Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.

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Storyteller & audio dramatist Marty Ross (BBC, Audible, Wireless Theatre, Big Finish, Kisses In The Dark podcast) presents and performs a series of magical, mysterious and sometimes creepy tales from the Scottish Isle of Arran, where Ross lives, in a series of shows that started life as presentations for Ross's weekly show Winter’s Tales on ArranSound radio. Listeners have requested the chance to listen to the stories over and above their twice weekly broadcasts. So here they are!

Marty Ross


    • May 9, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 49m AVG DURATION
    • 98 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Magic Island Storytelling Theatre: Strange Tales From The Isle Of Arran: Ghost & fairy tales & more.

    DANCES SACRED & PROFANE Chapter 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 17:53


    I've written a lot of things over the years, many dramas for the BBC and Wireless Theatre Company, a smattering for Big Finish, and now a whole decades' worth of epic productions for Audible, many of them performed by some of the famous people imaginable - no nonsense movie stars, indeed. But still, such is the nature of my career and my body of work, the piece that means most to me is the one that's found least of an audience. This is my novel Dances Sacred & Profane, my most personal work, which I tentatively published on Kindle but never did much to publicize, most of all because it was so personal, a deeper revelation of the person and the artist that I am, and the more of an audience I drew to it, the more I feared some callous online remark, or cluster of such, that would wound me deeply: in many ways DSP is as personal as a diary - of myself at a certain crucial moment in my life, certainly. But that moment is past and so now I feel the confidence to perform the story myself here and see if it doesn't find a wider audience. It's an unusual story, seeking the more unusual listener: though it's a kind of sequel to a classic vampire story (I won't say which at this stage, as it would give too much away), it's essentially sui generis, by no means a fangs-and-coffin blood-and-thunder shocker, having strong elements of historical novel and romance and plays freely back and forth between these generic levels in a non-generic way. Here's chapter one (this is going to take some time), but if you want to read the whole thing in one go, here's a link to the book itself -https://www.amazon.co.uk/DANCES-SACRED-PROFANE-Gothic-Romance-ebook/dp/B00858QERM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=618EPBGMNR0B&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sWZuRZQE4S13Q2JvUdAfhg.T8Q93Ja8uUlMxuz2WAUEHKXAMAIbJsQ-xHantlcPOyc&dib_tag=se&keywords=dances+sacred+and+profane+marty+ross&qid=1746793289&s=digital-text&sprefix=dances+sacred+and+profane+marty+ross%2Cdigital-text%2C67&sr=1-1Also, make allowances for my voice - the narrating character is female and should ideally be performed by a female actor, but I couldn't ask such an actor to make the kind of long term unpaid commitment this is going to require, so please make imginative allowances.

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Ep. 4 (of 4): The Dead In The Depths

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2024 62:56


    Final dramatic episode of this chilly seasonal thriller, just the spooky listening for this time of year!

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST p. 3 (of 4): The Woman In The Picture

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2024 65:49


    Third part of this seasonal chiller, in which the mystery of what's going on in the strange isolated house on the snowbound Isle of Arran becomes perhaps a little clearer - and disturbingly so....

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Ep. 2 (of 4): The Snowman & The Man In The Snow

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2024 72:24


    Second part of this spooky seasonal chiller from the M.I.S.T vaults - you'll never look at a snowman the same way again!

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Ep. 1 (of 4): The Samaritan's Scalpel

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2024 61:25


    Yes, it's Christmas Eve and hence time to unleash upon the world once again this eerie Victorian chiller set right here on the Isle of Arran (albeit with an opening sequence in a wintery Glasgow....)

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: BALLAD OF THE DRIFTWOOD MERMAID Part 6 (of 6)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 42:31


    To bring to a climax this brief celebration of some of the horror stories we've done on the podcast (and ArranSound radio) over the last four years, here's a perfect story for Halloween itself. When I performed the first version of this story at the London Horror Festival, it was compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft but the actual inspiration was a local legend, here in the south west of Scotland, of the "Haunted Ships" off the Galloway coast. This is a time of the year when, in Celtic lore, between the human world and the realm of the supernatural, whether embodied by ghosts or the Sidh (fairies) is thin indeed: hence this is the perfect Halloween tale.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: BALLAD OF THE DRIFTWOOD MERMAID Part 5 (of 6)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 44:23


    To bring to a climax this brief celebration of some of the horror stories we've done on the podcast (and ArranSound radio) over the last four years, here's a perfect story for Halloween itself. When I performed the first version of this story at the London Horror Festival, it was compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft but the actual inspiration was a local legend, here in the south west of Scotland, of the "Haunted Ships" off the Galloway coast. This is a time of the year when, in Celtic lore, between the human world and the realm of the supernatural, whether embodied by ghosts or the Sidh (fairies) is thin indeed: hence this is the perfect Halloween tale.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: BALLAD OF THE DRIFTWOOD MERMAID Part 4 (of 6)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 47:26


    To bring to a climax this brief celebration of some of the horror stories we've done on the podcast (and ArranSound radio) over the last four years, here's a perfect story for Halloween itself. When I performed the first version of this story at the London Horror Festival, it was compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft but the actual inspiration was a local legend, here in the south west of Scotland, of the "Haunted Ships" off the Galloway coast. This is a time of the year when, in Celtic lore, between the human world and the realm of the supernatural, whether embodied by ghosts or the Sidh (fairies) is thin indeed: hence this is the perfect Halloween tale.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: BALLAD OF THE DRIFTWOOD MERMAID Part 3 (of 6)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 42:23


    To bring to a climax this brief celebration of some of the horror stories we've done on the podcast (and ArranSound radio) over the last four years, here's a perfect story for Halloween itself. When I performed the first version of this story at the London Horror Festival, it was compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft but the actual inspiration was a local legend, here in the south west of Scotland, of the "Haunted Ships" off the Galloway coast. This is a time of the year when, in Celtic lore, between the human world and the realm of the supernatural, whether embodied by ghosts or the Sidh (fairies) is thin indeed: hence this is the perfect Halloween tale.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: BALLAD OF THE DRIFTWOOD MERMAID Part 2 (of 6)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 49:04


    To bring to a climax this brief celebration of some of the horror stories we've done on the podcast (and ArranSound radio) over the last four years, here's a perfect story for Halloween itself. When I performed the first version of this story at the London Horror Festival, it was compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft but the actual inspiration was a local legend, here in the south west of Scotland, of the "Haunted Ships" off the Galloway coast. This is a time of the year when, in Celtic lore, between the human world and the realm of the supernatural, whether embodied by ghosts or the Sidh (fairies) is thin indeed: hence this is the perfect Halloween tale.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: BALLAD OF THE DRIFTWOOD MERMAID Part 1 (of 6)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 42:56


    To bring to a climax this brief celebration of some of the horror stories we've done on the podcast (and ArranSound radio) over the last four years, here's a perfect story for Halloween itself. When I performed the first version of this story at the London Horror Festival, it was compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft but the actual inspiration was a local legend, here in the south west of Scotland, of the "Haunted Ships" off the Galloway coast. This is a time of the year when, in Celtic lore, between the human world and the realm of the supernatural, whether embodied by ghosts or the Sidh (fairies) is thin indeed: hence this is the perfect Halloween tale.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: THE UNBURYING Part 3 (of 3)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2024 61:04


    Continuing this raising from the dead of classic horror tales from the M.I.S.T vault, here's The Unburying, inspired by the classic Japanese ghost tale (or Kwaidan) Jikiniki - with the tale radically adapted and adjusted to the very different ladscape of the Isle of Arran, early in the 20th century....

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: THE UNBURYING part 2 (of 3)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2024 45:05


    Continuing this raising fromthe dead of classic horror tales from the M.I.S.T vault, here's The Unburying, inspired by the classic Japanese ghost tale (or Kwaidan) Jikiniki - with the tale radically adapted and adjusted to the very different ladscape of the Isle of Arran, early in the 20th century....

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: THE UNBURYING part 1 (of 3)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2024 55:36


    Continuing this raising fromthe dead of classic horror tales from the M.I.S.T vault, here's The Unburying, inspired by the classic Japanese ghost tale (or Kwaidan) Jikiniki - with the tale radically adapted and adjusted to the very different ladscape of the Isle of Arran, early in the 20th century....

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: FALLING FOR THE USHERS Part 3 (of 3): REVENANT

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2024 63:28


    Continuing this eerie ressurection of classic horror stories from the M.I.S.T vault, here, in three parts, is my radically modernized, very Scottish, very Glasgow, reinvention of Edgar Allan Poe's Fall Of The House Of Usher. (Poe, as I point out in the intro, had very close childhood connections to Ayrshire here in Scotland, pretty much immediately across the water from where I sit typing this. This final episode contains imagery some listeners might find disturbing.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: FALLING FOR THE USHERS Part 2 (of 3): Romance

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2024 36:22


    Continuing this eerie ressurection of classic horror stories from the M.I.S.T vault, here, in three parts, is my radically modernized, very Scottish, very Glasgow, reinvention of Edgar Allan Poe's Fall Of The House Of Usher. (Poe, as I point out in the intro, had very close childhood connections to Ayrshire here in Scotland, pretty much immediately across the water from where I sit typing this.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: FALLING FOR THE USHERS part 1 (of 3): Reunion

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2024 37:44


    Continuing this eerie ressurection of classic horror stories from the M.I.S.T vault, here, in three parts, is my radically modernized, very Scottish, very Glasgow, reinvention of Edgar Allan Poe's Fall Of The House Of Usher. (Poe, as I point out in the intro, had very close childhood connections to Ayrshire here in Scotland, pretty much immediately across the water from where I sit typing this.

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: DRYAD part 5 (of 5)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 30:07


    As Samhain draws near, I decided to give a second outing to some of the more overtly horror-oriented stories from the M.I.S.T archive in a little curated mini-fest, starting with 5 parter DRYAD. Rooted as it is in Celtic folklore and legends of ancient blood sacrifice, it's hard to think of anything more appropriate to this particular season....

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: DRYAD Part 4 (of 5)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 40:37


    As Samhain draws near, I decided to give a second outing to some of the more overtly horror-oriented stories from the M.I.S.T archive in a little curated mini-fest, starting with 5 parter DRYAD. Rooted as it is in Celtic folklore and legends of ancient blood sacrifice, it's hard to think of anything more appropriate to this particular season....

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: DRYAD Part Three (of 5)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 45:50


    As Samhain draws near, I decided to give a second outing to some of the more overtly horror-oriented stories from the M.I.S.T archive in a little curated mini-fest, starting with 5 parter DRYAD. Rooted as it is in Celtic folklore and legends of ancient blood sacrifice, it's hard to think of anything more appropriate to this particular season....

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: DRYAD Part Two (of 5)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 38:55


    As Samhain draws near, I decided to give a second outing to some of the more overtly horror-oriented stories from the M.I.S.T archive in a little curated mini-fest, starting with 5 parter DRYAD. Rooted as it is in Celtic folklore and legends of ancient blood sacrifice, it's hard to think of anything more appropriate to this particular season....

    M.I.S.T HALLOWEEN HORROR FEST: DRYAD part One (of 5)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 54:56


    As Samhain draws near, I decided to give a second outing to some of the more overtly horror-oriented stories from the M.I.S.T archive in a little curated mini-fest, starting with 5 parter DRYAD. Rooted as it is in Celtic folklore and legends of ancient blood sacrifice, it's hard to think of anything more appropriate to this particular season....

    WOLFSKIN Part Ten (of 10)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2024 28:45


    And so at last we come to the conclusion of this dramatic, darkly romantic lycanthropic tale inspired by a Swedish follk tale from Upsala, but relocated here to the Isle of Arran. With the curse lifted from Tod and passed instead to Moira, Tod and Fiona seems set for the traditional happy ending. But things are set to be a little more complicated in this unsettling dramatic epilogue, which contains imagery some listeners might find disturbing.

    WOLFSKIN Part Nine

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2024 36:43


    And so we come to the penultimate episode of this dark, dramtic tale inspired by Swedish folklore but relocated here to the Isle of Arran. A ferocious man-beast on the loose, a stepmother sunk in guilty dreams after casting a terrible curse, her stepdaughter striving to do all she can to lift that curse before it claims her own life, a ghostly grey figure hovering in the shadows of the derelict house that is our setting... all is prepared for a very dramatic climax. Though, be warned, this isn't quite the end of our story... one more dramatic episode to go!

    WOLFSKIN Part Eight

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2024 17:22


    So Fiona has found that her jealous stepmother Moira means her no good - and Moira has likewise worked a terrible and magical transformation upon Tod for preferring Fiona to her. Now as Fiona flees into the forests here on Arran, the scene is set for a startling and disturbing encounter in this latest chapter of a very "Arran" reinvention of an old Swedish folk tale. WARNING: this episode contains explicit elements of sexualized lycanthropy which some will find disturbing.

    WOLFSKIN Part Seven

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2024 22:22


    Well, the beast has been unleashed in poor cursed Tod and is now about to wreak bloody havoc - while Fiona follows her stepmother Moira out into the night to find out just what exactly she's up to. Expect strong Gothic horror violence in the most dramatic episode yet....

    Wolfskin Part Six

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2024 21:09


    So Moira, tormented by jealous thoughts of all that might have been going on between her lover Tod and her step-daughter Fiona, has passed on a curse with the cut of an outsized wolf's fang into Tod's spine. What will be the outcome of that? In a story like this, based on a Swedish folk tale, it can only be monstrous and disturbing and potentially deadly for all concerned....

    WOLFSKIN Part Five

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2024 24:09


    Moira, believing Tod has been unfaithful to her with Fiona, her own step-daughter has performed a pagan rite to give her a little help in getting her own back. All she needs now is the opportunity... in a dramatic episode of this story adapted from a Swedish folk tale, which contains one scene of a sexual nature.

    WOLFSKIN part Four

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2024 28:01


    Things are getting intense in this story inspired by a Swedish folk tale but relocated here to the Isle of Arran. A drama of secret jealousy between stepmother Moira, stepdaughter Fiona, and Moira's former lover Tod is about to shift into the mode of the scary and the supernatural in an episode combining pagan magic with one moment of sexual aggression, so more sensitive listeners should be forewarned, with regard to what is evolving into a very dramatic tale indeed....

    WOLFSKIN Part Three

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2024 12:46


    Continuing this darkly romantic fairy tale. At the end of the previous episode Moira spotted her stepdaughter Fiona having an intimate moment with Moira's former lover Tod, darting silently away in outrage. Now we get that scene from Fiona's point of view....

    WOLFSKIN Part Two

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2024 22:24


    Continuing here an intense tale derived from a Swedish folk tale but relocated here to the Isle of Arran (which of course has its own Scandinavian Viking connections). Having lost her young lover Tod to faraway lands, schoolteacher Moira has "settled" for a perhaps less exciting life with Angus and his daughter - Moira's former pupil - Fiona. But now, Tod has returned to the island.... Contains one brief scene that some listeners might feel a little squeamish about -- please bear in mind, this is conceived as a very adult "fairy tale".

    WOLFSKIN part one

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2024 16:24


    Here's the first part of what's going to be quite a developed, complex story. It's inspired by a Swedish folktale but, as is my wont, I've relocated the setting here to the Isle of Arran and very much produced my own distinct version: for example the original features the traditional Wicked Stepmother character well known from folk tale, but I rather empathized with that figure and have presented her in a much more complex and human fashion. So here's part one....

    THE BLOODY SISTERS: Act 4 - The Sisters, Bloody

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2024 43:21


    And so we come to the final act of this macabre Scots folk tale. It is macabre indeed, so if you have a low tolerance for the creepy, grotesque or the gory... well - as Edward Van Sloan used to say in the days of the old Universal horror movies - "you have been warned...." Morna is on the verge of saving her sisters Clodagh and Rona from the spooky old house and bloodthirsty enthusiasms of the Lady Laird and the husband she brought back from the dead, but those three sisters, quite literally aren't out of the woods yet.

    THE BLOODY SISTERS Act 3: Morna

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2024 41:17


    OK, I know I said at the start this was going to be a three parter, but as you'll hear there's so much macabre incident & atmosphere in this episode that I'm going to need an Act 4 to complete the story, but that will follow shortly (sorry for the delay in completing this story - I've been down in London for recording sessions on my latest audio drama epic for Audible - and I came back to Arran with a cold which meant I could hardly speak two sentences without coughing). Meantime, here's the first half of the dramatic climax of this tale culled from JF Campbell's classic Popular Tales Of The West Highlands. Elder sisters Clodagh and Rona have disappeared into the snow - what can youngest sister Morna do but go looking for them, whatever the dangers...?

    THE BLOODY SISTERS Act 2: Rona

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2024 45:02


    Here's the second part of my version of a rather macabre folk tale gleaned from the pages of JF Campbell's classic 19th century collection Popular Tales Of The West Highlands. Eldest of three sisters, Clodagh, has set off through the snowy countryside in search of work - and found only mortal danger in a spooky old house. Now younger sister Rona sets out in search of her....

    THE BLOODY SISTERS Act 1: Clodagh

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2024 46:26


    Here's the first part of a story derived from that classic collection of Scottish folk tales, JF Campbell's Popular Tales Of The West Highlands - a splendidly macabre tale of three sisters who set out to find their fortune in the world... and find the world a scarier place than they imagined.

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act 4: The Dead In The Depths

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2023 62:56


    Here's the 4th & final episode of this repeat performance for my seasonal chiller first aired on Arran Sound radio Xmas 2021 - 22 (ignore the Twelfth Night reference in the episode intro: that was the original air date on the radio! - Don't worry: Xmas itself is the ideal time to be listening to this Gothic Ghost story!)

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act 3: The Woman In The Picture

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2023 65:49


    Here's the penultimate chapter of this four act tale of Victorian ghostliness, set on a very snowy Isle of Arran, just the thing for seasonal shivers!

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act Two - The Snowman & The Man In The Snow

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2023 72:24


    Second part (of 4) of this old school seasonal chiller. The action has moved from Victorian Glasgow to the wilds of the snowy Isle of Arran - just the place, among other phenomena, for a rather creepy snowman to put in an appearance.

    THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Act 1: The Lost Soul & The Samaritan's Scalpel

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2023 61:25


    Christmas just days away so time for another outing for that perennial favourite at this time of year from my storytelling repertoire - a 4 part Victorian chiller in the grand manner, which begins in snowy Glasgow and shifts to an isolated house on even snowier Arran. Episode 2 follows tomorrow!!!

    THE SELKIE BRIDE - The Movie

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2023 25:12


    As a Christmas bonus, in contrast to my usual audio performances, here's a video performance of me performing, here on the shores of Arran, that traditional favourite from Scots folklore, the tale of the Selkie Bride - NOT filmed in the depths of December, as you'll see!

    THE LADY OF THE SNOWS: A Ghost Story For Christmas

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2023 81:39


    Okay, we're getting into the season for some serious creepy storytelling by the winter fireside, so here's my very Scottish, very Arran, reimagining of the classic Japanese folk tale Yuki Onna....

    NO WOLVES ON ARRAN: Act 3 (of 3)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2023 75:59


    Final episode of this classic tale of lycathropic terror as an isolated family on the high moorlands here on the Isle of Arran are beset by a fearsome supernatural beast. Those who heard the preceding episodes will need no warning that this contains some seriously macabre storytelling elements.

    NO WOLVES ON ARRAN Act 2 (of 3)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2023 67:15


    Here's the second part of this tale just perfect for spooky season. Gruff Angus has softened his heart sufficiently to find a new bride in Christina, who came into the lives of him and his children one snowy night. But something bestial prowls the snowy forests and moorlands around their cottage.... (Contains some scary & violent scenes).

    NO WOLVES ON ARRAN Act 1 (of 3)

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2023 60:55


    Here's a tale just right for Halloween time, or winter nights generally - my Scottish version of a traditional lycanthropic tale of horror, which I've relocated here to home territory in the high moors and forests of Arran. Rest of the story coming very soon!

    A HUNTER'S HEART part 3 (of 3): The Wild Hunter

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2023 72:40


    The final part of this occasionally rather scary folk tale. Peter has run out of magic bullets - just ahead of the hunting test which might win him the hand of Moira and the post of Ghillie on the Duke of Hamilton's estate on the Isle of Arran. So he's crept up into mysterious Bogle Glen to try and forge some fresh bullets for himself by way of a pact with sinister, supernatural forces. This final episode contains some elements which might frighten the very, very nervous - BEWARE THE BOGLE MIDGES!

    A HUNTER'S HEART part 2 (of 3): The Sinister Tale

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2023 74:08


    So Peter seems set for a happy ending - with the discreet help of magic bullets gained from a strange old man in the forest, he now seems set to replace old Andrew as chief Ghillie on the Hamilton estate on the Isle of Arran... and to win the hand in marriage of Andrew's daughter Moira. But what happens when he runs out of magic bullets. Scary things happen, that's what!

    A HUNTER'S HEART part 1 (of 3): The Magic Bullets

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2023 68:49


    Here's the first part of a story I performed several times last year in the woodlands of Arran as part of Scotland's Year Of Stories and also in the grounds of Brodick Castle. It's a story you'll encounter in many variants all over the world but I first encountered a version of it in the German Harz Mountains where I used to work. But this version of the story relocates it decisively here to the shores of Arran, for a tale of frustrated love, the urge to hunt, and some distinctly supernatural intervention in both....

    THE CHANGELING CHILD (From The Waters & The Wild)

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2023 60:56


    I was recently off Arran, visiting old haunts in the Scottish Highlands - particularly the wild Rogie Falls & Blackwater River north of Inverness, one of the places where I first practiced the art of storytelling. And here's a story I used to tell on the banks of that wild, tumbling river....

    THE MURDERER'S HAND Episode 2 (of 2): Beastliness At Brodick Castle

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2023 61:51


    Second, and concluding, part of this improvised telling of a classic, and occasionally rather macabre, folk tale. Heroine Katy has supposedly escaped her murderous husband (after having previously cut off his hand) and now starts a new life right here on the beautiful Isle of Arran, where she is on a course for a very romantic happy ending. Unless, that is, her murderous husband has caught up with her....

    THE MURDERER'S HAND Episode 1 (of 2): Mayhem on the Mainland

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2023 68:55


    Here's my version - in an unscripted, improvised performance - of an enjoyably gruesome, Grand Guignol-ish traditional folk tale, set in this episode on the Ayrshire mainland - though things will shift across the water to Arran for the next, concluding, episode -- which shall follow shortly!

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