Witch wood - John Buchan

Set against the religious struggles of seventeenth-century Scotland,
with Montrose for the king against a convenanted kirk, John Buchan's Witch Wood is a gripping atmospheric tale in the spirit of Stevenson and Neil Munro.

As
a moderate Presbyterian minister, young David Sempill disputes with the
extremists of his faith. All around, the defeated remnants of
Montrose's men are being harried and slaughtered by the faithful, and
Sempill's plea for compassion, like his love for the beautiful Katrine
Yester, is out of joint with the times.

There are still older
conflicts to be faced however, symbolised by the presence of the
Melanudrigill Wood, a last remnant of the ancient Caledonian forest.
Here there is black magic to be uncovered, but also the more positive
pre-Christian intimations of nature worship.

In such setting,
and faced with the onset of the plague, David Sempill's struggle and
eventual disappearance take on a strange and timeless aspect in what was
John Buchan's own favourite among his many novels.