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

Final part of this very Scottish version of a Slavic folktale. Our heroine Ellie has contended with Grampa Guzzler, wild wolves, midges, dead men's clothes, a counter-clockwise haggis and now, with the help of her friend Ian Skelly, the skull upon a pole, seems set for a happy ending. But hold on, there's a whole stretch of wild wood yet to get through... and all the dangers there present!

Well, those who've been listening to the first two parts of this story might be wondering... "Ok, we've had the wolves and the woods, but what about the witch, Marty?" Well, here she is now - let me introduce you to a very distinctively Arran sort of a witch, Nanny Rooney, along with her gruff consort, the infamous Hairy Canary. The adventures of our heroine Ellie are about to get even more extraordinary and dangerous - though help might be coming from an unusual source.....

Here's the second part of this tale, in which I relocate a Slavic "skazka" right here to the Isle of Arran, a tale I performed last year in the lovely Easmor woodland here on Arran, which conveniently has a mysterious cottage in the wood which, in real life, we reached at just the point in the story when heroine Ellie reaches the cottage at the end of this episode....

Anyway, here's this episode in which we are introduced to a very peculiar pack of wolves!

Here's the start of a four part story, actually inspired by Slavic folk tale, but relocated by me to the Isle of Arran (where I performed it last year in the beautiful woodland setting of Easmor, here on the island) and made very Scottish in my inimitable fashion - a classic fairy tale of a poorly treated step-daughter launched into a series of fantastical adventures which might, just possibly (fingers crossed) lead to a happy ending by at least the end of part 4. But there are plenty of other dangers to be got past in the meantime, starting with a strange presence our heroine Ellie encounters in a dusty attic....

Was on the mainland (or "the big island" as we say here on Arran) last week and picked up yet another book of Scottish folk tales. This one featured a really creepy tale from Shetland - and, as my sister happens to be there this week, I thought I'd do my own distinct, improvised take on it. Huddle close and shiver, folks....