Norah Montgomerie (1909–1998)

The Folk Tales of Scotland is a reprint of a collection first published in 1956 and collated by Norah and William Montgomerie. It contains 52 short tales from around Scotland but mostly from the areas where Gaelic and Nordic history and influence are still strong. The tales are almost all in English though there is one in Scots as well as a fair few Scots and Gaidhlig terms thrown in and translated at the back.

The collection is fairly unusual in that it does not start with its strongest points. The early tales in the book are not really all that captivating. What they do achieve though is capture the extent of the fey folk in Scottish storytelling. Some old traditions around faeries and their taking the place of people are a reminder of the way in which difficult things like the death of a child were handled in Scottish society.

In many of the stories the hero is helped by mystical beings. It is often not really clear why that is and the hero is swept along following the advice of their benefactor who ultimately helps them triumph. There are a few of these kinds of stories at the start of the book and they are the weakest in the group.

Later on the stories become more sophisticated and include more complex narratives such as those from various Fionn mac Cumhaill stories. These are of course tales that cross the sea lanes between Ireland and Scotland and were part of a culture that was fully at ease in Gaelic Scotland as in Gaelic Ireland. Some of these stories intriguingly do not always show Fionn as being always right or successful. He makes mistakes and has to sort them out. His followers are characters in their own right and also have adventures.

There is often a sense of morality to these stories. The female characters in particular are often either a goodwife or a bonnie lass. The former is presumably a borrowing from England but speaks to the positive role of women as the goodwives are often heroes of the tales themselves with adventures to overcome. The repeated use of the phrase bonnie lass throughout the stories is interesting because it is not matched really at all by references to bonnie lads. As soon as a character is described as bonnie she is immediately identified as being good.

Some of the stories talk about things a bit more modern such as The Gael and the London Baillie's Daughter which is one of the few stories to take place outside of Scotland. The Gael in question is a man of traditional Gaelic values but finding himself in the somewhat alien environs of London. Of course it is the Gael and his way of seeing the world that ultimately triumphs.

Indeed in almost all of the stories the hero triumphs. There are a couple where that is not the case and the hero comes to a sticky end but in the main these are upbeat and enthusiastic representations of Highland and Island life. While there is the odd story that seems out of place such as the re-telling of Childe Rowlande to the Dark Tower Came, in the main these are stories rooted in Gaelic and Nordic traditions. Heroes such as Cuchulainn fill the pages as easily as ordinary folk who happen to come across the manipulation of faeries.

For those who enjoy simple, traditional tales this is a fun collection. It is not earth shaking and not all of the stories are perfect but it is a really nice rendition of a range of tales from a wonderful part of the world.… (mere)