Ruairidh Maclean tells stories that largely belong to the oral tradition of Gaelic Scotland, although he sometimes re-contextualises them to make them more accessible to a modern audience. He tells his stories to adults or young people in either Gaelic or English – or, depending on audience, he can take a bilingual approach. Ruairidh lives in Inverness, but also spends time in Applecross and on a boat, sailing around the sea lochs of the west coast. He enjoys telling stories, including tales of the Fianna and other hero legends, which have a connection to nature, place and environment, and he is never more at home as a storyteller than when he is under a tree, next to a bog or on a windblown shore, telling tales of the Gàidhealtachd. But he’s also happy to be in a cosy hall or sitting next to a warm stove in a farmhouse kitchen!

Ruairidh spent many years in Australia where he came under the influence of Aboriginal traditions, and he considers that the Earth’s indigenous peoples have a special place within the world of storytelling because of their strong connection to land and place. In 2019 he received an IGNITE fellowship from the Scottish Book Trust and Gaelic Books Council to research traditional hero tales of Gaelic Scotland and retell them in modern, accessible Gaelic.

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