As spring blooms in the southern world and autumn deepens in the north, the veil thins across both. Tonight, Hex & Muse crosses that unseen border to meet Nicnevin - the Hallow Queen of Scotland.

She rides through centuries of poetry, persecution, and myth: from Renaissance verse to witch-trial confessions, from the moors of Fife to the snow-clad peaks of Ben Nevis. Part goddess, part ghost, part faerie queen, Nicnevin is the keeper of thresholds - a spirit who walks between life and death, storm and stillness, the sacred and the forbidden.

In this journey through folklore and history, we trace her lineage to the ancient Cailleach, whose storm-grey plaid blankets the mountains in snow, and rediscover the witch not as a creature of fear, but as a guardian of balance and change.

Light your candle.
Step into the dark.

The Hallow Queen is riding.

Primary Mentions

• The Flyting of Montgomerie and Polwarth (c.1585) — Alexander Montgomerie’s poem; earliest known mention of Nicnevin.
• Trial of Nic Nevin, St Andrews (1569) — later chroniclers link this woman to the legend; connection uncertain.
• Confessions of Bessie Dunlop (1576) & Andro Man (1598) — both describe serving the “Queen of Elphame.” See Robert Pitcairn, Criminal Trials in Scotland (1833).

Folklore & Literature

• Robert Cromek, Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song (1808).
• Sir Walter Scott, Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1830).
• Katharine Briggs, A Dictionary of Fairies (1976).
• J. F. Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands (1860).
• Lizanne Henderson & Edward J. Cowan, Scottish Fairy Belief: A History (2001).

The Cailleach & Seasonal Myth

• F. Marian McNeill, The Silver Bough (1957–68).
• James MacKillop, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (Oxford, 1998).
• Folklore of the Corryvreckan Whirlpool — the Cailleach washes her plaid white, signalling winter (see Popular Tales of the West Highlands; Scotland’s Wonder – The Cailleach: Hag of Winter).

Modern Analyses & Context

• Ronald Hutton, The Witch: A History of Fear (Yale, 2017).
• Lizanne Henderson, Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment (Palgrave, 2016).
• Alison Hanham, The Flyting of Montgomerie and Polwarth: Text and Commentary (1960).
• F. Marian McNeill, Hallowe’en: Its Origin, Rites and Ceremonies in the Scottish Tradition (1923).
• Dictionaries of the Scots Language (dsl.ac.uk) — entry for Nicnevin.
• Wikipedia — “Nicnevin” and “Cailleach” entries for linguistic and mythological summaries.

Hex & Muse is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my deepest respects to their Elders past and present - and to all First Nations people, whose stories and spirits continue to shape this land.

Follow along for more folklore, magic, and mythic musings:
Instagram: @hexandmuse
Website: www.hexandmuse.com

Hex & Muse is a spellbound journal of folklore, magic, art, and the sacred feminine - told through cinematic storytelling and whispered histories.
From my altar to yours… thank you for listening.