One and Two Percent: Scottish Gaelic Folklore Studies in Newfoundland and Quebec

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One and two percent: Scottish Gaelic folklore studies in Newfoundland and Quebec
MARGARET BENNETT
Folklorists ask a lot of questions, but they are also accustomed to answering questions-about the work they do, the word folklore, the scope of its study, the methods of research and so on. These have no doubt been tackled so often that the answers have become well rehearsed variants on a common theme. As a folklorist, a Scot, a Highlander, a Gael, I am sometimes asked why I chose to focus years of attention on Canadian folklore, especially when I come from an area in Scotland which is known throughout the world for its wealth of story and song traditions. If I wanted to study aspects of Scottish folklore why, then, settle for Newfoundland and Quebec, where, according to Official Census statistics, only a mere one and two percent respectively of the population claim Scottish ancestry? And why would a Scot train as folklorist in Canada in the first place?

Papers from the International Conference Folklore 150, celebrating 150 years of Folklore Studies, hosted by the Institute for Folklore Studies in Britain and Canada,
Sheffield, July 24th-26th, 1996, Guest Editor: J. S. Ryan

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)128—140
JournalLore and Language
Volume15
Publication statusPublished or Performed - 1997