Folklore of the Scottish Highlands

by Anne Ross

The folklore of the Scottish Highlands is unique and very much alive. Dr Anne Ross is a Gaelic-speaking scholar and archaeologist who has lived and worked in crofting communities. This has enabled her to collect information at first hand and to assess the veracity of material already published. In this substantially revised edition of a classic work first published 30 years ago, she portrays the beliefs and customs of Scottish Gaelic society, including: seasonal customs deriving from Celtic festivals; the famous waulking songs; the Highland tradition of seers and second sight; omens and taboos, both good and bad; and, chilling experiences of witchcraft and the Evil Eye Rituals associated with birth and death. Having taken her MA, MA Hons and PhD at the University of Edinburgh, Anne Ross became Research Fellow in the School of Scottish Studies, Edinburgh. She then rapidly established herself as one of Britain's leading Celtic scholars. Her seminal work is "Pagan Celtic Britain" and she has also published "Druids - Preachers of Immortality" with Tempus Publishing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Scotland, Mythology, Folklore, History, Folk Tales, Anthropology

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Dr. Anne Ross was a Celtic scholar and folklorist. She spoke Gaelic and Welsh as well as being a scholar of Anglo Saxon, Old norse and Medieval English. After studying for her Phd. in Edinburgh she became a research fellow to Southampton University and a writer for the British Museum. She lived with her husband Richard and their children Richard and Berenice in Wales.

Reviews

[James Greening · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am doing research on Scottish folklore, witchcraft, and folk mythology for an upcoming music album I am working on, so this was an obvious choice to read for this project. The book is jammed back with interesting folklore and tidbits of information, but the problem is its organization. Though on first glance it looks well organized into topical chapters, the text itself within those chapters is all over the place, often times skipping introductions and transitions to the point where it can become confusing and hard to understand. Additionally, a short, concise text like this book should be much more focused, such as only concerning itself with Scottish holiday folklore. The amount of topics the author tries to cover in this book demands at least 400 more pages of text, but what we get is great tidbits hidden within a lot of jumble. If someone is perhaps looking for an introduction to the topic, this book might be what they are after, introducing them to stories and historical accounts to later dive deeper into depending on their interests.

[Sophie Bugg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting info, but poorly written and hard to follow.

[Suresh Ramaswamy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having been interested in mythology and folklore since my pre-teens I was quite informed about Norse and Greek Mythology well before my high school days. As I grew up, the challenges of career and profession reduced the time I could spend on reading, and it was restricted to flights (2/3 hours or overnight train journeys). It was just recently about 4 / 5 years back, with the easy availability of free e-books and low priced sites (monthly subscription of a few dollars), I have been able to spend time once again poring over digital books, and reading between two to three books, every month.

About three months back, I read my first book by the author Anne Ross – “Druids : Preachers of Immortality” and was impressed by the style of writing, variety of information and depth of research. I gave a rave review and rated the book 5 star.

Then about ten days back, I picked up this book – “Folklore of Scottish Highlands”. After going through the book, my ardour diminished. The book has some interesting information about early highland superstitions, culture, and traditions. With such a rich a vibrant subject matter, this book could have been better written and not as dry as it was. It rambles around Gaelic customs, folklore and beliefs in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is more a reference work on the works of Pennant, Carmichael and other eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century writers and collectors of incidents of ancient Celtic and Scottish customs, and Anne Ross is the compiler / editor. Though she claims Gaelic Highland descent and that whatever she has included in the book has been verified by field studies by herself, still the book falls short of expectations. Her contribution to the subject matter is in this book is practically zero. I wonder why she claims to be the author and copyrights the book, it is after all a compendium with a few comments from the editor – Anne Ross.

This is not to say that book did not contain much information, but it would have made better reading , if more tales could have been included and quotations from Carmichael, Pennant and others reduced.

In spite of the wonderful and deep wide spectrum of the subject, the book leaves much to be desired.

[Charley Shaffner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating subject matter and some good points, but would have benefited from some thorough editing as the material (almost entirely the rehashing of the work of others) was poorly organized.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

**4/5 stars**
This is a thoroughly researched, engaging (though somewhat dense) book of Highlands folklore. Now that I understand some of the social mechanics behind things like witchcraft accusation and folk superstitions, I really enjoy reading these compilations. I do think reading this book, and any book like it, might be enriched by previous reading of how folkloric beliefs function. Otherwise, it is very easy to read things like “witches steal cow’s milk” and think, wow, how silly! When really, it makes sense when you think about the “limited good” paradigm prevalent in most cultures, including in the Scottish Highlands. Witches steal milk because there is only a finite amount of good, of prosperity, in a society (in the world). So if your neighbor (male or female, does not matter) has a particularly good week for cow milking, has an excess of cow milk, and you come up with very little milk for a while, then your neighbor must be using black magic to steal from you! It is very fascinating. I highly recommend this book, but I must also recommend that you read it adjacent to some other, more theoretical texts on folklore! The Oxford mini books on “Witchcraft” and “Magic” are good starting places.

[Sir Robbiethehoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly rather dry. Some of the information presented feels like it has been added as an afterthought. Martin and Pennant were too overused as sources for my liking.

I would have like the Highlands split into regions and there folk connections, hero’s, witches, battles, wells, customs, etc discussed in a concise, analytical way.

Yes, this book was very dry and unfortunately disappointing. More of an introductory Scottish history feel than a book on Scottish highland folklore.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little out of date, scholarship wise (more comparison of roman and celtic gods than a modern book would include), this is still an excellent collection of actual folk practices from the highlands. i especially loved the section on holidays.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a ramble around Gaelic customs, folklore and beliefs in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

[Misty Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!

[James Lord-McIntosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly rambling overview of Scottish Folklore, I found I was skimming parts of it, but other parts, especially the key dates, were pretty good.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter but poorly written.

[SonJa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding! Very informative. I highly recommended this book if you are interested in Scotlands Highland history.

[Erik Pegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome read for those of many interests!! I read it for my interest in Celtic Religion/Paganism/Faerie Myth/Witchcraft. Also awesome for those of Scottish descent, myth lovers, and history buffs, esp. where Scotland is concerned!!! Doesn’t necessarily talk all that much about day-to-day life in historic Scotland but is also about folklore.

[Michelle C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has some interesting information about early highland superstitions, culture, and traditions. It was, however, not very well written. If editing errors or poor writing drive you crazy, maybe try a different book on highland folklore.

[David Flett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Empty and repetitive.

[Kari Ely · Rating 2 out of 5]

With such a rich a vibrant subject matter, this book should not have been as dry as it was.