The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic. John Matthews
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BWBACH
The Bwbachod (plural) are the Welsh equivalent of the brownie. The Bwbach shares the same friendly temperament in keeping house and good order. They clearly have a vested interest in preserving the old pagan ways, for they have a particular hatred of teetotallers and dissenting ministers. A story tells how a Bwbach pulled away the stool against which a Baptist minister was praying so that he sprawled to the ground. When he returned to his prayers, the Bwbach began clattering the fire irons and gurning through the window. The minister persisted at his prayers, whereat the Bwbach shapeshifted into the minister’s double – a fearful sign of impending death, whereat the minister took himself speedily elsewhere from that parish.
BWCA
Bwciod (plural) are very like the brownies. A Monmouthshire story from south-east Wales tells how a Bwca can go from one term of service to another over a long time.
There was a farm that seemed to be haunted by a spirit until a girl came to live there. She was reputedly descended from the Bendith y Mamau. The Bwca, who was the spirit that had kept everyone else at bay, struck up a friendship with the girl and did her washing and ironing and other tasks in return for a bowl of bread and milk. One morning, out of merriment, she put aside some of the urine, which had been set aside to dye cloth, in his bowl. After that, the Bwca changed its nature, becoming insulting and retaliatory to her. It left her and took up residence in a house where a serving maid gave him bread and milk in return for housework. But this maid’s curiosity was so great that she kept on asking him his name. The Bwca refused to tell, for it is never wise to give your name to everyone who asks, in case they make a spell of it. One day, believing her to be gone, the Bwca was spinning industriously at the wheel when he sang, ‘How she would laugh, if only she knew, Gwarwyn a Throt is my name.’ The serving maid was hidden at the foot of the stairs and cried out, ‘I know your name now!’ When she went upstairs, she found the wheel still spinning but the Bwca gone. The Bwca then went to live at another farm where he served a farm labourer called Moses. But Moses was called to accompany Henry Tudor into battle and was killed at Bosworth Field. The death of Moses caused Gwarwyn a Throt to lose his sweet nature. He became disruptively full of tricks and spite, throwing things about the house like a poltergeist. Eventually, the farmer called in a Cunning Man to rid him of this nuisance. The Cunning Man, who was a descendant of the ancient druids of Wales, captured the Bwca by spiking his nose with an awl. Then he uttered an incantation that exiled the Bwca to the region of the Red Sea for fourteen generations which is where he is still – though not for much longer.
CABYLL-UISGE
In the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Cabyll-Uisge is the water horse that lurks in pools, lakes and rivers. It takes livestock, dragging cattle and sheep down into the depths of the water where they are devoured. Sometimes, it can take the shape of a young man who then lures unwary maidens away from the path onto uncertain ground where it then turns back into its animal form and tears them in pieces. (See Each Uisge.)
CACTUS CAT
According to the lore of Fearsome Critters, the Cactus Cat lives in the cactus regions of North and Central America. Equipped with thorny hair and with thorns of great size and rigid strength over its ears, the Cactus Cat has bony knife blades growing from its forearms with which to slash open the cacti to allow the cactus juice to ferment. When it was sufficiently fermented, the Cactus Cat would drink until it was thoroughly drunk and rush off into the night with its bony-thorns grating together, howling most horribly.
CACUS
In Greek myth, Cacus was the half human, half spider, three-headed, fire-breathing son of Volcanus, daughter of Medusa. He lived on the Aventine plain in the land of the Etruscans where corpses were burned. Casus’ name means ‘wicked’. He stole four bulls and four cows, cattle from the herd of Geryoneus, that Hercules was driving on his tenth labour. Cacus captured them by pulling them by their tails into a dark cave. But Hercules unroofed the cave by tearing the rocks from the hillside, rescuing his beasts. Although Cacus spewed fire at the hero, he was throttled to death with his famous wrestler’s grip, ‘the knot of Hercules’.
CAFRE
Among the peoples of the Philippines, the Cafre is a creature that resembles a wild boar with ferocious tusks, except that it has the ability to walk upright and to speak and understand human language. See also Buata, whom the Cafre much resembles.
CAILLEACH BEARE/BHEUR
The Cailleach Beare is the tutulary (guardian) goddess of the Beare peninsula in the south-west of Ireland. Her counterpart, the Cailleach Bheur, is the name she is given in Scotland where she is regarded to be a primordial goddess, the keeper of deer which she milks. The word cailleach means ‘grandmother’ or ‘veiled one’, and is still used as a respectful term when referring to an old woman in the Gaelic language.
Cailleach Beare (sometimes known as ‘Cally Berry’) is a form of the goddess of sovereignty who bestows the land of Ireland upon a suitable candidate who can kiss her aged and ugly form without repugnance. As soon as she is kissed, she turns into a young maiden. She is the goddess Buí, the Yellow One, whose hair is the colour of ripened grain, the consort of the mercurial god, Lugh Lamhfada, (see Balor). The ability to renew her youth through seven periods of time is the Cailleach’s most wondrous gift. She outlives all her husbands and from her, races of people are born. A medieval Irish poem has her narrating her deeds and lamenting her fate, as a nun retired from her famous and lengthy existence, waiting for the ebb of the tide before she leaves the Earth.
The Cailleach Bheur is her Scottish-Gaelic counterpart. As a blue-faced hag she is the personification of winter. Once she has banged her staff upon the ground, ice begins to form and snow starts to fall. The Cailleach is in charge from Samhain (Hallowe’en) and Imbolc (Candlemas). She enters into a combat with her servant and successor, the goddess Brighid, who finally sends gentle showers of rain to melt the Cailleach’s ice and snow. This time is marked by the emergence of the snake from the ground who, like the bear in European folklore or the groundhog in American tradition, shows itself and inspects the elements to determine whether or not to continue its winter retirement. The Cailleach Bheur has a pool in the mountains in which she renews herself, like her Irish counterpart. Legend holds that the Cailleach once had several sisters who renewed themselves in its water; however, over time, they lost their virtue and one by one the sisters sacrificed themselves so that one of their number might live on. Cailleach Beare/Bheur is the Baba Yaga of Scotland and Ireland.
CALCHONA
In the mountains of Chile, the Calchona is a great dog that has a long, goat-like fleece and a tangled beard. Although it scares travellers on the road at night, it is more likely after their food supplies. In the steep mountain passes, it may be troublesome if you are riding a horse, for once your mount scents the Calchona, it will panic and gallop off, leaving you stranded.
CALLICANTZARI
In the folk traditions of modern Greece, Callicantzari is the name given to the beings we know from ancient myth as satyrs. These beings are still said to inhabit the upland slopes of forested mountains. Some, such as the Irish leprechauns, can be quite small while other Callicantzari are giant in stature but have the contorted features of monstrous goats.