Strange Scottish Stories

by William Owen

Ghosts, witches, unexplained mysteries, and the supernatural are the basis for this fascinating Ghost Series which relates ghost stories from Great Britain.

143 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many another country, Scotland has a bloody history of dark deeds done and tales of the supernatural to be told during long cold winter nights. This 1981 anthology features some of those stories as retold and illustrated by William Owen. Most of the stories are from 19th Century accounts, which Mr. Owen updated with modern English and extra dialogue where he felt it was needed.

The opening story, “The Last Seaforth”, begins by telling how that laird as a boy experienced a dream while suffering from scarlet fever that predicted which of his classmates would die, suffer from disability (himself) or recover from that dread disease. Then it goes back to a falsely accused seer delivering a prophecy just before his execution that the Seaforth line would die out, which the last Seaforth carried out in painful detail.

The final story, “As Sure as Death”, talks about the horror of premature burial first, then segues into what is apparently Mr. Owen’s personal recollection of moving to the Highlands, befriending a family of blacksmiths, and participating in the funeral rites when one of them passed away. He’s momentarily startled when the corpse groans, but is assured it’s only gas, and the death certificate will be coming by the next bus.

In between are thirteen other macabre tales, about evenly divided between supernatural events and just plain horrendous murders. One of my favorites is “The Water Kelpie of Loch Ness”, which does not feature the more famous monster, but a shapeshifting horse creature that serves the Devil. (Mr. Owen appears to have written and illustrated another book entirely on the Loch Ness monster.)

The writing style is rather dry, but each story has at least one spooky illustration, and there’s interesting information about Highland customs scattered in the stories.

I think this volume was primarily aimed at the tourist trade, and I know I picked up my copy in a souvenir shop these many years ago. As such, copies could be anywhere around the world if you’re willing to hunt them down.

Recommended to fans of more staid spooky stories, and lovers of Scots memorabilia.

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the Pitlochry train station. I wasn't particularly looking for a book, but when I saw it on the shelf, it seemed intriguing and it only cost £1 so why not? Anyways, this book was an interesting read, though not particularly my favourite. I did find it fascinating how a lot of the Scottish folklore is actually rather grim, depressing, and morbid - so much of it centres around ghosts, death, and fairies. I did know a few of the stories that were mentioned prior to reading (for example, the Brahan Seer also known as Coinneach Odhar also known as Alexander MacKenzie is a very well known story over here in Inverness and particularly on the Black Isle. The story of the fairies in the Tomnahurich Cemetery right by where I live is also a very famous one). What I particularly enjoyed about these particular Scottish tales is that they all took place in the Highlands (or at least were thought to be so) so most of the stories centred around Inverness, the Black Isle, Aviemore, Fort Augustus, Fort William, etc. - all places that I have been to and travelled through. I thought it would be good bedtime reading, but as far as that was concerned, it was not. However, personally, I always find it more meaningful to know as much history as possible of the places I travel through and live in and for that reason, I found this book enlightening.

[JK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was prepared to be thoroughly terrified by this collection of stories; I wasn’t. Instead, I was filled with an immense feeling of intrigue, curiosity, and (bizarrely) déjà vu. As each of the tales originated in Scotland, mainly the Highlands, I felt a huge impact of patriotism and an odd pride at seeing my ancestors cut each other’s heads off.

Owen’s collection of tales range from myth and legend, to those he tells us are absolutely true. We are left alone to decide which of the stories fall into each category - an uncomfortable and difficult feat. Murder, ghosts, deceit, revenge, and even Falkirk’s favourite - the kelpie, are themes within the book, and each glimpse is as grim as the last.

My favourite thing about this book is its commentary on old Scottish custom and social hierarchy. We’re going as far back as the 1700s here, and it was gorgeous to read of the ways of the people in our country at that time. Even if, y’know, they were plagued with the ghost of a widow bent on vengeance.

It’s nothing that will keep you from sleeping, but there’s something really queer about it that I can’t put my finger on. Well worth a read for us Scots, and for anyone else who’s looking for a piece of something arcane.

[Sophie Dwars]

This book was a really nice read especially after I was on a tour through Scotland in early march. My tour guide mentioned some of the tales or gave a lot of history and so I could really put together the setting and surroundings of these stories.
I do however have to say that it was sometimes a little hard to read or focus. There were a lot of names and things mentioned that I didn’t need to understand the story and felt as if some plots were a little torn apart.