Highland Superstitions and Seers (Folklore History Series)

Highland Superstitions and Seers (Folklore History Series)
Author: James Cromb
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
Total Pages: 29
Release: 2024-05-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1528799585

The Gael were, as a people, pre-eminently superstitious. They were, in the main, a simple minded race, credulous to the last degree, and in almost every form in which superstition has existed it was to be found among them. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Folklore of the Scottish Highlands

Folklore of the Scottish Highlands
Author: Anne Ross
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780752419046

The folklore of the Scottish Highlands is unique and very much alive. Dr Anne Ross is a Gaelic-speaking scholar and archaeologist who has lived and worked in crofting communities. This has enabled her to collect information at first hand and to assess the veracity of material already published. In this substantially revised edition of a classic work first published 30 years ago, she portrays the beliefs and customs of Scottish Gaelic society, 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; and, chilling experiences of witchcraft and the Evil Eye Rituals associated with birth and death. Having taken her MA, MA Hons and PhD at the University of Edinburgh, Anne Ross became Research Fellow in the School of Scottish Studies, Edinburgh. She then rapidly established herself as one of Britain's leading Celtic scholars. Her seminal work is "Pagan Celtic Britain" and she has also published "Druids - Preachers of Immortality" with Tempus Publishing.

The Brahan Seer

The Brahan Seer
Author: Alex Sutherland
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 9783039118687

The Brahan Seer is a legendary figure known throughout Scotland and the Scottish Diaspora and indeed anywhere there is an interest in looking into the future. This book traces the legend of the Seer between the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries. It considers the seer figure in relation to aspects of Scottish Highland culture and society that shaped its development during this period. These include the practice and prosecution of witchcraft, the reporting and scientific investigation of instances of second sight, and the perennial belief in and use of prophecy as a means of predicting events. In so doing the book provides a set of historicised contexts for understanding the genesis of the legend and how it changed over time through a synthesis of historical events, oral tradition, folklore and literary Romanticism. It makes a contribution to the debates not only about witchcraft, second sight and prophecy but also about the relationship between 'popular' and 'elite' culture in Scotland. By taking the Brahan Seer as a case study it argues that 'popular' culture is not antithetical to 'elite' culture but rather in constant (and complex) interaction with it.