Book excerpt: The myths and legends of Scotland are full of what is called "local colour". They afford us not only glimpses of ancient times and of old habits of thought and life, but also of the country itself at different times of the year. Stories like that of Beira and the Bride of Spring. Because so many old stories were passed on orally by storytellers, with the advent of the industrial revolution printed books became more common and these stories became “lost” as less attended the once popular storytelling sessions. Then in 1870 the UK Education Act undertook to teach all children how to read and the art of storytelling all but died out altogether. However in this volume, Donald Mackenzie has saved 16 of these precious remnants of old Scotland and put them into print for us. The stories in this volume are: * Beira, Queen Of Winter * The Coming Of Angus And Bride * Combats That Never End * The Princess Of Land-Under-Waves * Nimble Men, Blue Men, And Green Ladies * Conall And The Thunder Hag * Story Of Finlay And The Giants * Heroes On The Green Isle * A Vision Of The Dead * The Story Of Michael Scott * In The Kingdom Of Seals * Story Of Thomas The Rhymer * The Maid-Of-The-Wave * Exiles From Fairyland * Friends And Foes Of Man * The Land Of Green Mountains The old people believed that somewhere to the West of Scotland, the spirit of Spring had its hiding-place, and they imagined this hiding-place to be a green floating island on which the sun always shone and flowers were always blooming. During the reign of Beira, Queen of Winter, the spirit of Spring, they thought, was always trying to visit Scotland, and they imagined that Beira raised the storms of January and February to prolong her reign by keeping the grass from growing. This volume is sure to keep you enchanted for hours, if only not because of the content, but because of their quality, and will have you and your young wards coming back for more. ============ TAGS: folklore, fairy tales, myths, legends, children’s stories, bedtime, fables, wonder tales, Scottish, scots, scotch, Scotland, myth, legend, Beira, Queen Of Winter, King, Coming of, Angus And Bride, Combats, Never End, Princess Land Under the Waves, Nimble Men, Blue Men, Green Ladies, lady, Conall, Thunder Hag, Finlay, Giants, Heroes, Green Isle, Vision Of The Dead, Michael Scott, story, Kingdom Of Seals, Thomas The Rhymer, Maid-Of-The-Wave, maiden, Exiles, Fairyland, Friend And Foe, Land, Green Mountains