Twelve Great Black Cats

Ten Scottish yarns of ghosts, demons, and magic spells are sure to spook and delight

Throughout the ages, supernatural stories about curses and superstitions have been a popular topic for gossip among the Scottish people. The odds are good that every Scottish family you talk to knows at least one eerie tale that will keep you up at night.

In Twelve Great Black Cats, Sorche Nic Leodhas captures strange stories of monsters, magic, and even a little bit of humor. With stories including “The Honest Ghost,” “The Weeping Lass at the Dancing Place,” and “The Shepherd Who Fought the March Wind,” this collection is an eclectic mix of horror and fun.

“Ten stories of the supernatural from Scottish folk sources . . . All of them fresh, expertly unfolded, and rendered in a rich and rhythmic idiom that is trimmed but never diluted for American comprehension.” —Kirkus Reviews Sorche Nic Leodhas (1898–1969) was born LeClaire Louise Gowans in Youngstown, Ohio. After the death of her first husband, she moved to New York and attended classes at Columbia University. Several years later, she met her second husband and became LeClaire Gowans Alger. She was a longtime librarian at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she also wrote children’s books. Shortly before she retired in 1966, she began publishing Scottish folktales and other stories under the pseudonym Sorche Nic Leodhas, Gaelic for Claire, daughter of Louis. In 1963, she received a Newbery Honor for Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland. Alger continued to write and publish books until her death 1969.