Hair-raising hags of Eire

QUESTION Why do Irish people think it is unlucky to pick up a comb from the ground?

THIS relates to the mythical irish figure of the Banshee. The word banshee comes from the irish bean sidhe, meaning ‘woman of the fairies’.

According to legend, the Banshee floats through the forests of ireland in the dead of night, wailing and keening. The most chilling aspect is her mournful cries that warn humans of an impending death. These cries have been linked with the shriek of a barn owl.

Banshees can take many forms, including that of a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair, an old hag or even the spirit of an animal. Banshees have been associated with washer women who are seen washing the blood from armour after a battle.

The Banshee is said to groom her long hair with a silver comb, thus, according to superstition, finding a comb on the ground and picking it up is extremely bad luck, because a Banshee has placed it there to trap a mortal into death.

The story of the Banshee is best encapsulated in John Todhunter’s evocative poem The Banshee (1888), which contains the verse: ‘An aged desolation, She Sits by Shannon’s flowing, A mother of many children, of children exil’d and dead, In her home, with bent head, homeless, Clasping her knees she sits, Keening! keening!’

Banshee-like spirits appear in scottish and Welsh legend. The caoineag, or ‘weeper’, can be found in the Highlands of scotland and in the Hebrides. According to legend, the members of Clan MacDonald heard her wailing the night before the massacre at Glencoe (1692). ‘Little caoineachag of the sorrow Is pouring the tears of her eyes Weeping and wailing the fate

of Clan Donald Alas my grief that ye did not

heed her cries’ The Welsh Gwrach-y-Rhibyn, or The Hag of The Mist, is a similar spirit whose cry also foretells an impending death. Mary Briggs, Aberdeen.

QUESTION Which UK railway station has the longest platform?

THE Cheriton shuttle Terminal, Folkestone, consists of eight island platforms, each of which are 2,595ft (791m) long. They are the longest platforms in europe and the sixth longest in the world.

They are only used by Le shuttle and are not available for any domestic or other international services.

There is some debate as to which is the longest domestic platform. Colchester has the longest single stretch in the country at 2,034ft (620m) long. However, this combines both platforms 3 and 4, which are arranged end-to-end but not on the same line.

The longest single domestic platform might be considered the one at Gloucester station, which is 1,977ft (603m) long. The platform was lengthened as part of the 1977 rebuilding by British Rail and was intended to handle two interCity 125 trains at the same time.

The longest platform in the world is Gorakhpur in uttar Pradesh, india, a staggering 4,483ft (1,366m) long. it is one of the busiest railway stations and can cater to more than 180 trains and 270,000 passengers daily. Ian Meadows, Sheffield.

QUESTION Crystal Palace footballer Fitz Hall was given the brilliant nickname ‘One Size’. Are there any sporting nicknames to rival this?

FURTHER to the earlier answer, it’s not only footballers with good nicknames. in the world of cricket we’ve all heard of ‘ Beefy’ Botham, but his england colleagues were also known as ‘Legga’ Lamb, ‘Lubo’ (David Gower — allegedly after a favourite restaurant) and ‘Picca’ (Graham Dilley — Piccadilly).

My favourite, however, is a county cricketer called Phil Romaines, who was known as ‘Human’ —as in human remains! Duncan Jones, Welwyn Garden City, Herts. John Dreyer, who played for stoke City, Bolton Wanderers and several other clubs, was nicknamed ‘Tumble’ (Dreyer). And Marc Goodfellow, who made 55 appearances for stoke City, was dubbed Freezer as in Freezer a jolly good fellow!

Keith Mellor, Stoke on Trent.

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