Fians, Fairies and Picts

The author restates and expands a theory that elements of British and Highland folk tradition reflect memories of a once-existing small-statured people rather than purely supernatural beings. Drawing on collectors' tales and comparative ethnography, he links fairy lore, underground dwellings, and descriptions of animal herds with archaeological and natural remains such as reindeer traces and subterranean houses. The book considers linguistic and material parallels to Lapland peoples and to historically attested groups like the Picts, weighs conflicting strands in oral tradition, and illustrates arguments with field observations and plates to argue for a historical basis beneath myth.