Witch Wood

In John Buchan's acclaimed novel Witch Wood, set in seventeenth-century Scotland amid intense religious strife, young David Sempill, a moderate Presbyterian minister, advocates for compassion towards the remnants of King Montrose’s defeated forces. As extremist factions escalate their violence, the mystical allure of Melanudrigill Wood unveils pre-Christian nature worship and dark sorcery, ultimately leading to Sempill's mysterious disappearance. First published in 1927, this evocative tale intertwines themes of faith, landscape, and the tumultuous aftermath of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.