Myths

A long time ago, a blacksmith lived high on the Rhinns of Islay, laboring with his only son in his forge. Upon a visit, an old man cried to the blacksmith: 'That's not your son! Evil fairies have taken him to the fairy hill, leaving a changeling - a fairy impostor - in his place! But fear not, I'll help you rescue him!'

When the Scots spread from their Celtic homeland to create the Kingdom of Dalriada-in-Alban, the Pictish and Brythonic tribes who already occupied the lands resisted fiercely. Legend has it that the daughter of a Pictish King fell in love with a captured Scottish warrior and helped him escape.

The Legend of Godred Crovan Goraidh Crobhan was an Islay hero. His father was Harald the Black of Islay and his mother was a descendant of the House of Erc, so he was popular with the Norse and Celtic clans alike.