Scottish Highlands (date unknown)

“Before long, the women were singing an enchanting song and the hunters needed no more invitation to dance. They all seemed completely enchanted by the mysterious visitors” - Graeme Johncock

Pronounced ‘Baa’van Shee’, the Baobhan Sith takes ‘vampire’ and ‘fairy’ and smushes it into one awesome mythical creature. Hailing from the Scottish Highlands, the name Baobhan Sith translates from Gaelic to ‘Woman of the Sidhe’, or ‘Fairy Woman’. But don’t get it twisted, these aren’t your usual fairies.

Incredibly beautiful at first sight, and adorned in long green dresses (long enough to hide hooves instead of feet!), the Baobhan Sith is a shapeshifting fairy woman with a thirst for blood. Often hunting in packs, they’re very good at seducing hunters by shifting into something irresistable to them before attacking.

The most common tale associated with the Baobhan Sith is as follows… Four young men, after completing a days hunting, spotted an isolated bothy nestled in the hills. A perfect place to rest after a hard day, they started the fire, tied up their horses and took it easy for the night.

“The only thing that could make tonight any better would be the company of four beautiful women” exclaimed the youngest man.
“Don’t be ridiculous lad. There’s more chance of you firing an arrow straight than a girl showing up here!” joked another.

But just as a roar of laughter erupted, there was a small knock on their door. Would you believe their luck, as they opened the door they found four beautiful women awaiting them. Sauntering in with their long green dresses, they began to sing enchanting songs, inviting the hunters to dance with them. Out of the four men present, only the oldest (and wisest) decided to not take part in the frivolities.

All the other men were entranced, and it was only the oldest man who noticed something red in the corner of his vision. One of the dancing women had used her long nails to slash the throat of one of the entranced men, and was drinking his blood in the corner of the room. Only the older man noticed, everyone else was still dancing. Realising their fate after hearing tales of the Baobhan Sith, the old man knew only sunlight or weapons made from iron would defeat the women.

The older man darted from the house, and stood amongst their horses (which had fresh iron shoes on). One of the women sprung after him, but recoiled after seeing the iron shoes, afraid for her fate. The man refused to be enticed back into the house, despite the Baobhan Sith’s attempts, and as the first crack of sunlight began to float above the horizon, the women fled in fear of the light.

A common motive for the appearance of a pack of Baobhan Sith is the expressed interest in female companionship by male hunters. This seems reflective of the traditional Scottish belief that if one were to make a wish at night without also invoking God’s protection, then that wish would be granted in some terrible manner.