The pech were a type of

gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

-like creatures in

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. They were of short height but extremely strong. They brewed heather ale and battled against the Scots.Chambers, Robert (1870)
''Popular Rhymes of Scotland''
pp. 80.Douglas, George (1901). ''Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales''. In one

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

, an old blind pech is on his deathbed. He asks two young men if he can feel their arm muscles, to feel how strong they've grown. One of the youths plays a prank on him, giving him a metal cup instead of his arm. The pech elder snaps the metal cup with his fingers, shattering it, to the amazement of the youths. Even sick on his deathbed, he is stronger than them. The Pech were thought to be one of the aboriginal builders of the stone megaliths of ancient Scotland, along with

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

. They might be related to the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

and

pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

s.Stevenson, J.H. (1899). ''The Scottish Antiquary or Northern Notes & Queries''.

References

{{Scottish mythology Scottish legendary creatures Dwarves (folklore)