This site is intended to showcase, explore and expand the connected cultures of the Celtic lands. It incorporates travel, legends, history and literature, combined with a substantial element of wilderness exploration. It is my hope it can inspire the reader to undertake their own explorations of the Celtic cultures – and to act as a launchpad for some creative projects connected to those cultures too.
The content featured is the product of a long-running exploration undertaken by myself, William A. Young. I’m a writer and hiker born and raised in Scotland, the northernmost of the Celtic lands, married to a woman who hails from the opposite extremity of the Celtic world – from Brittany, some 500 miles to the south. Along with two little inter-Celtic babies, we currently reside in Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, while making regular visits to the land of the Bretons.
I recently published a book entitled “The Ghosts of the Forest: the Lost Mythology of the North”, which explores the legacy of the Celtic Britons of ‘The Old North’; a lost land that once occupied the southernmost portions of Scotland and the northernmost portions of England. A great deal of the material on this site was compiled during the course of researching this book, and so this site in turn has a strong focus on those same territories. As that culture was a Brythonic Celtic one – related to those of Brittany and Wales – these two nations will in time feature heavily too.
I hope the material assembled here will inspire the reader to embark on their own exploration of the lands and cultures it covers – and I will do my best to help equip the reader with ideas and the know-how to make such journeys the best they can possibly be. I also wish to showcase, generate and review creative and cultural projects connected to the Celtic world. If you have overlapping interests, or any connected ideas I’d like to hear from you; please get in touch via the contact form below.
William Young 21/08/2022