Oral History - guide to resources: Scotland

Calum Iain Maclean was a Scottish folklorist, collector, ethnographer and author. A selection of transcriptions and English summaries of Scottish Gaelic folk tales, songs and autobiographical details recorded by Maclean have been made accessible through this online database. The database is searchable by title, location, name of reciter, recording date, classification and keyword. The database is password protected and researchers must apply directly through the site for access. Maclean’s entire collections are held between the National Folklore Archive, University College Dublin and the School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore

Keywords: ethnology; folktales; Gaelic; songs; stories

Recordings of interviews and songs made by oral history pioneer George Ewart Evans are now available for anyone to listen to online through British Library Sounds. The recordings were produced from 1956 and 1977 and were primarily made in Suffolk, with a smaller number also made in Wales, Ireland and Scotland. They document rural life, agricultural work, folk beliefs about animals, medicine and witchcraft, and songs. 254 recorded items and available in total, which include approximately 140 interviews with individuals.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore; Work

Keywords: agriculture; medicine; music; songs; witchcraft

The Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture holds a large number of recordings relating to dialect and folk life dating back to the 1950s. There are recordings related to most English counties, as well as Scotland, Wales and Ireland. They cover a wide variety of subjects, including community, society, economics, industrial relations, politics, history, customs and beliefs, traditional medicine, traditional narratives, children's traditions, traditional music, song, dance and drama, as well as traditional crafts, work techniques and material culture. 16 audio extracts from the archives are available to listen to online. The online selection aims to be representative of the range of holdings available at the archive in Leeds.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore

Keywords: community; craft; dance; language; music; politics; songs

This website is the result of a collaborative project to preserve, digitise, catalogue and make available online thousands of Gaelic and Scots recordings held by the School of Scottish Studies (University of Edinburgh), BBC Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland. Over 30,000 oral recordings of stories, songs, music, poetry, history, traditions and other information are available to listen to online. It is possible to search the recordings by keyword or browse them by Scottish county.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore; People

Keywords: folktales; Gaelic; music; poetry; songs; stories

Tocher (meaning a dowry in Scots) provides online access to some of the School of Scottish Studies’ collections of oral tradition. The site provides access to transcriptions rather than audio recordings. These are divided into categories according to type, including Features, Culture and Customs, Beliefs and Superstitions, Legends and Folktales, Tales (non-fiction), and songs.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore

Keywords: childhood; community; folktales; songs; stories; work

The Aberdeen University Oral History Archive was initially created in 1985 to help historians writing monographs to commemorate the University’s Quincentenary in 1995. Interviewing has continued ever since and over 200 interviews have now been collected with past students, long serving members of staff, and eminent individuals connected with the University. Access to the complete set of recordings is available at the University, but many of the interview transcripts are also accessible online through the University’s archival catalogue.

Topics: Education

Keywords: education; law; music; medicine; students; university; WWI; WWII