Popular Tales of the West Highlands Vol. II Index

This is the second of four volumes of Campbell's collection of Scottish folklore. For the most part this volume is a continuation of the same sort of material in volume I, presenting folklore which has themes and motifs similar to other northern European traditions (and, of course, world folklore), albeit in a Scottish setting. Towards the end Campbell includes two unique tales, The Fair Gruagach, Son of the King of Eirinn, and The Knight of the Red Shield. These appear to be true remnants of ancient Celtic or pre-Celtic mythopoetic texts, and have a narrative structure and prose style that are radically different than previous material. Also of interest are the endnotes to The Smith and the Fairies, (see this and following files), which have a summary of the regional Fairy lore of West Scotland. Production note: In this volume I have included several shorter Gaelic passages, particularly in the Chapter on Riddles.