(New page: The '''fachen''' (also spelled Fachan or Fachin) is a creature with only half a body in Scottish and Scots-Irish folklore. [[Image:fachen.jpg|thumb|A Fachen] It is also known as Direach...) |
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The '''fachen''' (also spelled Fachan or Fachin) is a creature with only half a body in Scottish and Scots-Irish folklore. | The '''fachen''' (also spelled Fachan or Fachin) is a creature with only half a body in Scottish and Scots-Irish folklore. | ||
[[Image:fachen. | [[Image:fachen.gif|thumb|A Fachen]] | ||
It is also known as Direach Ghlinn Eitidh, or the Dwarf of Glen Etive. | It is also known as Direach Ghlinn Eitidh, or the Dwarf of Glen Etive. | ||
Latest revision as of 19:36, 9 August 2007
The fachen (also spelled Fachan or Fachin) is a creature with only half a body in Scottish and Scots-Irish folklore.
It is also known as Direach Ghlinn Eitidh, or the Dwarf of Glen Etive.
Description
Described as having a single eye, a rooster-like crest, far and away this creature's most fascinating attributes were its mangled, arm-like appendage, which apparently jutted out from its torso, and its single foot. The foot was said to have grown out of this beast at an awkward angle. Supposedly its appearance, which includes a mane of black feathers tufted at the top and a very wide mouth, is so frightening that it induces heart attacks. It can destroy an orchard with a chain in its strong, singular, withered arm, in a single night. It is also known to mutilate its victims before devouring them.
Story
A story in John Francis Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands features a Fachen named Nesnas Mhiccallain being defeated in a race by the story's hero, Murachadh Mac Brian, who became king of Ireland.
Theory
The Fachen description is close to an ancient, terrestrial, predatory bird, which may have, at one time, inhabited the Emerald Isle. Other speculate that it might be a Moa which has traveled from New Zealand to the British isles.