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The Land of No Death
The tale of Jack's magical adventures through the realms of worlds beyond. In his quest to find the Land of No Death, he is accompanied and aided by strange friends and met by weird creatures and ethereal beings. Facing both evil and hopelessness with virtue, he eventually finds the truth.
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1993
2 people want to read
About the author
Stanley Robertson
10 booksStanley Robertson was a Scottish storyteller, author, ballad singer, and piper.
He was born into a Romani family which had settled in Aberdeen and worked for thirty-nine years as a fish filliter in the city. From his aunt, folk singer Jeannie Robertson, and others including his father, he inherited a huge repertoire of northeast ballads. He was the keyworker for the Heritage Lottery-funded "Oral and Cultural Traditions of Scottish Travellers" project at the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, from April 2002 until April 2005.
As a member of the Romani community, Robertson documented the group's lore and that of his own, and promoted the cultural traditions of Scottish Romani among young people in schools and community groups. His storytelling was affected by the different trades at which he worked, including his long years spent filleting in the Aberdeen fish houses, where he gathered many contemporary stories.
In June 2003, he represented the University of Aberdeen and Scotland at the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.
He published three plays and seven books, some written in his local Scots dialect. He was featured in more than 100 radio programmes and 50 television appearances and made numerous personal appearances on stage and in theatres, schools and colleges.
On 27 November 2008, at age 68, Robertson, who was an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Aberdeen's Elphinstone Institute, was conferred an honorary degree of Master of the university (MUniv), in recognition for the work he had done.
He was a frequent broadcaster and appeared regularly at storytelling festivals. He was an Honorary Founder of the Scottish Storytelling Forum. Robertson died at his home in Aberdeen on Sunday, 2 August 2009.
He was born into a Romani family which had settled in Aberdeen and worked for thirty-nine years as a fish filliter in the city. From his aunt, folk singer Jeannie Robertson, and others including his father, he inherited a huge repertoire of northeast ballads. He was the keyworker for the Heritage Lottery-funded "Oral and Cultural Traditions of Scottish Travellers" project at the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, from April 2002 until April 2005.
As a member of the Romani community, Robertson documented the group's lore and that of his own, and promoted the cultural traditions of Scottish Romani among young people in schools and community groups. His storytelling was affected by the different trades at which he worked, including his long years spent filleting in the Aberdeen fish houses, where he gathered many contemporary stories.
In June 2003, he represented the University of Aberdeen and Scotland at the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.
He published three plays and seven books, some written in his local Scots dialect. He was featured in more than 100 radio programmes and 50 television appearances and made numerous personal appearances on stage and in theatres, schools and colleges.
On 27 November 2008, at age 68, Robertson, who was an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Aberdeen's Elphinstone Institute, was conferred an honorary degree of Master of the university (MUniv), in recognition for the work he had done.
He was a frequent broadcaster and appeared regularly at storytelling festivals. He was an Honorary Founder of the Scottish Storytelling Forum. Robertson died at his home in Aberdeen on Sunday, 2 August 2009.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 15, 2016
It's hard to know what to make of this book. The blurb on the back would have the reader believe that it's a collection of traditional stories from the branch of the Roma people who lived in Scotland, and that Robertson is a master storyteller and accomplished author writing in English for the first time.
But there's a strong tradition of storytelling in Scotland, and a rich tradition of myth and legend. The stories don't read as the transcribed words of a master storyteller — I've listened to Robin Williamson tell stories too often, perhaps (see also The Craneskin Bag: Celtic Stories And Poems, for instance). Nor do the stories read as something written by an accomplished author, such as Tove Jannson. They read, rather, as something written by a parent for his children in a different language and translated by someone who is more interested in the structure of them than the skill of the telling. It reminds me quite strongly of the simplistic, occasionally clunky structure of stories in The Turnip Princess and other newly discovered fairy tales.
Elements of the stories are clearly recognisable to anyone with a passing familiarity with Campbell's Hero's Journey. There is a whiff of Odyssean myth, too, although the stories are clearly aimed at a much younger age group. I could imagine younger primary school age children enjoying these stories, or precocious nursery-age children. I'd have liked them when I was about four or five.
A curiosity; and an example, I think, of how oral tradition can become oddly stiff when confined by ink and paper.
But there's a strong tradition of storytelling in Scotland, and a rich tradition of myth and legend. The stories don't read as the transcribed words of a master storyteller — I've listened to Robin Williamson tell stories too often, perhaps (see also The Craneskin Bag: Celtic Stories And Poems, for instance). Nor do the stories read as something written by an accomplished author, such as Tove Jannson. They read, rather, as something written by a parent for his children in a different language and translated by someone who is more interested in the structure of them than the skill of the telling. It reminds me quite strongly of the simplistic, occasionally clunky structure of stories in The Turnip Princess and other newly discovered fairy tales.
Elements of the stories are clearly recognisable to anyone with a passing familiarity with Campbell's Hero's Journey. There is a whiff of Odyssean myth, too, although the stories are clearly aimed at a much younger age group. I could imagine younger primary school age children enjoying these stories, or precocious nursery-age children. I'd have liked them when I was about four or five.
A curiosity; and an example, I think, of how oral tradition can become oddly stiff when confined by ink and paper.
Displaying 1 of 1 review