The Boggart,
Susan Cooper

Rebecca Pidgeon

Selection read by film and theater actress Rebecca Pidgeon, featured in recent films State and Main and the upcoming The Heist with Gene Hackman. Rebecca is an American raised in Scotland and trained as an actress at England’s RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic arts. She is also a singer and songwriter. Old and new Scottish, Irish and British traditional songs are featured on The Four Marys, her latest CD.

Like the English and the Irish, the Scots have their Old Things, magical beings who have inhabited their lands from time immemorial—which is to say just about forever, or anyway longer than even they can say. The Boggart is really “a” boggart, one of an ilk of mischievous little shape-shifting Old Things. Most just enjoy playing tricks on their ‘family’ and they don’t have hearts, except, as you’ll hear in this story, the boggart of our story. He has lived at Castle Keep for millennia, always keeping company with the clan chief, the MacDevon. Here’s his story.


THINGS TO DO ONLINE

Meet Susan Cooper
You can hear what Susan Cooper has to say about life, books and stories here.

Tour a real castle
There are 70 castles in the Highlands of Scotland alone, but Eilean Donan is perhaps the castle on which the MacDevon’s Castle Keep is based. Here’s an online tour.

You’ll take the Highland road?
The Highlands of Scotland have many peaks and lakes. You probably know that a lake is called a “loch” there, in one of which was the little island with the castle of the MacDevon, Castle Keep. Here you can see something of what the Highlands look like.

What’s “Corbett-bagging”?
The Internet allows you to find out weird and wonderful information. See if you can find out the answer to the question above. You’ll then be able to answer the question in Puzzling Events related to Camel’s Hump.

MORE THINGS TO DO

Send us your drawing of the Boggart
As always, we welcome your illustrations for the online Camel’s Hump Radio. Once you have a drawing, have it scanned into the computer in a .jpg or .gif file format and send it through Contact Us. Please include your first name, your age and the name of your town, and a caption or description if you like.

The rich cookie of Scotland
Of course, Scots refer to this as a bread, “shortbread” to be exact. Nothing could be simpler or more delicious. Camel’s Hump Cooks has the recipe, of course.

Note: The "Things to do" sections can often use an adult's help or encouragement.



FROM THE CHR LIBRARIAN

A mistress of magic
Your children may be glad to know there’s a sequel to Susan Cooper’s The Boggart, The Boggart and the Monster. Mrs. Cooper’s specialty is old times and wild magic and her most-loved books are The Dark Is Rising sequence, containing, in order, Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; and Silver on the Tree. The series follows a family of children on a quest to find out what really happened to King Arthur of Camelot.

Do you have a boy who wants to be an actor? Mrs. Cooper’s King of Shadows, the story of an American boy actor invited to London’s Globe Theater today who time-travels back to Shakespeare’s day, may be just the thing for him.

Dip into Celtic mythology
The myths and legends of the Scottish and Irish are easily available through this “Myths and Legends” site. Print out a myth, perhaps on colored or other special paper, to read aloud at home.

Scottish links—no not golf links
Edwin Sinclair may actually have exhausted the possibilities of links for Scottish places, language, history and games. This site has lots of photos as well, and if all you’re after is the links, you may want to turn off the photos.