So when Sir James George Frazer’s book titled  The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, landed on my doorstep, I was more than enthusiast about its cover design which depicts a superb white unicorn!

Thanks so much Mairiuna for keeping your eyes open.  Had it not been for you pointing me to this great book, I would have missed it big time. Cheers my friend!

The Golden Bough by J.G. Frazer - MacMillan (London) - 1983

I’m really hitting a home run here, as the subjects covered by Sir J.G. Frazer are all up my alley, especially his insights on Body Mind and Spirit, Folklore and Mythology, and Anthropology. What a dazzling seminal work this bulky 971 page book is!

Just to give you an idea of what The Golden Bough is all about, I quoted below excerpt from Wikipedia and Google Books:

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941).

It first was published in two volumes in 1890; the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes. It was aimed at a broad literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfinch’s The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855).

It offered a modernist approach to discussing religion, treating it dispassionately as a cultural phenomenon rather than from a theological perspective. The impact of The Golden Bough on contemporary European literature was substantial.

 

Text copies of the 1922 edition:

• The Golden Bough from eBooks @ Adelaide
• HTML version of The Golden Bough
• The Golden Bough at Project Gutenberg
• Download MP3 of this audio book for free at LibriVox

Source: Wikipedia.com

 

The Golden Bough project, like Frazer’s own imagination, was rooted in the Scotland whose religious controversies of the 1840′s put belief in religion to test both practical – in the establishment of the Free Church – and intellectual, in attempting to harmonize biblical Christianity with evolutionary concepts of human history.

Source: books.google.ca

Peter Goodfellow - Source: http://www.artsbank.co.uk

While investigating about the book,  I found out that the cover art designer was Peter Goodfellow, a well know painter and book cover illustrator that fell in love with Scotland, just as the team here at Scotiana did!

” (…) Fortunately his wife was also captivated by this country and has a great understanding of his consuming passion.

The viewer of his landscapes sees this passion at a glance. The vibrant colours are arresting and the mood which is set can bring a lump to the throat.Inspired by art movements as far reaching as the early Italian Renaissance and German Expressionism, Peter Goodfellow’s paintings divine a rich artistic heritage.

Living in a remote glen in North East Scotland, Goodfellow paints both figurative and landscape works.For Goodfellow, colour is the all important ingredient in his oils and water-colours.

He declares himself to be an ‘out and out colourist’,and often paints the same subject repeatedly to distil colour and form.”Raw colour can capture a sense of time and create a sense of mood and atmosphere” believes Goodfellow.

Often looking to the landscape as a subject matter for his paintings, Goodfellow deftly describes through his rich vocabulary of colour the extraordinary beauty and power of the natural world.”

Source: Art-FromScotland

You are invited to click on the image below if you wish to view some of the marvelous paintings from Peter Goodfellow’s portfolio hosted on The Lost Gallery, which he co-directs with his wife Jean in Bellabeg, approximately 40 miles west of Aberdeen, on the A944, near Strathdon, Aberdeenshire.

Source: http://www.lostgallery.co.uk (Click on the image)

Surprise…surprise!

Just got an email from Mairiuna sending along the dust jacket of the 1949 edition of Sir James Frazer’s book, as well as the informational note she received from the vendor:

This copy was acquired from the impressive private library of Film Director Roy Ward Baker and bears his name to the ffep. He started in the film industry as a gofar boy,but worked his way up to the level of as assistant director on Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938).

He served in the Army during World War II, transferring to the Army Kinematograph Unit in 1943. One of his superiors at the time was novelist Eric Ambler who insisted on Baker being given his first big break directing The October Man, from an Ambler screenplay, in 1947.

Ambler also adapted Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember for Baker’s 1958 screen version.His next two films, The Weaker Sex and Paper Orchid (1949) were popular but overshadowed by the success of Morning Departure (1950), also featuring John Mills.

Baker worked for three years at Fox where he directed Marilyn Monroe in Don’t Bother to Knock 1952.

He returned to the UK in 1953 and continued to work on films.

Wow…thanks for sharing this gem of a book with us Mairiuna

Talk soon,

Janice

Celtic Life - 25th Anniversary - Special Edition

On this beautiful sunshined day, while reading away stories from Celtic Life -  25th Anniversary Special Edition which compiles the “Best of the Best” articles published in the last quarter century,  a title grabbed my fullest attention: Child Slaves From Scotland; A Story rarely told .   !!??

Child Slaves From Scotland by Douglas MacGowan - Source: Celtic Life (celticlife.ca)

Written back in 2001 by Douglas MacGowan, it’s an horrific account on Scottish slavery. Slavery was dubbed “the most profitable evil in the world”.

In his article, Douglas McGowan talks about:

• An Opera telling the story of two slaves from Scotland: Haki and Hekja who journeyed to North American shores with a group of Vikings
• The practice of selling children into slavery as portrayed in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped
  
• Peter Williamson’s memoirs written in 1756 which got him arrested for publishing his ordeal of being forced into labour

Took me only two seconds to raise from my reading chair  and get in front of my computer to google away about the Opera!

Not that I’m a fanatic of Operas, but because I wanted to know more about the legend and eager to discover what triggered Michael Parker’s mind to compose an Opera around Haki and Hekja’s legendary story.

Here’s what I found…

THE LEGEND

Haki and Hekja

Together since childhood, they were captured in their late teens by Viking raiders on their home island of Stronsay, taken to Norway, and sold to King Olaf Tryggvason who gave them as a gift to Leif Eiriksson when he was visiting Norway.

Leif Eiriksson took Haki and Hekja back to Greenland with him and later loaned them to Thorfin Karlsefni to aid him in his expedition to Vinland, which is where we find them in this opera.

Leif Ericson Discovers America - Source: history-world.org

 

They are in a sense one person and rely on each other’s companionship to endure their slavery and exile. Their slavery, however, which has lasted for over ten years, is somewhat paradoxical because, being swifter than deer, they could simply run away from the Vikings on one of their scouting missions.

Part of the problem has been that in the rugged countries of Iceland and Greenland where the Vikings have taken them, Haki and Hekja have had nowhere to run to where they could survive on their own.

The other factor is that running together gives them a sense of freedom which allows them, temporarily at least, to transcend their pain and deny the real condition of their lives.

Hekja especially has entrenched in her character the state of shock they experienced when their families were slaughtered and they were taken to a foreign country in chains.

Their exceptional ability as runners, in fact, is an outgrowth of that shock, an expression of their desire to escape the horror the Vikings brought on them. Thus, ironically, they have accommodated their slavery.

Their skill as runners that has made them valuable to their masters has also been their own solace. But in Vinland Hekja sees the possibility of escape and transformation.

Although Haki is deeply tempted, he continues to be more inclined to accept the conditions of Viking society and to hope for freedom within it. What he longs for is to return to their ancestral island in Scotland, to continue their family’s interrupted history there.

Hekja still feels herself propelled away from her old home by the horror that destroyed it; only more distance and more change will satisfy her.

They both vacillate in their wishes; both feel they have been weakened by collusion and dependency.

Source: http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/mparker/visitor.htm

THE IDEA FOR AN OPERA

As mentioned below, Michael Parker was commissioned by Music Canada 2000 and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra to write an opera to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Viking arrival in Newfoundland.

The Visitor: an Opera in Five Scenes with Prologue. Op. 58 (2000) Curtain Calls -Opera- The Visitor- Source: www2.swgc.mun.ca In 1998,  the Newfoundland Symphony and Music Canada 2000 commissioned me to write an opera to be premiered in 2000 to commemorate the millenium anniversary of the discovery of Newfoundland by the Vikings. I approached Newfoundland writer John Steffler to produce the libretto. He went to the Vinland Sagas and found a reference to three obscure characters: two Scottish slaves named Hekja and Haki, and a German rune-stone carver named Tyrkir. John Steffler (L) and Dr. Michael Parker - Source: www.mun.ca/gazette/2000-2001 These became the focus of the libretto and the opera. The Visitor is scored for Mezzo-Soprano (Hekja), Lyric Baritone (Haki), Bass Baritone (an Icelendic Bard, Tyrkir, Decker) and Speaking Part (an Interpreter, Agnes), and chamber orchestra consisting of 2 Violins, Viola, Violoncello, Contrabass, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Piano and 2 Percussion. The plot is a simple one on the surface. The first three scenes take place in AD 1000 as the Vikings are about to return to Europe from Vinland (Newfoundland). In the last two scenes, the setting suddenly changes to AD 2000 although Hekja and Haki remain. The two Scottish slaves, brought to Vinland by the Vikings to reconnoite the place, are trying to decide whether to return to Europe with their Viking masters or to escape from them to take their chances in the new world. As they ponder these choices, they encounter several other characters. In Scene II, they encounter Tyrkir, a German rune-stone carver. He is disgusted with life in the new world and longs to return to his wife in Europe. In Scene IV Hekja and Haki meet Agnes, a modern doctor who has come to Vinland to escape painful memories of the brutal murder of her family in Africa. They also meet Decker, an archaeologist who sees in the 1000-year-old artefacts of the Vikings a chance to better his position in his job. In the end, Hekja and Haki make their decision. At its heart, The Visitor is an opera about home, about where we all belong, about wishing for better things somewhere else while perhaps not recognizing those precious things that are right at hand. The opera was written between January 1999 and March 2000. It received two very good concert performances in September 2000. As a result of those performances, I have decided I would like to revise some of the work. I look forward to doing that in the near future. http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/mparker/opera.htm

 THE AUTHOR/COMPOSER

Michael Parker - Composer - Source: www2.swgc.mun.ca

Welcome to my homepage.

I am a composer of contemporary concert music. I was born in Toronto but have been living in Newfoundland since 1976. The next few years will see some important anniversaries for me.

2006 will mark my 30th year living in Newfoundland.

2007 will mark my 30th year of teaching at Grenfell College, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Finally, 2008 will mark my 60th year of living on this planet. What I’ve been doing during all this time is documented throughout this site. I hope you enjoy it.

This webpage will provide you with detailed information about all of the compositions I have written. It will also give you some insights into my live outside of composing. (…)

Newfoundland 1941 Sir Wilfred Grenfell Stamp Commemorates His Hospital Ship: Strathcona II

Further Reading:

THE VIKINGS, NEVIL SHUTE AND CAPE COD

Cape Cod was discovered by the Vikings a thousand years ago. That is what is believed by many researchers after reading the Vinland Sagas. The geography fits perfectly. It is also what Nevil Shute believed when he wrote his novel, An Old Captivity in 1940 and his screen play, Vinland the Good in 1946 about Leif Ericsson’s visit to Cape Cod.

(…)

Nevil Shute visited Cape Cod in 1939 and described Cape Cod as one of the most beautiful places in the world. Interested in the Viking sagas, Shute wrote his sixth novel, An Old Captivity, about the Vikings discovering Cape Cod. It is set in the 1930s and is about an archeologist who explores the Viking sites on Greenland. He hires a pilot to take him there from England in a seaplane. The pilot, overworked and under great stress, cannot sleep so he takes sleeping pills and dreams about Leif Ericsson and two Viking slaves, Haki and Hekja.

http://www.nevilshute.org/cc05.php

I’m now going to dig into the other two aspects of slavery mentionned in Douglas MacGowan’s article: the practice of selling children into slavery and the story of Peter Williamson’s book: The Life and Curious Adventures of Peter Williamson, Who Was Carried Off from Aberdeen, in 1744, and Sold for a Slave , and will come back with more.

A bientôt!

Janice

Mairiuna, I have a great Sherlock Holmes detective story to share with you today!

To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Sir Conan Doyle’s birth, (1859-1930), the small island of Alderney, a bailiwick of Guernsey, issued a mystery set of 6 postage stamps beautifully illustrated by Keith Robinson.

The mystery case, written by Keith Robinson, starts with the theft of an Alderney bull, a breed of livestock much valued in the 19th century for the quantity and richness of milk produced by the cows. 

“Sir, a great injustice is about to be done. My name is Alice West. Two nights ago my Father’s prize Alderney Bull was stolen. The police suspect that it was smuggled to an American buyer; a lucrative trade, for the breed is highly prized in New England.

Even now, the police are preparing to arrest our herdsman, Thomas Vine, when he brings the cows down to Marais square for watering.

Mr Holmes, I beg of you; I have known Thomas since we were children and I swear he could never have done such a thing.”

“The bewildered looking herdsman is arrested, shown in the second image, whilst Holmes studies a scrap of paper containing a coded message found in the herdsman’s jacket.

In the third stamp Holmes studies the scene at the old harbour and then visits Alice’s father, shown in the fourth image. The fifth stamp depicts Holmes and Watson observing a half-built lighthouse in the middle of the night where they witness what Holmes believes is a signal.

The final image shows the police restraining a man, whom Holmes had concluded was guilty of the Alderney bull theft.”
Source:  www.trussel.com

To all budding detectives: can you use your powers of deduction to work out “whodunnit”? Suspense…let’s open the Sherlock Holmes Mystery Pack.

By reading the story, studying the pictures and scouring the stamps for clues, you should crack the secret code in Sherlock Holmes curious case of the Alderney bull and beat Holmes to work out “whodunnit”!

Follow the instructions on how to use the special lenses included, then turn the mystery pack upside down to find out how the story ends.

.

Although local folk tales, as you mentioned, said this place is the most haunted place in the area, we could not find in our respective libraries and archives, nor on the Internet, any further documentation relating to this fact. If anyone has some information to that effect, we would be very grateful to know about it, as it does intrigue us much.

Being both fascinated by Scottish ghost stories and other mysterious legends of the Highlands and Islands, we despair in not finding more facts and feats relating to the haunting tales of Greenknowe Tower.

While researching the web, we did stumble upon Lucy M. Boston’s novels: The Children of Green Knowe, but they don’t seem to relate to the Scottish Greenknowe Tower.

Green Knowe means “green hill”, so it could be anywhere in the world!

Still took time to learn more about this attractive children’s classic series and can tell you they will soon find a place on our bookshelves. As an insight, here’s a reader comment:

The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston 2006

A ghost story for children, the novel revolves around Toseland (Tolly) Oldknow who goes to live with his great-Grandmother in the ancestral family home, Green Knowe, that has been known as Green Noah for centuries. Tolly and his Grandmother see ghosts of their ancestors, primarily three siblings -an earlier Toseland (Toby), Andrew, and Linette- who lived during the reign of Charles II and died in the Great Plague. There was a curse placed upon a large (green) topiary of Noah in the garden by a witch, the resulting tree demon affecting the Oldknow males and the topiary is left to become overgrown ever since, and another supernatural element in the protective stone St Christopher who becomes animated.

The novel is supernaturally evocative; the reader is caught up in the magic and its charm was not lost on me as an adult. The more ominous, frightening, tension was less effective now but that is only to be expected. The writing is beautifully depictive, the descriptions poetic, and I found this line wonderfully expressive:

He heard no thunder. It was even unnaturally quiet. Perhaps it only seemed unnatural because he himself was brimming with excitement. He heard the weir pounding at the end of the garden. It only made the quietness quieter. It was rather like a heart that is only heard when it beats too loud.”

Read more => http://paperbackreader2.blogspot.com/2009/06/children-of-green-knowe.html

In another search engine result, a descriptive text on the Manor of Hemingford Grey indicates it became famous with Lucy M. Boston’s series of children’s books, so we guess that answers our question about which residence influenced the author! 

“The house was recreated and made famous as the house of Green Knowe by Lucy Boston in her series of children’s books, now regarded as classics. Her son Peter’s illustrations depict many of the things in the house and garden. The attic contains toys used by the fictional children of the past; thus visitors get the feeling of ‘walking into the books’.

She wrote about family belongings in the house and her son Peter Boston illustrated the books, drawing many of these as well as the house and garden.

In the winter, as well as writing, Lucy Boston made many exquisite patchworks, most of which are on display. Rarely can such an important collection be seen in the house in which the exhibits were made.

This moated house is surrounded by four acres of garden renowned for its collection of over 200 old roses and a collection of irises containing many famous Dykes medal winners, most of them dating from the 1950s. There are hidden corners in the garden so visitors find themselves coming to unexpected parts which are unanticipated from the first impression gained by looking down into it from the public footpath along the towpath beside the river Great Ouse. With its large herbaceous borders of mainly scented plants the garden gives the feeling of being a cottage garden full of favourite plants in a rather formal setting of lawns with topiary coronation shapes and chess pieces in their black and white planted squares.

Read more => http://www.greenknowe.co.uk/history.html

Lucy M Boston - The Green Knowe Children's Book Series

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Product Description

(….) L.M. Boston’s thrilling and chilling tales of Green Knowe, a haunted manor deep in an overgrown garden in the English countryside, have been entertaining readers for half a century. There are three children: Toby, who rides the majestic horse Feste; his mischievous little sister, Linnet; and their brother, Alexander, who plays the flute. The children warmly welcome Tolly to Green Knowe… even though they’ve been dead for centuries. But that’s how everything is at Green Knowe. The ancient manor hides as many stories as it does dusty old rooms. And the master of the house is great-grandmother Oldknow, whose storytelling mizes present and past with the oldest magic in the world.

About the Author

Lucy Maria Boston (1892-1990) purchased a ramshackle manor house near Cambridge, England, in 1935, which over a period of two years she lovingly restored. It is the house that inspired her, at the age of sixty-two, to take pen in hand and create the beloved Green Knowe chronicles. L.M. Boston said she wrote her books to please herself–but the pleasure of her stories extends to all who read them.

Ref: Amazon.com

Talk soon,

Janice

Tree Poet Reading Book Figurine Scotiana.com

Back to Doon Hill again and to Reverend Kirk. His strange story is leading us further than we had thought first. Not that I want to write a thesis about it, I’m not qualified to do so in any case, but we can try to make things a little clearer, on a bibliographical level at least. I wonder what our friend Sherlock Holmes would have thought of such a case …  Conan Doyle, who happened to be very keen about occultism, would certainly have had something to say about all this.  Indeed, didn’t he write something about fairies? We’ll do some research about that. Last time, I mentioned that I had received two editions of The Secret Commonwealth and that I was about to read one of them. Of course I had chosen the modern version of the text, in the beautiful 2007 New York edition.  Since then, however,  I’ve received two other books which made me change my mind. It could be helpful to compare different versions and interpretations of the book. Remember we’re not reading fiction… it’s something very special…

Dover Edition 2008

Dover Edition 2008

One of the two books I’ve just received is the Dover edition. A Bibliographical Note reads : “This Dover edition, first published in 2008, is an unabridged, slightly altered version of the work published by Eneas Mackay, Stirling, Scotland, in 1933. The punctuation and spelling in Robert Kirk’s text have been modernized for ease of reading. The Introduction by R. B. Cunninghame Graham and Comment by Andrew Lang (introduction to the 1893 edition) are unaltered. Six black-and-white illustrations by H. J. Ford have been added.”

2008 Dover edition H.J. Ford Illustration

I was very tempted to begin my reading with this book, first because it contains a modernized version of Reverend Kirk’s essay and secondly because I already have, in my library, in the Dover edition, most of Andrew Lang’s fairy books which include H. J. Ford beautiful illustrations. These marvellous books have enchanted generations of readers of all ages and I do like them very much.

R.J. Stewart Edition 2007

R.J. Stewart Edition 2007

But finally I’ve chosen Robert Kirk, Walker Between the Worlds,  R.J. Stewart’s edition (2007) and I don’t regret it. Here’s the right man to write about such a book. I don’t know where Robert Kirk happens to be presently, if he be anywhere, but would have he some choice to do for that matter I don’t doubt it would have been this book.  The Secret Commonwealth is a little book but it’s not easy task to read it. The subject is rather puzzling in itself and it must be replaced in its social, religious and historical background which R.J. Stewart does extremely well. We had fallen on the first edition of his book in 2004 when visiting Balquhidder church. Since then the author has founded his own publishing house and published a new edition of the book.

R.J. Stewart - www.dreampower.com

Let me introduce R.J. Stewart, if you don’t know him already, though his picture speaks by itself. What a charismatic look !

Robert John (R J) Stewart was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father came from a Gaelic speaking family originally from the Western Highlands. His mother was Welsh, from a Welsh speaking family from the Gower Peninsula in South Wales, with a tradition of singing and playing the Welsh triple-harp. He is known today as a composer, author, and teacher, with 40 books in publication, translated into many languages worldwide. He is widely experienced in theater, film, and television, and is a skilled performer and presenter.

In 1996 R. J. was admitted to the USA as “resident alien of extraordinary ability”, a category awarded only to immigrants of outstanding achievement in the arts or sciences. He now lives in Northern California and in Maryland.

Early career

From the late 1960′s to the 1980′s (as Bob Stewart) he worked with traditional British folk music, medieval music, and his own compositions, playing guitar, cittern, and the unique 70- stringed psaltery. During this period he made several albums of Celtic and original music, and wrote music for theater and media. In 1974 he wrote and recorded theme music for The Hobbit (Decca Records) read by Nicol Williamson.

In theater R J wrote music and songs for several major productions in England, and co-founded a theater company, The Avon Touring Co. During the late 1970′s and early 1980′s he composed and recorded original music for film and television, including working on major feature films, Joseph Andrews directed by Tony Richardson, and The Dark Crystal, directed by Jim Henson. He also composed and recorded original music for a number of BBC radio dramas, and for documentary feature films for the BBC and for ITV. Through these films his music has been heard all over the world, and various artists have recorded his original instrumental pieces and songs. Between 1975 and 1983 R J worked with several well known Irish musicians, making an album of original music with Finbar Furey, and working with Van Morrison, writing and producing Van’s recording of the ancient Irish epic, the Cuchullainn saga. The basis for this production was one of R J’s books on Irish mythology, Cuchullainn, published by Firebird book.

Read more…

I didn’t know this author before reading his edition of The Secret Commonwealth but I now feel like discovering his other books, especially his last one about Merlin. I’ve already read the introduction and the first chapters of The Secret Commonwealth. R.J. Stewart has written commentaries for each of them and they are quite helpful to progress in this cryptic text. This reading is worth the effort. Not that I’m inclined to jump into unknown territories, still less to follow men like Reverend Kirk into the arcanes of mysterious and invisible worlds, but I’m not hostile and I’m even curious about things that can’t be explained today.  More than ever I remain quite open-minded to all uncanny things we may happen to encounter on our path as we already had in our Scottish Quest…

A bientôt !

Aberfoyle old Kirkton Church & Cemetery Scotiana.com 2004

Broceliande forest The golden tree Source : Wikipedia

Changing times also, it seems ! Imagine my surprise when, on turning on the radio, I heard that the first “Dragon Week” has opened this week-end in Ploermel. Where is that, you may ask yourself. Not at all in China as you might have thought first considering that the Chinese already have the Dragon Year in their calendar.

Ploermel coat of arms - Source : Wikipedia

No, Ploermel is a French commune which is situated in Bretagne, in the Morbihan department. It is set just on the edge of mythical Broceliande, the enchanted forest which the Arthurian legend proclaims to be home of Merlin the Magician  ! For having been there once I can tell you, this forest is really enchanting !

Broceliande forest Merlin's grave - Source : Wikipedia

Anyway, what a good introduction to my coffee-reading ! I had come with Reverend Kirk’s book The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies and I was now invited to “l’antre du dragon”. Well, folk-tales, myths and legends are gaining popularity these days and dragons seem to have the wind in their sails…

Doon Hill Scotiana.com 2004

But now back from Broceliande to Doon Hill which, if we believe Reverend Kirk who used to haunt its wooded slopes a long time ago, is sheltering a community of fairies. Had the very adventurous Reverend really found the hidden gate to their realm ? I wonder… anyway I’m going to read what he says about the question in his book and what eminent writers or critics think about his strange experience.  I’ve just received two beautiful editions of The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies.  One of them contains the original text as it had been written in the 1691 original manuscript and the other one a modern version of it. Guess which one I’m going to read !

Reverend Kirk The Secret Commonwealth Facsimile I.H.O. Books 2005

The Secret Commonwealth Reverend Kirk Facsimile I.H.O. Books 2005

This edition of The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies by Robert Kirk appears to contain a facsimile of Andrew Lang’s 1893 edition.  It was published in 2005 by I. H. O. Books. I’ve noticed that the publishers’ logo, a red cross on a white background, is  the symbol of the Templar Knights. After searching the web I’ve found that this publisher specializes in esoterism. Quite appropriate ! On the endpaper of this edition there is a reproduction of an old watercolour drawing by Sir D.H. Cameron R. A.  entitled  “The Hill of Fairies at Aberfoyle”,  but I’ve found no information about this artist nor about the beautiful illustrations which ornate the front and back covers of the book. I wonder if these illustrations did appear in Lang’s edition. We can see a reverend clothed in his black robe commanding to creatures hardly visible amidst foliage. Reminds me of the green men sculptures we tried to find in the magnificent stone lace decor of the famous Rosslyn chapel, south of Edinburgh. Below is an interesting Amazon description of the book but I fear this edition is now out of stock.

Originally written in 1691 this is a truly remarkable text. It describes a parallel world to ours which interpenetrates ours at certain places. The denizens, the faeries, elves and faunes “are of a Middle Nature betwixt Man and Angel” with “Bodies of congealled Air” There relationship with humanity is complicated, whilst they have their own agendas they also reflect mundane human life with banquets, marriages, births and so forth, though the author notes these may be for “.. Mock-show, or to prognosticate some such Things amongst us”. The mirroring of human life can extend to there being “a Double Man”, or “Reflex-man or Co-walker”, in the land of Faery for a living man. The writer of this text was a Scottish minister. It is said that in 1692 he set off in his nightshirt to Doon Hill a nearby faery mound. He was found dead. After his funeral Kirk appeared in a dream to a relative to say the body was not his but his Reflex-man, and that he was trapped in the world of Faery. But his wife was pregnant and he would appear at his sons Christening, if an iron knife was thrown over his head the human Reverend Kirk would be released. Sure enough his ghost appeared at the service but congregation were too shocked to follow his instructions and he was left forever. Occult tradition has it that the Reverend Kirk now acts as a guide between our world, the “midle-earth” and that of “the Subterraneans”. This edition reproduces the Comment by folklorist Andrew Lang from the 1893 edition, plus an Introduction by R.B. Cunninghame Graham. There is also a new Prolegomenon by Alan Richardson, author of the Magical Life of Dion Fortune and other works, which places the text in the context of modern occultism. A facsimile of the 1933 edition of “The Secret Commonwealth”.

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies by Robert Kirk1893 edition

The following 2007 New York Review Book edition of The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies by Robert Kirk which lies open on my desk is a beautiful little hardback edition too. The ivory acid free paper used for the pages as well as for the cover gives it a pleasant hand-crafted touch. I’ve found it quite interesting to learn that the back cover illustrations have been reproduced from Robert Kirk’s student notebook. A multi-talented man, this reverend !  Maybe one day we’ll have the opportunity to go and see the original manuscripts in the archives of the Scottish libraries.

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies by Robert Kirk NY Edition

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies by Robert Kirk NY Edition 2007

First published in 1815 by Sir Walter Scott, then re-edited in 1893 by Andrew Lang, with a dedication to Robert Louis Stevenson, The Secret Commonwealth has long been difficult to obtain—available, if at all, only in scholarly editions. This new edition modernizes the spelling and punctuation of Kirk’s little book and features a wide-ranging and illuminating introduction by the critic and historian Marina Warner, who brings out the originality of Kirk’s contribution and reflects on the ongoing life of fairies in the modern mind.

“A slim quarto-size book (like a paperback novel in boards) and less than a hundred pages of text, this New York Review of Books edition is the first in more than a century and contains a well-written introduction and end notes by Marina Warner. Also included is Kirk’s own glossary of “difficult words,” in which we learn the 17th-century meanings of adscititious, defaecat, lychnobious and noctambulo.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Kirk is a magnificent dish to set before any student of either folk-lore or folk-psychology”–The Times Literary Supplement

“The importance of Robert Kirk’s manuscript for a deeper understanding of late seventeenth-century Scottish beliefs about fairies and second sight is hard to exaggerate. There is simply no other source with such fulsome detail about the Guid Neighbours…”–Folklore

“Kirk’s ‘Secret Commonwealth’ is one of those books which are well known but hard to come by…His little treatise is a most careful and thorough piece of work, made the more so by the spirit in which it was written…The result is one of the completest descriptions extant of that special phase of popular belief.”–The Times Literary Supplement

“[F]illed with delightful maunderings on seers and second-sighters and ‘glimpses of the moon’…”–The Critic

“[A] cult classic.”–The Glasgow Herald

ROBERT KIRK was born in Scotland and studied at Edinburgh University and at St. Andrews. Ordained as a minister, he was the first author to produce a complete translation of the Scottish metrical Psalms into Gaelic, translated many other religious works into the Scots Highland dialect, and was the editor of a new Irish edition of the bible. He served at the parish of Aberfoyle until his early death in 1692. Legend says he collapsed on “fairy hill” south of the village, where today his spirit is entombed in a tree, known as “The Minister’s Pine.”

MARINA WARNER is the author of a number of works of fiction and non-fiction. In 1994 she became only the second woman to deliver the BBC’s Reith Lectures, published as Managing Monsters: Six Myths of Our Time, and was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France) in 2000. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 1985, she lives in London.

Now time for me to disappear with Reverend Kirk into the strange world  “Of the subterranean inhabitants”. I hope to be back with you soon. Bonne lecture !

France Brittany Quiberon beach dragon sand sculpture, photo by Manu18e’s flickr

Aberfoyle Cemetery Gate - Scotiana.com - 2006

Mairiuna, I did made some research about the inscriptions showing on the grave of the most famous resident of the city of Aberfoyle, native clergyman Robert Kirk, born in 1644, who mysteriously disappeared in 1692.  He was considered a very eccentric man as he believed in the existence of a world inhabited by faeries, goblins and other mysterious creatures.

To get more insight into his life, our readers can refer to previous posts, where we also talked about his book written just  before his mysterious death :  The Secret of the Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies in which he explains why the nearby Doon Hill, sometimes called Fairy Knowe, is a sacred place.

The Secret Commonwealth Reverend Kirk fac simile

The website Sacred Texts has a long essay about Reverend Kirk’s book, and here’s a very interesting quote from it:

He died (if he did die, which is disputed) in 1692, aged about fifty-one; his tomb was inscribed–

 

ROBERTUS KIRK, A.M.

Linguæ Hiberniæ Lumen.

 

The tomb, in Scott’s time, was to be seen in the cast end of the churchyard of Aberfoyle; but the ashes of Mr. Kirk are not there. His successor, the Rev. Dr. Grahame, in his Sketches of Picturesque Scenery, informs us that, as Mr. Kirk was walking on a dun-shi, or fairy-hill, in his neighbourhood, he sunk down in a swoon, which was taken for death. ” After the ceremony of a seeming funeral,” writes Scott (op. cit., p. 105), “the form of the Rev. Robert Kirk appeared to a relation, and commanded him to go to Grahame of Duchray. ‘Say to Duchray, who is my cousin as well as your own, that I am not dead, but a captive in Fairyland; and only one chance remains for my liberation. When the posthumous child, of which my wife has been delivered since my disappearance, shall be brought to baptism, I will appear in the room, when, if Duchray shall throw over my

 

p. xiii

 

head the knife or dirk which he holds in his hand, I may be restored to society; but if this is neglected, I am lost for ever.’” True to his tryst, Mr. Kirk did appear at the christening and “was visibly seen;” but Duchray was so astonished that he did not throw his dirk over the head of the appearance, and to society Mr. Kirk has not yet been restored. This is extremely to be regretted, as he could now add matter of much importance to his treatise. Neither history nor tradition has more to tell about Mr. Robert Kirk, who seems to have been a man of good family, a student, and, as his book shows, an innocent and learned person.

Reverend Kirk Gravestone in Aberfoyle Cemetery Scotland - Scotiana.com - 2004

His earthly grave can be seen in the churchyard near the old roofless kirk ruins.

Aberfoyle Churchyard - Reverend Kirk Tomb - Scotiana.com - 2004

The inscriptions mentions his work in translating the Psalms of the Bible into Gaelic, but no reference is made to his fairy work, but we have to keep in mind that we are in a period of time when witches were still being condemned.

Symbols on Reverend Kirk tomb - scotiana.com - 2004

I was wondering what meaning had the symbols that we can see on the gravestone. Happy was I to find an explanation on Sophie’s Fantastic Castel website:

Down the track, past the manse, across the bridge,(…) there is a ruined church. There is a graveyard at its back, which faces the hill. We wander amongst the stones, noting the names: McGregor–for this is McGregor country; Macintyre; Mac Donald; MacLaren, MacFarlane, Menzies, Primrose, Swan, Keir..And Kirk. Robert Kirk. Here he is, commemorated in a slab of red sandstone, and these Latin words, written, according to local historians, in what appears to be 18th century script:

Hic Pultis Ill Evangeli Promulgator Accuratus et Linguae Hiberniae Lumen M.Robertus Kirk Aberfoile Pastor Obiit 14 Maii 1692 Aetat 48.

Here lies the accurate promulgator of the Gospels and luminary of the Hibernian tongue, Mr Robert Kirk, pastor of Aberfoyle, who died 14 May 1692, aged 48.

There are also three designs on the stone: an etched thistle, to represent his proud Highlands background; a shepherd’s crook, to represent his calling; and a dagger, to represent–well, we shall see. No mention on this slab of stone of the Minister’s Pine, or the other life of Robert Kirk of Aberfoyle. No mention of the strange story surrounding his death. No mention of the strange book he wrote a year before his death, which ensured his immortality in more ways than one. Nothing ambiguous about this stone, pinning Kirk firmly to the earth, to time, to death, to sensible pursuits.

Only in recent times has a small plaque been erected on the wall of the graveyard, noting discreetly that the gravestone of Robert Kirk, the ‘Fairy Minister’, was to be found within. The modern tourist authority knows that it is not Kirk’s prowess in evangelism or translating the Bible into Gaelic that attracts modern pilgrims from far away. But it doesn’t want to be too closely connected with the strangeness of the other thing, the ambiguous, elusive nature of just what it was Kirk did, and how he came to be both beneath that firm slab of stone, and in the lone pine on the hill.

Sophie Masson also posted a customer book review on Amazon for The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies in which she mentions;

And for those interested in reading novels inspired by this book, the greatest is Australian writer Christopher Koch’s ‘The Doubleman

Another book that will soon be on Scotiana’s bookshelf.

By the way Mairiuna, funerary Art is a subject that really intrigues me and I took ” tons” of photographs during our sightings of cemeteries. You took many as well, and Jean-Claude has maybe more shots that us two together. It would be interesting to blog about this peculiar art in a near future. When you have a minute, I’d like to hear your thoughts .

Gotta go for now.

Talk soon.

Janice

Doon Hill Fairies - Scotiana.com - 2004

Take a look at the photos we’ve taken on Doon Hill.  Aren’t they a most touching expression of folk beliefs in our very materialistic world?  The Scottish touch of magic!  Mind you, that does not mean that the Scots are not a rationalistic people ! Think about their scientific performances.

Doon Hill Fairies Fairies-Scotiana.com-2004

To the question “Do you believe in fairies?”, I would certainly have answered YES to save the life of Tinker Bell in the story of Peter Pan and I’m inclined to believe that there is more beyond appearances than what we generally believe …

Doon Hill mysterious woodland-Scotiana.com-2006

In Scotland the frontier between the visible and invisible worlds seems to be thinner than elsewhere.  I remember asking our way to Doon Hill to a young man working at the Tourist Office in Aberfoyle. “You’re not going there at night ?”, he asked us with some anxiety.

Doon-Hill Trail - Scotiana.com -2004

In 2004, we went to Doon Hill at about 5 p.m. and we met nobody on our way up the hill and when we climbed it up again, in 2006,  it was past 9 pm and we were alone or, at least,  we didn’t see anyone, which doesn’t mean that there was nobody around us in the woods. The wind played gracefully on the little bells hanging in the trees. The atmosphere was silent and quiet. Quite pleasant. We’ve made a little film there. It’s not a very good one but it gives an idea of the place. We’ll insert it soon in our blog.

Doon Hill Hanging Bells -Scotiana.com-2004

Now, if we want to understand better the local legend we must  go back to its source and that leads us to Reverend Kirk’s life and writings.  Not only does the Reverend seem to have been a very learned man (he is the first one to have translated the Psalms in Gaelic)  but he also appears to have been a very open-minded minister. The Reverend used to listen to and note down  all his parishioners’ accounts of their supernatural experiences. This must have not only aroused the Reverend’s curiosity but also confirmed what he had always believed about the Other World.  Reverend Robert Kirk spent more than 20 years in Balquhidder parish,  from 1664 (aged 20)  to 1685 (aged 41) before moving back to the family manse, in Aberfoyle, where he stayed until his death, seven years later.

Balquhidder New & Ancient Churches - Scotiana.com- 2004

We first went to Balquhidder in 2004. It’s a very picturesque place and rich in history too. A nice little church has been built near the ruins of the ancient one and you can walk among very old graves (some of them are very beautiful)  in a most romantic churchyard. Of course, the most famous grave is that of  Rob Roy, just in front of the ancient church. Inside the church, we found many old religious memorabilia and also a book entitled Robert Kirk, Walker Between Worlds edited by R. J. Stewart.

Walker Between Worlds-R J Stewart-Ed 1990-Scotiana.com-2004

After our first incursion “au pays des fées”, at Doon Hill (or Fairy Knowe as the place is more commonly known), we wanted to know more about Reverend Kirk  but we didn’t find his book The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and  Faeries. The book had  not been published until 1815,  first by Sir Walter Scott and then by Andrew Lang. In Wigtown Byre Books shop we were said that the only book available there was a very expensive one. Of course, we didn’t buy it. Only recently did we search the web for the book and finally  found several interesting editions of The Secret Commonwealth.  Here are some of them.

Walker Between the Worlds-Edition 2007

First a new edition (2007) of the book we had seen in Balquhidder church. On the cover there is the coat of arms which can be seen on Robert Kirk’s grave, in Aberfoyle cemetery. We’ll try to know more about it.

The Secret Commonwealth Reverend Kirk- Facsimile Edition 2005

The above facsimile edition of the book has become rare but some other ones are still available.

A New Edition of The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies

It’s not easy to make an idea about this Scottish legend though Janice has already said a lot of things about it in her last post. What we must try to keep in mind is that the facts date back to the 17 th century. That was a long long time ago and life must have been quite different from what we live today. The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Faeries is supposed to have been based on Reverend Kirk’s own experiences and observations. So, to begin let us read his book.

Bonne lecture ! A bientôt.

Doon Hill - Scotiana.com - 2006

Aberfoyle is only 30 miles away by road of Glasgow and as such, there is no reason one should not stop by to contemplate splendid views and discover the area that inspired Walter Scott ‘s Rob Roy novel.

But coming back to the 17th century and to Reverend Kirk, he was a firm believer of faeries. In 1681, to express his beliefs, he wrote a book : “The Secret Commonwealth Of Elves, Fauns and Faeries“, an essay on the nature of supernatural beings. This book was neither fiction and not for children.

Do you have this book Mairiuna? If not, we definitely need it  in Scotiana’s library.

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies by Reverend Kirk, 1681

To give a brief overview of the life and work of Reverend Kirk, it was said that being born in 1644, the 7th son of a 7th son, it gave him psychic powers. He had the ability to call upon the supernatural beings at will.

Like his father, he became a minister, preaching at Balquhidder and then taking on the Aberfoyle ministry. His fascination for the magical world of Fairies is what he is remembered for even though he provided the first translation to Gaelic of the book of Psalms.

As per the legend, the inhabitants of the Secret Commonwealth, Fairies and others, were not happy about Reverend Kirk disclosure to their secrets and they planned revenge.

Each day, Reverend Kirk walked from the manse to Doon Hill and one day, in May 1692, very mysteriously, he did not return.

The story tells us that he was taken to the underground world of the Fairies through the pine tree that still exists at the summit of Doon Hill.

It is said that the tree contains his imprisoned spirit.

Doon Hill Pine Tree - Scotiana.com - 2004

The Reverend was out walking one day, upon the faerie knoll known as Doon Hill when he died. His family took his body and laid it to rest. However with the Reverend being so closely involved with the faeries people thought it was too much of a coincidence the location of where he died.

Instead they believed that the faeries had taken his body and left a changeling posing as Reverend Kirk.

It was said that Kirk appeared before his cousin and told him that at the Christening of his child, he would appear. This was the only chance for him to come back to our world. His cousin, Graham, had to throw an iron dagger over Kirk when he appeared.

However at the Christening, Graham was too scared at the sight of the ghostly Kirk and failed to keep his promise. It is now believed that the Reverend Kirk’s soul is still tormented within the Caledonian pine tree which stands on top of Doon Hill.

A place which people still visit to this day to make wishes and leave presents for the faeries.

Gifts to Fairies at the foot of the Pine tree - Scotiana.com - 2006

As well as many interesting and ancient graves (including Rev Kirk’s earthly grave) the local graveyard contains heavy iron coffin covers, a strange thing to find so far from a major city.

Aberfoyle Cemetary - Reverend Kirk Grave - Scotiana.com - 2004

To access the site, up manse road, watch for the signs for Fairy Hill after about 1/4 mile.

Doon Hill Fairy Trail, Aberfoyle - Scotiana.com - 2006

At the top of the hill amongst the trees you can see prayer ribbons that people still leave.

Doon Hill - Ribbons - Scotiana.com - 2004

Doon Hill - Ribbons - Scotiana.com - 2006

A very enchanting walk…by the way, do you believe in Fairies?

…

The Lore of Scotland - Jennifer Westwood & Sophia Kingshill

Hey Janice, did I tell you I had received The Lore of Scotland, by Jennifer Westwood and Sophia Kingshill? Remember, I had mentioned it in my last post. You know, I have always been very interested in myths and legends and so I’m looking forward to reading it.

Contes et Legendes d'Ecosse - Editeur Fernand Nathan

When I was a little girl, I used to come back from our local library, a very old building situated in a picturesque cobbled street near the big and dark cathedral, carrying in my arms a treasury of books which had been carefully chosen, one after the other and in very different genres. Rules have changed since that time for then you could not borrow many books at the same time and the choice always proved to be a dilemma. Among the books which I remember best are the books which were published by Fernand Nathan in their famous collection “Contes et légendes de tous les pays” as the one you can see above and there were many of them.

Contes et Légendes d'Ecosse Fernand Nathan

Look at the beautiful illustrations and you’ll understand why I got so quickly immersed in the pages of these captivating stories.

Contes et Légendes d'Ecosse Fernand Nathan

From the era of the bards to that of the media, great writers have largely contributed to popularize the old tales, which were traditionally sung, by collecting them in books. Walter Scott was one of the first  to do so with The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders (1802-1803) together with his friend James Hogg who later published his Tales and Sketches of the Ettrick Shepherd (1837). Both of them must have been much influenced by Hogg’s very charismatic mother, Margaret, who was known for collecting native Scottish ballads and telling them to local audiences. Indeed she seems to have resented the fact that these ballads could be written down instead of being told or sung as it had always been done.

You know, I’m very enthusiastic about immersing again in folk tales, especially in Scottish tales since Scotland, like most countries with celtic roots, have inherited a particularly rich and lively story-telling tradition. As I have already underlined it, Scottish people are born story-tellers !

In Scotiana’s library we already have a lot of books about myths, legends and fairy tales and among them those of a very prolific Scottish author, Andrew Lang. Lang became famous, among other things, for his publications on folklore. Blue Fairy Book (1889), a very beautifully illustrated edition of fairy tales, has become a classic in the genre and I personally own a remarkable Folio edition of it.  Lang published many collections of fairy tales which are collectively known as Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books.

Each of them have been named after a colour: red, pink and crimson, green, brown and olive, yellow, orange and violet,  lilac and grey and I think we have all of them in the fabulous Dover edition qualified on each cover as “Complete and unabridged, every word, every one of the Illustrations”.  Let us mention also, from the same author, Tartan Tales (1928) and Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy (1910), and by George MacDonald, another famous Scottish author, The complete Fairy Tales.

The Reverend Kirk would not contradict me if I say that the world of the fairies is an unfathomable well or, most appropriate, a very hollow tree. By the way that famous Reverend Kirk’s tree is worth the trip and testifies to Scotland’s love of fairy tales.

Aberfoyle Doon Hill Scotiana.com 2004

We’ll come back soon to this incredible story and there is certainly one entry for the Reverend Kirk’s name in The Lore of Scotland. We’re going to check.

Not easy  to find our marks in this world and one thing is to read these stories of fairy tales and legends which have been transmitted from generation to generation and another to try to learn more about the origins of these stories and to replace them in their national, local and even international context.

The Silver Bough 1977 - Scotland : Myth, legend and Folklore 1999

The world of myths and legends has never been so popular and many interesting books have been published on the subject by people who have devoted their life to collect the stories, travelling all over the country to find these old story tellers who happen to be the last links between oral and written tradition. The Lore of Scotland is one of these books. Not only will it prove to be very useful in our quest of Scotland folk-lore but we’ll certainly read it with much pleasure too.

The Lore of Scotland - Jennifer Westwood & Sophia Kingshill - 2009

It is divided into sections. Ten are devoted to the Scottish regions, each of them being illustrated by a map with very funny little symbols like “Animal legends”, “Clans and family legends”, “Devils and Demons”,  “Fairies and trows”,  “Ghosts and omens” and so on …

The Lore of Scotland Jennifer Westwood & Sophia Kingshill Argyllshire & Islands

The ten regions are the following ones :

ARGYLLSHIRE & ISLANDS
The county of Argyllshire and the islands of Arran, Bute, and Lismore

CENTRAL & PERTHSHIRE
The counties of Clackmannanshire, Dunbartonshire, Fife, Kinross-shire, Perthshire, and Stirlingshire

DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY
The counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire

GLASGOW & AYRSHIRE
The counties of Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Renfrewshire

LOTHIAN & BORDERS
The counties of Berwickshire, East Lothian, Midlothian, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, and West Lothian

NORTH EAST
The counties of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Banffshire, Kincardineshire, Moray, and Nairnshire

NORTHERN HIGHLANDS
The counties of Caithness and Sutherland

ORKNEY & SHETLAND ISLANDS

SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS
The counties of Inverness-shire and Ross & Cromarty

WESTERN ISLES

There is an interesting introduction by Sophia Kingshill and, at  the end of the book, a rich bibliography which will undoubtedly tempt us to add more volumes to Scotiana’s library, plus a very useful index and annexes. Many colour and black and white illustrations ornate the pages all over the book.

So, for those who want to go further than reading or listening to the good old tales we can only advise to read The Lore of Scotland.

Bonne lecture ! A bientôt.

The Folk Tales of Scotland Norah and William Montgomerie 2005

Once, walking in Wester Ross, we came to Loch Maree, one of the grandest of Scottish lochs,
dominated by Ben Sleoch. It has twenty-seven islands, most of them in the middle where the
water is more than two miles broad. That evening we heard of a holy well on one of the
islands and next morning, borrowing the forester’s boat, we rowed out into the loch. On the
second day we found a round island with many oaks – trees famous in mythology and legend – but there was no well, only a small dead tree scaled with copper coins knocked into the wood
with stones. We paid our tribute to the spirit of the place and rowed back to the shore
.
Many years later we read the legend of the Princess Thyra of Ulster (see The Legend of Loch
Maree, p.224), written down by the Reverend J.G. Campbell of Tiree at the end of last century
from the lips of an anonymous storyteller. The tree he describes, beside a well, with a
hollow in its side into which gifts were dropped, may have been the mother of the little
tree we saw. There were no ruins of monastery or chapel, but this well and another are in
the title of this book.

We have sat with the travellers, once called tinkers, listening till long after midnight
to their Lowland tales, driving home in the dark through an Angus mist so thick the trees
were invisible. We have listened to, and recorded, Jeannie Robertson in Aberdeen singing
the traditional ballads and songs which had come to her from her mother, and not from
books.

The stories in this book, all of them, came originally out of that world of storytellers
and singers. For many years they were passed on from one storyteller to another. For a very
long time they were not written down, nor printed, but there are a few references to some
of them. James IV of Scotland (1488-1513) encouraged tale-tellers, minstrels, stage-players,
singers, fools or privileged buffoons, and jesters, who might contribute to the amusement
of the court.

(The Folk Tales of Scotland - Norah and William Montgomerie – Extract from Introduction to
the 1975 Edition)