Walter Gregor

Who was Walter Gregor?

Walter Gregor was a Scottish folklorist.

The son of James Gregor, a tenant farmer of Keith, Scotland, he was born 23 October 1825 at Fogieside. Gregor obtained an MA at King's College, Aberdeen, then took the position of Master at Macduff Parish School in a small village at Moray Firth. He completed his degree in divinity at the age of 32, a series of earlier appointments led to his placement in 1863 at the Parish of Pitsligo by Queen Victoria. He spoke French and Hebrew and gained an international reputation for his studies and discoveries. Gregor's field collections and writing were often focused on archaeology and folklore, but his interest and publications extended to a broad range of subjects.

Gregor was a published member of the Folklore Society, New Spalding Club, and Scottish Text Society, his works include a series of books and over eighty papers appeared in French, English, and Spanish.

He died at Bonnyrigg, two years after his retirement to that town.

An excerpt of the original obituary in the Journal of the Folklore Society was reprinted in their centennial review of his contribution,

"His name appears on the first list of members of the Folk-Lore Society; and among the early publications of the Society were his Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland. To know this book is to recognise its value as a transcript of the superstitions and traditions of a district rich in remains of the past up to that time unrecorded. Its author, however, was by no means content to rest on the reputation its publication immediately won, for he was an indefatigable collector. Frequent communications to the Folk-Lore Society and to the Societe des Traditions Populaires, of which he was also a member, attest his continued industry."—Anon. Folklore 8:188