Popular Tales of the West Highlands Vol 1

Popular Tales of the West Highlands Vol. 1 (1890)

Compiled and Edited by J.F. Campbell - better known as "John of Islay"

This volume contains twenty-three ursgeuln, or tales, plus twenty-two fables from the Western Highlands of Scotland. These are tales and stories in which something 'Fairy' or magical occurs, something extraordinary - fairies, giants,dwarfs, speaking animals, or simply the remarkable stupidity of some of the characters.

But these aren't just a collection of amusing and entertaining stories. In the days before schools these are the tales that were used to teach the lessons of life. The story of MURCHAG A'S MIONACHAG, for example, is legendary among the Gaelic tales. It is the infant ladder to learning about the chain of cause and effect, and fully as sensible as any of its kind. It used to be commonly taught tochildren of five or six years of age, and repeated by school boys, and was often recalled by grownups in all parts of the Highlands.

Popular Tales of the West Highlands Volume 1

Journey Back in Time

So take some time out and travel back to a period before television and radio,a time when tales were passed on orally--at the drying kilns, at the communal well or in homes, where families would gather around a crackling and spitting hearth and granddad or grandma or uncle or auntie would delight and captivate the gathering with stories passed on to them from their parents and grand-parents from time immemorial.