Mary Fraser was a pioneer in researching and recording the folklore of Cape Breton and eastern Nova Scotia, and this book is an invaluable source for the legends of rural Nova Scotians. Scottish, Acadian and Mi'qmaq traditions are all included.

Writes Ian Brodie in the introduction: "Folklore of Nova Scotia is a flawed, wonderful book -- or a wonderfully flawed book. As I read, I alternate between exasperation and delight: exasperation from its romanticism, delight from its embrace of the contemporary; exasperation from its prejudices, delight from its efforts at multiculturalism ... It is a documentary snapshot of a part of Nova Scotia's cultural history that was changing before the author's eyes."

Ian Brodie was class valedictorian and graduated in 1996 with Honours in Religious Studies. After earning an MA in Religious Studies at Memorial University, he turned his attention to folklore. Since 2005, he has taught Folklore in the Department of Heritage and Culture at Cape Breton University. His doctoral dissertation is a folkloristic study of stand-up comedy.

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