Storyteller Tours
About
“Gordon the Shennachie” – Storyteller Tours
Storyteller is the English translation of a Gaelic word “Seanchaidh” also used in Scots as “Shennachie”.
The word’s meaning is a professional recorder and reciter of family history, genealogy, traditions, attached to the household of a clan chieftain or person of high rank, now a teller of traditional stories, myths and legends and a travelling news service.
I tell the history of Scotland from 60 Million years ago through the 1st human hunter gatherers 8500 years ago, The roman occupation. The Picts. The arrival of the Scots. Vikings. Saxons. Normans. The wars of independence and even some current news and politics in the country.
I even tell them about the fairies, (The wee folk). The pagan Celtic people. The Picts. The Druids and their stone circles and cairns. Outlander, other TV and movie links. I give lots of info on everything we pass or stop at. I do History, Geography, Geology, Genealogy, Flora and Fauna, Farming and Fishing, Folklore, Myths and Legends.
Free complimentary Whisky on all tours!
Everywhere I go I’ll point out the wildlife and farming, (who doesn’t like coos, sheep, deer, wild goats, red squirrels, pine martins, eagles, dolphins or seals!)
My vehicle is and always will be selected and maintained as an executive comfort, air conditioned, off-road, 4×4 minibus with max 7 passengers.
This time it is a Mitsubishi space gear. This is to add to the appeal and reliability, given the state of our roads and to show that I can and will get to niche sites other buses wont or can’t get to, All equipped with fire extinguisher and first aid kits.
I am a former career soldier and then had a second management career in the mobile phone networks. I have 6 years’ experience with other tour companies on these routes before deciding to run my own tours and minivan.
I do over 60 hours of storytelling adapted to the routes, sights and interests of the customer.
Highland History
Rain, snow, sunshine or blowing a “Hoolie!”. Nothing stops me! From the well-known tourist sites to my own secret treasure spots. (Although some sites are truly unreachable in severe weather.
Ferries get cancelled, roads get blocked by police for traffic accidents or viewpoints become invisible in fog. I adapt!)
You can swim with the faeries and engross yourself in why I tell their stories. You can see Druid Standing Stone Circles, burial cairns, Souterrains, Brochs, Viking, Norman and Victorian castles, battlefields, clan territories, deserted villages from the Highland clearances, thatched roof museums from generations past, volcanoes, Fish traps, ancient bridges, harbours, churches and roads.
Visit a real Magic Wand maker. I will tell you great stories of the past and present history of this land. Tales of the faerie folk and the many sites associated with them.
Tales of Picts and Caledonians, Romans, Vikings, the Scotti, Gaels, Angles, Saxons, Normans, The Wallace and The Bruce in their wars of independence, many Kings and of course our celebrated Mary Queen of Scots, the many Jacobite rebellions, the Sassenach redcoats, heroes, myths legends, acts of courage and unbelievable cruelty, of mans’ inhumanity to man.
Highland Culture & Wildlife
The many wars with the English, the aftermaths, the Highland clans their alliances and feuds and traditions from pre-Roman times to the present and the future.
I can visit the sites where engineers, scientists, writers, poets stood. I take you to see monsters, wildlife, farming, fishing, deer hunting, poachers and where the honourable profession of “coo lifting” took place. I might even teach you this ancient and honourable profession as we feed those delightful beasties the “Hairy coos”!!
I’ll show you wild food, flora and fauna and of course I hope to see the vast array of wild beasties in the lochs, sea and air. The magnificent Golden Eagle, Sea Eagle, Osprey and Buzzards are regularly spotted. I cover the culture, traditions, dress, music, poetry, food and drink, politics and languages of the nation. I visit movie and TV filming locations.
I tell the tales of the peoples that formed the nation and struggled to survive, prosper and hold this land once known as the last place on earth, from the last Ice age to todays news and into the future.
Highland Tradition & Craic
I dress in the old traditional Highland style with many props to help me tell the real story of the Highland clans, their dress, food, music and struggle. Free complimentary Whisky on all tours!
I recite the poems of Scotlands national bard, Rabbie Burns. You are welcome to photograph me or join me in your photo. This is no school lecture though. Oh no! No boring tour guide reading a script of statistics and dates.
I guarantee you will laugh with me all day as I tell these facts and tales in the most entertaining and tongue in cheek way. You will always be asking if I’m serious or laughing at the historians and politicians.
I do a 12 hour “unique live performance” as we go back and forth in time! I’ll even cover linguistics and teach you a little Gaelic, Scots and Doric! Just enough for you to converse in a pub! Aye!
Free complimentary whisky on all tours
