The Legend of Sligachan Old Bridge
If you go to Sligachan Old Bridge on the Isle of Skye, you just might walk away with eternal beauty…
While in Scotland researching for my book To Condemn a Witch, I came to a bridge facing the Cuillin mountains and noticed people kept climbing on the rocks below and dunking their face into the cold water so the faeries might grant them eternal beauty.
I had to try, of course. But also, why did people do this? Was it just something silly the locals told tourists to get their faces wet?
The local folklore stems from an ancient legend about an epic clash between supernatural warriors and the intervention of the fae. This was the tale told to me…
The Legend of Sligachan Old Bridge
The most powerful warrior in all of Scotland was a woman named Scáthach, which in Gaelic means The Shadowy One. She trained hundreds of Celtic heroes and warriors in a fortress in the Cuillin mountains guarded by her daughter, Uathach.
One day an Irish half-god warrior named Cú Chulainn arrived to challenge Scáthach in a battle that raged for days. As they slammed each other to the ground valleys were formed, shifting the earth to create more mountains but neither was able to win.
Her daughter, Uathach, afraid their fighting would never end, wept at the Sligachan river. It’s known that water can sometimes be a portal to the land of the fae. The faeries took pit on her and told her to submerge her face in the water and this act would grant her wisdom.
She followed their advice and when she lifted her face from the water, she knew exactly what needed to be done to stop the bloodshed. She made a meal with such a delicious mouth-watering scent both warriors dropped their weapons to go inside and eat. As was the Highland hospitality custom, once they broke bread they had to make peace. Cú Chulainn ended up staying for a year to train in combat and became Scáthach’s most famous student.
The waters have been said to hold mystical qualities ever since.
If you go beneath the bridge, here’s what you do:
Submerge your face – without using your hands – into the cold mountain water and hold it there for seven seconds. When you lift your face, let the water dry naturally to be imbued with eternal beauty granted by the fae.
Why beauty, you ask? Honestly that part wasn’t fully explained, but here’s my hot take: Anytime you are able to get two people to stop their endless fighting, that is a beautiful thing.
Lisa 😉
Do you Scottish legends like this one? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll share more in future posts.
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