All Stories

An image of Arbroath Abbey

Tam Tyrie the Piper

Tam Tyrie the Piper The story should end there. The next morning, Tam and his family should emerge into the sun and make the rest

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A group of ducks swim on a lake

The St Vigeans Kelpie

The St Vigeans Kelpie ‘When your congregation takes communion after the minister takes his life, this hill will fall in upon itself, and your church

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Nuckelavee

Nuckelavee Tammie saw blood, black as tar, running through yellow veins, and great white sinews, thick as horse tethers… By Mr W. Traill Dennison in

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The Twins of Edzell

The Twins of Edzell Now the villagers were suspicious of outsiders but courteous enough. She had married into a well-respected local family, and soon people

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Sarah’s Second Sight

Sarah’s Second Sight The area around Rannoch has been renowned in times gone by for its seers, those with the so-called second sight… By David

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The Cruel Brother

The Cruel Brother At the end of the celebration, her brother John hoisted her up on her horse, and said: “You are high and I

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Will-o’-the-wisp

Will-o’-the-wisp In Scottish folklore, will-o’-the-wisps are variously depicted either as mischievous spirits (typically fairies), or even the ghosts of the dead, eager to lead travellers

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Am Fear Liath Mòr

Am Fear Liath Mòr The Big Grey Man is alleged to be ten feet tall and extremely thin, with long limbs and dark hair. The

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Maggy Moulach

Maggy Moulach Maggy, standing at barely two feet tall, and sporting a great head of hair – or hairy hands – is most often associated

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Cù-Sìth 

Cù-Sìth Not only was the Cù-Sìth terrifying, it was also believed to be a harbinger of death. Unlike the Cat-Sith, who could only snatch the

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Cat-Sìth

Cat Sìth The Cat-Sìth is, perhaps, the most unusual fairy in all of Scottish folklore. The Cat-Sìth, found both in Scottish and Irish mythology, is

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Selkies

Selkies Selkies are a shape-shifting magical creature, found all over Scotland, Ireland, and Iceland. Selkies typically wore the hide of a seal, which allowed them

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The Banshee

The Banshee Banshees exist primarily in Scottish and Irish folklore, but a counterpart can also be found in Welsh mythology – and they are women

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Jane of George Street

Jane of George Street It wasn’t just her figure that rendered her unusual. Her clothes, while regal and well-kept, were incredibly out of date. Words

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Kelpies

Kelpies Typically residing near water, and taking the form of a black horse, the kelpie would lure travellers to their death. Words by Liana Paraschaki,

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The Boghall Brownie

The Boghall Brownie To leave my old haunts, oh my heart it is sair, But the wife gae me blankets – she’ll see me nae

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The Mermaid Wife

The Mermaid Wife She begged and begged and begged the Shetlander to give her back her skin. But the man, stunned by her beauty and

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The Legend of Cora Linn

The Legend of Cora Linn “There cannot be a scene more romantic than this.” By Kevin Robertson-Damer Thirty kilometres south of Glasgow, near the UNESCO

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The Wee Bannock

The Wee Bannock It ran and ran, until it came across another large cottage that had just been newly thatched, and seeing the door open,

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The Witch of Fife

The Witch of Fife Here, all the Elves, Faeries, and Mermaids of the North were celebrating with Warlocks, Brownies, Pixies, and even the Phantom Hunters,

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The Milk White Doo

The Milk White Doo Pew, pew, My minny me slew, My daddy me chew, My sister gathered my banes, And put them between twa milk-white

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Sir James the Rose

Sir James the Rose If you visit Crail, take a walk along South Marketgate, past The Golf Hotel along to the Parish Kirk where you’ll

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The Red Etin

The Red Etin His mother said she would make him a cake for his journey and sent him off with a bucket to fetch some

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The Watershed Battle

The Watershed Battle an epic battle ensued between these two great giants upon Rannoch Moor: the watershed of Central Scotland…. By David White Thousands of

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Tam O’Shanter

Tam O’Shanter She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,  A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum By David White & Robert Burns Tam O’Shanter is perhaps

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Earl Beardie and Auld Nick

Earl Beardie and Auld Nick One cold Saturday night, Earl Beardie was playing cards with a friend in Glamis Castle. Deep in the castle, sheltered

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The Nuckelavee

The Nuckelavee The terrifying Nuckelavee wasn’t just hairless, but completely skinless as well. Tammas watched as the red-raw flesh writhed….. By Graeme Johncock There are

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beach in fife

The De’il of Ardrossan

The De’il of Ardrossan If you walk along the sand from Ardrossan South Beach and glance eastward, you will see the red ruin of Ardrossan

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The Vengeful Mermaid

The Vengeful Mermaid “Ye may think on your cradle- I’ll think on my stane, An’ there’ll never be an heir to Knockdolion again”. By Taylor

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illustration of gold tree and silver tree tale

Gold-tree and Silver-tree

Gold-tree and Silver-tree Silver-tree went home and begged the king to ready his long ship, saying it had been too long since she had seen

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The Dream Makers

The Dream Makers The girl carried on with her work, learning more all the time. Every day it was the same and every night the

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The Thunder Hag

Conall and The Thunder Hag One day during the height of summer, the Thunder Hag came to Scotland in a black chariot drawn by ferocious

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Rashiecoats

Rashiecoats Now more downcast than ever, the Princess returned to the henwife once more, and the henwife said “this time, ask yer faither fur a

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Whuppity Stoorie

Whuppity Stoorie “Pitter patter, Haly Watter.” Then from her pocket she drew a small bottle with something oily inside it and daubed the liquid around

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Martin and the Dragon

Martin and the Dragon “Tempted at Pitempton,Draigled at Baldragon,Stricken at Strathmartin,And kill’d at Martin’s Stane.” By Rebecca Brown The City of Dundee is full of

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Angus and Bride

Bride, Angus and the Cailleach And so winter gave way to spring, and then summer and autumn as Angus and Bride continued to rule, only

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The Baobhan Sith

The Baobhan Sith Before long, the women were singing an enchanting song and the hunters needed no more invitation to dance. They all seemed completely

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Samhain

Samhain While the supermarket shelves are stocked with plastic scythes and witches hats, this time of year meant something much different to our ancestors. By

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The Headless Drummer Boy

The Headless Drummer Boy …round and round and round, rat-tat-tatting on his drum. On closer inspection, frightened castle servants would observe that the unknown young

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The Gorbals Vampire

The Gorbals Vampire After school, hundreds of children of all ages armed themselves with blades and crosses, stakes and dogs and descended upon the city’s

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Bruce and the Spider

Bruce and the Spider If at first, you don’t succeed: try, try, try again.  By Rebecca Brown The tale of Bruce and the Spider is

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The Kelpie of Loch Ness

The Kelpie of Loch Ness Macgrigor drew his hefty claymore and struck the Kelpie’s nose. The Kelpie yelped in fright and rushed backwards… Words by

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The Worm of Linton

The Worm of Linton Upon arriving at what Sommerville took to be the lair of the beast he….. By David White The Worm of Linton

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The Frog Prince

The Frog Prince “Deep in the woods, there is a well. They say that the water from the well is sourced from a prince’s blood,

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The Brownie’s Coat

The Brownie’s Coat He leapt off the horse outside the house of the mid-wife and banged upon her door. Upon answering the mid-wife…. Words by

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First Footing

Scotland’s first-footing Tradition Tradition asks for a very particular type of first-footer: dark haired men are preferred. By Rebecca Brown Scotland claims many traditions around

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The Kelpie’s Chimney

The Kelpie’s Chimney A legend, still told around Scottish fires to this day although the origin is lost in time, speaks of a Kelpie which

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The Legend of Heather Ale

The Legends of Heather Ale From the bonny bells of heatherThey brewed a drink long-syne,Was sweeter far than honey… By David White The legend of

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Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas the Rhymer He leapt off the horse outside the house of the mid-wife and banged upon her door. Upon answering the mid-wife…. By Charles

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The Witch of Laggan

The Witch of Laggan As the hunter sat listening to the howling storm as it whistled by, there entered at the door an apparently poor

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Taken by the Fair Folk

Taken by the Fair Folk Her husband, one evening after sunset, while riding in his own field, heard a most pleasant concert of music, and

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The Brownie’s Coat

The Brownie’s Coat (early text) This an older and briefer text depicting the tale of the Border brownie. Good for  those looking for less of

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The Sprightly Tailor

The Sprightly Tailor A sprightly tailor was employed by the great Macdonald, in his castle at Saddell, in order to make the laird a pair

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Crail's Bluestane, Bluestone Folklore

Bluestane

The Story of Crail’s Bluestane If you visit Crail, take a walk along South Marketgate, past The Golf Hotel along to the Parish Kirk where

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