ([Skibo Castle](/source/Skibo_Castle)) estate.

A fuath once seen at this mill was a nose-less [banshee](/source/banshee) with yellow hair wearing a green silk dress; in the story of its capture{{efn|Where the fuath is called a "kelpie"}} it was tormented into submission by use of steel ([awl](/source/stitching_awl), and more effectively by a sewing needle), but it turned to a jellyfish-like mass when light was shone on it. A fuath on the estate farm, encountered on a different occasion, had webbed feet.

They sometimes reputedly intermarry with human beings (typically the female), whose offspring develop a mane and tail.

== Nomenclature ==

The term "fuath" has been explained to be a generic class of spirits inhabiting the sea, rivers, fresh water, or sea lochs,<ref name=mackenzie/><ref name=briggs-fuath/> with several "subspecies" falling under it.<ref name=mackillop-fuath/>

The Scottish Gaelic term ''fuath'' has been explained to mean 'hatred' or 'aversion', derived from [Old Irish](/source/Old_Irish) ''fúath'' 'hate, likeness'.<ref name=mackillop-fuath/> The term is also glossed to mean 'ghost' or 'spectre'.<ref name=macleod-dict-fuath/>

An alternative name for this class of monsters is the '''arrachd''' or '''fuath-arrachd'''.<ref name=mackillop-fuath/>

== Generalization ==
=== Aquatic nature ===
[J. F. Campbell](/source/John_Francis_Campbell) characterized the fuath of Sutherland as a water spirit,<ref name=campbell_j_f-amalgam>{{harvp|Campbell|1860|loc='''2''': 191}}. He gives an amalgamated descriptions of the fuath, drawing from the main brollachan tale and variants 1.–5. He is also quoted in {{harvp|Briggs|1967|pp=52–53}}</ref> but it has been stressed by [John Gregorson Campbell](/source/John_Gregorson_Campbell) that the term designates a spectre or goblin more generally, not necessarily of aqueous nature or habitat.<ref name=campbell_jg-fuath/>

=== Conflated description ===
J. F. Campbell also conflated the traits of the fuath from different accounts in a generalized description of the fuath of Sutherland{{efn|The traits are already enumerated above, in the leading paragraph.}}<ref name=campbell_j_f-amalgam/> and this has also fallen under criticism by Gregorson.<ref name=campbell_jg-fuath/>{{efn|Although the main tale and many of the variants he conflates are set in the same mill, as explained below}}

Furthermore, J. F. Campbell ascribed the mane and tail to the ''fuath'', though these traits had evidently developed in the human progeny of the Munroe family, to which there was attached a floating rumour that their ancestor had interbred with a fuath several generations back.<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.3/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Carol Rose's amalgamation has confers a "long spikey tail" on the fuath, emerging from the green robe.<ref name=rose-fuath/>}}

While it has been generalized that the fuath of the locality wears green,<ref name=campbell_j_f-amalgam/> "golden and silken gear" was worn by the weird woman seen plunging into the [River Shin](/source/River_Shin) was seen by a (games)keeper of the [Charlotte Dempster](/source/Charlotte_Louisa_Hawkins_Dempster)'s family.<ref name=dempster-3.13a-web/>

== Tales ==

A fuath (in this instance spelled "fua") appears in the tale "[The King of Ireland's Son](/source/The_King_of_Ireland's_Son)". In it, the creature emerges from a body of water and attempts to steal the anvil of [Goban Saor](/source/Gob%C3%A1n_Saor), a mythical craftsman. The King of Ireland's Son wrestles with the creature over the course of three nights in order to gain the favor of Goban Saor.

The story of "The Brollachan" (and several of its variant tales) from Sutherland were collected by Charlotte Dempster in 1859, and supplied to J. F. Campbell who printed it. The stories are set in locales within the Dempster family estate (otherwise known as [Skibo](/source/Skibo_Castle))<ref name="dempster-3.12-banshee" /><ref name="evans" />{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|As mentioned in another variant, where it is explained that "from Skibo there is a lake.. Migdall.. at one end a burn runs out past Moulinna Vaugha, or the kelpie's mill".<ref name=dempster-3.12-banshee/>}} The writer Charlotte was a relative of the Dempsters of the estate (being the granddaughter of Harriet, the illegitimate daughter of the captain).<ref name="evans" />

* (1) J. F. Campbell ed. (1860) "The Brollachan" (''Popular Tales'' II, Tale #37);<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037-brollachan/> Charlotte Dempster ed. (1888) "The Brolachan MacVaugh"<ref name=dempster-3.8-brolachan/> {{small|([Sutherland](/source/Sutherland)shire, Moulin na Gleannan "Mill of the Glenn")}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The same mill also is known as Moulin na Vaugha "Mill of the Fuath" according to the variant tale below about the capture, Campbell's variant 1 (Dempster's vii).<ref name=dempster-3.7-moulinna/> This mill was within (or at least near) the expansion to the estate purchased by Captain John Hamilton Dempster, and on the purchased land's survey map the mill is labeled with the sprite's name spelt "fouah".<ref name=dempster-3.7-moulinna/>}}
:Two redactions collected from the same storyteller.{{efn|Marie Calder, aka Widow M. Calder}} The  [brollachan](/source/brollachan) is the son of a fuath, as the latter title indicates.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The fuath and vough(vaugh) spellings are interchangeably used.}}<ref name=dempster-3.7-moulinna/><ref name=briggs-fuath/> The brollachan possesses eyes and mouth, but a shapeless mass of a body, and capable of speaking only two words/phrases, "Myself" and "Yourself" (''mi-phrein'' and ''tu-phrein'').<ref name=dempster-3.7-moulinna/><ref name=briggs-brollachan/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Dempster concludes that the brollachan is the equivalent of the Manx [glashan](/source/glashtyn) or brounie, and also equatable to the Boneless bug or goblin mentioned by [Reginald Scot](/source/Reginald_Scot) in ''[Discoverie of Witchcraft](/source/Discoverie_of_Witchcraft)'' (1584).}}
:The brollachan was lying at the mill when the "Allay na Moulin" Murray, the resident alms-receiving crippled man around the mill came and stoked the fire with [peat](/source/peat), causing burns on him. But due to the limits of his vocabulary, the blob could not properly speak the name of the perpetrator.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Briggs refers to this tale as a Nemo type,<ref name=briggs-fuath/> where Nemo is Latin for "No One", referring to the name ("[Outis](/source/Outis)" in Greek) that Odysseus employed on the isle of the Cyclops. Cf. Campbell's variant/parallel 9 (p. 198).}}

* (2) J. F. Campbell ed. (1860) "Moulion na Fuadh";<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.1/> Dempster ed. (1888) "The Vaugh of Moulinna Vuagha"<ref name=dempster-3.7-moulinna/> {{small|([Sutherland](/source/Sutherland), same mill as above.)}}
:A man who lives in [Inveran](/source/Inveran) wagers he can go and capture the "kelpie" of the mill (also called the vough, vaugh) and return. He succeeds thanks to a black-muzzled dog, and binds the kelpie to a second horse. When fording the burn at the far end (south) of [Loch Migdale](/source/Loch_Migdale) the vough grows agitated, and the man pokes it with an awl and a sewing needle into submission. The creature declares  the needle is worse. Upon arrival, when the others shine a light at it, it falls down, a shapeless jelly-like clump, which is much like the so-called "dropped stars" of the moors, strange objects like beached jellyfish<!--"medusas of the shores"-->.

* (3) J. F. Campbell ed. (1860), untitled variant;<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.4/> Dempster ed. (1888) "The Banshee, or Vaugh, or Weird Woman of the Water"<ref name=dempster-3.12-banshee/> {{small|([Sutherland](/source/Sutherland), same mill as above.)}} {{efn|Misspelt lake name in Campbell: "Nigdall", (recté Migdall), as confirmed in Dempster's redaction.}}
:At the mill haunted by the brollachan, a [banshee](/source/banshee) was spotted who had yellow hair like ripened wheat, wearing a fine silk green dress, but she had no nose.

* (4) J. F. Campbell ed. (1860), untitled variant;<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.5/> Dempster ed. (1888) "The Web-footed Kelpie"<ref name=dempster-3.13a-web/> {{small|([Sutherland](/source/Sutherland), Dempster family sheep farm.)}}{{efn|Though not specified, the [Creich](/source/Creich%2C_Sutherland) farm near mill is known for sheep-raising.}}
:The (family's) shepherd found a dirty and lamed banshee and piggybacked her, until he noticed her webbed feet, throwing her off and flinging away the plaid she lay on.

== Fuath tribe members ==
Below are the supposed "subspecies" of the fuath class, according to certain commentators.<ref>{{harvp|Mackillop|1998}}. "Highland subspecies of the fuath include the beithir, fideal, pellaidh, and ùruisg.</ref>

* [peallaidh](/source/peallaidh)<ref name=mackenzie/><ref name=briggs-fuath/><ref name=mackillop-fuath/>
* [fideal](/source/fideal)<ref name=briggs-fuath/><ref name=mackillop-fuath/>
* [beithir](/source/beithir), in modern oral tradition<ref name=mackillop-fuath/><!--Rose too, but Mackillp-->
* [ùruisg](/source/%C3%B9ruisg), or at least many of them{{Refn|name="fuath-uruisg-shellycoat"|Mackenzie states categorically "''Peallaidh'' was a ''fuath''" and adds "a form of ''Peallaidh'' or the urisk on the east coast of Scotland in the Lowlands was shellycoat"）}}{{efn|name="briggs-urusig-nuckelavee"|Briggs states "many at least of the urisks, and presumably nuckelavee".}}<ref name=briggs-fuath/><ref name=mackillop-fuath/>
* [shellycoat](/source/shellycoat)<ref name=mackillop-fuath/><ref name=briggs-fuath/>
* [nuckelavee](/source/nuckelavee){{efn|name="briggs-urusig-nuckelavee"}}<ref name=briggs-fuath/>

=== Similar beings ===
Similarity or equivalence to the [bean nighe](/source/bean_nighe) or Northern Ireland's ''[uisges](/source/Each_uisge)'' have been noted.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=briggs-brollachan>{{harvp|Briggs|1976|pp=}}, {{harvp|Briggs|1977|pp=}} ''Encyclopedia of Fairies'', s.v. "[https://archive.org/details/BriggsKatharineMaryAnEncyclopediaOfFairies/page/n55/mode/2up brollachan]", p. 43.</ref>
<ref name=briggs-fuath>{{harvp|Briggs|1976|pp=}}, {{harvp|Briggs|1977|pp=}} ''Encyclopedia of Fairies'', s.v. "[https://archive.org/details/BriggsKatharineMaryAnEncyclopediaOfFairies/page/n203/mode/2up fuath]", p. 182.</ref>

<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037-brollachan>{{harvp|Campbell|1860|loc='''2''':189–190}}. "XXXVII. The Brollachan".</ref>
<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.1>{{harvp|Campbell|1860|loc='''2''':190–191}}. "XXXVII, var. 1. Moulion na Fuadh".</ref>
<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.3>{{harvp|Campbell|1860|loc='''2''':191}}. "XXXVII, var. 3".</ref>
<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.4>{{harvp|Campbell|1860|loc='''2''':191}}. "XXXVII, var. 4".</ref>
<ref name=campbell_jf-PTWH037.5>{{harvp|Campbell|1860|loc='''2''':191}}. "XXXVII, var. 5".</ref>

<ref name=campbell_jg-fuath>{{harvp|Campbell, J. G.|1902|pp=188–189}}; {{harvp|Campbell, J. G.|Black|2008|pp=274–275}} "Fuath".</ref>

<ref name=dempster-3.7-moulinna>{{harvp|Dempster|1888}}. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA224 III.vii The Vaugh of Moulinna Vuagha]", pp. 224–225.</ref>
<ref name=dempster-3.8-brolachan>{{harvp|Dempster|1888}}. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA225 III.viii The Brolachan MacVaugh]", pp. 225–226.</ref>
<ref name=dempster-3.12-banshee>{{harvp|Dempster|1888}}. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA228 III.xii The Banshee, or Vaugh, or Weird Woman of the Water]", p. 228.</ref>
<ref name=dempster-3.13a-web>{{harvp|Dempster|1888}}. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA228 III.xiiia The Web-footed Kelpie]", p. 228. The number "xiii" has been doubly assigned by error.</ref>

<ref name=evans>{{cite book|last=Evans |first=John |author-link=<!--John Evans (historian)--> |chapter=Ch. 3 Salad Days 1761–1763 |title=The Gentleman Usher: The Life & Times of George Dempster 1712-1818 |publisher=Pen and Sword |year=2004 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=femXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT176 |isbn=<!--1473814588, -->9781473814585}}</ref>

<ref name=mackenzie>{{citation|last=Mackenzie |first=Donald A. |author-link=Donald Alexander Mackenzie |chapter=Fuath |title=Scottish folk-lore and folk life; studies in race, culture and tradition |location=London |publisher=Blackie |year=1935 |chapter-url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.39000003533341 |page=233|hdl=2027/inu.39000003533341 }}; Reprint: Read Books Ltd 2013 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fpd8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT167 ] {{isbn|<!--1447482700, -->9781447482703}}</ref>

<ref name=mackillop-fuath>{{harvp|Mackillop|1998}} ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'', p. 243, s. v. "[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095837292 fuath, fuathan, vough]".</ref>

<ref name=macleod-dict-fuath>{{citation|last1=Macleod  |first1=Norman |author1-link=Norman Macleod (Caraid nan Gaidheal) |last2=Dewar|first2=Daniel |author2-link=<!--Daniel Dewar--> |chapter=Fuath |title=A Dictionary of the Gaelic Language|location=Glasgow |publisher=W.R. M'Phun |year=1831 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57JfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA308 |page=308}}</ref>

<ref name=rose-fuath>{{cite book|last=Rose |first=Carol |author-link=<!--Carol Rose (author)--> |chapter=Fuath |title=Giants, Monsters and Dragons |location=Oxford |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2001 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKrACS_n86wC&pg=PA126 |page=126 |isbn=<!--0393322114, -->9780393322118}}</ref>
}}

;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}

* {{citation|last=Briggs |first=Katharine Mary |author-link=Katharine Mary Briggs |title=A Dictionary of Faeries |location=Oxford |publisher=Lane |year=1976 |isbn=9780394734675}}
* {{citation |last=Briggs |first=Katharine Mary |author-link=Katharine Mary Briggs |author-mask=2 |title=An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures |location=New York |publisher=Pantheon |year=1977 |url=https://archive.org/details/BriggsKatharineMaryAnEncyclopediaOfFairies/page/n267/mode/2up |isbn=9780713910056}} (U.S. edition)
* {{citation|ref={{SfnRef|Briggs|1967}}|last=Briggs |first=Katharine Mary |author-link=Katharine Mary Briggs |author-mask=2 |title=The Fairies in Tradition and Literature |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=9780415286015 |orig-year=1967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=si_cXO1yJNwC&pg=PA52}}
* {{citation|last=Campbell |first=J. F. |author-link=John Francis Campbell |title=Popular Tales of the West Highlands |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Edmonston<!-- and Douglas--> |year=1860 }}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlMJAAAAQAAJ Vol. '''1'''], [https://books.google.com/books?id=5i6B2V-6dZcC　Vol. '''2''')]
* {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Campbell, J. G.|1902}}|last=Campbell |first=John Gregorson |author-link=John Gregorson Campbell |title=Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland: Tales and Traditions Collected Entirely from Oral Sources |publisher=J. MacLehose and sons |year=1902 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=shnXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA188 |pages=188–189}}
* {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Campbell, J. G.|Black|2008}}|last=Campbell |first=John Gregorson |author-link=John Gregorson Campbell |title=The Gaelic Otherworld: Superstitions of the Highlands and the Islands and Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland |editor-last=Black |editor-first=Ronald |year=2008 |orig-year=1990 & 1902 |publisher=Birlinn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cvjWAAAAMAAJ|isbn=978-1-84158-733-2}}
* {{citation |last=Dempster |first=Charlotte H. |author-link=Charlotte Louisa Hawkins Dempster |title=Folk-Lore of Sutherlandshire |journal=The Folk-Lore Journal |year=1888 |volume=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA213 |pages=149–189, 213–252|doi=10.1080/17442524.1888.10602890 |url-access=subscription }}; [https://archive.org/stream/folklorejournal06folkuoft#page/172/mode/1up text] @ Internet Archive
* {{Citation|last=Mackillop |first=James |author-link=<!--James Mackillop--> |title=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0192801201}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://www.spookystuff.co.uk/scottish-folklore-brollachan.html Description of the Brollachan]

{{Scottish mythology}}
{{Fairies}}

Category:Aos Sí
Category:Fairies
Category:Irish folklore
Category:Irish legendary creatures
Category:Scottish mythology
Category:Scottish legendary creatures
Category:Tuatha Dé Danann
Category:Water spirits
Category:Banshees

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fuath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuath) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuath?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.