Though born in Edinburgh, James grew up in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders. He would listen enthralled at the family table to his father telling stories of local worthies. James moved to Edinburgh in 1982, becoming a student and great friend of the late Traveller storyteller Stanley Robertson, gathering many of his stories and wisdom in the process. James tells Scottish folk tales, stories of auld Edinburgh, Arthurian tales, shaggy dog stories, parables, and of course Jethart [Jedburgh] tales. He mostly tells stories in the guid Scots tongue of his upbringing. After lockdown James decided to return home to Jedburgh, where he’s currently running monthly storytelling nights and leading poetry walks. As well as being available for storytelling James leads workshops on how to Unleash Your Stories. He is the author of Scottish Borders Folk Tales (2015).

Find out more about James on Scotland’s Storytelling Directory