By Paul Beech
Hi Everyone. Before we get into this week’s podcast I have to make an apology for my lack of presence recently. A spirit has possessed my laptop and I am at the mercy of its temperament. There are only so many times I can press a button and get no response before I transform into The Incredible Anxiety Hulk and start furiously tapping my feet on the floor and fingers against my forehead. Anyway…
This week we head up one of my favourite places on earth: Scotland! Is it one of the most haunted places too? Possibly. Edinburgh certainly has a grizzly history of people being cooked alive in vaults as they tried to hide from fire. At least that was what the tour guide told me on a spooky summer night a decade ago. Either way it is a place full of folklore, traditions, mythology and legends and this podcast aims to share those stories with you.
I think most of us will be familiar with some of Scotland’s most famous tales like Sawny Bean and his cannibal family or the mystery of Eilean Mor Lighthouse, but they are only a couple of highlights of a huge road map of mysterious and unexplained events in Scotland’s history. Sure they are covered here (Eilean Mor has its own episode) but there is a lot more. Looking amongst the episode descriptions, and from what I have listened to myself, there are stories of hauntings, UFO sightings, tragic and violent events, spiritualism, infamous people, old traditions and even some fairies. There is a great two part episode where they cover an A to Z of Scottish Folklore and then another that covers the history of Scottish LGBT+. More of a historical account than anything weird or spooky but it was to mark LGBT+ History month and makes for an interesting listen all the same.
Up until episode 7 it is presented by Gordon Stewart who runs his own blog called The Borderlands, which kind of runs like an accompanying piece to the podcast and is totally worth a read. Episode 8 onwards Gordon is joined by Barbara Buchanan as a co-narrator. I actually can’t find any information on her so if any of you out there know her please pass on the information so I can amend this. Lastly, the episodes are produced by Nick Cole-Hamilton who is an audio designer and composer. And what a great job he does. The episodes have great spooky background music and effects and give off a great feeling that you are listening to them on a cold dark night in an old pub or by a fireplace in a cottage in the middle of nowhere.
Folk Horror Revival & Urban Wyrd Project ⨘ 