The first of two stories featuring 'Leeb' Mclurg of Mclurg's mill (a fictionalised version of Blates Mill in Laurieston). The second story will be read next month.
Published in 1893 in The Stickit Minister and other common men it can be downloaded to read for free in digital format HERE 

Crockett's story of a boy and girl's search for the legendary 'Great Auk' is both poignant and funny.  

It was published in the 1895 collection Bog Myrtle and Peat and can be downloaded to read for free in digital (PDF) format HERE 

 Barracloughs is a story of domestic abuse in the down at heel 'Little Dublin' area of a fictionalised Kirkcudbright.  It is taken from a real murder story, repurposed by Crockett.  It mixes realism with sensationalism. 

The story was published in the 1908 volume The Bloom o' the Heather and can be downloaded to read in free digital (PDF) format HERE 

 Mac’s Enteric Fever. This humorous story comes from Crockett’s own student days in Edinburgh in the 1870s when he shared a flat with William Stewart MacGeorge (the ‘Mac’ of the story and a future widely respected artist). They lived together at 50 St Leonard’s Street (now demolished) overlooking Salisbury Crags.

The story is published in the 1895 collection ‘Bog Myrtle and Peat’. For a free downloadable PDF of this book click HERE.  

S.R.Crockett’s sketches and short stories first found fame in the late 1880s in a variety of magazines. Many were later published in collections and he continued writing the short story form until his death in 1914 by which time he also had over sixty published novels. ‘Scotland’s forgotten bestseller’ benefits from being read aloud and to mark Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, members of The Galloway Raiders have taken the opportunity to record some of their favourite Crockett stories. These will be featured in the ‘Story Calendar’ each month during 2022. We hope you will enjoy listening to them, and that it may spark an interest in exploring Crockett’s work further.  

Each month we will put up a story here in MP4 format. You can also view it on YouTube.  For available stories see the sidebar.  If you are interested in an MP3 file (just listening) please email [email protected] and we'll send you a file.