Unsolved:Lavellan
In Scottish folklore, the lavellan, làbh-allan, la-mhalan or la-bhallan is a rodent- or lizard-like creature with a venomous bite.[1][2] It reportedly lives in bodies of water.[3] It features in tales from both Sutherland and Caithness.[4]
The lavellan was described in Robert Sibbald's Scotia Illustrata as "an animal common in Caithness, it stays in water, it has a head similar to the weasel, and is a beast of the same colouring. The breath from these beasts does harm."[5] In the settlement of Ausdale, Thomas Pennant asked the local people about the lavellan: they believed that the lavellan was particularly harmful to cattle; they also believed that sick cattle could be cured by giving them water in which the skinned hide of a lavellan had been dipped in.[6] Pennant believed that the mythical lavellan was truly a water shrew (neomys fodiens). According to Dr Lee Raye, Pennant's view is now generally accepted as accurate.[5]
In literature, the lavellan was mentioned in a poem by Sutherland poet Rob Donn: "Let him not go away from the houses, to moss or wood, lest the Lavellan come and smite him."[7]
See also
- Dobhar-chu
- Kelpie
References
- ↑ Shute, Joe (2024-04-11) (in en). Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat – A NEW SCIENTIST NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-3994-0254-5. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FK75EAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA1&ots=6RCA3qAfOS&dq=%22Lavellan%22&lr&pg=PA44#v=onepage&q=%22Lavellan%22&f=false.
- ↑ Redfern, Nicholas (2016). Nessie : exploring the supernatural origins of the Loch Ness Monster. Internet Archive. Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 978-0-7387-4710-1. http://archive.org/details/nessieexplorings0000redf.
- ↑ Richard Holland (2015-04-17). Legends & Folklore Scotland. Internet Archive. Bradwell Books. ISBN 978-1-909914-98-8. http://archive.org/details/legendsfolklores0000rich.
- ↑ Crofton, Ian (2012-11-05) (in en). A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable. Birlinn. ISBN 978-0-85790-637-3. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Zqq8BQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT161&ots=zZbuacMSBR&dq=%22Lavellan%22&lr&pg=PT515#v=onepage&q=%22Lavellan%22&f=false.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Raye, Lee (2018-09-20). "Robert Sibbald's Scotia Illustrata (1684): A faunal baseline for Britain" (in en). Notes and Records: the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 72 (3): 383–405. doi:10.1098/rsnr.2017.0042. ISSN 0035-9149. http://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsnr/article/72/3/383-405/48664.
- ↑ Campbell, John Gregorson (1900) (in en). Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. J. MacLehose and sons. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ziiNgDTiFqAC&ots=so4zWpRpbx&dq=%22Lavellan%22&lr&pg=PA220#v=onepage&q=%22Lavellan%22&f=false.
- ↑ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, by John Gregorson Campbell". https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61730/61730-h/61730-h.htm.
sco:Lavellan
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