Introduction

"Giga de Tenerife," played by Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas. Source: Youtube.

[1]

In the clear blue waters of the North Sea, the Orkney Islands of Scotland stretch and tumble across each other, reaching toward the wide expanse of sea. One of these islands, called South Ronaldsay, has a certain cliff that overlooks a small rocky coast. And this small rocky coast, not inhabited by anyone except the occasional fisherman, wanders down until it becomes one with the sea.


Not too far from the coast, in a cozy underwater cove, an experienced diver might be able to find a gentle mother-seal named Mirna. And if that diver were to look very hard and strain his eyes, he might see Mirna’s newborn pup, Niamh, in her arms. No human, though, could see the soft emotion in Mirna’s eyes as she gazes down at her one and only daughter.

As a seal who has only just arrived in the world, Niamh is still learning from her mother all that it takes to survive in the sea. Mirna relishes this job, and she loves to protect and provide for her little daughter. Each morning begins with a hunting session, shortly followed by breakfast. Niamh learns how to swallow the smaller fish whole and tear the bigger ones apart with her mouth and claws. She is slowly getting used to the slime. After breakfast, the pair plays in the waves, always with one of Mirna’s fins on Niamh’s back.

[2]

In the afternoons, Mirna likes to take Niamh out for a swim. As Niamh grows (all too fast for her mother’s taste), she is allowed to see more and more of the sea. Today, Mirna plans to take her for her first sun-bathing session on the rocky shore. She can hardly wait to see Niamh’s reaction to the shore, for every seal loves to lie out in the afternoon sun. She is also quite anxious, though, because even though she will have her watchful eye on her precious daughter during the whole outing, she knows what can happen to seals who act carelessly around the shore.

“Niamh,” she calls to her baby. “Finish up that herring and come swim with me.”

“Yes, mama,” squeaks Niamh, clumsily steering her flippers toward her mother.

“We are going somewhere very exciting today!” Mirna coos. “It’s a magical place where you can feel the sun on your coat and feel air and wind instead of water and waves.”

Niamh nods enthusiastically, not quite understanding all these words, but elated to see the new place anyway.

[3]

“But you must listen to me,” continues Mirna. “The shore is special, but it can be a dangerous place for seals.”

“Dangerous?” says Niamh, struggling to pronounce the word. “Why?”

“Niamh, you must promise me now to always be careful on the shore. Never let your skin come off, and never stay past the turning of the tide, because you will be stranded on the shore and lose your skin. If you lose your skin, you will look like a human girl, and you will not be able to come back home. You will be stuck on land.”

“Lose my skin? How can I lose my skin? What’s a girl? Why couldn’t I come home?”

Mirna half-laughs at her daughter’s sincerity, but checks herself thinking of the other seal-mothers who have lost their babies forever.

“Yes, my dear,” she says, “it is possible to lose your skin. You can take it off, or it can float away from you, and you will no longer be a seal but a selkie, a seal in a girl’s body. You will howl and live a lonesome life on land, singing at night toward your home, but I will not be able to hear you. It happens all the time.”

Mirna stops swimming and pulls Niamh into her warm flippers. “Let me tell you a few stories of selkies, so that you may know what happens to them and be careful to never stay too long on the shore. I must warn you: these stories do not often have happy endings. But if you are very good and very careful, we will make sure you never meet such a fate.”

[4]

Image information: