Scottish Lore & Folklore

by Ronald Macdonald Douglas

Presents the legends and lore of Scotland, including shields and badges of the clans, and information on historic battles, poetry, humor, tales, and proverbs

Genres: Scotland, Folklore, History, Mythology, Nonfiction, Poetry, Reference

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1953

Reviews

[Lucy Pollard-Gott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you are a Scot, you may discern much to be proud of--if you are not, you may wish you were" (from the Foreword). This readable, browsable book was very enjoyable for the breadth of subjects touched upon. Nearly the firs hundred pages are devoted to Scottish poems, including traditional rhymes and songs, battle songs and laments, and ballads. Some examples are "Thomas the Rhymer," "Lochinvar" (Scott), "To You Let Snow and Roses," (R.L. Stevenson), "Proud Margaret." The next section could be called "Folklore 101"--excellent for appreciating the creatures that tend to show up in "Celtic"-inspired fantasy. The "Facts" section is like a mini-almanac of Scottish names, geography, clans, battles, law, proverbs, and a glossary I am going to keep handy the next time I read a Sir Walter Scott novel with traditional dialect.

The parts on name origins and Gaelic language were fascinating. I came across a quoted speech from a play that begins "My name is Norval." Since there are several Norvals in my family tree--and I haven't encountered this name anywhere else--I know my Scottish grandmother gave her eldest son a name from the old country.

Some of my favorite things in the book were the rhymes. I like this one especially:

"Life is mostly froth and bubble;
Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own." ~Adam Lindsay Gordon

And here's an epitaph worth remembering:

"Here lie I, Martin Elginbrod.
Hae mercy on my soul, Lord God;
As I would do, were I lord God,
And Ye were Martin Elginbrod."

This book is part of my participation in the Reading Scotland challenge!

[Tegan Faust · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mainly read it for the folklore sections and loved those. Wished they were longer. Some of the letters and prose were just a page length single paragraph that made ot difficult for me to keep my place, but it was interesting. May reread some of the section again later on.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is mostly a gazeteer of locations and stories, short on sources, and could have been a lot better organised. The best bit is the 40 page essay on scottish folklore at the beginning.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Scottish Lore and Folklore” is a compendium of history, trivia and folktales from Scotland, including recipes for traditional foods, a brief list of some of the more important battles and events in Scottish history, a number of folk tales and some fragments of letters and articles by and about various important literary figures from Scotland, among other things. It was published in 1982, although it feels older than that, and the writing is clear and crisp. But it is less interesting than I had hoped; I would have liked more folklore and less military history. Still, if you’re interested in this particular country, this is not a bad book with which to start. Mildly recommended.

[Heather Domin · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a book on Highland culture than a strict folklore collection. Good for reference.

[William Shep · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to Scottish culture.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating bits of information about Scottish lore.

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too casual and not nearly as informative as I would have liked.