author
J. A. (John Arnott) MacCulloch
1868–1950
Best known for bringing Celtic religion and myth to a wide readership, this Scottish clergyman wrote with the curiosity of a folklorist and the range of a comparative religion scholar.
1 Audiobook
The Religion of the Ancient Celts
by J. A. (John Arnott) MacCulloch
About the author
Born in 1868 and dying in 1950, John Arnott MacCulloch was a Scottish clergyman and scholar whose work centered on folklore, mythology, and religion. Archival records describe him as a folklorist and clergyman, and readers still know him for clear, wide-ranging studies of older belief systems.
His best-known books include The Religion of the Ancient Celts, The Childhood of Fiction: A Study of Folk Tales and Primitive Thought, Comparative Theology, and The Misty Isle of Skye. He also contributed the Celtic volume to The Mythology of All Races, a major early-20th-century reference series.
MacCulloch's writing remains especially valued by readers interested in Celtic tradition because he tried to connect myth, ritual, folklore, and history in one accessible picture. Even when parts of his scholarship feel of its time, his books still offer a lively window into how earlier generations studied the mythic world.