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Notes on

The Folk-Lore

of the

North-East of Scotland

By Walter Gregor

[1881]

This is an ethnographic study of the inhabitants of the North-Eastern area of Scotland in the mid-19th century, at a time when an agrarian, barter economy still prevailed. Life was hard among these remote coastal communities, and they lived in fear of maleficent witches and the 'Evil Eye'. Many of the rituals, taboos and folkways in this book are to ward off witchcraft directed against economic mainstays such as livestock and fishing. The book has many fascinating bits of lore, as well as extensive oral poetry, all in Scots dialect. (There is, thankfully, an extensive glossary at the end, in case ye're na sure fhat all the clatterin's aboot.). There are also detailed descriptions of holidays, weddings, and other celebrations, which reveal that life was not completely grim.

--John Bruno Hare, September 26th, 2004.