Abstract
IT is perhaps owing to the fact that north-east Scotland has been less well served by students that it does not figure so largely as the west in the literature of folklore and primitive belief. That this is not due to a lack of material is shown by the data which Mr. McPherson has collected and published in this book. As he points out, no systematic study of the folklore of this area has been made since the publication of “Notes on the Folklore of the North-East of Scotland”, by Dr. Walter Gregor, nearly fifty years ago. Mr. McPherson has here collected and classified the large amount of material which has accumulated since that date, and in addition he himself has examined the ecclesiastical and burghal records which, while wishing to ignore superstitious practices, frequently were forced to note old ways and modes of thought and life in opposition to the views of the Church. Hence much valuable information upon such subjects as well-worship, tree, river and water spirits, fire festivals, and, above all, magic and witchcraft.
Primitive Beliefs in the North-East of Scotland.
By the Rev. J. M. McPherson. Pp. xii + 310. (London, New York and Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., 1929.) 12s. 6d. net.
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Primitive Beliefs in the North-East of Scotland . Nature 124, 175 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/124175a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/124175a0