Bean Sidhe

AKA The Banshee or Fairy Woman. In Irish folklore she has long silvery hair that she combs. Some tales specify that old Irish families have a family Bean Sidhe, that warns them of death, sometimes their own, sometimes others.

Cat-Sìth

The Cat-Sìth, or fairy cat, in Scottish folklore is all black with some lore saying with a tuft of white on it’s chest. Other lore mentions it’s size be that of dog, and when humans are not looking they walk like a human.

The Selkie

Known in Irish, Nordic and especially Scottish folklore, Selkies shape shift between human and seal form. Selkie women are known to come to shore, shed their skins and dance.

There is a story of three brothers spying a group of young Selkie women dancing on the shore. They snuck closer to the maidens and each took a seal skin. They hid as each maiden took their skin and returned to the sea, until only three maidens were left.

The first brother hid the skin and married the first Selkie woman.

The second brother built a fire and burned the skin. The second Selkie woman ran into the fire and burned to death with her skin.

Seeing this the third brother returned the skin back to the third Selkie woman. This won her heart and while she could not remain on land with him, the third brother built a house next to the shore where she returned every few years to be with him.

There are some families in Scotland that are said to be descended from Selkies.

My favourite medium of drawing art is metallic gel pens on black paper.

Drawing Celtic knotwork is a meditative practice for me.

I have sketched out knotwork designs when sitting on the bus, in parks and while listening to bands at festivals.

As I have learnt more about Celtic history, art, and folklore, I have developed my drawing skills to integrate basic cartoonish designs with my love of Celtic knotwork.

The fiddle

The fiddle was the preferred instrument of choice for Scottish dance music in the 17th Century. Many of the most well known Celtic tunes were written during the 17th and 18th Centuries.

My favourite story about fiddle players is from Shetland. Weddings in Shetland involved a tradition of the bride being escorted back to the honeymoon suite by the maids and the fiddler at the end of the celebration. The fiddler would then play to her privately, before the groom arrived and the fiddler would continue to play them into the mood.

Allegedly, that’s why there’s so many fiddlers in the Shetland Island…