Biasd Bheulach

In Scottish folklore the Biasd Bheulach is a monster or spirit that haunts Odal Pass on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.[1][2] It is also known as the Biasd Bealach Odail ("Beast of Odal Pass").[3][4]

Description

The Biasd Bheulach is a nocturnal shapeshifter described by John Gregorson Campbell in Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1902):

Sometimes it bore the form of a man, sometimes of a man with only one leg. At other times it appeared like a greyhound or beast prowling about, and sometimes it was heard uttering frightful shrieks and outcries which made the workmen leave their bothies in horror. It was only during the night it was seen or heard.[3]

Travellers through the pass at night often reported being attacked by it. One of its victims, according to legend, was found dead on the roadside pierced with two wounds, one on his side and one on his leg with a hand pressed on each wound. Campbell states that "it was considered impossible that these wounds could have been inflicted by human agency." [3] He further mentions that the attacks ceased after the victim's body was found,[3] which led the folklorist Katharine Briggs to suggest that the monster may have been the ghost of a murdered man looking for revenge.[1]

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References
  1. Briggs, Katharine (1976). An Encyclopedia of Fairies. Pantheon Books. p. 23. ISBN 0394409183.
  2. Bane, Theresa (2016). Encyclopedia of Spirits and Ghosts in World Mythology. McFarland & Company. p. 32. ISBN 1476663556.
  3. Campbell, John Gregorson (1902). Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons. pp. 207–8.
  4. Mackenzie, Donald Alexander (1935). Scottish Folklore and Folk Life. Blackie & Son. pp. 250–1.
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