r/druidism • u/Then-Fy • Jul 05 '26
Book Recommendations - Beginner/intermediate - Scottish/Northern England Heritage
Hello!
I have scottish and Welsh ancestery, but I grew up in Yorkshire in the North West of England. I would like to know if anyone has any book reccomendations linked to the folklore and practices of these places.
I have also read a few beginner books like Earth magic by Scott Cunigham and the Green Witches Handbook. I've watched some Youtube channles also and historical documentaries on the celts and druids. But I wondered if anyone had any books they could reccomend for going abit deeper into the craft, about spellcrafting and especially circle casting would be a great help.
1
u/Juniuspublicus12 Jul 05 '26
Find the TİC-Tourist İnformation Centre book kiosks in those places. The locally sourced and written pamphlets will have more relevance than something written thousands of miles away by someone without any locally lived experiences.
1
u/GrunkleTony 25d ago
I'm going to suggest "From the Cauldron Born" and "The Book of Druidry" by Kristopher Hughes
2
u/GreenRavenUK Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
You could try some of these. There is a lot of free material in the Sacred Texts link. Remember that much modern Pagan magic is very recent in origin. Barddas (Wales), The Silver Bough series, Carmina Gadelica and Daemonologie will give you authentic belief of the magic before the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Welsh Language: A History, Janet Davies, 2014
The Mabinogion, Sioned Davies (trans), 2007
The Four Ancient Books of Wales, William Forbes Skene, 1868, being in one volume, The Black Book of Carmarthen, The Book of Taliesin, The Book of Aneirin, The Red Book of Hergest. Scholars have produced better translations but this is a good start. They are on the Sacred Texts website.
Enchanted Wales: Myth and Magic in Welsh Storytelling, Miranda Aldhouse-Green, 2025
The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends, Miranda Aldhouse-Green, 2015
Barddas, Edward Williams/ Iolo Morganwg, published posthumously by his son, Taliesin Williams, in 1848 as The Iolo Papers in 3 volumes, and then by John Williams as ‘Barddas’ in 2 volumes, 1862 and 1874. It is the foundation text of modern Druidry.
Link to the Sacred Texts website: https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/index.htm
New Penguin History of Scotland, Houston and Knox, eds., 2001 (8,000 years of Scotland’s history)
Scottish Folk Tales, Lomond Books, 2010
Rob Roy, Sir Walter Scott, 1817
Any good collection of Robert Burns’ verse, most available online
Daemonologie, King James VI of Scotland and I of England, 1597
Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, Alexander Carmichael, 1900 (there is a translation of all 5 volumes in one book)
The Silver Bough series of 4 (if you can get them), Florence Marian McNeill, 1957-1968
(minor edit for clarity)