| Reference Number | 216 |
| Title | Folk Tales and Fairy Lore in Gaelic and English Collected from Oral Tradition |
| Author | MacDougall, Rev. James |
| Editor | Calder, Rev. Dr George |
| Date Of Edition | 1910 |
| Date Of Language | late 19c |
| Date Of Language Ed | 19th c. |
| DateMacro | Late 19th c. |
| Date Of Language Notes | |
| Publisher | John Grant |
| Place Published | Edinburgh |
| Volume | N/A |
| Location | National, academic, and local libraries |
| Geographical Origins | Duror, Argyll |
| Geographical Origins Ed | Argyll |
| GeoMacro | Argyll mainland |
| GeoX | -6.1851 |
| GeoY | 56.7637 |
| Geographical Origins Notes | |
| Register | Literature, Prose and Verse (Oral) |
| Register Ed | Literature, Prose and Verse |
| Genre | Literature |
| Medium | Prose & Verse |
| Rating | B (TBC) A variety of fairy tales derived from oral narratives which covers many different aspects of supernatural belief. Many good examples of migratory-type legends. Good examples of the Gaelic dialect of Argyll. |
| Alternative Author Name | N/A |
| Manuscript Or Edition | Ed. |
| Size And Condition | 23.8cm x 15.2cm |
| Short Title | Folk Tales and Fairy Lore |
| Reference Details | NLS: Jac.II.6/1 |
| Number Of Pages | xv, 328 |
| Gaelic Text By | N/A |
| Illustrator | N/A |
| Social Context | The Rev. James MacDougall (1833-1906) was a native of Craignish, Argyll, where he was born on 8 September 1833, the fourth son of John MacDougall. After his initial education, presumably at the local school, he later taught before entering college. He studied at the University of Glasgow. Licensed by the Presbytery of Lorne and ordained to Glencrenan in 1868, he was ordained having been presented by the Crown on 30 June 1871, and became a missionary and began preaching in remote areas of the West Highlands. He was eventually called to the Parish of Duror in which he served for thirty-five years. On 11 July 1900 MacDougall married, Agnes (d. 1940), a daughter of Cuthbert Cowan and Eliza Jane Tingcomhe, Ayr. MacDougall died at Duror Manse on 4 September 1906 and was interred in Pennyfuir Cemetery, Oban. Of a literary bent, MacDougall contributed to the series Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition, vol. I (Craignsih Tales (London: David Nutt, 1889) and vol. III (Folk and Hero Tales (London: David Nutt, 1891) under the general editorship of Lord Archibald Campbell; a tale ‘The Urisk of the Corrie of the Howlings’, Zeitschrif für Celtische Philologie, vol. 1 (1897), pp. 328-41; Hymns Translated into Gaelic (1900) and also a pamphlet on the MacDougall clan which I have been unable to identify. |
| Contents | Alan Bruford in his introduction to the reprinted text (1978) described the volume as ‘the most important corpus of Gaelic fairy legends collected by a single hand yet published.’ (p. v). The text contains an ‘Editor’s Preface’ (pp. vii-viii), a ‘Biographical Introduction’ (pp. ix-xii) and Table of Contents (pp. xiii-xv). The main text is divided into two sections: Folk Tales, 8 items (pp. 2-99), where headings are given to each individual tale and Fairy Stories (pp. 100-319), which is further subdivided into three sections: 1.—The Social Fairies, 25 items (pp. 100-213), II.—Solitaries, 20 items (pp. 214 -97) and III.—Water Sprites, 4 items (pp. 294-319), and then ‘Notes’ (pp. 321-28). The first section of the main text presents folktales with an emphasis upon supernatural elements which are mainly legendary. The second section of the main text presents fairy tales, many of which are migratory types. Supernatural beliefs once held in common are well presented and supernatural creatures such as fairies, changelings, glastigs, urisks and water-horses all make an appearance. Unfortunately, MacDougall does not provide any sources for his materials and, in a sense, he may justifiably be called the author of them. It may be safe to presume that most of the tales were collected in and around Duror, North Lorn. It remains unclear whether the manuscripts from which the Rev. George Calder worked up the first edition are extant or not. Bruford also supplied a cautionary note for one tale entitled ‘The Hunchback of the Willow Brake’ where ‘he seems to have added names and descriptions in a style foreign to traditional Gaelic storytelling.’ (p. ix). The editor in the preface (p. viii) duly acknowledges assistance from Henry Whyte (Fionn), Duncan M’Issac and to the Rev. Charles Moncrieff Robertson all of whom helped to read the proofs and who also offered corrections. |
| Sources | |
| Language | In the Preface (p. vii) the editor explains that he has simplified the spelling and gives a few examples of his methodology. The language is descriptive and expressive of an informal storytelling register where important incidents are represented in direct speech and occasionally are expressed in verse. |
| Orthography | The spelling conforms generally to the orthography of the early twentieth century. The acute and grave accents are retained. Accents are not shown on capital letters. In the preface, the editor notes some corrigenda (p. viii). |
| Edition | First edition. A later annotated reprint (where only English texts are reproduced) was published in 1978 along with an Introduction by Alan Bruford. |
| Other Sources | |
| Further Reading | Anon., ‘Death of the Rev. James MacDougall, Duror’, Oban Times, no. 2702 (8 September 1906), 5. Anon., ‘The Late Rev. James MacDougall, Duror’, Oban Times, no. 2704 (22 September 1906), 3. Campbell, Rev. John Gregorson, The Gaelic Otherworld, ed. by Ronald Black (Edinburgh, 2008: Birlinn). Davis, Deborah. ‘Contexts of Ambivalence: The Folklore Activities of Nineteenth-Century Scottish Highland Ministers,’ Folklore, vol. 103 (1992ii), 207-21. MacDougall, Rev. James, Highland Fairy Legends, ed. by George Calder with a new introduction by Alan Bruford (Ipswich, 1978: D. S. Brewer) [annotated reprint]. Scott, Hew, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, vol. IV (Edinburgh, 1923: Oliver and Boyd), 84. |
| Credits | |
| Link Label | Digital version created by National Library of Scotland |
| Link | http://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/pageturner.cfm?id=76596288 |
| Download File | 216.pdf |
| NumWords | 46167 |
