Over the last few days I’ve seen a few posts, mainly on Facebook, about Crom Dubh na Nollaig, a mystical creature which was used to scare children on Islay to behave around Christmas. Usually the post contained some AI generated image of said creature, so I couldn’t resist to create my own version before we get to what the story behind it is:
Usually the story went something like this:
On the Isle of Islay, people once told the story of Crom Dubh na Nollaig, a creature like Krampus, to scare children into behaving at Christmas. Legends said that screams from the chimney marked his arrival, though it was often just the sound of the winter wind.
This Scottish Christmas monster is mostly forgotten now, but it was once an important part of the holiday season.
Several Ileach have commented on it, some had heard of it, many others hadn’t. As usual there is some truth in the story:
Back in 1969 Peggy Earl (who passed away in 1978) told Mary MacDonald about celebrating New Year and a Christmas creature:
The contributor says that although New Year was an important celebration, Christmas was also kept. Children were threatened with ‘Crom Dubh na Nollaig’, a creature that howled down the chimney.
Please take a minute and listen to Peggy’s story here.
I believe the comparison to Krampus is a later addition, but I don’t think it’s right. While Krampus was used to scare Children I think the link is mainly made to get people familiar with the better known Krampus interested.
From some articles I’ve seen the creature isn’t only an Islay story, it seems to also be known in other parts of the Hebrides, possibly also Ireland (if anyone from Ireland reads this and knows, can you let us know in the comments?).
Either way, a story worth preserving, I hope you found it interesting as well.
