A storyteller’s journey

I was raised in the Scottish Highlands where storytelling is still ‘in the water’, yet only after studying Community Education in Glasgow did I get interested in the power of stories.

I applied storytelling in the community groups I worked with to great effect. Though I studied folk tales for entertainment, I learned much through ‘oral history’ about my own culture and cultures of the world.

Becoming a father, in 2010, provided me with a rapt audience of one, and offered many cherished moments with story.

Working professionally as a storyteller since 2015 I’ve developed a reputation for being one of Scotland’s most engaging and innovative tellers of traditional tales, selling out events at major Scottish festivals, featuring in events internationally and having shows commissioned by the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in 2022 & 2024.

I’ve developed a niche around storytelling and environmental awareness, story as ancestral craft (often with a diaspora audience or at outdoor gatherings), and stories offering mythopoetic meaning troubled times.

I have travelled the world with story, telling in all kinds of environments and settings, yet I’m always happiest sharing tales by the fire.

Work With Us
Work With Us

Storytelling Reviews

  • Corr Blimey Review

    “Mackay’s storytelling is warm and evocative, rooted in the oral tradition but unafraid to experiment. He shifts between narrator, character, and commentator with ease, drawing the audience into tales that span continents and centuries.”

  • Lothian Life Magazine

    “Dougie is a captivating presence, resplendent as he is in a kilt; he evokes a time when poetry and stories mattered as much as a warrior’s prowess, and codes of hospitality were strict and not to be broken.”

  • All Edinburgh Theatre

    “Dougie MacKay is a skilled and accomplished storyteller who quickly establishes a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere that encourages the audience to engage with the stories.”

Story Videos

Celtic Tales at Edinburgh Fringe

An East African tale at Wildhood Festival

Storytelling is a diverse world, each teller has a different approach.
My storytelling is characterised by:

Another point

Approach to Storytelling

I grew up in the north of Scotland where traditional life ways and culture are still strong-storytelling is still in the water there, and the codes of hospitality and spirit of the ceilidh are cornerstones of my storytelling practice.

I was lucky enough to study with various Scottish storytelling elders and undertake training at the Scottish Storytelling Centre- the only dedicated storytelling centre in the world.

This style of storytelling values connection rather than theatre, and sees storytelling very much as a hearthside art and common birthright.

Highland Folk Ways

With a modest distrust of modernity, I’ve found solace in learning more about the natural world and remembering our place within it.

A fusion of outdoor learning, ‘8 shields’ mentoring, foraging, craft and wild wandering ensure that the living world is prominent in my storytelling practice.

This has lead to niche conceptual performances such as Animate Lands and A Wolf Shall Devour the Sun, aswell as curated wilderness experiences featuring wolf tracking, primitive fishing, herbal lore, fire making and more.

Nature Culture

There is a theory that some old stories offer more than just entertainment- they are patterns for living well, offer cultural understanding, stir the psyche in useful ways, and may even catch echoes of the land as it speaks.

The work of Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Martin Shaw, Michael Meade and more fit into this category, which informs my own practice and especially my Myth as Medicine course.

Quote:

Mythopoetics

“Eye to Eye, Mind to Mind, Heart to Heart”

There is a Scottish Traveller saying that rings true, “Stories are best told eye to eye, mind to mind, heart to heart.”

Connection is at the heart of storytelling. The aliveness of the moment is key. In theatre there is a ‘fourth wall’ between audience and performer. In storytelling, the ability to respond to and include the audience within the tale sets it apart from more exclusive art forms.

Ancestral Craft

I Story as ancestral craft blah blah

Storytelling Resources