GeoMythography: Myth, Landscape and Roots of Scotland’s Culture
As part of Scottish Book Week, we take you inside a fascinating event held at the Speirs Centre in Alloa, where author, storyteller, and folklorist Stuart McHardy introduced his latest book, Scotland’s Geomythography. In this engaging presentation, McHardy explores how ancient societies understood the landscapes around them and takes us on a journey through myth, memory, and the Scottish landscape.
Join us as we delve into the emerging field of geomythography, which blends oral tradition, place-name study, landscape interpretation, and archaeology to reveal the deep-time stories embedded in Scotland’s terrain. From echoes of prehistoric rituals to clues hidden in local lore, this episode uncovers how the past still resonates in the places we walk today.
Key themes:
- 10:42 Calanais
- 20:34 Beltane
- 22:05 Ballachulish Goddess
- 22:57 Paps and Mams
- 23:48 The Cailleach and Bride
- 24:52 Beinn Bheithir and dragons
- 28:18 Cauldrons
- 28:54 Clustering
- 29:46 Paps of Jura
- 32:01 The Corrievreckan
- 39:12 Craigshouse Bay
- 00:42:08 Bennachie
- 00:46:09 Tigh nam Bodach
- You can browse and buy Stuart’s books from the Luath Press
- We last listened to Stuart at the IFS Conference in Perth earlier in the year when he was in conversation with architect Roger Emerson . Podcast is called “Wha’s Like Us?”
- If you like Stuart’s approach to history, you’ll like his Radical Scottish History podcasts, Part 1 and Part 2. All the Scottish history you’ve never heard told. And almost certainly were not taught in school. Or university.
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