The Cailleach w/ Scott Richardson-Read

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: docs.google.com/document/d/12oDeT-0u-0fnnascir…

Resources referenced in this episode:

Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #1
cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach…

Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #2
cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach…

Cailleach’s Herbarium blog entry on an animist shrine dedicated to the Cailleach:
cailleachs-herbarium.com/2018/01/the-cailleach…

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

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

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

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:
guysegers1.bandcamp.com/track/cailleach-an-dud… (album)
music.apple.com/ca/album/cailleach-an-dudain-t…