371:, back three centuries when the whole area was under forest, and doing it so convincingly, is a considerable feat. Doing it with such economic realism and keeping up a multiple pressure of plot makes it extraordinary". But Daniell's highest praise was reserved for the way Buchan presents "the ordinary people of the parish, the farmers who so represent the land that they are known by the names of their farms, the few cottagers, the herds and the elders and the children."
246:, the Kirk's religious court, which rejects it as circumstantial and unreliable. In retaliation, Caird brings counter-charges against the minister for harbouring a fugitive, for associating with Mark Riddel (now publicly identified as Mark Kerr), and for keeping the company of an unknown woman. Sempill is found guilty and is
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comes to
Woodilee. Sempill works to prevent its spread helped by a newcomer named Mark Riddel who, unknown to the locals, is in fact the fugitive Mark Kerr. Nursing care is surreptitiously provided by a shadowy figure whom the locals take to be a fairy but who is in fact Katrine Yester, niece of the
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thought that it "must be adjudged the greatest of Mr Buchan's published works. That it concerns the land and history of
Scotland, that it makes brilliant use of braid Scots dialect and that it enshrines many aspects, both admirable and contemptible, of the Scottish character are features that must
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On his way back from the hearing, Sempill meets
Ephraim Caird near the Black Wood. He forces Caird to enter, kneel before the pagan altar, and to make his choice between Christ and the devil. The effort is too much for Caird who runs off in demented terror and is killed in a fall. The minister is
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is tightly enclosed, with everything taking place under a heavy, black, suffocating pall of evil. Buchan's writing, Daniell said, "catches the obscene out of the tail of the eye, where it is most effective"; "Projecting his own favourite
Scottish place,
173:, he recalls a legend about its last minister, who disappeared without trace 300 years ago. Locals believe that he was spirited away by the fairies or, as some maintain, by the devil.
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rite in which figures wearing animal headpieces dance around a pagan altar. After attempting unsuccessfully to identify the ringleader, he manages to splash pungent
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Early critics were quick to recognise the significance of the novel, which has since come to be regarded as Buchan's masterpiece.
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called it "this powerful, charming and spiritually earnest novel which almost enables Mr Buchan to be called a modern and terse
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was the author's own favourite and has been described as "a masterful tale of godliness in conflict with wickedness."
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of the Kirk, Ephraim Caird, is discovered burning clothes on a fire which smells strongly of aniseed.
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of being a witch and in spite of the best efforts of
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never after that day seen again, giving rise to the legend mentioned in the novel's prologue.
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The story opens in 1644 with the coming of David
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and enemy of the Kirk. When Kerr is injured, the minister hides him in the
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In an epilogue, it is revealed that
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that critics have called his masterpiece. The book is set in the
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The
Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
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oil onto the ringleader's clothes. The wife of a prominent
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Matthew, H. C. G. "Buchan, John, first Baron Tweedsmuir".
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and had boarded the first available ship out of Scotland.
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but neither version is known to have survived, first for
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180:, to Woodilee, a parish passionate in its support of the
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Haunted TV: A History of British Supernatural Television
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as Sempill, then in 1964 as a four-episode series, with
379:The novel was adapted for television twice by the
238:Sempill presents his evidence of Ephraim Caird's
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642:. Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. pp. 182–184.
617:. Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. pp. 181–182.
207:of Melanudrigill the minister stumbles across a
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502:. New York: Oxford University Press. Page 199.
331:give satisfaction to Mr Buchan's countrymen".
970:The Watcher by the Threshold, and other tales
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1448:British novels adapted into television shows
450:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
19:"Witchwood" redirects here. For the book by
1193:The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands
571:. Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. p. 181.
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1074:The Far Islands and Other Tales of Fantasy
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137:is a 1927 novel by the Scottish author
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519:John Buchan: The Presbyterian Cavalier
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280:James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
1423:British supernatural television shows
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739:Glossary of Scots words in Witch Wood
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1443:Novels about witches and witchcraft
546:. Thistle Publishing. p. 207.
521:. Thistle Publishing. p. 208.
478:. Thistle Publishing. p. 206.
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169:. Looking at its now-ruined parish
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362:(1975), David Daniell noted that
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294:. According to the historian
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355:. That's the way to do it".
286:and was first serialised in
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298:, it was based upon the
284:The Minister of Woodilee
203:One night in the feared
1438:Novels set in the 1640s
1356:Alastair Francis Buchan
1050:The Magic Walking Stick
1042:The Blanket of the Dark
640:The Interpreter's House
638:Daniell, David (1975).
615:The Interpreter's House
613:Daniell, David (1975).
569:The Interpreter's House
567:Daniell, David (1975).
542:Lownie, Andrew (2013).
517:Lownie, Andrew (2013).
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360:The Interpreter's House
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44:1st edition dust jacket
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874:The Gap in the Curtain
457:10.1093/ref:odnb/32145
334:Of the Buchan novels,
302:of the anthropologist
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1002:Salute to Adventurers
842:Edward Leithen novels
791:The Thirty-Nine Steps
783:Richard Hannay novels
300:Witch-cult hypothesis
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1132:John Palliser-Yeates
1102:Sir Walter Bullivant
1010:The Path of the King
946:John Burnet of Barns
386:Sunday Night Theatre
352:Annals of the Parish
93:Hodder and Stoughton
1403:Fiction set in 1644
1398:1927 British novels
831:The Island of Sheep
741:Glashan, Roy, 2004.
192:, supporter of the
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1260:The Three Hostages
1225:The Three Hostages
1034:The Runagates Club
815:The Three Hostages
730:Online version of
310:Critical reception
178:Church of Scotland
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1244:(2008) (TV movie)
1228:(1977) (TV movie)
1097:John S. Blenkiron
994:The Moon Endureth
866:The Dancing Floor
698:Witch Wood (1964)
664:Witch Wood (1954)
598:and Todd Wilson,
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528:978-1-909609-99-0
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1178:Adaptations
1151:Non-fiction
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799:Greenmantle
776:John Buchan
391:Tom Fleming
375:Adaptations
340:C. S. Lewis
324:", and the
186:Covenanters
145:during the
139:John Buchan
81:Set in
54:John Buchan
33:Witch Wood
21:A. R. Lloyd
1392:Categories
1268:Witch Wood
1085:Characters
1026:Witch Wood
911:Castle Gay
732:Witch Wood
724:Faded Page
719:Witch Wood
681:Witch Wood
611:Quoted in
429:20 January
401:References
364:Witch Wood
344:Witch Wood
336:Witch Wood
270:Witch Wood
265:Background
244:presbytery
205:Black Wood
134:Witch Wood
1295:(1988–89)
1252:TV series
1018:Midwinter
369:Broughton
151:Calvinism
89:Publisher
63:English,
1159:Montrose
726:(Canada)
602:, p. 48.
474:(2013).
275:Montrose
209:diabolic
182:Covenant
84:Scotland
60:Language
242:to the
233:pricker
213:aniseed
1334:Family
1322:(play)
1303:(2024)
1292:Hannay
1287:(1978)
1279:(1976)
1271:(1954)
1263:(1952)
1236:(1978)
1220:(1959)
1212:(1935)
1204:(1928)
1196:(1927)
1170:(1940)
1162:(1928)
1077:(1984)
1069:(1934)
1061:(1933)
1053:(1932)
1045:(1931)
1037:(1928)
1029:(1927)
1021:(1923)
1013:(1921)
1005:(1915)
997:(1912)
989:(1910)
981:(1906)
973:(1906)
965:(1900)
957:(1899)
949:(1898)
941:(1895)
922:(1935)
914:(1930)
906:(1922)
885:(1941)
877:(1932)
869:(1926)
861:(1925)
853:(1916)
834:(1936)
826:(1929)
818:(1924)
810:(1919)
802:(1916)
794:(1915)
646:
621:
575:
550:
525:
482:
348:Galt’s
240:heresy
227:local
224:plague
50:Author
23:, see
1377:Works
1370:Other
1311:Other
1185:Films
259:Leith
229:laird
217:elder
198:manse
155:Scots
123:Pages
118:Print
71:Genre
65:Scots
703:IMDb
669:IMDb
644:ISBN
619:ISBN
573:ISBN
548:ISBN
523:ISBN
480:ISBN
431:2018
222:The
194:King
171:kirk
161:Plot
110:1927
100:(US)
95:(UK)
722:at
701:at
684:at
667:at
452:doi
381:BBC
358:In
126:380
1394::
594:,
507:^
422:.
409:^
306:.
200:.
157:.
768:e
761:t
754:v
652:.
627:.
581:.
556:.
531:.
488:.
460:.
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27:.
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