Hello,
My name is Rachel.
My country is Scotland,
A country steeped in fairy faith,
A place of mythical valleys,
Fairy glens and fairy pools and logs,
And ancient Caledonian pine forests where fairies or wee folk can be found in the tree hollows and abandoned birds' nests.
In the rivers and barns which flow through the mountainous valleys,
There are river sprites with webbed feet who ride on the back of the leaping Scottish salmon,
Tucked away inside unused teapots and empty shortbread tins.
Wee folk,
Called brownies,
A sort of house fairy,
Live amongst the Scottish people,
Inside their very homes,
Although most people never look close enough in the nooks and crannies to ever spot them.
Now I'm guessing you might like to join me on an adventure here in Scotland and hear more about these mystical wee folk,
Guardians of our hills,
Forests and homes.
So get comfortable,
Maybe have a little wiggle of fingers and toes.
Take a deep breath in to fill your chest full of air and a deep breath out again to relax your body down into whichever comfy spot you might be sitting or lying in.
Gently close your eyes and come with me to Scotland.
Now this is the story of the legend of the Oroch.
If you had visited Scotland around 3,
000 years ago,
You may have seen beasts the size of elephants roaming around the hills and valleys and forests of Scotland.
These beasts were called Highland Orochs and they were an impressive type of wild oxen.
Although a lot smaller,
Scotland's iconic Highland cattle,
With their eye-catching red hair,
Cute fringes that fall over their eyes,
And large curved horns,
May be partly descended from the Highland Oroch.
Although these Oroch were huge in size,
Their diet consisted of grasses,
Twigs and acorns and they roamed around in herds of about 30 family members.
As the fairies and wee folk of Scotland have been in existence even before the dawn of man,
They were there too when the Orochs roamed Scotland.
Generally,
The Oroch were gentle creatures and got on well with the fairies.
However,
The Oroch could be hot-tempered when teased.
The Oroch were very angry towards men though as they were being hunted to extinction.
Their beautiful,
Huge horns were used as trophy prizes and the kings of Scotland used them as banqueting cups and blowing horns.
The Oroch,
Who usually grazed the valleys in summer,
Were now finding that the grasses were being replaced by crops and they were being driven deeper and deeper into the forest to find food and safety from the hunters.
One day,
There was only one last remaining herd of Oroch in the whole of Scotland.
They were in the forest,
Peacefully eating away at their twigs and acorns peacefully eating away at their twigs and acorns when one of the young baby Oroch fell into a pit set by a hunter.
The forest fairies were immediately alerted to the distressed,
Bellowing and snorting and grunting of the Oroch herd.
Although too tiny themselves to be able to rescue the Oroch calf from the pit,
One of the fairies had a great idea.
The fairies spoke kindly to all the ancient oak trees in the forest who offered to drop their branches to the forest floor.
It's not widely known by humans that trees can shed healthy branches.
The phenomenon has been coined sudden branch drop syndrome.
As trees can't sweat,
They sometimes need a way to release excess moisture and occasionally,
They choose to do this by dropping some of their branches.
So on this day,
The trees accepted their call to action by the fairies The trees accepted their call to action by the fairies and dropped their branches to save the baby Oroch.
The adults in the herd used their powerful horns to lift and carry the branches into the pit until they were stacked high enough that the baby Oroch could finally climb out.
Now,
As this part of the forest was no longer safe for the Oroch,
An emergency meeting was called by the fairy Queen Freya.
The fairies knew how serious the situation was.
If something was not done to help this last Oroch family,
Then they would be extinct from Scotland forever.
Queen Freya led the Oroch to the forest.
Queen Freya led the Oroch on a trek to the secret fairy pools where she knew an ancient enchantment had been cast.
The fairy pools are a series of waterfalls that end up in a series of vivid aqua pools.
And they sit on the foothills of the Black Mountains.
She sat atop the horns of the bull Oroch,
Who was in charge of the herd,
And beckoned the other Oroch into the water.
She commanded them to swim towards the waterfalls.
As they drew close,
She began to recite the ancient enchantment.
Eyes cannot see what it means to be free.
When nothing can be done but flee,
Then trust and follow me.
The cascade of water from the waterfalls seemed to stop in mid-air to let the herd of swimming Oroch pass through.
When they had all gone under,
Queen Freya flew out again before shouting to sigh at the water,
A Gaelic word that means begin.
And then,
She said,
Means begin.
And then,
The water started in its torrent downwards,
Hiding the Oroch from view,
Never to be seen by humans again.
It is said that if you were ever to brave the cold waters of the Fairy Pool and stand under the waterfalls there,
You might see fractured images in the water of a land that resembles Scotland in bygone years,
Full of forests and wildflower meadows teeming with life and herds and herds of Oroch happily grazing,
Free from human interference.
Perhaps one day,
Humans will have learnt their lesson and a Fairy Queen may open the enchantment again and the Orochs may choose to emerge from back under the waterfall.
What do you think?
Now,
I hope you have enjoyed this story and can imagine in your mind the Oroch grazing in fields full of butterflies,
Bees and birds.
Sweet dreams from Scotland.
