The Selkie of Sule Skerry

A long time ago, a young Orcadian woman found herself spending the night with a dark, mysterious stranger. When a baby boy arrived nine months later with no father in sight, the poor girl was distraught.

She had no idea how to provide for an extra mouth, but she loved her son and was determined to find a way. One day, while scraping together a meal by the shore, a large seal bull approached. To her surprise, it spoke, explaining that he was the one she had spent the night with. He was a shapeshifting Selkie who lived amongst the rocks of Sule Skerry.

He would make sure the child was provided for, dropping a pouch of gold at her feet, but there was a catch. When the boy reached the age of seven, he would begin to feel the call of the sea and that was time for him to don a sealskin, joining his father as a Selkie.

The mother raised her son, joyful for every day they had together but aware that each was a step closer to losing him. Not long after his seventh birthday, down by the shore, the Selkie father appeared once more. The time had come.

He put a gold chain around the boy's neck so that the mother would always recognise him, then turned with a prophecy for the mother. She would be happy again but sadly his own days were numbered. With that mysterious comment, the father and son disappeared into the sea.

Years went by and the woman married a loving man although she kept her story about the Selkies a guarded secret. Every so often, she spotted a glint of gold amongst the seals and smiled at the thought of her son.

Then one day, her husband came home from a hunting trip, boasting that he had managed to kill two seals with beautiful skins. Not only that, but one of them even had an expensive gold chain around its neck!

To the man's surprise, his wife burst into tears. She finally understood the Selkie's parting words and knew that her son was lost.