The Scottish Fairy Book

Collection

By: Elizabeth W Grierson

Narrated by: Steven Cree

A collection of 28 Scottish fairy tales, perfect for children (and adults) of all ages.

Herein you will find what may be called Celtic stories, which were handed down for centuries by word of mouth by professional storytellers, who went about from clachan to clachan in the Highlands and Islands, earning a night's shelter by giving a night's entertainment.

There are, roughly speaking, two distinct types of Scottish fairy tales. These stories (which are also common to the North of Ireland), are wild and fantastic, with every flavour of Scotland throughout. They tell of heroes and heroines who set out on dangerous quests, giants and monsters, fairy folk and other mythical creatures, strange other-lands and mysterious meetings. They have a peculiar Celtic fascination of their own, and they are quite distinct from the more traditional (Grimm-style) fairy tales. These tales, in Scotland, have also a character of their own, for there is no country where the existence of spirits and goblins has been so implicitly believed in up to a comparatively recent date.

From morality tales to spooky stories, these 28 fascinating fictions are performed with energy and amazing characterisation by Steven Cree, one of the UK's most versatile actors, currently making a big splash in the US hit TV series Outlander.

Collected and edited by Elizabeth W Grierson and originally published in 1910, the audio collection contains the following tales: 'Thomas the Rhymer', 'Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree', 'Whippety-Stourie', 'The Red Etin', 'The Seal-Catcher and the Merman', 'The Pageboy and the Silver Goblet', 'The Black Bull of Norroway', 'The Wee Bannock', 'The Elfin Knight', 'Nippit-Fit and Clippit-Fit', 'The Fairies of Merlin's Crag', 'Habetrot', 'The Spinstress', 'The Wedding of Robin Redbreast and Jenny Wren', 'The Dwarfie Stone', 'Canonbie Dick and Thomas of Ercildoune', 'The Laird o' Co', 'Poussie Baudrons', 'The Milk-White Doo', 'The Draiglin' Hogney', 'The Brownie o' Ferne-Den', 'The Witch of Fife', 'Assipattle and the Mester Stoorworm', 'The Fox and the Wolf', 'Katherine Crackernuts', 'The Well o' the World's End', 'Farquhar MacNeill', 'Peerifool', 'The Heather Lintie'.

Read by Steven Cree (Outlander, Brave, John Carter, 300 Rise of an Empire, Maleficent.

Public Domain (P)2016 Spokenworld Audio & Ladbroke Audio Ltd

Critic reviews

"This is a lovely set of stories for all ages that captures the tradition of Scottish story-telling for future generations. As I have come to expect from Spokenworld, the production on the audio is excellent and the music very well chosen. This collection would make a lovely gift for children of any age or just a great excuse to get back into listening to traditional bedtime stories." (8/10 The Cult Den)

Eerie and beautiful.

wonderful stories with lots of fairies and explanations for things that people think they already know about. The narrator is perfect, his manner of speaking enhance is everything. listen to this book and you will not be sorry. I stayed up nights doing it!

fantastic

Several hours that carry you away to another land that you might consider home. A retelling or pretelling of stories from your childhood

The Scottish Fairy Book

This is a wonderful book. It’s great to hear the old stories.
The man who read the stories was excellent.
I will listen to it again and again.

Wonderful

Masterful reading...The narrator enjoyed it as much as the listener ...great choice of tales! wonderful listen.

Perfect for children with imaginations

i can't give marks for originality. some of the stories were repetitive. some seemed to be slightly altered versions of the more famous stories. BUT, these are intended for children and it serves that purpose very well. you can almost imagine an old grandmother working on some task while telling one these tales to an eager listening child.
i particularly enjoyed the cautionary tales.