Bean Nighe

Bean nighe was a Scottish Gaelic name for the Washer at the Ford. The Washer or Washerwoman could be found in almost every Celtic culture. Bean nighe was just one of the different forms of the Irish banshee, a female wraith figure. In the Scottish Gaelic tradition, the washer was the harbinger of death.

According to the Scottish Gaelic tradition, the bean nighe was a woman who died at childbirth. She was described as a woman dressed in green, but could be recognised by her webbed feet. This female figure presaged death, and they were found at streams or lakes, washing the bloodstained clothes of those who would soon die.

It was better for a person to see her first, before she sees that person. It was possible for a person to escape his or her doom, if the person was brave enough to seize her breast and suck on it. The person was then protected because he or she would become a foster-child of this female wraith.

In earlier Irish and Welsh legends, the Washer at the Ford only bore a superficial resemblance to the Scottish bean nighe. The washing women in early Irish and Welsh traditions were goddesses, and bean nighe were probably derived from these figures. These antecedents of the bean nighe included the Irish goddess Morrigan and the Welsh goddess Modron.

In the Irish myth, Dagda met such a woman washing at the ford of the River Unshin, near Glenn Etin on Samhain night. This lovely woman was beautiful. This was not presaging Dagda's doom. Dagda slept with her and she offered to aid him in the coming battle. Though the name of this woman was not given, she was most likely Morrigan, or Badb. Here, she foretold the defeat of the Fomorians. But that was not the only purpose of Morrigan. Morrigan represented the Sovereignty of Ireland. For Ireland to enjoy its wealth and fertility, it required a king to have sex with the Sovereignty Goddess (or Lady) of Ireland. For Ireland to renew its prosperity and the fertility of the land, Dagda was required to sleep with Morrigan each year on Samhain night. See Wedded to the Land in Celtic World.

In Welsh tradition, this washer was Modron, the great goddess and the mother of Mabon. She was no figure presaging the fate of a person. Modron was doomed to wash at Rhyd y Gyfarthfa or the "Ford of Barking", until a Christian broke the curse she was under by sleeping with her and fathering a son. This Christian was the great king from the North named Urien Rheged. Her son by this Christian was Owain, a hero known in the Arthurian legend as Yvain or Ywain.