Each-uisge
 A representation of an each-uisge
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| Grouping | Mythological |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Water spirit |
| Similar creatures | Kelpie Nix Eachy |
| Mythology | Scottish mythology |
| Other name(s) | Aughisky (Ireland) |
| Country | Scotland |
| Region | Highlands |
| Habitat | Sea Sea lochs Fresh-water lochs |
The each-uisge (Scottish Gaelic: [ɛxˈɯʃkʲə], literally "water horse") is a mythological Scottish water spirit, called the each-uisce (anglicized as aughisky) or Ech-Ushkya in Ireland. It is similar to the kelpie, but far more vicious.
History
The each-uisge, a supernatural water horse found in the Highlands of Scotland, has been described as "perhaps the fiercest and most dangerous of all the water-horses" by folklorist Katharine Briggs.[1] Often mistaken for the kelpie (which inhabits streams and rivers), the each-uisge lives in the sea, sea lochs, and fresh water lochs.[1] The each-uisge is a shape-shifter, disguising itself as a fine horse, pony, handsome man or enormous bird.[1] If, while in horse form, a man mounts it, he is only safe as long as the each-uisge is ridden in the interior of land. However, the merest glimpse or smell of water means the end of the rider: the each-uisge's skin becomes adhesive and the creature immediately goes to the deepest part of the loch with its victim. After the victim has drowned, the each-uisge tears him apart and devours the entire body except for the liver, which floats to the surface.[1]
In its human form it is said to appear as a handsome man, and can be recognised as a mythological creature only by the water weeds,[2] or profuse sand and mud in its hair.[3] Because of this, people in the Highlands were often wary of lone animals and strangers by the water's edge, near where the each-uisge was reputed to live.
Cnoc-na-Bèist ("hillock of the monster") is the name of a knoll on the Isle of Lewis where an Each-uisge was slain by the brother of a woman it tried to seduce, by a freshwater loch, Loch-à-Mhuileinn ("Loch of the mill").[3]
Along with its human victims, cattle and sheep were also often prey to the each-uisge, and it could be lured out of the water by the smell of roasted meat. One story from McKay's More West Highland Tales runs thus:
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A blacksmith from Raasay lost his daughter to the each-uisge. In revenge the blacksmith and his son made a set of large hooks, in a forge they set up by the loch side. They then roasted a sheep and heated the hooks until they were red hot. At last a great mist appeared from the water and the each-uisge rose from the depths and seized the sheep. The blacksmith and his son rammed the red-hot hooks into its flesh and after a short struggle dispatched it. In the morning there was nothing left of the creature apart from a jelly like substance.
Origins
The appearance of the Each Uisge on the Isle of Skye was described by Gordon in 1995 as having a parrot-like beak, and this, with its habit of diving suddenly, could be from real-life encounter with a sea turtle such as the leatherback sea turtle.[4]
References
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