Magical Creatures That You Might Not Know: Dun Cow

A gigantic cow found in the folklore of Britian. In many part of the country, there are stories of giant cows of this kind. All are able to give unlimited quantities of milk if treated well. However, anyone foolish enough to attempt to take more milk than they are entitled to, found themselves facing a terrifying monster. In medieval tale of Sir Guy Warwick, this happened when greedy woman attempted to use a sieve to collect the cow’s milk. So angry was the cow that it ran amok and had to be chased by Sir Guy. He trapped the creature on Dunsmore Heath and killed it. For some time after this, one the cow’s gigantic horns could be seen exhibited at Warwick Castle, though in all probability this was an elephant’s tusk brought back by a Crusader or a medieval traveller.

   There was a man called MacKenzie who was one of the tenants of Oonich in Lochaber. It happened that every night his cattle-fold was broken down and the cattle grazed through his cornfields. He was sure that neither the neighbours nor the cattle were responsible, and concluded that it must be the fairies, so he fetched his brother, a one-eyed ferryman-who had the second sight – to watch with him. Late in the night,they heard the sound as of stakes being pulled up, and the ine-eyed ferryman, moving quietly towards the far side of the field, saw a dun, polled cow throwing tha stakes aside and butting the cattle to their feet. She then drove them through the broken fencing to the cornfield. The ferryman followed her silently, and saw her go up to the Fairy Knoll of Gerry Mac Brandyh.

    The knoll opened before her and she went in. He hastened after her in time to stick his dirk into the turf at the door, so that it will not shut. The light streamed out of the knoll and he saw everything. In the centre if the knoll sat a circle of big old grey men roud the fire on which a chauldron was burning.By this time, the farmer have come up, but could see nothing until he put his foot on his brother’s foot and then the whole scene was clear to him, and he was very much alarmed, and wanted to go away. But the ferrymen called out in a large voices: ‘If your Dun Cow ever troubles Oonich fold again, I will take everything out of the knoll, and throw it out on Rudha nah h’Oitre’.With that he pulled out the dirk and the door shut itself. They went down home, and the dun polled cow never troubled them again.