Scottish Folktales Of Coast & Sea by Tom Muir

Book Review

A firm favourite on my bookshelf is The Mermaid Bride and other Orkney Folk Tales by Tom Muir. It has wondrous tales like Then The Merman Laughed ( I love telling this story), Heather Blether and Ursilla and The Selkie Man. So when I saw that Tom had written another book, this time ‘Scottish Folk Tales of The Coast And Sea’, I knew it was not going to disappoint.

Within the pages are some retellings of old favourites and some new (to me at least) coastal adventures. Each story has a source for the tale and many of them have been told to Tom, passed down in the oral storytelling tradition.

My favourites? ‘Death in a Nut’, ‘The Demon Cats’ and ‘The Denschman’s Hadd’, all of which I will no doubt research further and tell, in time. Scottish folktales have always sung to my bones. My grandfather was Scots so it makes sense that I have a folk memory of these tales and that they always land well.

In conclusion, Tom Muir has always been one of my favourite storytellers and this book has only served to cement this further. If you love Scottish folktales then these are a treat. There are some most excellent stories in this collection, not all with a happy ending, but all teaching a healthy respect for the sea and the life it holds within it.

You can buy Scottish Folk Tales of Coast & Sea, in all good bookshops. If you would like to buy a copies online, please consider visiting my page on Bookshop.org where I have gathered some of the books I read and recommend. Here you will find a plethora of myth, legend and folktale.

And don’t forget to support your local library too. See if they have a copy to borrow.