A coach! But that coach has no head; and the horses are headless as it: Of the driver the same may be said, and the passengers inside who sit.”
-Thomas Crofton Croker
The “Harbinger of Death”-as the men and women of the European Middle Ages described what they called, “The Dullahan.” Originating in Irish and Celtic folklore, throughout Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, Isle of Man, and Great Britain; this haunting mythos was the very personification of death.
The Irish, a predominantly Catholic culture, had many stories and paintings that depicted martyred saints walking around carrying their own heads as a symbol of how they were executed.
Before the 4th century, the Celts would preserve the heads of slain enemies to dehumanize them. They believed the head was where the Soul was located[remove the head you damage the Spirit].
Decapitation was practiced both in the battlefield and as a form of punishment in Medieval Ireland. In ‘Late Tudor Rule,’ the British government would offer what they called “head money” to anyone who could present the head of a rebel to the Crown…you go against the Crown they take your life.
The ‘Dullahan’ was the fantastical and dark embodiment of the gruesome realities of Medieval Ireland; combining barbaric facts with chilling fiction.
The Dullahan first appeared in 19th century collections of Irish Folklore in books such as “Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry” by William Butler Yeats. The Dullahan can be either male or female but always seen traveling by horse and is always headless. Most of the time, the head is still with him or her and can be either tucked under their arm or hanging close to their body. And sometimes; even the horse is headless.
Some versions show the Dullahan in the company of Banshees, racing human riders, and even bowling their own skulls.
Some versions, the horseman is seen not on horseback, but in what is called his ‘Death Coach’ or the ‘Coiste Bodhar’ being pulled by one or two horses. My favorite trait of all-is his long whip that he wields which is made from a human spine. The wheels of the ‘Death Coach’ are made from human thigh bones and the carriage is lit by hanging skulls. And in the carriage, he has passengers that are the spirits of the dead that are being carried from this world to the afterlife.
Its passengers, the silent dead, bound for whatever strange fate awaits them beyond the veil.”
This has been the origins of Washington Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” that was published back in 1820. In the story, the main character, Ichabod Crane and his rival, Brom Bones, both fall in love with Katrina Van Tassel because of her beauty and large inheritance. One night a drunken Ichabod was chased down by a black-cloaked figure on horseback after being rejected; then mysteriously vanishes. Eventually, Katrina marries Brom.
Irving took elements from the Dullahan to make his story more frightening from Americans. His villain is called the “Galloping Hessian”-a reference to the real German Soldiers hired by the British to fight in the Revolutionary War. These soldiers were well known for their extreme violence.
The unique thing about the Dullahan, is it doesn’t actually kill you. It’s more like a grave warning that you or someone you love will suffer in some terrible way. Sometimes that way is losing your eyeballs and other body parts. He or she usually appears after one has had lustful thoughts or has been drinking too heavily. It was thought of as a ‘Midnight Warning’ to keep people in line. I think it’s safe to say there were some Puritanical ideologies happening around this time.
See the wheels! How they fly o’er the stones! And whirl, as the whip it goes crack! Their spokes are of dead men’s thigh bones, and the pole is the spine of the back!”
