Show Notes
This is a conversation with Scottish folk-magic blogger and social worker Scott Richardson Read about the Gaelic folklore figure called the Cailleach: the old woman known as Scotland’s midwife; landscape shaper, storm-bringer, sovereignty figure, ancestral being, resurrected once and again, and present all through the folk calendar of the year.
The Cailleach has been popularly associated with wintertime, which is why I feature her on Fair Folk now, at the beginning of winter.
Transcript of this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12oDeT-0u-0fnnascirU_k5izVU4kQHACj2zqTFI2wGA/
Resources referenced in this episode:
Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #1 https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach-a-tale-of-balance-between-darkness-and-light/
Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #2 https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach-a-tale-of-balance-between-darkness-and-light-part-two/
Cailleach’s Herbarium blog entry on an animist shrine dedicated to the Cailleach: https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2018/01/the-cailleach-scotlands-midwife-tigh-na-bodach/
Article: The Cailleach in Place-names and Place-lore by Alasdair C. Whyte: https://clog.glasgow.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JSNS/article/view/58/107
Mckenzie’s Wonder Tale, Beira, Queen of Winter: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tsm/tsm04.htm
9th century poem about the Cailleach, “The Old Woman of Beare” Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65CWjdVcBmg Text: https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/anonymous/OldWomanBeare.html
Songs in this episode:
Opening theme: “Forest March” by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds
“The Old Woman of the Mill Dust / Cailleach An Dudain” by Alison Kinnair & Christine Primrose Buy Alison Kinnair & Christine Primrose’s music: https://guysegers1.bandcamp.com/track/cailleach-an-dudain-the-old-woman-of-the-mill-dust-alison-kinnaird-christine-primrose (album) https://music.apple.com/ca/album/cailleach-an-dudain-the-old-woman-of-the-mill-dust/294080419?i=294080481
More from Fair Folk Podcast
The folklore of October offers us a threshold of tenderness, an opportunity to deepen into maturity and savour the golden sunset of the year. Sign up for my Pagan Sacred Chant workshop series and Frost-Tide chant workshop October 11: https://www.danicaboyce.com/chant-workshops-2026 Sign up for my Abundance Paganism workshops and Scarcity to Abundance workshop October 20: https://danicaboyce.com/abundance-paganism-2026 Join me in person in London for a chant workshop on October 23: https://www.danicaboyce.com/london-pagan-chant Join my mailing list: https://enthusiastica.substack.com/ Opening theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods music: https://www.harpcenter.com/ Read the J.R.R. Tolkien poem I shared, Winter Comes to Nagothrond: https://www.eternal-flame.org/library/oldlibrary/nargothrond.html Pick up Eleanor Parker's excellent book on Anglo-Saxon seasons, Winters in the World: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/winters-in-the-world
This episode focuses on the last of the harvest in the month of September, asking what spirit of this summer’s harvest you intend to host over the colder months.
The story of how I began this podcast out of burnout and illness and began feeling into the path on a different level. Plus a dive into pagan conceptions of destiny and free will from Old Norse and Old English. (Take courage!) Sign up for Well of Wyrd audio membership for £20/month starting April 20: https://www.danicaboyce.com/well-of-wyrd Sign up for the Golden Thread coaching circle for folks with a spiritual calling starting April 20: https://www.danicaboyce.com/golden-thread Learn more about Pagan Camp, July 27-30: https://www.danicaboyce.com/pagan-camp-2026 Visit my website: https://www.danicaboyce.com/ Join my mailing list: https://enthusiastica.substack.com/ Find me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danica.boyce/ Old English poem the Wanderer: http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=text&id=wdr Music in this episode: Weja Ura by Olivia Fern - buy the album: https://oliviafern.bandcamp.com/album/red-thread Seven Daughters of the Sea by Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin - buy the album: https://www.irishsong.com/shop/seven-daughters-of-the-sea/ Waltz for the Cosmos by Lassi Logrén - buy the album: https://lassilogren.bandcamp.com/album/jouhikko Theme music is Forest March by Sylvia Woods. Buy Sylvia Woods' music: https://www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds
In this episode, I speak with Veronica Rottman, a somatic practitioner specializing in the female nervous system, about holy well and spring folklore and the ways it resonates with trauma integration and healing. You can sign up for our upcoming collaborative workshop, Sacred Waters: Healing at the Well of Brigid here: https://waking-womb.com/events/2026/1/24/sacred-waters-healing-at-the-well-of-brigid Veronica Rottman's website: https://waking-womb.com/ Veronica Rottman's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wakingwomb Mentioned in the episode: Frau or Mother Holle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frau_Holle Rosaleen Durkin’s Irish sacred wells walking tours: https://visitwicklow.ie/listing/irish-sacred-wells-walking-tours/ Brielle Elise: waking the well: https://www.instagram.com/wakingthewell The well maidens account in the Elucidation: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/elucidation.html (Lines 29-132) A note: birds are associated with the fisher king’s court (and fish) more than other animals, somewhat counter to what I said in the episode. A special thank you to Sylvia Woods, whose tune Forest March is the intro theme to Fair Folk! Image: The goose maid at the well by Arthur Rackham Join my mailing list: https://enthusiastica.substack.com/ Find me on instagram: instagram.com/danica.boyce
In this episode I talk with Irish sean nós (old-style) singer Chan Reid about the experience of living as an immigrant far from one’s ancestors, and how experiences of migration and dislocation resonate in the heart of Irish traditional song and music. Chan sings some heart-cracking-open songs, and even obliges me by explaining how Irish traditional singers do the “diddly bits” that make sean nós songs sound so unbelievably cool.