Until relatively modern times Scotland was largely a Gaelic-speaking nation. Areas that were described by Doctor Johnson in 1775 as being as remote and as unknown as Borneo or Sumatra became one of the first sites of modern mass tourism and the subject of more travel writing than any other part of Scotland. Recent learned writers have variously described Scotland as the ‘land of dreamtime’, the Highlands as ‘Fancy’s Land’, and the country as the site of the ‘invention of tradition’.

Unfortunately, that narrative often bears little relation to the actual lived experience of the native people. In this book Coinneach Maclean journeys through the present and former Gaelic speaking areas of Scotland from the perspective of the native Gaels. Extensively illustrated with songs, poetry and place names, he introduces some of the gods and goddesses, witches and warlocks, heroes, heroines and villains who once populated these often largely emptied landscapes. Their own words give an insight into the Gaels’ hopes and aspirations, loves and losses, their soaring literary achievements and vivid depictions of their beloved landscapes, giving the reader a more rounded understanding of the history and culture of the Gaelic peoples of Scotland.