Izzy Muses

With Halloween in the air this week, I find my thoughts turning to matters ghostly. Secretly, we all enjoy a scary story and, in this part of the world, such stories often feature the banshee – a ghostly woman, thin, with long hair whose cry is said to herald a death. The banshee (woman fairy)  may appear as a beautiful young woman or as an aged crone, or indeed a combination of the two, and the reasons for her visits vary: some say she comes to herald a death in the family of those that see or hear her, others that she only appears when death in  a particular family is imminent – a family that may, perhaps, have wronged her during her lifetime, still others claim that she appears only to members of the ancient Irish clans and that her cry is a warning to those whom she loves. Whatever the reason for her visit, she invariably wails and her cry is said to be very frightening. It may be heard on three successive nights – the first time audible only to the soon to be departed, the second time audible to the wider family, and on the third occasion audible to anyone passing as the victim meets his or her forewarned end. The victim may well be in fine fettle when he or she hears the initial wailing – in which case, chances are they will meet with an unusual accident within three days – perhaps falling from the turret of their Irish castle, or drowning in a fairy well, perhaps tripping on a silver comb and falling down a stone stair case.

If you see the Banshee, the chances are it will be through a window. Be very quiet, for if you make a sound or speak a word she will instantly disappear. You may, of course, not see her at all but only hear the ghostly wailing, in which case, check your windowsill for it seems that is where she regularly leaves her silver comb but for goodness sake, don’t touch the comb  no matter how strong the value of silver on the commodities markets, since she may have left it there to lure you to the fairy world – and we wouldn’t want that, now, would we?