Folklore of the Scottish Highlands [Paperback]

Anne Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1990

The folklore of the Scottish Highlands is unique and very much alive. Dr Anne Ross, a Gaelic-speaking Celtic scholar and archaeologist, has lived and worked in crofting communities, enabling her to collect information at first hand and to assess the veracity of material already published. She portrays the beliefs and customs of Scottish Gaelic society in the light of Celtic and more recent Scottish history, including: seasonal customs deriving from Celtic festivals; the famous waulking songs; the Highland tradition of seers and second sight; omens and taboos, both good and bad; chilling experiences of witchcraft and the Evil Eye; rituals associated with life and death. Dr Anne Ross, formerly Lecturer in the Extramural Department of the University of Southampton, where she taught Iron Age and general Celtic topics, now lives near Aberystwyth and teaches part time at the University. She is the author of several books including Roman Celtic Britain and of the Pagan Celts, as well as numerous papers and teaches part time.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: B T Batsford Ltd; 2nd edition (January 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0713454474
• ISBN-13: 978-0713454475
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,814,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction on Highland lore, March 22, 2003

By 

Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands (Hardcover)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sympathetic Insights and Scholarly Objectivity, March 29, 2000

By 

Francine Nicholson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Folklore of the Scottish Highlands (Paperback)

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Mystical & Very Revealing!, February 6, 2003

By 

Andrea Acailawen (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Folklore of the Scottish Highlands (Paperback)

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.