Schiehallion fairies

Schiehallion is one of Scotland’s most popular Munros. Its name in Gaelic - Sìdh Chailleann - translates to ‘Fairy Hill of the Caledonians’. A tale that spans the hill from east to west explains why it may have garnered this reputation…

A long time ago, two friends with hunched backs lived on opposite sides of Schiehallion. One lived at Braes of Foss on the east side (on land now managed by the Trust!) while the other lived at Tempar on the West. Every week, one would make the journey across the mountain to visit the other.

One summer evening, the man from Braes of Foss began making his way west to visit his friend. As the weather was so pleasant, he chose to take the scenic route and appreciate the views that the mountain offered over Kinloch Rannoch. The journey was, for the most part, uneventful, until the man came across a cave. Inside that cave, he heard singing. Curious, and ignoring every fairy story he had ever been told, he ventured inside.

There, he found a group fairies dancing and singing, and the man was so taken by their beautiful song that he opened his mouth and joined in.

The revelry screeched to a halt as hundreds of fairy eyes turned to stare at the newcomer, but a moment later, the fairies cheered and encouraged the man to sing with them. When they’d sung their throats raw, the fairies told him that his voice was so lovely that they wanted to grant him one wish. Delighted, the man asked that his hump would vanish so he might stand up straight. The fairies obliged, and the man’s friend barely recognised him when he finally appeared at his door, back straight and chest out.

When the man from Braes of Foss explained to his friend what had happened, the man from Tempar decided he’d do just the same – he wanted to stand straight as well! So, he set off, and when he found the cave and the singing fairies, he joined in.

Unfortunately, his voice was not up to the same calibre as his friend’s, and the fairies, without hesitation, rounded on him. For ruining their song, they gave him a second hump and cursed him so that he would never stop growing until the day he died. Before long, the poor man couldn’t fit into his own house.

Aside from a warning about meddling with fairies, something that we can take from this story is that Schiehallion serves as an entrance to the fairy world. A.D. Cunningham claimed the precise location of this entrance as Uamh Tom a’ Mhor-fhir. Rumours of a ghostly black dog prowling the lower slopes of Schiehallion would back this claim up, as entrances to the spirit world are said to be guarded by the Cù Sith, or fairy dog.

 Whether truly the entrance to the world of fairy, or simply a well-told story that has stood the test of time, there is no denying that there is something magical about the Caledonian Fairy Hill.

• Like this? Read more Scottish myths and legends at Folklore Scotland.