Death Omens are a staple of folklore around the world. While their specifics vary based on where their story originates, they all generally come down to the same concept: they are signs of death. Whether or not that death is that of the observer or another, and whether or not the death can be avoided varies from region to region and creature to creature. These figures have existed through many cultures, time periods and locations ranging from the Aztecs believing owls to be omens of the Lords of Mictlan (circa 16th century) to the death-goddess Morana which has many omens linked with her ceremonies (circa 13th century).

One such specific incarnation of the death omen is the Scottish Bean-Nighe. This creature is believed to descend from the Banshee which hails from Irish folklore and is described as a beautiful woman who acts as the harbinger of impending doom. Variations of the stories permeate through many different stories but many traits remain constant. The woman is often found in streams or bodies of water and are seen by passers by to be washing clothing against the rocks in the running water. These are the clothes of those close to death or who have been marked for impending demise. One such example of this tale is Lowell’s Washers of the Shroud written before the 10th century. In this tale, Lowell describes a woman washing the blood from a war chariot, military weaponry and clothing in the waters of a stream who is happened upon by a military hero. He approaches and is told that she is washing his own equipment, foretelling of his near death in battle. The story is cryptically vague but has been attributed to many military heroes including Cormac Conlingas, Cú Chulainn (Irish demi-god), Donnchad O’Brien (d. 1064), Richard de Clare (b. 1130) and Norman vassal of Henry II.

The origin of the Bean-Nighe is, as with everything, vague but the most commonly accepted and widely repeated is that it is the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth. If they die with clothes left unwashed then they are cursed so wash them for the rest of their natural life and so shall act as an omen until the day they would have passed naturally. In contrast to the Irish Banshee, who is described as a beautiful woman, the Bean-Nighe is a disfigured woman with a single nostril, a large and protruding front tooth and long hanging breasts which she throws over her shoulder. To see her at the stream, washing clothes means that death is imminent, either for the person who had the misfortune to gaze upon her, or for someone connected to them. Stories tend to describe three methods by which you can find out who has been marked for death from the Bean-Nighe. The first is to get between her and the stream to prevent her from washing the clothes, this story is attributed to Perthshire specifically and may not be widely believed. Secondly, she can be made to talk under threat of death. And finally, the most pervasive and common story is that you must sneak behind her as she washes the clothes and drinks the milk from her hanging breast that she has thrown over her shoulder. To do this allows you to become her foster child and in response she will grant you wishes, one such of these can be the details of those about to die. Depending on the teller of the story, the person who has tasted her milk can ask her to stop the washing and therefore stop the death or to continue it. And for some they believe that you can ask her questions but in payment you must answer her own questions truthfully.

The Bean-Nighe has appeared in many pieces of writing but more commonly under the name the Washer of the Ford, or something similar. One such example is the Washer of the Ford by Sean McMullen, an Australian science-fiction writer who published it in 2019 inspired by the stories of the Scottish folklore. In his story the Washer grants the ability of second sight to the protagonist after he drinks her milk allowing him to read the thoughts on peoples faces. Through this he is given the ability to discover a curse placed upon him in an attempt to make the Albastor owe the Washer a favour. Another example of these themes appearing in writing is James Russel Lowell’s “The Washer of the Shroud” about the American Civil War. This story forms a composite image to talk about the future of the Civil War but takes the original folklore stories and transposes the grotesque Washer of the Ford into three beautiful women. And finally in Coffin Hollow and Other Ghost Tales describes the White Woman, a creature similar in theme to the Washer, being closely associated with the clothing aspects of the stories but more disconnected from the washing aspects of the tales.

The story of the Washer runs through many different aspects of folklore throughout the UK. The Caoineag (the Weeper) is a version of this creature who cannot be seen, approached and can only be heard. She is said to be heard crying at the waterfall whenever any catastrophe is about to overtake a clan such as before the Massacre of Glencoe. Along similar lines, the Caointeach is a version of the Caoineag belonging to Argyllshire, Skye and the surrounding islands. This version is said to protect the clans of the Macmillans, Mathisons, Kellys, Mackays, Macfarlanes, Shaws and Curries and is a child in a short green gown, petticoat and high crowned white cap. The Cyhyraeth is a welsh version only heard to groan in a “doleful, disagreeable sound heard before the deaths of many […] resembles the groaning of sick persons who are to die” and is heard in three stages as described Joseph Coslet of Carmarthenshire. Similarly, the Gwrach Y Rhibyn is a welsh creature who walks invisibly beside those needing to be warned and upon reaching a crossroads would begin to scream about those about to die. In line with the Bean-Nighe, they are a hideous creature with tangled hair, long black teeth and withered arms out of proportion to the rest of her body. Finally, the Grant is a horse shaped warning spirit similar to the Banshee and Bean-Nighe who provokes dogs to bark and follow after it to warn of fire and impending threat.

Information about the Bean-Nighe is spread wide and less pervasive than many of the other pieces of the Scottish folklore but still forms an important and deeply dangerous tale. The most important thing to remember is if you happen upon a washer by the stream, washing bloodied clothes or hear the wails of a woman by the waterfall, be cautious of those around for death may be closer than you know.