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The Silver Bough (Canongate Classic) Paperback – January 1, 2001

by F. Marian McNeill (Author)

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A marvellous and indispensible treasury of Scottish folklore and folk belief from the world of Celtic magic, gods and fairies, to the prophesies of the Brahan seer, second sight, witchcraft, earth magic, selkies, changelings and a host of traditional spells and cures. The Silver Bough involved many years of research into both living and recorded folklore, and remains a classic of literature.

Print length

242 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Birlinn Ltd
Publication date

January 1, 2001
Dimensions

0.64 x 4.96 x 7.69 inches
ISBN-10

0862412315
ISBN-13

978-0862412319
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Florence Marian McNeill was born and brought up in an Orkney manse, where her father kept up many of the old customs. After graduating from Glasgow university, she travelled widely, visiting Greece, Egypt and Palestine amongst other places, working in London as part of the suffragette movement and later as a freelance journalist. Her only novel, The Road Home (1932) was loosely based on her years in London and Glasgow. She settled in Edinburgh in 1926. A lifelong interests in traditional Scottish lore first found expression in The Scottish Kitchen (1929), and later The Scots Cellar (1956), well loved books of old recipes and convivial customs.

Product details

Publisher : Birlinn Ltd (January 1, 2001)
Language : English
Paperback : 242 pages
ISBN-10 : 0862412315
ISBN-13 : 978-0862412319
Item Weight : 7.2 ounces
Dimensions : 0.64 x 4.96 x 7.69 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,765 in Folklore & Mythology Studies
- #9,349 in Great Britain History (Books)
- #280,823 in Religion & Spirituality (Books)

Customer Reviews:
8 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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M. Clarke

Authentic folklore research, not new age fluff.

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2015

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Authentic research done almost 100 years ago by a respected, educated, Scottish female folklorist. Not new-age drivel! If you can find this scarce book at a reasonable price, snap it up. The chapters on the gods, the new faith, magic and fairies (which she theorizes come from a folklore memory of ancient, small statured hill dwellers, not "gossamer winged fairies of children's books," are particularly good. I would have given it 5 stars but the chapter on witches mostly relates records of their prosecution, not as much on how they operated.

6 people found this helpful

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Christopher R. Travers

Useful summary of many folk beliefs

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2009

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This work contains a great summary of many elements of Scottish folklore, but there are some areas where McNeil accepts the sources a little too uncritically. For example, I didn't find her discussions of the druids particularly enlightening, and there were several points where I saw a great deal of Germanic material and the author didn't seem interested in sorting Germanic from Celtic.

This being said, I found the discussions of magic, witchcraft, and fairy folk to be of interest and adding considerably to my knowledge in the field of folklore.

On the whole, though, this is a useful resource for understanding uniquely Scottish folklore. I would generally recommend it with the above reservations.

11 people found this helpful

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Pepper

The Scottish

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2016

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Scottish festivals! Need I say more.

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Frank MacEowen

A Classic Work That Should Be Re-released

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2002

F. Marian McNeill, in the tradition of Alexander Carmichael (Carmina Gadelica) and Anne Ross' The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands, has done an immense service in her writing The Silver Bough Series. These books are currently out of print, unfortunately. If you can find a copy of the first volume you will not be sorry. Little known are the other three volumes which explore a number of very ancient Scottish customs and beliefs, from Selkirk to Orkney to the Isle of Mull to Aberdeen and Fife, which survive to the present day in many cases. In an era of "Celtic" insta-books some of these classical ethnographic sources are deeply refreshing.

20 people found this helpful

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Aimee

Insight on Scottish Folk Customs

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2000

This book is excellent for ethnologists and the curious alike! Although it is out of print, it is a book worth finding! Written in 4 volumes, each takes a look at different parts of the Scottish folk beliefs -from witchcraft and second sight, to songs and stories told over time, this book has it all, and in an easy to read-straight forward fashion. Definitely a book for anyone remotely interested in Scotland or non-christian customs!

14 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Evie

Very useful reference book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2021

Verified Purchase

I love this book. I have previously read it and others in the series as I am interested in old customs and history. I intend to buy more of the volumes available in time.

One person found this helpful

Margaret L

Wonderful folk history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2013

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This is a book about the old folk tales, legends and myths of Scotland; written in 1956 - 7. It appears under various headings, such as 'The Druids', 'The Gods', 'Magic', 'Fairies'. There were many words that, as a non-Scots and non-Gaelic speaker I didn't understand - all of which seemed to add to its mystery. I enjoyed it immensely and shall keep it for reference beside Frazer's
'The Golden Bough'.

One person found this helpful

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