Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales

This book, compiled by Sir George Douglas, contains not just fairytales but also tales of kelpies, brownies, stories of animals - foxes, crows, frogs and stories of mermen and comic tales as well.

Contained herein are eighty-five stories like The Story of the White Pet, The Fisherman and the Mermen, The Seal-Catcher's Adventure, The Frog and the Crow, Habitrot, The Wee Bunnock and many, many more.

In the days long before the advent of radio and television, the arrival of a story-teller in a village was an important event.

As soon as it became known, there would be a rush to the house where he was lodged, and every available seat--on bench, table, bed, beam, or the floor would quickly be appropriated. And then, for hours together--just like some first-rate actor on a stage--the story-teller would hold his audience spell-bound.

Campbell of Isla, who gathered and penned the Popular Tales of the West Highlands series in the 1870's, records that in his day the practice of story-telling still lingered in the remote Western Islands of Barra. Maybe, just maybe, there are a few alive today who remember this custom being continued at Poolewe in Ross-shire where the young people used to assemble at night to hear the old ones recite the tales which they had learned from their fore-fathers.

This book is a treasure chest of classic Scottish Folklore, and will make fascinating reading for those interested in folklore in general.

So take some time out and travel back to a period before television and radio, a time when tales were passed on orally--at the drying kilns, at the communal well and in homes.

YESTERDAYS BOOKS for TODAYS CHARITIES