thumb|280px|A "fua" of the river grabs hold of The King of Ireland's Son.

A fuath (; ; <small>lit.</small> ‘hatred'; fuathan; vough, vaugh) is a class of malevolent spirits in Scottish Highland folklore and Irish Folklore especially water spirits.

In Sutherland was the so-called Moulin na Vaugha/Fouadh, ‘Mill of the Fuath', haunted by the fuath and her son, the amorphous brollachan. The mill was along a stream off<!--or into--> Loch Migdale, and belonged to the Dempster family (Skibo Castle) estate.

A fuath once seen at this mill was a nose-less banshee with yellow hair wearing a green silk dress; in the story of its capture it was tormented into submission by use of steel (awl, and more effectively by a sewing needle), but it turned to a jellyfish-like mass when light was shone on it. A fuath on the estate farm, encountered on a different occasion, had webbed feet.

They sometimes reputedly intermarry with human beings (typically the female), whose offspring develop a mane and tail.

Nomenclature

The term "fuath" has been explained to be a generic class of spirits inhabiting the sea, rivers, fresh water, or sea lochs, but it has been stressed by John Gregorson Campbell that the term designates a spectre or goblin more generally, not necessarily of aqueous nature or habitat.

  • peallaidh

;Bibliography

  • (U.S. edition)
  • , Vol. 1, Vol. 2)
  • ; text @ Internet Archive
  • Description of the Brollachan