The Cailleach Bheur is a blue-skinned hag who is said to frequent parts of the Scottish Highlands. She is reborn each Oíche Shamhna (All Hallows Eve) and calls Winter and the snow to the land by freezing the ground with every tap of her magical staff. She is also guardian to animals through the long winter months. Depending on the tradition, on Beltane Eve she either returns to the earth by turning to stone, or changes into a young maiden, suggesting the changing phases of an earth goddess. Before turning to stone, she throws her staff under one of her trees, the holly and the gorse bush. There are countless legends of the Cailleach Bheur. In one she is guardian of a well on the summit of Ben Crauchan in Argyll. Each sunset she must cap the well with a large flat stone to halt the flowing water and then release it at sunrise. One night while driving her goats across the mountains, she grew tired and fell asleep by the side of the well. The water surged through the Pass of Brander and created Loch Awe, drowning the locals and their cattle. Appalled by her mistake, she turned to stone. Another legend says she was turned to stone as punishment for neglecting to cover the well and still sits on the mountain above the Pass of Brander. While there are several tales of hags in British folklore, which may all have a similar root source, the Cailleach's association with stone is rare. There is some speculation that once she may have been identified with stones that had winter astronomical alignments. Sources The Cailleach Bheur The Cailleach The Legend of Cruachan

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