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has been called the White Lady of Sorrow, Lady of Death, Woman of Peace, and Spirit of the Air. Even though she is has become a symbol of death, she also represents peace and an acceptance of the cycles of life and death which are inherent in every living thing.

In Scotland, the bean-nighe, or washing woman is sometimes seen by travelers around pools or fjords washing the shrouds of those who are about to die, singing a dirge or crying. If a traveler is brave enough to ask, she will tell the name of the person for whom she is keening. The bean-nigh is thought to be the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth.

The legend of the banshee may well have started Ireland in years past when the measure of a person's respect and stature in the community could be attested to by the number of mourners at the funeral and the extent and length of their grieving. Hence, professional women keeners were paid to weep at the graveside of eminent deceased figures of the community. These keeners were often alcoholic older women who were paid in drink to keen.

Naturally, the Church frowned upon this as a practice. This gives credence to the theory that the original banshees were ghosts of these professional keeners doomed to unrest due to their insincere grieving. This theory actually does fit in with the idea that banshees- like the ghosts of professional keeners - might follow certain families, perhaps out of loyalty rather than guilt.

Whatever the origins of the legend of the banshee, it seems fitting that the bearer of life and the messenger of death would both be women.

Despite her grim reputation, seeing or hearing a banshee is not what actually causes the death. In fact, the banshee is traditionally a very kind woman. As poet and historian W. B. Yeats commented, "You will with the banshee chat, and will find her good at heart."

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