Scottish Ghost Stories

by James Robertson

Inheriting the tradition of Hugh Miller, the nineteenth century folklorist and stonemason (whose own haunted life is the subject of the opening chapter), James Robertson has, where possible, researched the original or oldest written source and visited the site of each story to compile the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of the Scottish supernatural. Some of the stories gathered here are deservedly famous, such as those associated with Glamis Castle or the tale of Major Weir, while others ('The Deil of Littledean' and 'The Drummer of Cortachy') are less familiar or even contemporary accounts related to the author personally - but all are equally intriguing and fascinating reflections of the culture and period to which they belong.

Neither a wary sceptic nor a fanatical believer, but an advocate of the validity of individual experience of the strange and unexplainable, James Robertson's Scottish Ghost Stories is an imaginative and chilling recasting of an established Scottish ghost-hunting and story-telling tradition - a homage to the particular mystery and character of a land which continues to produce ghosts whether from den to glen, Highlands to Lowlands, Catholic to Protestant.

Genres: Short Stories, Scotland, Fiction, Horror, Ghosts, Ghost Stories, Mystery

283 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

James Robertson (born 1958) is a Scottish writer who grew up in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. He is the author of several short story and poetry collections, and has published four novels: The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, and And the Land Lay Still. Joseph Knight was named both the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year and the Saltire Society Book of the Year in 2003/04. The Testament of Gideon Mack was long-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize. And the Land Lay Still was awarded the Saltire Society Book of the Year Award in 2010. Robertson has also established an independent publishing imprint called Kettillonia, which produces occasional pamphlets and books of poetry and short prose, and he is a co-founder and the general editor of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young people. He lives in rural Angus.

Reviews

[Jacob Heartstone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not at all what I expected.

Based on the title and the blurb I expected retellings of well known paranormal stories set in and around Scotland and descriptions of hauntings in the Scottish countryside. I expected creepy, ghostly vibes, mysterious appearances, and altogether dark, autumny vibes.

Instead, this is less fictional short story material and more a dry and 'scientific' listing of paranormal occurrences that might or might not at one point in time have taken place in Scotland, both in the present and the past. And that in the most dry and unexciting way possible. Furthermore, even if read as a nonfiction collection of essays about ghosts this book is super hard to get through as a non-Scottish person as there are altogether too many names of people, places, etc that are just dumped on the reader without properly introducing them and that made some of the things the author described incredibly hard to follow.

[Elissavet Kyritsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, though not so easy for a Greek to read. Nevertheless it makes you visit Scotland and all the spots that are described by Robertson.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting stories. Only thing I would like is more Aberdeen based stories.

[Sophie Cimon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a while to read because some of those stories are really boring. Some are nicer as it is always is in a collection of short stories. The writing style is very dry so it seems that you are really distant from the story which doesn't help making it scary or captivating. I bought it as a souvenir from my trip to Scotland, so I remembered the places I visited while reading and makes me nostalgic. But other than that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[Vibeke Hiatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just what I needed leading up to Halloween. I enjoy ghost stories, but I don't enjoy nightmares, so I liked the dry, somewhat-skeptical tone. The book also taught me some things I didn't know and makes me want to study 17th century Scotland. There is a great variety of stories from various time periods, so really something for everyone.

[Shaunee Broadley · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think this is one of the longest times it took me to finish a book. i did enjoy reading about about the different types of ghosts in my country but it felt like a slog to get through some chapters, as they often started talking about something completely different before going back to the original haunting.

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be written much more as a college text studying culture and folklore behind Scottish ghost stories vs. a creepiness factor. I was looking for some scary reading to celebrate the month of October and the scariest thing about this book was how incredibly dry it was written!

[Jack Deighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not, as a cursory glance might have suggested, a collection of fiction. It is instead an enumeration of numerous instances of hauntings, apparitions, weird noises, poltergeists etc. recorded in Scotland, some of them relatively recently.

It is also a swift trip through the country’s history and there is a noticeable concentration of such tales belonging to Covenanting times - which were of course bloody enough but were they any more so than at other times of conflict? – many of them focused on the deeds of James Graham of Claverhouse, or Tam Dalyell of the Binns. There is also an interesting two pages on the peculiarly unfortunate history of the lairds of Glamis.

Only occasionally does Robertson cast doubt on any of these accounts of the supernatural for the most part seeming to take them at face value but is it perhaps a result of that intimately Scottish embrace of a harsh religion for a harsh environment that led to people having - or at least recounting - such strange experiences? In the light of these tales it is perhaps no coincidence that many pieces of Scottish literature deal with meetings with the devil.

There is one lighter moment in all this where Robertson relates the tale of a woman accused of witchcraft – well aware of the usual outcome of such denunciations – cannily threatening to bring punishment on the wives and daughters of her accusers by saying she would implicate them as also taking part in her supposed misdeeds.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it over two days. It’s an excellent collection of tales of hauntings and other weird phenomena reported over many centuries in Scotland- Highlands and Lowlands, from cities and countryside, castles and crofts, involving the famous and the ordinary folk.

The style bears some resemblance to that of 17th-19th centuries (any earlier and prose is difficult to modern readers-English not having had the influence on Scots it came to exert. )

That didn’t make it to read - at any rate for this Scot despite living in Kent for half her life. It seemed to add flavour to the tales.

Many stories have been told by different folk in different ways and he makes no pretence of adopting the “just-so story” a tourist guide would give - either the print version in the inevitable gift shop of a visitor attraction or the verbal one on an accompanied visit - especially when the place belongs to a family accustomed for centuries to having a title.

Glamis was such a place when I visited. The guide didn’t say much about the unflattering tales of the past, droned on about the respect everyone around had for the Bowes-Lyon family (Queen Mother was one) and recent royals. Perhaps she imagined all visitors were there in homage to the Windsors…

Or her job depended on it..

[Banana · Rating 3 out of 5]

My interest in this book was not to read stories as fiction, but rather to see what people in Scotland believe to have experienced of paranormal events. As a historian, it is also interesting to know what people believe in and what types of lore they have so one can get to know their culture better. This book is not just about the paranormal, but also has some other details and facts added to the stories like description of the places, people or general history.

If you're looking for scary entertainment, this book might not be what you're looking for. It's more about Robertson presenting original stories as they were told by people, rather than just stories intended for entertainment. It is also likely that he has intentionally not added some stories to the book because they were too exaggerated to be "credible" ghost-stories.


This book contains both stories involving old and newer ghost-stories, a few of visions and premonitions, a couple involving sea-monsters and even a mermaid-story.
I think Robertson has made some consideration for avoiding filling up the book with similar or almost identical stories.


In comparison, I've read most of Peter Underwood's books, and I'd say they mostly would be a three star rating when it comes to being interesting and not just pretty much a scientific text.

By this I mean that the stories in James Robertson's book are often way more filled with details and interesting facts with most likely a lot added from the original source to make the story appear entertaining. While in Peter Underwood's books, it's seems mostly that he has removed a lot of what he would see as less credible in the stories to make them more acceptable as scientific material.

The only negative part of this book by my opinion, is the story about The House of Andrew Mackie which is really repetitive for about ten pages.

[Seonaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories, though I agree with the reviewer who wrote that these stories are more of an academic interest, than the spine chilling stories, say, of M R James. Nonetheless, they make interesting reading.

[J.C. Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting book, but I think I wanted to read actual fictional ghost stories as opposed to legends based on place/time. Still, not sorry I read it.

[GeraniumCat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good collection.

[Tippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but you have to fight through the rather dull writing style. Given the topic, this could have been way more interesting and well-written. Good choice of stories though. After reading through each story, and fighting the author to pick out the interesting details, I would close my eyes and imagine the highlights of the story happening and the reactions of the people witnessing them. Great stuff. My favorite was the running, screaming ghost, who's being chased by Hell-hounds for all eternity.

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only short story in this collection that really creeped me out was the first one. The rest of the stories are somewhat amusing, but really dry, and not at all what a reader would expect from a book with "Ghost Stories" in the title.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought two copies of this book, one for my daughter who was living in Scotland and one for myself.
It is a very good collection. Some of the stories are based on legends; some of them are new and based on places and history.

[Sir He-Man · Rating 4 out of 5]

These scared the crap out of me as a kid, and rediscovering them was a great joy. Wonderful for the ghost fanatic or mythology lover alike.

[Lena Donan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook_Niežeby sa nesnažili, ich výkon asi veľmi nemôžem zahrnúť do nudy, ktorú museli interpretovať. Kto by sa "bál" popri nude?