True tales of Scottish witchcraft and mystery.
Hi there! I’m Nigel, welcome.
What started as a curious exploration into the history of the Neolithic standing stone in Gourock, known locally as Granny Kempoch, turned into an investigation into witchcraft throughout Scotland. Mainly young or very old single women were accused and viciously tortured for political or personal gain, often on purely circumstantial evidence.
Hysteria generated by the King filtered down to his acolytes who took full advantage and ultimately led to the deaths of an estimated 4,000 people. Were they all innocent or were there really darker forces at work? Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of my research are the number of anomalies in accepted historical accounts. Many of these were changed for no doubt political reasons at the time. Reality really is often more mysterious than fiction.
The book, Granny Kempock, tells true tales of Scottish witchcraft and mystery. It is an anthology of stories both ancient and modern and is a combination of fact and fiction. The novel has been based on the facts that could be found and infilled details with what could have happened. Most of the characters are based on historical figures at the time and these are interwoven with fictional accounts to provide continuity to the stories.
There is a lot to find on the site, and so I have broken it into three distinct sections:
This is my first book on the web. I tell some of the stories, give you the background and publish pictures related to them. You will also find links to some of the source material and one day soon you will be able to go to the store and buy the book as well as a selection of beautiful charms hand crafted in Scotland from the very locations of the stories.
My second book was actually written well before Granny Kempock, but given the success of my first book I have finally managed to get it published on Amazon in both paperback and as a Kindle Edition. The web site is set out in the same way as Granny Kempock, so just click back and relax.
Section 3 – Book 3. My next book is well underway and I hope to publish in the not too distant future. Please be patient however as historical novels take a huge amount of research. The book is based on one of the most colourful families in Scottish history and at times their deeds can be hard to believe.
Granny Kempock has now been translated into Spanish and German. Free ecopies are available for a limited period on request.
Granny Kempock ahora se ha traducido al alemán y al español. Copias electrónicas gratuitas están disponibles bajo petición.
Oma Kempock wurde jetzt ins Deutsche und Spanische übersetzt. Kostenlose Ökokopien sind auf Anfrage erhältlich.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome and I would be delighted to answer any questions you may have. Granny Kempock was written using mainly contemporary accounts and opens up a whole host of questions related to the written and accepted historical versions available today.
Enjoy!