The Penguin Book of Scottish Folktales

by Neil Philip

The telling of folktales in Scotland comes from an oral tradition that blends rich imagination with verbal artistry.
Kate Crackernuts and the two herdsmen of Lochbuie, the Black Laird and the Milk-white Doo, Oisean, Mac Iain Direach and the wonders of the Whuppity Stoorie - these are some of the colourful myths and legends that survive from Scotland's turbulent past.
Neil Philip's extensive collection brings together stirring stories from all parts of Scotland. Here are over 100 memorable tales - from the vibrant Gaelic tradition of the Highlands and Islands to the enduring legends handed down by the Lowland Scots.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Paperback

Published August 1, 1996

About the author

Neil Philip is a writer, folklorist and poet. He is married to the artist Emma Bradford, and lives in the Cotswolds, England. Neil loves words, poetry, and the art of storytelling in all its forms. Among his many books are A Fine Anger, Victorian Village Life, The Cinderella Story, The Penguin Book of English Folktales, Mythology (with Philip Wilkinson), The Great Mystery, War and the Pity of War, The New Oxford Book of Childrens Verse, The Tale of Sir Gawain, Horse Hooves & Chicken Feet, and The Adventures of Odysseus. Neil has contributed to numerous journals, including The Times, and Signal: Approaches to Childrens Books, and has also written for stage, screen, and radio. His work has won numerous awards and honours, including the Aesop Award of the American Folklore Society and the Literary Criticism Book Award of the Childrens Literature Association. Outside of the storied world, Neil is passionate about cats, art, music, France, food & wine, and friendship.

Reviews

[Julian Meynell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of folk tales from Scotland. It is very much for people interested in folk tales and has them as they were originally first written. Some of them are written in a very thick scottish brogue, so thick that they can be quite difficult to read. As is the case for all European folk tales there is often a repetition of themes events and plots that are told elsewhere in more well known versions.

I quite like folk tales, but these are not as compelling as other collections I have read. For whatever reason they are not as fascinating or memorable as one might expect, if you are familiar with folk tales in there original and not there bowdlerized versions. As such, I would not recommend this book for someone new or newish to the genre. If you have read collections of folk tales before, then this collection is worth reading, but it is really only for the enthusiast.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a challenging read. Part of it was the language some of the stories were written in, as some were quite heavy in the Scottish dialect, being written directly from the source. There was also a bit of repetitiveness in some of the stories and some just weren't that interesting. However, it was a reasonable book to pick up occasionally and read snippets, as none of the stories were very long. Probably most interesting for someone with a fascination for folk tales and history.

[Shane]

This book was very odd, indeed, and it's difficult to describe. It doesn't actually tell the stories, so much as describe an outline of a type of story and then tell you how different parts of the story change from different places and times. That's probably interesting to some people, but I'd rather have the actual stories, as well. Didn't finish it.