Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland

by John Gregorson Campbell

Devoting his life to collecting the superstitions, folk tales and customs of the people in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland in the mid-late nineteenth century, John Gregorson Campbell presents a wealth of superstitions, folk tales and customs of the Highlanders and Islanders of his day.

From the superstitions and customs associated with the old Celtic calendar, to old spells and charms and the meaning of dreams, Campbell's work remains one of the most important contributions to the field of folklore today.

Genres: Scotland, History, Nonfiction, Folklore, Audiobook, Novella, Fairies

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

John Gregorson Campbell (1836 - 1891) was a Scottish folklorist and Free Church minister at the Tiree and Coll parishes in Argyll, Scotland. An avid collector of traditional stories, he became Secretary to the Ossianic Society of Glasgow University in the mid-1850s. Ill health had prevented him taking up employment as a Minister when he was initially approved to preach by the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1858 and later after he was appointed to Tiree by the Duke of Argyll in 1861, parishioners objected to his manner of preaching.

Several of the anecdotes he amassed were published in magazines and, just before his death, work began on collating the first of four compendiums of the tales; three were published a few years after his death. He was fluent in several languages, including Scottish Gaelic, and transcribed the legends precisely as dictated by the narrators.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audible Review

Overall 3 out of 5 stars
Performance 3 out of 5 stars
Story 3 out of 5 stars

Eh
I forgot that this is sold as a bedtime story so I was surprised with such an abrupt ending. And was pretty disappointed with the whole thing all around, to be honest. The title says superstitions, but fairies were the only thing talked about. I like the idea of fairies being real so I didn't mind that for the most part, but I was expecting more.
I don't if this is a series, I'll have to go back and look, but I'd be interested in learning more of the superstitions from the area.

Some of the words were hard to understand, considering they were Scottish and the neavy accent of the narrator. I wish there was a printed version so I could go back and read it.

*After searching on here to find the audiobook I came across this copy and went to Amazon to check it out. It appears the audiobook is the first part of this book, dealing with the fairies. But nowhere in the details on Audible does it reference this book.
This is the link to the audiobook- https://www.audible.com/pd/Superstiti...

[Peter Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

This is a short, scholarly work published in 1900. It is very dry in its scholarship. Etymology is a major focus of the work along with clinical descriptions of Celtic fairy beings. It is worth reading as a survey on the cultural and linguistic background of fairy stories in Scotland, with occasional forays into Irish and German backgrounds, but it is not something that anyone would consider to be a "page turner."

[Jane Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not the easiest book to read but I found some valuable information within its pages which enriched my understanding of my local area and the history. The book was written in 1900 and only captures stories told orally in different parts of the Highlands. I felt this makes it quite unique and also frees it to some extent from the romanticism/corruption by modern "occult spiritualism" that we often see in books exploring celtic belief systems, practices and folklore! I particularly enjoyed the sections on animals, Each Uisge and the Glaistaig (one of which roams the Glen where I grew up, according to legend). Lastly, the inclusion of gaelic names and phrases by the author made it useful for practicing what I'm learning and relating the language to place.

[Sir Robbiethehoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of folk superstitions from around the highlands and islands of Scotland. Tales are told and there variants/similar stories also given from various places over Scotland.

The book is a bit full on and I feel overly well versed in fairy lore. The author is also from Tiree so a lot of Tiree based stories are shared and this is okay being a compilation book but as I am not from Tiree the Tiree stories became a little tiresome.

Not the most interesting book I have read on the subject of Scottish folklore but okay. Particularly enjoyed the closing chapters relating to the devil. The stories contained are claimed to all come from oral sources rather than copied/taken from books.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really cute and I liked the idea of this so much. I think the subjects and descriptions jumped around a bit too much for me. I would’ve liked the author to take time explaining each creature and it’s background so I could fully understand the Lore. This felt more like a list with a few excerpts here and there.

[BrittiniZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book to listen to on audible with a calm Scottish accent. Nothing makes me more excited than a Scottish man!! I enjoyed listening and learning some of the folk tales about Scotland and the Highlands. Loved the stories of the fairies. I didn't realize this book was written in 1900 so that's pretty cool.

[Emily Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the “history” and superstitions are interesting to learn about, some of the tales are so similar it would have been better to just mention the variations concisely rather than retell the whole tale again.

Loved learning about such lore.

[Jeff Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short book, not sure what I got out of it or how much I’ll retain in a week. I picked it out as I knew very little about myths and superstitions from this area.

I’ll probably try to relisten and see if there’s more to learn.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para mi gusto demasiado extenso y minucioso; solo quería tener una idea de los mitos y ennoleyendas escoceses. El estilo me resultó poco ameno.

[Felicia B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for the Audible Freebie narrated by Brian Cox. I couldn't find it here.
It was good but too much description and not enough story.

[The Bauchler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairies we' bagpipes - that's quite a thought.

[CHud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really got very little from this

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland by

[Amber Odell · Rating 4 out of 5]

History of fairies and where people believe they can find them and what fairies do to humans.

The word banshee comes from fairies. "Bean sidhe" meaning woman of the hills or woman of the fairies.

[psvansc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[The Smol Moth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to thank books about folklore for getting me through my first semester of college

[Rebee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is was read by Brian Cox it is a nice bedtime book.

[JA Condie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining but scholarly work, mainly concerned with tales of the Daoine Sìth (the Fairy Folk). It is at times repetitive, since the author gives variant versions of some stories, but interesting and enjoyable (in an old-fashioned, slightly stuffy kind of a way).