Course Catalogue

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This course considers the rich corpus of folklore collected from Gaelic Scotland since the eighteenth-century; all texts may be accessed in English translation. The process of collecting is explored, and various folkloristic theories and approaches applied in order to gain a deeper understanding of the material.

Two one-hour classes each week, over ten weeks. This is one of the Honours options in Gaelic and may not run every year. Options running this year are available on MyCampus. 

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into Celtic Studies, Gaelic or Celtic Civilisation and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes.

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Essay 2000 words - 40%

Seminar Presentation 10 mins & PowerPoint (20%)

Two text analyses of c.1000 words each (20% each)

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course aims to:

■ provide students with an overview of the rich and varied genres of Scottish Gaelic folklore material.

■ introduce students to the ways in which the various analytical tools used in folkloristics can be applied to Scottish Gaelic folklore, encouraging critical thinking and some independent personal response to the material.

■ encourage the development of transferable skills by fostering individual research initiatives and groupwork skills

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ outline the most important genres of Scottish Gaelic folklore

■ give a detailed account of the study of collecting and collectors of Scottish Gaelic folklore

■ discuss critically the application of folkloristic analysis to Scottish Gaelic folklore collections

■ discuss critically a wide number of Gaelic primary folklore texts, accessed in translation or in the original Gaelic as appropriate.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.