Читать книгу The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic - John Matthews - Страница 318

In Scots Gaelic tradition, the Caointeach is a small, white-capped woman with a green shawl who wails when there is to be a death in the Western Highlands of Argyle. Her name merely means ‘the keener’ or ‘the mourner’. The practice of keening or wailing the dead was a professional task in ancient Gaelic tradition. A chorus of keeners would attend the corpse of the deceased and set up a wailing and singing of the attributes of the dead person in such a way that enabled the bereaved to mourn properly. (See Banshee and Cyhyraeth.)