The Ghillie Dhu: Guardian of the Woods (Scottish Folklore)

In the north of Scotland, at the village of Gairloch. There lives a lone faerie, one who was exiled from the faerie court and abandoned in the forest. The tale of Ghillie Dhu. On one warm afternoon in mid-summer, a young girl Jessie Macrae went wandering in the nearby forest. She spent many hours adventuring and exploring the trees, but when evening fell, she realised that she had lost her way. Fear began to descend upon the poor girl as she attempted to fiind her way through the forest. An hour later tired, hungry and footsore, she sat beneath a large fir tree and began to weep. Suddenly from behind the tree a calm and reasted voice said, “Why do you cry, girl”. She jumped at the sound and looked round to see a strange elven like creature standing before her. The creature had long hair black as a raven’s wing and hazel brown eyes, jessie described as soft and kindly. With the creatures’ strange smile, she could see it had hundreds of small sharp teeth. If jessie had seen the Sith at a distance she would have ran screaming, but now up close she could tell there was no malice in the creature’s heart. The Sith wore a great cloak of moss and leaves, he bore such a resemblance to his background that jessie thought he may be the very manifestation of the forest its self.

References:
Briggs, K.M. (2002) The Fairies in Tradition and Literature (Routledge Classics). Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-28601-5
Mackenzie, D.A. (1917) Wonder tales from Scotland myth and legend. Frederick A Stokes Co, New York. ISBN-13 : 978-0486296777
MacKillop, J. (2004) A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Oxford University Press. ISBN-13 : 978-0198804840
Pegler, M. (2004) Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper. Osprey Publishing. ISBN-13 : 978-1841768540

[bigfrankfraser]

my house is on the border of a birch forest and was built in victorian times, its name is "ghillie dhu's gate" and has a legend that every time a child goes missing you can see ghillie dhu wandering the woods looking for the lost child

[nickystripe]

I love this video. The two sides of the Ghillie Dhu’s personality remind me of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Willow Man in the Old Forest that drags people down with its roots and Treebeard and Fangorn who helps Merry and Pippin. I bet that’s where he got his inspiration.

[Lonking]

Ghillie Due sounds like the best friend humanity never deserved

[ellelaforte]

Loved this! I've been sick and couldn't fall sleep last night, and thought, 'why not see if there's some Scottish folktales for a relaxing bedtime story on YouTube?' After listening to this, I did get that well needed rest.

[CherokeeBird]

Im Cherokee and we have the Nunne-hi in the Southern US. We have many of the same legends. Very interesting ❤

[melissarmt]

I'm American and my grandfather would tel us all the old stories of the Fae and the Courts. Not the wish-granting stories, the real stories. I love your channel because it takes me back sometimes. Thank you!

[deanfirnatine]

My Father's Mother's family were some of those first Lovet Scouts from the Highland Clan Fraser, arguably the first Special Operations Forces. Ghillie Dhu is now my favorite Sidhe I think, he should be the Patron Sidhe of Search and Rescue teams.

[idaornstein]

A most beautiful story and so wonderfully explained. Thank you. More please.

[paranormalparatrooper.]

Ohh wow. The ghillie suit comes from this legend, that’s amazing. 🇦🇺✝️🇦🇺

[simplyimpish]

We need more of him to protect the forests

[jameslew]

Cool to read a story about a mythical creature that's actually like, a cool guy.

[Gavither]

Love the clip from Mushishi. Such great folklore that is similar and shared in so many cultures.

[kingiginrosie]

I often wondered where the term ghillie came from. Had no idea it was from Scottish myth and legend. This is awesome.

[dmhq-administration]

I would love it if Ghillie was My forest friend. 🤔🥰🤗💖🇨🇦💚🌲🌳 I love your accent. 😍

[Ohsnapitzann]

I love hearing about Scottish folktales it keeps me sane and happy

[WolfMaiden]

The Ghillie Dhu is so sweet, and deserves respect.

[dxfan]

The spirit of the wood guardian still lives

[jade]

Wonderful tale! I was wondering about the ghillie reference, so I'm glad you explained that.

[cherylralston]

Thank you so much for that story, my brother was in the Marines and was a sharp shooter, Now this is where it gets I have been seeing people in the trees for about 8 years now having different versions of a ghillie suit I try to show others but they think I'm nuts that is not all my brother believes me and a niece who was in the military She saw them right off .. and guess what I have Scottish decendents Mc Henery again thank you

[agnesstrzykowska]

The story has reminded me of a fairytale from the country I grew up- 'borowy dziad' benevolent spirit of woods, protected the forest and those who respected it. ♥️ Thank you for your story