Scottish Fairy Tales: Unabridged in Easy-To-Read Type

by Donald A. Mackenzie, John Green (Illustrations)

The myths and legends of Scotland are full of what is called "local colour". They afford us not only glimpses of ancient times and of old habits of thought and life, but also of the country itself at different times of the year. In the winter season the great mountain ranges are white with snow and many inland lochs are frozen over, but along the west coast, which is washed by the warm surface waters of the Atlantic and bathed in mild moist breezes from the south-west, there may be found sheltered and sunny spots where wild flowers continue to bloom. The old people believed that somewhere in the west the spirit of Spring had its hiding-place, and they imagined this hiding-place to be a green floating island on which the sun always shone and flowers were always blooming. During the reign of Beira, Queen of Winter, the spirit of Spring, they thought, was always trying to visit Scotland, and they imagined that Beira raised the storms of January and February to prolong her reign by keeping the grass from growing.

Genres: Scotland

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Donald Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish journalist and folklorist and a prolific writer on religion, mythology and anthropology in the early 20th century.

Reviews

[Carrie Brownell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having nothing whatsoever to compare this book to, I'd say that it is very good and also enjoyable. The illustrations leave a little to be desired, but for a collection of short stories, this book makes a good introduction to Scottish Fairy Tales. I read this book aloud to our kids and everyone enjoyed it.

[Hope Irvin Marston · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading after the first story because of the pedestrian writing style. The other stories kept my attention so I read on. Though I have great interest in Scotland and have been there twice, perhaps I don't have enough Scots blood in my vein to appreciate these stories.

Hope Irvin Marston, author of EYE ON THE IDITAROD: AISLING'S STORY

[Private Account · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan of the Dover Children's Thrift Classics. Low quality. And I mean the stories not the paper and pictures, which are also low quality. Of the ones I bought this one had the better stories, but still not great at all.