#fauth

The Brollachan(Broll-agh-can) is the child of the fuath, and because of it’s young age, it can not yet take a physical form and knows only a small number of words. It is often described as a smoky mass with eyes and a mouth, and tends to lurk around water.

"A shapeless, malevolent supernatural being in Scottish Gaelic folklore, a child of the fuath" A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology – James MacKillop, 2004

Despite not having a physical form visible to us, they can be injured. There is one popular story about the brollachan that showcases this. In it, a disabled man of the name Murray was sleeping at a mill when a brollachan enters

Now the Brollachan has eyes and a mouth, and can say two words only, ‘MI-FHEIN, myself, and THUFHEIN, thyself ; besides that, he has no speech, and alas no shape. He lay all his lubber-length by the dying fire ; and Murray threw a fresh peat on the embers, which made them fly about red bot, and Brollachan was severely burnt. So he screamed in an awful way, and soon comes the “ Vough,” very fierce, crying, “Och, my Brollachan, who then burnt you ?” but all he could say was “MI-FHEIN” and then he said “THUFHEIN” ; and she replied “Were it any other, wouldn’t I be revenged.” Popular Tales of the West Highlands by John Francis Campbell (1862)

The quick thinking man hid himself under a sack as the fuagh and her child, the brollachan, went outside to see if what injured him was there. By chance, a woman was walking by, and so the fuagh put all her anger towards the woman. The nimble woman escaped, but permanently injured one heal that was torn in the chase.

It is worth noting that in other stories, the roll of the mother is swapped for the brownie Maggie Mouiach, and the brollachan is swapped for her dobbie son, so you may come across that version as well.

This is as far as historical folklore has taken me. If anyone knows of more sources for the Brollachan, please let me know.

In the meantime, I can tell you about some modern folklore for it. Today, many people say that the brollachan is smokey with glowing red eyes, and possesses weak-willed animals and steals the life force of it’s host. When the host is near death, it will use the shell to find and weaken a new body. The possessed creature will act strangely, but the only way to remove it is with saining, such as with juniper smoke. There is an example on this site here.

Fuathan (Fuath singular) have two different meanings associated with the name.

For one meaning, the name represents one singular type of creature. This creature has the shape of a man, but webbed hands and feet and a golden mane, and was popularized by folklorist John Francis Campbell in his book Popular Tales of the West Highlands.

“From all these it appears that the Fuath in Sutherland is a water spirit; that there are males and females; that they have web-feet, yellow hair, green dresses, tails, manes, and no noses ; that they marry men, and are killed by light, and hurt with steel weapons; that in crossing a stream they become restless. From the following stories it appears that they are hairy, have bare skin on their faces, and have two large round eyes.” Popular Tales of the West Highlands” by John Francis Campbell (1862)

(A “fua” of the river grabs hold of a human.—Illust. Willy Pogany. Colum, Padraic (1916). King of Ireland’s son)

The second, and slightly more popular meaning, is that word as a category for several different types of water-type creatures with evil intent.

“Fuath: a spectre, a kelpie, a demon, a water-fiend frequenting glens, rivers, and waterfalls.” Carmina Gadelica, Volume 2, by Alexander Carmicheal, [1900]

All it takes to be placed in the category is to be a water-type with evil intent; the hint of which is actually right in the name, which means “aversion,” or “hatred.”

The major differences to these meanings even caused a bit of debate between folklore writers.

“The attributes of the Fuath are different in different tales, and Mr. Campbell (Tales of the West Highlands, ii. 191) has fallen into the error of conjoining attributes ascribed in several stories, and representing the Fuath as a water spirit, having web-feet, tail, mane, etc.” Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1902)

Going by the second meaning, everything from a kelpie to certain water sprites may fall under the “fuath” category. In this way, it can be helpful to describe a creature in a story without knowing the exactly type. For example, if you say you were attacked by a fuath, people would know you mean an evil water-type creature.

In many stories, it is common for a person to be attacked by a fuagh, only for their dog to leap to protect them. In some stories, the dog wins but loses all of its hair.

“The dog at last disposed of the Vaugh , but he lost all his hair in the scuffle . The poacher became grey from terror in a single night , and we have reason to believe he did not again visit the pools of the Shin after dusk for any illicit purposes.” THE VAUGH , THE POACHER , AND THE DOG from The Folklore Journal, Volume 6; Volume 21 By Folklore Society (Great Britain): The Folklore of Southerlandshire

Sadly, it is common for the dog to die the next day in stories.

Like with most fairies, they are affected by iron, but interestingly, some area also harmed by sunlight.

“One of John Ray Bethune’s forbears, who lived at Inveran, laid a bet that he would seize the kelpie of Moulinna Vaugha, or Moulinna Glannan, and bring her bound to the inn at Inveran. He procured a brown , right-sided maned horse, and a brown black-muzzled dog, and by the help of the latter, having secured the Vaugh, he tied her on the horse behind him, and galloped away. She was very fierce, but he kept her quiet by pinning her down with an awl and a needle . Crossing the burn at the further side of Loch Migdall, she became so restless that he stuck the shoemaker’s and the tailor’s weapons into her with great violence . She cried out, “Och ! och ! cur anum am minme crourm ; L ‘ cum asum au ‘ hail chiul rouach,” which is, being interpreted, “Pierce me with the crooked awl, but keep that small sharp needle ont of me.” When he reached the clachan of Inveran, where his companions were anxiously waiting for him, he called out to them to come out and see the Vaugh. Then they came out, with lights, but as the light fell upon her she dropped off, and fell to earth, like the remains of a fallen star, a small lump of jelly. [ These jellies are often seen on the moors , and are called “dropped stars.” ] The Folklore Journal, Volume 6; Volume 21 By Folklore Society (Great Britain): The Folklore of Southerlandshire

So, putting this all bluntly, a fuath is commonly a category of water fairies that have a tendency to be evil, but some people use it to describe a single creature type.