The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands

This is an excellent book, especially if you are writing a book set in the Highlands and need cultural information that is often left out of history books. It was very interesting and enjoyable to read (not stuffy). The most informative book on customs/culture of the Highlands I've found.

Anne Ross gives a wonderful introduction to the lore of the Scottish Highlands and the Isles. She covers Clan lore, Second Sight and the Seer, Witchcraft both black and white, Folk cures, meaning of omens and social customs. The covers the festivals dates through the year and gives you a nifty list of Folk Museums, with drawings and maps to aid the readers unfamiliar with Scotland. Gaelic speaking, Celtic scholar and archaeologists, she brings her knowledge to bear on looking at death rights, and try to remove the veneer of Christianity and look at the origins in Pagan customs that date back to the dawn of time.Its a small book only 170 pages, but she does a wonderful job bringing this part of All Things Scottish into the spotlight.Highly Recommended.

Like a beautiful fruit, what lies beneath the peel is most revealing and rewarding. And, no one has done a better job of revealing old Scottish customs and traditions than the native Gaelic speaking Celtic Scholar and Archeologist, Anne Ross.Dr. Ross takes an in-depth look at the beliefs and customs of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, stemming from pre-Christian customs and surviving for centuries through oral tradition, Christianized hymns and incantations, and folklore. This text covers the mysticism of Scottish clan lore and it's importance in Scottish society, the Seers and second sight, witchcraft and magic, cures, omens, taboos, social customs, reverence toward life/death, calendar festivals and other daily practices and rites, all stemming from the Scottish Highlands and Islands.One thing to remember about this book is that many of the sources are Christian in nature and that influence is readily seen in Scottish tradition and folklore, but the author peels away many of the Christian customs to reveal a system of beliefs and practices most commonly associated with the pre-Christian (Pagan) era. The depths which she reveals in Scottish traditions are quite amazing, and her analysis makes this a thoroughly interesting book, from cover to cover.

Anne Ross, in the tradition of F. Marian McNeill, has done a superb job in recording the core facets of Scottish Highland beliefs and customs. Covering such topics as the mystical elements surrounding Scottish clan lore, seers and the second sight, witchcraft (with the a thorough scholarly distinction made between white and black magic in Scottish tradition), cures/omens/taboos and social customs, as well as a wonderful exploration of Highland "death teachings" and cosmologies, The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands is one of those texts that will forever be looked back to. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Dr. Anne Ross is a distinguished archaeologist in the field of ancient Celtic remains. She also appreciates the important role of folklore in preserving and transmitting a culture's traditions. Drawing on her knowledge of ancient Celtic civilization and her researches into the more modern ways of Highland Scots, she presents customs that were part of Highland life for centuries. Ross handles her material with both love for her subject and a scholar's objectivity. Her unique insights make this book well worth searching for.