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The 'Famh': Scottish Monster?

I'm not nuts and I do enjoy alcohol but, even though I have just past 65, I think/hope I'm still of sound mind. This Fahm has had me very interested for decades, because I saw one!!!
1981/2 while camping near Glen Derry, we were just about to set off towards the Clais Fhearnaig when I noticed something big on the top of Creag Bhaig. The 3 children with us were too occupied with which snacks they were taking. My wife had a look through binoculars but they are not her favourites!!! I was transfixed. On top of the hill there was a huge beast. It was floundering along at a quick rate and I could see large puffs of ground being thrown out. My initial thoughts were that this was a massive badger. Much like an American badger, low to the ground and with a light to mid-brown colouring. It moved very cumbersome towards Glen Quoich, the other side to the mountain. Just the place we were heading for. The kids were off and my wife was right behind them. Why no notice of this wonderous view was taken I have no idea. I was baffled and annoyed.
To this day I still bring the story up now and again to be met with howls of derision.
I know what I saw and nobody will tell me otherwise.
The only thing that has changed over the years is my type of animal I viewed. Into the internet age and years later, I searched and found on the Edinburgh Fortean Club page, a reference to the famh which they believed was a Celtic mythical large mole. After reading this and thinking back I must now alter my image to this more acceptable description, to me anyway. The mole fits the leviathan of the earth image I still have in my head.
This story has only been told once to Graeme Milne, who wrote a great book about Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire called The Haunted North and included it in his ''other stories'' section.
Be kind to a first poster and I apologise if it's a bit long-winded, but I'm no writer!!!
I will take this story to my grave (was going to say believing!!) KNOWING that is what I saw that sunny morning 37 years ago.
I don't care what anyone thinks of me and my incident, It happened!!!

Thanks, and look forward to more less long posts in the future.

All the best
Mike Goonan, Aberdeen
 
I'm not nuts and I do enjoy alcohol but, even though I have just past 65, I think/hope I'm still of sound mind. This Fahm has had me very interested for decades, because I saw one!!!
1981/2 while camping near Glen Derry, we were just about to set off towards the Clais Fhearnaig when I noticed something big on the top of Creag Bhaig. The 3 children with us were too occupied with which snacks they were taking. My wife had a look through binoculars but they are not her favourites!!! I was transfixed. On top of the hill there was a huge beast. It was floundering along at a quick rate and I could see large puffs of ground being thrown out. My initial thoughts were that this was a massive badger. Much like an American badger, low to the ground and with a light to mid-brown colouring. It moved very cumbersome towards Glen Quoich, the other side to the mountain. Just the place we were heading for. The kids were off and my wife was right behind them. Why no notice of this wonderous view was taken I have no idea. I was baffled and annoyed.
To this day I still bring the story up now and again to be met with howls of derision.
I know what I saw and nobody will tell me otherwise.
The only thing that has changed over the years is my type of animal I viewed. Into the internet age and years later, I searched and found on the Edinburgh Fortean Club page, a reference to the famh which they believed was a Celtic mythical large mole. After reading this and thinking back I must now alter my image to this more acceptable description, to me anyway. The mole fits the leviathan of the earth image I still have in my head.
This story has only been told once to Graeme Milne, who wrote a great book about Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire called The Haunted North and included it in his ''other stories'' section.
Be kind to a first poster and I apologise if it's a bit long-winded, but I'm no writer!!!
I will take this story to my grave (was going to say believing!!) KNOWING that is what I saw that sunny morning 37 years ago.
I don't care what anyone thinks of me and my incident, It happened!!!

Thanks, and look forward to more less long posts in the future.

All the best
Mike Goonan, Aberdeen
That’s really interesting! I thought I knew lots of Scottish cryptically but that’s the first I’ve heard of that one.It sounds quite eerie :0
 
This beast is a new one to me and I've immensely enjoyed learning of and about it. Great to know there's some historical substance behind the apparent myth, but even better to know that one of our fellow Forteans has had a sighting. This has just about made my day.
 
I'm not nuts and I do enjoy alcohol but, even though I have just past 65, I think/hope I'm still of sound mind. This Fahm has had me very interested for decades, because I saw one!!!
1981/2 while camping near Glen Derry, we were just about to set off towards the Clais Fhearnaig when I noticed something big on the top of Creag Bhaig. The 3 children with us were too occupied with which snacks they were taking. My wife had a look through binoculars but they are not her favourites!!! I was transfixed. On top of the hill there was a huge beast. It was floundering along at a quick rate and I could see large puffs of ground being thrown out. My initial thoughts were that this was a massive badger. Much like an American badger, low to the ground and with a light to mid-brown colouring. It moved very cumbersome towards Glen Quoich, the other side to the mountain. Just the place we were heading for. The kids were off and my wife was right behind them. Why no notice of this wonderous view was taken I have no idea. I was baffled and annoyed.
To this day I still bring the story up now and again to be met with howls of derision.
I know what I saw and nobody will tell me otherwise.
The only thing that has changed over the years is my type of animal I viewed. Into the internet age and years later, I searched and found on the Edinburgh Fortean Club page, a reference to the famh which they believed was a Celtic mythical large mole. After reading this and thinking back I must now alter my image to this more acceptable description, to me anyway. The mole fits the leviathan of the earth image I still have in my head.
This story has only been told once to Graeme Milne, who wrote a great book about Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire called The Haunted North and included it in his ''other stories'' section.
Be kind to a first poster and I apologise if it's a bit long-winded, but I'm no writer!!!
I will take this story to my grave (was going to say believing!!) KNOWING that is what I saw that sunny morning 37 years ago.
I don't care what anyone thinks of me and my incident, It happened!!!

Thanks, and look forward to more less long posts in the future.

All the best
Mike Goonan, Aberdeen

A wonderful encounter Mike and I very much enjoyed you sharing it here. I am a firm believer that there are many weird and wonderful and sometimes frightening things out there that sometimes, just sometimes, for reasons we just can't fathom yet, make themselves known to us, albeit briefly. Feel privileged knowing what you saw that morning.
 
I'm not nuts and I do enjoy alcohol but, even though I have just past 65, I think/hope I'm still of sound mind. This Fahm has had me very interested for decades, because I saw one!!!
1981/2 while camping near Glen Derry, we were just about to set off towards the Clais Fhearnaig when I noticed something big on the top of Creag Bhaig. The 3 children with us were too occupied with which snacks they were taking. My wife had a look through binoculars but they are not her favourites!!! I was transfixed. On top of the hill there was a huge beast. It was floundering along at a quick rate and I could see large puffs of ground being thrown out. My initial thoughts were that this was a massive badger. Much like an American badger, low to the ground and with a light to mid-brown colouring. It moved very cumbersome towards Glen Quoich, the other side to the mountain. Just the place we were heading for. The kids were off and my wife was right behind them. Why no notice of this wonderous view was taken I have no idea. I was baffled and annoyed.
To this day I still bring the story up now and again to be met with howls of derision.
I know what I saw and nobody will tell me otherwise.
The only thing that has changed over the years is my type of animal I viewed. Into the internet age and years later, I searched and found on the Edinburgh Fortean Club page, a reference to the famh which they believed was a Celtic mythical large mole. After reading this and thinking back I must now alter my image to this more acceptable description, to me anyway. The mole fits the leviathan of the earth image I still have in my head.
This story has only been told once to Graeme Milne, who wrote a great book about Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire called The Haunted North and included it in his ''other stories'' section.
Be kind to a first poster and I apologise if it's a bit long-winded, but I'm no writer!!!
I will take this story to my grave (was going to say believing!!) KNOWING that is what I saw that sunny morning 37 years ago.
I don't care what anyone thinks of me and my incident, It happened!!!

Thanks, and look forward to more less long posts in the future.

All the best
Mike Goonan, Aberdeen


Thanks for your story, how big would you estimate it was? And how far away?

Enjoyed your post and am interested but also aware that you posted it on April 1st.
 
Our big-headed dwarf has morphed into a quadrupedal cryptic, and now we have a witness. How fortean! Thank you for sharing your experience with us @Roryquo and I hope you explore other recesses of the message board.
 
... Scottish Fairy Belief by Lizanne Henderson and Edwin J. Cohen, I encountered the following passage:


...stories of the dreadful fahm, A troll-like mountain creature whose head was twice the size of its body. To cross its tracks before the sun shone on it was fatal, the victim's head swelling until it burst, an affliction...which actually affected sheep, a condition he knew about as the author of a practical tract on sheep diseases.

This set my antennae twitching. Are we seeing here a warped, corrupted memory of a scrapie-type disease crossing the inter-species barrier and affecting humans?

Remember the panic a few years ago when we were all going to die of BSE? That was actually Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). The victim would have to:

a) Eat BSE-infected beef, and;

b) Have a rare genetic susceptibility to vCJD in order to become infected, so it’s extremely uncommon.

Is the famh a distorted “race memory” of a victim of a prion disease?

maximus otter
 
How are we pronouncing 'famh'?

Because, as with many gaelic words, pronunciation may make a difference. Things can be spoken of (and recognised) but when people see the word written down they aren't recognising it as the same thing, if the pronunciation is different.

Maybe?
 
How are we pronouncing 'famh'?

Because, as with many gaelic words, pronunciation may make a difference. Things can be spoken of (and recognised) but when people see the word written down they aren't recognising it as the same thing, if the pronunciation is different.

Maybe?

I'm guessing "fahv".

maximus otter
 
*cryptids, god I hate autocorrect
There was no supernatural essence attached to this. No fade or shimmer. It was as solid as the deer and adder we met an hour later. If you ever get the chance do the walk through the Clais Fhearnaig. Very narrow and atmospheric also safe for kids but keep an eye in Loch Quoich as the water can be fast with drops appearing suddenly. There have been serious accidents here. Also I saw a huge mole heading that way . . . . . . . .
 
This beast is a new one to me and I've immensely enjoyed learning of and about it. Great to know there's some historical substance behind the apparent myth, but even better to know that one of our fellow Forteans has had a sighting. This has just about made my day.
Thanks Lord Lucan. Never made someones day before!!! Drive to Linn of Quoich and do the circuit from the opposite way we did. 10 miles and hope the weather is kind. Cheers
 
Thanks for your story, how big would you estimate it was? And how far away?
Thanks for your story, how big would you estimate it was? And how far away

Enjoyed your post and am interested but also aware that you posted it on April 1st.

Just had a look at the map as it's been a while. I surprised myself at how far away it was - I would guess at just over a mile. Seems a long way but the binoculars helped. As for the size, there were small trees near the summit (this wasn't the main summit of the hill, but a subsidiary just to the north-west) so my estimate would be between 15 and 20ft. long and roughly, it's difficult but 6-8ft? The more I write the more incredible it seems!!! April Fool ha ha ha. Never thought about that but no connection. This is the 1:25 000 map site - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/maps/map3_23cg.shtml - Look for Creag Bhaig and it was the middle of the three summits. Cheers
 
Think I made a mistake posting the previous one. Sorry.
Looks like it's part of your quote!!
Thanks Ogdred Weary
 
This set my antennae twitching. Are we seeing here a warped, corrupted memory of a scrapie-type disease crossing the inter-species barrier and affecting humans?

Remember the panic a few years ago when we were all going to die of BSE? That was actually Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). The victim would have to:

a) Eat BSE-infected beef, and;

b) Have a rare genetic susceptibility to vCJD in order to become infected, so it’s extremely uncommon.

Is the famh a distorted “race memory” of a victim of a prion disease?

maximus otter

Mmm Maximus. Wish I could say I'm vegetarian, but no. But I do prefer chicken!!! Hope your BSE Tongue was firmly in your cheek! Ha ha. Thanks. Some of my family would definitely agree with you, especially about my ''stories''. I ALWAYS stick to my guns at what I experience and no, I'm not special or talented in the physic department. Thanks for the reply, Cheers
 
I hope the date has no bearing on this story being taken seriously. I actually never gave it a thought as I posted or later, not until it was brought to my attention by Ogdred Weary.
As for the pronounciation of Fahm (or even Famh), my take would be Fam. I know BH and other pairings can be V, I still think Fam. Cheers
PS - I'm no academic!!
 
A lot of young people say 'fam' a lot these days.
 
I'll ask my Gaelic tutor ;)

Here is a youtube vid of a drone flight up that stretch of river. Bits of it make me think of what The Strid might be like if we were able to drain it.
 
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