A ghostly or insubstantial apparition, often the ghost of a dead person. In Scotland, the cry or scream, indicative of death, and believed to be uttered by a wraith, was called tàsg, and èigheach taisg or èigheach tàsg. A rede is the spirit of a person seen while he is still alive.1

They are called swarths in Cumberland and waffs in Yorkshire.



  1. Wright, J. (1904). The English dialect dictionary. Vol. 5. London: H. Frowde.


  • Campbell, J.G. (1902). Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. Glascow: James MacLehose and Sons, p. 166.