This is a compendium of photographs, stories, traditions and songs, it is an introduction to the world of the Gael and a memorial to a world now largely disappeared. It presents the rich tapestry of Gaelic life and culture in the words of the people who lived in and through that culture.

This is an extraordinary collection of tales from one of the very greatest Gaelic storytellers, Angus MacLellan, and translated by one of Scotland's finest Celtic Scholars, John Lorne Campbell. The stories in the book include every type of tale found on South Uist, from Fingalian heroes and ghost stories to international folktales and humorous and historical local anecdotes. These tales of ancient kings, thrilling escapes, jealous stepmothers and magic spells are fascinating not only for their narrative power, but also their links with myths and legends from Ireland, Scandinavia, France and Greece. The Hebrideaen island of South Uist was one of the last places in Western Europe where the ancient art of Storytelling was still honoured and practised, and the style of these translations is at once original and hypnotic, reflecting the oral tradition at their source.

The story of a woman’s life, spanning the twentieth century and two continents: “A miniature masterpiece . . . often funny, sometimes moving, never sentimental.” —Times Literary Supplement Margaret Fay Shaw’s life spanned a century of change. Orphaned at eleven, she left home and school in Pennsylvania aged sixteen, crossing to Scotland to spend a year at school near Glasgow. It was there that her love for Scotland was born. After studying music in New York and Paris, she returned to live for six years with two sisters in South Uist. Life on the island had changed little from previous centuries, and material comforts were few. But the island was rich in music and tradition, and Margaret Fay Shaw’s collection of Gaelic lore and song are among the most important made this century, while her photography evocatively captures the aura of a vanished world. Her autobiography is the remarkable testament of a remarkable woman, as well as a powerful plea in defense of a Gaelic culture and world under threat. It is written with a sharpness of observation, directness of humor, and zest for life—and it is also a marvelous record of the twentieth century. “[A] gem of an autobiography.” —The Wall Street Journal “Brilliantly capture[s] the twilight world of the Hebrides in the twentieth century.” —The Guardian

Western Isles Folk Tales is a representative collection of stories from the geographical span of the long chain of islands known as the Outer Hebrides. Some are well-known tales and others have been sought out by the author, but all are retold in the natural voice of a local man. You will find premonitions, accounts of uncanny events and mythical beings, such as the blue men of the stream who test mariners venturing into the tidal currents around the Shiant Islands. Also included are tales from islands now uninhabited, like the archipelago of St Kilda, in contrast to the witty yarns from bustling harbours. The author was the inaugural winner of the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship (1995) and his Acts of Trust collaboration with visual artist Christine Morrison won the multi-arts category in the first British Awards for Storytelling Excellence (2012). Both author and illustrator live in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.

Annotation. This full-scale bibliography of the works of one the best-loved artists in the English-speaking world, describes Ardizzone's books, dust jackets, ephemera, periodical contributions, war art, prints, posters and bookplates. It includes an essay "On the Illustration of Books" by Ardizzone himself.