Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited (2018), Edition: Authorised Edition, 352 pages
Description
Buchan's favourite of all his novels, Witch Wood deals with the hypocrisy that can lie beneath god-fearing respectability.The book is set in the terrifying times of the first half of the seventeenth century when the Church of Scotland unleashed a wave of cruelty and intolerance. Minister Sempill witnesses devil worship in the 'Witch Wood' and is persecuted. It comes with an introduction by Allan Massie.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Sile
Synopsis: Witch Wood is a story of seventeenth-century witchcraft in the Wood of Caledon in the Scottish Borders. The parish minister tries in vain to prevent devil worship and protect his protestant congregation. Meanwhile, civil unrest of the Scottish Wars of the Covenant divides the minister's
Review: I bought this book from Treadwells Esoteric Bookstore and was immediately captured by its writing style. It is set in Scotland and, for the most part, deals with a young minister's trials in dealing with the local witches in his village.
The "wars" referred to in the synopsis are those that divided the church and, eventually, led to the almost complete eradication of superstitions and pagan practices that continued under the more lax provisions of the Catholic (papist) and other churches.
Aside from all this, the story is engaging and Mr Buchan has a very distinctive and somewhat old-fashioned writing style. The reader will notice that all the characters speak with a heavy Scots accent - a dictionary of slang may come in handy.
I loved it as a work of fiction and will be keeping my copy to read on dark, windy and wintry nights (oooh, spooky).
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loyalties. Buchan also weaves in a romantic love story. Review: I bought this book from Treadwells Esoteric Bookstore and was immediately captured by its writing style. It is set in Scotland and, for the most part, deals with a young minister's trials in dealing with the local witches in his village.
The "wars" referred to in the synopsis are those that divided the church and, eventually, led to the almost complete eradication of superstitions and pagan practices that continued under the more lax provisions of the Catholic (papist) and other churches.
Aside from all this, the story is engaging and Mr Buchan has a very distinctive and somewhat old-fashioned writing style. The reader will notice that all the characters speak with a heavy Scots accent - a dictionary of slang may come in handy.
I loved it as a work of fiction and will be keeping my copy to read on dark, windy and wintry nights (oooh, spooky).
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LibraryThing member antiquary
A young minister in a rural Scottish community finds that many leaders of the village are involved in a witchcult; with the aid of a group of local eccentrics, he breaks up the witches' meeting. So fr, all is good, but then his beloved wife (who had inspired him to challenge the witches) dies, his
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oddball friends fail to support him, and the hypocritical witches retain their power. Very depressing ending. I must admit i think Buchan had a valid point that the lovable eccentrics that often form bands of heroes in adventure fiction are unlikely to prove reliable in real life, but overall, i did not enjoy this book. I may say the witches do not seem to ave genuine occult powers, so this is not fantasy. Show Less
LibraryThing member Roarer
As Allan Massie notes in his introduction to this edition, John Buchan considered "Witch Wood" his best novel. Its challenge to the modern reader is the close entwining of politics with religious belief and practice in the mid-seventeenth century Scotland; by incorporating a lot of dialect into the
The setting is a rural parish, but with the military activity of the Marquess of Montrose taking place largely off stage. A few years before the start of the novel, there had been widespread outrage in Scotland when in 1638 Charles I had attempted to introduce a Prayer Book into Scotland's Established Church. This had resulted in the signing of the National Covenant; the abolition of a Church structure based on bishops (introduced a generation earlier by James VI & I) and reinstatement of Presbyterian form of Church government; and the wars which resulted in Covenanter control of Scotland.
Set within a landscape, changing seasons and weather which are vividly described, the story follows the ministry of the-newly arrived parish minister, which goes from bad to worse despite the good intentions of the minister. Themes include : predestination; a theology dominated by the crueller parts of Scripture; a body of clergy intent on consolidating their recently-acquired power; the belief in witchcraft; the survival of pagan practices; and the limited understanding of the causes and treatments of disease. A century earlier James Hogg had covered the problem of a belief in guaranteed salvation in his novel "Confessions of a Justified Sinner". It's possible that a source for the trial of the young minister was "The Kilmun Heresy" of 1896 - the trial of the Revd Alexander Robinson by the Presbytery of Dunoon for promulgating views opposed to and subversive of the teaching of the Confession of Faith - so perhaps we have in "Witch Wood" Buchan's comment on Church Courts. Buchan would be surprised that the religious fundamentalism he describes remains widespread in the twenty-first century, when limited education and community isolation are no longer a plausible explanation.
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dialogue, Buchan does not make it any easier. However, I am pleased I persevered, although the ending is a bit odd, perhaps more in keeping with one of Buchan's "shocker" adventure novels.The setting is a rural parish, but with the military activity of the Marquess of Montrose taking place largely off stage. A few years before the start of the novel, there had been widespread outrage in Scotland when in 1638 Charles I had attempted to introduce a Prayer Book into Scotland's Established Church. This had resulted in the signing of the National Covenant; the abolition of a Church structure based on bishops (introduced a generation earlier by James VI & I) and reinstatement of Presbyterian form of Church government; and the wars which resulted in Covenanter control of Scotland.
Set within a landscape, changing seasons and weather which are vividly described, the story follows the ministry of the-newly arrived parish minister, which goes from bad to worse despite the good intentions of the minister. Themes include : predestination; a theology dominated by the crueller parts of Scripture; a body of clergy intent on consolidating their recently-acquired power; the belief in witchcraft; the survival of pagan practices; and the limited understanding of the causes and treatments of disease. A century earlier James Hogg had covered the problem of a belief in guaranteed salvation in his novel "Confessions of a Justified Sinner". It's possible that a source for the trial of the young minister was "The Kilmun Heresy" of 1896 - the trial of the Revd Alexander Robinson by the Presbytery of Dunoon for promulgating views opposed to and subversive of the teaching of the Confession of Faith - so perhaps we have in "Witch Wood" Buchan's comment on Church Courts. Buchan would be surprised that the religious fundamentalism he describes remains widespread in the twenty-first century, when limited education and community isolation are no longer a plausible explanation.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1927
Physical description
7.68 inches
ISBN
1846974569 / 9781846974564
Local notes
FB Based on the legend of the Minister of Woodilee who vanished into Fairyland.