Author Interview: Leigh Wands
What effect has folklore had on the way you see the world?
When ah wis wee folklore wis used tae reinforce ideals and manners, things like that. Like, where ah grew up there wis a wee river and the story goes it flooded wan time. Some wee boi got caught up in the flood and a ‘white woman’ dived in eftur him. She ended up savin him but drowned hersel, and as she wis drownin she looked back tae see the wee boi walk away withoot thankin her. Sa, fae then oan, doon that wee river there wis a ‘white-woman’ aweways lurkin aboot, tryin tae catch wee bois withoot manners.
What stories help you understand your surroundings and inform the way you interact with the world?
Just like above; mind yer manners, and if the rivers floodin, don’t bloody jump in it!
What political messages from folklore resonate with you?
Folklore helps a culture reinforce itself politically.
Hink ae X-mas/Yule/Hogmanay... That’s been turned intae a capitalists wet-dream, yit, if ye strip it aw back it’s a social coping mechanism fur the hard winter. Nae Jesus, nae Santa, strip it aw back n yer left wae a social group comin thegither tae make sure they’re aw healthy n happy via shared resouce. A social group, a culture, a country. Thegither. Sharing resource. Reinforcing themselves, and the beliefs that brought them thegither.
Do you see folklore as resistance, and if so, to what?
Aye, it helps greatly in fighting aff social engineering and other such nonsense. Tales ae ‘Duthchas’ or Deer-stalking kin greatly change someones perception when it comes tae invading colonial forces and other evils.
Example; treacherous lairds and other arseholes “own” Scottish land and the deer population right now, and it’s illegal – poaching – if any common Scotfolk were tae hunt it fur food – that’s with a gun permit. Regardless of folklore or tradition, of employment, purpose or food-standards, of import-export or supermarket monopolies. An abundant, sustanable food source that naebodies “allowed” tae eat but the rich are “allowed” tae sell.
What role does folklore and speculative fiction play in our modern world?
Folklore’s power lies in hindsight dint it, and tae they ends ah suppose it’s baith a tool, and a reminded ae past tools.
An example ah used recently wis Cao-Cao fae Three Kingdoms. Cao-Cao’s the kinna guy thit will murder ye in yer sleep, and as such is fiert he’ll be assassinated in his sleep right, so whit he does is wan day when he knows the messenger’s comin is he pretends tae be asleep. Pretends wae a sharp up his sleeve. N when the messenger goes tae wake um up, “Shhht!” Cao-Cao plugs him deed. Then Cao-Cao goes aboot tellin ivdae how, “ah cannae be kill’t! Even in sleep ahm ready!”
Ah see scenarios like that happen quite often in the modern world. But armed wae good, time-tested stories you kin combat it mair effectively when debating other reasonably minded folks.
...Whit?... How is it Cao Cao does die? Ahm no tellin ye.
What are popular stories lacking today?
Blood n guts n that. Show me Dermot disembowel those fifty men, entrails oot their arse, wae his mad barrell ‘trick’... Wait, naw, ahm only kiddin... Um ah?... Aye ahm ur, don’t show us that.
Which folkloric character or creature do you hate/ want to punch in the face?
Och hen, ahm no a young man any mair, ah cannae be boundin er the braes square-going mibbies aye-mibbies naw mythical creatures.
What do you hope the readers get from your piece?
A giggle. At the least. Hopefully...
How does your work sit within the wider canon of folklore?
Wae wan ae its leg’s up cause its been walkin oan it aw day n it’s sare gittin ye know, this auld age hing isnae fun hen....
Honestly... Sorry aboot that, couldnae help it.
What does folklore mean to you?
Tae me it’ll aweways be mah wee Mammy n Granny sayin hings like, “mind, you’re susceptible tae it.” Which lookin back really makes me giggle.
But in reality, ah think Folklore and Science – real repeatable actual science – are slowly merging in weird ways.
Ah gee ye two points pointing each wiy.
1) Recent genetic studies show us a funny difference between the Neolithic builders and the invading Celts; that difference being height. The invading Celts being much taller. Noo, hink ae the profile ae the faerie folks: shorter in stature, lived up the hills, hawders ae auld knowledge and engineering. Neolithic builders.
Ah cannae help but hink this is a historical meeting/merge ae cultures, and the faerie folks ur human.
Oan the other hawn...
2) ‘The Glasgow Effect,’ or, ‘The Riddle ae the Clyde.’
In scientific terms it refers tae an anomoly in life-expectancy fur folks living roon the Clyde, oor life-expectancy being much lower than other areas ae similar poverty and such. Yit, regardless ae this, does Glesga no produce the wonders ae the world? Does Glesga no produce the finest? Ah’ll think you’ll find it fuckin does. Ah put it tae ye thit this is an auld faerie magic; production ae excellence at cost ae life.
It’s inscription spans the Clyde : “All Greatness Stands Firm in the Storm.”
Glesga is the storm, it is the magic, and it produces greatness.
Tell us a little bit about yourself as an artist/writer:
Ehmm, ah quite like takin auld stories or lessons n redoing them. Or, quirks ae geography/geology or wee sayings n spinning a wee story oot that.
Example; “Ye kin suck yer thumb aw ye wahnt, it doesnae make ye Finn McCool.” = “you can say those lies all you want, it won’t make them true,” or “you can use those smart words all you want, it doesn’t make you smart.”
Any wan ae us could spin that intae a story using modern day material almost daily... God, if ye started ye might nevur finish.
If you were a cryptid or folkloric creature, which one would you be and why?
Who says um no. Aw the cats say ahm ur but aw the dugs say they’re lying. Ahm no sure who tae believe anymair.
Read Leigh's short story "Thi Pooka" in our first issue, releasing August 22!
[originally posted to Patreon on 18/7/25]
