[3] Law was the subject Gregorson Campbell chose to study after completing his education but his primary interest was folklore, a topic that fascinated him from his college days.

The appeal was heard by the General Assembly on 31 May 1861 with Gregorson Campbell's defence arguing that the main thrust of the complaints was actually founded on the congregation's desire to have their own preferred minister appointed.

[5] Interest in mythology and folklore gained momentum in the last quarter of the 19th century, probably fuelled by the contentious debates surrounding the authenticity of the Ossian poems published by James Macpherson during the 1760s.

[12] Christian ministers in Scotland differed in their attitudes towards the traditional beliefs and myths perpetuated by their parishioners, and were often dismissive of what they considered to be superstition and paganism, but Gregorson Campbell persisted in enthusiastically adding to his collection throughout the late 1800s.

[6] He was concerned that the intolerance shown by some of his fellow collectors towards the illiterate Gaelic-speaking storytellers and those who believed in the myths would result in the loss of a valuable resource, as he regarded the narrators as having "powers of mind of a highest order".

[18] Some of these were reprinted in the first compendium of Gregorson Campbell's collection, The Fians, a set of traditional tales and verses about combat printed as part of the Argyllshire series of books in 1891.

[19] Gregorson Campbell's health deteriorated in the last years of his life, especially after the death of his mother Helen at the Tiree manse in 1890; he died on 22 November 1891 before seeing the final printed edition of The Fians.