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snarf137's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fairly good compilation of folktales, folksongs, and riddles from the Abderdeenshire region. The book largely focusses on the tales of Stanley Robertson, a well-known Northeastern bard. While the writing was generally entertaining and comes from an authentic source, I was a bit let down as the book didn't delve as deeply as I'd liked into the authentic folktales themselves. Some stories were also a lot more entertaining than others.
Pros:
- Varied collection of folktales from an authentic source, working from the tales of Stanley Robertson
- Genuinely unique and terrifying stories. My favorites were "Legend of the Maidenstone", "The Strange Coachman", "Tattiebogie", "The Key Pool", "Auld Creuvie", "Power from Beyond the Grave", and "Wee Wee Aipplies an’ Wee Orangies"
Cons:
- Some of the stories were incredibly boring. Many could have also used more historical context to make sense of the time periods and the actual sources for the stories themselves
- I sometimes got the impression that some of the stories were Stanley Robertson's inventions or his inventive takes on more traditional tales. This is fine, but I was ideally looking for older tales and how they would have been authentically told in centuries past.
- As someone who doesn't speak Scots, many of the Scots passages would have been more accessible if they were translated.
- Some stories were general Scottish tales (such as the Kelpie and Selkie stories) that were repackaged with Aberdeenshire "flavour". There was even a repackaged Yugoslavian story, which is not what I was looking for. I would have preferred more stories that were more specific to the region
Pros:
- Varied collection of folktales from an authentic source, working from the tales of Stanley Robertson
- Genuinely unique and terrifying stories. My favorites were "Legend of the Maidenstone", "The Strange Coachman", "Tattiebogie", "The Key Pool", "Auld Creuvie", "Power from Beyond the Grave", and "Wee Wee Aipplies an’ Wee Orangies"
Cons:
- Some of the stories were incredibly boring. Many could have also used more historical context to make sense of the time periods and the actual sources for the stories themselves
- I sometimes got the impression that some of the stories were Stanley Robertson's inventions or his inventive takes on more traditional tales. This is fine, but I was ideally looking for older tales and how they would have been authentically told in centuries past.
- As someone who doesn't speak Scots, many of the Scots passages would have been more accessible if they were translated.
- Some stories were general Scottish tales (such as the Kelpie and Selkie stories) that were repackaged with Aberdeenshire "flavour". There was even a repackaged Yugoslavian story, which is not what I was looking for. I would have preferred more stories that were more specific to the region
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