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The Folk Tales of Scotland

by Norah and William Montgomerie

ISBN: 9781841586946
Imprint: Birlinn
Publication Date: Apr 2008
Format: Hardback
Price: £12.99
Stock Status: reprinting

'Buy it for all the children in your life - and the adults too! Well done Birlinn for making it available again,' - Facts & Fiction Storytelling Magazine

The classic folk tales of Scotland were passed down from storyteller to storyteller, and from the first sentence they held the attention of the listeners and readers as though a spell had been cast over them, transporting them to a magical realm where mermaids and men, selkies and sailors, ogres and princesses all mingle and are miraculously transformed.

First published in 1956, the Montgomeries, distinguished folklorists, gathered these captivating stories from all parts of Scotland. This collection became a classic of the storytelling tradition retold in a simple, dramatic style, appealing to adult and child alike. Now published by Birlinn Limited in a handsome gift edition and illustrated with Norah Montgomerie’s own original drawings, it is a book to be treasured for years as the key to an enchanted, timeless world.                

Poet William Montgomerie and his wife Norah, who lived in Edinburgh, collected a large and unique library of books, tapes and recordings of traditional Scottish rhymes, tales and games. They edited two collections of nursery rhymes, Scottish Nursery Rhymes and Sandy Candy, and Norah Montgomerie edited and compiled three story books for parents with young children. They are survived by a daughter, Dian Elvin, who lives in Oxfordshire.