Cirein-cròin
Ceirean, Cirein-cròin or cionarain-crò was a large sea monster in Scottish Gaelic folklore. An old saying claims that it was so large that it fed on seven whales: Local folklores say this huge animal can disguise itself as a small silver fish when fishermen came in contact with it. Other accounts state the reason for the disguise was to attract its next meal; when the fisherman would catch it in its small silver fish form, once aboard it changed back to the monster and ate him.
A saying, as recorded by Alexander Robert Forbes, goes:
| Gaelic | Translation | Notes |
| Seachd sgadain, sath bradain; | Seven herrings, a salmon's fill; | |
| Seachd bradain, sath ròin; | Seven salmon, a seal's fill; | |
| Seachd ròin, sath mial-mòr-mara | Seven seals, a large whale's fill | |
| Seachd mial, sath Cirein-cròin | Seven whales, a cirein-cròin's fill | - |
A second version of the saying maintains the first two lines, but changes the later parts and ranks the "Cionarain-cro" second to the "great sea animal". In Carmina Gadelica, Alexander Carmichael attested this version to a cottar named Kenneth Morrison, in Trithion, on the Isle of Skye, from whom it was recorded in 1860.
| Gaelic | Translation | Notes |
| Seachd sgadain, sath bradain; | Seven herrings, feast of a salmon; | |
| Seachd bradain, sath ròin; | Seven salmon, feast of a seal; | |
| Seachd ròin, sath muice-mara bheag; | Seven seals, feast of a little sow of the ocean; | |
| Seachd muice-mara bheag, sath muice-mara-mhor; | Seven little sows of the ocean, feast of a large sow of the ocean; | |
| Seachd muice-mara-mhor, sath cionarain-cro; | Seven large sows of the ocean, feast of a "cionarain-cro"; | |
| Seachd cionarain-cro, sath mial-mor-a-chuain; | Seven cionarain-cro, feast of a great beast of the ocean. |
Forbes identifies the creature as a large sea serpent, but this is arguable. He also proposes it as a dinosaur: