Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales

by George Brisbane Douglas (Editor)

The product of a long-established oral tradition, Scottish fairy tales are full of unexpected twists and turns, delicious humor, and a rich assortment of fanciful creatures. These include brownies, kelpies, trolls, mermen, and other beings from the unseen world that pop up again and again to assist, annoy, and otherwise meddle in the lives of simple country folk.
This treasury was assembled by a noted folklorist who heard these picturesque traditional tales over a century ago while visiting in rural homes throughout Scotland. Recounted in their native vernacular, they include nursery tales and animal fables, stories of fairies, accounts of witchcraft, comic and literary lore, and more.
Included in this collection are clever and imaginative stories of "The Strange Visitor," "How the Wolf Lost His Tail," "The Smith and the Fairies," "The Scottish Brownie," "The Witches of Delnabo," "The Witty Exploits of Mr. George Buchanan," "The Haunted Ships," and scores of other delightful tales. Together, they offer folklore lovers, readers, and listeners of all ages hours of imaginative storytelling entertainment.

Genres: Scotland, Fantasy, Folklore, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Mythology, Short Stories

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1892

About the author

George Brisbane Scott Douglas was a Scottish poet and writer, as well as a Baronet. He was born on 22 December 1856 in Gibraltar. His mother, Dona Sanchez de Pina, was a native of Gibraltar. He never married and he combined the running of a large country estate with his literary and academic endeavours. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College in Cambridge, his first book was published in 1880. He authored some of his books under the name of Sir George Douglas. The family seat was Springwood House, Kelso in the Scottish Borders.

Reviews

[Mark Speed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt compelled to give this four stars (rather than fewer) because it 'does what it says on the tin'. It is a comprehensive collection (oh, okay - anthology if you must) of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales. It is pretty academic in its delivery, in my view. The editor could - and should - have done a better job of taking the original manuscripts and (there's no other way of putting this) 'editing' them. Had that been done, we wouldn't have had paragraphs of several hundred words, spanning nigh on two pages and covering conversations between several different characters in addition to the narrative. Presumably the editor was being true to the source and, dare I say it, 'authentic'.

I finished it. There were some interesting tales, although some were so badly told they were hard to read, let alone fully understand. I learnt some new words and phrases, such as joctaleg (clasp-knife). There were places with which I was familiar, and others I wasn't. I learnt a bit more about the mythology of my native Scotlandshire, and was reminded of my paternal grandmother's tales. Read it if you're really, really serious about this subject.

It was first published in 1892. The past is another country. They did things differently there. I think this is the chap: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B...

[˚✧₊⁎ѕαи∂у⁎⁺˳✧༚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scottish tales reference collection.

I wish I could give it a lower rating. It felt I was reading 📚 one of my kids summarized school books. "But", not bad. Since this is the kindle ebook; one is able to quickly check out words. The aspect of learning new words was most interesting to me.

There were times I found myself lost. Not because of the Scottish words and phrases. But, because I thought the word was English and not part of the folklore. What do I know!? I'm not Scottish; so I wouldn't know.

I still enjoyed it. Although it felt like a school book; it was still interesting. 🍀

[Jessica Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a distillation of other books

It would be better to use this as a source to point to other collections than actually read it. It's soooo Anglicized it isn't funny. Who calls a selkie a mermaid in a fairy tale book?

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Досить цікава книга. Похмура історія та легенди про різні чарівні істоти. Одні історії сподобалися більше, інші – менше, але загалом враження позитивне. Та й прочиталася книга дуже швидко.
Початок натякає на те, що це вам не дитячі чарівні казки. Після першої історії з'являється заголовок "Казки для найменших", і відразу йде казка, де мати "покликала сина Джонні, вбила його і поклала в котел". А ще історія Попелюшки, в якій самозванка, щоб її нога пролізла в туфельку, відрубує собі пальці ніг. Загалом, не чекайте на казки. Це суворі легенди Шотландії, де все страшно та похмуро. Хоча, у принципі, не всі. Є також і історії з гарним закінченням, смішні та повчальні. Та й про чарівні істоти можна щось нове дізнатися.

[Liberté · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd been wanting to read a collection like this for a while and this was a good option! It's an older text, and the first chapter is really an introduction to fairy and folk tales and their importance, which makes a lot of sense, but they do then transition to collections of tales. The tales include those about Scottish faeries (different in many ways from the English), water folks, brownies, witches, rogues, and more. Sadly, there were no stories about water horses! It was a good read for the wintertime when the days are short, the nights are long, and you can imagine folk together listening to these by the fireside.

[Susan Land · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful collection of stories telling of mermaids, elves, fairies, brownies, witches, ghosts, etc.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the Celtic fairy tales but still solid. (Audiobook)

[Dian Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minus the gaps in understanding of some of the stories in their role as Folk Tales during their time, this was an enjoyable read.

[Michael Shurtleff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic collection of stories and nursery rhymes. (But I was a bit disappointed that it's missing "The Wee, Wee Mannie and the Big, Big Coo".) If Scots dialect makes your brain hurt, you might want to consider a different compilation.

[Almudena · Rating 1 out of 5]

coñazo total. Libro infumable. Debe ser que al estar escrito en medio escocés y a veces en inglés antiguo y en un contexto rural no me entero ni de papa...y para que lo diga yo...que leo de todo

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love fairytales ❤️

[Deboshree Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely...