Imagine a place where "the people of the sea" are torn between land and their ocean kingdom. There's love, loss, rescue, return, and more: David Thomson presents a whole world (more old than really new) in his exploration of the Atlantic gray seals, also known as selchies.
Many fairy tales involve animals of various types. In this book, the legends of the selchies come to life, with stories of seals who cry real tears, and gather in mourning the death of one among them. As Seamus Heaney says in the "Intro," the book "presents us with an image of ourselves."
Beginnings
The old traveler Tadhg Tracy says, "The seals are a class of fairy." In fact, some tales say seals originated from some evil spell. In one story, Patrick Sean tells about the youngest of the brothers Kane and how: "When Kane took the children out into the deep sea, he opened his cloak and every one of them fell into the sea. And they were turned into a school of seals." And, he says, "that's how the seals came to be."
Beginnings
The old traveler Tadhg Tracy says, "The seals are a class of fairy." In fact, some tales say seals originated from some evil spell. In one story, Patrick Sean tells about the youngest of the brothers Kane and how: "When Kane took the children out into the deep sea, he opened his cloak and every one of them fell into the sea. And they were turned into a school of seals." And, he says, "that's how the seals came to be."
Tales of Rescues
If there are stories of "how the seals came to be," there are many more of selchies who rescued children and even fishermen. Some of the tales involve favors that are repaid by the seals. The Cregan fishermen, for instance, were protected from drowning: "And no matter how many times the men ashore would lose hope for them, they would surely come home safe. The old people used to say it was the fairy made them that way against drowning."
In another tale, a child wandered off down the cliffs while his mother was chasing the cattle. If she had not heard the cry of the seal, she never would have found her son. The tale goes that she followed the seal's cry: "And there what did she see when she climbed down but a great seal standing up in the sea a little way off from the shore and crying out and wailing like a woman ... So, down further she traveled among the rocks, and there she did find her boy..."
In another tale, a child wandered off down the cliffs while his mother was chasing the cattle. If she had not heard the cry of the seal, she never would have found her son. The tale goes that she followed the seal's cry: "And there what did she see when she climbed down but a great seal standing up in the sea a little way off from the shore and crying out and wailing like a woman ... So, down further she traveled among the rocks, and there she did find her boy..."
One story even tells of a father who took his baby on a seal hunt and left the boy on a rock ledge. Then, "In their precipitancy and excitement they forgot all about the little boy which was left on the shelf of the cave. They couldn't go back to rescue it; they'd get lost; and there was nothing they could do but turn home without it."
Imagine their amazement some time later when they discovered the little bundle of the baby left behind by a seal. The tales goes on: "They took the baby. He was quite warm, quite warm and comfortable, and took him away with them very gladly and put him into the [boat] and made for home as fast as possible."
Imagine their amazement some time later when they discovered the little bundle of the baby left behind by a seal. The tales goes on: "They took the baby. He was quite warm, quite warm and comfortable, and took him away with them very gladly and put him into the [boat] and made for home as fast as possible."
Transformations
With all of the tales about how seals came into being, and tales of rescue, it's probably not surprising that their human-like qualities become more concrete. Seals appear at the most opportune moments, and their actions in these tales seem to present feelings far beyond those typically connected with animals.
In one story, a man missed the boat to the fair. A seal came by and offered him a ride on his back to the fair, so the man accepted. Then, when a group of people saw the man riding half out of the water, the seal said, "we'll soon see about that." The tale follows:
So the seal set up a magic fog, or what is called in modern parlance a smoke screen, and the natives could see no more seals, couldn't see the man again. And under cover of this fog they reached Belmullet Pier, and the man got off the seal's back at the pier and stepped ashore, but when he turned round to thank his benefactor, the seal, the seal had disappeared, and instead of a seal he saw a find gentleman standing beside him.
Of course, the only way for the fellow to repay the transformed seal's kindness was to treat him to a drink: "the seaman's drink—-a glass of rum."
In one story, a man missed the boat to the fair. A seal came by and offered him a ride on his back to the fair, so the man accepted. Then, when a group of people saw the man riding half out of the water, the seal said, "we'll soon see about that." The tale follows:
So the seal set up a magic fog, or what is called in modern parlance a smoke screen, and the natives could see no more seals, couldn't see the man again. And under cover of this fog they reached Belmullet Pier, and the man got off the seal's back at the pier and stepped ashore, but when he turned round to thank his benefactor, the seal, the seal had disappeared, and instead of a seal he saw a find gentleman standing beside him.
Of course, the only way for the fellow to repay the transformed seal's kindness was to treat him to a drink: "the seaman's drink—-a glass of rum."
