Scotland has one of the richest traditions of folklore in the world, and the nation's greatest writers have been influenced by the country's abundance of customs, superstitions, ghost stories and folktales. Robert Burns, Walter Scott, James Hogg and Robert Louis Stevenson all used Scottish folklore in their work.

This book traces the roots and traditions of Scottish folklore and introduces all its key parts, combining a huge range of material from gypsy-lore and Arthurian legend to tales of magical beasts, demons and witches and lore associated with the natural world.