The Swedish folklorist Brita Egardt (1916-1990) published an article in 1944 about the Swedish water-horse legends and their origins (Folkkultur, medelanden från Lunds Universitets folkminnesarkiv, 1944, pp. 119-166: "De svenska vattenhaestsaegnerna och deras ursprung"). Anyone more deeply concerned with these myths should try to obtain Egardt's article. She quotes from Campbell, Superstitions of the Scottish highlands (Glasgow 1900, pages 204ff), and from Douglas, Scottish Fairy and other Folktales (London 1892, p. 150). Egardt had problems obtaining foreign material due to the war, but from what she had she concluded that our Scandinavian water-horse legends are of Celtic origin (page 157). The legends of the kind exemplified on this list can be found in: Bretagne, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Denmark and the southern tip of Sweden (Skaane).
Carl-Henrik Berg
(Umea University, Sweden)
> > > A woman was digging her garden when she discovered a baiglie, who was
> > > very rude to her, so she set it to work in her garden from dawn till
> > > dark. As it left that evening it was heard to moan 'sair back, sair
> > > banes, carrying auld Maggies stanes'.
>
> In the Penguin "Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales", ed. Gordon Jarvie, there is
> a story called "The Laird of Morphie and the Water Kelpie" in which the
> laird captures a water kelpie or each uisge and forces it to haul stones to
> build his grand castle. When the kelpie finally regains its freedom it
> says, "Sair back, and sair bones, Drivin' the Laird of Morphie's stanes! The
> Laird o' Morphie'll never thrive, As lang as Kelpie is alive."
>
> This is short but useful http://celt.net/Celtic/celtopedia/e.html
>
> Regards,
>
> Maggie
> in Edinburgh
>
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