Paraig MacNeil is a Highland tradition bearer who tells stories mostly in English/Scots but can also tell in Gaelic or a mixture of all. He tells epic tales of the Fianna, clan legends, histories and genealogies, wonder tales, tales of seal-folk and the sea, comic tales of wise fools, place name stories, stories of emigration, Jacobites and the Wars of Independence.

His storytelling is interwoven with Gaelic song and poetry (with translations where required) of which he is a passionate exponent. He also does some work in Scots and was made Honorary Gaelic Bard/Seanchaidh for Clan Gregor Society from the year 2000 and has composed original Gaelic verses for them. He has, over the last decade or so written other songs in Scots, Gaelic and English keeping the tradition alive. He also leads workshops for most age groups, at all levels, including people with learning disabilities/special needs.

Paraig's style of storytelling is suitable for schools, libraries, community venues festivals, country house hotels, castles, etc. He is a natural entertainer, combining seriousness with humour and his wearing of the ancient belted-plaid gives him a dramatic on-stage presence. He is also an authority on the genuine lore of the Highland Plaid.

Paraig worked voluntarily with the Scottish Tartans Society (STS) in the late seventies and early eighties and learned all about the authentic ethnology of ancient Highland dress and 'Tartanology', experimenting in the great outdoors proving the practicability and the versatility of the ancient garb in all weathers using hand-woven/finished plaids
and tartans of his own design and fancy , which Paraig points out "is traditional"

Paraig was born in 1955 and brought up in a Highland family settled in Perthshire. His great-uncle was a seanchaidh and he has early memories of being bivouacked on the floor as an infant during family ceilidhs. Paraig has been honing his commitment to the lore and language of the Highlands and to his vocation as a traditional storyteller since 1988.

He appears regularly at festivals both at home and overseas. Paraig is also registered with the Writers in Scotland Scheme (formerly Scottish Arts Council but now administered by the Scottish Book Trust) qualifying for writer/storyteller visit subsidies.

Paraig has also featured on radio, on programmes such as 'Spotlight' on Iain Anderson's Fine Tunes, BBC Radio Scotland, television programmes such as 'See Me, See You, See the Picts, BBC Television Education, as well as fun programmes such as 'Wax on Wheels' 1989 featuring with comedian Ruby Wax and films both feature and educational. Paraig also is a full EQUITY member.

Paraig's Vision Statement

The Highland Folk-lorist the late Calum I. MacLean said "There are two histories of every land and people, the written history that tells what it is considered politic to tell and the unwritten history that tells everything" . We are living in a day and time when the use of our memories has declined as the Lady of Lawers spoke of in the seventeenth century. Paraig's vision is that:
"The feather of the goose will no longer drive the memory from man"

For this purpose, Paraig has pioneered and led the field in the following areas:

• 1st: Full-time professional Traditional Highland Storyteller.
• 1st : Traditional Storyteller with 'Historic Scotland' opening the flood-gates for others to follow.
• 1st: To bring traditional storytelling workshops to children and successfully have them tell from memory (National Trust for Scotland).
• 1st traditional storyteller to work for Scottish Natural Heritage.
• 1st: Equal registered author with SAC (now Book Trust Scotland register) without ever having written a book..
• Amongst the 1st Scottish traditional storytellers to be EQUITY recognized/registered.
• 1st: Honorary Bard/Seanchaidh for Clan Gregor Society for centuries.
• 1st: Full-time professional traditional storyteller to enter the Feisean movement.
• 1st: Full-time professional traditional storyteller to teach at a Feis outside of Europe.
• 1st: Highland Storyteller from outside Africa to perform in at the Grahamstown Arts Festival, Africa.
• 1st: (with a group) at Edinburgh's International Arts Festival as well the Fringe Festival.
• 1st: Traditional storyteller to have a website designed in rhyme.