Banshee

Historical Background
The spirit of a wailing woman in Irish mythology. It would be a spirit of a woman, often tressed in white, with long fair hair, whose mournful cry or lament could be heard throughout the hills, glens, or near lakes. This dirgeful cry would be considered an omen of impending death because in the tradition of the culture there at the time, some women at funerals would wail a mournful cry during the funeral lament. The name is derived from the Irish term bean sidhe ("fairy woman").