10 h 59 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 59 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What stories lie beneath a quiet Scottish loch, or linger beside an old healing well?
In Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, James M. Mackinlay explores the beliefs people attach to Scotland’s waters. Holy wells, healing springs and haunted lochs bring together local memory, parish records and older writings. His study asks why these places matter so deeply, and what their customs reveal about older ways of seeing the world.
Mackinlay begins with the idea that ancient peoples regard water as a living power. He argues that Christian traditions build upon earlier beliefs rather than simply replacing them. From wells associated with saints to tales of creatures beneath lochs, he traces the meeting of faith, fear and hope in Scottish local lore.
What you’ll discover
- Water as a living power Explore Mackinlay’s view that springs, rivers and lakes once inspire worship in ancient Britain.
- Saints beside old wells Follow his argument that Christian traditions settle over older customs at Scotland’s sacred waters.
- The hope of healing Encounter rituals surrounding wells believed to help sick children and ease bodily troubles.
- Spirits beneath the surface Meet the water spirits, strange beasts and guardians of Highland and Lowland tales.
- Local memories gathered together Discover how records, older writers and remembered traditions give these watery places their stories.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy legends of saints and water spirits, old Highland customs, travellers' tales, and finding a pagan past hidden in place-names and holy days.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Early Scots treated water as a living power
- Rivers and lochs demanded respect and offerings
- Christian saints took over the pagan wells
- Saints' lives left a well in nearly every district
- Wells were trusted to heal body and mind
- Some cures at sacred pools were harsh
- Wells foretold the future and judged the guilty
- Kelpies, water-horses and mermaids guarded the waters
- Gifts left at wells carried sickness away
- The calendar and the sun explain when wells mattered
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Die Folklore der schottischen Lochs und Quellen
by James M. Mackinlay · 1893
An old woman at St Anthony's Well wraps a sick child's head in wet linen while the mother watches and weeps.
Medium level5–10 hours to readDeutsch
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanischFranzösischDeutschItalienischJapanischPortugiesischEnglischHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
Picture a mother at St Anthony's Well near Edinburgh at sunset. Two old women dip cups in the pool and drink, then wrap a wet linen bandage around a pale child's head while the mother weeps quietly.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Early Scots treated water as a living power
Mackinlay begins with a simple claim. Our ancestors did not separate the natural from the supernatural, so for them water was alive. Its powers could help or harm, and they had to be kept friendly.
The clearest case comes from Martin, who visited the Western Isles near the end of the seventeenth century. On Lewis, each Hallowtide, one man waded into the sea up to his waist and threw a cup of ale to a sea god called Shony, asking for seaweed to enrich the land. In Shetland, the Sea-trows rose as seals and slipped off their skins on the beach. A man who stole a skin could keep a sea wife, but she would go home the moment she found it.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1893
- Language
- Deutsch
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Mackinlay, James M. Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/folklore-of-scottish-lochs-and-springs.
Mackinlay, J. M. (2026). Folklore of Scottish lochs and springs. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/folklore-of-scottish-lochs-and-springs (Original work published 1893)
Mackinlay, James M. Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/folklore-of-scottish-lochs-and-springs.
@book{mackinlay2026folklore,
author = {Mackinlay, James M.},
title = {Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/folklore-of-scottish-lochs-and-springs},
note = {First published 1893}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Die Folklore der schottischen Lochs und Quellen
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs about?
It gathers the beliefs and customs attached to Scottish wells, lochs, rivers and the sea, from saints' springs and healing pools to water spirits, offerings, pilgrimages and wishing wells, and links them to older nature worship.
What is a kelpie in Scottish folklore?
A kelpie is a water spirit, often shaped like a horse, that waits by a ford or loch. It lures travellers onto its back and plunges into deep water. The book gives several tales of how people outwitted one.
Why were rags and pins left at holy wells?
Mackinlay explains them as gifts to the spirit of the well and as a way of leaving a disease behind. Taking an offering away was thought to bring the sickness to the person who took it.
The author
James M. Mackinlay
Scottish folklorist
James M. Mackinlay died in 1916. He wrote from Glasgow, where he dated the preface to this book in December 1893. His work shows a collector's patience, drawing on travellers' journals, church records, antiquarian proceedings and the comparative studies of his day to gather the folklore of Scotland's waters, wells and saints into one study.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
