The Silver Bough Volume 3

A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals - Hallowe'en to Yule

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Reference, Encyclopedias, History, British
Cover of the book The Silver Bough Volume 3 by F. Marian McNeill, Stuart Titles Ltd
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: F. Marian McNeill ISBN: 9780948474194
Publisher: Stuart Titles Ltd Publication: August 20, 2013
Imprint: Stuart Titles Ltd Language: English
Author: F. Marian McNeill
ISBN: 9780948474194
Publisher: Stuart Titles Ltd
Publication: August 20, 2013
Imprint: Stuart Titles Ltd
Language: English
The Silver Bough is an indispensable treasury of Scottish culture, universally acknowledged as a classic of literature. The author, F Marian McNeill, succeeded in capturing and bringing to life many traditions and customs of old before they died out or were influenced by the modern era.

The Silver Branch of the sacred apple tree, laden with crystal blossoms of golden fruit, is in Celtic mythology the equivalent of the Golden Bough of classical mythology - the symbolic bond between the world we know and the Otherworld.

In the first volume of the Silver Bough, the author deals generally with Scottish folk-lore and folk belief, with chapters on ethnic origins, the Druids, the Celtic gods, the slow transition to Christianity, magic, the fairy faith, second sight, selkies, changelings and the witch cult. In volume two she began her more in-depth exploration of the foundations of many of these beliefs and rituals through the Calendar of Scottish national festivals, in which we find enshrined many of the fascinating folk customs of our ancestors. This third volume continues that study by looking at the Festivals from Hallow'en to Yule tide.

As man makes greater and greater advances in the understanding and control of his physical environment, the river between the known and the unknown gradually changes its course, and the subjects of the simpler beliefs of former times become part of the new territory of knowledge. The Silver Bough maps out the old course of the waterway that in Celtic belief winds between here and beyond, and reveals the very roots of the Scottish people's distinctive customs and way of life.

The Silver Bough is a large and important work which involved many years of research into both living and recorded lore. Its genesis lies, perhaps, in the author's subconscious need to reconcile the old primitive world she had glimpsed in childhood with the sophisticated modern world she later entered.

'I do not believe that you can exaggerate the importance of the preservation of old ways and customs, and all those little things which bind a man to his native place. Today we live in difficult times. The steam-roller of progress is flattening out many of our old institutions, and there is a danger of a general decline in idiom and distinctive quality in our Scottish life. The only way to counteract this peril is to preserve jealously all these elder things which are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. For, remember, no man can face the future with courage and confidence unless it is solidly founded upon the past. And conversely, no problem will be too hard, no situation too strange, if we can link it with what we know and love' F Marian McNeill
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
The Silver Bough is an indispensable treasury of Scottish culture, universally acknowledged as a classic of literature. The author, F Marian McNeill, succeeded in capturing and bringing to life many traditions and customs of old before they died out or were influenced by the modern era.

The Silver Branch of the sacred apple tree, laden with crystal blossoms of golden fruit, is in Celtic mythology the equivalent of the Golden Bough of classical mythology - the symbolic bond between the world we know and the Otherworld.

In the first volume of the Silver Bough, the author deals generally with Scottish folk-lore and folk belief, with chapters on ethnic origins, the Druids, the Celtic gods, the slow transition to Christianity, magic, the fairy faith, second sight, selkies, changelings and the witch cult. In volume two she began her more in-depth exploration of the foundations of many of these beliefs and rituals through the Calendar of Scottish national festivals, in which we find enshrined many of the fascinating folk customs of our ancestors. This third volume continues that study by looking at the Festivals from Hallow'en to Yule tide.

As man makes greater and greater advances in the understanding and control of his physical environment, the river between the known and the unknown gradually changes its course, and the subjects of the simpler beliefs of former times become part of the new territory of knowledge. The Silver Bough maps out the old course of the waterway that in Celtic belief winds between here and beyond, and reveals the very roots of the Scottish people's distinctive customs and way of life.

The Silver Bough is a large and important work which involved many years of research into both living and recorded lore. Its genesis lies, perhaps, in the author's subconscious need to reconcile the old primitive world she had glimpsed in childhood with the sophisticated modern world she later entered.

'I do not believe that you can exaggerate the importance of the preservation of old ways and customs, and all those little things which bind a man to his native place. Today we live in difficult times. The steam-roller of progress is flattening out many of our old institutions, and there is a danger of a general decline in idiom and distinctive quality in our Scottish life. The only way to counteract this peril is to preserve jealously all these elder things which are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. For, remember, no man can face the future with courage and confidence unless it is solidly founded upon the past. And conversely, no problem will be too hard, no situation too strange, if we can link it with what we know and love' F Marian McNeill

More books from British

Cover of the book Working-class Stories of the 1890s by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book Scars of the Breast - Book 2 - Frustration by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book Riesling-Leichen: Wein-Krimis by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book In the Lion's Court by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book The Scandal of Rhetoric. On 'Otherness' of Metaphor in Gothic and Monstrosity by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book Sherlock Holmes: Tales From the Stranger's Room by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book The Armchair Detective and the Computer Colony by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book Stylistic and Narrative Structures in the Middle English Romances by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book War Trauma and English Modernism by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book The existence of man in Renaissance philosophy and its influence on Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, The Adventure of the Red Circle, The Adventure of the Dying Detective by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book Cruel Britannia by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book The Devil's Stepdaughter by F. Marian McNeill
Cover of the book John the Savage and the Bard of Stratford. Shakespeare's Influence on John the Savage in Huxley's 'Brave New World' by F. Marian McNeill
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy