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The Banshee mournful wails
In the midst of the silent, lonely, lonely night,
Plaining, she sings the song of death. (Old Irish poem).

The banshee tradition occurs throughout Ireland and nearby islands. The Gaelic term used most frequently to describe the banshee is the "bean-sidhe" (a female dweller of a sidhe, or fairy mound).

Originally the banshee would appear for only six important Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Learys, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. However, time and intermarriage has extended the list to a considerable length.

The banshee, when spied upon, will take on one of several forms: a young woman, a stately matron or a ragged old hag. She wears a grey, hooded cloak or a shroud similar to the garment of someone prepared for burial. Her long, fair hair is tangled and she has been seen combing it with a shiny silver comb.

Irish children are warned that, if they ever see a beautiful silver comb lying on the ground, they must never pick it up. It has been placed there by banshees to lure unsuspecting humans. Anyone who picks it up will be spirited away.

In Scottish legend, the banshee may appear as a washerwoman and is seen near a stream or river, apparently washing the bloodstained clothes of the one about to die.

The most distinctive feature of a banshee is her cry. Legend has it that she will wail around a house if someone in the family is about to die. The first night, only the one to die hears a series of low moans. They are warnings to get one's affairs in order.

The second night the family will hear her howling for an hour or more around midnight.

The third night the banshee comes and shrieks, with keening screeches that will break glass. Everyone in the vicinity knows that a death will occur that night. It is said that a banshee's wails will cause its hearers to break out in cold sweats and experience a great sense of fear.

It is possible that the legend of the banshee arose from a mixture of traditional Irish funeral customs and their belief in the supernatural. When a citizen in an Irish village died, a woman would sing or "keen" at the funeral. Music in those days was often connected to spirits or fairies. Possibly, the ritual and the superstition merged to create the legend of the banshee.

The knowledge of these mythical creatures survives to this day, along with that of fairies and leprechauns, although few will admit to having any personal experience with these supernatural entities.

Gaelic oral traditions were passed down for centuries, and many were written down only in the last five hundred years, so there are many versions of tales and legends about fairies, banshees, leprechauns and other Irish sprites.

It's been suggested that the banshees emigrated with their chosen families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Learys, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs, their offspring and their relatives.

Just because you no longer live in the ancestral homeland, is no guarantee you'll never be visited by a banshee. Now, at least you'll know the message they've come to convey.

Learn more about this author, Carolyn Tytler.
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