Also called Gille Dubh, the dark lad.
The tale
The Ghillie Dhu was a solitary spirit of the birch woods near Loch a Druing in Gairloch, dressed in leaves and moss. He was shy and harmless, and once guided a lost girl, Jessie Macrae, safely home through the night. When local lairds went out to hunt him, he was never seen again.
When they are met
- in birch woods
- at dusk
Staying on their good side
- treat woodland gently
- be kind to shy strangers
- leave him alone if he wishes it
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Walk quietly in birch woodland and give thanks for it.
- Help a lost or lonely person find their way, as he did.
What their tales teach
- the tales teach kindness to the shy
- love of woodland
Symbols
- clothes of leaves and moss
- the birch wood
He is known almost entirely from one local account recorded by Osgood Mackenzie.
Sources
- Mackenzie, A Hundred Years in the Highlands
- Briggs, A Dictionary of Fairies
More Celtic folklore
- The Banshee The keening woman of the fairy mound
- Selkies The seal folk who come ashore
- The Púca The shape-shifter of November
- The Aos Sí The people of the fairy mounds
- The Kelpie The water horse of the lochs
- The Tylwyth Teg The Fair Family of Wales
- Leprechaun The solitary fairy shoemaker
- Clurichaun The fairy of the wine cellar