My country is steeped in fairy faith. Many of our traditions and rituals in Scotland come from our ancestor’s desire to appease the ‘guid folk’ who could be fickle in their affections and downright dangerous if provoked. As children, on the 31st of October we’d go “guising”, which is the practise of dressing up in scary costumes and visiting neighbours to sing songs or tell jokes in exchange for sweeties.
Read MoreNearly seventy years ago, I travelled east to west to guard the great pine tree at Loch Ewes. Every Sunday I row to the island in the middle of the loch and splash a drop of ale under its branches, for the tree’s fate is linked to the fate of my family. Where the Ewes Pine stands tall, no Loughty shall fall.
Read More