This is a conversation with Scottish folk-magic blogger and social worker Scott Richardson Read about the Gaelic folklore figure called the Cailleach: the old woman known as Scotland’s midwife; landscape shaper, storm-bringer, sovereignty figure, ancestral being, resurrected once and again, and present all through the folk calendar of the year.

The Cailleach has been popularly associated with wintertime, which is why I feature her on Fair Folk now, at the beginning of winter.

Transcript of this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12oDeT-0u-0fnnascirU_k5izVU4kQHACj2zqTFI2wGA/

Resources referenced in this episode:

Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #1
https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach-a-tale-of-balance-between-darkness-and-light/

Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #2
https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach-a-tale-of-balance-between-darkness-and-light-part-two/

Cailleach’s Herbarium blog entry on an animist shrine dedicated to the Cailleach:
https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2018/01/the-cailleach-scotlands-midwife-tigh-na-bodach/

Article: The Cailleach in Place-names and Place-lore by Alasdair C. Whyte:
https://clog.glasgow.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JSNS/article/view/58/107

Mckenzie’s Wonder Tale, Beira, Queen of Winter:
https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tsm/tsm04.htm

9th century poem about the Cailleach, “The Old Woman of Beare”
Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65CWjdVcBmg
Text: https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/anonymous/OldWomanBeare.html

Songs in this episode:

Opening theme: “Forest March” by Sylvia Woods
Buy Sylvia Woods’ music:
www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds

“The Old Woman of the Mill Dust / Cailleach An Dudain” by Alison Kinnair & Christine Primrose
Buy Alison Kinnair & Christine Primrose’s music:
https://guysegers1.bandcamp.com/track/cailleach-an-dudain-the-old-woman-of-the-mill-dust-alison-kinnaird-christine-primrose (album)
https://music.apple.com/ca/album/cailleach-an-dudain-the-old-woman-of-the-mill-dust/294080419?i=294080481