Lavellan

In Scottish folklore, the lavellan, làbh-allan, la-mhalan, or la-bhallan is a rodent- or lizard-like creature with a venomous bite. It reportedly lives in bodies of water. It features in tales from both Sutherland and Caithness.

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." In the settlement of Ausdale, Thomas Pennant asked the local people about the lavellan. They reportedly believed that the lavellan was particularly harmful to cattle, and also asserted that sick cattle could be cured by giving them water in which the skinned hide of a lavellan had been dipped. Pennant posited that the mythical lavellan was, in actuality, a water shrew (Neomys fodiens). According to researcher Lee Raye, Pennant's view is now generally accepted as accurate.

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."

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shute, Joe (11 April 2024). Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat – A NEW SCIENTIST NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-3994-0254-5.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ Richard Holland (17 April 2015). Legends & Folklore Scotland. Internet Archive. Bradwell Books. ISBN 978-1-909914-98-8.
  4. ↑ Crofton, Ian (5 November 2012). A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable. Birlinn. ISBN 978-0-85790-637-3.
  5. 1 2 Raye, Lee (20 September 2018). "Robert Sibbald's Scotia Illustrata (1684): A faunal baseline for Britain". 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.
  6. ↑ Campbell, John Gregorson (1900). Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. J. MacLehose and sons.
  7. ↑ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, by John Gregorson Campbell". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 31 May 2026.