PREVIEW
Bob Pegg is a Highlands-based storyteller, who has previously written, Highland Folk Tales and The Little Book of Hogmanay.
This time he’s put Argyll, which is said to be teeming with folk tales, in the spotlight.
The region has played a key part in the history of Scotland since prehistoric times, and before the invention of radio and television, tales were at the heart of Argyll’s popular entertainment, in evening ceilidhs around the peat fire, and meeting places like the corn-drying kiln and the blacksmith’s shop.
Using fresh, contemporary language, this new collection of tales has its roots firmly in Argyll but the book also celebrates the storytellers themselves and the Victorians who meticulously took the stories down by hand; tale-gatherers like John Francis Campbell of Islay, and John Gregorson Campbell of Tiree. The stories themselves are direct, humane, sometimes raw and wild, and they’ve lost none of their power to enthral and entertain.
