Explore the remote beauty and ancient legends of the Scottish Highlands — while practising past tenses for narrative writing and building your vocabulary.
Read the text carefully, then answer the comprehension questions below.
The Scottish Highlands stretch across the northern half of Scotland, covering more than 25,000 square kilometres of rugged mountains, deep glens and dark lochs. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Europe — in some areas, the population density is as low as 1.6 people per square kilometre, which is even lower than in Lapland. Despite this remoteness, or perhaps because of it, the Highlands have produced some of the richest folklore traditions in the British Isles.
Life in the Highlands has never been easy. For centuries, communities survived through sheep farming, fishing and small-scale agriculture on land that was often poor and exposed to harsh Atlantic weather. The infamous Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries displaced thousands of families from their ancestral lands, as wealthy landowners converted vast areas into sheep farms and deer-stalking estates. The effects of those clearances are still visible today: abandoned stone cottages stand in silent valleys, and many communities continue to struggle with depopulation as young people leave for the cities in search of better opportunities.
Yet the Highlands remain deeply fascinating, not least because of their extraordinary mythology. The most famous creature is, of course, the Loch Ness Monster. The first recorded sighting dates back to 565 AD, when the Irish monk Saint Columba reportedly encountered a “water beast” in the River Ness. Since then, thousands of people have claimed to see something strange in the dark waters of Loch Ness, and the mystery continues to attract over half a million visitors each year.
Less well known internationally, but deeply rooted in Highland culture, are the kelpies — shape-shifting water spirits said to haunt Scotland’s lochs and rivers. According to legend, a kelpie typically appears as a beautiful grey or white horse standing at the water’s edge. Travellers who climb onto its back find themselves unable to dismount as the creature drags them beneath the surface. One identifying feature, so the stories say, is that its hooves are reversed compared to a normal horse. The kelpie legends served a practical purpose: they warned children to stay away from dangerous waterways. Today, the myth is celebrated in Andy Scott’s enormous steel sculptures near Falkirk, known simply as “The Kelpies” — two thirty-metre-high horse heads that have become one of Scotland’s most recognisable modern landmarks.
Another beloved figure in Highland folklore is the selkie — a creature that is part seal and part human. Selkies live as seals in the sea but can shed their skin to walk on land in human form. Unlike kelpies, selkies are gentle and melancholic rather than dangerous. Many selkie stories tell of fishermen who fall in love with a selkie woman after finding her seal skin on the shore. If the fisherman hides the skin, the selkie must remain human and live with him — but she always longs for the sea. These tales, which originated in Orkney and Shetland, explore themes of freedom, belonging and the tension between two worlds.
The Highlands today are caught between preservation and change. Tourism brings vital income but also puts pressure on fragile communities and landscapes. Housing shortages make it difficult for young families to stay. And while the ancient stories of kelpies and selkies may no longer frighten people away from the water, they remain a powerful reminder of how closely Highland culture has always been connected to its wild, untamed landscape.
1 How large is the Scottish Highlands region?
2 What happened during the Highland Clearances?
3 When was the first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness Monster?
4 How can a kelpie supposedly be identified?
5 What was the practical purpose of kelpie legends?
6 What happens to a selkie if someone hides its seal skin?
7 Where did the selkie legends originate?
8 What modern challenge do Highland communities face?
When telling a story or writing a diary entry, we use different past tenses for different purposes. Choose the correct form for each gap in this Highland story.
Read this short story about a student’s camping trip in the Scottish Highlands. Choose the correct tense for each gap.
1 It was my third day in the Highlands. I in Inverness two days earlier and had taken the bus to Kinlochewe, a tiny village surrounded by mountains.
2 That evening, I by the shore of Loch Maree, watching the last light fade behind the hills.
3 The water was perfectly still. I such complete silence before — no traffic, no voices, only the occasional cry of a bird.
4 Suddenly, something the surface of the water about fifty metres from the shore.
5 My heart started racing. While I at the ripples, a dark shape appeared briefly and then vanished.
6 I remembered the old stories about kelpies that my grandmother me as a child, and a shiver ran down my spine.
7 I up my things quickly and walked back to the village in the fading light.
8 Later, at the hostel, the owner laughed when I told him what had happened. “That probably just an otter,” he said. “But you never know around here.”
Choose the correct word to complete each sentence. All terms appeared in the reading text or are related to the topic.
1 The Highlands are one of the most populated regions in Europe, with very few people living across huge areas of land.
2 The landscape of the Highlands is wild and , with steep mountains, rocky terrain and deep valleys carved by ancient glaciers.
3 During the Highland Clearances, thousands of families were from their homes and forced to move to the coast or emigrate.
4 Many Highlanders felt a deep connection to their lands, where their families had lived for generations.
5 Kelpies are described as spirits because they can change their appearance from a horse into a human.
6 Selkie stories are often sad and , dealing with themes of loss, longing and impossible love.
7 Scotland has a rich tradition of , with stories of mythical creatures, ghosts and ancient heroes passed down through generations.
8 Highland communities are , meaning they are vulnerable to even small changes in population or economic conditions.
Imagine you are spending a week in the Scottish Highlands. Write a diary entry (120–160 words) about one day of your trip.
Your diary entry should describe what happened during one day in the Highlands. You could write about:
• A walk through a remote glen or along a loch
• Something strange or unexpected you saw or heard
• A conversation with a local person about Highland life or folklore
• Your thoughts and feelings about the landscape and atmosphere
Try to include:
• All three past tenses (simple past, past continuous, past perfect)
• At least three vocabulary items from Exercise C (e.g. rugged, folklore, melancholic)
• Descriptive language to bring the scene to life
“Tuesday, 15 July — Today was my third day in the Highlands. This morning, I set off early along the shore of Loch Torridon…”
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