Ceirean,[1] Cirein-cròin[1] or cionarain-crò[2] was a large sea monster in Scottish Gaelic folklore. An old saying claims that it was so large that it fed on seven whales: Local folklores say this huge animal can disguise itself as a small silver fish when fishermen came in contact with it.[3] Other accounts state the reason for the disguise was to attract its next meal; when the fisherman would catch it in its small silver fish form, once aboard it changed back to the monster and ate him.[4]
A saying, as recorded by Alexander Robert Forbes, goes:[2]
| Gaelic | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Seachd sgadain, sath bradain; | Seven herrings, a salmon's fill; | |
| Seachd bradain, sath ròin; | Seven salmon, a seal's fill; | |
| Seachd ròin, sath mial-mòr-mara | Seven seals, a large whale's fill | (Mial here is archaic; killer whales eat seals, but baleen whales do not.) |
| Seachd mial, sath Cirein-cròin | Seven whales, a cirein-cròin's fill |
A second version of the saying maintains the first two lines, but changes the later parts and ranks the "Cionarain-cro" second to the "great sea animal".[2][5] In Carmina Gadelica, Alexander Carmichael attested this version to a cottar named Kenneth Morrison, in Trithion, on the Isle of Skye, from whom it was recorded in 1860.[5]
| Gaelic | Translation (Carmichael)[5] | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Seachd sgadain, sath bradain; | Seven herrings, feast of a salmon; | |
| Seachd bradain, sath ròin; | Seven salmon, feast of a seal; | |
| Seachd ròin, sath muice-mara bheag; | Seven seals, feast of a little sow of the ocean; | ("Sow" and "sow of the sea" are common terms for a whale.)[5] |
| Seachd muice-mara bheag, sath muice-mara-mhor; | Seven little sows of the ocean, feast of a large sow of the ocean; | |
| Seachd muice-mara-mhor, sath cionarain-cro; | Seven large sows of the ocean, feast of a "cionarain-cro"; | (Carmichael tentatively identified the "cionarain-cro" with the "kracken".)[5] |
| Seachd cionarain-cro, sath mial-mor-a-chuain; | Seven cionarain-cro, feast of a great beast of the ocean. | (Carmichael tentatively translated "mial-mor-a-chuain" as "great sperm whale".)[5] |
Forbes identifies the creature as a large sea serpent,[2] but this is arguable[according to whom?]. He also proposes it as a dinosaur:[6]
It is not known what this monster animal was, though it may well have been one of these "Giant fish-destroyers," so ably, inler alia, described by Dr Carmichael M'Intosh, which waged war in sea and on land against all and sundry as well as against each other, viz., the gigantic Deinosaurs [sic], some of which, notably the Atlantosaurus, reached to one hundred feet in length with a height of thirty feet, and proportionately awful of aspect.
See also
- Jörmungandr - a large sea worm from Nordic mythology
- Stoor worm - a large sea worm from Orcadian folklore
References
- ^ a b Forbes p7; Dwelly
- ^ a b c d Robert Forbes, Alexander (1905). Gaelic names of beasts (mammalia), birds, fishes, insects, reptiles, etc. Edinburgh Oliver and Boyd. p. 226, 384-385. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ^ Foxiv (16 January 2009). "pirates: Cirein cròin". pirates. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ "pirates". foxiv-pirates.blogspot.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Carmichael, Alexander (1900). Carmina Gadelica vol. ii. Printed for the author. p. 323. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ^ Forbes, p61
- This article incorporates text from Dwelly's [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary (1911). (Cirein-cròin, ceirean)