The Baobhan Sith — Blood Fairy of the Glens

Glen Dochart, Stirlingshire, Scotland

The Baobhan Sith are beautiful women who appear to groups of men sheltering for the night in the glens, dance with them until midnight, and then kill them by drinking their blood through wounds made by their deer-hoof feet.

The Baobhan Sith — the fairy women who drink blood — occupy a specific and disturbing corner of Highland supernatural tradition. They are not the graceful Seelie Court creatures of Lowland tradition; they are predators, and their hunting method involves deception and dance. The standard encounter format: a group of men sheltering overnight in a bothy or shieling. The night is cold. They wish for female company and say so aloud — specifically saying that they wish women were with them. This is understood in the tradition as an invitation. The Baobhan Sith respond. Beautiful women appear, well dressed, speaking pleasantly. They join the group. There is food and drink. Music begins — one of the men plays pipes or fiddle. The women dance with the men. The piper or fiddle player notices: the dancing women have feet that are deer hooves, or their green dresses are red at the hem, or they do not cast shadows. He continues to play — the women need the music and cannot attack while it continues. He plays until the others are dead. The men who danced are found in the morning with their blood entirely gone. The piper survived because he never stopped playing. Glen Dochart is one of several Highland locations associated with specific Baobhan Sith encounters. The tradition cautions strongly against speaking wishes aloud at night, alone or in company.