Skip to main content

Silver Bough. Volume 1, Scottish Folklore and Folk-Belief / F. Marian McNeill. Glasgow: William MacLellan, 1977

 Book
Collection number: NAMOSRL GR144 .M24 v.1 (Non-circulating)

About

"The Silver Bough of the sacred Aplle-tree, laden with crystal blossoms or golden fruit, is the quivalent in Celtic mythology of the Golden Bough of classical mythology - the symbolic bon between the world we know and the Otherworld. The analogy of the title with that of Sir James Frazer's stupendous work may welll make it seem a pretnetious choice - the more so as I have made not attempt to cove the whole corpus of Celtic folk-lore, but only so much as is necessary for a better understanding of our national and local festivals, which are dealt with in the subsequent volumes in this series. It is thus no more than a studry spray of the Silver Bough that I offer, paradoxically, to a country in search of its roots"--Foreword, F.M. McN., Edinburgh, December, 1956

Dates

  • Publication: 1977

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Extent

1 Books : 220 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Language

English

Contents

Acknowledgements (p.4)

Foreword (p.9)

Quote from Thalamus by Hugh Macdairmid. Incipit: reason discounts for the most part (p.10)

I. Introductory (p.11-15)

II. Ethnic origins of the festivals (p.16-19)

III. The Druids: (p.20-30 inclusive)

Evidence of classical writers (p.21-23)

Sacrifice (p.23-24)

Organisation (p.24-25)

The Druids of Scotland (p.25-28)

Survivals of Druidical beliefs and practices (p.28-30)

IV. The Gods: (p.31-37 inclusive)

The Celtic Gods (p.33-35)

Prehistoric temple on the Clyde (p.35-36)

The Gods commemorated in place names (p.36-37)

V. The new faith: (p.38-51 inclusive)

The death of Pan (p.38-39)

The new faith (p.39-40)

The Pictish Church (p.40-42)

The Columban Church (p.42-43)

Romanization (p.43-46)

Reformation (p.46-47)

"The Christian myth" (p.47-48)

The Christianising of the festivals (p.48-51)

VI. Magic: (p.52-99 inclusive)

The practice of magic (p.53)

The airts (p.53-54)

The quarter days (p.54-56)

The Frith (p.56-57)

The quarter cakes (p.57)

Moon magic (p.57-59)

Earth magic (p.59-62)

The Gudeman's croft (p.62-63)

Fire magic (p.63-65)

Water magic (p.65-74)

Magical objects (p.74-76)

Magical animals (p.76-77)

Magical plants (p.77-84)

Magical stones: (p.84-96 inclusive)

The standing stones (p.84-87)

The Mercat Cross (p.87-88)

The Stone of Destiny (p.88-89)

Stone as witness (p.89-90)

Sanctuary stones (p.90)

Healing stones (p.90-92)

The knocking stone (p.92)

Family charm stones (p.92-94)

Stone of the Brahan Seer (p.94-96)

Sanctuary from evil (p.96-97)

The horseman's word (97-98)

Magic in the modern world (p.98-99)

VII. The fairies: (p.100-128 inclusive)

Fairyland (p.102-104)

The secret commonwealth (p.105-107)

Popular beliefs about fairies (p.107-108)

The fairy hills (p.108-110)

Fairy gifts (p.110-111)

The "Taking" of mortals (p.111-114)

The Changeling (p.114)

The Trolls (p.114-115)

Tutelary beings (p.115-118)

The Sluagh (p.118-119)

Traces of animism (p.119-120)

The Merfolk (p.120-121)

Spirits of the forest (p.121-123)

The Brownies (p.123-124)

Spirits in animal form (p.124-127)

The fairy faith today (p.127-128)

VIII. The witches: (p.129-156 inclusive with 2 pages of preceding plates)

The Horned God (p.131-132)

Sacrifice (p.132-133)

Organisation (p.133-134)

Admission rites (p.134-13)

The coven (p.135-136)

Familiars (p.136)

The broom (p.136-137)

Transformation into animals (p.137-138)

The cauldron (p.138-139)

The witch cake (p.139-140)

The garter (p.140-141)

The Sabbaths (p.141-142)

The dances (p.142-144)

The practice of witchcraft (p.144149)

The witches and the fairies (p.149-150)

Highland witches (p.150)

Types of witch (p.150-152)

The evil eye (p.152-156)

Notes (p.157-196)

Index (p.197-216)

Bibliography (p.217-218)

Subscribers to the First edtion (p.219-220)

Repository Details

Part of the Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Valdosta State University Archives, Odum Library
1500 N. Patterson St.
Valdosta GA 30601 United States
7063728116
229-259-5055 (Fax)