J. Maxwell (John Maxwell) Wood

Based in Dumfries, John Maxwell Wood was a Scottish physician who also became known as a careful local historian and editor. He edited The Gallovidian in the early 20th century and built a reputation for collecting regional history and tradition.

His best-known book, Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-Western District of Scotland (1911), gathers material on witch trials, fairy lore, ghost stories, wraiths, death customs, and other beliefs from Dumfriesshire and Galloway. Rather than treating these stories as curiosities alone, he preserved them as part of the lived culture and memory of the region.

Because so much of his writing draws on local records and oral tradition, his work remains valuable to readers interested in Scottish folklore, social history, and the way older beliefs survived into modern times. I could confirm his authorship, his work as a physician and editor, and the focus of his writing, but I did not find a reliable portrait image to include.