King Galdus
The fourth book of Hector Boece's History of the Scottish People tells the epic story of the hero-king Galdus. (A still more stirring...
Pirate Corner: Captain Misson and Libertalia
Was there really a revolutionary pirate Utopia in seventeenth century Madagascar? Content note: slavery, colonialism, forced marriage....
Beregonium, Scotland's lost capital
There is a legend of a fallen city, once the glorious capital of the ancient Scots, before it was destroyed in fire. But where did the...
Matter of the Greenwood: Little John: Evolution
An examination of how the character of Robin Hood's devoted lieutenant has developed over the centuries. N.B. this post has been updated...
Matter of the Greenwood: Little John: Origins
From the very beginnings of the legend, one name is more inseparable from Robin Hood's than any other: Little John. But was there a real...
The Creveenach and other giant birds
In which I examine a curious creature from Highland folklore. Content note: child endangerment. Several of the Gaelic folk tales...
The Legend of Canonbie Dick
The Canonbie Dick story is one of Scotland's best known folk tales. In its usual form, it goes like this: a horse-trader, from Canonbie...
Points of Contact: A Chinese Exile in Ancient Armenia
Was a medieval Armenian dynasty really founded by an exiled Chinese prince? Image: Tiridates III, from Illustrated Armenia and the...
Reviews: Lilith's Love and Arthur's Bosom, by Tyler R. Tichelaar
We left Tyler Tichelaar's Arthur's Children series on a cliffhanger in 1995, at the end of Ogier's Prayer. (Here I must apologise for...
The Giant and the Dwarf
I investigate a story from Angus that may not be all it seems. Content note: kidnapping; slavery; objectification of disabled people....
