The

Myth of Sheadar: The Fairy Glen of Skye

Jordan Ricker

Magic and mythical folklore have always played a role in the perception of Scotland, but there are
very few places that capture this sentiment more than the Fairy Glen. The Fairy (or Faerie) Glen is
located on the Isle of Skye, just a short way off the main road A87, south of the city of Uig. This
mystical dell is famous for its hiddenness, tucked away behind the rolling emerald hills of the Isles
of Scotland, with not a single sign revealing its location. The Fairy Glen is said to have a magical
aura, and its unique landscape and secretive location have only contributed to its mysteriousness.
This home to the fairies is a near-sacred place in Scotland that is connected to its mythical
perception in the manifestation of folk culture through the myth of the fairies and in Pierre Noras
concept of lieu de mmoire.

When I first reached the Fairy Glen, there was very little question that I had arrived. It
sticks out from the rest of the surrounding landscape in the northern parts of the Isle of Skye as a
mythical enclave, almost seeming to be shimmering with fairies who remain just out of sight. The
small, green, rolling hills, immediately distinguishable by the natural mounds which crisscross
their slopes, are everywhere. The hills both preface and enclose the Fairy Glen, setting it as a
distinct oasis in the middle of the Northern Isles of the Highlands of Scotland. These hills and
green grass are punctuated by gray stones strewn everywhere with the stones themselves
highlighted by pinpricks of colorful white flashes. The third element in this enclose is the red
lichen that grows in seemingly random patches, sometimes at the base of the hills, sometimes
running alongside them, here in patches and there clumped together like a tightly woven secret
insignia upon the landscape.

The dominating feature
of the Fairy Glen is
what is known locally
as Castle Ewen a
mostly rocky, but
sporadically dotted
with moss, outcropping
that imposes over the
glen and asserts its
centrality in this fabled
place (see image to
left). The tallest point
in the surrounding
area, Castle Ewen lures
visitors to come
surmount it,
necessitating walking
up a narrow and twisty
mud trail and climbing
through a rocky crevice
to finally straighten up
and gasp at


the beautiful view that is only accessible at the top of the outcrop. Finally there, all of the hills,
lichen, and stones are visible as a true ensemble in the glen and there is a furthering of that
mythical and shimmering feeling that the fairies are hidden, invisible even, to the humans visiting
their burrow.

The eponymous icon of this glen, the fairy, is part of what makes visiting the mysterious
and magical Fairy Glen such an emotional experience, as it is truly a manifestation of Scottish folk
culture. According to Iain Stewart of Serenity Scotland, fairies have been, for quite a long time, one
of the main themes of Scottish myths. Fairies can help with chores and tasks around the house, but
one must always remember to be wary of them. They are tricksters who are easily offended and, if
offended, will take revenge and get their perceived due. Fairies, both in the light-hearted manner
in which they are used in stories and in more cautionary tales of warnings, are a central tenant of
Scottish myths.

In this respect, the Fairy Glen is a place that is representative of the myth of the fairies.
More than just stories passed down from generation to generation, and related to professor
Anthony D. Smiths work on the transmission of cultural myths, the myth of the fairies is part of
the folk culture of the Scottish people. The nature of myths is that they are neither formulaic nor
static they morph over time, adapting to changes, but still retain their core, similar to the
conceptualization of tradition by senior lecturer of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh,
Gary West, in his book, Voicing Scotland: Folk, Culture, Nation. Moreover, these myths of the fairies
as one of the forms of Scottish folk culture are important because according to Cultural Studies
professor John Storey, folk culture is the very embodiment of the nature and character of a
nation. Fairy myths are not exclusive to Scotland, but they are Scottish, meaning that fairy lore
constitutes one of the most authentic (taking into account all of the connotations and problems
associated with that term) aspects of Scottish culture. Myths of fairies are some of the oldest and
most distinctively Scottish stories that are told in Scotland today.

But these myths are not all that affect the perception of the Fairy Glen. The smell and,
overpoweringly, the sound of water dominate the setting, in the form of rain. The whole glen
seems slightly blurred, as the rain alternates between lightly pit-pattering and heavily cascading
on the anything and everything below. The rain gives a smell of grassy rebirth to the Fairy Glen,
enlivening it and adding another layer of allure to the place. The wind is omnipresent, demanding
recognition from all who are in the glen, and swooping in to chill the already damp bones. It
whooshes and whirls; oscillating from howling and obscuring attempted conversation to a light
background wine, faint but never completely faded.

In visiting the Fairy Glen, I got the impression of stepping into a faraway fantasyland. This
dell is in Scotland but at the same time, not of Scotland it takes its essence and substance from
something that is fantastical and otherworldly. While walking around, I was struck by the natural
beauty of a place that is anything but natural. I could see why it is called Sheadar in Gaelic,
meaning place of the fairies. The site whispered its secrets and enticed me with its foreignness
but did not exposure any of its mysteries. With my camera in hand, I tried to capture this place
that feels different from any other Ive visited before but in a way that defies explanation. The
Fairy Glen sits like a clandestine aberration in the middle of the already mysterious Highlands. The
people, like me, who visit it are always more muted than one normally is outdoors; the place
demands a tranquility and a silence that are profound. For a site thats never been the location of a


battle or had a famous piece of architecture built there, the Fairy Glen nevertheless forces
recognition of itself as important from all who pass by it so briefly.

However, no matter how brief my visit was, I could not escape the rain while there. For the
rain in the Fairy Glen in late October soaks everything it touches even the small pond seemed to
be wetter than usual. The water permeates everything in the glen, drenching anything that is even
transiently exposed; rocks, grass, jackets nothing is safe from the beating of the rain against all
surfaces. In climbing up to Castle Ewen, my hands touched the muddy path, grasping slippery
rocks with cold hands in order not to slide on the slipperier mud with waterlogged feet. The grass
was soft and yielding under my boots; whether from the rain or from the fairies magic, I was
unsure. It felt like walking across a feather carpet, and the lack of emitted noise made it sound like
it as well. The Fairy Glens mystic nature is heightened by nature itself, as the rain and wind
augment the setting, further increasing the occult sentiment of a place that already seems
otherworldly.

This ethereal place,
named for the
fairies of Scottish
lore, not only
represents the myth
of the fairies, but is
also their sacred
dwelling place. In
this sense, the
mystical, physical
location of the glen
serves to be a lieu de
mmoire or site of
memory, as
expressed by Pierre
Nora in his work of
the same name. The
Fairy Glen is a lieu
de mmoire because
it is seen as an
abstraction of the
memory of a place,
not as a historical
place of significance. Instead of being an event where a famous battle in Scottish history took
place, such as the Battle of the Boyne, this site of memory is connected to the mythical
perceptions of the Fairy Glen knowing full well that the glen never was a place of historical
significance. Instead, it represents a place that has meaning to Scottish folklore and tradition. As
Storey states, Noras sites of memory include almost anything where memory can become
anchored, meaning that this anchoring is the placement in collective memory of something
significant to Scottish identity.


Memory here must be understood as a Scottish understanding and feeling of and towards
the past, regardless of the pasts veracity. This conception of memory serves to contribute towards
the feelings of the present and comes from Earnest Renans statement in his Qu'est-ce qu'une
nation, to get ones history wrong [is an] essential factor in the making of a nation. Scotland must
get wrong its history by having part of the national memory be a feeling of sentiment towards
the Fairy Glen, even though the glen isnt actually part of Scottish political history. Instead, it
becomes a very important part of Scottish cultural history by being inserted into the past as a
representation of Scottish beliefs and culture.

Despite all of this, the Fairy Glen is still unquestionably an anomaly in Scotland.
Geographically, it sticks out from the rest of the landscape. Mythically, it is the home of fantastical
creatures. Nationally, it symbolizes the quiet pride of Scottish tradition. These mysterious and
magical perceptions of the Fairy Glen also make it quite contrary to an anomaly at the same time
indeed they make it an indelible part of the of the mental and physical terrain of the country. From
the mounded hills to the pouring rain, from the flitting fairies to the establishment of a site of
memory, the Fairy Glen is a metaphor for the Scottish nation. This matters because it is near
impossible to find a definitive definition of what Scotland is, made all the more difficult by the fact
that English historians like Hugh Trevor-Roper, among others, have argued that there is nothing
authentic to Scotland at all. Thus, how can one imagine Scotland?

Cue Sheadar. What the Fairly Glen does is to serve as a useful sensory and theoretical tool
to better conceptualize Scotland and the Scottish nation. It is, by far, not the only representation of
Scotland, but the Fairy Glen offers an insight into Scottish folk culture through the myth of fairies
and the anchoring of place that allows for a deeper, more nuanced, and arguably, a more genuine
understanding of the strange little country that goes by the name of Scotland.


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