Bean Nighe The washer at the ford By Gwillieth Watch

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Bean nighe : The washer at the ford



50 x 70 cm



Acrylic on canvas





The bean nighe (Scottish Gaelic for "washer woman"), is a Scottish fairy, seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of bean sìth (in Irish bean sídhe, anglicized as "banshee").She can manifest as an old hag, or as a beautiful young woman with flowing hair and fair skin.





As the "Washer at the Ford" she wanders near deserted streams where she washes the blood from the grave-clothes of those who are about to die. It is said that mnathan nighe (the plural of bean nighe) are the spirits of women who died giving birth and are doomed to do this work until the day their lives would have normally ended.



A bean nighe is described in some tales as having one nostril, one big protruding tooth, webbed feet and long-hanging breasts, and to be dressed in green. If one is careful enough when approaching, three questions may be answered by the Bean Nighe, but only after three questions have been answered first. A mortal who is bold enough to sneak up to her while she is washing and suck her breast can claim to be her foster child. The mortal can then gain a wish from her. If a mortal passing by asks politely, she will tell the names of the chosen that are going to die. While generally appearing as a hag, she can also manifest as a beautiful young woman when it suits her, much as does her Irish counterpart the bean sídhe.







A bean nighe ("washerwoman") is a specific type of bean sìth. Both the Irish bean sídhe and the Scottish Gaelic bean sìth (both meaning "woman of the sídhe", "fairy woman" or "woman of peace") are derived from the Old Irish ben síde, "fairy woman": bean: woman, and sídhe: the genitive of "fairy".



In some Irish versions of old legends, Goddess Morrigan is also mentioned as “Washer of the ford”:



She appeared to the hero Cu Chulainn (son of the god Lugh) and offered her love to him. When he failed to recognize her and rejected her, she told him that she would hinder him when he was in battle. When Cu Chulainn was eventually killed, she settled on his shoulder in the form of a crow. His misfortune was that he never recognized the feminine power of sovereignty that she offered to him.



She appeared to him on at least four occasions and each time he failed to recognize her:

She appeared as a beautiful woman when she declared her love for him, after he had wounded her; she appeared to him as an old hag and he offered his blessings to her, which caused her to be healed. On his way to his final battle, he saw the Washer at the Ford, who declared that she was washing the clothes and arms of Cu Chulainn, who would soon be dead. (At a ford on the plain of Emania Cuchulainn saw a woman, keening as she washed bloody clothes and armour in the stream. She seemed oblivious to him, and when he recognised the clothes as his own he knew he was doomed.)And also when he was forced by three hags (the Morrigan in her triple aspect) to break a taboo of eating dogflesh.





For this painting I was inspired with otherworldly Devil's Pulpit in Finnich Glen , a hidden gem in central Scotland, nestling by the road from Bearsden to Drymen. Whilst the story of a large prominent rock, where the devil addressed his followers is of a later design, we know for sure that the site was used for the trial and execution of witches in medieval times. Trial consisted of pushing those accused of witchcraft from the Devil's Pulpit to the river below. If they survived the fall they were declared a witch and executed.This story gives it an eerie atmosphere, along with breathtaking beauty of moss-covered rocks and beautiful waterfalls, much like dangerous nature of People of the Sidhe, being able to manifest themselves as beautiful, but dangerous beings.



IMAGE DETAILS Image size 2336x3264px 3.08 MB Show More